Private Whispers Before the Storm

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra never liked places like this. The entire settlement felt like something the galaxy had scraped off its boots and forgotten about—black sand stretching for kilometers, winds sharp enough to flay paint off a starfighter hull, and an outpost so patched together it creaked whenever the storm shifted direction.

The pay was good, though. Or it was supposed to be.

She pulled her jacket tighter against the grit-laced wind as she stepped off the ramp of her shuttle. The landing field was nearly empty at this hour, just a few dockhands huddled near a heater and a cargo loader groaning under its own age. Her contact wasn't here. Figures. People hiring freelancers in the Outer Rim were never punctual—especially when the job involved retrieving stolen data from a syndicate that enjoyed making corpses out of middlemen.

Lyra scanned the landing pad again, one hand loosely hovering near the holster at her hip. The air felt wrong—too still at the edges, like the moment before a pressure seal blows. She'd been doing this long enough to know when a job was about to go sideways before it even started.

Great. Another day, another disaster brewing.

She moved toward the operations shed to get out of the wind, but stopped short when she caught movement on the far side of the landing strip. A figure had just stepped off a battered transport—tall, steady, wrapped in dark armor that didn't match any local outfit or recognized faction. The woman walked like she owned the storm, like the grit and cold bent around her rather than against her.

Lyra's instincts tensed. Not danger, exactly…more like a warning. A hum beneath her skin. A shift in the air.

The woman paused just long enough that Lyra caught the glint of pale eyes through the dim light—sharp, assessing, cold in a way that wasn't just temperament. The kind of cold that came from someone who had lived a life full of violence and survived every attempt to stop her.

Definitely not a local. Definitely not here by accident. Lyra didn't call out. She didn't approach. She stood her ground, boots anchored in shifting sand, letting the strange pressure behind her ribs settle into something like unwanted certainty. Because instinct didn't lie, and instinct told her they were here for the same job.

Her datapad buzzed—a short, encrypted message:

Contract update: Secondary asset assigned. Mission parameters require joint execution.
Proceed with cooperation. Mandatory.

Lyra exhaled through her nose, slow and controlled.

So that was it. The woman across the landing strip wasn't competition—she was the "secondary asset." A forced partner. And the phrasing made it clear that whoever hired them expected cooperation, whether or not either of them liked the idea.

Fantastic.

She slid the datapad back into her pocket and studied the stranger again—a mercenary, clearly. Dangerous, obviously. And the kind of danger that came with secrets people paid to keep buried.

"Perfect," Lyra muttered under her breath.

She didn't make the first move. Didn't wave the woman over. Didn't do anything except brace herself against the rising wind and the sinking realization that tonight would be far more complicated than she'd planned.

Two mercenaries. One mission. A syndicate stronghold waiting somewhere past the ridge. And the only way to finish the job…was together.

This was going to be a long night.

Eira Dyn

 

[Eira Dyn]

Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Bounty Hunter Attire
Tag: Lyra Ventor

She was in need of more weapons that she could store on this style of armour. Something like the Mandalorians had in terms of gauntlets. Where several things could be stored on it to be used when in a fight. Especially things that could better hide the fact she was a Force User as well. The idea of a bounty hunter version of her armour was to appear less like a Sith. Less like an imperial. So that she could go on missions like this, so that she could work without scrutiny in spaces where Sith or outsiders were not as welcomed as within the Sith Order and the Black Sun space. It was also a way to learn more interesting ways to fight, more underhanded tactics that could weaken the defence of a Jedi so that she could get a kill in easy.

It was things she was considering, building in her mind as she pondered it over but still a far flung dream. The resources needed were not available to her yet. And Eira needed to form a crystal clear idea of what she was wanting from the different forms of armour that she envisioned herself wearing. So, for now, she was in simple durasteel armour plating with some armourweave underneath. Decent enough protection and probably added to the fact that she was not trying to come across as a rich or successful hunter. Just someone aiming to get a job done and get it done well.

The mission was one that she was jumping into last minute but something she saw was a good way to get involved in less assassin based work. A chance to flex some other skills and grow more in areas that was not based on how efficient and effective she could kill someone. Eira had also taken the job under the pseudonym of Kaela as well. It was a name that she had thought of a while back as a reasonable undercover name to use while on missions and it was good for Eira to hear it more so she didn't accidentally make an error in revealing it was not a name she knew herself to be called.

Arriving at the pilot's ship, the hunter held little to no real presence in the Force and walked over to Lyra, nodding her head in greeting. "Kaela. Seems we will be working on this one together." Eira's heavily modulated voice spoke as she placed her hands on her hips. "Got any ideas on what this mission will entail?" Eira had an idea of the mission herself but was more curious in seeing how prepared this other mercenary would be. Since it gave Eira an understanding of what to expect throughout this mission. Some liked to handle things very in the moment and Eira always found that mentality vexing since it was very polar opposite to how she preferred to handle things.

Eira focused more on ensuring predictable outcomes for reliable results.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra turned the moment the armored woman approached, the hiss of sand against durasteel masking the final steps until Kaela stopped in front of her. Up close, the impression was the same as from across the landing strip: disciplined posture, lethal quiet, a presence that didn't announce danger so much as promise it. The voice modulation made her unreadable—meaning Lyra had to trust her instincts rather than her senses.

And her instincts… They didn't scream danger, but they didn't exactly ease, either. Mandatory cooperation. What a joke.

Still, Lyra met the other woman's nod with one of her own—short, crisp, and perfectly professional.

"Lyra Ventor," she returned. "And yeah. So it seems."

The wind kicked grit along the landing pad, and Lyra adjusted her stance so she wasn't swallowing half the settlement's sand. Kaela's armor caught the light from the nearest floodlamp, dark plates over armorweave looking more practical than pretty. No gleaming Beskar, no expensive tech, no syndicate markings. That alone told Lyra the woman knew how to blend in when she needed to—or disappear entirely.

Good. She preferred partners who didn't advertise themselves. At the question, Lyra hooked her thumb toward the datapad clipped to her belt.

"Got a partial brief before I landed," she said, pulling it free and flicking through encrypted overlays. "Stolen data package. Syndicate fingerprints all over it. Multiple retrieval attempts already went wrong, which means they know we're coming or they're expecting someone to try again."

She angled the pad just enough for Kaela to see the flickering holographic map—a crude outline of the settlement, a canyon system to the east, and a blinking red marker deeper in.

"Seems the syndicate moved the goods off-site," she continued. "Probably to a secondary hideout past the ridge. My contact didn't show, which means either he's dead or they're intercepting anyone trying to hand off intel."

Her jaw tightened at that. Lyra hated being forced into a job blind. She hated relying on strangers even more.

She tucked the datapad away, letting her gaze sweep Kaela's armor once more — practical plating, no excessive shine, and a hunter's posture she recognized immediately. Someone used to controlling the battlefield, not stumbling through it.

"Whatever the client thinks is waiting for us," she said, tone leveling into something drier, "I'm assuming the real problem is worse. Jobs like this always are."

She shifted her weight, crossing her arms lightly.

"For now? My plan is simple: get eyes on their hideout, ping for guard rotations, and slip in clean. If we have to fight our way out, fine — but I'd rather not start by blowing the front door."

Her eyes sharpened slightly—not hostile, just…evaluating.

"You look like someone who plans," Lyra added, voice steady against the rising storm. "So if you've got intel I don't, or an angle we should take, now's the time to speak up." A beat.

"And before you ask—yes. I can fly us out fast if things go to hell. That part I am good at."

The wind howled across the landing strip again. Lyra didn't flinch. She just waited, grounded and ready, to see what kind of partner the galaxy had just forced into her path.

Eira Dyn

 

[Eira Dyn]

Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Bounty Hunter Attire
Tag: Lyra Ventor

Listening to everything that Lyra had to say, Eira nodded her head, "it is a shame when they send amateurs instead of sending the right people first time around." Eira stated simply, looking over the information and seeing it was stating all the same things that Eira's brief said as well. It was good that they weren't trying to give different missions or objectives to the two of them. "A shame that they will be prepared for us but just means we need to work smarter in breaking down those defences."

Seeing the map, the canyon where the settlement was meant to be, Eira mentally cursed. It was a easy defensible position. Making attacking it harder. Stealth would be near impossible as well, unless she used the Force or had some invisibility tech. "This is going to be tricky, they are in a highly defensible area and penetrating through those defences aren't going to be a simple matter. Probably why the others failed, they didn't realise the settlement was placed perfectly to be more of a fortress than a standard simple settlement." Eira thought aloud as she looked back over to Lyra.

Nodding her head, "scouting out the defences and getting more intel is sound. They aren't going to be rushing things at the moment since they feel confident in their defences because of the failed attempts." Eira mentioned, arms crossing over her chest. "My only other suggestion would be to either grab some stealth generators and use that to sneak in. Or, a riskier move would be to drop in from a great height at night. Night is the best time to strike either way since the darkness will be our ally." Eira suggested, she was not here to try and force her ideas as the best way to build alliances is to work as a team play and not a dictator.

"I figured that you would be able to do that part. Not met a mercenary pilot who couldn't get out a sticky situation fast. Usually ones they made themselves." Eira chuckled softly.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra listened without interrupting, thumb brushing absently along the ridged grip of her pistol as Eira laid out her assessment. Everything the woman said lined up with Lyra's own unease—the canyon placement, the fortified bottleneck, the confidence that came from knowing three other teams had already died trying to breach it.

"Yeah," she murmured, eyes back on the map, "they didn't build that place to keep the weather out. They built it to make sure no one walks out."

Her jaw ticked slightly as she zoomed the datapad in, cycling to the heat signatures she'd captured on approach. "They've got watchtowers tucked into both ridgelines. Narrow firing lanes. Lots of dead ground. They're not amateurs—they're expecting people like us."

The idea of stealth generators earned a slight, impressed sound—more exhale than word. "Wouldn't mind having one of those," she admitted, "but I'm not exactly packing Black Sun hardware."

Then came the second idea—the high-altitude drop. Lyra's head lifted, a slow breath leaving her as she considered it. "That one…" she said, tapping the datapad lightly with a knuckle, "I can work with."

Night insertion. Vertical drop. Sneak in where no eyes were supposed to be looking. And with her reflexes, with the Starling's thruster control? Hard, dangerous—but not impossible. Her mouth pulled into the faintest smirk.

"You're not wrong about mercenary pilots," she said quietly. "We get creative when staying alive depends on it." She glanced toward the canyon, gauging terrain, wind, and escape vectors.

"Let's do it your way—scout first, strike after. I'll get us overhead without tripping their scopes, but once night falls…We'll have to thread the needle on the descent. One wrong gust and we'll be two very messy stains on the canyon wall."

A beat. Not fear—calculation. "But if we hit the right landing vectors, stay dark, and move fast?" Lyra looked back at Eira, blue eyes sharp and steady. "We only need one opening. Just one."

She holstered the datapad and nodded once—crisp, sure, ready. "Let's go take a look. I want to know exactly what kind of fortress we're cracking."

Eira Dyn

 

[Eira Dyn]

Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Bounty Hunter Attire
Tag: Lyra Ventor

Eira personally never needed a stealth generator since she had relied on the Force to remain undetected, this mission did demonstrate that she couldn't lean on the Force for every situation and needed to start investing into tech that could help with moving around undetected. Noise dampeners and a stealth generator were crucial pieces of tech that could assist in the mission and Eira would never have to reveal her Force abilities. Biting on her thumb, Eira contemplated things as she looked over the map more, noting the watchtowers and thinking about how guard schedules would look.

"It is a shame. Don't even need to rely on the Black Sun for them, plenty of companies sell them, just have to grab one from the right group." Eira stated, hinting at the idea of stealing one from a large company. Large enough to not realise something was missing until far too late. "But no point in lingering on what we should have brought with us." Eira scolded herself as she listened more to what Lyra had to say.

Her idea had been accepted and the idea of scouting for more intel made a lot of sense. Especially since they could even get a better scan of the place from above to try and have a better understanding of what they were potentially walking into. Eira nodded her head, "sounds good. I got some decent repulsors on me so the landing should be manageable on my end." Another lie but effortlessly told. Eira would be using the Force to soften her landing. Still needed to be timed correctly and there was a lot that could go wrong with it but Eira was bold and a little too reckless to consider all the ways a plan could go wrong.

"One opening and a decent amount of luck." Eira chuckled softly before looking over to the ship that Lyra had. "Lead the way then pilot." Eira stated as she allowed the other woman to be the first one to step into the ship. "Guessing you are the type to be more handy with a blaster than a sword or dagger?" Eira asked, attempting to assess where the strengths and weaknesses of her companion were going to lay in this mission. Eira believed that blasters were not ideal for a stealth style mission, hence her preference for daggers and swords. Quieter weapons and were just as effective in her mind.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra gave a short nod and folded the map back into its case, already shifting into the practical, pre-mission focus that steadied her nerves better than any deep breath ever could. "Yeah. No sense crying over gear we don't have."

She started toward the Starling, boots crunching lightly over the dusty rock, her voice level and matter-of-fact. "And trust me—I've stolen enough replacement parts in my life to know which companies won't notice until the next fiscal audit."

A faint smirk tugged at her mouth, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Her mind was already sorting through approach vectors, thermal signatures, and potential flight paths that would get them over the settlement without drawing fire.

When Eira fell in beside her, Lyra thumbed the landing ramp open and gestured her inside.

"We'll get a clean overhead pass before they know we're there. If they've got scanners tuned inward instead of outward—and most paranoid groups do—we can slip along the canyon wall without kicking up alerts."

She moved through the familiar motions of her preflight checks, hands brushing over control panels and switches with practiced ease. The Starling hummed in recognition beneath her touch.

Eira's question pulled her attention just slightly, though she didn't pause her hands. "Blasters, mostly." A quick tap of her wrist holster. "I can hit what I need to hit. But I'm not a marksman."

Then, with a slight shrug, honest and unembellished: "And a sword? No. I grew up fixing ships, not dueling in alleys."

She slid into the pilot's chair, powering up the engines with a rising vibration that filled the cabin. "But I'm quiet when I need to be. And I don't freeze under pressure."

Her eyes shifted toward Eira, blue and steady. "You handle the close work. I'll get us in and out without getting lit up."

A final check of the displays. "Strap in. We'll start with a high pass and see what we're dealing with."

Eira Dyn