The final resting place of Luke Skywalker is not the kind of location she would normally dare to tread.
Not because Aay'han was a Sith, or even because she was a Mandalorian for that matter. Even if she did have the kind of familiar extensions that made her genetic makeup look like a scientific goldmine.
No, she simply had no interest in the Jedi, their history, or their stories. Why would she? It'd been barely two years since she took her first steps out of whatever tube she was accelerated in, finally emerging a young teenage girl. She still remembered the crack of glass under her feet, the shredding of her skin, her heart thundering in her chest, the pain of light in her iris' for the first time...
Does anyone else know what it's like to lack a past? To not be a part of life one second and then being there the next? To not have memories of love and loss, joy and sorrow, birth and death?
Aay'han didn't have to wonder. She knew damn well what it was like and by the Force how it drove her crazy! She had no purpose for her existence, or at least not one she was aware of. Her extended family, Kalon, Tracinya, Uncle Ro-ro. They were all she had.
And she wasn't even an Entar. Was she even one of them? Could she be? Or is she too much of an outcast? An experiment gone wrong? A mistake? Tracinya believed she could be an Entar. They gave her a reason to live, to fight, to exist damn it all!
That was part of what drove her to Ach-To, and if Qyreia and Sera knew what she was doing they would have her locked away never to see the light of day until she learned her lesson. She shuddered at the thought as the crisp sunlight beamed upon her armor, the fresh saltiness in the ocean air gave her renewed vigor towards her goal. The surrounding buildings, or ruins more like, seemed abandoned except for the Lanai that served to preserve them for would-be explorers and Jedi looking to discover more of their lore. The local wildlife consisted almost exclusively of porgs which, for one reason or another, seemed to be actively avoiding her.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact she looked like a predator? She didn't care. After all, when was she ever going to get a chance like this again? This man, Appius Wight, he was alone and the DIA were nothing if not efficient in gathering information. Some called him Zappius, he had a penchant for Force Lightning, his aliit were destroyed on Mandalore early last year. The list went on and on.
Why he was on Ach-To was still a complete mystery to her, yet the Force was strong here, not just in the light but the dark too and something pulled her in his direction. Regardless, he was a Quaestor in Taldryan, of House Ektrosis. The very House some of her blood relations were members of. Both Tracinya and...
Kalon.
Her thoughts turned to her biological father, the man that in all honesty she'd only met once. He'd disappeared, the news ripped a hole in her family and if there was one thing all Mando'ade shared, it was a love and respect for their aliit.
Right now, this Quaestor, Appius, was partially responsible for Kalon's disappearance. He'd dishonoured them all and right now? The young Sith was hell bent on making him pay for it!
Aay'han steadily climbed up the stone pathway to the top of the island, her heart pounded in her chest and threatened to break through her ribs. Now and then she stopped, closed her eyes and felt him still up there like he was waiting for her. Aay'han's fingers twitched at her side and she bit her lip behind her helmet, feeling like she was walking into certain danger, her steps getting slower and more timid as she reached the top.
And there he was, standing over the edge of a cave entrance that was covered in an assortment of vines and foliage that faintly covered it from prying eyes. It radiated dark side energy, a power so out of place on Ach-To, the former home of the Jedi.
This was what he was here for, power, the darkness amongst the light that drew everything to it like a black hole.
"I knew I sensed something. It was faint, but it was there," he suddenly said.
The large man was easily a foot taller than she was, if not more. His crimson coloured armour shone as it basked in the direct sunlight, yet as his T-shaped visor turned to meet her, she felt the shock radiate through his thoughts.
"What in the hell are you supposed to be?" he questioned, referring to her unusual armor.
"I could say the same for you," Aay'han retorted as she pointed out the obvious design choices on his armor. Namely that golden lightning bolt.
Suddenly, silence. The two just stared at each other, waiting for one another to say or do something.
"So, are we just here for pleasantries? Or are you going to tell me what you want and why you are here?" Appius finally inquired.
The Savant was unexpectedly alerted by immediate peril as the young Sith quickly withdrew her Westar blaster and pulled the trigger. A bolt of crimson plasma soared out of the barrel towards the taller Mandalorian though thanks to his training, as well as the advanced warning from the Force, he was able to sidestep out of the way before it could hit him in his thigh.
Aay'han snarled at him, She needed him to be subdued, she needed to dominate him, force him to tell her what she wanted to know but her emotions started to rise in her like a balloon ready to burst.
Peace is a lie.
Tracinya's words punched through her mind as she kept her finger on the trigger and kept firing at him, this time he was unable to dodge in the limited space he had as one hit, then another, and another, and another yet it didn't have any impact. It seemingly just resisted every hit though it seemed to at least stagger him.
Unfortunately for Aay'han, she was so single-minded in her drive to suppress Appius that she failed to notice her blaster overheating until it was too late. She pressed the trigger and an audible click drew her eyes to the malfunctioning weapon.
"Are you done?" Appius voiced over to the concerned girl and when he got no response, he continued.
"Good, my turn, di'kut."
The all too familiar sensation of danger blared through the back of Aay'han's subconscious and she readied to turn and retreat down the pathway. Yet she felt her body being pulled hard and fast towards Appius by some sort of invisible tether. In her panicked state, she dropped her blaster and threw her forearms in front of her, just as the taller beings fist crashed into them and sent vibrations through them as Aay'han dropped onto her back in front of him.
Her eyes widened as she felt her throat tighten, a faint ringing echoed in her ears and her vision blurred as her body was lifted in front of the other Mandalorian, his right hand outstretched towards her in an invisible grip.
Then with a flick of his wrist, the young Sith was sent careening back down the stairway from which they came. Her armor thankfully softened the fall somewhat but suffered bruising on the way down as her ribs, back and spine collided with the hard jagged edges. She came to a stop about halfway down. Her vision returned to her enough that she visibly saw the local Lanai retreat into whatever den they called home.
The roaring of a jetpack twisted her head towards the sky above as Appius' slowly descended just a few feet away from her. She scowled under her helmet, this was far from the way she wanted this to go. How much danger was she in? Had she made a mistake?
"I'm going to give you one chance, girl. Turn around and walk away."
His words, spiteful and arrogant, they sparked something in her. She remembered meeting Kalon and Tracinya, the one and only time she did and felt the belonging she'd sought after for so long.
"Tracinya…" Aay'han muttered under her breath.
"Wait," Appius questioned. "How do you know that name?"
"I will make you suffer for what you did to Kalon!" Aay'han growled furiously, ignoring him as she grabbed hold of the lightsaber at her side, a crimson blade snapping out of the hilt with a violent hiss.
An audible sigh was what she got in return, the Sorcerer's hilt flew to his right hand from his side.
"And here I was thinking porgs would be the most annoying thing I would deal with today," the Quaestor responded with an annoyed sarcasm. "But if you intend to threaten Taldryan, threaten Ektrosis, threaten a member of my house and blame me for something I had no control over, then I hope you made peace with whatever gods you believe in..."
Snap-hiss!
Twin green blades ruptured out of both sides of the lightsaber in Appius' hand. He twirled the blades and held out the weapon in front of him.
"Because you will be seeing them very soon!" he boldly claimed, venom lacing his every word as Aay'han took that as her cue to attack. She leapt at him, her heart full of malice as she slammed her saber into his, sparks shuttering as they collided together in a dance of green and red.
Despite her youth, Aay'han surprised Appius with how effective she was with a blade in her hand as he was immediately pressed into the defensive. Each strike she made against him was wild and furious, each strike made against him was aimed at seemingly unconnected parts of his body, which forced the older Mandalorian to meet her attacks with one end of his saber before transitioning over to the other to stop himself being hit.
He recognised the techniques in question and unfortunately for Aay'han, this was not the first time he had faced a Sith using it.
"Was that supposed to be Juyo?" the Taldryanite questioned, as the two Force user's locked sabers. "I've seen better attacking movements from a Hutt!"
As his words struck a nerve in the young woman, Appius called upon the darkness within him and drove it through his bloodstream. His reactions became faster, and he met her sudden attacks with his blade so much easier and then, with a speed Aay'han didn't expect, he struck back.
One swift swing Appius' weapon made the young Sith's heart jump into her throat as she blocked it whilst maintaining her aggressive stance. She moved to attack again, her breathing getting more and more ragged, her movements more sluggish yet she refused to stop her momentum.
She did not have a choice when a flash of light burst in front of her eyes. It was only a small dose, but it was enough to disorientate the young girl and give the pure-blooded Human the advantage he needed. His jetpack flared to life, fire trailing as it lifted him several feet in the air. From his left hand sparks ricocheted and hissed between his fingertips before lancing towards the Marauder in streaks of white and blue.
Positive Takeaways
You did an excellent job establishing the set up of the conflict between these two, with Aay'han blaming Appius for whatever happened to Kalon (a mystery to us readers left unanswered, and all the more dramatic for it).
I particularly appreciated the time paid to how Aay'han was clearly feeling out of control, in this tailspin of loss without Kalon, and how in turn she needed to have control over Appius and this encounter.
You also made good use of both Loadouts, between her blaster and saber, his jetpack and saber, and their respective Mandalorian armors as further set pieces to their similarities beside their stark differences.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to you that your description of Juyo is also highlight worthy.
Can Be Improved
Grammar, grammar, grammar. It was your Syntax that dragged you down here, as the various errors were enough to affect readability from the post, distracting from the introduction. Specifically, the thing for us to work on here is in sentence structure. Watch for fragments and comma splices. Often, these things can be avoided by changing verb tenses where appropriate and placing commas at those verb changes, so that what would otherwise be run-on or fragmented sentences become full sentences.
Alternatively, it can be a good idea to keep sentences short and tight. Some examples for you that I hope will help:
This section is meant more as a list format, as you introduce the sentence subject — Appius — and proceed to discuss items the DIA have gathered on him. When using a list in text, one should use a colon to indicate the beginning of the list at the end of the introductory clause or part of the sentence. You could rephrase this section several ways as well, including using em dashes, or breaking up the sentence to rearrange it.
You can also use semicolons following a colon when using a list in text, especially if the "items" you're listing are longer and not just a word or two. For example:
A small additional note, you misspelled the venue name, but you did it consistently, so it wasn't worth marking down. Just be careful in the future.