Despite being on the first level of the Citadel, the massive courtyard remains hidden behind towering walls of stone and sediment. An elongated central patch of neatly trimmed grass stretches out for almost fifty-meters while maintaining a twenty-meter width. At the center of the grass is a large, ovular fountain in the shape of the Arcona emblem, with water running from the tips of each pointed edge. Vegetation grows along some of the walls, and an archaic clock-face is carved into the face of one of the entryways. A small group of rotating sharpshooters are scattered across the walls as the courtyard is supposed to serve as a safe place for Arconans to enjoy some quiet time, or to meet with visitors. It has served as the venue for multiple honor duels over time and there is a significant crater off to the side of the grass left behind as a result of a contest between Marick Arconae and Wuntila Arconae. The duel had taken place prior to either Arconae serving as Shadow Lords and in a quieter time before all Arcona knew was warfare.

Towards the back of the courtyard, closer to the base of the cliff that the Citadel is constructed upon, a tall tree shoots up from the stone, its shade guarding an entrance into the Citadel proper.

37 ABY Selen Citadel Courtyard

Eilen Jath hunkered down behind some vegetation and peeked over to observe the shipment of arms that were being delivered into the hands of the Dajorran Defense Force. She felt a pang of guilt. How could she be considering betraying her clan, her friends? But her old underworld contacts had been very clear: they wanted three crates of blaster rifles. Somehow they knew that she was allied with powerful people, and they knew how to twist her arm into stealing from them. If they didn’t get their weapons, they would kill her father.

As the hybrid looked over the hedge, she had expected to see regular members of the DDF, but instead, she saw the black-robed figure of Karran Val’teo as well as his droid companion, Challadan.

“Frak…” the half-Selonian swore under her breath. She had planned for soldiers, not a Sith. Soldiers went down with a single stun grenade. She had seen the Zabrak fight under both friendly and not-so-friendly conditions. He would not go down easy, and while she hesitated to call him a friend, he had never wronged her and had even been somewhat kind to her. The droid was another issue. IG-100’s had earned a nasty reputation once upon a time.

Eilen remained behind the shrubbery, squishing down to make sure that her height did not betray her presence. With another glance she marked the location of the Sith and the two soldiers handling the crates.

Without looking, the hybrid reached down to her belt and removed a smooth, spherical grenade from her belt. A C-10 stun grenade was still her best chance at success without seriously hurting anyone. She lobbed the sphere in a wide arc, aiming for it to land directly in the middle of all three targets.

---

Karran Val’teo stood at his post keeping watch over the arms shipment. They had received intelligence that there may be an attempted hijacking. Challadan stood, unmoving, ocular receptors scanning the area.

The Zabrak’s gaze wandered from his surroundings to the soldiers moving the crates. Suddenly, warning lights and sirens flashed in his mind just in time for him to see a small sphere land about a meter from him. The Sith quickly jumped back, augmenting his physical ability with the Force. This reaction put him just outside of the blast. Karran stood, his ears still ringing, a sharp, pulsing pain behind his eyes Slowly the ringing receded, but remained present, he returned his attention to the soldiers he had been guarding. They were unconscious on the ground. Challadan would still be functional, but would be of no use until Karran could get him repaired.. His lightsaber sprung to life in his hand, as he surveyed the area. The Knight looked to where the grenade had landed, then mentally tracked where it mostly came from. Finally, his eyes came to rest on the dense cluster of vegetation that concealed the attacker. He dashed forward, his lightsaber striking out at the greenery, cutting through it.

---

Eilen watched the furious Sith charging towards her. With a split second of concentration, she cloaked herself with the Force and stepped away from the cover.

As Karran broke through the vegetation that had concealed her, the hybrid stood still. The anger in the eyes of the muscular Zabrak filled her with a sense of dread. This was a look she had only seen when he was in the pitch of battle; a hate that had, until now, it seemed, been reserved for members of the Collective.

She watched as the man closed his eyes. His breathing steadied, but the hardness of his expression did not change. He still intended to strike down whoever had attacked him. Nervously, but quietly, she inched away. She tried to be careful that her footsteps not make a sound. But as she backed away, a crack broke the silent air as a twig broke under her foot.

Karran’s eyes snapped open, the whites having turned yellow with anger as the Dark Side flowed through him.

Eilen froze. Though he still couldn’t see her, Karran’s eyes were staring right through her.

“Show yourself now, and you may receive mercy.”

The hybrid shifted in place. The Zabrak was not known to be the most merciful… but he had a reputation for sparing his fellow Arconans. She dropped her cloaking and stood before the Sith.

“H-hey, Karran.”

“Eilen, did you see who attacked us?”

“Um...well...you see—" Eilen fidgeted under Karran’s intense gaze.

Finally, the truth dawned on the Knight. “You!”

Eilen’s eyes grew wide as Karran charged at her, lightsaber raised high to bring it down in a powerful strike. She darted back, dodging the first strike. Shortly after his opening slash, the Zabrak returned with a backhanded strike, his crimson blade leaving telltale arcs through the air as the half-Selonian nimbly avoided his aggressive, chained strikes, giving ground rather than actively engaging. Eventually, Karran had backed her up against a tree. He raised his blade above his head to bring it down on Eilen. The hybrid woman flinched, throwing her hands up defensively, drawing upon the Force to create a shield.

The lightsaber collided with the barrier, deflecting it off to the side. Eilen took this opportunity and darted past the enraged Zabrak, drawing her own lightsaber, activating it, and holding it in the defensive stance of her Soresu form.

“Please, Karran. I don’t want to do this.”

“You betrayed the Clan, Eilen!” the Zabrak’s words came out cold and hard. He gritted his teeth and advanced on the traitor

In a brilliant flash of blue and red, the assault was on. Wide arcing strikes wailed against the best defensive tilts and turns Eilen could put into her blade. The fundamentals flooded to the forefront of her mind, but Karran was better trained and intensely aggressive. If she couldn’t see the hits coming three swings ahead, this would already be over.

Sparks flew as plasma clashed overhead. A right attack followed up. She caught it with a left-side block, then twisted the blades between them with a backward leap. Karran charged for a stab, Eilen deflected the saber rightward and slid left. She could keep moving away, but the Zabrak’s advance would find an exploit sooner or later. He spun around, putting all his strength into a two-handed swing. The blue blade barely redirected it upward as Eilen ducked. Once more, she sprang back, feet pulling overhead with an amplified jump to gain some distance.

Karran took the chance to charge again. He could see the look on her face - she knew this wouldn’t end well, at this rate. Except, the hybrid wasn’t raising her weapon. On the contrary, the glowing beam vanished as her other hand went for her belt. If not for the blaring alarms in Karran’s mind, he might have bolted right into the impact grenade she plucked and loosened into the air between them.

The Zabrak’s boots dug into the dirt as he hurled himself aside. His heavy body thudded into the grass and rolled, swiftly regaining his footing.

Nothing happened. The grenade was on the grass, unprimed and intact. Eilen, on the other hand, had vanished once more.

A tinge of pain shot through Karran’s hands as his knuckles whitened, fuming at the trickery. He whipped his head around, looking for any immediate sign of movement. For a moment, he cursed his less attuned senses. Whether or not he caught her now though, she couldn’t get far very quickly - nor could she hide for long in the city.

“COWARD!” he shouted loud enough to ensure she’d heard, wherever she stood. “NO HONOR!” No response. His teeth gritted. “You can’t hide forever! Everyone in the clan will hear of—"

The faintest shimmer of grass on the ground some feet away caught his eye. As he shut himself up, he could hear nimble footsteps moving away from the scene. Lightsaber still engaged, Karran rushed after them.

In the opposite direction, a cloaked Eilen gently bobbed her extended hand, trailing a simple illusion of footsteps further from her position. She realized she’d been holding her breath as it all came out at once, after he’d bolted. A chance to breathe before things got bad was welcome, but while Karran began swinging and shouting at the air, she felt at least some of his words hit hard.

He was right - she couldn’t hide anywhere in Dajorra after this. She was risking her entire life among Arcona on this gambit. If she made it out, would she ever be allowed back? Would she be hunted and arrested? Would they put a bounty on her? What would her friends, her new family, think of all this? Her hidden face scrunched as a plethora of anxious concerns welled up.

No, stop. Eilen shook her head, her shape shimmering for just an instant. Deep breath, deep breath, she told herself. It honestly wouldn’t be the first time she was wanted, or had a bounty on her head. At the rate her life was going, it probably wouldn’t be the last. Eilen just hoped the people she cared about would understand why. Baro’s life was in her hands, for stars’ sake. Okay. I can do this. I can do this...

If nothing else, there had to be some way to get the crates back aboard the ship they came from. Certainly, Eilen had options, but as long as Karran was around, none of them were viable. She wouldn’t dare hurt him for real, but she needed something to incapacitate him. While she still had the chance, she gently stepped toward the unconscious guards and the disabled droid he’d brought along.

In the distance, an infuriated cry flew out from Karran. He felt his grasp on his rage slipping, but given the circumstances, he was just about willing to let it out. Whatever game Eilen was playing, she’d pay more than her freedom for it, if that was what it took to capture her. Any respect he’d developed for that scrawny furred abomination was gone.

There were no further footsteps that he could detect. His lightsaber had burned through nothing more than grass. If she wasn’t already gone, she’d holed up somewhere, playing more tricks. Karran wasn’t going to let her lead him on any further. If the weapon crates were indeed her objective, she would be forced to reveal herself to take them. If not, she couldn’t be allowed to escape. Either way, Karran knew how to cut her time and options short.

The Zabrak opened his communicator to a DDF channel. “This is Knight Karran Val’teo.” He could feel the aggression in his voice from his rage, but he chose his words as carefully as always. “I have found a traitor running freely, here in the Citadel: Eilen Jath. She is armed with explosives and cloaked by the Force. I need people stationed at all exits, and let no one pass through - I have seen her change her face.”

Chatter quickly picked up, but Karran disabled his communicator for the moment. They would figure out some sort of response, and he needed to keep his eyes and ears completely free of distractions while he searched.

In the meantime, Eilen carefully pried the electro-staff from the IG droid. It wasn’t terribly different from her quarterstaff, save that it could deflect a lightsaber and knock someone out with electricity. ...This thing does have a stun setting, right?

Wielding it would be one thing; how the electric settings worked, Eilen wasn’t fully certain. As soon as she had it, the shockers engaged, immediately revealing her position. There wasn’t much point in hiding any further, then. She materialized back into view as Karran’s whole body spun to face the source of the noise. The growing ferocity was apparent on his face even at a distance.

Last chance to try anything, Eilen figured. “Karran, please,” she called across the courtyard, “I— I promise, I don’t want to hurt anyone! I just— well— It’s complicated! C-can we just talk for a second?!”

Of course not. The Zabrak was already bolting at her. She had the nerve to betray her entire clan, lacked the courage and honor to face him in a straight fight, and now she had the audacity to take up his companion’s weapon against him. Karran let loose the beast within, prepared to finish her.