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.

Riverche entered the courtyard. The dry grass crunched under her feet. The chilled winter air carried a whiff of salt air from the nearby sea. She knew that her new captain on the Voidbreaker had challenged her to a duel, but what still puzzled her was the why. He seemed like the honorable warrior type, but why would he want to fight one of his crew members?

The Miraluka examined the courtyard until she spotted the outlined aura of a Zabrak.There was Karran. Riverche felt a noticeably calm projection coming off of him, with an underlying tone of excitement. This was not quite what she expected from one with the reputation of a warrior Sith, and for a moment she thought this might not have been him until she heard a voice. It was slow, measured, and polite.

“Riverche, thank you for coming. Are you ready to begin or do you need a moment to center yourself?”

The Miraluka hesitated for a moment. Karran had been cordial enough on their first meeting, but she was not expecting this kind of treatment. “I’m ready whenever you are. This is just a sparring match, right?”

The Zabrak chuckled as he stood. It was not a sinister sound. It was still filled with warmth, but had a stern undertone. “I only spar when I am training. This is not training. This is a test. I am your captain, your opponent, and your judge.” A crimson blade erupted from its emitter and punctuated his final word.

Riverche hesitated. Did Karran intend to kill her? Or at the very least try? She reached out through the Force to gain a further sense of her opponent. He did not seem evil, nor did he seem cruel or malicious. He was calm. The calm that surrounded him was like that of many Jedi that she had met, but with something roiling deep within, something like—

Before she could divine anything further, a warning screamed in the back of her mind. Instinctively, the Miraluka activated the light yellow blades of her saberstaff and parried the strike away before she assumed a prepared stance. She raised her weapon over her head, parallel to the ground.

Karran recovered from the parry that had unbalanced his charge and turned to face his opponent with a flourish of his saber.

The Zabrak slowly stepped around the Miraluka. He watched her reaction to his movement. She did not move her body to look at him like most would, but constantly kept her face mostly angled toward him. Only when he was fully behind her did she shift. Riverche turned on him without lifting her feet. She only shifted them in the dirt. The dual-bladed lightsaber in her hands changed to a different position to compensate for the new stance.

The Sith continued to circle the woman like a shark, waiting for any slip in her position. When he believed he had found one, he dashed in. As the Zabrak released a chain of hammering strikes, the Miraluka created a whirlwind around herself. The kinetic movement of the blades simply batted away the Sith’s lightsaber before they could find their marks. Karran disengaged from Riverche and returned to his orbiting pattern. In the middle of his stride, the Zabrak dropped into a low position. His left leg stepped forward and extended as he lowered his weight to be supported on his right. He changed his hold on his saber to a reversed grip in his dominant hand.

Once again, Karran dashed in with a flurry of strikes. This time, however, they were notably less powerful but struck at more random angles. Switching from high to low and coming in from all sides, they arced through the air as the Zabrak continued to twist through the forms of K’thri.

Meanwhile, Riverche maintained her tight protective coils circling her body. The saberstaff had created a nigh-impregnable defensive barrier, but the Miraluka was beginning to show signs of tiring.

Karran broke away again. He was visibly frustrated as he paced around the woman. “You have a good defense, but when are you going to attack me and win? That is, unless you are content dying at the end of my blade.”

“I will not die at the end of your blade!” The Miraluka followed the circling movements of the Zabrak shark with a slight look of concentration on her face. The silvery threads of the Force started to slowly disconnect from her target until only a few strands remained.

Karran paused for a moment, shook his head, and continued his pacing. Through gritted teeth, “Your tricks will not save you if you don’t attack. Attack already.”

The Zabrak circled halfway around his pray, eying her for any changes in her posture. The red lightsaber etched a ring in the dry grass. As she turned to face him, he raised the red beam of light to strike. Her light-yellow protective arc intercepted. The two beams of light separated. The two sabers met again when he tried to do an upward swing. The sabers continued to match each other’s movements filling the air with colorful sparks. A swing to the left blocked. The downward plunge deflected. An aggressive attack at her right side blocked by her defensive saber. Her clockwork movements protected the vulnerable left leg. A sweeping kick barely missed her jumping boots. Red light swung over her quickly, ducked head in a full arc. The light circled in an attempt to connect with her shoulder. One of the yellow blades bounced off the red light sending its connected mate into the upper arm of the aggressive Zabrak’s armor. A gaping hole formed to allow a few drops of blood to escape. His eyes darken with fury but quickly subsided.

He returned to his shark-like pattern. He kept an eye on his pray as he struggled to form the concentration needed to seal the wound completely.

A look, similar to the one she had before, crossed her face. With newfound strength, she lowered a hand to her belt and retrieved a grenade of green slime. She used her thumb to push the red button on top of the grenade, activating it. She threw the goo in front of the circling shark. His boots formed a bond with a new substance, causing him to lurch forward. He straightened and raised his blade in time to meet her striking blow. He stretched out his free hand, palm facing her, a weak glow formed between the two.

The Miraluka weaved her blade in a slow, figure-eight motion striking the barrier at different angles. Ripples flowed through the barrier with each strike. The barrier crackled and popped when it shattered into countless sparks of light from the onslaught of attacks. The blade continued on its mission and singed his armor near the hip. His red saber quickly connected with hers to prevent further injury to its owner. He circled the blade in an upward motion locking her blade in place between them. Her right foot lifted off the ground, planted firmly in his stomach, and forcefully pushed him backward, breaking the lock.

The bond of the goo broke in time for him to stagger back and catch his breath. He raised his blade and quickly filled the void. The blade swung down aimed at her side, but her defensive arc blocked it from its target. The red line quickly arced over her head to be met by the other side of her blade. Bounced in a downward arc, under her raised feet to connect with her newly exposed hip. The left foot kicked him in the middle of his stomach, knocking him back a few steps gasping before it returned to the ground. Her right foot landed on the ground.

She took in a couple of deep breaths as the fresh wound on her hip closed to leave the few drops of blood as the only evidence it ever existed.

Karran watched as the Miraluka’s wound closed through the aid of the Force. His hand pressed to where she had landed the kick. His arm ached where she had burned through his armor and into his flesh. A superficial wound, but even the lightest of grazes from a lightsaber could hamper a warrior.

“So, you do have some bite. Let us see how long your teeth are then.”

Once again, Karran threw his entire being into his assault on Riverche’s defense. Again sparks flew from the clashing of their sabers. He battered against her defense. The Zabrak nearly lost himself to the fever pitch of battle before disengaging and returning to his orbit around the Miraluka.

The Sith knew he could not win this battle with brute strength. The Miraluka’s movements were efficient, wasting no energy. It allowed her to maintain a stalwart defense while exhausting minimal resources.

Karran doused his lightsaber. He extended his hand, reaching out with his mind to take a hold of Riverche’s lightsaber in an attempt to wrench it from her grasp.

The Miraluka felt the invisible force take hold of her saberstaff and begin pulling. She held onto it with all of her might but felt it slowly beginning to slip from her fingers. Alarms of warning flashed in her mind to warn her of the incoming danger of the charging Zabrak.

She raised her saber to defend herself feeling the pulling force disappear. In the middle of his charge, Karran’s saber sprung to life in his hands once more and swept in a wide, powerful arc. The crimson blade of his lightsaber met the yellow of hers in an almost blinding shower of sparks. Riverche went to parry his strike to the side, but Karran dug in his heels and put all of his strength into pressing his blade into hers. He would not allow the power of this strike to be parried away. Inch by inch, he pressed their locked blades closer and closer to his opponent until the yellow plasma of Riverche’s lightsaber was nearly singeing her clothes. With a quick movement, Karran moved his hand from the hilt of his own saber to the middle of the Miraluka’s.

The Zabrak struck out with his foot, attempting to disrupt Riverche’s footing, while he heaved up the hilt of her lightsaber. Karran leveraged her body weight using his shoulder as a fulcrum and threw her over his shoulders and flat onto the ground. He then planted a foot on her stomach as he leveled his saber at her.

With a flourish, the Zabrak deactivated his saber and returned it to its place on his belt before offering a hand of assistance to the prone Miraluka.

“It would be an honor to have you on my crew.”