You stand in a room, nearly dark but for the pulse of rhythmic flashes of bright colored lights. Besides your opponent and yourself, you note a large number of bystanders who are sure to take exception to the coming carnage. Then again, knowing this crowd, they could just as easily find entertainment in an old-fashioned brawl. Spanky's is, after all, one of the more fashionable drinking establishments of Karufr.

The patrons seem to be a mix between the scantily clad women hawking their charms and the well-dressed gentlemen eager to part with their hard-earned credits. The odors in the tavern assault your senses and threaten to muddle your reflexes. Among them, you recognize over a dozen various types of stimulants—both legal and illegal—and the heady scent of, what is quite possibly, the most varied collection of liquor this side of the Galaxy.

The tavern itself is fraught with tactical advantages and disadvantages. Designed in the familiar style of all amphitheaters, the floor is slightly slanted toward a central stage where a lithe, twi'lek female is currently dancing. Littered amongst the floor are drink tables, heavily laden with glassware and other potential missiles. Uncomfortable, heavy metal chairs surround each of the tables in a semi-circle, so that the occupant's view of the stage is never hindered. The only exit, aside from the doorway where you stand, is a vaulted staircase—guarded by two very well-dressed, and heavily muscled, gentlemen—leading into parts unknown.

Small bars bracket the tavern on either side, filled with a glittering rainbow of bottles. Whatever is about to go down, you realize it would go down better with a stiff drink.

The sultry voice of the Warden-Commander whispered into Aiden Lee's earpiece, gifting him with the words to complete his current assignment. Spanky's was in full swing tonight: the music was blaring, the crowd was fairly densely packed and the drinks were flowing freely. All in all it was a great night to go out and enjoy life while you could - but the Warden had no such time to enjoy the fineries of this wonderful drinking establishment. It was his first real assignment since his promotion to the rank of Knight, putting that little bit of extra pressure and the expectation of success on his own mind. With his mission first and foremost, he knew he had to complete his assignment as part of his duty to his Clan. However, his commanding officer's words kept him at ease.

"Relax. There's a reason we call you best Aiden, remember?" the voice told him, eliciting a smile from the Gray Jedi. "You can handle this. Talk to me. What are we seeing?"

"I've got this. Eyes are on target. Confirmed that it's the agent from Arcona."

Indeed, an agent from Arcona was gifting Karufr with his presence. Rhace Tarrin was very much enjoying his second drink of the night, a quality Corellian whisky straight from the motherland. He wasn't exactly there to be threatening at that point in time, but the Taldryanites also weren't wrong about him. The operative was there specifically to glean intelligence from the Taldryan sphere of influence concerning rogue members of Arcona. He had to find out what secrets of the Shadow Clan had been surrendered in the process, if any; his mission was specifically not to engage any enemy combatants and return home if things got dicey.

He knew he was being followed, of course - what self-respecting operative wouldn't know that on a hostile world he'd been followed from the moment he dropped out of hyperspace? Rhace wasn't a fool.

For now, Aiden approached, hand drifting slowly to the lightsaber riding at his side. He wasn't a Force-user, was he? He couldn't sense a thing from this guy, even if his senses weren't as honed as he would have liked for a job like this. However, there was the unmistakable stench of the Dark Side emanating from the Arconan. How did a mundane like him have a Dark Side presence on him?

Aiden paused a moment, thinking - if this guy had a Dark presence on him without being a Dark Sider himself, something was clearly the matter here. There was only one solution: call it in. "What do you want me to do about it, boss?"

"We don't need known spies on our planets. Engage at your discretion. Out."

Aiden steeled his nerves and took a step closer as the operative cast a glance up. Spies and counter-spies. It was an interesting game to play, to be sure. Rhace had been doing it for so long now that it was just a part of daily life. Knowing when you were going to be tailed was a necessary part of the job. The obvious hand on a lightsaber was clue enough for the ex-Imperial to realise that, yes, this was one of the agents of Clan Taldryan at work here.

"Take a seat, friend, I'm not here to cause trouble," said Rhace as disarmingly as he could. Clearly, he was always here to cause trouble in his own little way. That didn't matter. Right now he was halfway through his second drink and finally starting to enjoy it.

"Both of us know that isn't going to happen, Arconan," replied the Warden in his own quiet tone. "I'm going to need you to surrender. Let's not make a scene here around these wonderful patrons."

"And both of us know that isn't going to happen, kid," Rhace shot back, sighing as he set his glass down on the counter in front of him. He wished fervently he could've finished that, but there was no time. "Can't we at least wait until I'm finished my drink?" It was almost imploring.

"Sorry. You know I can't let you." Within a second, the vicious curved-hilt saber was in Aiden's hand and sprang to life with the distinctive snap-hiss that every lightsaber issued. For the patrons here, this was a normal occurrence; despite this, the scraping of chairs away from what was probably the fourth saber duel this week heralded the start of an engagement. Grumbles and sighs echoed around the chamber of the tavern. Yet another interruption.

Rhace levered himself off his barstool then stood up at his full height, drawing the golden-hilted Sith Sword crafted for him by his best friend, a relic of the Shadow Academy that could withstand the purple-bladed weapon before him. Two hands drew up the vicious, slightly-curved longsword, holding it defensively in front of him. This was not the soldier's ideal fight. He far preferred to get the drop on his enemy. No, this would take a little strategy on his part and somehow he'd get through it.

Three rapid steps crossed the distance the Warden needed to go before he scythed his blade upwards from a low guard into a high vertical slash, only for it to be deflected off the mirror-polished surface of the sword. Aiden was no fool - such a relic blade had to come from somewhere exquisite like the Shadow Academy. He withdrew a single step before thrusting his blade forward. His quick footwork and darting swordplay was inherent of his strategic combat, trying to poke every hole in his enemy's defences that he possibly could. However, where a sword lanced forward, a twisting blade parried it away - Rhace was stuck on the defensive, certainly, but he was matching the opening movements of the keen-eyed youth's sonata.

Until, of course, Aiden lashed a hand out and picked up the half-empty glass that his opponent had left on the counter with the Force, then promptly smashed the thing over the back of Rhace's head as best he could. Shards of glass tangled in the black mat of hair that the operative tried to keep well-trimmed, blood seeping down the back of his skull as the dampness in his hair mixed, a coppery scent with the powerful tang of whisky.

For a moment, Rhace staggered about, unhappy with this turn of events. Aiden wanted to wear his opponent down, perhaps make him stagger a bit and easier to fight, but the Arconan was having none of that. His eyes were swimming... but that wasn't about to stop him. Here he was hoping not to have to turn to his blaster, but that looked like an increasing probability as things went. Not yet. Only when he really needed it.

"Kid, you shouldn't have done that," Rhace murmured, slowly, deliberately. A moment later he charged right back into the fray, sword raised high. He had to end this fight as soon as possible in order to get some medical treatment for his head. He couldn't keep fighting like this. One hit had to finish it all - and they both echoed the same sentiment.

The smell of blood permeated the distance between Aiden and Rhace as the Arconan charged forward, blade in hand. Aiden parried the Sith Sword away with the flick of his wrist before countering with a forward thrust. The Arconan twisted his body away from the lightsabers' scorching touch, bumping into a nearby table. As the table shook, glass bottles and cups fell to the floor, with a loud crash.

“Hey man, watch it! Those were our drinks!” A disgruntled patron shouted.

“A bit busy here, but i'll do my best to watch out for you sir,” Rhace jibed.

Aiden swung his arm, slashing his hissing purple blade towards Rhace, narrowly missing as the Commander jumped up onto the table. The bystanders vacated the area in masses, clearing a circle as the two warriors faced each other. Rhace felt a hint of vertigo, as the wound to his head throbbed. He had a slight glaze on his eyes, which Aiden could see.

The Commander made a quick survey of Spanky’s and saw a nearby upper floor with a metal guardrail. Taking this opportunity, he jumped from table to table, glass crushing beneath his feet. The patrons, whose drinks he crushed, cursed at him and complained about their loss.

Aiden followed close behind, disengaging his lightsaber to avoid harming the Taldryan subjects around them. Rhace jumped up and grabbed ahold of the guardrail and pulled himself up.

“Distance and height won’t save you Arconan, and I’d hate to have to kill you,” Aiden announced, annoyed by the Commanders' unwillingness to cooperate peacefully. “I will bring you in, one way or another.”

“Sorry my friend, but the only way you get me is if you kill me, and I have too much work to do before that happens.” Rhace’s voice sounded confident as he spoke, though he looked to be in pain as blood oozed through his hair, and down the nape of his neck, staining his jacket.

“You leave me no choice then,” the Knight sighed.

Aiden brought his right hand to the side, lightsaber extended, and whipped his arm forward, releasing the purple blade. The lightsaber spun through the air, hissing as it closed in on the Commander. Knowing what was coming, Rhace ducked down just in time for the purple blade to fly past his head, taking a few stray black hairs with it before slicing into the wall behind him.

Aiden’s hand remained stretched out, willing the hilt to return. The lightsaber curved in the air and flew back into his hand, his fingers closed around the blades' hilt.

“I apologize for the damage to your wall, it will be taken care of,” Aiden apologized as he turned towards the nearest bartender, whose face was red with anger.

Rhace took this distraction as a chance to go on the offensive. He vaulted over the guard rail and slashed his Sith Sword towards the preoccupied Taldryan. Aiden could sense the danger coming from behind him. Switching the lightsaber to his left hand, he spun around and parried the sword away. The Commander’s feet touched down, and attacked again only for his sword to be locked against the /knight’s purple lightsaber.

“I’m impressed kid, didn’t think you’d be able to block that.”

“I still have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Aiden replied, his confidence in his abilities growing.

Aiden pushed forward, his strength winning out as he forced Rhace to stumble backwards. Taking this moment, the Knight slammed his left hand to the ground. Force energy impacted the stone floors beneath him causing a wave of pure energy to crash into Rhace and the nearby tables. Glass crashed to the floor as the tables shook. Cries of terror were heard from the fallen bystanders.

Aiden concentrated for a few moments, allowing the Force to surge through his body. The Taldryan now felt reinvigorated, walked across the shard covered floor towards Rhace, crushing the glass into a fine powder. The Arconan stood back up, and noticed a glass shard protruding from his left shoulder. He let out a hiss from pain. The Commander pulled the shard out, relishing in the fact that it hadn’t been too deeply embedded into his skin. Aiden, refusing to let his opponent rest, continued his offensive tactics, engaging the Arconan with his lightsaber. It soon became clear that Aiden’s skill with a lightsaber was more refined than Rhace’s ability with the Sith Sword.

Rhace swayed from and he stumbled in the fight. Aiden took advantage of this stumble and pushed his left hand forward, blunt Force energy slamming into Rhace. The Commander was knocked backwards and toppled over a nearby table, dropping the Sith Sword in the process. Stretching out his left hand, Aiden pulled the sword into his grasp.

“Surrender Arconan. This fight is over.”

As Rhace staggered upwards, his plan solidified in his head. It was real easy to get a good read on this kid; he was a straightforward kind of fighter in the sense that he had honour and purpose to the way he fought. Yes, strategy was clearly working for the Taldryanite, but he also knew that strategy came from data that had to be processed... and he wasn't processing certain data correctly, especially about the operative.

Perfect.

The blade gifted to Rhace by an old friend now whirled effortlessly over the Warden's left hand, admiring the craftsmanship of the weapon as he did so. To be fair, the spy was a better combatant with the sword than the Jedi, but nevertheless. "This is a beautiful sword," commented Aiden as he locked eyes with his opponent, trying to size him up and get a proper read on the moment - and the best time to strike. "Where did you come across such a beautiful artifact of the Dark Side?"

Rhace curled his lips up into a crooked smile, reaching over his shoulder for his beloved E-11b resting on its sling. His favoured weapon back in his hands, he felt he could control the fight. "Well, I am a representative of the Grand Master's Inquisitorius. You wouldn't know anything about the gifts a Chief Inquisitor receives, but I am bestowed certain benefits for my service."

Aiden shrugged. Well, the spy wasn't wrong. He didn't know. Those things were hidden secrets... and he had all the trappings to back up his statement, like that scanner riding on his hip that bore the mark of the Inquisitorius. There was only so much that he could do in the situation. Besides, you always knew never to question the truth of an Inquisitor's words, lest they take you down for secrecy.

"Enough talking, Arconan," Aiden finally said, leveling his lightsaber. The Sith sword fell to the floor with a loud clatter, discarded - the sword was an unnecessary addition to his arsenal when he controlled the bladed weapons. A lightsaber was more than enough match for a blaster rifle. "I'm bringing you in. Now."

"You're not even good enough to try, kid," Rhace shot back with a smirk on his lips - and then took his opening snap shot at Aiden's midsection, barely even taking the time to aim it. Not that he needed to at this point - it only served as a warning to his enemy that the fight was truly on in earnest. The Gray Jedi whirled his lightsaber over his hand, effortlessly deflecting the green blaster bolt into the floor and wondering why he'd even wasted his time pulling the trigger before he charged. Whatever. Aiden had the upper hand, with the guidance of the Force.

"Not bad. Catch me if you can!" Rhace called before he turned to run to the nearest set of tables. The plan was now in motion and so was he, aiming to push Aiden physically and mentally to the point of breaking. He had to confuse his enemy with what was, in theory, a series of straightforward actions. He was going to fake a high strategy of broken glass bottles and appear to be a fool, and then finish Aiden off. With a solid glare at where he was headed, the spy sprinted towards the tables - only to be met with the acrobatic form of the Knight vaulting through the air and landing on the table he intended to reach, lightsaber pointed down before Rhace could use it as cover. Damnit. Not ideal - best to come up with something on the fly.

Without breaking stride, Rhace slipped down and slid across the floor with his blaster raised, expecting to take a shot. Aiden readied his lightsaber, high enough to deflect the inevitable headshot that the stormtrooper was aiming for even as he moved. However, there wasn't a shot - the Shadesworn lowered his gun as he passed under the cantina table, sliding cleanly under it. As he did so, he kicked his legs upwards, rocking the table to force the Knight off-balance rather suddenly. The swaying of the wooden surface was enough to force Aiden off, the young man collapsing in a heap on the floor as the Arconan found himself in an equally awkward position with legs splayed all about. Nobody ever said combat was beautiful, after all.

Both men rolled with little time to get up - Rhace into sniper's prone, Aiden into a clean posture on his back with one hand outstretched in order to deploy the Force with ease to prevent the incoming shot off a shimmering facade. A pair of blaster bolts sang through the air, only for their existence to be revoked as they slammed into nothingness. A temporary shield erected hastily did not last, however, but it bought Aiden the time to stand that he needed. With his lightsaber cleanly in his hand he was already running towards the Commander, who was lining up for his next shot behind the protective cover of a table.

Aiden knew he could finish this. There was no bladed weapon that this man could employ even in remotely close reach that would stop a lightsaber; all he had to do was get inside effective range of the blaster, blow him away with his telekinetic prowess as a distraction, then slice him to ribbons. Let him get settled for just a moment before he could strike - the Force would give him the predictive capacity to time his evasive strike - and take him out with telekinesis in the right moment. Knock him down again and again before he could line up and finish him quickly.

Rhace exhaled. Time to let go. Time to expand his consciousness, apply everything he learned in sniper school and be one with his blaster. One with his weapon. The medley of cacophonous destruction sang in his ears for the thousandth time in his career. One finger brushed from the finger guard down to the trigger, caressing cold steel slowly.

The whisper in the back of his mind told him that he was about to come under fire. Now was the time.

The moment Aiden began reaching down to unleash the Force at him, reaching down to telekinetically knock both table and shooter away in a powerful wave, Rhace identified his chance that he'd been waiting for - the finger coiling on the trigger was all for show. Enough grip on the weapon to throw it as an impromptu strike efficiently, the blaster rifle careened towards the Knight - and so did the trooper a moment later, planting his hands on the edge of the table and vaulting it rapidly. With athletic training to navigate obstacles like this, it wasn't difficult for him to do it.

It had all been a lie. Constantly take time to set up shots, and then mess with Aiden's head at the last possible moment - he didn't take surprises well. The Knight's eyes widened at the show of bravado, surprised. How and why did a sniper pull something like this off? This wasn't in the plan.

That instant of surprise was enough for Rhace to perform a single fluid motion at the peak of his efficiency while Aiden was half-coiled towards the ground - draw his sidearm and thumb the setting switch in a single attack. A trio of stun blasts echoed forward as the Arconan rocketed through the air towards Aiden with a triple-tap on his trusty blaster weapon, body skewed every which way. Aiden tried to raise his saber, but it was futile; not fast enough at very short range, caught off-guard.

Rhace landed in a heap at Aiden's side, having used up all of his energy in the heat of the moment. It was unfortunate that the Taldryan agent had to come up against him here, because there he was on the ground unconscious, collapsing under the neural overload of three shots at stun setting. Scrub the mission and go home, the spy knew. That was just one of their guys and he didn't really have the energy to handle all of this all over again. First, back to his ship to find a medkit, then back to Selen to report his findings to the Shadow Lady. Picking himself up, he reclaimed his sword and rifle from the ground as a good agent would - leaving only a few dozen witnesses, of course.

Good kid, that one. If he sharpened his senses a little, he'd be even better.

Rhace stood up from the onslaught. He could feel the injuries that covered his body, and the pain weighed heavily on him. Seeing his blade in his enemy’s hands angered him, and he felt a slightly renewed vigor. Dropping a hand to his side, near the holster containing his modified blaster. He raised his other hand up in surrender.

“What can I say kid, your good, maybe too good for me to handle. I’ll come in peace. You’ve bested me.”

Aiden Lee was unsure whether or not to trust the Arconan, but after looking over the various injuries that covered the Loyalist, and the tired look on the man’s face, Aiden came to his decision. He had been proven in the past to be too forgiving and trusting, and he hoped it wouldn’t the last mistake he made. Disengaging his lightsaber, and slipping the Sith Sword into his belt, Aiden walked forward to apprehend the worn out foe. The Taldryan Knight kept his thoughts clear with the aid of the Force.

Rhace couldn’t help but smirk as the Grey Jedi approached. This boy was far too trusting for his own good, and Rhace was glad to take advantage of the kid’s weakness. As Aiden came closer, Rhace quickly grabbed the blaster from its holster, and whipped it towards Aiden, aiming at the Grey Jedi’s chest and fired.

Aiden felt the Force pull at his mind and body, and watched with wide eyes as the blaster raised towards him. Using his Force strengthened muscles and reflexes, the Knight was barely able to dodge the red blaster bold that grazed his robes.

Rhace’s smirk vanished as the blaster missed its mark. He moved his arm to aim at the Knights new location, but his movements were slowed due to his previous injuries to his still bleeding arm. Aiden took the moment of hesitation to reactivated his lightsaber and bisect the blaster in Rhace’s hand with an upward slash. He followed with a downward curve striking the gunman’s arm seeding searing pain through Rhace’s arm. The Arconan grunted in pain and grabbed his burned arm.

Not willing to give the enemy anymore reprieve Aiden swung his curved hilted lightsaber and struck Rhace’s left leg. The Loyalist fell to the ground in pain. The battle was finished. Holding his pained limbs, Rhace glared at Aiden. The

“Just kill me already.”

“I probably should, but fortunately for you I don’t like to unnecessarily take lives. You are coming with me.”

Applause filled the tavern, as the Knight of Clan Taldryan was victorious.

“Command, I have the Arconan known as Rhace Tarrin in custody. Please send an extraction team to pick us up.”

“They are onn their way, and good work Aiden Lee” His commanding officer responded over their Comlink.