Private Time of Change

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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This was going to be a rather big day.​

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It wasn't often that planets with much ongoing conflict reached important diplomatic solutions that would be beneficial to all. But after rather intense negotiations, political figures on Stobar had finally come to an agreement for the future of the planet. They were going to work together to fight back against the intense crime and violence the planet was known for. With plans for an entirely new and well-funded law enforcement, things were going to change for the better.​

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As a formal way to introduce this new era for the people of Stobar, the signing of the diplomatic accord was going to be a big event at the political center of the planet. Important planetary figures would be there, but also representatives from neighboring worlds and even the Jedi were requested to oversee the signing. This is what brought Valery to the planet, who requested to be sent so she could show her Padawan something new about the Galaxy once again.​

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Together, they would arrive at the massive building, which was surrounded by incredibly heavy security. While most people were thrilled about the coming changes, the criminals who had been in control until the accord had caused riots in some places and made plenty of threats to overthrow this new government and its plans. For this reason, the two Jedi were asked to give up their lightsabers on entry, which Valery had agreed to.​

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"Come on, Iris, The signing will start soon." She said as they moved to take a seat in the large hall. A long table stood in the center with everything ready for the signing that would start in a moment.​

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"This might not be the most exciting thing to witness, but it's a very important day. There will also be a party in celebration after, so maybe we can go there if you'd like?" She asked as she sat down in her assigned seat.​

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[Iris Arani]

Diplomacy was an important part of being a Jedi. Or so Iris was told. In all honesty, it wasn't something Iris had come across. Politics, at least. Talking down a gunman was one thing, the stage she was to help Valery Noble with was another. The formation of a new government. Where did Iris even start? She had no idea, but she followed alongside her master regardless. Domxite, too. The Rainbow Gem had a new housing, one that used it's lightsaber home to power.

A BD unit.

With the lightsaber within the droid, Iris didn't have a weapon to pass over. There were a couple skeptical looks, but the teenager didn't try to hide anything and was open to a search if needed. Which only had her waved along.

"I'm sure it'll be boring. But it is important, right?" Iris smiled, nodding to her master. "I want to see it."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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"Oh, it will be boring."​

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Valery almost snorted at her Padawan's honesty, but she definitely wasn't wrong. Sitting still in a large room like this to watch the signing of a document from afar wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. But it was certainly important. So even though she would have liked to be out there, Valery leaned back in her chair and watched as the doors of the hall were being closed.​

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Everybody was in their seats and slowly, the chatter began to fade out as it became clear that the signing was about to start.​

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In the back of the room, two large doors were then pushed open and a group of people in expensive clothing came out. They positioned themselves around the long table and slowly but surely, the rather long and dull signing began. Pictures were being taken, News reporters were explaining things live and the two Jedi were simply observing.​

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But eventually, a rather tall figure stood up as it was his turn to sign the document. But with each step he got closer to the document, tension began to rise in the Force.​

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"You feel that, too?" Valery asked, but it seemed impossible to determine where it was coming from. It was almost as if it came from the entire building.​

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[Iris Arani]

Feel boredom? Yes. Absolutely yes.

Yet the question wasn't about boredom, and Iris knew that. Despite the clear boredom on her face as she slouched in her chair, she could feel the tension rising. What was happening? She rose from the slouch, her eye narrowing slightly. Trying to figure it out. "Domxite..?" The Force sensitive droid felt it too. "Somethings wrong." She just affirmed what Valery Noble was asking her about.

"Who is that guy?"

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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"Not sure."​

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The man who had walked up to sign the document wasn't someone Valery recognized — most of them she wasn't overly familiar with. But as he began to scribble down his signature, the tension felt so high that breathing almost became difficult under it. If Iris were to look at Valery, she'd notice her eyes suddenly widening.​

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As if she picked up on something​

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"Iris get dow-" She tried to yell at the top of her lungs but it was already too late.​

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All around the hall, large explosives suddenly detonated in a sequence so fast that nothing could be done to stop them. A powerful shockwave struck at everything and everybody in the room as a result, and most of the crowd was swallowed up in a giant fireball, while very little remained of those signing the diplomatic accord.​

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Along with the blast, shrapnel and debris were launched wildly into the air, causing windows to shatter and people to get injured even worse as sharp pieces of metal and wood pierced through their skin. ​

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"Nobody move!" A voice then called out as, through multiple doors, armed thugs with masks appeared. They noticed someone crawling near the stage, and despite them already being badly injured, the man was gunned down.​

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Now one question remained — how well did the Jedi get through the explosion?​

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[Iris Arani]

"Iris get dow-"

She was already moving, already trying to find somewhere safe. There wasn't anywhere safe, though. Not from this. The room lit up in chaos and fire. It was over in a split second, but the young Padawan was disoriented. Pained. Cuts and freshly forming bruises covered her visible skin. Nothing serious, nothing that she couldn't close on her own. But in her daze she stood. Or, more accurately, tried to.

The moment she put her weight on her left foot she crumbled. Pain ripped through her fuzzy mind, the only thing to for the moment. Iris yelped as she curled up on the ground. Sure enough, a jagged piece of glass currently resided in her ankle. Perfectly severing the tendon. Perfectly crippling her. The Padawan whimpered, hands shakily reaching for it. At least at first.

Domxite was there, as always. In their new droid body they stood close by, already holding a stim out for her. She nodded briefly before taking it and immediately injecting it close to the wound. At least it could numb the pain, for the moment.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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Looking around with blurry vision, Valery saw lips moving from those screaming in agony, but all she heard was a deafening ring in her ears from the explosion. Somehow in all the chaos, none of the debris had struck her and with the little bit of time she had, she was able to shield herself against the explosive shockwave.​

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As sound then slowly began to return, she also began to take notice of Iris' situation. Her Padawan was hurt, causing her to move with widened eyes. But before she could reach the young girl, a voice behind her caught her attention.​

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"There's the Jedi!"​

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Valery turned around quickly, only for the stock of a rifle to slam into the side of her face, sending her down to the ground. It hadn't quite knocked her unconscious the way the masked figure had hoped, but she'd be down for a moment. ​

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The man then turned to Iris and aimed his weapon, "Don't try anything stupid, Jedi. You're coming with us. Hands behind your head."​

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[Iris Arani]

The stim helped Iris focus a bit more, but it wasn't enough. How much blood had she lost? Hard to tell, but there was a pool around her. Her ankle throbbed. She needed to get the glass out. Close the wound. A soft whimper escaped her as she gripped the glass and pulled. Sure enough, the glass came out. But not without cutting open her palm in the process. Still numb from the stim she could at least function, but it hurt.

It hurt so bad.

Shakily she put her hand to her ankle, using the colors to at least close the wound there. She couldn't fix muscle or tendon, but at least she wasn't going to bleed out. Her gaze lifted to the thug and the blaster pointed at her. What was she going to do? She couldn't move from where she was, not like this. The thug didn't care. Whatever they were here for, a couple of Jedi in the way would only complicate things.

With Iris not moving as ordered, he simply lifted the blaster, ready to fire. "Fine."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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Everything had happened so quickly.​

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She had wanted to shield her Padawan from the explosion but had failed her completely. Iris was bleeding and she was on the ground with a stream of blood running down her face from the hit she took. Her vision was blurry and her balance frail, but she was aware of what was happening around her. She felt the tremor as a weapon was aimed at her Padawan.​

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"No! Stop!"​

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Valery suddenly came back up, positioning herself between the barrel of the blaster and iris, who wasn't able to move. She had her hands up and looked the man in the eyes.​

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"We surrend-" Before she could get the words out, a fist struck just underneath her lower libs, causing her to fold over from the pain and air being knocked out of her lungs. The man then gripped her neck and tossed her aside, towards two other thugs who had moved to join him. They took hold of her roughly and looked over at their boss as an order was given.​

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"Take her and lock her up alone, away from the other hostages."​

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While they began to take Valery away, the leader of the group looked back at Iris.​

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"Last chance, kid. You either move or I'm going to make you move."​

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[Iris Arani]

She needed to move. But she couldn't move. At least, she couldn't stand on her foot. But maybe..? She pushed herself up, not wanting to get shot. She hand to try, at least. Trying turned out to be the worse of ideas. Unable to put weight on her ankle and dizzy from blood loss she fell back a step. A step onto the injured ankle, and she fell again. Whimpering she gripped for her leg.

"I.. I can't."

"Shame." The blaster revved up to fire.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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With every bit of strength she had, Valery fought to resist being taken away by the two masked attackers. Her Padawan was still in trouble and her safety was more important to her than her own. Seeing the blaster rev up and feeling the echo of danger, she yelled and channeled the Force to shove the two away from her.​

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She tried to move back towards Iris but a hand gripped around her ponytail, pulling her head back before the two were back on top of her, now pushing her down to the ground. Valery resisted all the way through, but when the rifle stock was slammed against the back of her head, she fell unconscious. ​

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The two then began to drag her away, looking for a small room where they could lock her up in, safely away from anything she could use to escape or become troublesome.​

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"Shame." the man had said, and despite the commotion behind him, he pulled the trigger and fired.​

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[Iris Arani]

Iris tensed. The Force darkened all around her, the gunman. She was going to die. The young Padawan's eyes squeezed shut. It didn't block out the world of colors. The dangerous red. The dimming of lethal intent. She could still see it. The only thing she wanted to see was Kai Bamarri . Then the gun went off. The colors didn't end. For a moment, confusion filled her mind. Was she dead? Was this what happened after she died?

You need to move.

Domxite's 'voice' rang through her mind. Between her and the soldier, the droid body that housed the gem had been blasted apart. Domxite wasn't there, though. Instead, her lightsaber was in the air, having activated. Cut through the guard. Iris blinked in surprise, but she didn't question it. Instead she scrambled under the table as blaster fire erupted around her. Down a leg the most she could do was crawl.

Right to the vent there. Domxite flew back to her hand and she cut the grate, falling in. Out of sight. Out of danger. Yelling. Orders to find her. The leader that had been cut was still alive, that much she could tell. But right now? She just scrambled through the vents. SHe needed to get somewhere safe. Fix her leg. Tnen maybe she could help Valery Noble .

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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With her head pounding and her body aching, Valery slowly regained consciousness but it was still dark. The masked figures had blindfolded her, and both her hands and feet were tied together to keep her from moving about easily. In the far distance, she could hear people screaming with fear while others were barking out orders, but she sat in relative silence.​

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She only sensed a presence nearby — likely someone guarding the room they were keeping her in.​

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Valery, however, did not need to be free in order to communicate with her Padawan. She simply calmed her breathing and focused on the Force until she felt Iris' presence. Which also meant that she was still alive.​

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<T> "Iris, are you somewhere safe? They're keeping me restrained in a room not too far from the main hall."​

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While Valery tried to establish the mental bridge and communicate, Iris could hear people walking below the ventilation shafts, looking for her within the building. They already had heavily armed thugs at the exit points of the building, so inch by inch, they planned to search everything.​

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<T> "We need to get control of the situation somehow."​

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[Iris Arani]

Iris tumbled through the vents. Small as she was, she wasn't used to having to move like this. The banging was loud, easily showing where she was. But she kept moving. Kept going farther and farther away. When the shouting finally couldn't be heard, she stopped. Then unshouldered her pack to start fixing her wound. Both her wounds. The blood trail from her hand was an all too clear line where she went.

At least nothing had followed her into the vents.

She hissed as she applied the bacta patch to her palm. It would close, but the stim had started to wear off. Then, it was the more important part. Her ankle. She could hobble on one foot if needed, but to rescue Valery Noble and figure out what was going on? She bit her lip as she rubbed over the barely closed cut.

<T> "Iris, are you somewhere safe? They're keeping me restrained in a room not too far from the main hall."

Thank the Force.

<T> "We need to get control of the situation somehow."

<I'm in the vents still. I can't stand on my own, not on both feet. I think I severed the tendon in my ankle. I-> She cut off as she heard something. A scraping sound. She blinked, scanning around her.

<Something's in here with me.>

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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<I'm in the vents still. I can't stand on my own, not on both feet. I think I severed the tendon in my ankle. I-> She cut off as she heard something. A scraping sound. She blinked, scanning around her.

<Something's in here with me.>

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A frown and deep worry struck hard at Valery, as Iris explained her own situation. If she wasn't able to properly move, it was going to be a lot more difficult to deal with the attackers. Perhaps escape was going to be their only option in this scenario.​

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<T> "Prioritize your own safety over mine — do what you must." Valery replied, hoping Iris was going to be able to handle whatever was after her.​

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For Valery though, It seemed that she was going to have to arrange her own way out of her restraints somehow. After waiting for a little while, the opportunity finally came, as two armed thugs entered the room with her. One remained near the door while the other walked over to pull the blindfold off her face.​

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"Not that pretty of a face anymore," he remarked, as part of her face had swollen and was covered in dried-up blood.​

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"Still not as ugly as-" she was interrupted as the back of his hand struck against her cheek, resulting in some blood beginning to drip from her lips. She did not look forward to coming home and having to explain all of this to her fiancé.​

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"Open your mouth again and you'll lose some teeth."​

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"That a promise?" Her plan was working because the moment he stepped closer to hit her again, she launched herself towards the man to meet him with great speed. The Force was flowing through her and with an augmented body hit, she crashed her shoulder into his face to knock him out.​

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Due to his body being between her and the other guard, he couldn't open fire. This gave Valery the time to channel the Force again, turning it against the guard at the door, who was slammed headfirst into the wall. All-in-all, everything happened quickly but by the time it was over, Valery was crawling over to one of them to cut herself free using their knives.​

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[Iris Arani]

<T> "Prioritize your own safety over mine — do what you must."

No, that's not at all what she wanted to hear, but she heard it anyway. They both were in a lot of trouble, that much Iris could understand. Still, the continued scraping sounds of something in the vent with her couldn't be ignored. She'd panic, if not for Domxite's influence. But even that wasn't enough to keep her calm as the serpent that'd been hunting her slithered into sight. Hard scales scrapped against the metal of the vent as it's tongue flicked out.

Yellow eyes stared, glowing in the faint light of Iris's saber. She'd never seen a snake before, but her whole body locked up. Fear, instinct. She wasn't sure which. Then it struck. Far faster than she expected it lunged. Her saber came down, too late. A sharp pain filled her side as the larger serpents fangs punctured flesh. Flooded her with venom. She yelped loudly as her blade cut through it.

It was dead. That much was certain. Head removed from the rest of it's body the serpent fell still. But she had to pry it's fangs out of her body. She whimpered, winced. Whined. It hurt. But what came next was far worse than that. It's hallucinogenic venom coursed through her body. The vent around warped and melted. The colors around her did the same. All at once the world she thought she knew was thrown into chaos.

And fear firmly gripped her heart.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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<T> "Iris?"

Valery had managed to get herself freed from her restraints and armed herself with a knife and blaster she retrieved from the unconscious guards. She had tied them up the best she could, and left them behind in the locked room, but it was only going to be a matter of time until they were found.​

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<T> "I was able to get out, and I have weapons." Although one was a blaster, and she hardly felt confident using it. What setting was it even on?​

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<T> "Where are you?"​

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But right as she asked her question, she passed through a hallway to see a masked figure appearing on the other end, a powerful rifle in his hands. Seeing the brunette, he quickly took aim and a firefight was about to start.. ​

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[Iris Arani]

The vent was spinning. She was spinning. Iris clutched the sides of her head, trying to get the spinning to stop. The world around her was gone. Harsh blends of colors made it impossible to see. She couldn't even hear Valery Noble in her head. She couldn't feel Domxite trying to help her. All there was was chaos. She gripped the sides of her head, falling to the side even as the puncture wounds continued to bleed.

She was dying. She had to be dying. Maybe she died before, and this was just some image in her brain trying to trick her into being alive?

<T> "Where are you?"

Her master's voice finally cut through the fog. Iris blinked. Domxite's calming reach finally got through. The panic and fear in her heart was gone. She was.. Poisoned? Poisoned. She wasn't able to find her balance, not in the hallucination, but she could do something. Practically clawing her way through the haze of colors she found the source. The poison within. She pulled it free, out of her body before it could ruin her any further. Streams of black ichor were pulled from the punctures.

Then she closed them. She let out a breath, closing her eyes.

<Still in the vent. There was a snake. I'm fine.>

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Stobar​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Tag: Iris Arani ​

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As Valery's voice punctured through the fog within Iris' mind, she slowly began to gain control again with Domxite's never-ending help. The poison was being cleansed from her system and as it did, her senses began to adjust again. Just in time for her to hear two blasters go off in quick succession below her.​

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The vent Iris was in had been in the ceiling, and directly below her, she could feel her Master's pain, as a blaster bolt struck her left side and sent her to the ground.​

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Valery's own bolt had completely missed her target, hitting a wall far off in the hallway. A yelp of pain followed, and with a quick reaction, she threw her knife towards the shooter, hitting him in his chest plate. It caused him to stumble but he wasn't quite out of the fight yet.​

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He aimed his rifle again and was squeezing on the trigger...​

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[Iris Arani]

Bloodloss. That's what fueled what Iris did next. There were plenty of better ideas, literally anything was better. But she saw the danger for Valery Noble and acted. Domxite lit up as she slashed through the vent, falling through just between her master and the gunman. Taking the shot to the gut instead of it hitting her master. She blinked as the familiar, burning pain ripped through just before hitting the ground.

She coughed and wheezed, holding her stomach as everything turned to a blur. Hidden behind the haze of pain. She could safely say she hated being shot, if she survived.