Private A Shadow's Job

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Enroute to Thule

"We'll be arriving soon."

Valery turned into the shuttle's pilot seat and looked at Rhis, who she asked to come along for this mission. She had learned about a long-abandoned structure on Thule built deep within one of its canyons, and old records had mentioned the possibility of Dark Side artifacts being present. It was the perfect assignment for a former Jedi Shadow, but with more and more Sith showing up everywhere in the Galaxy to take such objects for themselves, she figured bringing along someone else would be a wise idea.

It would be her first time meeting and working with Rhis, but she had heard about his more... extreme stance against the Dark Side, and while her own views had become a lot milder, she did need someone with a similar mindset. On planets like Thule, any second of hesitation could lead to death, and only those capable of making the hard decisions quickly could survive against the Sith and the creations they left behind.

She believed Rhis could do just that.

"I'm going to bring us down low as quickly as possible so sensors can't detect us. We'll move the rest of the way through the canyon on foot," she continued before she looked at her instruments again, "My reports showed no signs of Sith, Dark Jedi, or any other living beings around those ruins, but we'll have to be careful. I doubt we're the only ones interested in them."

Her fiery eyes turned to him and she'd offer a quick smirk, "Anything you feel we need to discuss before we get to work?"

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[Creuat]

P A R A G O N
THULE
Valery Noble

“Other than I won’t hesitate on what must be done, Master Noble. I’m sure you’ve heard the tales about me and my actions in the war against the Sith Empire, and I must say I do live up to its expectations,” a fair warning to the ancient Jedi Master should there be any differences between their ideals. Rhis, too, heard of her work against the Dark Side and its agent, though he would argue he was more zealous than her. He questioned and was skeptical of her marriage to a bastard of Zambrano, believing her husband would be some sort if liability for her and her Jedi peers.

“Even if the sensors don’t track us, there’s no doubt something or someone would sense us.”

Like two black sheep poking out from the herd.

“Let’s be quick in landing, before we encounter any surprises.”

To which he had no doubt in crossing paths with any foul creature. Still the less, the merrier.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Thule

"The only reason you're here is because I heard the stories," Valery assured him with a calm and professional tone, but there was a faint smirk on her lips as well. She understood perfectly well that he was even more extreme than she was. Or at least, the way she was these days — there had been a time when she was exactly like him, but various things in her life had changed that. "So I do hope you live up to the expectations. We can't hesitate at all today."

Valery then brought the ship down through the atmosphere and nodded, "I'm keeping my presence suppressed, but once we get closer, it's likely that they'll pick up on us." Especially because they were together. Alone, she could have used her Shadow skills a bit more effectively to remain undetected. But it wasn't going to be a problem.

Their shuttle finally went down to surface level, and with their target located inside a canyon, she made the move to go in there as well, which at the very least shielded them against detection from above the canyon. As quickly as humanly possible, she brought their ship down, turned off the engines, and lowered the ramp so they could get out, adjust and focus on their senses.

Up ahead, darkness was already waiting for them.

"I'm quite sure we're not alone here."

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[Creuat]

P A R A G O N
THULE
Valery Noble

Then they were on set terms since she was open to his radicalism. The Nautolan spared no more words until something worthy to open his mouth at. As quickly as she could, they arrived carefully with hope in not setting off any possible alarms within this sector. In the chasm of a canyon they arrived as their coordinates lead them here. Some advantage as they wouldn’t be too exposed to any scanners and the violent storms which eclipsed Thule’s skies.

Signs which made him believe that Thule should be purged; a small ounce of mercy to deliver from its suffering.

"I'm quite sure we're not alone here."

“No…we’re not.”

There wasn’t someone there…instead there was something there. The Dark Side and its malicious nature. Even in death, the Sith and other cowards which served the darkness were still alive to corrupt anything they could touch.

He pulled out his lightsaber and activated it, an emerald beam of energy being produced.

“There should be some sort of cavern or opening within the walls of the canyon. Can you sense anything?”

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Thule

"I can, but it's hard to focus on it," Valery said as her fiery eyes scanned the cavern walls and their immediate surroundings. Without a doubt, Rhis could feel the darkness surrounding the area, but finding the source wasn't that straightforward — the Dark Side clouded the mind and senses, making it more challenging to focus on anything within. But they knew where they were going, and so she began to move towards their target.

Like him, she drew the hilt of her double-bladed weapon into her hand, but she didn't ignite the weapon yet.

"There, I think that's it," Valery continued after a few minutes of walking. Up ahead were the remains of what used to be a small structure of stone. It was built around the entrance of the caves, which held the rather overwhelming source of darkness they could feel. It was unnatural and it wasn't alive either — this was produced by an inanimate object, or something long dead.

However, there was also a presence; one that carried with it a great hatred, and the closer they got, the more it began to stand out against the inanimate source of corruption, "Someone else may have entered before us. They might not have sensed us yet, so if we can catch them by surprise, this will be over soon."

Now, the two violet blades finally ignited, and she began her approach to move into the caverns.

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[Creuat]

P A R A G O N
THULE
Valery Noble

It was only a matter of time to find the entrance to this hidden temple. Fortunately, it didn’t take much time to find the entrance through the clouds of the Dark. What lay within its contents was powerful in the Dark Side, innate power to some degree. It wasn’t the only source of darkness as there was another….not a thing, but a somebody.

"Someone else may have entered before us. They might not have sensed us yet, so if we can catch them by surprise, this will be over soon."

“Perhaps not now, but they will soon,” they would be blessed with a miracle, if they weren’t sensed by this Dark Sider within the cave.

“Let’s not wait any longer,” before being the first to enter the cave, knowing too well Valery would follow. There was no light save for the illumination of their lightsabers, poetic that no source of light was to be offered within the temple. “We can assume this other intruder has dealt with any traps or guards,” naturally as any site belonging to the Sith or other Dark Adepts built their temples with dark sorcery to protect their prized artifacts or holocrons.

And should there be any traps? Well, their next move ought to be spring the trap. Shortly enough they would with a pair of Sith statues guarding against anyone strong in the light.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Thule

Like many times before, Valery felt herself become the light piercing into darkness again, although this time she didn't stand alone. Together with Rhis and the light of their weapons, she moved further into the caves, where they could both feel a darker presence growing stronger. Whether the signature up ahead had sensed them already or not, she didn't know, but it mattered very little as two large statues imbued with the Dark Side stood in their way.

If the presence ahead hadn't felt them yet, they surely would after the two Jedi dealt with these guards of stone.

"So barbaric..." Valery commented when the first of the stone giants stepped forward. It was wielding a massive axe and charged straight towards Rhis, who was still in front. When it got close enough, it raised its weapon and tried to slam it down towards the Jedi Knight, but perhaps to its surprise, the weapon stopped moving after it had lifted it above its shoulders.

Behind Rhis, Valery stood with an outstretched arm and telekinetically froze the attack, not only to protect her fellow Jedi but also to present him a perfect opportunity to retaliate against the now-frozen guard. The other statue was coming up behind the frozen one as well, so they would have to act quickly.

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[Creuat]

P A R A G O N
THULE
Valery Noble

Little time he had to properly evade the attack of the statue. Dark energy was concentrated here imbued to the statues, but he did not know where it came from. He was fortunate to have Valery react and freeze the movements from the statue, pausing the arc of the axe.

He was no Padawan to be stunned after nearly being killed. His lightsaber slashed at the elbow joint of the statue, illuminating the dark. There was a glow in the eyes of the statue, sulfur-yellow much like any other Darksider. The animated object was disarmed, as its arm fell with a great thud on the floor. Its other companion flanked from the rear, armed with a spear. Turning around the Nautolan faced both Valery and the statue behind, his stretched out to push the statue away from Valery. It only skid on the floor, still remaining on its feet and even sparks of friction emitting from the floor.

“Behind!” leaving Valery to destroy the statue while Rhis would destroy the other. As he turned around a stone fist went into his abdomen, stunning him from the attack and then followed up with a back fist to his face, sending him in the air away from where he was. Wasn’t everyday someone was attacked from a stone statue.

Effectively, Rhis was disarmed from his lightsaber. The only light he could see was Valery’s violet lightsaber and the small glow from the statues. Thinking quick, he remained still and focused on the statue with the Force. His intent was to crush a joint from the lower body to render its mobility.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Thule

While her little trick had worked and provided Rhis with an advantage he exploited by severing a stone arm, there was no time to watch and admire it. She heard him call out a threat behind her, and after watching it get stunned briefly, Valery jumped up and held out her weapon enough for a violet blade to be dragged along its head using just her own momentum. She landed behind the goliath seconds later and pressed forward to slice off a leg, which sent it off-balance and down to the ground with a loud bang.

But at the same time, Valery noticed Rhis had gotten knocked back, and readied herself to move. Just in time though, he turned to the Force and crushed one of the statue's knees, causing it to buckle over as well. Just to be safe, Valery used the opportunity to jump across the distance and land a stone-shattering kick against its head, which forced it wide open and left it neutralized on the ground.

"Good work," Valery complimented before she turned to him, "Nothing broken, I hope?" she asked as her eyes were drawn down to his ribs. He seemed strong enough to tank such a hit, but if it had caught him off-guard, it could have done some damage. Not that she'd be able to do much about it with her limited healing skills, but they'd have to approach things differently.

"Just got the one to finish off," she looked back at the statue she had left behind crippled on the ground. It was still dangerous, but she figured Rhis could finish it off before they'd head further into the structure.

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[Creuat]

P A R A G O N
THULE
Valery Noble

Enough time was given for Valery to come to his aid, flying in the air and destroying the statue with just a simple kick. Wasn’t that simple as there was technique which made it unique than an ordinary kick.

"Nothing broken, I hope?"

“I’ll figure that out soon, once we vanquish the other,” he didn’t feel anything broken, but the bruising left from the punch. Didn’t hurt to move, so he’d take that as a good sign. The last statue was without a leg, its mobility crippled as it crawled with the intent of killing the Jedi. It would fulfill what it was created, no matter the cost. Unless it was destroyed and put out of commission for good use.

“Barbaric,” although it was ironic for him to say as he wouldn’t exhaust any expense to kill any Sith. Through he Force he reached out for his lightsaber, before putting an end to it. Simple and easy to destroy the thing, hardly a threat unless one was clumsy to let it get the better of them. A simple slash at the head, cleaving it and burnt rock coming from the slash.

“Well, that was better than a terentatek,” surely they would’ve hassled more with a beast like that. “How’d you manage to destroy the statue with a simple kick?” Much to learn before he could assume the rank of Master despite training his own pupil, Xashe Tistya .

“Hopefully it hasn’t alarmed the other intruder.”

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Thule

Valery watched him strike down the remaining statue and raised a hand up through her hair. Her breathing grew more steady again, and her senses focused on what was beyond just their immediate area. The darkness that lingered within these caves was still strong, suggesting these guards were only the beginning.

"I used something called Bakuuni Hand, an old Jedi Martial arts," Valery said in response to his question, "It focuses on augmenting limbs for powerful strikes and guards, so it's useful in a lot of situations. Knocking out those you don't want to kill, defending against Mandalorians and their armored punches, or well, shattering stone."

She flashed a brief smirk and turned her eyes into the dark hallway ahead of them, "I have a feeling the intruder knows, but let's hope they don't have terentateks to throw at us. Those are nasty." Valery then turned around and continued the path forward, but the further they went, the more it felt like the weight on their minds was increasing. It wasn't uncommon for Dark Side artifacts to be invasive like this, but it was getting worse by the second.

"Did you hear that?" Valery asked a moment later, as she stopped and focused on a strange rumbling. It was as if the source of the tremors moved around them, behind the walls, and it was circling the two Jedi. Without wasting even a second, she drew her lightsaber again, and just in time as a large worm of some kind briefly revealed itself through a crack in the walls.

It hadn't yet made a move to attack, but it was only a matter of time.

"Well, at least it's not a terentatek."

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[Creuat]

P A R A G O N
THULE
Valery Noble

Definitely not a Teretatek, but it was similarly worse to it. The earth and walls around them rumbled violently like an earthquake. He wished it was a force of that nature to destroy this temple and reduce it to debris and broken rock. Instead it was another perverted product from the Sith. Something he had never seen or heard before, but there was no question of its twisted nature.

“I’d like to know what that thing is, but I’ll ask later,” eying the worm with its head peeking out of a hole in the wall.

Thinking quick and taking action, he levitated a pile of rocks with the Force and threw them fiercely at the creature. They impacted, but seemed to do little damage. It only irritated it.

“Ideas?”

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Thule

"I have a few ideas about what it could be..." Valery muttered, having faced off against monstrous worms before. Not all had been altered by the Dark Side like this creature, but all of them were incredibly dangerous. They often had incredibly tough skin and they moved so differently from most creatures that they were a lot less predictable.

While the two Jedi watched and prepared themselves, the beast was circling around them and slowly getting closer, as if it was moving in on its prey. There was little room to move around, so it was going to trap them.

"Yeah I have an idea, run! We need to get to an open chamber!" Valery called out after the thrown rock barely did anything. She also knew that as long as it could freely move through the walls, their ability to strike it down would be limited. But forced out into the open, they could get closer and kill it.

Taking the lead and sprinting forward, Valery felt the worm chasing after them but a large chamber was up ahead. However, right as she sprinted inside, the worm burst through the wall from the side, right between the two Jedi to separate Valery from Rhis. It tried to wrap itself around the Nautolan, and slam its spiky body into him.

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