Private Abduction on Naboo

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

Gatz couldn't keep in his sigh of relief as they were cleared to dock with Sovereign Station. He really didn't have a plan for landing if they were denied, and he wasn't particularly interested in seeing how this freighter handled in a dogfight.

"I hope it's easy. I've had enough excitement for one day."

Or a whole month, really. At least he could scratch "kill a Sith Lord" off of his bucket list.

As the hangar bay doors began to open, and Gatz made to guide the ship inside, he couldn't help but notice their "usual hangar" was awfully small. Small enough, in fact, that he couldn't just fly into it in a straight line and land: the stern of their borrowed ship would hang out past the doors. So, with an annoyed sigh, he brought them in at an angle. He had to maneuver the pointed bow of the ship so that it slid into the far corner of the hangar, nearly scraping the walls of the small bay with the hull of the ship.

Easy for him, an experienced pilot, but annoying.

"You'd think the Sith would shell out for a bigger hangar," Gatz commented as he stood with a groan, "pulling us out is going to be a pain in the ass."

The Red Night would have fit in this hangar bay just fine, but Gatz kept that to himself. Mostly because they wouldn't have even landed in this bay, apparently the normal landing zone for this ship, if they had taken his vessel.

"Uh, for the record," Gatz decided to add, "it's probably better if I'm not spotted here. Kragan Garr and I had a... disagreement a little while back."

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Naboo

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"Enough already?"

Valery smirked teasingly, but she did agree. Mostly because kids were involved, and she hated anything involving potential harm to children. But if this had been any other kind of mission, Valery would have been in her element. It was perhaps a little strange for a Jedi Master, and she did tend to control the joy she felt over adrenaline and exciting missions, but it still showed from time to time. Fighting Sith, being out at the front and helping people directly were exactly the things she was meant to do in her life.

"Careful!" Valery then called, out as they approached the Hangar and realized just how small it was. In her X-wing, she could make the most difficult maneuvers and she was used to those dimensions, but what Gatz did with this freighter he had never flown was beyond her skill, and she wasn't afraid to admit that either. "I'm glad I didn't have to fly this thing..." she said with a nervous smile once they finally touched down.

"I'm sure you'll get us out, though." She winked, unbuckled herself and got out of her seat to start looking for the kids. But that's when Gatz mentioned a little detail that would make things more difficult.

"Well, I'd rather not go alone, so maybe grab a coat or cover up?" She asked, deciding not to poke about why he had a disagreement with Kragan. "And if we stay close to each other, we'll be just fine,"

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

"I'm not used to this kind of excitement. Well, flying a stolen ship is right up my alley, I guess, but you know what I mean: I wasn't made for all these heroics."

Fighting a Sith Lord was more than enough for one day, and he was certainly more than ready to roll over and take a damn nap. Even so, Gatz just couldn't bring himself to walk away. He'd never liked leaving things unfinished, and what kind of a man looked away when children were in danger? Well, men like him he supposed, but he was trying to be better than he was before.

He'd crash into bed once their mission was done. Then take a week off to decompress. Until then, though, he would simply have to push forward.

He felt Valery tense up—hints of something akin to anxiety in the Force—as he brought them down into their very cramped hangar. Not that he blamed her: it was downright foolish to park a ship this large in a bay this small. That the Sith had managed to do this at least one other time, on her trip to store the kidnapped children, spoke to her skill as a pilot. It was almost a shame that they'd never get to share notes.

Almost.

"You just have to get a feel for freighters. Start your maneuvers earlier. All that extra weight means they don't handle as well, or as precisely, especially when loaded. Well, not mine, but she's also the most expensive freighter this side of the Core Worlds, so she's not a good metric to measure against."

With that explanation out of the way, disappeared for a minute to raid the Sith's closet. When he returned, there were two long black cloaks draped over his arm. He didn't know how well they'd fit either of them, considering the Sith was smaller than he and Valery both, but it was better than a Jedi and a wanted smuggler waltzing onto the station.

"Here," Gatz tossed one of the cloaks to Valery, as started to put his on, "I know you're usually rather particular about what you wear in the field, but I think we'll turn less heads if we look the part of Sith Master and Apprentice."

That last bit was probably a statement that had never been uttered before, and yet was somehow true in this case. He didn't particularly like the idea of playing dress up, but this ship had frequented this station before. If non-Sith descended the ramp of a known Sith vessel... well, port authorities might have questions.

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Naboo

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"My husband and I have a light-freighter, but it took a lot of time to get used to it," Valery admitted with a chuckle, "I feel at home in the cockpit of a fighter, where I have that quick response, the adrenaline and-" she paused, slowly turned her eyes to him, and realized she was rambling a little too much about her more chaotic side. Something most people didn't exactly expect from a Jedi Master.

Oops.

Gatz then disappeared into the Sith's room, and returned with a pair of cloaks. Valery raised an eyebrow at first, but quickly began to catch on to his plan. "What do you mean I'm particular about what I wear?" she asked with just a faint smirk she was trying to hide. She was very much particular about it, but it was fun to see if he dared to explain why he made the comment. Either way, Valery accepted the cloak and tried her best to wrap it around herself, but... it was a very tight fit.

"I feel like I'm going to rip straight out of this thing," she said with a sigh, as she fumbled around with the cloth around her chest and arms. "But we'll manage, my apprentice~" she flashed yet another grin, and walked down the ramp of the ship with a Sith's arrogance in her stride.

"Make sure not to speak out of turn. They will notice."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

"No reason to apologize," Gatz shrugged, "I understand. The pilot's seat is where I'm meant to be."

Gatz usually felt something of a kinship with Valery: they were both headstrong, rash, willing to bend but not break the rules, and generally not what one would expect from someone with a Jedi background. But hearing about how she felt most at home behind a yoke, even a fighter instead of a freighter, just made him appreciate her more. So few people understood the rush he got from helming a ship. Fewer still were willing to connect with him, a literal criminal, over that shared interest.

His solitude was his own doing: the penance he was currently paying for his past crimes. But it was nice not to feel alone, even if just for a short time.

"You know exactly what I mean," Gatz was almost surprised when Valery took the offered cloak without complaint, "I haven't forgotten the first time we worked together: I had to shut down The Red Night's life support, and you chose to damn near freeze to death instead of borrowing one of my jackets. I get that red leather doesn't exactly go well with what you usually wear, but that was stubborn."

But he said it with mirth, as if reflecting upon a fond memory.

Gatz pointedly looked away as Valery struggled to make her cloak fit comfortably. Their Sith Lord had been slighter of stature, and less endowed than the Jedi Master. His own cloak looked silly, coming to an end about halfway down his shins. It he hadn't been wearing dark pants and boots, there's no way he'd have looked the part.

"You mean I can't run my mouth? Suddenly I don't like this plan..." he trailed off, sealing his lips, and drawing his hood over his head.

He walked down the ramp behind Valery, suppressing a shudder: her eyes, with that unnatural color, seemed far more inhuman when she was dressed like a Dark Lord. It was a scary realization, but Valery actually looked the part. And the idea of a Dark Side Valery Noble was not a very comforting one.

He decided to keep those thoughts to himself though.

They strode into the small hangar bar, entirely empty save for their vessel he had crammed inside. Gatz had hoped that the Sith's usual landing zone would hold some hint as to where she'd taken the children, but of course he was never that lucky. Their only choice was to proceed deeper into the station, something that he had been desperately hoping they wouldn't have to do.

Not because of Kragan Garr, though he wasn't looking forward to that either. No, he didn't want Valery to see what went on in the main concourse of this blighted station. He didn't want her to see what he'd turned a blind eye to, while smuggling spice for Sovereign Station's foul overlord.

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Naboo

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"I didn't freeze," Valery countered with a huff, "I was perfectly warm and comfortable, using the Force to sustain my body temperature." Of course, she had definitely been a little stubborn because a jacket or coat would have kept her warm just as well, and it wouldn't have required her to use the Force. But she wasn't going to admit that to him, just in case he'd use that to tease her or make jokes later down the line.

Valery then finally managed to get herself in the Sith's cloak, and turned to Gatz, who she noticed had turned away. He was awfully polite for a smuggler, and it showed time and time again. "Well, you look silly but it'll work if you act the part." She looked him up and down once, before nodding her approval. "Hey, it was your plan to dress as the Sith. I'd have been okay just going in with my particular choice of clothes."

She flashed a dumb grin and turned around to walk down the ramp. The second she did, it was as if Valery had turned into a completely different woman. Her gaze was void of emotion, her posture was tall and rigid, meant to be as unwelcoming as possible. The ground crew who just took care of maintenance on ships were met with a burning gaze that made them step around her in a wide circle.

Valery was creating fear in their hearts, which she hated deep down, but knew to be necessary.

"This way, my apprentice."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

"Stubborn."

That was all he really needed to say to prove his point. Not that he particularly cared to actually win this debate: if he was being honest, he'd only prolonged the topic as a way of distracting his mind from what they were about to do. Sovereign Station was not a pretty place. Oh, the hangar bays and connected terminals looked like any other space station, but that was where the similarities ended.

This was a hive of scum and villainy. Slaver scum and villainy in particular, and if they have to brave exploring the Main Concourse, Gatz wasn't sure he'd be able to restrain Valery once she saw what went on there. He only hoped that, if the worst came to pass, she'd be able to restrain herself. They were here for the children after all, not to topple a kingpin's personal base of operations.

Not that they could have if they wanted to. Valery probably had a better chance of dismantling this place than anyone else in the galaxy, but it was still a kilometers long space station that temporarily housed close to a thousand visiting scoundrels. If they got busted; if they started anything, they were both doomed to be clasped in irons.

Oh, the things he got himself into.

At least their disguises were working, or so it seemed. With Valery playing the part of a Sith Lord—which she was frighteningly good at—the few dockworkers they'd passed had given her a wide berth, and hadn't paid him any mind. They passed into the corridor beyond their hangar, which was conspicuously empty, without anyone so much as questioning them.

A thought occurred to him very suddenly: one that posed a potential problem for them both.

"Valery," Gatz spoke lowly, once he was sure no one was lurking in the hallway, "I can lead you around the station, but I have no idea how slave processing works here. If she sold these children, or was having them arranged to be transported elsewhere, I don't know how we'd find out."

Gatz couldn't believe he was about to think this way, but he almost regretted not being knowledgeable about the slave trade.

"I mean, I know where they hold the auctions, but that room is the size of the senate chamber on Coruscant. And just as busy. Even if we could search it without drawing suspicion, we could end up in there for hours with nothing to show for it."

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"We'll find them," Valery assured him while she searched around with her eyes. But in reality, she was already extended her senses far beyond the room, trying to pinpoint the location of the kids. They were all Force-sensitive, so they would always stand out to her. The problem was that they were untrained and young, so it wasn't a huge difference, but the closer she got to them, the more distinct their voice in the Force would become.

And she wouldn't stop listening until she found them.

"Can you bring me to where they hold the auctions and show me around? We might run into that Kragan guy, but we'll handle him if necessary. Even if the room is big, I'm confident I can sense the kids if they're there." Either way, it was worth a shot because aimlessly wandering around surely wouldn't help them find the kids. They'd have to start with the most logical locations, or the worst possible ones.

"Just... let's be quick about it," Valery then added with a sigh. "I hate having to play this role, and these clothes are uncomfortable." Of course they were meaningless complaints in the grand scheme of things, but the sooner she could be herself again, the better she'd feel. As a Jedi, watching others step aside out of fear just felt so wrong.

"Oh and if we find the kids, it could get ugly. I have no intentions to play nice with these people. They're giving us the kids back, or I'm taking them."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

"Right. I guess they'd be like a beacon in the Force for you." What was he? A dim, flickering light? A youngling whose potential hadn't floundered and rusted like his would probably be pretty easy to track.

Gatz almost felt silly for worrying about how they'd locate the kids. Of course Valery could find them through the Force: the Jedi Master's senses were ten times more fine tuned than his own. For him: a needle in a haystack. For her: like a speeder in a haystack, or something relatively close to that size. At least he'd be useful for directions, if nothing else.

Is this really what you've been reduced to? Doubt and ego whispered in his head, one of the greatest scoundrels of your time, reduced to a mere tour guide?

He'd been struggling with the fear of being useless all day, and it was starting to win. Gatz shook his head, freeing himself of those thoughts for now. But he didn't know for how long.

"I'll bring you to the main concourse," Gatz sighed in defeat, "but Valery... you're about to see some of the worst depravity the galaxy has to offer. You should probably take a moment to prepare yourself for that."

In all honesty, he probably needed a moment himself. But Gatz couldn't allow himself that luxury: what Valery was about to see... he was almost certain it was going to drive her berserk. Gatz himself had thrown up the first time he'd braved the main concourse, and he was no stranger to the scum of the galaxy and what they did with their time.

Their destination wasn't far, just an elevator ride and a few corridors away. Even so, with every step, Gatz's unease grew. He wasn't sure he was ready to face this again.

When the door slid open, the first thing that hit them was the smell: sweat and musk, tinged with something metallic, like copper. Their first sight was that of a packed crowd in front of them, obscuring the view of the room itself. After they managed to push through that, they came to a railing, and the rest of the room was revealed. It vaguely resembled a colosseum of old, in both size and structure: an elliptical layout, fifteen to twenty stories in height, featuring six rows of staggered balconies which was currently seating a couple thousand people.

These people were clearly of Gatz' ilk: shady figures here for either entertainment, or to purchase something in the auction.

And that was what was going on below, at the bottom of the room, where an arena would have been situated in a real colosseum. It was divided into two levels: a lower oval platform that ran the length of the structure, and a smaller platform raised above that at the far end of the room. The smaller raised platform—empty at the moment—clearly resembled a stage, and it was obvious that it was meant to be the main attraction of the room. At the far back of that platform was a bona fide throne, raised a few feet above the smaller platform, and Gatz knew all too well who usually sat there.

Then came the worst feature of the room: the lower platform. It sat below the "stage" so to speak, and the floorspace was the size of a stadium. And it was filled to the brim; packed with slaves of all races, genders, and ages. Even from their vantage point on the highest balcony, it was clear that these poor people weren't treated well. Most of them were dressed in threadbare clothing, but some were rags. They were gangly and thin, some so skeletal that Gatz wondered how they weren't corpses. Some of them even had fresh markings on their backs, bruised or bloody from the crack of an electro-whip.

And there were nearly a thousand of them, if not more. It was no Zygerrian operation, but it was just as horrific.

"We're early," Gatz muttered lowly, hoping the roar of the crowd would drown out his words, "good. We need to keep a low profile, but let's try to be quick about this. You don't want to be here when the show starts."

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"Not a beacon," Valery said with a slight frown. "They're too young and too... faint for that. But if I'm close enough, I can find them, especially because I know they have to be there somewhere." That, and she was putting so much pressure on herself to find these kids that she wasn't going to fail. She wasn't allowed to, not this time. When innocent children were at stake, nothing was every going to stop her from doing what she had to do to keep them safe.

If she couldn't do that, she felt she might as well stop being a Jedi.

"But Valery... you're about to see some of the worst depravity the galaxy has to offer. You should probably take a moment to prepare yourself for that."

Valery paused for a moment, her face hidden within her cloak while she stared down at the metal floor panels beneath her boots. Should she tell him? He had gained her trust more than just about anybody else, and a part of her wanted to tell him, but... it was not a topic she liked to cover.

"I... appreciate it," is all she decided to say, before drawing in a deep breath and moving forward. The doors slid open, and while the stench was off-putting, it did very little to stop Valery from moving forward. Even those who barely knew what a Sith Lord was decided to step aside when she passed by, just because of the aura around her. Her fiery eyes, her confident stride, the toned body of a warrior and perhaps even the nature of this place making her much more intense — it all contributed to her role as Sith, and she couldn't play it more perfectly.

But then she saw them down below.

Valery couldn't even hear Gatz talking to her, as all sound faded into the background. Her jaw clenched, her muscles tightened and it looked as if her eyes were on fire. A waitress serving drinks to people on the balcony suddenly cried out in shock as every glass on her tray exploded. The railing in front of them warped under some invisible pressure, and the marble stone began to crack. Those close to her would feel the ground shaking, and for a few seconds, it would look and feel like this entire building was going to explode.

"I..." she spoke through gritted teeth, before she forced her eyes shut, and everything returned to normal. "I have to find these kids and get out of here, Gatz," she said, unable to stop a tear from running down her cheek. "This is... too much."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

Glass shattered, and suddenly the world was different.

To most, the change in the room was physical: Valery's outburst crunched their surroundings, turned wine glasses into safety hazards, and sent an aftershock rippling through the room that left legs feeling like jelly. But to Gatz, it was much worse than that: it was like the air itself had grown too heavy to breathe, and he was smothered by it, suffocating. Like the room had jumped up twenty degrees, burning with the intensity of a Jedi's restrained anger—and this was restrained.

It terrified Gatz Derrevar. Far more than any crime boss, or Sith Lord ever had. In this moment, Gatz was afraid of Valery Noble. Oh, the idea of her as a Sith had sent a chill down his spine. And the ease at which she played the role left him uneasy. But this... this wasn't acting, or a clever ruse: this was fury, and suddenly Gatz understood why the Jedi were so adamant about controlling their emotions.

Yet despite all of that, that was wasn't what threw him through a loop. What really left him dumbfounded, unable to even respond, was the aftermath: a single tear that escaped her closed eyes.

Gatz had no idea what to do. Did he try to console her? Leave her be? Should he hug her, or would that be intrusive? As a general rule, Gatz didn't involve himself in someone else's emotional distress, but Valery wasn't just "someone else." He didn't like to be sappy, but there was genuinely no one left in his life that he cared for more than her: his friendship with—and near worship of—her was the only positive connection he had in his life. He needed to do something. He wanted to do something.

But all he could do was stand there, gaping like some kind of fish.

The murmurs of the attendees around them attracted his attention, and Gatz turned his head to find a crowd of people staring at them in disbelief and fear. A handful of them had gone for their blasters; fingers resting on grips, waiting for a reason to draw. But Gatz knew they wouldn't: fighting two Sith wasn't worth the risk to them, not if a hefty bounty wasn't involved.

They needed to move. They'd already made too much of a scene.

"Come on," Gatz spoke, softer than he had in a very long time, uncaring if it betrayed their ruse, "we don't need front row seats to this."

Gatz reached for Valery's hand, in an attempt to pull her away from the railing. She shouldn't have to see what was going on down below, and if this was her reaction, then he certainly didn't want her to see how Kragan handled the slaves when he was auctioning them off. Valery had mentioned that she'd be able to sense the children, if she were close enough.

He'd just have to get her close enough, without her having to witness the actual auction. With how packed the room was, Gatz could manage that. He could grant her that.

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

The world around her was a blur.

She didn't see, nor did she feel the reactions of the people on the balcony. Their fear, their widened eyes filled with shock, and even their defensive stances as they collectively turned to her with hands on their pistols — all of it completely escaped her. Even Gatz, someone who she actually cared about, was beyond her perception for a short moment that felt like an eternity. This place was her definition of hell, and it reminded her of one of the worst times of her life.

When she had been captured by the Hutts as a Padawan, and been in this exact same position until her escape. It wasn't a story she liked to share — even her husband only learned about it years after they were married — but she could not hope to hide the emotions a scene like this caused.

Finally, it wasn't his voice but his hand taking her own that snapped Valery out of her trance. She blinked, her posture snapped upright, and she turned to him with pain in her eyes. This time, there was no stubbornness or resistance from her at all. She let him pull her away and while it was hard for her to show it in her current state, she appreciated him a lot for it. A gesture she'd never forget.

"Gatz, I-" she paused and reached up to wipe away her tear. "I'm so sorry." This time, she stopped walking and tried to get him to turn to her for a moment. "I should have warned you." She looked down for a moment and seemed to have lost much of her confidence and strength for once. Valery was not one to make herself ever look vulnerable to others, but this had been quite the exception, and she knew she needed some comforting.

She just hated feeling that way.

"I won't let it happen again."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

Focused on getting Valery away from the railing, Gatz missed the look she sent his way when he first grabbed her hand. Perhaps that was a good thing. Had he seen the suffering in her gaze, it might have broken him too, and then they'd both be a mess. This wasn't exactly the best place for either of them to meltdown, and so one of them had to stay on task: usually that was Valery, but even the Sword of the Jedi deserved a break every now and again.

He didn't mind filling in every once in a while.

It was only when they'd pushed back into the corridor, and Valery came to stop, that Gatz turned around to face her. That tear still lingered on her face: a face that Gatz had come to associate with gentle kindness and true contentment. Now, he only saw turmoil, ashamed gaze cast to her feet, and it was almost bizarre to him. It shouldn't have been. Everyone cried, right?

And suddenly, Gatz realized just how much of a disservice he'd been doing Valery. From the day they'd met, he'd placed her on a pedestal: like she was this untouchable, unfathomable icon that he could only hope to aspire to. A legend; divinity in mortal form, but made of marble and gold, not flesh and bone. Only now did he finally realize the truth:

She was a person, like any other. Great, inspiring, and an example to all Force users? Of course. But also capable of suffering, sorrow, and anger just like everybody else. She was—for lack of a better term—human. And it had been unfair of Gatz to expect anything else. He owed her an apology, for that.

And of course, being who she was, Valery apologized to him instead.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Gatz spoke softly, his tone feeling almost foreign, "nothing you need to be sorry for. From your reaction, I'm guessing you hate slavery more than the average upstanding citizen. But if you don't want to talk about it, then I won't pry. No one's entitled to your history."

Force, Gatz thought, don't let this next part be weird.

And Gatz Derrevar—general malcontent, smuggler of ill repute, and hater of sappy moments—hugged the distraught Jedi Master.

"And don't apologize because your control over your emotions slipped for a second. Jedi Battlemaster or not, we all have moments like that."

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"I've been captured by slavers once, as a Padawan."

She frowned and looked up at him again, the pain still very much visible in her eyes. Valery had learned to move on from what happened, and in daily life, it hardly affected her, but being confronted with it all so vividly was just too much. The smell, the echoes of despair in the Force, and seeing them all forced so close together while people were placing bids and acting like it was the most normal thing in the Galaxy...

It made her feel sick.

A part of her wondered if she could even still continue the mission after what just happened. Her hands were shaking, her blood was boiling with anger and pain, and she knew it was dangerous for her to feel that way. What if it caused only more harm to the kids they were trying to save? But it was at this lowest moment that Gatz stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. Valery's eyes widened a little from surprise, but after a few seconds, her rigid posture relaxed, and she returned the embrace.

She didn't make it last awkwardly long, and when she finally pulled back, she offered a very grateful smile, "I know. I just don't want anything to happen to these kids because I couldn't keep myself together. But... thank you, Gatz." She smiled a lot warmer again and looked at him for a moment longer. She hadn't really expected him to have this gentle side to him, capable of offering strength and comfort, but she clearly liked it and wasn't afraid to show that.

"I uh, think I feel something too. It's faint, but it's there." She gestured to her left and sighed softly, trying to move on from everything and focus again. "Let's go save those kids, hm?"

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

Valery's admission shocked Gatz to his core.

The idea that someone could even pull that off, actually capture and enslave Valery, it was just unreal. But then, even she'd been a Padawan once. Her strength in the Force came from years of experience, and no one was all-powerful from the get go. Of course there would have been a time in her life where such a thing had been possible.

But it was a bitter pill to swallow. Gatz disliked slavery on principle, of course, but the idea of someone he cared about being subject to a slaver's whims... it infuriated him more than he wanted to admit. And he knew all to well how far he was willing to go, to free a friend bound in chains.

So did Kragan Garr.

As Valery pulled away from the embrace, that thought haunted him. She'd just come clean to him, about something that clearly pained her deeply, because she knew it could affect their mission. What right did he have to do anything less? Valery wasn't entitled to his past any more than he was to hers, but there was a very real chance they'd face Kragan tonight. Shouldn't she know why the Quarren hated him so much?

"If you can sense them now, then we ought to get going. But," Gatz sighed, "I have to come clean. There's a reason I didn't want to be seen here. Kragan Garr hates me, and with good reason: I killed his son, Kreth, only a few short months ago. He'd been... abusing the dancers that slaved away at Kragan's stronghold on Lok. When I learned about it, I went to confront him, blaster in hand. And when Kreth reached for his own, I shot him dead."

Gatz looked to the ground, almost despondent, "I didn't have to kill him. I could have set my blaster to stun. Could have ripped his blaster out its holster with the Force. But I chose to gun him down. He was every bit the monster his father is... but Kragan Garr has every right to want me dead."

Shame filled him, but at this point it was an old friend. He often thought that Valery regarded him too highly; that he wasn't deserving of her faith and praise. He supposed that, now, she knew that too.

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

While Valery felt a little better after their embrace, she noticed something in Gatz's eyes — he was struggling with something in his own mind too, and now that she had confided in him about her past, he felt willing to do the same. She listened to what he said about Kragan, and even felt her hand tightening into a fist at the idea of those dancers being abused. Every part of her hated these types of people, and she almost didn't care at all that Gatz had killed his son.

But like the smuggler, she knew it wasn't the right way to bring someone like him to justice.

"Gatz..." she said, not with a look of disappointment, but one of sympathy. "Even the wisest, strongest Jedi can't always control emotion when we're confronted with the worst kinds of evil. But what happened is in the past, and what you can still change is the future. We'll save these kids and leave Kragan far behind us." All things considered, Gatz hadn't even done anything illegal. If Kragan's son had drawn a weapon, Gatz had every right to defend himself.

It was easy to consider alternatives in hindsight.

"I sense the kids in this room, so let's do something right, hm? We've both made our mistakes and suffered as a result, but I'm not going to let it stop me anymore. There are people who need us. Children who need us."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

"I know that no one's perfect, not even the Jedi," he shook his head, "but I can't use that excuse to justify taking a life I could have spared. And as a Force-sensitive—even one of my lackluster talent—I have the responsibility to be even more morally upstanding."

Valery was trying to justify his actions, and for once, he couldn't go along with what she said. If he exonerated himself, if he forgave himself, Gatz was scared that he'd stop caring about bettering himself, and fall back into his old ways. In order to be better, he had to hate what he'd been. Hate wasn't the Jedi way, but it was all he had to motivate himself with.

"But you're right," Gatz sighed, "we've wasted enough time moping about."

Gatz wasn't so certain he could change the future. And he certainly didn't think he could leave Kragan behind: the man would hunt him until one of them finally bit the dust. But there were kids in danger, and that was enough reason to push those things to the back of his mind.

So he pushed back into the crowded room again. Now, though, the crowd had pressed closer to the railing. That could only mean that the auction was about to start, and that Kragan waltz out to sit in his throne soon. But that was fine: his plan was to keep Valery away from the railing anyhow. There were stairs hidden at the back of the room that would let them reach the lower level, and they didn't have a view of the stage.

His luck didn't usually hold out, and Gatz was full blown expecting the children to be right under Kragan's nose, but for now he could pretend that the rest of this would be easy.

"What are you feeling?" Gatz asked. He could only feel her presence, specifically. The rest of what he could feel in the Force was a chaotic mess of everyone else.

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

Much like him, she decided to push the conflict about the past aside for now. This wasn't something that a single conversation could solve, and she knew he wouldn't just forgive himself for what happened. In reality, she wouldn't have gone easy on herself either if she felt that she took a life when it wasn't necessary.

But it was time to finish this mission.

Valery stayed close behind Gatz as they walked into the crowd, and tried her best not to really focus on the people or what could be happening around her. She was instead focused on her senses and sharpened them in an attempt to pinpoint the location of the kids. With her efforts and dedication to finding them, it didn't take long before she picked up on something. She stopped, pulled on Gatz's arm, and tried to get him to change direction a bit.

"I sense them all together not. It makes their presence stronger," she said, but with a frown. "... it also means they've likely been bunched up. I fear they're being prepared to be sold."

"And I feel them near the stage."

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

​

There was something that Gatz just didn't understand about this whole thing: the question of why?

Why would a Sith Lord kidnap children? He'd thought that the answer was to bring them back to Sith space, to be trained as acolytes for the Sith Order. Instead, they were somewhere on this station. Why? Well, he'd thought that maybe she was storing them somehow, so that she could take all the children back to Sith space together, as opposed to making several trips across the galaxy.

Yet, they were somewhere here on the floor. Part of the auction. Why would a Sith Lord sell slaves? They had overlooked something, Gatz was sure of it. Like trying to solve a puzzle, but there was a piece missing, and they didn't even have the time to look for it. He was worried that was going to bite them in the ass.

"None of this makes sense," Gatz muttered.

And then Valery pulled on his arm, and told them she'd located them: near the stage itself.

"This way then," Gatz turned toward an inlet at the back wall, where he knew a staircase could be found, "but Valery, explain something to me: a Sith Lord captures Force-sensitive children, presumably to press into becoming acolytes. So why are we finding them here, in the slave auction? How does that make sense? We're missing something, and I have a very bad feeling about it."

Times like this, Gatz wished he was capable of true precognition: peering through the Force to see glimpses of the future. He didn't usually mind surprises—like when one out of a hundred waitresses he flirted with reciprocated—but this one wasn't likely to be of the "fun" variety.

---

Tags: Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Gatz Derrevar

"None of this makes sense,"

Valery blinked and turned to Gatz with a perked brow at first, but the moment they changed directions and he elaborated... Valery began to wonder too. He was right — this really didn't make any sense, and she actually seemed to struggle finding an explanation for it. She had encountered so much as a Jedi Shadow hunting down Sith, but never before had they sold Force sensitive children or put them up for auction.

"I uh..."

She blinked and stopped again to think about it. "I'm not sure. Maybe she owed someone? Maybe she's cashing in and then planning to steal the kids back from whoever bought them?" She sighed and rubbed her temples in thought. "I suppose we'll just have to go find out the hard way."

"I sense them right up ahead. We can try this sneaky, but I have a feeling we're going to get guns pointed at us the moment we show ourselves there." In other words, she was ready to just draw her lightsaber and cut the kids free. An overwhelming assault was sometimes the better strategy.