Private Black Box

[Valery Noble]

Dantooine

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Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

"Gotcha!"

Valery could barely hear him over the sound of the engines roaring to get them away from the facility, but she felt a hand and then another, and another. Together with a few rebels, Aldric pulled Valery on board, and almost immediately, the ramp began to rise to leave those inside the compartment in a strange silence. From one second to another, they had left a chaotic battle they would have never been able to win, and made it to safety.

Valery, however, showed no sign that she felt relief — she was breathing heavily and sitting on hands and knees while she coldly looked down at the metal floor panels. She was exhausted, frustrated, and barely could find the strength to get up to her feet. But after a long moment, she looked up and began to rise back to her feet, "I'm alright, no serious injuries," she said before she pulled her vambrace up to her lips and opened a channel to R-6.

"Blow up the weapons," she told her droid, and another missile was fired. Most of the Imperials down below would live to fight another day, but the weapons that hadn't already blown up in the earlier explosion were now damaged beyond repair as well. Valery then turned her gaze around the room and noticed some rebels looking at her with varying expressions. Some were thankful for the way she had shielded them during the fight, but she felt some tension as well. They didn't know what exactly happened, but they knew that she was the first to have been compromised. She felt as if through the way they looked at her alone, some of them were blaming her for not being able to retrieve the weapons.

But it didn't matter and right now, she didn't care.

After another long moment, she turned around and looked at Aldric with a somewhat pained expression, "I'm going home, Aldric. To my daughter, and I'm going alone."

 

[Aldric Laurent]

The surviving rebels (which was, thankfully, the majority of them) all watched as the ship completely obliterated the stockpile of imperials weapons, leaving the garrison relatively unscathed, but having lost a lot of material. The Empire would no doubt be unhappy. There were no cheers of victory, given how things ended, but there was a collective sense of relief that grew watching their Plan B work out. The rebels were no better equipped, but at least the Empire would be unable to gain anything out of that wreckage. Trask shifted on his feet and grunted, instinctively pulling the attention of most of his crew. He glanced around at them curiously, before speaking, "Mission's done, team. It's not the victory we dreamt of. But make no mistake, it is a victory." That was all he had to say, before heading further into the ship. The rest of them began to disperse, spare Aldric and Valery.

The agent blinked, taken aback, "…What?" He searched the flames in her eyes for some explanation, "Alone— Why? Val, what's wrong?"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Dantooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

"…What?"

The word echoed through the ship's rear compartment after Trask and his men had all left to get seated inside. R-6 was plotting a course back to the rebel base, albeit with a detour in case someone was watching or tracking them. But the real tension wasn't in the cockpit or on the surface of Dantooine — it had lingered in the back.

"I..." she began, her eyes lowered as she struggled to look up at him. But after a moment, she forced herself through it and looked him in the eyes but without her usual intensity. The fire had dulled, for more than one reason, but it was noticeable to anybody who knew her. "I messed up, that's what's wrong," she said after a moment.

"I tried to set it aside, ignore it or just hope that it would change after opening up, but I feel that what happened... that what I did... changed something between us, perhaps everything. The spark when you looked at me and when I looked at you, the feeling I had in my gut when I was just close to you, or when we embraced... when we slept in the same bed together." She let out a sigh and raised a hand to rub her eyes. She was tired and emotional, but this was a conversation she wanted to have without breaking down completely.

"It's just not the same, and I don't think forcing it will be good for either of us."

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric listened in pensive silence, clearly taken aback by what Valery was saying. He even shut his eyes for a few quiet moments, just soaking it in, toiling in deep thought, "Val…"

His eyes reopened, and his arms lifted just slightly in defeat, "So… what? We're just giving up? One day in? Is that was this is?" It was hard for him to imagine that being the case, but it certainly sounded that way. It was a barrier to break through, but they couldn't do that if they were just resigning to it as impossible now.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Dantooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

"Giving up?" Valery sighed and briefly looked down again with a frown. "I... don't know, but does what we're trying now really make a difference? Or is it just going to make things worse?" she asked with uncertainty in her voice. The awkwardness, the lack of passion that lingered now, unlike what they always had before — she feared that they'd both get trapped in a relationship where the fundamentals were missing.

"Maybe it's better to spend some time apart to think things through. I just... this is too hard on me." She let out a sigh and lowered her shoulders in defeat a little as well. Valery knew that this could lead to them only growing apart even more as well, but she hated the feeling of being constantly worried that just being herself and being close to someone who was supposed to be her partner could make things weird or unnatural.

That she'd feel unwanted, and considering what had caused all of this, she couldn't only imagine how he felt.

"I'm really sorry, Aldric."

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric couldn't figure out how to feel about any of this. Maybe she was right, that giving them both some space would allow for an opportunity to cool off. But if she was wrong, then it was only going to mark to death of everything they built. Part of him was sad, and defeated. Another part of him almost wanted to be angry, to feel further betrayed by her putting more distance between them after what brought them to this point in the first place.

"…I promised Vera I'd be there," Forever, is what she demanded, "You convinced me to." And now it was being walked back on against his will. Aldric looked down and away. If going with the way things were now was too much on her, then maybe there was no better solution. But he wasn't giving up on things until the words were spoken aloud.

"I hope you figure out what you truly want, Val. I really do." Heart aching, Aldric turned and left for the cockpit.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Dantooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

"…I promised Vera I'd be there,"

The reference to that promise felt like a knife going straight through her heart. She didn't blame him at all for mentioning it, but it still hurt and left her with trembling knees and eyes that were beginning to tear up. Not even that long ago, she could have seen herself eventually marrying him, getting more kids, and living together forever as they had promised her little star. But now, as she watched him turn away, she couldn't tell if that was still possible, or if she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.

Only time would tell, but how much time? And how could she possibly approach him again after this?

"I..." she couldn't get any more out, and remained behind while he returned to the cockpit. The moment alone was spent thinking about everything that happened over and over again — a painful cycle that didn't seem to end. This time she didn't break down completely because of it, but she couldn't repress the frequent sniffs and the tears flowing down her cheeks.

After what felt like an eternity, she did return to the cockpit and helped R-6 guide the ship to drop off the Rebels at his mother's house. The plan had originally been for her to join Aldric and catch up with Edeth, but she remained seated and looked at him. "You uhm, can keep the ship if you can drop me off at the apartment," she said carefully. Her skin looked pale, her eyes were red and tired from crying, and she still didn't know if she had made the right call or not.

Only one thing was certain, she had a lot to explain to her daughter, and needed her company desperately.

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric propped himself up at the doorframe of the cockpit, where Trask and a couple other rebels were currently standing around. All seemed like they wanted to say something, but no one did. Instead they just stared out of the viewport, sparing occasional glances each other's way. Trask looked at Aldric expectantly, and through a few silent expressions, the point was made that he didn't really want to talk about anything right now either. Trask nodded, and eventually ushered himself and his men out, leaving Aldric alone. He took the copilots seat, and resumed his introspection.

Eventually Valery rejoined, taking the opposite seat to bring the ship in for a landing. He looked at her, and frowned slightly seeing the clear signs of distress on her face. And after all that, she tried of offer up her vessel, to which Aldric sighed, "I'm not gonna take your ship…" There was another pause, before he spoke, "Let me say goodbye to my mom, then just… drop me off somewhere on Coruscant. I'll... get something figured out." Maybe an old favor or two he could call in for a place to stay, before finding his footing again.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Dantooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

"I'm not just dropping you off on Coruscant," Valery told him stubbornly. This was a fight she wasn't going to allow him to continue if he decided to argue it. Despite what happened, she had no desire to make things even more difficult for him, and a decent place to stay was important. "I have another ship, so either you take this one, or we're arranging you a place to stay before I drop you off."

She turned to him, this time with some fire in her eyes but the passion stemmed from how she felt about this topic. "You can of course talk to your mother first. There's no rush," Valery said before she looked out the window toward Edeth's home. The doors had opened to let the rebels inside, so they could go back to their hideout. It was likely that the woman expected Valery and Aldric to both follow after them, but that wasn't going to be the case today.

Valery swallowed hard as she once more realized what all this meant for the future.

"I'll wait here for you."

 

[Aldric Laurent]

"I will handle it," Aldric said sternly, himself uninterested in relenting, "…Don't worry about me." It was all too conflicting for him. Making this more complicated only added to that.

He stepped off the ship to give his mother goodbyes, offering some kind of excuse for why they couldn't stay. She was disappointed, but understood there was more to the story that wasn't hers to dive into right now. With a promise to see one another again, Aldric departed back for the ship. He tucked his hands in his pockets, stopping at the doorway to the cockpit, "We're done here. Let's head home before the Imperials try to track us." He then walked off to meander the ship alone.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery's Ship

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Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

Even though she had seemed stubborn about helping him find a place to stay, the stern response she got from him got her to drop the argument before it could escalate. She recoiled back a step and her gaze dropped, as an overwhelming nervousness and guilt hit harder than she had expected. "Alright...," she said timidly before she watched him leave the ship to go talk to his mother. Valery just stayed behind and quietly sat with her arms wrapped around herself in her seat.

She hadn't felt this awful since Kahlil's death.

When he eventually returned, she looked over her shoulder and nodded with the same distress visible in her eyes. He had told her not to worry about him, but despite everything that happened, she couldn't be more worried.

"I'll get us to Coruscant," Valery still said without trying to bring up the topic of where he'd be staying again. The last thing she wanted was for him to get angry with her too. So for the remainder of the journey, Valery was quiet and tried to keep herself distracted by flying the ship. But after a few hours, they did arrive, and she brought him down at the large spaceport, so it would be easy to find a taxi to get to a hotel or wherever he wanted to go.

With the engines powered down and the ramp lowered, she got up and waited for him at the door, but when he appeared, she wasn't quite sure what to say. Goodbye didn't feel right, and she was genuinely afraid to say or offer anything, fearing that it would mess things up even more. So she gave him a pained smile and waited for him to get ready.

She really hoped this wasn't a mistake, and that it wouldn't be the end.

 

[Aldric Laurent]

It was an awkwardly, painfully silent trip back to Coruscant. It only felt now like things were worse than when they had started. The decision to put some distance between them only adding fuel to the fire. And yet despite those roadblocks, neither of them seemed to want that.

He could only hope that this really would give them some time to clear their heads, and not just separate them entirely.

There were a few options in mind for where he could stay, but none of them really entered his mind during the trip. Aldric was far too focused on everything else. It was strange day when enacting a rebel attack on an imperial armory became overshadowed by personal strife. And when the ship landed, he grabbed what things he had, and froze at the door where Valery waited. Whatever struggles they had, he still cared about her. She was struggling with a lot, and though what she did hurt, he didn't want to believe that it was who Valery Noble really was deep down. If her happiness meant finding someone else, then so be it. But that didn't mean that's what he wanted.

There was nothing left to do but let her decide on her own, "…Take care of yourself, Val," He finally said, quiet and genuine, if conflicted by the confluence of emotions inside him. nodding once before he stepped off into the spaceport.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery's Ship

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Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aldric Laurent

Valery froze and noticed her breath hitching when he appeared at the ramp. She could see the hurt in his eyes, and there was nothing she could do to hide her own. Nothing that had happened or was said between them stopped her from caring about him deep down, so to see him like this made her feel awful. She could only hope that the time apart would help her figure everything out for herself.

But she didn't want to lose him and the love and care he had given her, and she feared that could happen now because of her.

"...you take care too," She said quietly while she tried her best to offer a weak smile, but it did little to hide her pain, and she knew it would do nothing to soften his. Valery then wrapped her arms around herself when she watched him step down the ramp, and until he was completely out of sight, she watched him with her heart pounding in her chest.

Please let this not be a huge mistake...

The door closed a few seconds later, the ramp was raised and rather than heading into the cockpit to depart, she slid down with her back against the wall until she sat on the metal floor. Her knees were pulled up against her chest, and she buried her face in them, as the guilt and pain were finally becoming too much to control.