Private Dark and Frigid

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Zoar

//Okay. I'm here. I'm back.// Then, quiet as a mouse, //Sorry, it... um, sorry.//

Hearing his voice speak calmly enough again was quite a relief, and assured her that this mission wasn't compromised. The presence of the dark artifact had been overwhelming, but he was now ready to push himself through it and keep his mind protected. That's all Valery needed.

"No need to apologize, this is your first time," Valery said with a hopefully reassuring tone and smile to match it. She could still remember her own first encounter with a Sith or Dark Side artifacts, and it had been terrifying to her as well. Only later, when her confidence really grew, she changed quite a lot.

//I'm good now, though. A-okay. Let's k-keep walking.//

Valery nodded in agreement and turned back around to continue through the hallway and approach the chambers deeper within the structure. Along the way, they moved passed more ancient statues and other decorations showing off Sith long-gone. Valery paid very little attention to it, though, and just kept walking.

"Room up ahead," she whispered after a moment, before she shifted her body against the wall and gestured to something up ahead, "I feel more inside, likely trying to take the artifacts." This time, however, Zoar would find it much more difficult to get into their helmets. These weren't ordinary stormtroopers anymore, but far better trained and equipped troops for high-priority missions.

"Ready to take them on together?"

​

 

[Zoar]

Zoar continued along with Valery, attempting to keep himself calm as the Darkness skittered around his mind, and he was left with his own cowardice to contend with. Valery's insistence that he didn't have anything to worry about only made him feel worse.

She wasn't scared at all. Sure, he was new, but his fear wouldn't go away. It was just as much a part of his biology as his tail was. What would be his excuse next time? Or the next?

The pair of them passed a series of tall, stone statues, and Zoar's mech rotated it's head to regard each one, as he tried to decide whether any would jump out at them. Thankfully, none of them did.

The Miln sensed the presence of radio chatter through his cybernetics long before he sensed anyone through the Force. Zoar posted up beside the door, nodding quickly at Valery as she explained the situation. A quick peek into the Holonet confirmed that he couldn't do his previous trick. They would have to do this the old fashioned way.

//Let's do it,// he said, feeling that spike of fear enter his throat, and swallowing it again, as he burst through the door first.

The power armor surged into the room, stopping a few steps from the entrance and holding out it's greatsaber with a straight arm. Zoar's wrist began to rotate at a high rpm, as he activated his blade, a cascade of magenta light forming a circular shield between him, Valery, and whoever was on this side of the doorway.

//S-s-surrender!// the Jedi squeaked, above the sound of his spinning lightclub.

- Valery Noble -

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Zoar

//S-s-surrender!//

While the sight of the huge power armor and greatsaber were more than likely terrifying to the soldiers, they were trained to control their fear and they weren't going to surrender. Deadly bolts of crimson plasma were fired towards Zoar almost immediately but were reflected by the shield he formed with his weapon. Valery decided to use this to her advantage and exploded into the room with her usual ferocity.

With a flick of her hand, she sent one of the soldiers flying against the back wall, while she closed the distance to another and severed the barrel of his weapon before her flexibility showed in the high kick that connected with his helmet. The soldier flew several feet across the room and no longer moved after his body hit the floor.

But in this brief assault, Valery couldn't take all of them down — 2 of the elite soldiers turned to Zoar and opened fire, while one other grabbed a vibro-blade and charged the Miln with the intent to cut through the heavy armor.

​

 

[Zoar]

With the chopping sound of his greatsaber ahead of him, Zoar turned his head 180 degrees to watch as Valery pounced into the fight, engaging with the troopers. The Miln took a defensive role, keeping back, and using his reach and his spinning blade to control the room.

While he succeeded in giving Valery the space she needed to go on the attack, he also succeeded in gaining a bit of attention himself. The Miln dipped into a jerky, mechanical Djem So routine, splashing the blaster bolts harmlessly to the side. A few managed to scour his durasteel plating, but the system damage was minor. The power armor returned the favor with an outstretched wrist laser, blasting one trooper in the leg, and burning through the wrist of another

When the bladed trooper approached, slashing out with their weapon, Zoar used a forearm to glance the blow to the side, shaving off a portion of his armor, revealing mechanisms underneath. One piston of a foot came down, crunching the elite trooper's toes, then raising to knee them in the chin. The trooper went flying off their feet, and to the ground.

//Sorry!// the padawan squeaked, having dealt with his opponents in a quick fashion. Pinpoint precision, without a hint of finesse.

- Valery Noble -

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Valery Noble

Within a minute or two, the room had gone completely quiet — the two Jedi remained standing, while all Imperials were down on the ground, unable to move, talk or do anything. Only the dark presence of the artifact lingered, and Valery was more than ready to purge it for good and leave this place behind. But before she did, her fiery eyes turned to Zoar, noting the bits of damage his armor had taken.

"You okay?" she asked with a smile and caring tone.

"You did really well taking them down. We can purge this artifact, leave, and these soldiers will live to see another day." She just hoped their failure here wouldn't be punished too severely. The Imperials were far less forgiving than the Alliance when it came to things like this. But then again, how could they have been prepared to handle two Jedi appearing in the middle of their own territory?

"I'm going to use something called Force Light to purge the Dark Side from the artifact. Is it something you've learned or perhaps seen before?"

​

 

[Zoar]

//Yeah, I-I-I'm good!,// the Miln returned, after performing a quick system check. //Cosmetic damage mostly, I think.//

Zoar quickly found the room's wall very interesting as Valery complimented his fighting. //Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks. Yeah.// It hadn't really been him fighting. Sure, he moved the mech with his mind, but it hadn't been his hand holding the lightsaber. He'd had thousands of pounds of help with that.

The suit turned to face Valery once more as she mentioned Force Light, some hidden incredulity behind his emotionless faceplate. //I've never seen it before, but I've heard stories.// Only in the tales they told the younglings. While more common these days, Force Light's application still treaded on near-mythical.

//You're telling me you can do that?// The Miln masked his shock. //I mean, of course you can, you're the Sword... I mean... well... okay, I'm shutting up.//

Zoar closed his mouth, and watched on in quiet anticipation.

- Valery Noble -

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Zoar

//You're telling me you can do that?//

Valery blinked, a little surprised that he seemed so shocked about that ability in particular, but chuckled when he tried to recover and only made his embarrassment a little worse for himself. Still, she smiled encouragingly and approached the item — an amulet that radiated powerful Dark Side energies.

"While I don't think this is the best time to try and teach you..." she trailed off and looked at the unconscious troopers, who were eventually going to wake up. "...you might learn a lot from seeing and feeling it. Focus on me through the Force, and how I channel it. Might not let you replicate it but familiarity could help you learn it one day if you decide to commit to studying the ability."

She then stepped forward and raised her hand, the palm facing the amulet but all her focus shifted internally. The Force swirled within her as she tapped into the inferno that truly made her who she was, and she channeled this inner source into the pure, withering blasts of Light that allowed her to vanquish the Dark Side. With each wave of Force Light, the amulet was weakened and stripped off some of its power until eventually, only the object itself remained.

A drop of sweat ran down Valery's face from the effort, but when her hand lowered, the job was done.

"Can you take the amulet with you? Even though it's purged, we'll store it somewhere safe. Just be cautious, in case anything does linger."

​

 

[Zoar]

Zoar was still getting the basics of the Force down. Extending his senses, making tools float, all that. Force Light was degrees out of his league. But he was still excited to see how it looked. How it felt.

His budding interest in the subject almost made him forget there was an ancient evil amulet in the room.

The suit watched on in wonder as Valery extended her hand, and created... energy. A blazing inferno of energy, blasting the necklace in it's light until the darkness had burned away. But it didn't feel destructive, or scalding in the Force. It was calm. It was peace. It was Light.

Zoar sunbathed in it's glow for a few moments, stepping forward in front of the necklace when directed He cradled the little object in one massive, metal palm, before turning back to Valery, reverence in his voice.

//That was... reeeeally cool.// The Miln commented, placing the amulet in a pocket at the droid's skirt. //I don't even know how I would start to learn something like that.//

//Are you okay, though? Is that... painful to do?//

- Valery Noble -

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Zoar

His response to her use of Force Light got her to chuckle and reminded her of the old days when she was just a Padawan herself. Her Master was the head of the Guardians and a lightsaber instructor, so she was always amazed by the skills he put on display. It gave her the determination to work incredibly hard, so she could do the same things and help people.

Regardless of what really inspired Zoar, she hoped to spark something within him.

"We all start with the basics of the Force, so while it might seem difficult now, one day you'll be able to learn these things without a problem. Just stay committed and work hard," she encouraged him before she raised a hand to clear some sweat off her forehead.

"I'm okay, just a little drained. So let's not wait around too long for these soldiers to wake up." She flashed a smirk and stepped over a few unconscious bodies, before heading back out the way they came, and through the hallways that would help them return to the hole they created in the wall.

Along the way, though, Valery did open conversation again, "What did you think about today? Learned something or feel like you made progress with training or just experience?"

​

 

[Zoar]

//I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that,// Zoar ventured. He usually wouldn't disagree with a Master, but his lack of self-worth won out in the end, as he carefully stepped around the unconscious forms of the Imperials. //I'm not really... 'good at' harnessing the Force.//

//Mechanics, I'm good at. Slicing, I'm good at. They're like... my thing. The Force? Not my thing. Which is... not good, for a Jedi.//

As the pair continued on their way, Zoar pondered the question. What had he learned? He decided to list empirical lessons first. //How to best breach a wall. That imperial helmets need better protection. That I need to recalibrate the reaction time of my suit.//

The Miln sighed. //That... I can't handle fear by myself. But I kinda already knew that.//

- Valery Noble -

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Zoar

Valery carefully listened to him and dipped her head, "I understand what you mean. But it's not something you're alone in at all," she tried to assure him. "Did you know I can't heal others? I can speed up my own body's healing, but I can't heal other people. I also have no affinity with the Force and how it interacts with machines, droids, or electronics."

She paused a moment, "My point is - we've all got our strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you'll find that something like Ionize or Mechu-deru will be quite easy for you." Perhaps he could learn something like Force light as well with enough time and commitment, but it was never a bad thing to start building up confidence with skills that felt more natural.

Judging by what she had witnessed today, the Force and its interactions with technology could be a good starting point.

"Confronting fears alone is no easy feat, and there's no shame in needing some help. What's most important is that you pushed through and still completed the mission," Valery said with an encouraging smile. "So be proud of what you did today, and let's head back on a positive note."

"Do you like tea or prefer hot chocolate?"

​

 

[Zoar]

Wait.

Waiwaiwaiwaiwait. Record scratch.

Zoar's head rotated to look at her incredulously. Valery Noble, Sword of the Jedi, Master of the Order, struggled with aspects of the Force too? It felt... impossible. Valery was as perfect a Jedi as there could be. But if she still struggled...

Maybe it was okay for him to struggle, too.

//Okay. Yeah. Sure. I'll... I'll look into it.// The Miln's voice seemed cautiously optimistic. He'd never met anyone in the Order that could teach him Mechu-deru or Ionize. Tech Jedi were few and far between. But maybe there was information in the library? It was something to research, at least.

As Valery continued, the power suit went quiet again. His fear wouldn't ever leave him. It was instinctual, ingrained in his biology. But... Valery felt fear sometimes, too. Iris had said as much. Another thing to think about.

Not that he had to think about her last question. //Hot chocolate!,// he said immediately, a sudden excitement coloring his pensive mood. Then, he reined himself back in. //If that's... alright. Which it is. Cuz you just said it was. Heh.//

//Shutting up again.//

- Valery Noble -

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Odacer-Faustin
Tag | Zoar

There was a brief chuckle at how surprised he seemed, but perhaps this is what he really needed to hear. It was okay to struggle, as all Jedi did. But while some things didn't come easy, there would certainly be other skills he'd pick up naturally. All he needed was some hope and commitment to work for it. Judging by his optimistic tone, she believed he was on the right track.

"While I can't teach you those things, I can always guide you to learn. I'm just one call away," Valery said while they walked back and shifted the conversation to something a little less serious.

//Hot chocolate!,//

Valery grinned at his excitement and dipped her head. The more nervous response that followed didn't bother her — she just continued to smile and brought him back out through the hole in the Temple's wall. "Hot chocolate and some snacks it is. A great choice."

And with that, the two Jedi had completed their mission.

​