Private Decloaking

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

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

"We should probably come up with a name for the ship. Just a registry seems a little... boring?" She spun around in her chair as they traveled through hyperspace to reach their new target. The light freighter they were on currently had been their latest purchase — something they could use for longer journeys and missions, but also live in for weeks on end if necessary. Today, it would finally see its first proper use with a mission through the Cloak of the Sith, a dangerous stretch of space that would help them reach the final target of a series of assignments that began on Nar Shaddaa not long ago.

In a way, it was this mission that had brought them close and now, together, they were going to end it.

"Do you want to fly us through the Death Wind Corridor, or should I?" she asked when she stopped spinning and turned to him with a grin. The dangerous-sounding name was a backdoor into the region, where they'd be landing on a small moon. Their target, a Dark Jedi whose identity is currently still unknown, would be there on a secret base somewhere. He was the source of everything that happened on Nar Shaddaa, Sleheyron, and likely many more planets.

She expected him to be guarded and for there to be other defenses, but she was certain that their arrival would not be so easily predicted. So with hopefully some surprise on their side, she felt confident they could handle this with just the two of them. "I have a feeling we might need the top cannon as well if we run into trouble, so we should think it through." Her coordination and reflexes with the Force could be useful in either the pilot or gunner seat, but Aldric's own skills could never be underestimated either.

 

[Aldric Laurent]

"Alright. Did you have anything in mind?" Aldric chuckled, spinning in his own chair as he threw a handful of travel snacks into his mouth, "I've only ever had much experience naming livestock. So unless you wanna start calling this thing Bessie…" Another chuckle.

Her question regarding their mission earned a bit more serious thought, and he stood up, humming to himself, "A place called the Death Wind Corridor sounds… troublesome," The agent managed a smirk. "I can certainly fly, but… I'm no ace. I think your Force abilities will do us better in the pilot's seat than I will. Besides… I'm still a better shot than you," He teased with a wink. It seemed the most pragmatic solution given their skillsets, and as she said, it was better to figure that out now rather than later.

This mission had been a long time coming. From Nar Shaddaa, to Sleheyron, to here. Behind it all was a Dark Jedi of uncertain name or origin, but one thing was clear: his operations needed to be put to a stop. It went much further than either could have guessed, but no more. Now, it was only fitting they see it through to the end, together. "How should we approach this guy? You've got a bit more experience with his types than I do."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

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

"Nooo, let's not do that," Valery said with a soft chuckle at the idea of calling the ship after some kind of animal. It needed something fitting that they could easily refer to, and had a nice ring to it as well. "Sadly, I'm terrible with names, so I'll have to think about it a little bit." She paused a moment and let out a soft sigh. Every name that entered her mind sounded cheesy or just dumb to her, so she was of course not going to share them. He had enough material to tease her already.

On the topic of the corridor, she nodded and leaned back into her chair, her hands behind her back while she calmly talked about it all. "It is troublesome, but we'll be fine. I can fly us and use the Force and my ~special~ eyes to-" she paused when he decided to take a jab at her with his comment about her shooting, "Hey," she began a little threateningly. "My shooting is just fine in my fighter... just maybe not in the turret."

She looked at him for a second longer as he winked, and sighed in defeat, "Yeah okay, fine. You can do the shooting, but hopefully, we won't need it." She grumbled a little and turned in her chair to start taking over more functions from the auto-pilot and prepare for a swift entry into the system. "We have little info on him and how he has his defenses set up, so we'll approach as stealthy as we can and gather some intel. Then... we'll just go with the flow," she said with a grin.

Not the best plan for most people, but they were more than capable of winging it.

 

[Aldric Laurent]

"Didn't think so," Aldric grinned. The truth was he had some other ideas brewing in his mind, but they were similarly too cheesy or dumb, so he neglected to share them. It was hard to construct a name like this, and come up with one that was cool without being too tryhard. His comment on her shooting earned a sharp reaction, and Aldric raised his palms in mock surrender, "Mmhmmm…" He hummed, that teasingly skeptical lilt still in his voice.

"Don't jinx it. But yes, let's hope not." Aldrci grinned and turned to watch her as she fiddled with the console. "Just go with the flow, huh?" A smirk. That worked for him. "What about the Corridor? Any ideas on what to expect through here?" The navcomputer pinged, indicating they had just crossed the threshold into the region.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Death Wind Corridor

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

Valery rolled her eyes a little while she focused ahead, on the corridor they were finally approaching, "Maybe I'll ask Vera if she has any ideas..." she shot him a sidelong glance and smirked at just the idea alone. It would probably result in her using her wild imagination and all those cartoons about spies and secret agents she loves to watch.

So she wouldn't exactly be worse than her mother...

"Navigational problems, mostly. Interference for the computers, asteroids, and debris from ships that crashed or were blown apart. If someone knows what they're doing, they can defend the corridor with very few ships, too." Which is exactly why she had brought up one of them being at the guns already.

"So... get your butt into the turret, and let's go." That fiery spark was there again in her eyes, as the navi-computer showed they were entering the corridor. Almost immediately, the display began to flicker, and the number of asteroids increased drastically. But using her Keshian eyes, she spotted them early and allowed the Force's guidance to help her evade it all.

But as they got deeper into the corridor, several dots appeared on scanners near the end of the Death Wind Corridor, but none of them were moving. As if something was waiting there, or perhaps they were just derelict ships. "You see those as well?"

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric nodded, finding Vera's input agreeable, "She's probably got more creativity in that department than both of us combined." He chuckled, before Valery reminded him that it was probably important he actually get set up in the turret now that they were heading in. "Right."

He leaned down and gave Valery a kiss on the cheek, smirking before he left the cockpit for the turret controls. Aldric plopped down, swiveling in the seat and calibrating the target system, when a few radar blips split his attention. "Yyyep. Keep steady," He peered out the viewport, hoping to get a view, "They're just… sitting there."

Suddenly, the radar filled up with a complete mass of blips as they got nearer, and cresting over another asteroid, they soon saw a graveyard of ships. Some old, some new, all fallen to one the Corridor's many death traps. "Be on guard. This would be a great place to hide some fighters for an ambush…"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

"It'll make her really happy too, so we'll ask her," she said with an emphasis on the word we. Vera already really liked Aldric, so it was time to separate them less and less and take even more steps forward. She needed a father, after all, and Valery knew Aldric could and would be one to her.

But then it was time to get to work, as they approached the corridor and therefore their target Valery smiled in response to the kiss and focused her gaze on her instruments, which alerted her to the potential dangers up ahead. Even if there weren't any enemy ships out here, there was still a dangerous amount of asteroids, as well as debris from ships long gone.

"I always keep steady," Valery said with a smirk as she eased off on the throttle a little to make a more careful approach. She used the asteroids to provide them with cover, and some time to inspect the graveyard up ahead. "I don't like this at all. It feels wrong." Valery said as they drew ever closer.

Her scanners continued to work and her eyes scanned the dark vacuum but there was nothing she could see. Until... "Wait, I'm picking up an energy surge. Several!" She called out over comms, but they didn't just come from the graveyard either. Some were behind the couple - ships that had been hiding on or behind asteroids. "They must have known we're coming! I'm raising shields, cover our rear!" She could use the forward cannons to protect their front, but her focus was on piloting first and right now, she went into a sharp turn to the left to escape getting trapped between two groups of enemy fighter.

"What kind of ships are we dealing with?"

 

[Aldric Laurent]

"Feels like any of 'em could come to life any second," Aldric mumbled. They each kept their eyes peeled, checking scanners for any betrayal of an attack. It was a tense, and near-silent wait, as they crept carefully through the graveyard.

Then, the enemy sprung their trap. Aldric immediately went at the ready, swiveling around to face the nearest incoming signature. The ship lurched to the left, giving him a better view of the oncoming fighters. He fired a few stray shots, hoping to deter them, but it only provoked a returning fire. They sped past, engines shaking the freighter hull, while they came back around to reengage.

'What, you want me to read off the model number for ya?!" He quipped, a bit under pressure. After a beat he tried for a more genuine response, "Some kind of heavy assault fighters. Looks like they've got some symbol on 'em, but I can't tell what,"

The target system wailed, confirming a lock-on. Aldric wasted no time unloading several shots onto the nearest fighter. The wing was pummeled until it blew off, causing the vessel to veer off and explode, "Got one!"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Death Wind Corridor

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

"Very funny," Valery grumbled in return to his quip, but there wasn't much more she could say. The enemy fighters were swarming all around them, so she was incredibly focused on maneuvering their ship and keeping it from being blown apart. Rather quickly, she understood that it was going to rely a lot on Aldric's shooting, as keeping the nimble fighters in front of her forward-facing guns seemed like an impossible task.

Despite that fact, though, Valery fired off the occasional burst to weaken shields and deter the attackers the best she could.

Soon enough, one such fighter overestimated the time it had for a hit-and-run, and Aldric managed to lock on. Through the window, Valery watched a burst of plasma bolts erupt from his turret, peppering the enemy fighter until it exploded with a huge fireball. She grinned and opened her comms, "Got one on an approach vector from below!"

Which meant...

With a sudden spin, Valery flipped their ship upside down, allowing Aldric to turn his gun up and find the fighter that was coming up from behind them, and now that they were flipped around, from above them. It was likely a bit disorientating but she knew he'd adjust. It was either adapting or getting destroyed. "Hold on, babe, I'm going through the asteroid belt to shake them!" It was probably the last thing he wanted to hear, as even for Jedi it was difficult to navigate one in a fighter, let alone a bigger light-freighter.

"Three of them following us!"

 

[Aldric Laurent]

"Below?" Aldric repeated. Quickly, he prepared himself, and it was as if they read each other's minds. Valery spun the ship around, and he was ready with the turret to fire a barrage of quick shots as soon as he locked on. The fighter was wholly unprepared for such a well-executed maneuver and follow-up, leaving it as little more than a few more pieces in the graveyard. "That's what I'm talking about!" Aldric cheered, pumping his fist.

There was little time for further celebration though, as they had to plunge their way through the asteroid field to hopefully lose their pursuers. "I see 'em!" If they were lucky, one or two might crash in the field. Or they could manipulate one into crashing with some good maneuvering. But at least one of the fighters was dodging delft through asteroids and turret fire, "Damn. This guy's good!" Aldric said, shots trailing just behind. "Can't seem to scare him off! Watch out!"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Death Wind Corridor

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

While she didn't say anything in return because of her deep focus, Valery was grinning from ear to ear when she heard him call out the kill. There was actual excitement in his tone, but there was another shift when they entered the asteroid belt and all of its dangers. Valery wasn't actually quite certain about the decision herself, but it was more than likely their only way to survive and get through this.

"Good shooting, babe, but we're not done yet!"

Soon, he called out one particularly difficult target, but Valery wasn't able to do much about it, and their shields were getting pounded hard. It caused the two to rock around in their seats but for now, the ship was holding together. They just needed a plan, and Valery came up with one he'd likely not be too fond of. Rather than going around the asteroids, she was now heading straight for one, and the enemy wasn't backing off at all. "Babe, shoot the asteroid at the last possible moment. We'll go through and I'll make sure we ditch them!"

A risky maneuver, but their shields were much stronger than those of the fighters, so even if some debris hit them, she felt confident they could get through. "Shifting more power to forward shields... accelerating and, now!" she called out, hoping he'd be ready to execute her little plan.

 

[Aldric Laurent]

This ace flier was starting to get on Aldric's nerves. He seemed to know just how to stay out of the agent's crosshairs, and with the beating they were taking, it wouldn't be a dogfight for much longer. Aldric did a double-take as he realized where Valery was heading, and her plan only made him more skeptical, "You serious?!"

There wasn't time to consider many other options anyway. He spun around, shifting the cannons towards the asteroid, waiting for her mark. Aldric fidgeted nervously with the controls, trying to figure out how to time it just right, his instincts telling him to go prematurely. But still he waited.

"Shifting more power to forward shields... accelerating and, now!"

Aldric fired. He held down the trigger, launching a barrage of shots just in case the first wasn't enough. Just in time, the asteroid exploded into pieces, allowing them a way through. Provided they didn't get pummeled by all the debris before they hit the other side, "Val?!" He asked, making sure she had a handle of the situation.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Death Wind Corridor

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

"Val?!"

"Quiet!" she called out in response as she tried her best to focus, and accelerated their ship into the exploding asteroid. It had split apart into two large chunks and countless smaller ones, so she angled the ship sideways and passed between the two deadly chunks, while smaller ones were deflected by their shields, albeit with a lot of heavy shaking and shrieking of the metal hull that found itself under heavy stress for a moment. "Woohoo! I told you I could do it!" Valery called out, a little too excited as she tapped into the Force to bring the two halves of the asteroid back together.

Right as their enemy tried whatever they could to get through.

In a desperate attempt to survive, the fighters pulled up but two of the three enemy ships were unable to do so and crashed into the asteroid Aldric had blown apart. Only one fighter did manage to evade that doom, and it immediately fired a missile toward the couple in return. With a sharp bank to the right, Valery tried to evade it but she had put the small freighter under so much stress already that it resisted.

A massive explosion followed that took down their shields and caused consoles in the bridge and throughout the ship to explode. All that Aldric would hear was a yelp from Valery through the internal comms, but he was given little time to respond to it, as the fighter passed by perfectly for his crosshairs.

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric immediately shut up, swallowing his nervousness as they charged their way through the newly made field of asteroids. Though the ship was battered by smaller pieces, they avoided the largest ones, and Valery completed the acting by weaving between and slamming them back together. Two ships went up in flames, and Aldric cheered, "Hell of a move! Nice job, babe."

Unfortunately, that damned ace was still on their tail. He had avoided it, and came in once more with a locked-on rocket. Valery couldn't turn in time, and all Aldric heard was an explosion, and her voice cutting out, "Val!" He screamed, doing a double-take as he realized the fighter's crucial mistake. "Gotcha, son of a-" His nostrils flared, and he pressed down on the trigger, raining fire onto the ship and at last bridging their dogfight to an explosive end.

"Val?!" Immediately, Aldric scrambled out of his seat and back to the cockpit, to check in on her.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Death Wind Corridor

​

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

Aldric squeezed the triggers once more and blew apart the last of the enemy fighters, which left their own ship drifting quietly at the very edge of the asteroid belt. It had been roughened up a little, especially from the missile strike at the end, but no critical systems were compromised. There were, however, other questions that now remained unanswered — both Valery's status, and whether or not those on their target planet were also aware of their approach now.

To check on the former, Aldric rushed back into the cockpit, where he found Valery out of her seat and trying to extinguish a fire with more traditional tools. Realizing that it didn't work, she tapped into the Force again and in an instant, the small fire faded away completely. "I'm okay!" she then called out, as she turned to face him with a soft smile.

"Good thing you weren't in the co-pilot seat, though..." she smiled sheepishly and looked at the completely ruined chair. Several displays on the console there had exploded, so if he had been there, shrapnel, electricity, and a hot flame would have all lashed out at him. Valery then moved closer to him, just to ease her mind by looking him up and down to make sure he wasn't injured. Their turret hadn't taken any major hits, but these situations just sparked that fear of loss a little again.

Seeing that he was alright, Valery let out a soft sigh of relief. "They all likely know we're coming now. I can try a very stealthy approach, but it's still very risky." She looked up into those beautiful emerald eyes and smiled again as if nothing had just happened. "Not that a little danger will scare me away but... what do you think? Stealthy and careful or go in guns blazing and spring their trap?"

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric skidded into the cockpit to see Valery snuffing out what remained of the fire. His shoulders dropped in relief, hearing that she was okay. He looked over to the ruined co-pilot seat, for a minute realizing how close it would've been had he not left for the turret station. But the thought was quickly dismissed, in favor of focusing on their survival and success.

Aldric grumbled over their options, weighing them each, before saying, "Maybe we should get a look at this base before we decide on anything." Flying guns blazing into some massive complex wasn't exactly going to be the wisest idea they ever came up with.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Cloak of the Sith

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

He was probably right.

She was getting a little ahead of herself with the idea to go in guns blazing. Their ship had already taken some damage, and it wasn't exactly built specifically for combat either. So in response to his suggestion, she offered a slightly sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, you're right, sorry." She turned her eyes away and to the pilot seat, which brought up a new question she gave a few moments of thought.

"You should fly us in," she then finally concluded after a moment. "I can use my senses to guide, but I won't be able to fly while I do that. Their base will be hidden, but the dark presence... I can already feel it out here." She let out a soft sigh and focused on what she felt through the Force. "This mission will probably get intense, so let's try to be safe, okay?" she asked with a slightly worried tone. Not that she doubted his skills which, in many areas, outclassed her own. But even just reaching the planet had been quite a thing already.

It was only going to get worse.

Valery then got seated and let out a soft sigh while she waited for him to make the approach to the planet. Hopefully, they'd be able to avoid more fighters or defenses activating early, but they were ready either way. Meanwhile, Valery took another seat in the cockpit and focused on her senses, which she used to insert slight course corrections into the computer for him to follow. "See anything down there? A base, ships, other defenses... anything?"

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric squeezed Valery's arm softly, a silent assurance that her apology was unneeded. Still, it would be wisest to get a sense for what they were jumping into before making a decisive commitment on their plans.

Her other suggestion made him raise a brow, "Me?" She clarified soon enough, and the reasoning was sound. They were past the most difficult part of their journey (at least, when it came to flying), so a switch in pilots wasn't all that big of a deal. "Alright, I'll bring us in," He stepped closer again, and nodded, "We'll be safe." Aldric tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he also knew better than to underestimate whatever trouble they might run into.

As they passed through the atmosphere and over the surface, Valery gave him a few course corrections to adjust their flight pattern. The area seemed covered in dense foliage and woodlands, making it difficult to get an idea for what they were looking for. "Nooo… nothin' yet… wait-" Aldric squinted through the viewport, taking notice of an apparent clearing. As they flew nearer, there was evidence of an ancient edifice. A ziggurat-like temple made of stone and covered in overgrowth. But around it were much more modern ships and vehicles. Whatever it was, it wasn't entirely abandoned. "You see that?"

One of the ships slowly began to activate, which Aldric registered even from up here, "Damn, I'm taking us in for a landing nearby. Don't want to risk them spotting us." Quickly he drove the ship down into a clearing some ways off from the temple, seemingly avoiding the range of their scanners. As they dropped into the clearing, though, he watched the ship from before rise up through the canopy, and seemingly begin some kind of scouting run. They knew something was off, just not what.

"Looks like we're gonna have to hike it the rest of the way on foot. Hopefully we don't run into anything else. You ready?"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Cloak of the Sith

​

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

The gentle squeezing of her arm paired with his assuring words seemed to help her quite a bit, judging by the relief visible in her eyes. She felt a little bad for needing it so often, but at least he didn't seem to mind. In all likelihood, he understood where her worries came from, and he knew exactly what to do to make her feel better and ease her mind. "Thanks, babe," she then said with a loving smile before he moved over to the pilot seat.

With her corrections and his piloting, they soon broke through the atmosphere, and because of her focus shifting into the Force, she wasn't using her eyes to scan their surroundings. She left that to Aldric, who soon picked up on something as he looked out through the viewport. The description he gave sent a shiver down Valery's spine, and finally, she opened her eyes again to see it herself. "I see it. That's an old Sith temple," she said, recognizing the design from all her encounters with Sith, and because of her experience as a Jedi Shadow.

"Makes sense, considering this region's name, but these places can be very dangerous to enter. If the Dark Side lingers, it'll try to manipulate and corrupt us." She gave him a more protective look now, as she wasn't sure how much of that he could resist. His mind was strong; far stronger than the ordinary person's. But he was not able to use the Force to shield himself the way she could against external influences.

She was just going to have to make sure that he was protected if anything happened.

They soon touched down in a clearing, but while it seemed as if they hadn't been detected, a ship launched from the Temple and flew over the forests to begin a scouting run. Either they knew something was out here, or this was some kind of standard patrol. Assuming the worst so they could prepare for it, she ran with the idea that they were aware of what happened to their fighter protection in the asteroid belt. "I'm ready but we should be very careful. I feel... off." She looked a little pale from what she was sensing, and something was clearly affecting her more than she was admitting.

"This forest has been altered by whatever and whoever is inside that Temple."

 

[Aldric Laurent]

"Why am I not surprised?" Aldric muttered. Figures a Dark Jedi would slither their way into a place so entrenched in corruptive energies. He glanced over to see her protective look, and nodded reassuringly. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too much for him to resist, but there were too many factors that played into that to say for sure, "We'll be safe. Like we said."

They touched down, and when they left the ship for the forest around them, Aldric realized how different Valery seemed. It was more than just unease, it was like she was being affected physically by it. Though its hold was certainly not as powerful on him, he too felt a general, paranoid discomfort. "You gonna be okay?" Aldric asked.

After a moment checking their surroundings, he nudged towards the temple, "Let's not waste time, huh? The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Valery Noble​