Private I Always Shoot My Shot

[Allyson Locke]

//: Lower-Lower Levels of Coruscant //:
//: Valeria de la Vallée //:
//: She Kind of Hot //:

After the attack, Allyson found herself diving headfirst into her work. The investigation on the One Sith artifacts that resided in the depths of Corusants underbelly went by the wayside. Because of that, Allyson couldn’t help blaming herself for it. Maybe if she had found the artifacts or eradicated the cultist that remained - the GA could have avoided the attack on Coruscant.

“Chit,” Allyson covered her head as dirt and crumble tumbled from the rafters of the old temple. She stopped and looked up at the partially destroyed foyer. It didn’t have much of a leg to stand on and would likely collapse while she was inside. Frowning, Allyson continued to stare up at it, trying to figure a way to stabilize the beams that bowed from the weight of the ferrocrete ceiling. Looking down at her hands, Allyson tried to think of what her limited took kit would do for her in this situation, and nothing came to mind. What a lame Jedi, right?

Groaning, Allyson decided to just chance it and slipped further into the make-shift temple. The runes glowed a faint red along the walls - she figured they were imbued with red kyber or something worse. It meant it would be a good idea to keep her hands to herself, but the Corellian was known for her sticky fingers for one reason or another. She continued to traverse, leaving a tiny slicer spider every few feet. The droids would clamber up the walls, pulling samples from the red glowing runes along with anything abnormal.

With all the research that led up to the temple’s discovery, Allyson could discern what Coruscant’s lower levels protected. A small library was under the Jedi’s noses dedicated to holding some of the Sith’s best-kept secrets. Allyson’s curiosity extended further than her work gave credit for. After reading the tome that Taeli Raaf had gifted her while she worked undercover in the Empire, Allyson wanted to know more about her rooted affinity in Technomancy.

It didn’t take her long to arrive at the entrance, which unfortunately had already been opened. The Spy paused, trying to feel through the Force what else had discovered the hidden archive. “Hello?” She asked as she stepped through the barrier and into the library. Without hesitation, she began to search, curious as to who would have beaten the super sleuth to the mystery’s end.

 

[Valeria de la Vallée]

Location: Coruscant
Equipment: Frozen Heart, Cinnagar War Suit
Tags: Allyson Locke

Coruscant. A planet that had stood for generations but that, allegedly, still held secrets on it’s lower levels in some of the older ruins. From within the Knights Obsidian archives, Valeria had discovered a story alluding to a Sith archive hidden in, what would now be, the lower levels of Coruscant and so she had headed to the planet, it wasn’t within CIS space and indeed was the center of the GA. While far from her normal area of operations, she thought that it’d at least be worth the trip for the knowledge held within the archive.

Valeria made it to the coordinates on the planet where the ruins were to be and indeed there was a ruined temple, as she entered the foyer it was evident that the possibility of the entrance collapsing was quite high, she smirked at the thought and continued on, after all even if it did collapse it probably wouldn’t pose much of a problem to her. Walking through the corridors deeper in the temple the runes on the wall glowed red, reaching out she touched it and could feel the Dark Side within them, she’d felt and seen runes like these before on Bastion as a child during her upbringing and training, so she figured they were likely made of red kyber crystal like the ones in her homeland. This confirmed to Valeria though that this was indeed a Sith temple of some kind, stepping back she tried to read the runes but they were too worn to make anything definitive out though seemed to be directions of some sort. She continued forward.

Eventually Valeria made it to a door cloaked in what could only be a force barrier, this is likely the archive cache that the stories referred to, why else would you put a barrier around it?

Annoying. Valeria sighed at the barrier, she was far from an expert on Force Barriers so if the barrier still retained any sort of strength it would be a pain. After some poking and prodding at it it wasn’t going to allow her through with no effort however the barrier seems to have lost a lot of its strength over the years, so forcing her way through wouldn’t be a problem. Valeria aimed a force push at the door which did get rid of the barrier but it also broke the door. As she stepped through she was greeted with a library with many books and a couple of side rooms, Valeria also put up a barrier behind her in the entrance. It wouldn’t really prevent anyone from coming through but she’d notice it if anyone did. She pulled a couple of the books to her for a glance, one referenced technomancy, whatever that was, and the other referenced Sith Alchemy. Valeria thought it might be worth coming here after all as she put the books back in place. As she was walking towards one of the side rooms she could feel someone, or something, move through it, she ducked behind a bookcase right as the figure asked hello. Valeria concentrated for a moment to use force sense, it appeared that this new figure, a woman, was alone. Valeria could also feel the force coming from her but it didn’t appear to be particularly strong, perhaps an intermediate user? The woman began searching the library, from where Valeria was she could see her and figured she might as well confront the woman, but in a flashy way to see their reaction.

Valeria used Force Teleport, disappearing in a cloud of frost and reappearing directly in front of the woman through a cloud of frost, simultaneously igniting her lightsaber, frost surrounding it and it’s icy blue blade shimmering off of both Valeria’s war suit and what was exposed of her frosted skin, her platinum blonde hair settling on her shoulders.

Valeria spoke, her breath frosting over:

“Well now, what do we have here? An explorer? A tomb raider? I am Lady Valeria “Aurea” de la Vallée, Lady of Vanity.”

“And who might you be?”

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Lower-Lower Levels of Coruscant //:
//: Valeria de la Vallée //:

The air chilled as the ice woman suddenly appeared out of thin air. Allyson stood, dumbfounded, watching as she took shape and ignited her blade. There was nothing short about the introduction or the woman's name. It caused Allyson to mentally practice in hopes that she didn't offend this Lady of Vanity.

Stepping forwards lightly, hands raised trying to show that she wasn't a threat, Allyson grinned, "Quite the mouthful of a name. I'm Allyson Locke of Corellia, sometimes Naboo depending on how I'm feeling. Lady of…" She paused, wondering how far her humor would be allowed. Valeria seemed to have a chilly personality. "Lady of Shadows," Allyson sprinkled a bit of smugness in her tone as she curtsied a little.

"By the whole little teleporty thing and," Allyson caught her breath only to add emphasis to her words, " how breathtaking your beauty is, I'm going to assume you're not part of the Alliance, maybe part of our dearest allies," The Corellian would bet her paycheck on Valeria being another Confederate. It was almost amusing how many had been popping up on Allyson's radar.

"Echani, but I've never seen a Jedi teleport, so you're not part of the Silvers - so yeah my guess is Confederacy or Sith, one's an ally the other well." Allyson shrugged, "I'd have to arrest you." Allyson exhaled curiously. She wondered if the library was cold or if the woman in front of her was made of snow. No condensation came as Allyson tilted her head, "So what is it? Confederate or Sith?"

Slowly as she finished, ribbons of gold spun from the tips of the Corellian's fingers. Taking only moments, it formed the shape of a bow. If Valeria wanted to draw her weapon at the drop of a hello, then Allyson would play along.

 

[Valeria de la Vallée]

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Location: Coruscant
Equipment: Frozen Heart, Cinnagar War Suit
Tags: Allyson Locke

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Valeria listened to the woman's reply, though as she did it was readily apparent to Valeria that this woman, Allyson as she had introduced herself, was no noble and that ultimately despite her claim to a title, that she actually held none at all and it was a thinly veiled joke. For most nobles, Sith particularly, this would be offensive but Valeria simply chalked it up to the lack of sophistication among the peasantry of the galaxy, something reinforced by the obvious and, in Valeria’s opinion, unrefined attempt at flattery as she commented on her beauty. Allyson correctly deduced that Valeria was not a Silver Jedi though her explanation of Force Teleport as a “little teleporty thing” did confirm Valeria’s suspicions of Allyson being an intermediate force user, most Master level users in Valeria’s experience was at least aware of Force Teleport’s existence and it’s name. Perhaps this was a blunder by the self proclaimed Lady of Shadows as it made it obvious to a potential enemy that they were on two different planes or in that it revealed her lack of knowledge, time would tell. Allyson’s thought that Valeria was a Confederate OR a Sith wasn’t as accurate however, Valeria was of course Sith Nobility though that was many years ago now since the time she had to kill her own mother with the lightsaber she held now. However, she was also an Obsidian Lord in the Confederacy’s force order, the Knights Obsidian. Valeria came to the conclusion that responding as both would of course be the only choice as Allyson called a bow to her hand.​

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“Well, that is naturally a complex answer for someone of my inherent social stature, though perhaps our lives are on two different Dejarik boards and those things are not something you realize by sight alone. I am Sith Nobility, I carry the Aurea mantle of my family combined with my own mantle of Vanity. I was born on Bastion however, it has been many years since I’ve interacted with the Sith in any meaningful way, I’ve chosen to be a Confederacy citizen and as, for now, an Obsidian Lord within the Knights Obsidian.This does offer a dilemma to your simple view of the situation, do you arrest me as a Sith or do you not?”​

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As Valeria thought for a moment her inherent desire for battle planted the thought of a fight, there was after all not much risk to herself. Valeria continued in what some may consider a sultry tone with a hint of threatening: “There is of course another option...do you fight me for the rights to these ruins and kill me? After all, there’s no potential political issues of a dead body in some ruins and any narrative can be woven versus a simple arrest.”​

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It may be unlikely that Allyson does anything, but Valeria was ready all the same as the opposite was that she did do something and it seemed equally possible, That bow looked a little interesting after all.​

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[Allyson Locke]

//: Lower-Lower Levels of Coruscant //:
//: Valeria de la Vallée //:

"Uh-huh." Allyson nodded along with Valeria's extensive dissection of the question presented. She didn't expect the answer to be so long-winded, but most of the explanation had gone in one ear and out the other. As much as Allyson should have been paying attention, she found herself watching the whisps of chilled air escape the Sith Confederate pouty lips. "Uh-huh." She responded again, to only make it sound like she was listening.

It was only when Valeria suggested fighting and death, Allyson found her focus. She wasn't the biggest fan of dying; Force knew how many times she had gotten close to it. But that didn't mean she enjoyed it. Quickly, the bow of light dissipated, and Allyson held her hands in front of her, palms facing Valeria. "Woah there." the Cheshire grin returned to the Corellian's face, "I'm always game for a tussle, but killing you? That would be a crime." Hands waving, and Allyson leaned against one of the dusty bookshelves and raised a brow. "I couldn't bear the consequences of locking up a beautiful woman such as yourself." A wink followed and Allyson allowed her on personal brand of charm to flow.

"Hear me out, how about we search what we're looking for - together." She pushed off the bookshelf, doing her best not to sneeze from the dust cloud that followed. She kept her hands away from any weapon, trying hard not to look threatening, "Afterwards, we celebrate over a couple of drinks, maybe dinner? I could show you a bit more of Coruscant, maybe another hidden archive with a wide array of secrets that you would definitely be interested in."

The suggestion had been used before, it didn't work out as well, but another Obsidian Lord thought it was charming enough. Maybe lightning did strike twice and hopefully not Force Lightning - Allyson had about enough of that to last a lifetime.

"Sound intriguing enough, Lady Valeria? Far better than spilling blood on such wonderful place of knowledge." While Allyson attempted to charm the woman, she still was prepared to deal with the Sith-like tendencies. They were still deep in the Sith ruins, which only meant that as a Sith Noble - Valeria was probably the stronger of the pair.

Yikes.

 

[Valeria de la Vallée]

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Location: Coruscant
Equipment: Frozen Heart, Cinnagar War Suit
Tags: Allyson Locke

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Valeria found Allyson’s attempt at flattery cute but it was lacking in sophistication even though it may have been clear there was some amount of experience behind it. Valeria hadn’t really thought about sharing the library’s knowledge but she didn’t really consider it an option either, she felt she had the advantage here after all and she wanted all of the knowledge, in particular a couple of Sith Alchemy and Sith Magick books that she had already found earlier and knew their location in the library.​

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“As tempting as whispering sweet nothings into your ear for a while is, my passion for knowledge would outweigh it.” ​

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As Valeria finished her sentence she casted Force Speed, a specialty of hers, and moved in a dash of frost arriving on Allyson’s left with her hand on Allyson’s shoulder, the cold radiating from her hand and her mouth relatively close to Allyson’s ear and spoke again.​

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“Well….normally. You lack sophistication but you are kinda cute so you may not be entirely lost. Perhaps I can teach you some of the class you lack and maybe have a bit of fun.” ​

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Valeria deactivated her lightsaber and removed her hand from Allyson’s shoulder leaving a small note with a location. Valeria began to walk out of the library, force pulling the books she had seen earlier that she had wanted to her hand and waved goodbye as she walked away with her other hand. Valeria spoke one more time before leaving.​

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“I already have what I came searching for, most of the information in the library is documentation about the Temple, typical Sith information but nothing interesting. There were some books on the shelf in the back that referenced something called Technomancy, not entirely sure what that is though and it’s not particularly interesting to me but perhaps it will be to you. If you’re interested in a drink, you can meet me at the location in the note, my holo-number is on there too. In the meantime, try not to get killed by any Sith. After all, none of them are as charming or beautiful or merciful as I am. I also wouldn’t spend too long in these ruins if you can help it.” ​

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