Private Little Star

[Corazona von Ascania]

An all too familiar thuk and hiss had Cora reaching for her rebreather.

"Gas!"

Valery's voice sounded strained. As Cora turned, the scene unfolded before her in slow motion.

Her Master stumbled, eyes red and teary as she fought off the effects of the gas and gasped for breath. A momentary pause in her otherwise airtight defenses, and Cora wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

Danger sense prickled her skin like a short jolt of electricity. She saw the rifle leveled towards Valery, she felt herself draw on the Force, saw her hand as she flung it out in front of her to knock the barrel off course. The shot went wide over Valery's head, but Cora didn't stop moving.

Anger had seeped into her bones, anger had a vice grip on the crusader's throat as he was lifted into the air. The struggle only made her blood pound more aggressively in her veins as she tightened her telekinetic hold.

How dare he.

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Gas!"

Kahlil bristled. The Mandalorians were using gas even now? His saber receded back into it's hilt as he raised his hands instead. The Force pulled under his guidance, whipping up the very air around them as he turned his focus instead of the gas that was starting to spread. A gust, a swirl of air that he continued to churn faster and faster to suck the very poison from the air. And the air, but the momentary breathlessness would be fine he figured.

Grant it, he turned the gust he'd made into a weapon against the Mandalorian's ships to send them scattering from the turbulence.

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

Jedi Temple

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

The blaster bolt went over her head, and Valery dropped down to her knees. It didn't take much gas to kill a person, and Valery likely would have been at least unconscious if it weren't for her system actively purging the gas from her system. But it had still left her momentarily stunned, and by the time she was able to look up again, she saw her Padawan. An arm outstretched and with the Force screaming around her.

The Mandalorian who had tried to shoot her at least a foot off the ground, kicking and squirming while his neck was being pressured. Slowly but surely, he was losing his strength to resist.

<Cora...> Valery managed telepathically, her voice soft but the currents of the Force strong enough to hopefully pierce right through Cora's anger. She needed her to calm down and think, before she'd do something she would regret.

<Babe, something's up with her,> Valery then told her husband, as she pushed herself back up to her feet and drew in some fresh air. Sometimes, it really helped having a husband who controlled the winds.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Kahlil's clever manipulation of wind had siphoned the poison gas away, but it was Valery's voice that finally cut through the fog in her mind.

<Cora...>

She squinted, brow crinkling as her focus was pulled from the Mandalorian's increasingly desperate gasps, to the voice of her Master. It took a moment for everything to sink in, and the world was suddenly moving at its typical pace again.

Cora gasped, reeling back as she dropped her telekinetic hold on the warrior. Her eyes flared desperately wide, trickles of sweat beading at her temples. Shock and disgust flashed across her face in equal parts as she wrenched herself away from the vestiges of her dark thoughts and into the reality of what she'd done.

The Mandalorian hit the ground, unmoving aside from the rapid gulps of hair that lifted his chest from behind the armor. Cora was rooted to her spot, momentarily stunned.

"Wh…what did I…"

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

<She's letting her emotions take over. Keep her calm and focus. We're still under attack, don't let her freeze.>

He hadn't felt it until Valery brought it up, which had him looking over towards the two. Only briefly before his attention was again pulled by the Mandalorians still fighting around them. He gritted his teeth before bringing out another runic sequence through the air. Light, evaporate, deconstruct, erase, area, growth. It was a particularly in depth sequence, and one he didn't want to utilize often if he could help it.

Right now, though, it was necessary.

The runes formed a ring that surrounded the remaining drop ships before he raised his hands further, then brought them together. The sequences flared blindingly bright. When the light faded, nothing remained. None of the Mandalorians, their ships. Everything had been erased.

"Regroup and fall back! Get the transports ready for evacuation, now!"

The Twi'lek's around him stared at the empty space for only moment before they nodded and hurried inside to start the evacuations. Without the gunships harassing them, more would be able to escape. Now was the time to flee.

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

Jedi Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

Despite some lingering effects of the gas, Valery pushed herself up and ran towards her Padawan. She had already dropped the Mandalorian warrior, but what Kahlil had warned her about was happening - the shock of what she had done froze her up. So, with her weapon drawn again and two blades spinning into complex patterns, Valery became her shield and turned her gaze towards the younger woman.

"Cora, snap out of it!" She exclaimed. "We need to focus!" A hand pulled on her Padawan's shoulder, right as Kahlil dealt with this wave of Mandalorians. Knowing how complicated that sequence of runes must have been, Valery eyed him to make sure he was still doing good.

Such use of the Force could get exhausting.

"More of them will come. We need to help get these people out of here, and then we can talk about this." She offered a hopefully reassuring smile and waited for Cora to move first, before she would even consider doing the same.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Wha…"

It was like a dream sequence. Kahlil had done something to the gunships, but it wasn't processing for Cora.

Valery was on her feet, blades whirling to catch blaster bolts as they lanced her way. Her Master's voice sounded far away until a hand reached out, as if to tug Cora from her shock.

The Padawan shook her head suddenly as if she'd just been slapped.

Focus. Right, focus. Focus, focus.

In her early days as a combatant, Cora had been prone to freezing in battle - and being ill. While she'd thankfully grown out of the latter and was less susceptible to the former, she knew that something was wrong, but this wasn't the moment to address it.

"Right." She exhaled sharply. "Evacuate first." One step at a time.

Cora met Valery's smile with a sharp nod before she took a step back and activated her own blade, keeping the enemy fire off of the fleeing Twi'leks.

Some distance away, a handful of speeders rumbled to life near a hidden exit point of the rebel base. As much as she wanted to fight, Cora fell back into a rhythm of deflection. Once their allies had gotten out safely, they would cover their retreat.

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil moved with the Twi'leks, letting his saber do the work of defending them from the remaining Mandalorian's blaster fire. But he was slower. Weaker. There was a cost to using the Force as he had, but right now he still needed to fight. "Fall back, everyone! We're heading out immediately!"

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

Jedi Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

She was back.

There was visible relief in Valery's smile, as Cora moved again and started to cover the Twi'lek's retreat. Their speeders roared to life, and the three Jedi had their own speeder waiting too. But with a new group of Mandalorians approaching with jetpacks, Valery knew they'd be exposed in their speeder.

Especially with Kahlil having used so much of his energy.

"Go!" Valery called out to her husband and Padawan. "Get in the speeder and cover their retreat! I'll be right behind you!" She called out, and with just a single nod to Kahlil, she hoped to convey her plan. He was a way for her to get back quickly through the Dyad, and until they were cleared, she could be their shield.

But she still needed them to protect the Twi'leks while they tried to flee to another base.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Get in the speeder. Cover their retreat.

If there was one thing Cora had learned during her time with Horace, it was how to compartmentalize. The shock and horror of what she'd done was tucked away into the back of her mind for now. Instead, she poured her focus into the dire situation in front of her.

The Mandalorians had great speed and maneuverability with their jetpacks, enabling some of them to break off from Valery's interception and go after the fleeing rebels. Now in their own speeder, Kahlil and Cora followed closely behind the Twi'leks as they sped through the rocky landscape of Ryloth.

The helmeted warriors closed in on the speeder closest to the pair of Jedi, hammering it with blaster fire. The rebels ducked, a few returning fire with the lighter weapons they'd been able to carry onto the transport.

With a leap from their own speeder to the one under assault, Cora landed on the back. Her saber twirled, blue plasma redirecting blaster bolts as quickly as they'd come. One of the assailants flicked a remote detonator their way, attached to the underside of the speeder.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil kept to his own defense, battering away shots even as sluggish as he was. It wasn't until he caught sight of the explosive and felt the danger it had in the Force that he reacted more aggressively. He reached out a hand, pulling on the Force to yank it away. Just as another bolt flew towards him and clipped him right in the chest. He fell back from the impact, hitting the seat hard.

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

Jedi Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

The ground shattered.

The pain her husband felt when the bolt struck his chest echoed to her through their bond, but where it hurt most was her heart. Images of that night in Imperial Space flashed through her mind, when he had told her to go as bolts of plasma flew all around him. Never again, was she going to allow that to happen.

The Force around Valery screamed like it had never before, and large cracks tore the ground asunder. Her left arm stretched out, and the few Mandalorians left up in the sky were slammed against the ground despite their roaring jetpacks. Her right arm shifted towards those on the ground, and in an instant, their weapons were crushed in their hands.

Their bodies were lifted off the ground, and with fire burning in her eyes, they were slammed against the shattered earth. Valery wasn't holding back, and felt as if she could split the entire world apart if it was necessary to get her husband and Padawan to safety.

Nobody was getting through her anymore. She already failed him by letting him get shot - Now, there wasn't going to be a Mandalorian left to shoot at them.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

From the corner of her eye, Cora could see Kahlil make an aggressive yanking motion. It wasn't until the detonator flew away and exploded in mid-air did she realize what he'd done.

She turned in his direction just in time to witness him take a bolt to the chest, but Cora wasn't the only one who'd seen it.

The Force surged around them, more violently than she'd ever felt. It all happened quickly, too - Mandalorians were wiped from the sky, and those who hadn't been crushed into the earth had their weapons destroyed in their hands. With the immediate threat nullified, Cora jumped back into the speeder with Kahlil.

"Master Noble! Are you alright?" With a hand on his shoulder, she crouched down to look him over with concern.

Her attention anxiously turned towards Valery, both impressed and unnerved by the raw power she displayed.

"Master Noble!" She called out for her, hoping that much like her earlier slip-up, her voice would break through.

Cora glanced back to Kahlil. His voice would always be able to reach Valery, she knew.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil stared up at the sky, blinking slowly as he did. He'd woken back up at some point, but he was still trying to get the ringing out of his head. Thankfully the armor he wore at least kept it from being fatal, but it did certainly knock him right on his rear. ".. I'm alright. I-" A heavy cough cut him off as he tried to sit up. No, he wasn't alright. It probably broke a rib or two, by how he was feeling.

His earlier exertion had certainly taken a tole on his ability to reinforce himself.

".. Not alright. Heh. But I'll be okay, I imagine. .. Where's Valery? Mandalorians?"

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

Jedi Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

Valery didn't hear a thing.

A single tear ran down her cheek while the Force around her bent, tore and screamed violently. More cracks formed in the already shattered earth, and the air around her trembled enough to ignite intense flames around the Jedi Master. For the vast majority of her life, Valery had been taught how to control herself as a Jedi - to never allow emotion to fuel her use of the Force.

But her one weakness was her family, and with her husband shot, she could make the world tremble under her raw power.

"It's over now." Valery walked up towards the last Mandalorian warrior still standing. With a weapon drawn, he opened fire but quick deflections sent the bolts into the ground and air. Valery then raised a hand, and looked straight into his vizor while she shattered the chestplate of her armor. One thrust followed, and the warrior went down.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"She's-"

The sound of a pair of blaster bolts whizzing into the dirt pulled her attention.

The speeder slowly came to a stop as Cora turned her head to look for Valery. She witnessed her Master, pure ire in her eyes, shatter beskar with the Force and send the last of the Mandalorians to the ground.

"Master Noble!" She called out a bit more forcefully, disembarking from the speeder and jogging toward Valery. "It's over." She took hold of her Master's arm, voice softening as she looked back towards Kahlil.

"He was hit, but he should be alright…I think. We need to move back to the main base and get him treated."

Cora swallowed thickly as she took a short moment to survey the battlefield, broken bodies strewn across the landscape. She'd always known that Valery was strong, but this was frightening. And Kahlil…he'd quite literally snapped them from existence, gunships and all.

"It's over." She repeated again, quietly, more for herself this time as they made their way back to the speeder.

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil sat up. Worry filled his mind. He knew how he could get if Valery was in danger, but to see it from the other side was simply alarming. He stood, best he could, to at least be seen so Valery could see for herself that Cora was telling the truth. The battle for now was done, but the Twi'lek's still needed to escape before reinforcements arrived. And they certainly would be arriving soon. "Let's get these people safe, Valery."

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

Jedi Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

"It's over."

Cora's hand settled on Valery's arm, and finally the Jedi Master snapped out of her trance with the blinking of her eyes. She hadn't realized just how tense every muscle in her body was, but they finally relaxed, and a pained expression turned to her student. Few things could shatter the strength and control Valery had over herself and the Force but her husband, her soulmate, getting shot was definitely one of those things.

Even just the idea of losing him again made her feel both sick and angry at the same time, and now he was hurt.

"I..." she frowned, and looked Cora in the eyes with uncertainty. Her bond was more than capable of telling her that Kahlil would live, but the panic and worry was far too overwhelming. Until she looked into her Padawan's eyes, and slowly started finding her way back to reality.

"I'm very proud of you, Cora," Valery said with a weak smile, her eyes briefly shifting to notice Kahlil sitting up. It sparked another rush of emotions, but rather than lash out, she followed Cora back and gently moved closer to her husband, "Hey..." she squeaked weakly, while she gently wrapped her arms around him and let her face disappear into his torso. If there was one thing Valery hated, it was feeling weak, and she didn't like to cry in front of people either.

But she couldn't stop herself from trembling and sniffing away tears, as she held him again.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora blinked away some of the tension.

"Proud?"

As quickly as things had happened, Cora didn't think she'd done anything to warrant Valery being proud of her, but it warmed her all the same. It was that feeling of approval she'd craved from her father, something she never quite obtained no matter how hard she worked.

The smile that tilted her lips was slow and careful. Valery was about the strongest person she'd ever known, and to see her control slip a little gave her a more grounded perspective on things.

"Right…" She said as they approached the miniature convoy of speeders. "You make sure he's alright? I'll ride up front in case we run into anymore trouble."

Positioning the Jedi in the front and back speeders would be safest, she imagined. That way they could have an easier time deflecting any aggressors.

She blushed when she glimpsed Valery wrap her arms around Kahlil. "I'll, er, head over there, then…" It was time to give the pair some space. Even if Kahlil would live, that didn't mean that what happened hadn't been scary.

Even though they were more than capable of defending themselves, Cora felt protective of the Masters, not as Jedi, but as family.

Cora kept vigilant as the convoy kicked in to gear, and the ride back to the primary base went by without incident.

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil did his best not to wince. Valery was careful of course, but he was just shot in the chest. He reached up, gently patting the top of Valery's head. He was fine. She could see that much now. But they weren't anywhere safe. And more importantly, Valery had someone else who needed her attention right now. He smiled, reaching down to lift her chin up. "You don't need to hover over me. I'll get some Bacta when we stop and I'll be right as rain."

He turned his gaze towards Cora instead.

"You need to talk to her, while things are calm. Before anything happens again. She needs her Master right now, more than I do, love."

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania