Private Maji's Legacy

[Valery Noble]

Near Enclave Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Yuri Maji

Today was going to be a heavy one.

Valery had sworn to Shai that she'd make sure what happened would reach her family. Part of that was telling the story if they hadn't already heard, but she also wanted to offer Shai's weapon and helmet to her son. It didn't matter that it meant returning useful items to what was technically her enemy now — this was a sign of respect for a fallen sister. The only problem was that she had no idea where Yuri was hiding. The last time she saw him had been on Coruscant, when he visited her at the apartment.

But with the war starting, she knew he wouldn't be there anymore. Surely, he had gone back to his own people after the news of his mother's death began to spread through Enclave space? She had been far too important for it to go unnoticed.

He had to be out here somewhere.

<This is Jedi Master Valery Noble. Yuri Maji, if you're out there, please come find me.>

She knew this transmission to be a huge risk because just about any Mandalorian with a transmitter could pick up on it. But she was ready to jump out of the system immediately if people showed up to take her down, and they likely knew that. She also hoped that calling for Shai's son directly would make it obvious that she was here to honor her word.

Hopefully, the Mandalorians could still respect that.

 

[Yuri Maji]

The moment Yuri received the hail from his auntie, he scrambled to reach her coordinates. Her proximity to Enclave borders were risky to say the least, but it meant that this was serious. He knew about the attack on Ryloth, and that both her and his mother would be there. His job had him gallivanting around in the outer rim, with little contact with the rest of the galaxy. News was slow to reach him once the business was concluded, though a few apologetic messages left the smuggler puzzled about what happened.

It didn't take long for his freighter to drop out of hysperspace near Valery's ship, with docking coordinates transmitted almost instantly for her to board his ship. Once the blast door of the docking ring opened, Yuri stood waiting for her with arms outstretched. "Auntie Val!" He greeted her with a quick hug and a hopeful smile. "I'm glad to see you. I've been working in some isolated areas, but I heard about the attack on Ryloth. Glad to see you're fine." He spoke, motioning for her to follow him to the galley.

"Caf? Something with a kick?" He offered her happily. Any chance to see his auntie was cause for celebration. "I was worried about you and Ma. I know she was on Ryloth, you two would definitely have ran into each other. Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm tryin' to find out where she is. She hasn't answered my calls since the battle ended. Please tell me you know where she ran off to." He opened a beer for himself and sat on the couch in the mess hall, glimmering eyes focused on his aunt.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Near Enclave Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Yuri Maji

She hadn't seen this coming at all. As soon as the blast doors opened, Valery had expected him to be standing there with a gun leveled at her head, but there he was, with his arms wide for a hug. She didn't have the strength to stop him and tell him right away, but she stood practically frozen in his embrace. "It's good to see you too, Yuri," Valery said in response. While her words were genuine, they were timid and only barely able to hide her pain.

She had killed his mother. Her sister.

"I'm good, thank you," she continued with a soft voice when he brought her into his ship and offered her a drink. She just looked at him, and all she could see was his mother's features. She felt her eyes straining to keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks, but when he sat down on the couch and asked her where his mom ran off to, she couldn't stop it anymore.

"She's gone, Yuri." Valery felt a tear running down her cheek as she looked him in the eyes.

"I- I killed her."

 

[Yuri Maji]

Something bothered Yuri about his aunt's behaviour. She looked... off. Broken, even. She finally answered his questions and the answers were not what he was expecting. Yuri's features sank as he took a long swig of his beer. "The kark kind of comment is that?" He spoke, standing up to face his aunt fully. "The hell is that supposed to mean, huh? She can't be killed, you know that." He remarked as the weight of her words slowly began to set in.

"Is this some kind of sick prank or something?" He asked her with outstretched arms and a look that could kill. He didn't know what to think. His auntie wouldn't lie, especially about something like this. A wall hit him as he leaned against a bulkhead with wide eyes. "You don't make jokes like that with me. You don't... you..." A harsh gasp escaped as he slumped down against the wall. "The hell you mean you killed her?" He asked her as horror filled his features.

His mind was a hurricane as the gravity of it all steadily poured in. His mother was dead, and his aunt did the killing. He didn't know how to feel. "Nope. No... you're... you're karking with me. My Ma can't die, she..." His voice cut out rather involuntarily. Tears began to form but the smuggler refused to cry. He refused to believe any of it all. "Nah... get out. Kark off, I ain't gonna... gonna be karked around..." A sniff escaped as he glared up at Valery with a scowl.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Near Enclave Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Yuri Maji

Valery remained completely quiet when he questioned what she told him.

She felt the tear running down her cheek, and she felt her her breath getting caught in her throat. The pain was unbearable, and slowly but surely, it was starting to sink in with him too. She wouldn't ever make a joke like that, and he'd be able to tell that she was being dead serious. He'd be able to see it in her eyes, and feel it as she looked at him.

"It's true, Yuri," Valery continued before she tapped a button on her wristguard and looked over her shoulder. A small droid appeared, one that usually would have been Bee, but she had given him time off to recover himself. Or, perhaps, she just didn't want her buddy to see her breaking down like this again.

The droid carried two things with it — Shai's helmet and her pistol.

"I'm so sorry, Yuri," Valery then added while she turned back to face him. "We fought at Ryloth and after I dealt a serious blow, she asked me to give her a warrior's death."

"And I did."

 

[Yuri Maji]

Yuri s breathing was erratic as his hands gravitated up to grip the sides of his head. He had no idea on how to process any of this. What to think or say. It simply couldn't be true and he refused to believe any of it. That was until a droid rolled in, carrying his mother's helmet and pistol.

Peace. He didn't even have to see the name etched onto the barrel to know which one it was. He had simply spent enough time around it to know. He even learned how to use a blaster with it. He never thought much of its name in the past, he figured it was merely some poor joke from his mother. "You could find both at the end of a barrel, if you think about it" was her explanation. It had some meaning to her, but for him... in this moment... it was nothing more than a harsh reality that he would never see his Ma again.

"Ma..." His voice was feeble as a shaky hand reached out to pick up her helmet. Tears began to build as he stared at the visor with disbelief. This couldn't be his mother's, yet the silver finish, ears and unique design hid nothing. His mother was gone.

A whimper escaped him as he gripped the pistol, though his broken stature shifted as he jumped up and fired multiple rounds into the poor droid. His aim finally shifted to his aunt, his second mother. The mother to what was effectively his cousin and, in his eyes, his sister.

Rage and agony broke his features as tears flowed freely down his cheeks. "You did this?" He coughed, trying to maintain his composure. "You... you killed her?" He whimpered, his aim unstable with the pistol as the grief overwhelmed him. "What... what kind of sick harpy are you? A lifetime you spent together. You raised me. You saved her life. She saved yours. And you... you just... shot her... like she was some underworld mongrel." His rage began to boil as he tossed his mother's helmet to the ground.

"You never loved her, did you? You spineless karkin' Jedi schutta. You never cared for any of us." He hissed through the tears, the gun in his grasp shivering with grief and anger.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Near Enclave Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Yuri Maji

Valery could feel her heart shattering into a thousand pieces.

She had only felt this kind of pain from another person, this intensely, once before — when Vera was told that Dad wouldn't be coming home again. There were no words that could heal this wound, and any attempt she made to say something failed completely before her lips even parted. She was just looking at him while he fought against the idea of his mother being gone in disbelief, but deep down, he already knew it to be true.

The helmet and Peace only confirmed it, and when they did, the dam finally broke. Anger flashed to the forefront and with a quick burst of shots, he blew her droid apart and even leveled the weapon at Valery. She felt that flash of danger and wanted to reach for her lightsaber to protect herself.

But she just stood frozen.

"I..." she felt her lips tremble and forced them shut for a moment while she looked him in the eyes. "I've always cared a lot about you both, and I still do," Valery said before she swallowed hard and briefly looked down at Shai's helmet on the ground. She had seen it many times, but now it would be her last time seeing it, too.

"I'm so sorry, Yuri," she said again, though this time her voice cracked and her eyes filled with more tears. "I didn't want to fight her. I didn't want any of this."

 

[Yuri Maji]

"You lie!" The battered Shistavanen cried out, fighting back the tears with all he had. "How do you wanna... wanna tell me you cared. You... you killed her! You killed my Ma." The words alone had him sniff as tears ran freely.

The gun lowered for a moment as he massaged his aching head. When he finally turned to face Valery again, a murderous scowl adorned his features. "I should kill you. I should blow a hole through you." A near maniacal snicker escaped him as he raised the pistol at her. His mother's pistol. She always preferred to carry Peace over War. A subtle hint at what she yearned for in life. A name that held little meaning in this moment.

"I won't." He sobbed. "That's too easy. Nah..." Another laugh escaped him. He wanted to embrace his aunt, cry against her in the wake of this pain for some form of comfort. But how could he, when she was to blame for all of this? "Death's too easy. Nah... You took my Ma from me. My hero. My world. Nah..." He moved aside, gesturing to the door with the pistol.

"This galaxy will burn. I'll take what you took from me. And when your temples... when your temples are gone... your... karkin' zealots are dead... when your whole life is burning..." He took a step or two closer, making sure she faced him fully. "I'll be there. To make sure you understand." He muttered.

He waved the gun toward the door as he sank against the wall. "Kark off. I can't... believe I loved you. You sick harpy. My sister deserves more... just kark off." He sobbed, dropping the pistol for his mother's helmet. He clutched it tight as he let his walls down, let his tears roll freely.

But despite his words, seeing his auntie Val still had him yearn for her comfort. "Auntie..." He croaked. He couldn't utter the words.

"I'm sorry."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Near Enclave Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Yuri Maji

Valery swallowed hard when Yuri cried out, and even more emotion threatened to slip into his voice and behavior. The weapon was still aimed at her, and she knew that with one pull of the trigger, it'd be over for her too. She could try and protect herself against it, but no matter how reasonable that was, she couldn't get herself to raise a weapon in front of another Maji. She had killed his mother, and if he pulled the trigger for that...

But he didn't.

Whether it was truly because it was too easy, or because of lingering feelings he had for his auntie, Valery didn't know. His emotional state was a blur even in the Force, and it worried her immensely. She knew of the darker paths his mother had walked, and the last thing she wanted was for Yuri to slip into madness over what happened. It would be difficult, to move on without his hero and beloved mother, but she needed him to try.

Not for her, but for himself and for his Ma.

"Yuri, please..." Valery tried, but seeing him slide down along the wall just broke her heart. "I... alright. I'm sorry, Yuri." She shut her eyes for a moment and tried to hold back her own tears, but she couldn't stop them from flowing down her cheeks. She turned her face away, trying to hide her trembling lips, and walked toward the door.

"Auntie..."

Valery stopped, just seconds before leaving, and looked over her shoulder, "I'm not giving up on you Yuri. I-if you ever need me..." she tried her best to smile, but then turned around to leave him be for now. He'd need time to process what happened on his own, and she feared her presence would only complicate that.