Private The Zone

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

"Really? You just touch it?" Valery hadn't been there one moment, then stood right next to him the next. No matter how this anomaly worked and no matter what it really did, nothing could ever separate them. In this case, perhaps a dangerous thing for Mr. Master Noble — she was glaring at him for disappearing on her like that.

"What if it had trapped you as well, huh?" Valery pouted, just a little. She wasn't actually angry with him, just worried. She never liked it when something separated them.

Especially not some mysterious anomaly.

"But uh... I think I know where we are." Valery blinked and looked around. "We're in the dead forest. The one they mentioned as impossible to cross."

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"You already promised to shatter reality to bring me back, so I felt pretty safe."

He chuckled as he glanced her way, smiling warmly. As much trouble a she might've been in, he knew he was safe. Ish. The recording had made it clear the man hadn't died from the bubble at least. And that was enough for him to take a step in. He nodded though, looking around. So it wasn't the same place then? A whole different area. Did they mess with time at all? Was it still the same as it had been and they were just moved to a different location?

So many questions.

"Impossible, is it? I doubt that. We're here now, after all."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

While the death glare faded, Valery was left pouting a little, "Just be careful with taking risks," she said before she joined him to take a look around. The dead forest was somewhere between the military camp and the city they needed to reach. From the city, there would be a way to reach the plant. But they had planned to find this special artifact to guide them through. So, what would they do now?

Find their way back or push forward to the city?

"Very clever," Valery said with a roll of her eyes. "But what now? What if the forest only gets dangerous later on?" Valery asked but she had many more questions about this place. Some of them wouldn't have answers, but "Maybe this bubble is only dangerous when we try to head back through it? That soldier we found made it sound like he had been stuck in there for a while." She sighed and placed her hands on her hips while she thought about it.

"Do we try to find our way back? Or should we try to reach the city?"

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"I'm more careful than you think, you know."

Kahlil was all smiles, calm smiles at that. He wasn't afraid or scared of where they were, or the unknown they had been thrown into. It was exciting for him, pure and simple. He glanced around, humming in thought. "We should find the city. Going back didn't work for the soldier, so there's no reason for us to do the same." He smiled wide again as he reached down to take her hand in his and squeezed.

"Shall we walk through the woods of death together?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

No matter what happened or how hard she tried, she just couldn't be mad at him. The calm smiles, the humming and especially the way he reached for her hand to squeeze it made it impossible for her not to smile in return. So, with a sigh of defeat, Valery took his hand and interlaced her fingers with his. If they were going to find their way through this place, she would at least hold his hand.

Woods of death, though?

"How romantic," Valery said with a wide grin and a shake of her head. "Let's just hope we don't get lost," Valery said while she leaned into him and squeezed his hand in return. Although, getting lost just with him for a little while didn't even sound too bad, even inside a creepy forest.

A forest that, despite its name, felt eerily alive. Their eyes couldn't see a living thing beyond the dead trees and grass, but their senses were far more alert - they were not alone inside the woods.

"Do you think Strider will get angry that his bloodsucker lair isn't taken care of now?" She looked at him with a smirk and swayes from side to side while she walked besides him. Valery didn't care at all if the soldier got angry or disappointed - this was a lot more interesting and ultimately more important as well.

"Hmnm..." Valery said not a moment later, her eyes betraying some sign of discomfort. She reached up to her right temple, furrowed her brows, and turned her head to look at him, "Just a headache."

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"He'll have to be fine without it. It's not like we purposefully avoided the nest, after all."

And they could always swing back, probably. Maybe. He shrugged indifferently. If he was honest, he didn't care as much about that as he did what they had to explore here. A dangerous woods no one had survived. So much fun. A frown did end up forming as she reached up to touch her brow though, and he didn't bother hiding his concern.

"We just traveled through a space bubble into a radioactive zone of unexplained anomalies. Don't dismiss anything as just normal or fine. What's going on?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

Valery didn't much care for Strider and his bloodsucker lair either - not in the grand scheme of things. But with a sudden headache kicking in, she no longer thought about it at all and tried her best to fight against it. But as Kahlil began to speak, she knew it wasn't something she could just shrug off and ignore.

Not here.

"Don't you feel it-" she paused and remembered. Right, Epicanthix. Valery grumbled and squeezed on his hand a little harder. At least he'd be able to feel what she was experiencing through their bond - it was as if someone or something was trying to force its way into her mind.

"Maybe it was the bubble, or maybe it's this place? It could explain why people don't get through it alive..." She could shield her mind immensely well because of her time as a Jedi Shadow, but someone without the Force? Valery already felt quite a headache.

"But where is it coming from?"

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"Well that at least confirms it's force born." If he couldn't feel it because of such a reason, the it meant it had to be affecting things through the Force. Someone was tying to affect them through the Force. Kahlil's expression soured as he was now far more certain that there was someone behind this. To what extent was what e wanted to figure out next.

"Can you follow the feeling, by chance?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

"I can," Valery muttered while she squeezed his hand and turned around. It was much harder to focus with the constant pressure on her mind, but the former Jedi Shadow was used to this feeling. She closed her eyes, followed her senses, and gently tugged her husband along while they walked through the forest. With every step they took, it felt as if they were being watched. Not by one thing alone, but it was as if the entire forest itself was watching them.

Waiting for them.

"There," Valery said not long after they stepped into a small clearing within the forest. Up ahead in the distance, perhaps a mile or so away, stood a large structure. It looked like the design of a power distribution station, but there hadn't been any electricity in this area since the catastrophe happened. "It's coming from that place." Valery frowned and drew in a deep breath to steady herself a little.

The headache was taking its toll on her focus.

"It's right between the military camp and the city, too. If it's doing this to me... I think I know why nobody ever comes back from this place."

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"Well, currently, they're messing with my wife so," Kahlil turned his gaze forward towards where Valery had indicated. He squeezed her hand as they started to walk in that direction, firmly. "I'm beating them up." And possibly more. People who hurt his wife, his family, were very much in for a word of hurt just for doing so. He knew it wasn't the best thing for him to be feeling, but for his family?

There was little he wouldn't do.

"Let's go make sure they don't hurt anyone else."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

"I'm beating them up."

Valery blinked and turned her head to look at him. It wasn't at all surprising to hear him say that, given how protective he has always been of her, but she couldn't help but snicker and look at him with a loving smile despite that. "Well, in this case, I'd say they earned it." They weren't just messing with her mind. According to the reports, people had lost their lives trying to get through this forest.

Whoever or whatever was causing it, needed to be stopped.

"I uh, I'm going to let you take lead on it if you don't mind. The world is starting to swirl a little for me." She squeezed his hand as a way to keep herself grounded in reality and looked up to... Valery stopped walking. She tilted her head, as something stood between trees and tall grass up ahead, staring directly at her. But after blinking once more to try and get the world to stop spinning, it was suddenly gone.

"...did you see that, too?" Valery looked at him with a frown.

Then, from the tall grass to their left, they could hear a growl.

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"I suppose we get to meet some of the new wildlife, then."

Kahlil glanced to where the growling was, his face devoid of his earlier enjoyment. There was nothing fun about something hurting his wife. He brought up his hand, and with it, whatever was hiding in the grass close by would similarly be brought into the air. He wasn't going to play around or simply wait and see. Right now, he wanted to make sure whatever this was wasn't going to be a threat at all.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

Kahlil would feel that something began to rise from the grass once he tapped into the Force, but his eyes would see nothing. Another growl followed, and the bloodsucker finally appeared, clawing into the air like a wild beast in a desperate attempt to be freed from the invisible shackles. But no matter how hard it fought against Kahlil's grip, it could not move. Valery frowned at the sight of it — this creature felt dark and twisted, yet not by the Force.

Something else unnatural had twisted this into reality.

"Love, more incoming!" Valery turned around as she felt a shift from behind. Two more bloodsuckers rushed out from the tall grass and came straight for the Jedi Master. But even invisible and with her mind scrambled, she could track them. With a claw coming at her, Valery saw one flash into existence, and ducked underneath to avoid the sharp nails.

Her lightsaber ignite and with a single sweep, she cut one of them down.

"Don't let them get their hands on you!" She had seen the strange maw and she remembered the words from Strider. She wasn't going to allow them to get a drop of blood from either her or her husband.

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"Oh. Shit."

Kahlil tightened his grasp as he brought the creature to the ground. He didn't hesitate to press further, ending it then and there as he turned to the others. Don't let them touch. He grimaced as he ignited his blade to cleave off the arm of one invisible stalker. Did Strider tell them they could turn invisible? He didn't remember, but he was plenty not alright with them actually being able to turn invisible.

He pulled his blaster from his opposite hip, letting that fire off one after another. They believed they were unseen, so at least for the moment they were just out in the open.

"I guess they would have multiple dens, perhaps?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

"What makes you think that?" Valery asked with a smirk, as she turned around to keep her back facing Kahlil's back. She couldn't allow any angle to be vulnerable. These bloodsuckers were obvious hunters, after all - they didn't expose themselves unnecessarily and they circled around their targets to exploit their ability to be invisible. Of course, a Jedi's senses could still track them, but the death and darkness of this place did not make it easy.

Then there was that constant weight on her mind from those towers in the distance.

"Love, I'm having a hard time tracking them." She hated to admit something like that, but she needed to tell him. His mind was a fortress and if he focused, perhaps she could detect these bloodsuckers through him, rather than through her own senses.

Even this dead forest could not nullify their bond.

"It also seems they fight in packs." Several had attacked already, and three more were coming in fast. They remained invisible until the end, and only briefly appeared whenever they lashed out, or whenever they were hit. Valery noticed as much when she cut into one of the three attackers with her lightsaber, but her sensed didn't pick up on the third, as it rushed her in an attempt to tear her down with its claws

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil kept his attention on those that hung around near that back, rather than those charging forward. He had faith in her ability to take care of them as he whipped his blaster through the air, unleashing round by round of it's clip at those who thought they were skulking around. But they weren't foolish. They'd started to figure out that they could be seen, and it brought with it panic.

Organization gave way to fleeing. They were smart enough to avoid a threat they couldn't handle at least head on.

Without looking Kahlil set his arm on Valery's shoulder, letting the blaster go off to shoot down the one that was trying to sneak up on Valery.

"Do you think they were called here?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

"Did you just use me as a blaster stand?" Valery watched the body of the bloodsucker he shot hit the floor and smiled. She hadn't sensed it like she had sensed the others, so the help was appreciated. She'd likely need more of it, at least until they dealt with whatever caused that immense pressure on her mind.

"It's possible, but maybe they just live in these woods. If they've given names and classifications to these types of mutants, I'm sure there's more than just a handful of them out there." But that was just a theory. At least they knew the bloodsuckers were not only in that lair Strider had asked them to neutralize, but they also lived inside the Dead Forest.

Valery turned to him after a moment and returned her lightsaber to her belt, "Alright, let's continue, hm?" She looked at him a moment longer, as if something was on her mind that she wouldn't say. Instead, she just smiled, turned around again, and started walking toward the strange antenna complex up ahead. To be safe, she decided to head off the path and walk between the trees instead.

A choice that proved to be clever, as they soon heard voices up ahead. A speeder was parked on the road and several people stood around it in what looked like military uniforms, though their camouflage was different from the ones at the base.

"They have to be around here somewhere," one said, oblivious to the Jedi hiding in the forest nearby.

"We should have found bodies already. Nobody can resist the scorcher."

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"The cutest blaster stand, yes."

Kahlil chuckled at his teasing, but didn't say much else with it as he instead looked towards the woods. He didn't sense anything there, so he followed without complaint. At least until they stumbled upon the soldiers. So this was more than just one person? He frowned. Scorcher was a new term, and he had a feeling what it meant.

"Shall we capture them?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

The Zone

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber

"Damn right, I'm the cutest." She pushed her chest out, straightened her posture and looked at him with the most proud, smug grin she could muster. And that was that - she was going to take the compliment and move forward again. Especially when they picked up on two others nearby.

Both of them were armed to the teeth, and the uniforms made her assume they were trained oe at least very well prepared. Perhaps paramilitary? Maybe mercenaries?

Valery wasn't sure but if they knew about this scorcher and how it affected people inside the Dead Forest, they likely weren't on their side. "Let's get them, but don't beat them up too much, hm?" Valery teased before she jumped out onto the road to instantly draw their attention.

She was playing bait - a distraction.

"Gentleman, I am afraid I got lost. You wouldn't be able to help me, would you?" She asked with an innocent smile. Perhaps she was enjoying this a little too much.

"Who the hell are you?"

Kahlil Noble
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[Kahlil Noble]

"No promises."

Kahlil shrugged indifferently. They were combatants, and it was obvious they were either behind what was going on, or taking advantage of it. Neither was alright in his book. He stuck back as she stepped out, instead closing his eyes to reach out with he Force. Find them, all of them, one by one just to make sure he didn't miss a single one of them.

The moment he was certain? He brought the Force down on all of them to send them flat to the ground.

Valery Noble