Private 40:1

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Classified
Tag | Rakaan Horne Kahlil Noble

Valery's defenses were beginning to weaken, and she felt that at any moment now, she could no longer keep up with the heavy pressure put on her by enemy fire. The first blaster bolts already started slipping through her defenses, and while some missed, another managed to graze her side and cut her open. She yelped in pain again, but realized it had left her wide open a second too late — a bolt was coming straight for her head.

Her eyes closed, expecting this to be the end, but nothing happened.

"I know."

The familiar voice forced her eyes wide open, and just seeing him standing there caused a surge of powerful emotions to tremor from her into the Force. He was here to save her, to make sure she could get back home to Vera but... she noticed something was different about the way he carried himself. He wasn't here to leave with her — he was here to only get her out alive.

"Rakaan, take her and run. Find a shuttle, get off world."

"N-no..." she stammered, her voice cracking from overwhelming pain. "Kahlil please, I'm not leaving you." She almost seemed defiant about it, as that hint of her inner stubbornness spiked. Her eyes then shifted to Rakaan, who she felt was taking Kahlil's side in this situation, and while that was the realistic choice to make, Valery couldn't accept it. Not now.

"Get away from me," she warned him, her eyes tearing up as she looked between him and Kahlil. "Get out of here and run," she tried to tell Rakaan before she focused on Kahlil again, "Please, don't leave me..." she now cried out, as she failed to contain her emotions.

"I love you..." Deep in her heart, she knew what he came here to do, and that there was no way to stop it anymore. Every future pathway in the Force converged to one thing, a destiny for both herself and the man she loved so much. But in this very moment, none of that mattered to her. She just wanted him to hold her, she wanted him to take her away somewhere else.

She wanted to hear him say I love you in return and be assured that everything would be alright.

But nothing would be alright.

​

 

[Rakaan Horne]

CLASSIFIED - Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

​

Shock overcame the Jedi as an unfamiliar rift in the Force flared across the ravine. Kahlil had come, as Master Noble once said, but not in the manner that Rakaan had come to believe. It was no fleet of warships with batallions of soldiers that descended from the heavens, able to crease the broadest smile across their faces. Instead, Kahlil came in the Force. It only ever afforded her sorrow, Rakaan could see as much, dumbfounded as the pieces in his mind turned with realisation.

Perhaps this had been what Korvan often warned Rakaan of. These attachments, the cost of them should one side of them become fractured, shattered into oblivion. The body could heal, a mind could be restored, but a heart was another beast; some wonderful but horrid creation, able to offer all the warmth of closeness and the distant isolation should that be lost.

His hands reached out to Valery in an effort to lead her away, lead her out of the ravine that the two neared the end of. But he did not deign to speak, it was not his time. Not his moment. All Rakaan could do was silently reflect on all the torment that bled out into the Force.

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Inhale.

Exhale.

Kahlil turned his head, just enough to let Valery know he had heard her. To let her see the peaceful smile on his face. He tugged at the binds of the Force, binding everything together in a way only those blessed in the Force could see or understand. "Go, Master Noble. We knew this was going to happen." The visions, the dreams. Their lives, always leading to one moment. It was the farthest he'd been able to see. The farthest the Force would let him, anyway.

He wasn't going to save the galaxy. Save the planet, save it's people. Stop a war, or even save a small town. That was never his destiny.

The world shifted. What was frozen moved. Little by little, fighting to escape the stasis he'd put them in. The bolts started to move again. Still slow, but they were gaining in speed. He closed his eyes again, focused to keep them at bay.

"Go! Vera's waiting!"

Valery Noble | Rakaan Horne

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Classified
Tag | Rakaan Horne Kahlil Noble

Despite her warnings, Rakaan stepped closer and reached out to her with his hands. Valery didn't move and felt them settle on her shoulders in an attempt to guide her away, but she still resisted it and kept her fiery gaze, filled with tears that were running down her cheeks, fixed on her husband. The pain of losing him was so much that the lack of movement in the world around her hardly registered, even as it became increasingly more difficult for him to maintain it.

"Go! Vera's waiting!"

"No please..." she repeated again. Her emotional control, her strength, and everything she was known for among the Jedi and those in the Galaxy was gone completely, torn apart by the immense agony she felt deep in her heart. But as his words began to sink in, and images of their little girl flashed into her mind, she finally gave in. As much as she wanted to run up to him and stand together until the end, she couldn't leave Vera alone.

She had to get home to her little star.

Valery's shoulders dropped, and so did the resistance she offered Rakaan. Moving away willingly was something she could still barely do, and the overwhelming emotions had left her standing weak on her legs with trembling knees. Her teary eyes turned to Rakaan and no longer was she warning him — she looked at him as if she was begging for help. But whether she was asking him to help her get out or help her bring back her husband, even Valery didn't know.

"Please come back," she muttered weakly, as her body gave in to wherever Rakaan tried to take her.

​

 

[Rakaan Horne]

CLASSIFIED - Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

​

It was a lost battle.

Between the Imperial stormtroopers and their waves of armoured men, as well as the one felt between husband and wife with Rakaan folded into the role of an onlooker. The Jedi could do little else but watch and listen as it came to be. There was no cure for the ailment of a broken heart, let alone one that continued to shatter in two. He afforded the one that was to live with a sympathetic note in his eyes, not so much as a meek smile that told of a shared pain stretched across his mouth. It was not shared, it was far from comparable.

"Come," Rakaan continued to lead the Jedi Master up an incline and out of the ravine, "Come with me."

Earlier reports indicated a civilian spaceport not far from the scene of their crash. It crawled with Imperials, however. Just as much as it did with starships, custom crafts and freighters alike.

He flashed one final look over his shoulder towards Kahlil, a sense of defeat tore through him like a hot knife.

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil let out a held breath once Rakaan pulled Valery away. The bolts started to move again. Faster this time. And yet, he didn't move. He held them all in place, this whole battalion. He had to. Until Valery and Rakaan left, he'd hold them back and keep them from their hunt. The Sword needed to survive.

Valery Noble | Rakaan Horne

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Classified
Tag | Rakaan Horne Kahlil Noble

"Come," Rakaan continued to lead the Jedi Master up an incline and out of the ravine, "Come with me."

Valery could no longer say a word and followed him up the incline, where she briefly stopped to look over her shoulder one last time, her eyes focused on her husband who kept the Imperial forces at bay. She felt her lips tremble and every part of her body screamed to run back and stand with him until the end. But not this time.

This time they were not leaving together.

"I love you," she whispered one last time before she turned away and distanced herself together with Rakaan. Right now, she could still feel him and she would until the very last moment, but all that pain and sadness inside was already starting to grow chaotic. The internal conflict created by the loss of so many close to her throughout her life could no longer be suppressed, and a powerful fire ignited within her now that she lost a true part of herself.

"There," Valery said, her voice alarmingly stronger as she slid down a few rocks and moved towards a small shuttle pad. There were several ships there, all guarded by Imperial soldiers who hadn't yet noticed the two Jedi approaching. But by the time they did, it was already much too late for them. Valery raised a hand and used the Force to extend her grip to lift several off the ground. They yelled and screamed as they felt themselves unable to move under the pressure she applied, but all were quickly silenced when she slammed them against the ground.

A violet blade erupted into the dark again, illuminating the intense features of a woman who had lost everything. Crimson bolts were fired her way to bring her down, but right now, nothing could stop her.

She had to get home to her little girl.

​

 

[Rakaan Horne]

CLASSIFIED - Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

​

The two moved as one across the frictionless mud that stained their bodies as much as the blood and burns, with torn clothes left to be a remnant of what either Jedi first arrived in. Between trees and shrubs that tore red lines across flesh, the thinnest layer of skin removed to reveal the faint and raw beneath it. Thunder cracked open the skies as the sparse flash of lightning brought light to the difficult terrain and even harder to stomach scene. Rakaan maintained a sombre silence, there were no words worth so much as offer to a heartbroken Val. But even then, a familiar darkness arose and yet not in himself.

His brow arched in realisation, a sideways look settled onto the Jedi Master for all of a second.

It revealed itself with the arrival of more Imperials, a mixture of standard soldiers and stormtroopers alike. Set out on a harmless patrol and instead met death as a result, but as her violet blade let iself shine in the darkness so too had his own cerulean beam of a sword. Rakaan made no dash for the enemy, rather the nearby shuttle itself. He batted away blaster bolts, each movement heavier than the last until a booted foot found the downed ramp.

"Leave them, we have to go!" Rakaan yelled over the blaster fire before he ran inside to prime the vessel.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Classified
Tag | Rakaan Horne Kahlil Noble

With untrackable speed and a Vornskr's ferocity, Valery moved from one soldier to another to cut them down with strength and precision in each of her strikes. They returned fire, looked for cover, and ran to create distance, but all was in vain as the Sword of the Jedi tapped into a darker source of strength she had always managed to control and suppress. It was only when they moved to retreat and Rakaan called out to her, that Valery finally snapped out of it.

She paused, looked at the running Imperials with widened eyes, and slowly shifted her gaze to Rakaan, who was prepping a ship for departure. This wasn't her - this wasn't the woman Kahlil had fallen in love with, and this wasn't the reason he sacrificed himself to keep her alive. She was turning into the kind of monster she had sworn to fight. Valery's grip on her lightsaber tightened for a moment, and while she stood alone in the cold rain, she finally made a decision for herself and disengaged her weapon.

This was not the end for her.

As thunder split the sky above her asunder once more, Valery turned and sprinted into the ship, where her fist slammed into the button to raise the ramp and seal them inside. Seconds later, she joined Rakaan in the cockpit but couldn't even look him in the eyes because of the shame she felt. She just dropped down into the co-pilot seat and helped him with the few pre-flight checks that were left, before her body relaxed and her head lowered.

Long, wet hair fell around her face, some of it sticking to her cheeks and forehead. But even with her eyes hidden from sight, the soft crying couldn't be masked within a quiet cockpit. Any moment now, she expected to feel the worst — to feel his life ending and their bond in the Force severing.

Nothing could prepare her for that pain.

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Why so glum?

Kahlil's breathing was ragged in the field. The farther away Valery got, the weaker he was. His strength had always been hers. Strain was on his face as he did everything he could to keep them here. These soldiers, these men and women who wanted nothing more than to kill him. Kill the others. Denied their kill, denied being able to even move, he could feel their frustration. Anger. Resolve.

A single Jedi could do this to them, a battalion of soldiers trained to kill Jedi. Why wouldn't they be angry?

And yet, all he could see before him was Valery. Sitting in her chair. Curled up onto herself as she waited for the inevitable. Even as he strained to keep the end from coming, he couldn't help but smile. It wasn't just a happy smile, though. Sadness, fear, all manner of emotions as he felt the bolts he kept at bay started to burn forward to their original velocity. He let go what he knew wouldn't hit him, focused on the others.

But this was it.

He leaned forward, closing his eyes as he set his forehead against hers. Warmth. Of her hair, of her skin. Who she was to him, there were no words. You know, I don't regret anything. You shouldn't either.

The smile he had widened as he lowered a hand to touch her cheek. With it, his hold faded. Blaster fire erupted all over again as the soldiers he kept frozen in place were now free to take him down. And yet, he had to touch her. One last time. Now that she was safe.

"I love you."

Then he was gone. His clothing fell into a heap as he faded into the Force, burned and singed by the repeated blaster fire.

Valery Noble | Rakaan Horne

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Classified
Tag | Rakaan Horne Kahlil Noble

Why so glum?

Valery's eyes opened as these words echoed through their bond, and for just a few seconds, she held her breath completely. She could feel him, his calmness and peace but also his sadness, and he could feel the whirlwind of emotions from her as well. Slowly her eyes turned up to look at him, and while she still sniffed with teary eyes, there was a gentle smile slipping through her lips. He always did like her smile, and so if there was one thing she wanted him to see right before the end, it would be that.

I don't regret anything either, Valery told him as she rested her forehead against his and cherished every second she could still have with him. For years, Kahlil had been her everything — from the Jedi Knight who joined her on a difficult journey to the ruins of her former Enclave, to a loving husband who always comforted her, and blessed her with a beautiful daughter. "I'll keep Vera safe and loved, I promise," she added with a weak, trembling voice.

Her own smile then widened as well, as his hand settled on her cheek. She placed her own hand over his and leaned into his touch. Even now, he offered the comfort she desired, and the strength she needed to move forward.

"I love you too. I always will."

Tears turned into a stream down her cheeks, as she felt the warm touch against her skin disappear, and his presence in the Force fade away. The pain in her heart was overwhelming for a few seconds, but deep down, she also knew he'd always be a part of her. Even in death, the strength of their bond remained, and the memories she shared with him could never fade away. Now, her eyes were shifting to the future, to their daughter and the people who relied on her. She'd have to keep going for them, and for him.

"Thank you," Valery said after a moment of silence passed, her eyes lifting again to look over at Rakaan. "I couldn't have gotten through this without you."

​