Private A Darkness Unchecked

[Rannan Kol]

Location: Montitia
Equipment: The Dark Sacraments; Apostle's Vestments
Tagged: Valery Noble

---

Illusions were powerful tools. To create an illusion was often to create an image and plant it in the mind of another individual. To tailor an illusion often meant the ability to see into their mind even if only for a moment. Kol had looked into Valery's mind, only the surface but that had been enough to reveal all the images he needed.

Illusions weren't only the creation of images or tailoring them to someones mind though. They could also be the laying of an image over another, changing its exterior but not its interior. The Mind was a malleable object, tangible to the Mentalist who could reach out and implant several thoughts or images into the minds of more than one individual.

In this case Kol had done all of the above.

When Valery's hand came up, with withering blasts of light emanating from it the darkness of the pit receded. The Blackness retreated from the light that the Jedi Master created and as it retreated it peeled away the illusions that Kol woven between them. The Man coming towards her was not Kahlil nor was it Kol; he was someones Husband though, someones son and maybe someones father.

While Valery saw a twisted version of her husband this man saw his wife, while Valery heard the twisted voice calling for her and a clawed hand reaching the man was only reaching for the one he loved.

The Force Light peeled the illusion that Kol had cast revealing a malnourished and broken individual who had summoned the last bit of his strength to go to the one he cared most deeply about. Unlike Valery's mind this mans was weaker, broken by the depredations of the darkside when this settlement was attacked and the ziggurat erected.

As the illusion was peeled back revealing him the mans mind, weak and consumed by the darkside was peeled away and destroyed with it. He died. Valery would see the confusion in his eyes, she was not his wife but he had seen her so clearly moments ago.

Valery Noble had killed him.

Kol had recoiled backwards. The sudden burst of light illumination much of the pit and revealing the wretches that lined the floor at Valery's feet and the silhouettes of those furthest from her, chained to the interior walls and lining them their bodies ascending all the way to the top. As the life of that one man was snuffed the darkness slowly started to return though, stronger than it had been.

Perhaps the Jedi Master would see the Dark Apostle before the darkness enveloped him again, concealing him from her but would she be able to act...

"Is this what you do to those you come to save, Valery?"

....his voice rang out, throwing itself around her like a sibilant whisper again....

"How many of them will you kill to reach me? How many times will you see your daughter die as you peel back my illusions from your mind."

...surely she knew what illusions Kol would throw at her next, what images he would place into her mind but thus far there was nothing. The Darkness was returning, stronger.

The Jedi had caused one man to die, she had started the ritual for him. The rattling of chains began again, louder this time.​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Montitia

"No..."

Valery's eyes widened in shock when the facade faded, and the equally shocked civilian dropped down to the floor. In his dying breaths, Valery could see his confusion, surprise, and most of all, his agony as he died without his wife to comfort him. It was painful to watch and drew her attention away from everything else for just a moment, as it reminded her of her own fears to leave behind those she loved the most. But Valery was still a Jedi, and despite what had happened, she remained in control of herself.

The fires within were lit, and her determination to find and take down Rannan had only grown, but she wasn't going to give in to the powerful emotions she felt swirling deep within.

"Is this what you do to those you come to save, Valery?"​

"You killed this man," Valery said as she walked through the pit, aware of where each individual was through her Keshian eyesight. She knew Rannan was nearby, as a flash of his presence had revealed itself when she illuminated the area. But he was quick and evasive, so her search slowly continued.

"How many of them will you kill to reach me? How many times will you see your daughter die as you peel back my illusions from your mind."​

Valery stopped and clenched her jaws again when he talked about her daughter. But before she could say anything or make a move to find him, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Mommy?"

Her body straightened at the voice, and a frown formed already while she slowed turned around until her eyes settled on the unmistakable glance of her little star. She looked so real, almost felt real, but she knew this wasn't her daughter. The little girl walked over, Valery frozen in place, and hugged her arms around Valery's legs the way her daughter always did as well. "Mommy, I'm scared."

"It's going to be alright," Valery told her with a comforting tone, but something about the way she talked showed that she was unsettled as well. Darkness surrounded the illusion of Vera, and very suddenly it grew more intense — she knew Rannan could try and make the girl hurt her, so she pushed her away with more pain in her eyes and began to move. "Mommy...?" Valery clenched her jaws hard and just kept walking.

"You're not going to break me, not like this," Valery said as she moved straight back into the darkness.

Rannan Kol ​

 

[Rannan Kol]

Location: Montitia
Equipment: The Dark Sacraments; Apostle's Vestments
Tagged: Valery Noble

---

"Mom----my?"

...the confusion in the childs voice called out to Valery as she left the little girl resembling her daughter behind but that confusion soon became deeper...
​

"You're...you're not my...mommy...."

...when she'd pushed the girl back she'd inadvertently sent her sprawling to the ground, all these people deposited into the heart of the ziggurat were weak after all and the darkness of this place only made them weaker both physically and mentally. The Girl had been real, just another victim deposited into the pit; Kol had imprinted the image of her mother on Valery and the image of Valery's daughter on her.

The confusion, the pain that Valery heard and that would register with her was all real though. A Mother's Love was a powerful tool but it could also be a powerful weakness.

As Valery proceeded straight into the darkness she would hear Kol's voice echoing around her again, throwing itself around the interior of the structure...

"You're already broken, Valery Noble. You just haven't realized it yet but you will."

...she was searching for him but it wasn't just a matter of finding him in the darkness. Clearly beyond being elusive Kol was using the darkside, cloaking himself in its presence and using it as a shield to make her eyes blind to him. Force Stealth, perhaps or just a trick playing off the ambient darkness of this place.

The Darkside was everywhere here, contained inside this structure.

Suddenly, without warning a hand would reach out to take Valery's ankle accompanied by a weak voice...
​

"Hel----p meeeee...."

....it was just a man, someone thrown into this hellish place. He was reaching for Valery. There was no illusion here. What better way to fuel the desperation in these people than to let them see Valery, let them see a Jedi and then to have her force them away and leave them behind. Every denial she made, false or not would seem real to these people and fuel the darkness in this place.

It wasn't just one person either, many of the people strewn about the floor of the structure only saw a silhouette and started reaching for Valery now. There must have been dozens of them where she was, just bodies deposited on the floor when there was no more room to chain them to the walls lining the ziggurats insides

More hands would start to reach for her. Trying to cling to her legs, scratching at her when they couldn't get a firm grip and the sorrowful calls came with them...
​

"Help me."

"Help....me...."

"HELP ME!"

...and then there was Vera, her daughter. She came stumbling out of the darkness ahead of her again. Who knows whose child she was but she looked like Valery's, it didn't even matter what the child saw. For all Valery knew all she was a Jedi, someone the people of this place were told would protect them...
​

"Ple---please...hel....help me....please...."

....she sounded weak, if Valery just pushed her aside she might even die. She came stumbling towards the Jedi with arms outstretched and fell forward. If Valery didn't catch her she would certainly collapse onto the floor.

It was at this moment that Kol's voice would find Valery again as he called out to her....

"You know that's not your daughter but can you leave her behind? Can you leave, Vera? Do you know where she is right now?"

....he knew her daughters name, maybe in fighting off the last illusion she hadn't been as careful with her mind as she'd wanted to be. It was why everything he said was so specific, the mind naturally went to the places it knew. With Valery staring at a girl who resembled her daughter and Kol asking her about her her mind might just naturally wander to the last place she'd left her.​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Montitia

"Everything is going to be alright," Valery tried to assure those who gathered around her and clung to her legs. She was careful not to throw them over completely, knowing that many of them were incredibly frail but she did have to shuffle her way through them in order to keep moving forward. What had started as a physical challenge, a fight to take down Rannan and his followers had now turned into a mostly psychological clash.

He was trying to turn her own emotions and vows against her, hoping that the hopelessness in these people could break her, as their situation grew direr. But despite how difficult it was to not be able to help all of them already, she pushed herself through and continued her search.

"Ple---please...hel....help me....please...."

Valery paused with a deep frown on her face when she heard the voice behind her. Turning around, she spotted a girl who looked like Vera but felt very different. There was pain in her eyes, and weakness even in her frail voice — it was incredibly difficult to look at for a mother, even though she knew it wasn't her own daughter. This was still someone else's child, and someone Valery had sworn to protect.

"It's okay, dear," Valery said with a soft, motherly tone after gently catching the girl and lowering her. She was set down carefully, after which Valery stood back up with her muscles tense.

"You will never get to my daughter," Valery finally said while she did her best to keep herself centered. Vera was far away, safe with her husband, and nobody knew where their home was, some of her friends included. She intended to keep it that way, and calmed herself down.

"You can't continue to hide in the dark. Not forever."

Rannan Kol ​

 

[Rannan Kol]

Location: Montitia
Equipment: The Dark Sacraments; Apostle's Vestments
Tagged: Valery Noble

---

"No..."

...Kol seemed to agree from somewhere in the darkness, unseen though his voice still called out clearly and resounded throughout the chamber causing the rattle of chains to still again....

"...she will come to me."

....some of what he said was bravado, posturing in such a fashion as to make Valery Noble question herself but his statement about her daughter, Vera coming to him should seem so preposterous that the Jedi wouldn't have much difficulty shrugging it off. That would be what first came to mind anyways but the Dark Apostle had a way of even making something that seemed impossible, possible. He didn't need for Vera to come to him, he only needed to make Valery see her coming to him.

It was why up until now he'd lain illusions in Valery's mind and the minds of others, it wasn't terrible complicated and only relied on the surface of someones mind. Their conscious thoughts and perception, the eyes fed them what they saw and their mind translated that visual data. Data that could be corrupted.

A connection to Valery's surface thoughts had already been established, all Kol needed to do was insert thoughts into them now so that she could see them for herself. Images of her daughter would be called to the forefront of Valery's mind, just flashes of her really. She'd see Vera with Kol, embracing the darkside and committing atrocities, heinous atrocities. Those were one set of images that could flashes across the Jedi's mind, another set just involved the pool of blood growing beneath her daughters body after the Dark Apostle cut her down.

It all amounted to an enormous distraction. The images were meant to throw Valery, even for a moment and then it began.

As though thrust outwards by a powerful application of Force Push bodies were hurled into the air, thrown upwards from where so many of them had lain spread out across the surface of the chamber like a tidal wave of humanity. It may has well have been a burst of Telekinesis which while likely not as refined as what Valery could have done was nonetheless effective.

Kol understood that exact and precise applications of Telekinesis required concentration so he had played his hand cunningly, throwing so many bodies into the air and at her Valery would probably need the focus to save them all if she even could.

It wasn't this mass of bodies, ripped up from the floor and thrown at her as though caught in a flood that should worry the Jedi though it was what followed it. The Dark Mulberry of the 'Dark Sacraments' would reveal Kol as he ignited them again, leaping at Valery amidst the torrent of individuals thrown at her. As he came at her his lightsabers wove themselves into a dynamic pattern ahead of him, arc wildly before he took thme into a flurry of blows.

Parries, redirections, slashes they were all part of an acrobatic display meant to push Valery back towards the wall of the ziggurut at her back but to what end....​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Montitia

The images he tried to show her now were so clearly not reality or even likely to ever happen, yet they weren't easy to watch. Vera was so special to her that even the thought of something terrible happening to her could cause a fire to erupt deep inside of her. As a Jedi, she was in control of herself, even with her attachments, but these things challenged her to the core. To see her in a pool of blood... she felt her hands ball into fists.

But rather quickly, she understood why he was showing her this.

Bodies of those kept within the Ziggurat were suddenly thrown into the air, forcing Valery to instantly set aside her feelings to focus on them. Both her hands came up and as her fiery eyes shifted into the Force, she extended the invisible strings of the Force and connected with them. They weren't rocks or inanimate objects, so she couldn't just abruptly stop and bring them down — she had to take it slow and be careful, which meant she was left exposed.

A fact that Rannan sought to take advantage of.

From the corners of her eyes, she spotted the two crimson blades igniting and instantly turned her body to face the man who moved to slaughter her where she stood. As much as she wanted to protect everybody, she couldn't do that if she was dead, so her arms lowered to ignite her lightsabers just in time to block the initial attack, which also drew focus away from telekinetically holding up so many people. None were left to fall, but their descent went a lot faster, and Valery couldn't focus at all on attacking. She was just defending herself the best she could while his flurries forced her to back up towards the wall.

Soon enough, one of his blades clipped against her legs, forcing a jolt of pain through her body that also caused the remaining few people to fall a few feet down. The only saving grace was that many hadn't been lowered back into the pit — she had put as many as she could down at the top, where her allies were hopefully gaining the upper hand. Even if they could only save a few, it was worth fighting for.

<C> "Take as many back to the shuttles as you can, and retreat," Valery commed after she jumped back and briefly glanced down at the cut in her leg. It wasn't the worst, but she was standing with her back against the wall, and he wasn't going to stop. Somehow, she'd have to shift the tide of this fight or find a way to regroup with her allies and save as many as possible.

Rannan Kol ​

 

[Rannan Kol]

Location: Montitia
Equipment: The Dark Sacraments; Apostle's Vestments
Tagged: Valery Noble

---

It wouldn't take long for Valery to note something other than the pain of the wound she'd taken on her leg. Every blow, even a glancing one would activate the 'Katak' crystals that powered the 'Dark Sacraments' meaning that every blow dealt more than just a physical wound when it landed. To a Jedi Master, a Battlemaster especially the effect would be small though potentially noticeable as it would be beyond the norm. The Blow was fatiguing, it would sap a small amount of Valery's strength and stamina.

As for Kol himself he continued to press the attack after Valery had jumped back. She stood with her back against the wall, glancing down at her leg momentarily---it was such a small distraction but the Dark Apostle would take advantage of it. Advancing on her his lightsabers continued to weave themselves into a furious pattern that appeared both random and deadly making it difficult to track though there was coordination apparent in the movements...

"You've only prolonged their deaths."

...he assured her, every doubt gave him strength and Valery could only hope that her men had the advantage over the remaining Acolytes and Marauders above...

"How do you think they'll repay you?"

...like most things Kol said there was a purpose behind it, one Valery Noble may not outright understand right away. It wasn't until after he'd made his remark that a chain, slackening against the wall and looped against itself would hurl itself forward like a makeshift noose and attempt to drop down over her head and around her throat before tightening followed by the cry of...
​

"Diiiiieeeeee you Sith bastard! Kill him Jedi, while we have him!"

...more illusions but not the type that effected Valery. In a nutshell Kol had superimposed his image over Valery's and Valery's image over his own ensuring that the people chained to the walls of the Ziggurat saw them as opposites. They thought they were helping Valery, they saw her as Kol.

Another hand would reach out to take her shoulder too, attempting to jerk her backwards so that her movements were further stifled.

Once again Kol attacked, trying to take advantage of the battleground he'd created for the two of them deep in this dark place. The 'Dark Sacraments' flashed ahead of him, his left non dominant hand had inverted the lightsaber letting him fan it out ahead of him in an attempt to draw her guard down as he sliced at her stomach while the other, his dominant hand made probing attacks that would only amount to quick pokes and glancing blows at her shoulders and arm. Kol knew even a clipping blow would sap more of her strength....​

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Location: Montitia

Her message had been the last thing those above the pit received, and they did get to work. While many of the Alliance soldiers had fallen, those who remained picked up the people not affected by illusions and tried to fight their way out with them. It meant that a lot of them wouldn't be rescued, but it had proven impossible to save them all, considering how frail they were, and with all the resistance they had gotten.

The only thing they could do was save as many as they could, and wait for Valery to make her way out of the Ziggurat as well, which was proving to be difficult.

Her attention had briefly shifted to the cut in her leg, not because it hurt or seemed dangerous, but because she felt something through the Force tugging at her own presence. It made her realize that his weapons weren't ordinary lightsabers, and possessed some kind of siphoning abilities. She had to be extra careful.

Rannan meanwhile continued to pressure her, and while he spoke, she remained quiet and focused just on defensive patterns, all to buy time as she felt her people working up above. But when she finally was backed up against the wall again, the meaning behind his words finally became clear. All of a sudden, Valery felt a chain tighten around her throat, tugging her up to where she had set down some of the captives. Another tried to pull her down by the shoulder, and Rannan came in for the kill. Without any time to waste, she shoved the captive aside, knowing it could potentially harm them, and explosively jumped up with the chain still around her neck but no longer tightened.

The Dark Apostle's blade left a horizontal cut across her stomach with the very tip, but she had launched herself out of the pit, and behind the person tugging on the chains. With a sweep of her blade, she severed the link and turned to her people, "Move! Now, we have to fall back!" and at her words, those around her began their organized retreat to the shuttles, making sure to provide each other with cover.

She knew Rannan could follow, but it would be a lot riskier. Another part of her felt that with those left behind, he'd still complete his ritual, and give up on the few who made it out.

Rannan Kol ​

 

[Rannan Kol]

Outside of the Ziggurat the influence of the darkside became less apparent. It still hung in the atmosphere like a greasy film that needed to be wiped away but outside of the structure created to house its ambient power it was lessened. Doubtless Valery Noble would be able to feel the presence no matter where she was, on world or off as though she were feeling a festering sore on her person such was her connection to the force.

It wasn't long before Kol propelled himself upwards out of the Ziggurat and back onto the top of the structure again as well. He'd follow the Jedi but she and her men were on the retreat by then, withdrawing from the Ziggurat and the surrounding area.

Marauders lay dead, all of them slain to a man. The Acolytes who yet lived would have regrouped with the Dark Apostle on the top of the Ziggurat. Kol had moved to the edge of the structures pinnacle where he could look off in the distance with narrowed eyes still capable of seeing those who fled and gave one another cover...
​

"Your command, my Lord?"

....came the question of one of the Acolytes who was lingering near him causing Kol to turn his head and reply....

"Send the others to enact the ritual. Tonight the Void darkens this place and suffuses itself here eternal."

...the command issued the Acolyte responded instantly, the others that had gathered would be sent down into the Ziggurat to finish the what had already begun. By the time the ritual concluded the Darkside would have flowed through this place, it would touched Kol and in turn he would take it into himself and become stronger.

That was still to come though. For now the Dark Apostle, his lightsabers deactivated and returned to either side of him would have gestured to the Acolyte he'd spoken to previous and summoned the man back to him....
​

"Lord."

...the Acolyte said, returning to Kol and standing somewhere in his peripheral...

"Find me a girl."

...he said though the Acolyte did not immediately understand....

"Find me, Vera Noble."

...this duel was but a drop in an infinite stream that flowed around all of them, it was over but this was not the end. Valery Noble had saved some of the prisoners but she had left a part of herself behind in the process, she had left Kol with glimpses of her mind, precious memories that he could use.
This was not over.​