Private A Hair-Raising Outing

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin stirred, then jolted awake. Pain shot up his arms, which were tied tightly behind his back. He was roped to a chair in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.

The Force felt distant and clouded. "What the..." he blurted, trying to use it to untie himself, but failing. The cord tying him down must've had some sort of anti-Force properties, and of course his weapons and other gear had all been confiscated.

"Well, well," a female voice said from somewhere in the shadows. "You're awake. How are you feeling, Starlin Rand?"

Her intonation and the creepy way she spoke sent a shiver down Starlin's spine. "A little sore, but otherwise pretty good," he answered, keeping his tone casual. "Uh, how do you know my name? And why am I tied up?"

Footsteps echoed as the mysterious woman stepped into the light. Blonde hair, corrupted eyes, eerily beautiful features... Starlin groaned at the all-too-familiar sight of her white catsuit, the designated "uniform" of a certain Dark Side Cult with whom he had had run-ins in the past. "Oh no."

"Oh yes." She circled around him, grabbing a handful of his curly hair and yanking his head back. Her eyes were full of barely-restrained homicidal intent. "I'm shipping your ass straight to the Parliament tomorrow morning. But first, I think I'll have a little fun with you..."

"The Parliament? Who?" he asked, gritting his teeth as she continued to pull on his hair. If he could keep her talking, maybe he could stall whatever torture she had planned.

"Our new leader."

"Does that mean the last chick is dead? What was her name... the Amalgam? I didn't like her very much." With a snarl, she yanked even harder. Starlin saw stars. "Ow ow ow... You know, I always wondered why y'all dress like that. I mean, it's kind of... you know."

"Kind of what?"

"Kind of, well, cult-y." She scowled at him while he laughed. "I'm just sayin'. Would it kill you to wear something different for a change? You all dress the same, it's hard to tell you apart..."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

Snap-hiss

The cultist lost his breath as a violet blade ignited from thin air, and exploded through his heart from behind. His eyes widened, and with just a few seconds of life left in him, he looked over his shoulder to see Aurora's masked glare. She said nothing, didn't move, and disengaged her blade to let him drop dead to the cold, stone floor.

Infiltration had never been difficult for her, and with both her presence and her body cloaked in the Force, she had entered the structure completely unnoticed. A Jedi Knight of her order had disappeared and been taken captive by these people, and with how little she knew about the cult, she had decided to travel as Aurora, her shadow identity.

It wasn't often that she tapped back into that part of her past, but this situation required it.

Now with one of them dead, she slipped back into her Cloak and followed her senses to the room where Starlin Rand was being held. She had no intentions of using the door and instead positioned herself by the wall. But before she was going to make her way through, she reached out to his mind.

<I'm going to kill her and set you free. Can you walk?>

 

[Starlin Rand]

The Cult of the Brain Demon prided themselves on being a substantial threat to the galaxy at large. But the Cult had not encountered Jedi Master Valery Noble, disguised as Aurora or not, until today. They were in for a rude awakening.

Alas, with Starlin cut off from the Force, he couldn't receive Val's telepathic message. Nor could he see her walking around, since she was cloaked and completely invisible to the naked eye. He was still busy trying to stave off the infliction of physical pain and/or maiming at the hands of the beautiful but deadly Cultist who still held him in her grasp by running his mouth.

"It's not just your fashion sense. It's the names, too. The Amalgam, the Parliament, the Battalion—I'm sorry, but they all sound the same. And if the only rule is that they have to be multiplicitous, do you have somebody named the Gaggle? Or how about the Litter? The Gang? The Band? The Mob?"

"If you don't shut up, I'll cut out your tongue and feed it to you," the Cultist growled, pinching his cheeks between her fingers. Her long, sharp nails dug into his skin, drawing blood. "Maybe I'll do that anyway..."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

There was nothing.

A voice-modulated sigh escaped her mask, but it changed very little. One way or another, she was going to have to get Starlin out of this place, and whether he could walk or not wouldn't make a difference in the end. So rather than wasting more time, she approached the wall and phased her way through to end up inside.

Just in time to pick up on their conversation.

Despite his situation, Starlin kept provoking the woman. Maybe he thought this was the end of the road for him, and wanted to at least go out with a laugh? The cultist wasn't as amused though and dug into his cheeks with her fingers while she threatened him.

"Maybe I'll do that anyway..."​

Valery took the opportunity to approach from behind, decloaked, and spoke with her voice modulated. "I don't think so," she said calmly and all at once, she allowed her presence in the Force to be revealed. The woman turned around swiftly, shocked at the sudden appearance, but there was nothing she could do to stop what came next. Valery raised a hand and telekinetically assumed control over her body.

She squirmed, yelled, and twisted around but she couldn't overpower the Jedi's strength in the Force. With a flick of her hand, Valery sent the cultist flying into the wall of stone, crushing several bones on impact and leaving her face bloodied in the process. She screamed in pain, got up to her feet, and charged at the Jedi with the intent to kill, but Valery wasn't going to let this last any longer.

The hilt of her lightsaber slipped into her hand, and like a lightning bolt, she closed the distance. A quick jump followed and with a singular slash, she severed the woman's head from her body to purge her darkness.

"Are you alright?" Valery asked after making a graceful landing. The lightsaber returned to her belt, and a hand slipped up to remove her mask, and then her hood, allowing her long, dark brown hair to fall loose around her shoulders for once. She then turned to look Starlin in the eyes and walked over to examine him. "Can you walk and fight?"

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin's eyebrows rose as the mysterious figure appeared. The Cultist assumed he was just frightened of her, and didn't pay his reaction much heed... until it was too late.

He watched as the masked stranger made short work of the Cultist, finishing her off with a decapitation. When "Aurora" turned to face him, she would find Starlin gawking at her. "Damn, lady!" he whispered. "I think I'm in love..."

Then she removed her helmet. Starlin's face turned beet red and he immediately started backpedaling. "Uh, I mean, thank you for saving me, Master Noble. I'm fine, really." He wiggled a bit in his bindings. "I just need someone to untie me from these ropes, and I should be able to walk and fight well enough..."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

Valery paused and blinked at his reaction, having heard every single word he said. She raised an eyebrow and quickly shot him an amused smirk as if to tease, before raising a hand up through her long hair to fix it up and keep it out of her face. "Well, I'm glad to see you as well." She chuckled and made her way over to take a better look at him.

As he said, the injuries were minimal, which meant that he'd be far easier to exfiltrate.

"Do you know if they've kept any of your weapons and gear nearby? If not, I'll give you one of my lightsabers so you can defend yourself." She didn't want to risk searching the whole facility for his stuff if they had no idea where it was. It wouldn't be long until they noticed something was off, and that meant a fight to get out.

Unless Starlin happened to be able to cloak himself as well.

While she talked, Valery walked around his chair and first removed the binders from around his hand, before stepping in front of him to crouch down. She freed his legs, tossed aside the metal binders, and looked up to meet his gaze. "I had to kill one along the way to get in here, so I'm sure they'll find the body soon. This is going to get intense."

She offered him a hand to pull him up to his feet, "You ready for it?"

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin's embarrassment was soon overtaken by pain as his arms were released. He held his breath as his strained muscles ached, waiting for the pins and needles to become a little less agonizing. Then he stood up, hopped around for a bit to get his blood going, and rubbed his rear, which was a little sore from sitting for so long.

"Do you know if they've kept any of your weapons and gear nearby? If not, I'll give you one of my lightsabers so you can defend yourself."

"Uh, yeah, lemme just..." Stretching out with the Force, he swiftly located his gear: stashed away in a nearby crate. "There you are. Come to papa..."

The crate was opened with telekinesis, and Starlin's lightsaber, shoto, and utility belt floated over to him. He plucked them from the air and hurriedly put the belt on—wouldn't want his pants to fall down in front of Master Noble.

"Okay." He hefted his two blades. "Let's go."

They headed back out of the warehouse. Starlin didn't see anyone, not even guards. It seemed too quiet...

"Starlin!" a voice snarled his name. "You and your allies won't leave this place alive!"

Abruptly, a quartet of Cultists surrounded them, appearing from behind storage crates and boxes. They immediately attacked Starlin and Valery with lightsabers and the Force, their tactics vicious and brutal, seeking to overwhelm the duo.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

"They took your belt?" she asked with a raised brow.

That could have been very awkward.

While Starlin pieced together all of his gear, Valery put on her mask again and raised the hood over her head. She had plenty of enemies targeting her already, so this would keep yet another cult from being able to find her. Or worse, target her family. Once it was all set, she turned back to Starlin and dipped her head.

"I'll lead the way," her modulated voice said, assuming that he had likely been blindfolded or at least not been shown the exact way through the facility. But in her cloak, she had been able to figure out the path through the warehouse, allowing her to follow it all the way back.

Until a voice called out to them.

"You must have really pissed these people off," Valery commented when she heard them use his name again. Underneath her mask, there was a faint smirk but it faded as the four figures attacked from all sides. Valery immediately turned to put her back to Starlin's back and focused her efforts on two of the attackers to split the group evenly. They came in swinging with ferocious attacks, but Valery deflected the first and brought out a hand to telekinetically blast away the second before his lightsaber could get close to her.

This allowed her to focus on just one cultist, and his brutal assault was quickly met with an aggressive assault from the Jedi Master. She hammered away at his defenses with calculated strikes, batted aside his blade, and stepped into him, while the tip of her violet blade lowered to pierce through his chest.

The other returned, and Valery was ready to fight, but she spared a glance over her shoulder to make sure Starlin was doing alright.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"They took your belt?"

"'S a utility belt, y'know?" He hurriedly buckled it around his waist. "Got tools that would be useful if I wanted to, like, cut a rope..."

Later on, as they found themselves surrounded, Val remarked about him having done something to piss them off. "It's a long story," Starlin replied. "But I guess I can tell it..."

Two Cultists lunged at him. He fended off their attacks, talking all the while.

"I dueled their former leader, The Amalgam , back when I was a teenager. That was, uh..." He cut off the arm of one of the cultists as he struggled to remember the battle. "... Krayiss II? We were fighting the Sith Empire, I think..." He impaled the witch through the chest, then turned to finish off the other. "She took my eye during our duel. Squished it like a grape with the Force. The one I've got now is a cybernetic, but for a while all I could afford was an eye patch."

The cultist snarled at him, slashing viciously. Her blade burned a line across his chest, but he grit his teeth through the pain, overcame her defenses, and cut off her head with a swipe of his two blades.

"Anyway, that's kind of where it started, although I annihilated one of their hideouts on Tatooine with Amani way way back in my Paddy days. And of course they also hate me because they're connected to Laertia Io. I mean, Darth Xiphos. I mean, the Parliament. Apparently she's their new leader now." Part of the reason why he wound up in this situation was because he had been investigating rumors about her joining the Cult. Turns out it was worse than he thought.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

Valery felt a shiver go down her spine when a blade cut across Starlin's chest, forcing a tremor of pain to echo through the Force. She was highly receptive to these things, but it wasn't going to stop her from what she came here to do. So while she listened, and while Starlin took down one of the cultists, Valery focused on the one remaining on her side of this fight.

"It all makes sense now," Valery quipped before she readied herself.

With a blade drawn, the cultist charged at her but once again, Valery lifted a hand and took control of their body through the Force. She lifted the woman up, applied enough pressure to force her to drop her weapon, and pulled her close. Her own violet blade was swept outwards, and the cultist's head was severed from the body. It was a way to take a life without pain, and that was the only reason she chose this path.

Turning back around, Valery watched the last cultist charge at Starlin and decided to give him a little bit of help. With a quick and clever telekinetic attack, she pulled one leg from underneath the woman, sending her stumbling forward toward the Jedi Knight. Once he had finished her off, she moved over quickly and let out a sigh.

"You okay there?" she asked, her eyes dropping down to his chest. "I've got medical supplies on my ship. I'll patch you up once we get there."

 

[Starlin Rand]

With the four cultists having been dispatched, Starlin sighed in relief. "Phew. I'll be fine, let's blow this popsicle stand."

Just in time, too, because more of the cultists started arriving in droves. Starlin focused on running, knowing that if they could reach Val's ship, they'd be in a better position to deal with the hordes of angry zealots on their tail.

"I hope you parked close by!"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

"Yeah totally, I parked right at the front door so they wouldn't spot me!" Valery rolled her eyes, grumbled a little, and followed right after Starlin as they made it to the exit. Even though he said he was going to be fine, she didn't want to risk it and covered his back against the cultists who were in pursuit.

Once they finally slipped out through the blast doors, Valery stopped, turned around, and held up both her hands. The metal began to screech and with incredible force, she folded the two doors together so they couldn't open anymore, and were left closed and deformed.

"That should give us some time!" Valery called out but right as she wanted to run off with Starlin, a powerful sniper bolt was fired from the roof of the warehouse. It clipped the back of Valery's shoulder and while it was not enough to seriously injure or kill, it had enough force to knock her down against the ground.

The sniper took aim again and others were trying to rush to the situation, giving Starlin the choice to wait for her to catch up, or to just keep running.

 

[Starlin Rand]

Aw, chit.

Starlin turned around in alarm as Val fell to the ground. Cultists were still shooting at them, with some of the more powerful ones already managing to fly over the barrier she had erected. Rather than stop running, Starlin reached out with the Force, seized Master Noble, and floated her along beside him as he continued to flee away from the warehouse.

The area they were in looked to be an abandoned settlement. Much of the buildings had been overtaken by nature, but he saw signs of rubble and carbon scoring, as if the place had hosted a battle at some point in the recent past. Beyond the ruins, it was all wasteland.

"Which way to your ship?" he asked, legs still pumping, Val still levitating, and the cultists still chasing them.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

"W-what-" Valery blinked and seemed surprised when she felt the Force wrapping around her body. She was lifted off the ground, and as more cultists were threatening to break through the doors she had forced shut, Starlin pulled her along while he continued running.

"Just... beyond the..." she struggled to speak while she was being carried along, so she broke his grip and started running again. They passed through ruins, and in an attempt to slow down the cultists some more, Valery raised her hands to crumble and pull down the facades of buildings on each side of the street. Debris collapsed onto the roads, which acted as an obstacle but a lot of dust was blown up in the process as well.

Hopefully, that would throw off their aim.

"There! Right outside the ruins!" Valery called out, as the ship finally appeared. With a tap of a button on her vambrace, she signaled the ramp to lower, allowing them to rush inside. She then immediately closed it up again and rushed over to the cockpit with him.

"They're shooting at us but we should be fine. They don't have any ships themselves, right?" she asked while she was strapping herself in for take-off.

 

[Starlin Rand]

Val seemed befuddled by the experience of someone else carrying her for a change. Starlin kept going, fleeing from the cultists and the ruins, until she eventually broke his grip and stood on her own.

"There! Right outside the ruins!"

Starlin kept running toward the ship, which swiftly became visible as a big black silhouette in the darkness. Dashing up the ramp like he owed somebody money, he finally paused to say, “I wouldn’t test our luck. You got any turrets on this thing?”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

With one quick motion, Valery pulled the mask from her face and forced her hood back. She shook her head to keep her long hair from falling in front of her face and shifted through buttons and switches on various panels much faster than she normally would. The engines powered up, systems came online and the ship was just about ready to take off.

"Take the top side turret!" Valery called back to him. "Stair in the center of the ship."

She gave him several seconds to reach it before she took off, and as expected, her sensors immediately showed other ships launching from other parts of the ruins. <We've got 2 incoming,> Valery told him, not sure about what exactly they were flying, but it likely meant trouble.

Luckily, their ship could take some hits and hit back just as hard.

There was, however, some time pressure on it — she was starting to feel a bit dizzy from the blaster shot, and her forehead was covered in a cold sweat. It likely needed a bacta patch or two, but right now, she was forced to remain seated as they pierced through the atmosphere and maneuvred into space to get away.

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin took the stairs two at a time and flung himself into the turret chair, throwing the headset on. As soon as he had a grasp on the controls, he started shooting at anything that moved—which turned out to be a pair of starfighters manned by cultists.

He was howling like an animal, trying to keep his energy up. Anyone down below could hear his cries of “Eat my tibanna! AHHHHHH!” loud and clear. One of the starfighters was blown to smithereens, while the other they ultimately escaped as they launched into hyperspace.

Pulling off the headset, Starlin heaved a sigh of relief. Exhaustion hit him like a bag of bricks as he sagged in his chair. Eventually he scraped himself out of it and slid down the stair rail to the lower deck, sweaty hands squeaking against the metal.

“We goin’ to Coruscant?” he asked.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

Well then.

Valery blinked as she heard his loud battle cries echo through her ship. She hadn't ever heard something quite like it before, let alone from another Jedi. But it was also quite funny, and relieved much of the tension she felt trying to get them out of here. She chuckled, shook her head, and soon watched him enter the cockpit with an almost dumb grin on her face.

"Are you exhausted from the escape or the battle cries?" She flashed a grin. "But I'll bring us to Coruscant unless you have somewhere else to be?" It didn't really matter to her, although his condition might require a healer to take a better look at him. Even if just to make sure that nothing lingered that they weren't able to see so easily.

"And uh, do you still need to be patched up? That cut across your chest seemed nasty," she then continued, while she took off her gauntlets and sat back in her chair. The hit against her shoulder was definitely a source of agitation for her as well, but at least it hadn't really caused any damage beyond some bruising and maybe light burns.

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin considered her question for a few moments, then answered, “Both. And yeah, Coruscant. I wanna go home.”

Home these days was aboard the Bright Knight, where he lived with his hoverchair-bound Padawan, his late mentor’s daughter, her fiance, their two newborns, and three dogs. Well, two dogs and a Warghest puppy, but what’s the difference? It was loud, chaotic, and messy, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He had completely forgotten about his wounds, but once Val mentioned the cut across his chest, he suddenly realized that it really fethin’ hurt! “Ow, chit. Yeah, I could use some bacta. If you don’t mind.”

While she grabbed the medkit, he took a seat, fishing around for something to say. “So… how'd ya find me?”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Shadow Gear
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Starlin Rand

"Home it is."

She had never really liked Coruscant much at all, but now that she lived there, it did feel like home. Not because her apartment happened to be there, but because of the people she lived with. Going home to see her family was the best kind of motivation to fight through anything.

But before she could go home, there was something important to take care of.

"I don't mind, so just sit down and relax," she told him while she got up to grab a medkit. Judging by the way she walked, her own injury was bothering her as well, but for now, she kept that to herself. "I first tracked down your ship, which is where I assumed they would have captured you. From there, I was able to find traces of ships jumping to various systems, and I let the Force guide me down the right path."

She approached slowly and inched closer to the man, now with a bottle of Anticeptin-D in her hand. "On the planet itself... I followed your presence but also your pain," she admitted with a frown. "Do you want to patch yourself up, or...?" she offered to remove the sliced parts of his shirt to spray the disinfectant on the wound before applying any bacta patches.

It was a choice between privacy and not having to hurt himself with a spray that was going to hurt like a @#$!&.