Private A Troubling Horizon

[Valery Noble]

Council Chambers

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

A new war was approaching.

Valery could feel it, whenever she meditated and allowed her mind to drift into the endless currents of the Force. Ever since her clash at the Wellspring with Darth Carnifex , both she and her husband had felt a rising tension that they were all too familiar with. Early investigations that followed as a result showed the Sith connecting with old strongholds in the core, left behind by Sith during the One Sith days. But out there, in the region of the ancient Sith Worlds and even the Tingel Arm, their activity was growing as well.

What were they preparing, and could it be stopped before another war ravaged the Galaxy? The Alliance had only just defeated the Brotherhood of the Maw and its New Sith Order, so many were combat-exhausted. A new enemy without that war exhaustion could be troubling for those who haven't yet recovered from the Second Great Hyperspace War. But Valery knew she couldn't just endlessly worry about it, and decided to do something instead. She had already been working with her husband, Kahlil Noble, to rally the Navy and hopefully the senate behind them, but there was always more to be done.

Today, she had contacted Lao-ta , a younger Jedi Knight who she wasn't familiar with yet. As one of the Order's leaders, Valery tried her best to know the Jedi she was wanting to lead, so when a mission popped up that fit her skillset, Valery invited her to the Council Chambers.

Soon enough, she heard the elevator coming up, and turned away from the large windows to greet the woman, as she made her appearance.

 

[Lao-ta]

Coruscant
Jedi temple
Council chambers

Lao-ta had met with council members on occasion but never Master Noble. She wondered what the cause for this meeting was. She knew the Sword of the Jedi had been instrumental in the recent wars, though her own travels had kept her to the periphery of the conflict. She had of course seen her fair share of conflict and even had brushes with sith, but nothing like the massive battles of the recent past.

She had felt something... off in the force recently and while premonition was not her strong suit she was sure she felt something coming. As if the whole galaxy was taking a breath before a plunge into a new wave of chaos.

As the lift carried her upward and ever closer to the presence she sensed at the top of the tower she wondered if this was related. She had been somewhat relieved that her part in the wars had been minimal. Her ever open senses let her feel the life around her at nearly all times, but it also meant she was intimately familiar with the feeling of a life snuffed out in the force. This sensitivity reinforced her reluctance to take life. Yes she had been glad so far that she had missed being drawn into total war. She also knew that she could contribute greatly, and that if what she felt in the force was portentous duty may call upon her to do just that.

As she neared the top of the tower she shook off the dark thoughts. Letting her mind linger on a future of what ifs would cloud her judgement. She must trust in the living force to guide her as it had for years. She cleared her mind of expectations and focused on the flow of the force as it connected the knight to the world around her.

The lift stopped and the doors whispered open. She found Master Valery Noble waiting for her already watching. The knight stepped a few paces into the room before offering a bow at the waist.
"Master Noble. You wanted to speak with me?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Council Chambers

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

"Knight Unbari, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Valery began when the woman stepped into the room, and offered a respectful greeting. In return, Valery bowed at the waist as well, before rising again. She then raised a hand to gently tuck some of her long, dark-brown hair back behind her ear, while her fiery gaze met the Knight's eyes. Through her records, Valery had been able to read up on a few things about the woman standing in front of her, but meeting someone in person always told a much bigger story.

The way she stood, the way she looked and the way she spoke was far more important than what the archives could ever hope to tell her.

"I called you here because I'd like you to join me on a mission. Both because I believe it might be something your skills can be useful for, and because it gives me a chance to see you work in the field." This wasn't the first time she has done something like this. Many Padawans, Knights and even some Masters had joined her on missions or for training sessions, just so Valery had an idea as to who she was leading.

"I read that you're a pretty good pilot. Is that right?"

 

[Lao-ta]

Coruscant
Jedi temple
Council chambers

Lao-ta Unbari stood straight and tall the Master spoke, her hands clasped in front of her. Master Noble wanted to see her work, to learn about her. Very well. This would be an excellent opportunity to learn from her as well. Lao-ta cherished any opportunity to spend time with other Jedi. There was always something new to learn and each person brought their own insights. With the galaxy as large as it was and the Jedi so few the chance to travel together was rare.

"I read that you're a pretty good pilot. Is that right?"
​

The truth was she was an excellent pilot. The distant memory of her father as a flight instructor on Corellia and the nature of her Master's passing had driven her to pursue mastery of the skill.
"Yes Master. I fly primarily interceptor class fighters but have some training on most classes of vessel." Her A-wing sat in a nearby hanger fueled and ready to fly.

 

[Valery Noble]

Council Chambers

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

"An interceptor will do fine," Valery said with just a faint grin. "I'm not sure how much you know about the Sith Order, but it's a group of Sith that appeared in the Outer Rim, somewhere around the time that we defeated the Brotherhood of the Maw. They've been causing trouble there for a while, most notably their attack targeting the Aing-Tii has caused a lot of casualties." Valery frowned briefly, as she thought back to that battle.

Only months prior to the Sith Order's attack, she had visited the Aing-Tii with her husband to learn from them. When the Sith came, both stood up against the enemy, but they could only evacuate so many.

"More recently, the other Master Noble and I have picked up on Sith activity around the Ancient Sith Worlds. This is particularly troubling because much of the Sith Order's leadership once fought within the Sith Empire that controlled all those planets." She paused again, allowing a moment for all of this information to sink in.

"We're suspecting some type of plot, and I'd like you to help me learn more. We're going to hit a convoy of Sith ships together, board the leading vessel, and acquire as much information as we can. Any questions about this?"

 

[Lao-ta]

Coruscant
Jedi temple
Council chambers

Sith Order. Ancient Sith Worlds. Lao-ta made a mental note to add those to her research list. One way or another it seemed like these would be good topics to stay updated on for the near future.

We're going to hit a convoy of Sith ships together, board the leading vessel, and acquire as much information as we can. Any questions about this?"
​

Infiltrate and recover. She could do that. She'd done it before. She was in, but details remained.
"Some questions. Do we know the composition of the enemy fleet and what are our numbers?" She had been preparing for just such a mission. Flying. An emphasis on training blade forms. She had prepared to take on sith for a long time. Now she was being aimed right at them. She felt like she had been guided to this moment.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Council Chambers

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

Valery dipped her head lightly in response to the questions, clearly appreciative of her attention to detail, "It's just a supply convoy, so several lightly armed freighters, escorted by some fighters and interceptors. We'll be engaging with two squadrons of our own and the two of us as support," she then explained.

"We'll take care of the enemy escorts, and disable the freighters for boarding action. I don't expect much resistance on the freighters themselves, but we should be cautious." There was a possibility that they'd be commanded by Sith, given the fact that the convoys were supposed to remain secretive. They weren't just ordinary supply runs — it was all part of a bigger plan they were working on.

"You'll be my wingman for this mission, so let's gear up and get going, hm?"

 

[Lao-ta]

Coruscant
Jedi temple
Council chambers

Lao-ta nodded. Excellent. It seems that the mission had been well planned out before she was involved. She'd just need to show up and do her part.

"You'll be my wingman for this mission, so let's gear up and get going, hm?"
​

"Understood master. I can be in orbit waiting for rendevouz and jump coordinates within 30 minutes." She kept her fighter ready to go at a moment's notice. Most of the time required would be travel from the temple to the hanger and navigating Coruscant's heavy sky traffic. She found herself eager for the mission. It would give her a chance to hone her skills in the cockpit and despite her somewhat lacking knowledge of current events she found herself interested in this sith plot. Perhaps it was time to pull her mind away from studying histories and philosophy and pay closer attention to the actions of today's sith.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Council Chambers

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

"Very well, I'll see you up in orbit," Valery said before she held up a hand to gesture for the turbolift. Once they made their way down, the two Jedi made their way over to the Hangar, where they'd briefly part ways to ready their individual ships. Much like Lao-Ta's A-wing, Valery kept her X-wing ready at all times as well. It was properly maintained, had all its ammunition ready, and the ground crew had even cleaned it up for her.

The X-wing was looking sexy.

Once inside the cockpit, Valery put on her helmet, fired up all necessary systems, and followed instructions to get proper clearance from the Hangar. Soon after, she passed through Coruscant traffic, and pierced her way up through the atmosphere to transition into space, and away from the planet's gravitational field.

<Master Noble, standing by,> Valery communicated to Lao-Ta and the two squadrons forming up behind them. <Let's make good use of your interceptor. We'll determine targets we want to hit fast and first, and those will be yours.>

<Ready to make the jump?>

 

[Lao-ta]

Coruscant
Jedi temple
Hangars

Lao-ta approached her wedge shaped fighter with reverence. It was an old model, but one with a long history. It was fast and maneuverable. So much so that it was widely understood that only the most adept pilots or force sensitives could truly make use of it. It was one of the smallest craft to sport shields and a hyperdrive. It had served her well in many encounters and she made sure it was properly maintained. The blue paint job marked it as her own.

She folded her shawl back over one shoulder as she climbed into the cockpit. The preflight check went quickly and all systems showed normal. She checked weapons and confirmed that she had a full payload of missiles and the cannons were charged and operational. When she received clearance from the ground crews she engaged repulsorlifts and glided smoothly out of the hanger and into the busy coruscant sky. As she navigated the hectic skyways she took one last chance to reach out and feel the energies of the temple and the collected wisdom within.

Soon she was in orbit.

<Master Noble, standing by,>

<Knight Unbari, standing by.>

<Let's make good use of your interceptor. We'll determine targets we want to hit fast and first, and those will be yours.>

<Mark the targets and I'll bring them down.>

She saw the jump coordinates scroll across the screen in front of her and plugged them into her nav computer.

<Ready to make the jump?>

Lao-ta breathed deeply again centering herself and reaching out to feel the other pilots in their group, to feel Master Noble. Their focus was clear and strong. They were as prepared as they could be.

<Coordinates locked and ready for jump.>

​

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

Once Knight Unbari joined the strike force, Valery reached out with her senses to form a connection with the woman. Nothing intrusive in nature, but simply a method for them to stay coordinated throughout the upcoming battle. Once set, she waited for the other pilots to form up, made one last check on jump coordinates, and then finally initiated the jump into what was slowly becoming enemy territory.

It wouldn't be long before the entire group returned to real space, and ahead of them was the convoy. 5 freighters in formation, escorted by about a dozen enemy fighters and interceptors. Once the Alliance fleet was spotted seconds later, the freighters began to break off to gain distance, while the enemy fighters moved to engage.

<Three Sith interceptors are moving for our bombers. Knight Unbari, those are yours,> Valery instructed while she went after enemy fighters with some of her allies.

 

[Lao-ta]

Space
Valery Noble

As their two squadrons emerged from hyperspace and the convoy broke formation in response Lao-ta counted the enemy vessels. Around a dozen fighters. Very doable.

<Three Sith interceptors are moving for our bombers. Knight Unbari, those are yours,>
​

She reached out and touched the pilots of the approaching interceptors, marking them. She let her sense in the force track them as her eyes followed.
<On it!> She broke formation and moved to meet the fighters before they could fire on the bombers. As she made her approach from the side she felt the pilots notice her and shortly after they broke formation and scattered to make themselves tougher targets. One lagged a bit behind and she felt him in the force as he recognized his mistake. She moved to fire on him first, banking to follow. She locked onto the enemy interceptor and let loose with her main cannons opting to save her missiles. The initial blast raked the side of the the ship but failed to disable it. The second burst took it full in the engine and there was a burst of light as shrapnel scattered through space.

Lao-ta felt the pilot's sense disappear in the force. One down. She maneuvered again to catch up with the other two ships as they continued to close the distance to the Alliance bombers. She accelerated to tops speed, planning to strafe the interceptors before they realized their wingmate was gone.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

While Lao-Ta broke off to engage the enemy interceptors, Valery took several other X-wings to confront the enemy fighters. They were numerous, but with Jedi reflexes and far better coordination, she knew that this battle wasn't going to be a problem. Soon enough, she got within range, and with her S-foils locked into attack position, she opened fire with a burst from her cannons, which struck the front side of an enemy fighter and caused to explode.

She then spun through the flames, and followed her senses to dive right behind another enemy fighter. Much like her fellow Jedi, she wanted to keep heavier weapons for bigger targets, and once more opened fire with her cannons to neutralize yet another enemy target.

<2 down, we've got them scattering,> Valery commed.

<Knight Unbari, what's your status?>

 

[Lao-ta]

Space
Valery Noble

Lao-ta closed rapidly on the remaining two interceptors, pushing her craft as hard as she could. She would need to take them both in one pass to keep the threat off the bombers. As they came in range she opened fire. The trailing craft exploded in a flash of light, but she only managed to graze the leading craft. As she blew past them she realized she had missed her shot. She would have to create a new opportunity. It was time for a more... insane maneuver.

<2 down, we've got them scattering,>
​

She quickly killed her main thrusters letting momentum carry her and switched controls to the micro-adjustment thrusters used for docking. With one small burst she put her A-wing into a flat spin so she was facing backwards where she ignited a longer burst in the opposite direction to stop the spin.

<Knight Unbari, what's your status?>
​

One moment please. She thought to herself as she struggled to reacquire a lock on the enemy as she drifted ever farther away. She felt the nudge in the force before the computer registered a lock. NOW! She pressed the fire controls and two bursts of bright red collided with the enemy craft scattering pieces of if through space. Quickly so as not to leave herself vulnerable for longer than necessary she spun her ship again and switched back to main controls and reignited her main drive.
<Three interceptors down master. Bombers are secure for now. Assuming escort position.> As she positioned herself ahead of the incoming bomber where she could run interference against further attacks she took in the battle ahead of her. She could feel the distress from the enemy pilots. They had scattered and were panicking, clearly they had been unprepared. She winced as one presence, then another disappeared from her senses. Next to go was one of the Galactic Alliance fighters as an x-wing was vaporized. A part of her wanted to join the fray, but she knew the bombers needed to be her first priority.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

Very Good.

Valery was too busy with her own dogfight to look over and see exactly what Knight Unbari was doing, but she could tell that the woman was effective, and her response only confirmed it. Jedi had historically always been good pilots, but it seemed the Jedi Knight was another step up from most who dared enter a cockpit. But thus far, she had only faced off against regular pilots and while they were all trained well, they did not possess the senses and heightened reflexes that made her so incredibly skilled in her interceptor.

Someone else did.

Another trio of interceptors appeared, but this time she could feel that the leading ship in the center was't piloted by just anybody. The pilot's presence in the Force was dark, and could easily sent cold shivers down someone's spine.

A Sith lord had joined the battle.

<Let me know if you need assistance, Knight Unbari,> Valery signaled after picking up on the Sith presence as well. But before there was really time to respond and coordinate, the Sith with its wingmen jumped on the Jedi Knight, hoping to get behind the woman to bring her down and get to the bombers.

 

[Lao-ta]

Space
Valery Noble

When she felt the cold knot twisting in her chest she moved to roll her fighter away. She spiraled away from the bombers as the sith pilot and their wingmen, but they followed her through the maneuver.

<Let me know if you need assistance, Knight Unbari,>
​

<Just need to turn this into a one on one real quick.> A burst of cannon fire lit up the shields above her cockpit. A near miss, but if they were firing on her they weren't firing on the bombers. She steadied herself in the force, fortifying her body for the trick she was about to pull. Then she reached out to the minds of the two wingmen and gave them a small nudge. She couldn't make them break off, but she could induce a little vertigo. As she felt their momentary confusion she accelerated into the tightest loop she'd ever done, the force bolstering her and keeping her conscious in the face of the acceleration. Part way through she flipped the toggle for the A-wing's short range sensor jammer. Between that and a little induced confusion she was confident she'd lost the wingmen.

Sure enough she pulled out of the loop behind one of the enemy and fired. Two bursts. The first a glancing blow the second a solid disabling shot. The knight identified the other pilot in the force and banked to engage. Bolts of cannon fire flew past her cockpit. Near but not as close as last time. Still enough to confirm that the sith hadn't been fooled by her ploy. She rolled and wove to avoid her pursuer while she worked for a target lock on the leading pilot. Tick Tick BEEP As soon as she had a lock she fired a single missile. As soon as she fired she heard the alarms in her own cockpit as the sith fired one of their own. As soon she heard the alarm she pulled hard into a tight loop and roll. The second wingman disappeared in the force as her missile hit home. She continued to bob and weave as the alarms in her cockpit indicated the enemy missile closing in on her. Suddenly the alarm ceased. She'd outrun the missile, but before she had a chance to catch her breath cannon fire flared past again.

"Not over yet." She whispered to herself. <Master I can keep this one tied up for the moment. Clean up over there before you worry about me.> As her interceptor danced and twirled keeping one step ahead of the sith pilot she let herself fully sense them in the force. The frustration, the hatred, they were familiar but no. No this was not the pilot that had killed her master. She would take them down all the same.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

With gritted teeth, Valery watched the Sith and its wingmen jump on her fellow Jedi Knight, but the response she got to the situation from Lao-Ta gave her some confidence. The woman wasn't scared or panicking at all, and went into the battle expecting to at least turn it around into a one-on-one. So rather than breaking formation to help her, Valery focused her own efforts on the remaining enemy fighters that swarmed around her and the rest of the Squadron.

Both sides were taking losses at this point, luckily with the Sith's numbers dwindling far quicker, but the echoes of death in the Force still came from both sides, and carried great discomfort along. Valery, however, pushed it all aside and maneuvered her way through the cloud of small craft, searching for targets that could fall prey to her powerful cannons. But with the Alliance gaining the upperhand, she began to plot her next move against the convoy.

First, though, she was going to assist her Jedi partner for the day.

Diving down from above, Valery engaged the Sith that was going after Lao-Ta, and with a burst of cannon fire pounding the Sith's shield, she managed to draw some attention. Enough for the Sith to lose some momentum, and lose track of the Jedi Knight he wanted to blow apart.

<Now is your chance, Knight Unbari!>

 

[Lao-ta]

Space
Valery Noble

Lao-ta grimaced in concentration as she wove her a-wing through the rain of cannon-fire the sith pilot was unleashing on her. So far she'd managed to evade all their shots but she couldn't seem to shake them. She felt the sinister intensity from the pilot on her tail. She felt the death around her as presences continued to vanish from the force. She winced a little at her contribution to that, but it wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last time she'd had to take life in the line of duty. She didn't have the time to check and see which side was prevailing if any. She could only focus on her own fight and trust the rest of her flight to take care of their own.

A shot from the sith clipped one of the ventral fins on her craft. She quickly silenced the alarm that went off in response. She knew. She didn't need a flashing warning to tell her she'd been hit. She twisted and rolled again trying to break free of her pursuer. For a moment her thoughts lingered on the memory of watching master Shamba's fighter crashing into the treeline as a sith fighter limped away victorious. She shook off the memory. This wasn't the same and she wasn't master Shamba.

Suddenly she felt the presence of master Noble closing in. A moment later the rain of fire that had been following her since she'd engaged this new wing of interceptors disappeared.

<Now is your chance, Knight Unbari!>
​

It was true. She felt the sith's frustration as they were forced to break off the chase. Without hesitation Lao-ta opened the throttle all the way and threw her craft into a tight loop bringing her back around on the enemy. The sith was weaving to avoid more fire from master noble as Lao-ta closed in from the below. As she accelerated to intercept the knight depressed the firing control and let loose burst after burst of energy from her cannons. The first two bursts crashed against the sith's shields as they adjusted their flight to evade her as well, but it was too late. The third and fourth bursts crashed directly into the engines and the interceptor vanished in a burst of light and debris. Lao-ta felt the echoes of the spiteful rage and fear that the sith felt in their last moments before their light blinked out.
<Thanks for the assist. It was getting a little hairy there.> She turned her attention to the sensors, taking in the rest of the battle. There were more alliance fighters than sith but fewer than she'd hoped. Their victory wouldn't be as clean as she'd wanted.

The bombers were closing in rapidly on the caravan. Soon they would make their run.
<Almost there master.>

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Lao-ta

It seemed that her attempt at offering the Jedi Knight some relief worked wonders — the Sith had been forced to break off, and Lao-ta was quick to exploit it. With a sharp loop, she came around, opened fire with her cannons, and forced her way through shields and hull until the enemy vessel exploded. The dark presence filled with hatred vanished in an instant, and even though the battle was still ongoing, there was some peace in the Force.

A life had been taken, but a life that had become a stain on the Living Force.

<Bombers are making their attack run,> Valery then communicated, as she watched the squadrons dive in not to obliterate the convoy, but to disable hyperdrive, weapons, shields and engines. The enemy ships were entirely adrift now, and left to the mercy of the Alliance. But nobody had any intentions to finish them off.

<Let's dock with the leading vessel. Expect resistance on-board too — they won't surrender easily, if at all.> Valery had fought them more than enough times to know they were willing to die for their cause, even when there was barely a reason to fight. But setting that aside for now, Valery brought her X-wing around and moved closer to dock.

<Let's go with the main Hangar.>

She knew there would be soldiers waiting for them inside, but their shields would absorb small arms fire easily enough, allowing them to get out and pressure the defending soldiers.

 

[Lao-ta]

Space
Valery Noble

<Bombers are making their attack run,>​

Lao-ta watched as the bombers made their pass, the few remaining enemy fighters tied up in dogfights with the alliance pilots. Heavy torpedoes impacted the stern of the sith freighter and brilliant explosions cascaded across it's surface.

<Let's dock with the leading vessel. Expect resistance on-board too — they won't surrender easily, if at all.>
​

No. She thought. The sith leaders didn't allow for surrender. The fear of their masters would keep the enemy soldiers fighting.

<Let's go with the main Hangar.>
​

Lao-ta rolled her a-wing to evade an opportunistic shot from an enemy fighter. She didn't need to do more though as the enemy careened past her with an alliance pilot in close pursuit. She cautioned herself to not think of it as over even though it seemed more like mopping up action at this point.
<Making my approach master.> She angled her arrowhead shaped fighter towards the disabled ship and accelerated. Cannon fire burst forth from the vessel and she rolled and wove to avoid it. Once she closed distance they wouldn't be able to get a bead on her while she entered the hangar.

And suddenly she was clear. The cannons could no longer reach her as she decelerated and passed through the magnetic shields and landed in the hangar. As soon as she entered she noticed small arms fire battering her shields futilely. She popped the canopy and leapt out of the cockpit one turquoise saber igniting to deflect blaster fire as she almost floated gracefully to the ground. She ignited her second saber and adopted a stance from form three, keeping the blades in constant motion and deflecting the incoming fire harmlessly as she pressed the advance. She would need to start eliminating combatants soon or one might get off a lucky shot.