Private Brilliant Disguise

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

"Perfect, you look the part," Valery said, who had changed her clothes around as well. A simple pair of worn jeans, a tight shirt tucked into them and a fashionable hat with some sunglasses. She even had a purse to match her outfit. A little much, perhaps, but she needed to hide her eyes and scar if she wanted to be convincing in her disguise.

Now, she looked like a typical middle-aged Mother.

"Let's first get our bearings. If we head straight for our target, we could look suspicious." Valery smiled and turned around to lead the way out of the spaceport. Much like Coruscant, Empress Teta was an ecumenopolis, and even under Empire rule it was still quite crowded. An endless stream of vehicles passed through the lanes that ran around enormous skyscrapers. People wandered about everywhere, going about their daily lives.

Still, there was a tension in the Force, especially near buildings or locations that hadn't been restored yet since the battle that took the planet away from the Alliance.

"What do you feel here?" Valery asked as they walked down the streets.

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Colette let in a deep breath and focused on the areas around them.

"Fear. Apathy. Grief. Defeat." She said and began to look around. "Acceptance. Submission."

"Things are uncertain. People are scared."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

"This is what the worst side of war feels like," Valery said with a deep sigh. Battlefields felt very different in comparison — there was fear and always a worry about the future. But among fellow Jedi or soldiers, there was often confidence and a will to fight as well. A motivation to give your all not just for your own safety, but to keep the people around you alive.

Among the civilian population of a war-torn planet, there was no such thing. It felt hopeless and the despair and grief were so strong that it amplified itself.

"Let me know if it becomes too much. It can feel like a huge weight on your mind after a while." Valery smiled reassuringly, then turned away to head further into the city. Nobody seemed to recognize either of them, but most people walked with their heads down. They had gotten their groceries or other necessities and hurried home as quickly as they could.

"So, we have a choice now. The defensive positions consist of air-defense batteries, turrets, and other heavier weaponry. We can take a closer look at those positions and find ways to take them down when we eventually make our move. But... they also need power. My intel has some locations that are believed to supply those weapons with power."

"Those could be our targets, too."

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Colette nodded to what Valery was saying.

"No." She said and shook her head. "It's a good reminder of why we are here. These people knew freedom and had it taken from them."

"We should go for the batteries. They would just take power from somewhere else if we destroy the power plants, meaning we would be the cause of unnecessary loss of life."

"If the gun is the problem, then the gun is what has to go."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

That's my girl.

Valery listened to her Padawan and dipped her head in agreement. Walking down these streets was uncomfortable, but a necessary reminder. There was more to war than the battles they fought. Each fight, lost or won, had a profound impact on people and they couldn't allow themselves to be blind to it.

"The batteries it is."

They were the more logical target but also the least accessible. Power plants were often on the outskirts of cities, nestled within an industrial sector. It kept them close to other companies vital in their maintenance and made it easier to distribute power to where it needed to be. Anti-air batteries, on the contrary, were even further out and only accessible to the military.

Undercover in civilian clothes wouldn't cut it.

"I see two options. Either we try to remain entirely undetected and reach those weapons. Or we try to infiltrate as military personnel and take something down from within."

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

It was a choice between being the wolf in sheep's clothing or just not being seen. Colette was a poor liar in just how unwilling she was to lie. She liked honesty, and between the two choices there was a lot more honesty albeit danger in one of the choices.

"We sneak in and get creative." Colette said with a frown. "No bodies, no tracks. Just a strange malfunction."

"Like I said, you're a shadow, so I don't expect that to be difficult for you."

"... It's me that I worry about. I've hunted, but I haven't done anything like this before."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

"That's why I'm bringing you along."

Colette wasn't the most subtle of Jedi. She was direct and brutally honest, and she had never before been put in a situation where she'd have to suppress that. Well, except for that one assignment with Corazona von Ascania in service of a princess. Valery grinned a little, thinking about it again.

But this was different!

It wasn't about subtlety in behavior and demeanor, but stealth as a method of reaching their target. She looked at Colette and smiled. This would be a challenge, but a good learning opportunity.

"As a Shadow, I did learn some methods that made it far easier. We'll have to get very creative." Valery took a turn and started guiding them away from the city. The anti-air batteries were far in the outskirts, but even before reaching those guns, they'd have to get into the military zone.

Fences, walls and other barriers kept people from just walking inside, with only a few checkpoints that could be used to enter. Either they'd have to get through a checkpoint somehow, or find a way across the barriers.

"What do you think? Should we try to get through a checkpoint? Or move over a barrier without triggering an alarm?"

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

It was true that Colette wasn't the most subtle. It was underhanded in a sense, at least if she was the one striking at a target. The world didn't always quite work like that, but the world was more likely to change its opinion on the matter before Colette ever would. It wasn't honor, it was just preference, and preference was preference.

"Barrier." She said and cupped her chin and began to look around. "The force makes the jump easy, it's the landing that will be tricky."

Not to mention the fact that they needed to find a way to navigate the whole place without being seen.

"There'll be patrols. We might be able to use one of them to glean something about the base. I don't like the idea of invading someone's mind, but… It could be an efficient way to learn more."

"I don't want to go in entirely blind."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

"Force Jump is about landing as much as it is about jumping. The real trouble is not getting caught." Once they crossed the barrier, their disguise no longer mattered. If they were seen or detected by security sensors, they would be in trouble. So as much as she wanted to avoid patrols entirely, Valery agreed that it wouldn't hurt to acquire more information first.

Perhaps the guards could tell them more about security measures.

"Let's find a patrol along the border and capture them. We'll have to be thorough, though. We'll not make it very far if they remember anything about us getting information from them." Valery picked up the pace a little until they soon spotted the barrier up ahead. An enormous fence with entire sections set under electric current.

There were watchtowers, patrols, and several layers of fences and walls.

"They have patrols of at least three. How do you want to do this?" She knew she was asking a lot of Colette during this mission already, but it was a way to pick her brain and force her to actively think along.

To test her.

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Patrols of three. That meant that they were outnumbered by one which wasn't that big of a deal if they had gone into this willing to carve a path through these people. When violence wasn't on the table however there was a certain need for them to play it a little bit more creatively. Was Colette a good liar? No. Was Valery a better liar than Colette? Probably.

She didn't like this, given they had chosen not to get in through the front door... But there was also a very distinct difference in a tightly guarded entrance and a small group of soldiers.

"We bluff." Colette said and looked over at Valery. "The Dark Empire rules with fear. We pose as undercover Sith Inquisitors inspecting the forces."

The kid drew a circle around her eyes. "You also have the eyes to fool them."

"I guess that if they have had their fears turned against them, they will be far too scared to question it. Once they do, we will already be on our way out. Clever usage of the force can make them… I don't know. Maybe they can forget what we even looked like, buying us more time."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery raised an eyebrow.

"I've got the eyes for it, huh?" Valery's lips briefly thinned into a line, but she supposed Colette was right. When she was younger, other Padawans had made jokes about her looking like a Sith Lord. That hadn't happened in a while, but she could still look intimidating when she did her best.

"Fine, we'll play our roles. I'll be the inquisitor and you're my lovely Apprentice."

Valery smirked and placed a hand on Colette's shoulder to nudge her forward, right in the direction of a patrol — one consisting of three armed guards who walked along the perimeter. They were quick to notice the two approaching Jedi, both dressed strangely but they didn't care.

They raised their rifles and one called for them to stop.

"What's your business here? Turn back now, or we are authorized to and will open fire."

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Yeah." Colette nodded. She knew Valery didn't quite like it when someone pointed out the eyes thing but in this case it was true. After that it was just a matter of playing along as Valery threw her out into the open.

An angry glance fired back over Colette's shoulder for a moment before she put her hands on her hips and stood still. This was the time to play the gambit then. She let out a sigh and shook her head. This wasn't quite the way she had wanted to play it, but…

"You already know why we are here." Colette said and frowned and scowled as best she could. Her hand moved behind her back to withdraw her saber hilt without flicking it on. "Two Jedi trespassers, and you didn't even know that they were here until one of the fumbled."

"That's not a passing grade, soldier. It will have to go in the report back to HQ."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery looked at Colette with a satisfied little grin. She could say what she wanted about her eyes, but Valery would have her payback. This time, in the form of an innocent role choice — Colette could be her Apprentice. A fitting one, considering she was very much Valery's student.

Her expression grew more serious as they approached the patrol. As expected, the guards were immediately on high alert and drew their weapons. But Colette remained calm and played her part.

Hoping to convince them that all of this was a test.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the leading guard demanded, clearly frustrated and not yet fully understanding who he was supposedly dealing with.

"Careful with your tone," Valery said, her voice void of emotion. "You will do as my Apprentice instructs." To drive her point across, she moved her hands behind her waist to emphasize the lightsabers dangling from her belt.

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Lower. Your guns." Colette growled with a determined hiss. "And I might just let you live."

The man looked at the lightsabers on Valery's hip and then glanced over towards Colette. He swallowed his tongue to keep himself from saying anything stupid. He wasn't sold on the lie yet, but he knew when he was outgunned. Jedi or Sith, those two cylinders on her hip meant trouble either way.

"Now give me your rifle." Colette demanded of the soldier on his right. The fellow soldier looked at him for confirmation and he gave it with a frustrated sigh and a nod towards Colette to make him comply.

She lifted the rifle in her hands and ran a quick inspection.

"Charge pack de-primed." She noted and thrust it back into the soldier's arms. "You weren't expecting danger."

"The last few days have been silent, ma'am." The soldier on the leader's left explained. "Won't happen again."

"You're right." Colette added with a cold stare. "It won't."

Her eyes wandered over towards the leader again. She extended her hand towards him with a subtle wave.

"You want to explain what you have been doing this shift. From the moment each of you met up."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

She was good at this.

Valery kept her expression neutral but she internally perked a brow and watched Colette strike true fear in their hearts. Call it a Noble attitude or something else, but she had that spark she needed to be convincing. She showed no hesitation, no weakness, and asserted herself the way someone would if they truly felt superior.

It made Valery's job much easier — she just needed to look terrifying to reinforce what Colette was doing.

After a quick inspection of a rifle to put them in their place, she finally turned to the leader. He had the information they needed to gain access, and with a subtle wave of her hand and a simple question, she made him speak.

"We met up at checkpoint Bravo, ran our equipment checks, and began our patrol route," he explained. "We're scheduled to arrive again in 20 minutes, and another patrol will leave within 5 minutes after that."

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Checkpoint Bravo, twenty minutes after which a five minute opening would be available. Colette looked at the man and slowly nodded. It would have to do as far as their entry went. Five minutes were more than enough for two individuals trained in the force to simply vanish at the speed of sound and pierce deeper into the facility.

"Good." She said. "Now kneel."

It didn't feel right, but a small slither at the back of her mind was enjoying this and almost tried to spur her on. She felt… Stronger like this. These men would almost cower under her if she applied the right force, and to see them comply was…

It was horrifying.

Was that what the dark was? This sensation of being powerful at the cost of someone else, or was it just the effect that power itself had on people? As she pondered it she would observe as the men began to kneel rather begrudgingly.

"Inspections will be ongoing from now until tomorrow morning. If you know what is good for you, you will keep quiet about this to your colleagues, or I will have your tongue ripped from your mouths to make an example of you and everyone else who doesn't know how to keep quiet." Her own tongue pierced between her lips and she gave them a lick as if to savor this moment. That intoxicating feeling was hard to hold back once the dam had burst, but she tried. Oh how she desperately tried to.

"Now get up." She waved her hand dismissively at them all with one final command: "Forget that you ever saw either of us."

The soldiers seemed to shake themselves out of what seemed to be a rare moment of simultaneous daydreaming, as if they had each just stepped out of a deep thought.

Colette herself began to pant as she more and more rapidly staggered backwards to grab at Valery's arm.

"I—" She exhaled, almost panicked. She didn't want to look at Valery in this moment, the shame was far too overwhelming for that. "I didn't want to do that."

"But-..."

"But I really, really wanted to too. Once I got them to obey."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

"Now kneel."

Given their current roles as Sith Lord and Apprentice, that command shouldn't have worried her nearly as much as it did. Colette was playing her part, trying to stay convincing while also making sure that these people wouldn't catch onto their scheme after the fact. But still, Valery couldn't help but feel unsettled.

She could feel a shift within her own Padawan. No, her daughter. Valery frowned, knowing it was motherly instinct gnawing at her mind right now.

That desire to interfere.

Valery forced herself to remain quiet. To watch and endure, and hope that her kid wouldn't slip away too far. Interfering meant exposing both of them, and that would cause so much more trouble. After what felt like an eternity, however, the guards were cleansed of their memories and the two Jedi moved on.

"It's okay," Valery, said, her voice soft and motherly. She looked over her shoulder once, noting the absence of guards, and quickly wrapped an arm around Colette to pull her close. A hand ruffled through the girl's hair while she was tugged into an embrace. One that couldn't linger long, but one Valery needed.

"This is why we're so careful with the abilities we have. Why myself and others restrict the way we use it and when we use it." She let out a long exhale and turned her eyes to Colette.

"Are you okay?"

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

A troubled smile spread on Colette's lips as her master and mother leaned in to offer advice. She slowly nodded her head to show her understanding before she let out a sigh.

"I should have been able to hold it in." The kid sighed. "I am stronger than some… Emotions on a planet I have only been to once before. I am a lot stronger than I know."

There was that overconfidence again. She twitched to the side to close her eyes and focus on combating the intrusions. It was the fear that had started to get to her, she figured. Some of it were the soldiers that were scared to death of failure and some other part of it was civilians scared of doing the wrong thing to the wrong people.

Colette herself was worried she would hurt someone by this point. Insidious feelings that weren't truly hers whispered sweet little nothings into her ears no matter where she turned. It was hard to shut the thoughts out once they had begun to flood. In the end they were promises of strength and power; the means of pushing through this mission and beyond without breaking a sweat. All she had to do was to lean in and take that little sip.

Except she knew that this well was poisoned. Some part of her mind told her that she was thirsty while some other told her that there would be better water sources at the end of this road.

"We need to move." She said and pushed forward in a hurried stride. "That time window closes the longer we stay here."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

"You are but don't ignore, suppress or underestimate those emotions. Talk about them and give them the attention they deserve." She gave her kid one quick and final little sidehug before she resumed her role as Sith Lord and straightened her posture. Colette was right — she was strong — but even the strongest Jedi was still dealing with a connection to something they did not fully understand. Something innately more powerful than them.

Emotions could trouble that bond and disrupt the restricted way a Jedi used it.

Moving on, Valery and Colette soon crossed the military border without more trouble. Another patrol was going to be taking over, but they wouldn't even see the two Jedi slipping inside, and they weren't going to hear anything about the encounter either.

Now, the Jedi had to remain undetected.

"The anti-air battery is up ahead. We have several ways we can neutralize it," Valery continued. "We can completely destroy it, which will alarm the enemy and you risk that they repair it before the Alliance sweeps in."

"The alternative is sabotage."

Colette​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Both of those can be repaired before the Alliance sweeps in." Colette muttered as they ventured deeper into unknown territory. "Destruction takes longer to repair depending on what sabotage we go for."

"Ideally we would plant bombs ready to blow when we arrive, but… That is counting on a lot of luck and laziness from the enemy."

"We could also just cause a distraction. If we attack this gun now, they will be expecting us to attack it again."

"You're the one who usually do these things. What is the biggest threat on the battlefield?"