Private Chains Unbound - Valery Noble

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Corazona von Ascania Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon Danton

With the blaster slammed against his head, the man was knocked out and the two Padawans were ready to push on towards Valery at the end of the hallway. Even cut off from the Force, the fact that she was alive meant that she could be felt, and it wouldn't be long before Cora picked up on her broken essence in the Force.

She was alive, albeit unstable, but something else would feel really off about her. A dark cloud surrounded her mind that tried to suppress who she was, and no amount of mental prying could pierce through the obstruction from afar.

But luckily, the Padawans were not alone.

With an even more imposing presence in the Force, Kahlil finally rejoined them, and with a new rune, he turned his attention to the room that contained Valery. All at once, the people inside froze up - most of them standing far away from Valery while one held a hand around her throat, and pushed the tip of a blade into her stomach. The metal hadn't fully pierced her flesh yet, but the frozen state left her in an uncomfortable position with the weapon so close to ripping her open.

But it hardly phased her at this point, now that she knew who was out there, and with her mind still so broken. With a tear rolling down her cheek, Valery slowly pulled her head back, causing the frozen hand to snap off the man's body, but the blade remained awfully close to her.

Further down the system of tunnels, however, a group of thugs were rushing towards Valery's cell as well. All had heard the call from Danton, so all of them wanted to kill her before leaving this place behind. The only thing standing between them and Valery were Kahlil and the two Padawans, who he had asked to bring the Bastion back around.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Kahlil's appearance was sudden, enough to give the Padawans pause. Cora bit her lip, tentatively looking him over. Unharmed. Stable. But he was here, and they were so close.

Before she could say anything, a flash of white pierced the air, blinding enough for the Princess to raise a shielding arm in front of her face. Peering over the limb, Cora's eyes flared in surprise to see that the corridor leading to Valery's cell had been completely frozen over, encased in a thick layer of ice.

"What the-"

Cora dared to waver closer, her steps careful as she crossed the permafrost on the floor to the mouth of Valery's cell. She'd felt trickles of her Master's presence since they'd entered the hall—weak slivers of breath and a slowly beating heart—but seeing her in such a tortured state was something she had never pictured.

Valery Noble always had a presence about her. Cora had been both intimidated and impressed by her at first, but gradually found that the Sword's strength and power did not preclude her from being gentle, affectionate, and human. In a way, that made her all the more remarkable.

And now, as Cora placed a trembling hand to the frigid bars of the room's grate, she'd finally see how nearly everything had been stripped from the woman who's come to be her second mother. There didn't seem to be an inch of skin that wasn't bruised, swollen, activley bleeding or crusted over with blood. The bright, reassuring aura that always surrounded Valery had dissipated, her mind lost in an abyss of hopelessness.

A number of unpleasant emotions swirled in Cora, but none were felt as viscerally as the white hot anger that gripped her when she finally clocked the brute's hand around Valery's neck and the knife poised to gut her.

With a short yelp, Cora pulled her hand away from the durasteel bar she'd been clutching as the cold finally registered on her skin. In her anger, a surge of uncontrolled strength had allowed her hand to twist and warp the metal rod. As Valery carefully inched her neck back and the brute's hand literally snapped from his arm, Cora's heart started beating again.

"…Valery…"

Choking out her Master's name, she brought both the fingertips of both hands to her lips in disbelief and stepped back. They were not in the clear yet.

Kahlil needed their help, and Cora would obey. This mission was too delicate to let her emotions cause a quarrel.

"Understood." Giving a curt nod, she turned to Capris before the sound of approaching footsteps gave her pause. Apprehension filled her eyes, which shifted from Kahlil to the remainder of the hallway that stretched into darkness.

Her hand found her lightsaber, the blue blade hissing in threat as Cora held it diagonally in front of her. Then, she charged down the hall.

Capris Halcyon Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil was silent as he stepped over towards Valery. He'd stopped focusing on anything else after he asked Cora and Capris to retrieve the ship. There was only one thing that mattered right now. Only one person. He reached up, pulling on the Force to shatter her restraints before reaching out to find it. That device, item, artifact, whatever it was that had cut her from him. And as soon as he found it, he shattered it without any hesitation.

Then just lifted her up silently into his arms. He had no words to give right now. They just needed to leave.

Valery Noble | Capris Halcyon | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Corazona von Ascania Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon

Valery sat unmoving on her knees, even as Cora looked inside the cell, and Kahlil began to make his way inside. It was still unsettling that she couldn't feel him at all, but with her mind so numb, she may not have been aware of his presence even if she hadn't been in Force-nullifying chains. So it wasn't the breaking of those bindings that snapped her back to the real world either, but the familiar touch of her husband lifting her up into his arms.

For most of her life, Valery had always suppressed how she felt deep inside. She had turned away those who wanted to help her, fearing that exposing herself would lead her down a path the Jedi would never accept. She had felt alone, and unsupported, and fought her way through every single day without feeling true purpose. There was nobody who deeply cared about her, who she returned to after long missions at the front, and nobody she could turn to when the burdens of her duties were too much to carry on her shoulders alone.

But that's when a strange series of events converged her path with Kahlil's.

"I... love y-" her already weak voice broke, and as she forced her eyes shut, tears fell down her cheeks. She wanted to tell him so badly — she wanted to hear him say it in return, but she lacked the strength to say the three words that meant the most to her.

 

[Capris Halcyon]

Capris stilled, eyes fixed on the two Jedi masters as Kahlil lifted Valery like she was glass, infinitely careful not to shatter what had already come so close to breaking. She couldn’t even make sense of her feelings anymore, the initial rage piloting her body crumbling to ash in the wake of both relief and horror.

Valery was alive. Alive enough to choke out an I love you to the one person who could understand her pain. And as much as Capris wanted to kick and scream at the injustice of it all, Cora was there to remind her an active threat was still very much underway. One they both had to meet in order to give Kahlil the headway to move Valery to safety.

Trying to convey as much understanding as a singular look could, Capris gave Kahlil a small nod before vaulting down the hall alongside Cora. Whatever awaited them they’d make sure to meet with their signature grace and tact.

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania

 

[Kahlil Noble]

He said nothing. There were no words that could describe what he wanted to say.

But he hid none of it from their bond. Finally having her there again, the relief, the anger he felt at those who took her, the sorrow of not knowing where she was, the joy that she was alive, the raw rage of knowing what they'd done to her. He hid none of his emotions as he carried her along back towards the Bastion in utter silence until finally he did have something he could say. Just a brief smile as he looked down towards her.

"I know."

Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania | Capris Halcyon

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Corazona von Ascania Capris Halcyon

Even though she was likely in the worst shape she has ever been in, feeling her husband and the two Padawans offered her so much strength. Enough to open her eyes, and direct a gentle smile in the direction of Cora and Capris - a small sign that even all of this wouldn't break her. But it was also a way for her to show her gratitude for what they had done for her. She'd never forget it.

Valery then leaned into her husband as he walked back towards the Bastion, while the Padawans moved ahead to clear the way. She could feel his emotions - the worry, the anger and relief, and felt compelled to tell him the three magic words...only for him to respond in a way that caused her to snort just once. With every little bit of strength she had left, she raised a fist to gently punch his chest, and faintly, she spoke again, "Say it back, you-" she couldn't get out anything more, as her laugh hurt her ribs too much.

So she just closed her eyes with a smile tugging at her lips, and relaxed against him.

Meanwhile, the Padawans distanced themselves from the two Nobles, and soon spotted a small group of armed thugs in the hallway ahead. They no longer looked that confident, knowing that the Jedi has reached Valery before them, so a few were considering running. But not all of them.

With a flash of anger in his eyes, one of the brutes stepped forward and fired his pistol.