Private Enemy Within

[Marigold]

Marigold's eyes widened, unlike Kahlil. She didn't have any bond developed, nor she was acute in senses just yet to know she was alright. Thus she looke down at where Valery fell. "Chit! You're alright?" Although the hood hid her expression, both could sense concern. She groaned, feeling rather useless.

She wasn't useless, she was told she's not useless. But that feeling of powerlessnes hurt like a deep knife twisting into her stomach when she saw Valery drop, of course- she also didn't know the true extent of her powers enough to consider that she'd be fine. And it turned into a moment of hesitation as she considered dropping down to where she fell. Hesitation boiled up, why was she thought of helping her captors anyway?

And that hesitation is what allowed a thug on the other rooftop to line up a perfect shot, and hit Marigold right down in her center mass. "Urrhgh..." She grabbed onto her stomach, thankfully, underneath was pretty thick layer of underweave armor, so it dampened the energy blast, which turned what would otherwise be a lethal shot into possibly crippling one.

She groaned in pain, but didn't falter. In fact, it gave her enough adrenaline to follow Kahlil. Unlike him however, she didn't really have the luxury of force-empowered jumps or stamina, and had to rely on some basics of parkour, and couple that up with her injury? She started to fall behind. Blaster shots eventually started to break the sound of rooftop running.

A few cunning thugs ran into buildings ahead of the path that the duo were following, and while, obviously, Kahlil couldn't be caught so easily. Both Valery and Marigold experienced increased pressure, the whole underworld was collapsing onto them metaphorically, gangsters, thugs, a few more experienced veterans of crime, all took their chances to take their lives, and although each acted independantly, it's clear that the criminals- no.

The Underworld itself, wasn't going to let the trio get away so easily. It'd attempt to drag them down as many vultures took the chance to feast upon this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

<Stay with her.>

Valery had already disappeared into the Shadows by cloaking herself in the Force, leaving the the thugs who entered the building surprised. They had heard her fall down here and even seen her silhouette from outside for just a moment. Now it was as if the Jedi Master had vanished into thin air, and without knowledge of the Force and its applications, they believed she was just hiding somewhere inside and began to search.

They weren't going to find anything.

<I'll meet you back up on the next block but be careful.> She didn't need to tell him but there was even more trouble stirring in the underworld. Word had spread quickly that the three of them were on the run, and even more had been dispatched to try and find them.

Among these thugs was one that stood out - a Beastmaster hired exclusively to hunt down Force-sensitives. By his side were several Vornkr, several of which began to move after Valery, while two others jumped from rooftop to rooftop to go after Kahlil and Marigold.

Valery felt the scar on her face burning.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil paused long enough to look back and see Marigold get shot. For a moment, there was worry. She wasn't dead at least, but until she got up he wasn't too sure what to do. Other than deal with the shooter of course. A pull of the Force sent them from the rooftop to the alley below. He hopped beside her, his saber flashing to life to batter away another flurry of shots right back to their shooters.

"Stay close, kid. We're getting out."

Come to think of it, he hadn't even gotten her name. He flashed a smile, once more bringing his saber around to knock away another shot.

"Can you move?"

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

"Not sure I can, but I have to." Marigold flashed back a smile towards Kahlil, it was clear she was in pain. But through pain she persisted. She couldn't give up, not yet. And while Kahlil dealt with the ranged attacks, Marigold dispatched those that at them with vibroblades and swords, using some of the more advanced bladework moves, as if well-educated on traditional sword moves, with grace she moved, making cuts and jabs through the thugs.

However, as they slowly but surely pushed through the rooftops, short of maybe two or three leaps until they were at the next block. Two Vornkr leaped in, blocking the way.

"Well, aren't those cute uh... Things?" She kept her vibrosword close to herself, clueless about their abilities nor strengths, and pain made it all the more difficult to think on the fly. "Hey, old man!" To be quite frank, she never got his name either. But the tone of her voice was urgent. "A little help? ...Please?" Last few words were spoken with cracked voice when she realized that her stamina was rapidly leaving her body.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

The pair of Vornskr flashed their teeth for both Marigold and Kahlil to see, all while their dangerous tails whipped and were readied to paralyze the two. Running from these beasts wasn't going to work, as their senses allowed them to track Force-sensitives, and Marigold wasn't trained to hide her connection just yet.

They'd always find her.

Recognizing Kahlil as the bigger threat of the two, the Vornskr accelerated at him first, only to change direction in unison to jump at Marigold from two different angles at the same time. One beast lashed out with its tail, hoping to stun her, while the other jumped her with the intent to sink claws and teeth into her flesh.

They wanted to rip her apart.

<I have three on me,> Valery meanwhile told her husband while she moved quickly. Normally, she'd simply hide her presence and the beasts wouldn't find her. But if she did that now, they'd more than likely pick up on Marigold and all swarm here and her husband. She wasn't going to allow that.

<Take care of yours first and I'll catch up after that.>

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Vornskr? Here on Coruscant?

Kahlil frowned deeply at the revelation. Once, when he first fled from the Sith, he'd been hunted down by a pair of these very same creatures. As sport no less. By his sister, no less. Now was different though. He didn't even raise his saber as they charged forward, instead raising a hand. They changed their target, but it was already too late. Runes flared to life around them before the temperature suddenly dropped.

They were frozen solid before they hit the ground.

"Don't look back and keep running forward. I'll handle any threat."

Marigold | Valery Noble

 

[Marigold]

She squinted her eyes closed. Preparing for a world of pain, primordial sense of fear briefly overtaking her. Memories vividly flashing back to back, seemingly trying to mix with that of the present self, all sound around her muting out as Marigold fell into panic. But a voice of reason brought her back, it sounded oddly familiar, comforting even. But slowly, it melted back into times of present.

It was Kahlil, shouting for her to keep running. Snapping out of it, and looking at the frozen creatures, that were just mere inches away from ripping her to shreds. She did trust him to take care! "I hope you won't be the last who makes it to the finish line after all this weird magic stuff display. Later!" She smirked, and kept on running. Despite the pain, she ran. Despite the worry, she ran.

Despite being on her last legs, she ran.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

Kahlil froze the beasts in an instant to remove the biggest threat, and with Marigold running away, she was distancing herself from danger quickly. Valery had disposed of the Vornskr targeting her too, and jumped up to phase through the rooftop Kahlil was standing on. She ended up only a few inches away from his body, stumbled back, and blinked, "Oh hey there, handsome," she joked with a smirk before she gave him a more serious look.

A thin line of blood ran down her cheek, and she looked a bit bruised from the fall. But as he knew, she was just fine and it clearly looked a lot worse than it really was.

"You okay? Where is-"

She paused and turned around to see Marigold running. Slowly, she was getting closer to one of the huge tunnels leading up to the surface, and that meant a way out for all of them.

"They have speeders in the tunnel leading up, so we'll have to catch up with her fast. You still got enough energy to run or do I need to carry you for once?" she teased.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"As funny as it'd be to see you carry me, I don't think now's the time."

He flashed his own grin in response before nodding. Speeders in the tunnel?

That just meant a way for them to get out of here. He glanced to where Marigold had run off to, nodding once again. "Let's not keep the kid waiting, then." And took off in a Force fueled sprint to catch up. They'd already done this much, he was going to make sure she didn't end up dead or worse.

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold kept running despite all the pain coursing in her body, her bones shaking. Her muscles rending apart. It hurt, it hurt so much she was barely resisting the urge to drop and curl up. And yet, one knew that she didn't have much choice, as giving up now would mean that, all the struggle she went through was for nothing.

However, as she's approaching the tunnel, nearly at it's entrance, three speeders fly out of the tunnel, it appears the criminals have gotten to them first. She tries to evade them, with the first one grazing her, with the Red Scar losing her balance, which left an opening for a second speeder to attack her. With it's driver swinging a stun baton at Marigold, the impact sends her tumbling down on the ground, barely breathing, slowly sinking one leg into her grave.

And, the third, final speeder, was aiming to ram through her. She closed her eyes. Vitality slowly escaping her body, Marigold couldn't move to evade it in time, with the two others turning around, ready to beat her until she couldn't breathe.

She let out a scream of pure desperation however, sending echoing rippless across the invisible space, her hand moving to forcefully tug the flying speeder in other direction, barelling straight into the second one, causing a violent crash, her hand however, went through much pain and exhaustion, headache. What little energy she had left was put into this last ditch effort, but one more speeder driver remained. Aiming to finish off the Red Scar, once and for all.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"Funny, huh? I'd carry you no sweat," Valery huffed playfully but she did agree. If he was able to walk just fine, she wasn't going to burn through her energy trying to lift him off the floor. They had an important escape to make, and they were going to do that with Marigold alive. She had lived this far into the chaos, so now it was time for the final stretch.

They were so close.

"There she is!" Valery called out as she sprinted over towards the Red Scar with her husband. But even from this distance, she spotted the speeders closing in for their attack runs. There was nothing she could safely do from where she was, so it was with a clenched jaw that she watched her go down. But in that moment of vulnerability, she gained a lot of strength as well. The outburst in the Force sent two speeders crashing into each other, leaving only one remaining.

"Love, can you take the speeder?!" She called out while she dashed straight for Marigold, just to try and cover her body with her own if necessary and project a barrier around them.

"Come on, we have to move!" She tried, as she worked hard to get the girl up to her feet with as much help as she'd need.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Must you even ask?"

Kahlil brought down a hand, and the speeder came with it, halting in an instant as it suddenly crushed into the ground. There was no more denying it, Marigold was Force Sensitive. And dangerously so at that. He frowned, glancing to where Valery had run after her as he brought his saber around to knock away another bolt aiming for him.

"Pick her up, we'll jump."

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold's powers were great despite being untrained, the emotional turbelance and raw grief, desperation. When channeled properly, invoked effects of such destruction that perhaps, she was in fact. Dangerous. And not to just the enemies that she faces, and the allies she sides with.

But herself also... Those abilities became a curse, an enemy within. So deeply rooted into her own being.

Of course, still being untrained in properly channeling her abilities. The young terrorist had very little energy left. "Urghhh, c-come on... P-please. I can't-... I can't fail here..." Her conciousness was fading in and out, and Valery's shouts to keep on moving passed to her as muted sounds, even so. What little stamina remained, she'd try to keep moving...-

And yet, she simply pushed herself beyond her limits, eventually starting to pass out, her eyes finding comfort in shutting down and not opening, and her body going limp.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"No, but I like asking you things," Valery said with a smile before she focused on Marigold. The speeder really was of no concern to them anymore, not with two Jedi Masters jumping in to help the Red Scar. Kahlil was quick to make it crash and dealt with the pilot, and Valery hovered over Marigold's body to shield her, but also to offer her support. After so much uncontrolled use of the Force, she could no longer walk.

So only one option remained.

Crouching down, Valery slipped her arms underneath the younger woman and lifted her up with relative ease. She wasn't as big and strong as her husband, but she wasn't lacking when it came to strength. "I see plenty of other vehicles in the portal. Let's jump and we can get up." Valery flashed her husband a smirk and jumped up unnaturally high, only to land on a speeder, which she used as jumping platform to get up to the next, and the next.

"Come on, babe! First one to the top!"

Yep, even now she'd make it a competition.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Just be careful with her."

Kahlil shook his head before taking off in a sprint once more after her. His saber flashed around, guided by his connection to the Force to at least batter away the shots coming towards him. And towards Valery, at that. For now he'd act the shield for all three of them.

"Keep moving!"

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold couldn't and didn't resist as she was swooped up in Valery's arms, for time being, muttering to herself. Eventually however, the chase came to it's highest point, a crescendo that was now echoing across the entire underworld. Many greedy criminals poured from directions, brought by the prospect of unimaginable infamy. Sounds of blaster bolts flying across the tight urban area flooded out any other sounds, as the two masters were being overwhelmed with flurry of those shots, coming from all directions.

It was just about time for them to make their escape, or be devoured by the underworld!

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"I'm always careful," she said with a stupid grin, knowing her family often viewed her as a dangerous driver, and knowing she dented the Bastion...and has been involved in a lot of close-call high speed chased through dense traffic...

But she was always careful, clearly.

"Come on, love! Don't lag behind!" She called out, both to tease and because the entire underworld was coming after them. She hopped from one speeder to another with Marigold in her eyes, while blaster bolts were flying all around her. But she knew that if she was able to see one, it meant that it was going to miss. Any bold coming right for her, and Kahlil would always manage to stop it.

But that didn't mean the thugs would stop trying.

In an attempt to bring Kahlil down, a rocket was fired from a rocket launched, not aimed for the Shield directly, but at the next speeder he'd be able to use as a platform to make his way up.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil let out a heavy sigh as he glanced towards the thugs still trying to stop him. He took a breath, closed his eyes, then let one of the runes along his spine flare to life. All at once he could see the different paths to take, and which would give the result he wanted. He pulled on the Force, gripped at the cords, and shifted gravity. It twisted and warped, sending people scattering in different ways all around him. The rocket launched twisted into a spiral through the air before landing amidst a group of some of the other thugs.

"You think I'm lagging?"

Kahlil hopped onto Valery's speeder, grinning down towards her. "How's the girl?"

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold clinged onto her dear life- and well, Valery. But that might have been interchangeable terms considering the Sword of Jedi was holding her and preventing the girl from falling to her death.

The young terrorist grabbed onto Valery's shoulder, trying to lift herself up. Despite all the pain she was feeling, the amount of sheer willpower, and by extension, spite. To keep herself conscious, was certainly remarkable. "Nrngh. I can move just fine, please." She muttered with a weakened tone, although it was clear to Valery that she'd probably slump to the ground the instant she'd let her go.

As they kept jumping from speeder to speeder, the more cracks of sunlight could be seen from the tunnel, it felt like they were escaping darkness' grasp itself, the blaster bolts became less and less plentiful while they went up, as not all of them wielded long ranged blasters, the projectiles, thus, would disappear, not hitting their target, despite that. Many who had their own speeders tries to chase after them, but were cut short by the stream of the oncoming traffic.

Besides that, the light at the end of the tunnel kept growing.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"I think you're showing off for me again," Valery said smugly, knowing that wasn't quite the truth, but she loved to make it seem like he was doing it for her anyway. She flashed him another grin for it, then readied herself to jump, only to hear Marigold complain about being carried. She shot the woman an incredulous look and sighed.

"No you can't, but we're almost out of here," Valery said as she turned to look at Kahlil again, "She's fine, but I wish she was still unconscious." It almost sounded like a joke, but he'd know that it wasn't entirely a joke. Marigold had frustrated Valery quite a bit, and if she started to resist or struggle on the way out too, Valery would be tempted to throw her in the nearest speeder, never to be seen again.

But that would not be the right thing to do.

Luckily, the rest of the way up was a lot easier than what came before, and with a final series of jumps, Valery finally found herself surrounded by clean air. Or, well, as clean as it would get on Coruscant. The sky was at least blue again, and there were no more layers of the City-world to ascend from.

"Love, can you catch us a ride out of here?"