Private Enlightenment [Valery]

[Darth Carnifex]

"My gospel has set them free," countered the Dark Lord, "It has given them purpose."

He walked past Valery and stood before the Togruta, His right hand extended out with palm turned up and fingers outstretched. Instinctively, the Togruta raised her head and pushed her face into the Dark Lord's hand, nuzzling it like a pet would. The sheer subservience displayed by a former member of the Jedi High Council to one who had always stood as their fiercest mortal enemy would have been exceedingly striking, a complete reversal of everything that she once stood for.

"Sochi Ru told you that she was once a member of the Jedi Council, her warnings cast aside and disregarded as madness. When I found her, she was spiraling towards self-destruction, annihilating herself in battle after battle against a power she could not hope to withstand." It was the first time the Togruta had been referred to by name, that of Sochi Ru. The Dark Lord's fingers rubbed along the contours of Sochi's montrals and lekku, eliciting a shuddering moan from the Jedi Master. When He withdrew His hand, Sochi Ru returned to prostrating herself before Him.

"I removed her blinders and showed her the truth." He turned back towards Valery, His alluring but baleful eyes staring down at her with the intensity of a falling mountain. "I made her face her Dark Mirror, just as I have made Kahlil face his own. You will have to confront your own dark truths as well." He was referring to Kaahlil , whom He had dispatched to fight Kahlil Noble on Korriban. That confrontation led to Valery being stabbed through the gut on Ossus, and Knossa City ravaged by nuclear fallout. She would not have forgotten that trauma so easily.

"Such as the truth that you will not always be there to protect those you love."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"Purpose? They were turned into mindless slaves." Valery clenched her jaw and watched as the Dark Lord moved over to the Togruta, a once-respected Jedi Master who served on the Council much like Valery does now. But nothing remained of the woman's former self — she was obedient to him in ways Valery hadn't seen before. Not from someone with the same background as Sochi.​

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What kind of darkness had been able to change the very core of who this woman once was?​

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"You haven't helped her or shown her the truth, you've exploited her when she was most vulnerable." Valery countered as her eyes shifted away from Carnifex to look at the woman again, who lowered herself back down after his touch had faded from her chin. A part of Valery believed her to be weak for having fallen this way, for having given up on who she was, but had she really been fragile? Could she resist what Sochi had not been able to fight against? She had to.​

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The Keshian's gaze then turned much colder at the mention of Kahlil Noble and facing the mirror — so much effort had gone into removing his father's curse and all of it had nearly built up towards her own destruction. But that wasn't what bothered her at all. She would have had no problem dying for Kahlil or their daughter, but it was what he said after that caused her hands to briefly shift into fists.​

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"Such as the truth that you will not always be there to protect those you love."​

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For a few seconds, Valery looked down at the floor and remained quiet, her mind occupied by the words that echoed through it. But as her eyes turned back up to look at Carnifex, they showed no weakness of spirit at all. "You're right, I won't be. But the people I love don't need me to be safe. They know I will be there for them when I can, and when I can't, they have the strength and willpower to resist whoever wishes to hurt them, including you."​

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"They aren't mindless slaves who feel lost when I'm not around," she said while she looked at Sochi with a narrowed gaze. "They aren't helpless, desperate, and comforted by my presence alone."​

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"Their love for me runs as deep as my love for them, and we'll always have the strength to resist and be ourselves."​

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[Darth Carnifex]

The Dark Lord's response was as blunt as it was biting, "Their love for you will be their undoing."

No bond was without its weakest link; a secret withheld, a misdeed gone unexpiated, affection riddled with the cancer of obsession, a nightmare sowing the seeds of mistrust and resentment. Every sapient creature hid within them the scars of an untold shame, something that they dreaded to think of, let alone speak of.

Carnifex was the darkness within the hearts of men. That whisper in the back of your mind as you stand on the precipice of a thousand-meter drop urging you to jump. An impulse to lash out, indulge, to set aside civility and allow barbarity to swallow you whole. The tyranny of evil men imposing their injustices upon those lacking the strength to stand their ground. The avarice lurking in the mind of the coward, accepting the satchel of credits with greasy hands to save his own skin at the expense of those who called him friend.

Whatever cracks, however unperceivable, spanned the length and breadth of their powerful bond, the Dark Lord would find them. He would worm His way in every facet of their love, souring it with the cancer of the Dark Side. They would always live with the nagging sensation that someone was watching them, that around any corner the agents of the Dark Lord could be lurking.

They would never live in peace.

"An orphaned child will hunger to see revenge meted out on those who deprived them, a widowed husband will yearn to see those that ripped away their other half burn." He slowly walked towards Valery, His shadow eclipsing the Jedi Master, burying her in His darkness. "A mother will tear down the universe in the name of their children, taken from them before they had begun to live."

He reached out to touch her hair, her face, anything to invade her privacy and make her feel lesser.

"What will you do when I take these things away?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"Their love for you will be their undoing."​

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Valery's eyes narrowed again and through the cracks in her self-control left behind by her pain and exhaustion, a brief glimpse of her inner flame firing up spilled out into the room through the Force. Her life had been so riddled with loss that the mere thought of someone wanting to hurt those close to her caused that deep turmoil to ignite again. ​

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She was convinced this inner conflict would never go away, not after what she had gone through. All she could do was control it and trust in those she loved to help her when it felt impossible to keep the flames from burning everything around her. Because that's what Valery feared the most — for that pain to make her lose herself again. For many years, she had kept it controlled without any problems, but never before had she developed such a strong bond with someone. Kahlil and Vera were her everything. They made it easy to get up in the morning, to fight in the endless wars, and to keep going no matter tough things got.​

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Nothing could ever hurt more than losing them.​

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With her teeth gritted together, Valery's eyes were drawn up more and more as the Dark Lord stepped closer and towered over her. When he finally stopped and his hand touched her cheek, setting aside her long bangs in the process, she stared him straight in the eyes. Her fiery persona continued to shine bright, but she was in no condition to give in to the urge to fight or resist.​

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"I will always fight to resist you, as I have for the last few years. And even if I die, my stance against you will inspire others to do the same." Valery said without breaking eye contact. "But you're not taking anything away from me. Not again."​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"There is nothing that you possess that I cannot take away."

Her fiery spirit was that of a true Jedi, defiant in the face of His darkness. It had been many years since He had encountered such determination in a Jedi, those that came before her of similar character had all fallen in battle or retired. Those Jedi that remained were shadows of their former glory, acting as bureaucratic servants or impotent anchorites. Their drive to see the Sith eradicated had left them floundering once the initial war had been won, aimlessly bereft of purpose.

He pushed hard on her cheek with enough force to send her sprawling to the ground, an effortless action for one so powerful as the Dark Lord. Then He walked away from her, moving several paces to her left before speaking again. "But I will not deprive you of your husband nor your child, those can be easily replaced. I seek to take from you something far more precious, something irreplaceable." He raised His right hand and snapped His fingers together.

At that moment, the doors to the chamber opened and a pair of robed guards dragging a bound and gagged prisoner by their arms. They walked to the far end of the chamber opposite of Valery and her captors and threw the prisoner to the floor. With the persuasion of an electro-prod, the prisoner sat up on the ground and remained there. One of the guards reached down and removed the blinders, the prisoner (who happened to be male) was looking around frantically before his eyes set on Valery. He grew panicked, trying to shout through the gag restricting his speech, but to no avail. When he tried to rise, the guards hit him with the prods again until he ceased.

The boy's clothes were a clear indication of what he was, they were unmistakable. He was a Jedi, barely a Padawan. Parts of his tunic had been ripped and other parts burnt with fire, several dark maroon stains betraying the possibility of untreated wounds hidden just behind the worn fabric. His belt had been stripped of anything useful, his lightsaber nowhere to be found.

Not long after the boy's introduction came another pair of guards from the outer chambers, this time they held in their hands strong leather leashes which were connected to a pair of Vornskrs muzzled around the snout. They were led to a spot between the Jedi Padawan and Valery, where at the guard's command they sat on their haunches and waited silently. Though the Dark Lord had not elaborated on what vile new game He was going to play with Valery and the Padawan, things were looking excessively grim.

Then He spoke to her again, His voice falling like a collapsing star.

"I will take your faith."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"We'll see about that," Valery said in return before his hand pushed hard against her cheek, resulting in a loss of balance that caused her to fall over onto her right side. She caught herself with her elbow and lower arm, which sent a brief shock through her body, but she didn't rise back up to her feet. The woman's eyes shifted up at Carnifex right as he walked away, and she'd listen to what he had to say first.​

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To hear him say he wouldn't try to take her husband or daughter was surprising, considering she had felt her family had always been the target of those wanting to get to her. But it really made her wonder what else he had planned — she had a bad feeling about the situation.​

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At the snap of his finger, two guards entered the room seconds later, but it is who they brought along that caused Valery's eyes to widen. It was difficult to tell exactly how old the boy was, but he was just a student, likely a Padawan and she could feel how scared he was through the Force. Seeing him hurt and noticing his desire to scream out to her for help brought along a painful sting in her chest, and all she wanted at that moment was to rush over to try and help him.​

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But she couldn't.​

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"What are you..." she frowned and turned her gaze to the opening doors, where another pair of guards appeared with some very familiar beasts as their companions. A long time ago, Vornskr's had been turned against her by a beast Lord on New Cov, when she was just a Padawan herself. One of them had created the scar that still covered the left side of her face and while she had gotten over her fear of them a long time ago as well, she knew just how dangerous they were.​

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Then finally, an answer came from the Dark Lord.​

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"I will take your faith."​

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She looked away from the boy who was panicking and turned her gaze back to Carnifex, and while her fiery spirit was still there, there was worry in her eyes too. Not for her own well-being, but for that of the young boy. Valery now tried to push herself back up to her feet and clenched her hands into fists at her sides.​

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"Let him go, he's of no use to your plans." She knew it was a pointless request, but she couldn't help it. Protecting others was a huge part of who she was as a Jedi and person.​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"Once again you are mistaken, Master Jedi. The children of the Force are everything."

The Dark Lord of the Sith had not, and would not, divulge where He had taken this Padawan from, nor would He speak of the methods used to acquire him. Had He done so, then Valery Noble might have realized just how deeply the Dark Lord's influence ran throughout the galaxy. To know that not even the training crèches of the Jedi Order were safe from the insidious reach of the Dark Side might have lit something in her stomach that greatly resembled fear.

But the worry etched on her face was enough for the Dark Lord to enjoy, and so He kept her ignorant. There would be more appropriate times for fear in the not too distant future.

He reached out with His right hand and seized the Padawan in an unbreakable grip, pulling him forward on his knees until he was an arm and a half's span from the Dark Lord. He pulled him up into the air until his feet dangled mere centimeters from the floor, the mechanisms which bound his arms and legs falling down to the floor as they were disengaged and discarded. The Padawan's left arm suddenly extended forward as if reaching for a handshake, each finger splayed wide as particular focus was given to the boy's index digit.

The panicked breathing through his gag quickly transformed into bloodcurdling cries of pain as each individual boning running up and down his finger was knocked out of alignment and rotated a full 360°. The skin, which had been of a fairly hale complexion moments prior, began to slowly turn pink and then a deep maroon as blood pooled just under the skin. When the bones in that finger had been permanently dislocated and twisted off from the ligaments, then focus was given to the middle finger as the process repeated.

"Know this, Master Jedi. This Padawan will die before your very eyes unless you call upon the Dark Side to save his life. How far will you bend your faith to save another?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"Don't do this." ​

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Valery said with a pained expression as the young Padawan came to levitate just centimeters off the ground. He was so close that it almost felt like she could rush over and free him from his suffering, but there was nothing she could do. Valery was weakened and using all her strength to hold back her own pain, which was only growing each second as the torturing continued.​

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Or well, there was one way she could free him, but she'd never.​

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"Stop..." Valery almost cried out as the boy's index finger was rotated, his bones snapped and the cries of pain began to fill the room with a constant noise that she couldn't clear from her mind, regardless of how hard she'd try. Nothing was worse to her than the suffering of others, and Padawans always held a special place in her heart, so this hurt more than anything else he'd do to her.​

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She had lost too many students to get through this without feeling like she was breaking apart.​

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"I won't do it, I can't..." she fought back tears as more bones snapped and blood began to run underneath his skin. As a way to cope somewhat, Valery turned her eyes away and clenched her jaw. But even if she couldn't see it, the sound was echoing constantly in her mind, and thus it offered little relief.​

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"I'm sorry..." she whispered, directed at the Padawan.​

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[Darth Carnifex]

Though the Dark Lord focused His immense cruelty on the Padawan, gradually breaking every bone in his hand, His sight remained on Valery as she shrank away from the barbaric display. The Padawan's suffering was non-existent in the Dark Lord's mind, only the mental anguish of the Jedi Master at His feet garnered any attention. How many Jedi had He tortured and killed over the years, far too many to articulate in simple conversation. By now that number had grown to such heights that it became desensitizing, for what was another life compared to the innumerable multitudes of dead that lay in the mass graves darkened by the Butcher King's shadow?

With a wrench of His hand, the Dark Lord broke the Padawan's arm. The boy fell to the ground, clutching feebly at his ruined and mangled limb. His cries had torn his throat ragged, all that came out now was hoarse and incomprehensible babbling. Shock had long since taken hold, the Padawan's body overworking to compensate for the damage it had suffered. The Padawan's cold and clammy skin was slick with his own sweat, the stench of fear rising up to fill the room.

The Dark Lord walked over to Valery and knelt beside her, His red-in-black eyes glowing bright in the chamber's perpetual gloom. He reached out with one hand and roughly seized Valery's face, pulling it towards the wretched display she had turned away from earlier. As she watched, the two guards holding the leashes of the Vornskr removed their muzzles and set them aside. The animals did not move, for they had not been commanded to, but even now light glinted off the slobber that began to drip down from their fanged snouts.

"The Padawan's life is in your hands, Valery Noble. Use the Dark Side to save his life and I will set him free."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"You're a monster."​

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Valery forced her eyes shut for a moment, squeezing a pair of tears out on each side that rolled down her cheeks while the Padawan screamed at the immeasurable pain he felt. Even though it was his bones that were being broken one at a time, the pain she experienced almost made it feel as if her own body was being torn apart.​

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"Stop..." she muttered again as the Dark Lord stepped closer and grabbed her face, which immediately caused her eyes to open. But this time, it wasn't just sadness that he'd be able to see. Her inner fire was burning hotter than it had in a long time, and containing it became increasingly more difficult.​

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If this had happened when she was younger, less experienced, she certainly would have lost all control.​

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"I won't do it." she refused, even as the guards removed the muzzles on the dangerous beasts. Valery knew exactly what they could do to the young Padawan — she had once felt it herself. But if she gave in to the darker feelings he was trying to draw out of her, they would both suffer a faith far worse than death.​

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"I'm so sorry..."​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"Very well."

A black object sprung into the Dark Lord's hand, a red beam igniting from the tip and bathing both of them in harsh red sheen. He held it up, allowing Valery a split second to admire the blade. The hilt itself was made from black cerakote, the entire lightsaber looking like it was hewn from rough volcanic rock. The energy beam crackled and sparked, hissing angrily and radiating such heat that it was enough to make Valery break out in more sweat than what was already present.

He raised the blade and brought it down, severing the Padawan's mangled arm right below the shoulder. The separated limb fell to the floor with a wet flop, a small trickle of blood oozing out where the blade had cauterized the flesh. The Padawan clutched at the stump, burning the skin on his hand from the still smoldering muscle and bone. By this time, the pain had overcome the Padawan, and he slipped away into unconsciousness.

One of the guards that had escorted the Padawan moved forward to collect the boy, picking him up and walking out of the room. After the boy had been removed, the Vornskr were let off their leashes, and they lunged at the remaining arm and began to savagely tear it apart. The gruesome sounds of flesh tearing filled the room as the Dark Lord deactivated His lightsaber and knelt down at Valery's side again.

"His first lesson has begun. The second will begin tomorrow." He reached out and pulled a strand of Valery's hair aside so that her face was uncovered. "Tell me, Master Jedi. What was the galaxy like when you came from?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"No, don't!" ​

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Valery looked up at the rising blade of crimson plasma and feared that because of her defiance, he was going to strike down the young Padawan. But what happened instead likely condemned the young boy to a far worse faith. His severed arm fell onto the ground with a sickening thud, and while the pain overwhelmed him into a state of unconsciousness, the strike only signaled that this was just the beginning for him.​

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"You..." she frowned and looked away again as the Vornskr were released to devour what remained of the shattered arm. The sound was almost unbearable but nothing she tried could filter it from her mind. Strangely enough, it was only when Carnifex lowered himself beside her again that the woman's focus shifted away from the gruesome scene.​

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"Don't touch me." Valery snapped at him with her more typical, feisty tone. She pulled back her face and looked up straight into his eyes while her long hair fell away to the sides of her head. "The Galaxy was much the same, but with different wars and different kinds of evil," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly. ​

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"You're not going to change anything or be different. Much like the Sith Emperor in the past, you're going to make mistakes and you will be stopped, one way or another. It's only a matter of time." she said, the corners of her lips tugging up into a gentle smile but one that still carried her extreme dislike towards him and everything he stood for. She wasn't going to rest before the kind of cruelty that he displayed today would come to an end.​

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But she first had to get out of this situation.​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"What did you know about Vitiate?"

The Dark Lord pushed past Valery's assertions that He would fail in His ambitions, much like the Sith Lords who had come before Him. He was more concerned with Valery's unique ties with the ancient past, for she had lived during a time when the Sith were ascendant and ruled by an immortal Emperor known to history as Vitiate. Much of the history that had emerged from the Four-Hundred Year Darkness was incomplete and dubious in authenticity. Though many efforts had been undertaken to piece together the galaxy's shattered history, there was a great deal that remained a mystery.

"I had only read about such ancient Sith in datacrons, or heard stories passed down through the red-skinned Sith that survived in isolation on Athiss and Tantorus. The Four-Hundred Year Darkness was not kind to history, and many records were lost. I have pieced together what I can, taken from the archives of Palpatine the Great and the libraries of the Jedi."

By now, the Vornskr had stripped the meat from the Padawan's severed arm and were gnawing on the bones. Occasionally part of the bone would be broken open, and the Vornskr would feast upon the marrow within. They were absolutely ravenous, kept on the precipice of hunger by their handlers and trained to kill and devour anything on command. It was dangerous to approach them in this state, the handlers would have to wait until they had finished their meal.

The Dark Lord reached out and seized Valery with the Force, binding her in His unbreakable grip and levitating her above the floor. He walked from the seating basin of the chamber up to the raised platform, standing beside Sochi Ru as she remained prostrated before Him. He bid her to rise and extended His hand out, into which she placed one of Valery's lightsabers after retrieving it from a nearby satchel. Carnifex then released His hold on Valery so that she would fall a foot to land on the raised platform behind Him. He then turned and looked over Valery's lightsaber with both hands.

"The weapon of a Jedi, marvelously constructed." He thumbed the activator and watched as a violet beam of plasma ignited from the emitter. "I assume the crystal was harvested from Ilum? I have come to understand that the Jedi held trials on worlds such as Ilum, younglings delving into the crystal caves to heed the kyber's call. Those Jedi that have fallen from your Order have told me this, for I was never a Jedi myself." He deactivated the lightsaber and looked back to Valery.

"Would you care to have your Jedi weapon back?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"He was a pretty terrible force of evil," she said with an almost mocking tone. Valery knew a lot about both the Jedi and Sith of the Old Republic, the leaders on each side and she herself had been on the forefront of the war as a leader of her Enclave on New Cov as well. But it was going to take a lot more for her to give up any information she believed desirable to him. ​

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After his cruelty towards the young Padawan especially, she was very much not interested in entertaining him.​

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Carnifex then reached out with his hand, and Valery could feel the Force take a tight grip on her body. She wanted to resist it with every fiber of her being, but she knew she was in no condition to even try, and just tensed up as her entire body levitated in the air. From that position, she watched him retrieve one of her two lightsabers, which she had built herself and upgraded over time to suit her specific needs.​

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"Hurrikaine crystals," Valery said after she was dropped onto the platform and watched the violet blade ignite. If he hadn't disengaged it moments later, the extremely strong and bonded crystal would have resisted him as a user of the weapon. No Dark Sider could ever wield her lightsabers unless the crystals were bled.​

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"But I'm not attached to my weapons. They have always served me well but I don't rely on them — they can be replaced." while true, it would still not be pleasant to lose them. The bond with the crystals allowed her to feel anything dark that would taint them, and if they were destroyed, it would certainly affect her a little as well.​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"Evil is too primitive a notion, but I would not expect a Jedi to grasp that."

As cliché as it was, to state that good and evil were entirely dependent on one's own view was something that the Dark Lord believed in, as did many Sith of His generation. Concepts like justice, honor, and law were constructs of the ruling power structure of the domains in which they exercised authority. What was righteous for one was heinous to another, what was perceived as lawful would be perceived as unjust to those the law was levied against, and what was derided as evil would be championed as necessary by those who couldn't accept what was and embraced what could be.

But rather than engage in a circular debate of ethics and morals with the Jedi Master, the Dark Lord merely held up her lightsaber after she had refused to accept it. He applied pressure to the metal with the tips of His fingers. The metal slowly gave way before the entire saber broke apart from the pressure, spewing mechanical parts all over the floor and leaving the hurrikaine crystal floating idyllically above Carnifex's outstretched hand.

"No, I did not imagine you were. Attachment is forbidden to the Jedi, is it not?" He let the crystal descend into the palm of His hand, and after nestling it between His index finger and thumb, He flicked it down to where Valery was sitting. The crystal bounced once, twice, three times before rolling to a gentle stop. Besides being violently removed from its casing, the crystal was unharmed. "Though I suppose that isn't entirely true." The mere fact that Valery was married and had born a child as a Jedi Master was testament against the stereotypical belief that the Jedi were ascetic sexless monks.

"But if you could humor me for a moment, Master Jedi, might I inquire about your affliction? Do not try to deny it, I can sense it in you. Sochi Ru did as well, it was evident in your brief combat. You are not the same Valery Noble that so defiantly opposed Demiurge on Panatha."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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Valery rolled her eyes at his first comment — from her point of view the Sith Emperor and its followers had been a force of evil, but her comment wasn't meant to be taken overly serious. The true nature of the Sith or any group who sought to oppress or destroy was more complex and couldn't be that described in such a simplistic way. She knew that as well.​

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"It hasn't been forbidden for a long time," Valery said as she watched the lightsaber practically explode in his hand from the pressure he exerted on the hilt. The weapon was built using some of the finest, most resistant materials, and decorated with an electrum band that showed it belonged to a Jedi Master. But very little remained of the weapon that had served her so well in the war with the Brotherhood of the Maw.​

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Only the most integral part remained — the heart of the blade, which he flicked over towards her. She picked it up and held it in the palm of her hand while her eyes remained fixed on him.​

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"No, I haven't been myself in quite some time," she said, looking in the direction of Sochi for a moment. Valery was quite confident that she wouldn't have found herself in this situation if it hadn't been for the Parasite nearly killing her again. The Togruta had benefited from it greatly. "I learned that the scientists who kept me in stasis experimented on me as well, and placed a parasite within me. Nothing has been able to remove it yet," she admitted. ​

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Almost everything had been tried as well, from traditional treatments to Force Healing. But the Parasite resisted everything and simply kept tearing the woman apart from within.​

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"But it's not going to bring me down. I won't let it."​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"Do not be too certain, Master Jedi. Your arrogance may yet undo you." The Dark Lord was intrigued and found that Valery's explanation was logical, upon further examination He could sense the presence of the parasite lurking within Valery. It sapped at her strength with every passing second, and thus Valery was growing weaker and weaker. He doubted that she could stand against any of His lieutenants, let alone Himself. It left her in quite the precarious position.

He was willing to test the extent of her ailment, and thus approached Valery before reaching out to wrap His fingers around her throat. He only clamped down hard enough to constrict her airway, not enough to crush her windpipe, even though that was well within His ability to do so. Furthermore, he studied her as she futilely struggled against Him, reckoning that if He really wanted to, He could end her life there and now. Instead, He released her and allowed her to fall to the floor.

"How does this affect the bond between you and my misguided son? I know that the connection between you is strong, stronger than I have seen in a Jedi. His access to you through your bond thwarted the Dark Mirror on Ossus, forcing my intervention. Can he feel you now, does he know what has been happening?"

The Dark Lord was infinitely curious about such connections, He had studied them for many years. Few knew of the bond He maintained between Himself and His Great-Uncle Prazutis, a bond that had enabled Him to escape Ashlan justice during His trial on Ession and capture the creature known as Eina L'lerim-Vandiir ; another bond that He endeavored to study. Even now, Lord Prospero was pouring over the data collected from the so-called Ashlan Saint.

"Can you summon him?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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"It's not arrogance speaking."​

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No, she had gone through far too much to be killed by some parasite now. One way or another, she was going to find a way to get through it, either alone or with help from those close to her. It wasn't arrogance — it was her determination that was speaking to him. But while she wasn't going to give up, her perseverance did little to hide the severity of her condition, and she wasn't too blind to realize that he had figured it out as well.​

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So when he walked over, she raised her chin and looked up at and into his eyes until the moment his fingers grasped around her throat. The woman's eyes widened and her hands came up, trying to instinctively remove the chokehold he maintained. But without the Force on her side, resistance was completely futile and slowly but surely, she was beginning to lose more of her strength. ​

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Valery did consider channeling the Force to break free for a moment, but she felt an intense pain firing up almost instantly, and decided against it. So only when he finally released his hold, she was able to breathe again and collapsed down to hands and knees while she gasped for air almost desperately. Her jaw clenched and when she heard him mention Kahlil Noble , the intensity of her gaze as she looked up at him was burning even brighter.​

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"He knows and he can feel it..." she muttered. In fact, he wasn't just able to feel it — he was carrying much of her pain and exhaustion on his own shoulders to help her. Without it, she likely would have fallen apart a long time ago.​

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"But he won't come, and I won't summon him."​

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Even if he wanted to help, she knew that Kahlil understood that they couldn't leave Vera alone in situations like this. She wanted him to stay behind and protect their daughter, even if it meant her death. Nothing was more important to them than their kid, so they would always prioritize her safety over their own.​

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[Darth Carnifex]

"More's the pity."

The Dark Lord reached out with His right hand, and lightning sprung from His fingertips. The tendrils of energy, the same color as fresh blood, danced through the air in winding arcs before crashing into Valery body's. The pain would have been excruciating, every nerve set alight as her skin briefly became translucent, and her skeleton was highlighted by the bright energy. Undoubtedly, this explosion of pure agony would be felt through Valery's connection with Kahlil, a release of energy so powerful that it briefly distorted the space around Valery before her body succumbed to the pain, and she fell unconscious.

When she did, the Dark Lord ceased His attack and allowed the energy to dissipate through Valery and the surrounding empty air. Sochi Ru came to stand beside Him, looking down at the inert Jedi Master. The Dark Lord turned to face His pupil to deliver simple instructions, "Confine our guest to her room, there is work to be done." Sochi bowed and scooped Valery up in her arms, leaving the chamber and returning Valery to the room she had awoken in hours prior.

It would be several hours later before Valery awoke, her body still suffering from the ill effects of being blasted by the Dark Lord's hateful energies. Twilight had passed into night, and night was now passing into dawn. The rising sun's light was shining through a small window situated on the far side of Valery's room. The window was only narrow enough to stick fingers through, but overlooked the center of the village. From her vantage point, Valery could see the inhabitants of the village hard at work building something in front of the temple. It looked like a communications tower, but lacked the receiver dish and other sensor receptors commonly found on such structures.

Small remote-controlled cargo drones moved back and forth between the tower and a small ship hanging low in orbit, dropping off building materials that the villages took and used to complete more of the tower. By the status of the tower, Valery could deduce that they had been working all through the night. Though the villagers worked vigorously, it was clear that they were being run ragged by the unseen dark force that gave purpose to their movements. What the tower was being used for was unknown at this time, but the ominous feeling that she'd soon find out was beginning to take root.

Again, a guard opened the door to her room and stood aside. They didn't speak, for they didn't need to. It was the same routine as before, Valery being escorted back to the congregation chamber, where Carnifex and Sochi were waiting for her. This time, however, the pair were speaking in a language that could only be described as unnatural and uncomfortable. They stopped speaking when Valery came within earshot, Carnifex turning to face her.

"Good morning, are you ready to begin again?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Janara III​

Valery: Appearance​

Ship: Factory Link!​

Tag: Darth Carnifex ​

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The last thing Valery remembered when her eyes opened in her cell was a bright flash of red, and excruciating pain so intense that her agony echoed through the Force and her bond with Kahlil. It had knocked her off her hands and feet, caused her skin to boil, and finally knocked her out completely. But luckily, it hadn't summoned him across space and time to come to her aid — she just hoped he was still with Vera and that they were okay.​

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Standing up from where she was laying down, Valery still felt the burning pain in every part of her body, from the skin that felt like it had been ignited to her muscles, which she could barely use properly anymore. She was sore and even breathing felt uncomfortable at this point. But she still managed to push herself up to her feet and looked out through the narrow window in the wall. The construction efforts outside likely had continued all night, and while it was difficult to tell what exactly they were setting up, she figured she'd find out soon enough. Perhaps when she finally found a way out of here.​

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No matter how bad this got, she took note of everything she saw and never stopped looking for a way out.​

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Eventually, she heard footsteps behind her and one of the guards opened the door, where he remained standing until she finally moved past him. There was no exchange of words, just pure silence as she made her way back into the room with Sochi and Carnifex. It was likely going to be another day of brutality and torture, and if the first day was anything to go off of, she knew that she had to get out before she became too weak to even attempt an escape.​

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"Good morning, are you ready to begin again?"​

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A breath of air escaped Valery's lips while she looked around to see if anything had changed, "As if I have a choice." she said, her eyes finally snapping back to the Dark Lord. ​

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"Let's get this over with."​

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