Private Friends in Trouble Again

[Noah Corek]

Alderaan
Cadera-Feanor-Corek Estate
Shooting Range

Noah laid on the grass behind his palatial estate, aiming through the scope of his rifle, a pet project of his that he had been working on for some time. While the rifle was almost complete Noah still hadn't been able to zero it properly, having spent more than a few hours on the range and in his workshop attempting to fix said problem to no avail. To say that the process was beginning to frustrate him would be an understatement, never before had a creating of his been so finnicky or uncooperative.

Inserting another fresh magazine into the rifle, reaching up and adjusting the dials and knobs on the rifle scope before aiming it down range, centering the reticle on the target, steadied his breathing, flicked the safety off, let his finger gently grasp the trigger, took a deep breath, paused his breathing and gently squeezed the trigger. Only for the round to impact a good few centimeters from where he had been aiming, frustrating him once again. What he needed was a distraction to help him get out of this funk.

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

From the cockpit of her fighter, Valery looked at Alderaan after she dropped out of hyperspace and let out a soft sigh. The last few times she visited the world, it was for more personal things, even a short vacation at one point. But it wasn't often that she traveled to a planet like it because something terrible was happening, and it needed to be addressed.

Luckily, she had a friend who lived there, and maybe he'd be willing to tag along again.

"R5, please open a channel to Noah if he's available," she requested and after the droid chirped a few times, a one-way channel was opened so she could send a message, even if he wasn't around to respond immediately.

"Hey Noah, Valery here — I'm landing on Alderaan shortly to deal with a problem I learned about. I could use some extra hands, so if you're wanting to help, meet me just outside the spaceport and get your gear ready." It was a simple enough message that contained very few details, but they were friends and trusted each other. So she figured that he didn't mind waiting until actually meeting up before he'd get the finer details about the assignment.

But with that cleared, Valery took her ship down and soon landed at the spaceport.

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah was more than ready to admit to himself that he was close to giving up and cutting his losses with the rifle. These thoughts were put out of his mind when his datapad, always kept nearby, chirped and told him he had a voice message that he had missed. Raising an eyebrow he played the message and a small smile came to his face, remembering that whenever he and Valery worked together it was...fun to say the least.

He quickly type out a text response to her message. 'Good to see that you're in my neck of the woods again Val. Color me intrigued. I'll gather my gear up and meet you at the spaceport.' Sending the message he quickly packed up his work and made his way to his workshop, which also doubled as his personal armory.

Placing his work on his workbench for later he made his way towards the armory portion of the room, quickly picking and choosing what he thought he'd need and threw it into a duffel bag, doing the same with his beskar'gam just in case it was needed. From there he made his way to the speeder, not before leaving a note for his kids and wives about where he would be.

It took a little while for Noah to get from his estate to the spaceport, the estate deliberately placed well away from society to give its inhabitants a high degree of privacy. Once at the spaceport he made sure to park the speeder in a obvious spot, covered all his gear in the back from any passerby's, hopped out and leaned against the hood, popping one of his cigarillo's into his mouth and lighting it, waiting for Valery to arrive.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

"Alright R5, I'm going to need you to stay at the ship for this one," Valery said after she had climbed out of the cockpit, removed her helmet, and shook out her long hair. She then tossed the helmet back inside and looked at her little buddy, who bleeped a few sad tones, "I know, but this can get dangerous and I need you to look after the ship."

She smiled and sent the signal for the ship's canopy to be lowered, "I promise I'll be back soon." She dipped her head lightly and turned away to head out of the spaceport, where Noah was already waiting for her. The woman's eyes fell on the speeder at first, but they quickly shifted up to the man leaning against it.

"Good to see you again, Noah," Valery said with a friendly smile. "I hope my message didn't make you bring out your entire arsenal, but I do have a feeling some of it will be useful."

 

[Noah Corek]

It only took a few minutes of waiting on Noah's part when Valery finally came into view and he fixed her with a warm look and friendly smile before nodding his head towards her. "Aaaah Val, as lovely and radiant as ever. Good to see you again." He grinned and winked at her, stubbing out the cigarillo on the heel of his boot before flicking it with perfect aim into a nearby trash can.

Reaching over he opened the passenger side door of the speeder for Valery to climb in before gently closing it behind her and walking around and climbing into the speeder himself, starting it up and pulling away from the spaceport, more just driving than anything else.

When the amount of weaponry was brought up Noah pulled up the tarp on the backseat to show her how much he had brought. "Just brought enough to ensure superior firepower...always a good thing to have. So how are ya?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

Valery smiled warmly at the compliment, and dipped her head lightly, "You look like you're in a good mood as well," she said after the smile and wink from him. She just chuckled and stepped aside so he could open the door, and she could sit down. But inside, her eyes immediately turned to all the weapons, armor, and equipment he brought along.

It was definitely going to be enough, and that's exactly why she had asked for his help too.

"We're going to need the firepower if things get too hot. I hope we can keep it all minimal but... we'll see," she said with a soft smile before the question about how she was doing got her silent for a moment. "I'm doing good, for the most part. I'm a little tired from being so busy and..." she sighed softly. "There is just a lot going on at the moment."

She shook her head gently and looked at him, "You doing well though?"

 

[Noah Corek]

He chuckled when she mentioned his good mood, shaking his head slightly he kept his focus on the road while he piloted the speeder through the busy streets of Alderaan. "Honestly I was working on a project and it was getting a bit frustrating so you're giving me a pretty good distraction from that. Might even get some good inspiration from this, I find a good fight often gets the creative juices flowing."

He grinned when she mentioned that they might need the firepower, Noah was more than happy to get in a gunfight, honestly he would prefer it in this day and age as he often found himself bored just tinkering and administrating. He would of had to be blind, deaf and dumb to not notice the shift of her mood when she sighed. Noah wouldn't pry though, if Valery wanted to confide in him she would, she would have to trust him enough to do that.

When she asked about him he shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "For the most part yeah, life's been going good so far." He let the statement hang in the air and then drove on for some while before speaking. "So I'm kind of curious to be honest about why you called me..."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

Leaning back into her seat, Valery ran a hand up through her hair and briefly focused inwards to clear her mind and center herself. Whatever bothered her seemed to fade rather quickly, allowing her to smile brightly when he mentioned that his life had been good, "I'm glad to hear it, and hopefully, this little assignment will give you some distraction and inspiration."

With what could be waiting for them, there was certainly a big chance it would.

"I called you because a group of terrorists have relocated to Alderaan, and are planning to disrupt an upcoming ceremony. Law enforcement hasn't been able to track them down yet, but they supposedly are within the mountains. I was asked to investigate and potentially stop them, so I figured you'd be able to help," she looked at him with a slight tilt of her head, hoping he'd agree to do so.

"If they're not stopped and they succeed, a lot of people will get hurt or worse."

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah was internally happy when he noticed the shift in Valery's emotion from some sad to smiling and happy, she was a good friend and for him seeing any friend upset hurt him. When she mentioned it most likely being a distraction he grinned, a grin which he shot over at Valery. "Ah Val, you know me so well. Nothing better than a gunfight to get my blood pumping and creative juices flowing."

When she began explain the exact reason for her reaching out to him Noah nodded, listening intently to the words she spoke, absorbing every piece of information and running ideas through his head of what it is he would need. When she titled her head to see if he would agree to help her he raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Oh I'll help, Alderaan is my home. If these di'kut's think they can come here and try to harm people without repercussions then they're wrong."

"Well then we'll have to make sure they don't succeed then. Got any leads on where exactly in the mountains they are? That's a big region and searching it by foot would be...long."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

"Ah Val, you know me so well. Nothing better than a gunfight to get my blood pumping and creative juices flowing."

Valery rolled her eyes a little, but there was a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips that made it clear she was quite amused. It was hardly surprising to hear that he was ready and excited for something like this, but it didn't take away from the fact that they'd have to take the mission very seriously. A lot of lives were at stake.

She then reached for a datapad on her belt and looked down at the display, "I've got a set of coordinates here. They're not high up in the mountains, but set up a base on a plateau about halfway up. So we have a climb ahead of ourselves, and then likely quite a tough fight as well if they have proper defenses." She offered the datapad so he could use them for navigation, and leaned back into her chair again.

"We can probably get to the foot of the mountains like this, but the rest will have to be on foot..." she paused a moment, "It will be risky to engage them head-on, but I don't think we have other options."

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah kept his eyes fixed solely in front of him as he piloted the speeder out of the city limits and finally to the surrounding countryside, his eyes glancing over at Valery whenever she spoke. Taking the datapad from her he quickly plugged it into the speeder and pulled up the navigation interface, the interface quickly taking the data from the datapad and giving him a route to take that would put them ten kilometers out from their objective.

"We're not engaging them head on." Noah's words were succinct and final. "We fight them on their turf and we not likely to win even between the two of us. We'll hit em with irregular warfare, ambushes and traps, whittle down till they're nothing left. Trust me I've got enough explosives and guns to pull that off."

Noah and Valery finally reached the end of the line for the speeder and Noah quickly pulled the vehicle into a covered spot before turning it off. He looked over towards his companion fully now. "You got any more intel besides location? Numbers? Weapons? Equipment?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

"We're not engaging them head on."

Valery raised an eyebrow, but she didn't go against it — she felt confident enough about keeping herself protected, but this was a mission where she worked together with someone else. She knew Noah's capabilities to some extent, but not in the context of fighting an enemy with a superior position like this. It was the safer option to fight more cleverly.

"Alright, let's handle this your way, although I'm still no explosives expert," she said with a smirk.

The two then reached the point where they had to leave behind their vehicle, and after stepping outside, Valery turned to Noah and nodded, "They aren't that heavily armed. Mostly blaster pistols and rifles, but no heavy armor, turrets, or other dangerous weapons. Their advantage is their location up high, and the numbers they have," Valery said before she paused and looked up the mountain.

"According to my latest report, there are two dozen of them. Not all are fighters though, so maybe around 15 armed?"

 

[Noah Corek]

Stepping out of the vehicle with Valery he grinned when she mentioned explosives, their last mission together having revolved around the use of the material. "Didn't learn much last time eh? Well that's fine, it's what you got me for."

Making sure to grab the datapad to bring along Noah walked to the back of the speeder and gently placed the pad on the trunk of the speeder before bringing up a map of the area on its holoprojector. "Alright so the terrorists are here." His finger pointed the plateau at the coordinates she had given him. "My plan is pretty simple and can be broken down into three words: hit and run."

His finger pointed towards the mountain that the plateau rested on, more specifically on the up slope near said plateau. "We'll hit them at their main base and then fall back up the slope towards the mountains peak. While it'll seem like were running away we'll actually be pulling them into well hidden and well placed traps and kill zones. Mines, explosives and clear lines of sight will give us an advantage over their numbers. Besides that we're more nimble the two of us, they'll have over a dozen people to move around and organize which means they'll be slower to respond....thoughts?"

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

"I learned plenty, but it'll never be a strength of mine," Valery said with a smirk before she got out of the vehicle and followed him around to look at the map. She quietly listened to his plan and nodded along a little — a hit and run was definitely the best option, considering they were heavily outnumbered.

But she did have an idea of her own.

"After the traps are set, do you think you can already set up defensively? I can hit them at their base and run up the mountain, to your position. They won't be able to hit me at all, so it gives you more time to position properly and pick off whoever comes after me," she suggested, which put her in the line of fire. But she seemed very confident about it.

 

[Noah Corek]

He chuckled and shook his head at he words with a smile. "Well good for you that it is one of my many strengths then." He took another look at the map and memorized every nook and cranny of the area. When her idea was brought up to him he raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Tactically its a smart idea, use you as...bait for lack of a better term. If that's the case we should probably plan a little more..."

Taking another look at the map Noah pointed at the upslope and drew four lines on it. "Instead of hit and run we'll make a series of feigned retreats uphill. We'll set up four different lines of kill zones with grenade traps, mines and sight lines...ya know the normal stuff. One we exhaust one of the lines we'll move back to the next until we take 'em all out or run out of fall backs...I think the first option is more likely though."

Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Alderaan
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Noah Corek

It seemed her idea had sparked an even bigger plan from him, and after listening to it, she finally nodded, "That seems like a solid idea. I only worry we'll get caught setting up all these traps, but you can get them ready pretty quickly, right?" she asked for confirmation. If setting up the traps relied too much on her being quick about it, this wouldn't work out, after all.

"I can help a little but this is not my specialty."

She'd be most useful actually going up against the terrorists once everything started, but she felt confident that Noah knew that. It was just important to get it all straight beforehand. "Either way, I'm ready to get started."

 

[Noah Corek]

He nodded and turned off the datapad, putting it away for now before reaching over and opening the trunk, exposing another rather large assortment of weapons and tactical gear. Already wearing a pair of camouflage tactical pants he pulled out a chest rig and threw it over his long sleeve button up shirt that he had rolled the sleeve up to his elbows. To finish it off he threw on a pair of heavy duty gloves and a ball cap.

After geared up he looked towards Val and grinned. "Don't worry, setting up ambushes are a specialty of mine, shouldn't take me more than thirty minutes to get everything set and ready to go. Before I do that though we're probably going to want to do some recon of their camp, just to make sure you intel is accurate. Last thing we want is to set up an ambush and it not be enough."

With him properly dressed down for what was about to happen he began sifting and sorting through the backseat and trunk, taking a rucksack and filling it with the bare essentials, which of course meant ammo, grenades, mines and even a few kilograms of plastic explosives. With the rucksack full he also grabbed a tactical belt and did the same thing, slipping rifle and pistol magazines and grenades into their designated pouches.

With that out of the way he made his way to the back of speeder again and began sifting and sorting through the weapons he had there to pick out what he wanted. Deciding to try and go as general as he could he picked out his personal assault rifle, equipping it with a suppressor, 2-4x medium range hybrid optic and underslung grenade launcher. He also chose a pair of pistols, one holstered on his right hip and the other on his chest. To finish it off he grabbed a rather plain looking knife and sheathed it at the small of his back. Deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry he also grabbed two bandoleers of ammo, one for his rifle and the other for the grenade launcher.

Taking another gander at the gear in the trunk Noah grabbed another already full rucksack and a plastoid case and handed them off to Valery. "If you don't mind carrying this...it'll be sort of like a last resort at our last fallback position."

Giving himself and his gear another once over Noah nodded and then walked towards the front of the speeder, popping the hood open before reaching in and disconnect some components before stick them in his pocket. "Alright, I'm ready."

Valery Noble ​