Mission Rotten Core

[Joseph Torson]

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T H E_R O T T E N_C O R E

THE FINAL DAWN
XA FEL, CORE WORLDS

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After a long walk, Torson and his men were led into the office of the main building where a Zygerrian, the supposed leader of the Slavers was waiting for him. As Torson walked up to the Slaver's desk, the man smiled and motioned for him to take a seat. "Come friend, take a seat." he said. Torson however did not sit down, simply standing behind the chair that lay infront of the slaver's desk. After a few seconds of silence, the Final Dawn Operative decided to speak. "I did not come here to entertain you. I've come here for answers." Torson said. The Zygerrian chuckled, oblivious to how much trouble he was actually in before proceeded to give his response. "Forgive me, but i don't think i understand what you mean."

"Then let me make myself clear." Torson said before snapping his fingers. Immediately one of his Soldiers came up with a datapad in his hand, proceeding to hand it over to Torson who in turn placed it on the Zygerrian's desk and pushed it towards the Slaver. "Unlicensed and unregistered labor camps, poor infrastructure and horrible conditions for your prisoners. Not to mention the fact that these prisoners aren't even listed as being apart of any Infrastructural project undertaken by the Final Dawn." Torson began. Almost immediately the Slaver's smile began to fade, as he realized how much trouble he was. Because of his association with Kyrel Ren , few Final Dawn Officers or Collaborators were willing to even lay a finger on his operations, as they helped fuel the Warmaster's own efforts and advance his own agenda.

But now he was facing agents of the Final Dawn who did not care about his connections or the benefits of his operations. To them, he was a subversive agent working for a rival subgroup of the Maw who were already suspected of planning to takeover the Maw, and had been undermining the Final Dawn, and as such he would be dealt accordingly. "Listen i-i can explain-" the Slaver said trying to find a way out of his current situation. "There is no explanation. You already knew the consequences of carrying out such illicit operations, and went on with them anyways. That alone is enough to subject you and your men to the same fate you have inflicted upon many others across the Planet." Torson said.

Then the slaver shifted from trying to talk his way out to trying to intimidate the Final Dawn Agent into backing down. He slammed his fist on the table and proceeded to speak in an aggressive tone. "You can't do this! Do you know who i am, i work for-" he was immediately cut-off Torson. "I know who you are, and who you work for and frankly i don't give a shit about either." Torson responded. "Now you have two options, either you stand down peacefully and submit to the rightful authority of the Final Dawn, or you can resist and make your situation even worse." he proclaimed. Despite knowing that he and his slavers could never challenge the Final Dawn, in classic Mawite Fashion the man sought to defy the odds set against him by immediately pulling out a blaster pistol from his holster. "I'll never allow you to take what is mine! WAR! DEATH! REBIR-" he shouted as he began to take aim at Torson, only to get shot straight in the chest by the Final Dawn Agent before he could even pull the trigger.

As soon as the Zygerrian's body touched the floor, Torson's Soldiers proceeded to open fire upon any Slavers present in the room, killing three slavers before they even had a chance to draw their weapons. Under his helmet, Torson sighed before walking behind the now-dead Zygerrian's desk and taking a seat on his chair, turning around to admire the view of the labor camp from the windows behind him before proceeding to open a channel to the trio of Light Cruisers within Xa Fel's Polluted Atmosphere. "This is Special Agent Torson to Task Force Raptor, commence Project Blackout."

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Tags [GA/NJO] | Nyla Ven | Xashe Tistya | Cordé Sabo ​

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[Jem Fossk]

She was flint.

She was steel.

She was impenetrable.


Jem repeated the mantra, every step she took rattling its way through her core. She might have made a mistake coming here-- and coming out alone--

Daughter.

She could feel her father's grin twist inside of her as she gave light to her doubts. Jem grimaced and stopped the thought in its tracks, redirecting herself back to her mantra.

The subtle crack of twigs to her left drew her attention to her left, the crouching forms of Osarla Ridor and Adric Rocheford reminding her that she wasn't alone.

They all had their goals. Even if she hadn't disclosed all of hers.

She slid down the hill and forced herself to take the despair of the encampment in. It was thick-- encroaching-- unrelenting. Her knuckles whitened around a clump of leaves as she faced a rotten truth.

Her father had done this.

Every dimmed soul in the distance was a person she was accountable for. She was part of the reason they suffered. She was going in.

Jem propelled herself out of her crouch, breaking the unspoken border the jedi had erected and darting into the dark confines of the camp.

 

[Zoar]

//So... This is like a training mission. We're teachers.//

Zoar hadn't expected to dip into that role so soon. He was still learning how to defend himself; how could he ever hope to teach others how to do that?

"So, before we meet them, what do you think they should learn?"

//W-well...// The Miln thought a moment, his mech staring off into the middle distance. //We should probably focus on how to stay safe. Lines of fire, how to hold a defensive position... sh-shooting, I guess.// One might not expect the little mouse that was Zoar to have a tactical mind. But he wanted to be a Guardian. That meant perhaps a bit more battlefield acumen than the average Padawan.

Their ship finally landed in the middle of the village. It seemed calm, if tense- at least they weren't walking into a firefight.

//C-can you... go first?//

- Iris Arani -

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

It was noted that the Padawan seemed stunned at the face that teleportation was a real possibility. It only caused Dreidi to suppress a giggle, since she was constantly amused by people who were unaware of Magick and how it worked or deeply unaware how the Force actually worked, and how unique it could be when used skilfully. Dreidi looked over the supplies and started shifting them off the ship and next to the slaves. Slaves were not a surprise to her, her father had been one before he became a Jedi, he never spoke of the experiences or why he had become one but from her mother, Dreidi had known it was a dark period in his life. And that her grandparents had not been good people who simply lost their son like Dreidi had envisioned.

Picking the locks of the shackles wasn't too tricky for Dreidi, luckily she had learnt how to pick locks and such skills at a young age to avoid her parents from being able to ground her or attempt to ensure she could not run away if she threw a tantrum. She heard one woman talk about her son and it was clear that something awful had happened but Dreidi held her tongue, it was for the Jedi Knight to decide to help or not, Dreidi couldn't make that call. It was taking all she had to hold her tongue but she did it. She wanted to be a Jedi and this was part of being one, understanding when to speak up and knowing when to leave things to the person in charge.

Chewing on her cheek, she continued to hand out supplies and check for shackles that would need removing.

Jasper Kai'el | Maran

 

[Osarla Ridor]

GENERAL RIDOR OF THE 222ND
CAMPAIGN TO CLOSE THE CORRIDOR || RELIEF RUN
XA FEL || GADF CAMP OUTSIDE SLAVE ENCAMPMENT
Adric Rocheford || Jem Fossk || OPEN

Rocheford was steady, calm, and right. Her lips thinned at the mention of inaction, her skin bristling even more than what the darkness had elicited.

“It will reveal itself.” Osarla murmured, “We will have to be ready.”

By many accounts, Osarla was not suited for stealth. Most of which were her size. Even the way her cloak draped over her montrals looked like a tent. Therefore, it was clear that she was responsible for protecting the perimeter.

A perimeter that was down by one far too soon.

That had not been part of the plan.

Reflexively, she reached out, grasping through the air to conjure invisible grip at Jem’s heels, but she was fast and likely to outrun the nips of dissuasion.

In a moment like this, Osarla felt a pang of regret for not bringing Sion Lorray along. He’d recently untapped his ability to influence the emotions of others, keep them calm or otherwise. But that pang of regret was significantly outweighed by the potential post traumatic stress of revisiting a Maw labour camp would bring him. Being without his work-in-progress technique was the lesser of two evils by ample margin.

She grunted and looked back over her shoulder. The shadows of her men had disappeared into distant echoes of footsteps.

If something happened to them on account of recklessness…

Those men were why she chose general every time.

Her fists unclenched and she pressed forward, indicating to Rocheford the weakness in the perimeter they’d been using up until now to interface with designated members inside.

<Knight Fossk,> Osarla whispered into the commlink, glancing up at the gates. They were still manned by one, not three. <Your orders not to engage. What are you doing.>

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Xa Fel had nothing on…any other situation she'd ever been in before.

The snarl of vines that had overtaken the village were revealed to be the tentacled appendages of grotesque monsters. Fire surrounded them, then…ice? Cora looked to Capris in awe as she summoned a pillar of ice, cutting a frigid path to the Bastion.

In the elemental chaos, the visage of her Master, shadowed heavily against the flames came as a relief. Valery always knew what to do, how to make things right.

She squeezed Capris' hand back, giving the other Padawan a very nervous smile. It was encouraging to see the other girl break through her own distress, and for a brief moment Cora wondered what cursed images the vines had shown her. They certainly hadn't been kind to the blonde, and with that in mind, Cora poured her focus into a technique that Valery had taught her—the generation of a mental shield.

Which would have come in handy if she hadn't panicked only minutes earlier, of course. Swallowing thickly in concentration, Cora pushed the boundaries of her thought barrier to encompass Capris, in hopes that this would help protect them from the Drengir's voice…or at the very least, make it a little more difficult for the malicious energy to assault them.

The Drengir behind them were closing in quickly, and Cora fell back onto her saberwork for protection. Slicing through the vines wasn't terribly difficult, but they healed almost as quickly as she could tear them apart.

A flurry of panicked binary signaled Bee's arrival, the astromech doing his darndest to protect the pair of Padawans. Cora watched with horror as he was flung through the air, sailing until he hit the hull of the Bastion with an unpleasant metallic crash.

"Bee!" She gasped, giving an anxious glance to Capris as they skidded their way over the icy bridge to the ship.

"Oh no, you poor thing!" The Padawan gasped, brow furrowed in concern and exhaustion as she gingerly braced both sides of his dented chassis. "Let's get on the ship, hurry!"

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon BB-610

 

[Adric Rocheford]

Osarla Ridor | Jem Fossk

He had been trying to peek deeper into the swirl of the Darkside.

This is why Adric missed the crumbling crux of destiny right next to them. One moment everything was going peacefully (as much as they could in a moment like this) and the next? The Force surged and whined. His eyes rushed open, in time to just about see the cloak of Knight Fossk disappear into the shadows.

Brows furrowed there as he glanced to Ridor and her attempts to contact the Jedi.

"If we go in, we risk contact and then escalation." Adric muttered softly. This was not to dissuade his fellow Master, but since this was her mission and it was her decision, she had to know the consequences.

"We should cut the line, Ridor. Drop our supplies and withdraw as is the plan."

Steel your heart.

Adric hadn't been joking. But even him, one who was used to working behind enemy lines, was feeling the urge to follow behind the willful Jedi. There were so few of them already. To just let her go into the maw (pun unintended) was inconceivable, wasn't it? And yet, Adric couldn't let his emotions blind him.

He had to be the rational voice.

"If we follow her, we might lose more people."

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Xa Fel
Tags: Maran , Dreidi Xeraic

"H.. Her son?"

This wasn't going to be fun, but this was a learning experience. The sooner Maran understood what it was that was really out here, the better for her to come to terms with it. It crushed him on the inside. Realistically, nobody should ever have to experience such things, but that was just how life was for some people.

No words from Dreidi. She understood.

"Alright, hold down the ship," Jasper told her. "Maran, you're with me." He took a moment to turn to the woman. "Take me to him. I'll see what I can do"

The woman offered a meek bow of thanks and hastily lead them to a tent, where a young twi'lek boy of no older than seven lay in a makeshift bed. He was asleep seemingly, but his skin was pale and covered in sores. Jasper assessed the child for a moment before turning to the mother.

"Can you give us a moment? It's gonna take some time."

The mother relented, stepped out.

"Darkside affliction," Jasper informed his padawan. "That's what it is. Of course they told us about that when we left, but I'm surprised they made it this far with him... Looks like it just put him in a coma. He could have become aggressive, feral even... worst cases people lose their minds."

The knight sighed. He should at least address her discomfort.

"I know it's rough out here," he admitted. "Especially for someone who hasn't been exposed to... well, all of this yet. In a perfect world you wouldn't need to come to terms with it... That unfortunately isn't the case. This is the reality many regular people are forced to endure, one that the order's chosen to take a stand against. Many of our own have come out of situations like this. Friends of mine... peers of yours. You may not have even recognized it. Maybe this isn't the way that bandage should ideally be ripped off... but it's something that's important for every one of us to come to terms with. We can talk more afterwards."

Jasper knelt down at the boy's side, but paused to spare a glance back to Maran. There was one more thing he had forgotten.

"Oh, and it's okay if you feel useless," The knight assured her. "It's natural. I do too. That's just part of the job."

And with that, he placed a hand over the child. Before long, Force Light had begun to emit from his body. Hopefully it wouldn;t be long before the corruption was clear from the boy's system.

 

[Valery Noble]

Xa Fel

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Ship: The Bastion
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon BB-610 Corazona von Ascania

While Valery remained behind to fight back the Drengir, she could feel the dynamic of the group behind her shift. Kahlil had called out to coordinate their escape efforts, and with some clever use of runes, they not only separated themselves from more Drengir with intense flames but also created a bridge of ice they could access for their escape. It was enough to tug Valery's lips up into a brief, but proud grin.

They were going to make it, she could feel it.

But the underlying pain of leaving behind the people who had fallen victim to the Drengir snapped her back into her earlier, dead-serious focus. There was nothing to celebrate about what happened here today, and she already knew that this wasn't going to be the end of this problem. Not with the Maw destabilizing slowly because of the war — it would give other threats, such as the Drengir, more opportunities like this.

"Get out of here, now!" Valery called back while she slowly began to retreat as well. Vines were still lashing out at her constantly, but with heightened reflexes, speed, and some acrobatics, Valery danced her way around them. Her twin blades cut through whatever she wasn't able to dodge, and she burned as much as she possibly could down to ashes.

But once she turned around to head back over the bridge herself, Valery froze for just a second when she spotted Bee charging forward to protect the Padawans. Vines lashed out at him, and even though the smoke obscured much of her vision, she could swear that she felt what happened to him. "Beeee!" she yelled at the top of her lungs but there was nothing she could do for him. Her dear friend was tossed away towards the Bastion, and Valery could almost feel something snapping inside.

Loss.

She wasn't going to allow it to happen again and exploded into the air to cross the distance towards the bridge to help him. The Drengir who had lashed out at her little friend was still there, looking to now target the others, but she wasn't going to allow it. With flames around her fist, she crashed down on top of the Dark Sided beast, and set it on fire with a single punch that snapped through layers of vines and tendrils. It screeched out in agony, but Valery silenced it as the plasma of her blade cut down through its head in conjunction with the spreading flames.

"Go, now!" She yelled again, as she rushed over the bridge behind the others. But rather than heading inside, she turned and raised her hands to project a Barrier to hold back as many vines as she could. Hopefully, it gave everybody time to head inside, and she trusted that Kahlil would get them out of here with the Bastion.

 

[Nyla Ven]

Equipment: In Bio
Allies: Cordé Sabo Xashe Tistya Pyke Lazar | GADF | NJO | Slaves
Opposition: Joseph Torson | Brotherhood of the Maw​

Nyla offered an apologetic smile to Lazar after he finished his acutely unpleasant outburst. She was almost successful at hiding her discomfort and annoyance; a tension in the jaw and a stiffness of posture were what gave it away. The girl wasn't sure who, exactly, she and her fellow padawan had been partnered with, but they didn't seem particular fond of Jedi. Or perhaps Force Wielders in general. This was unfortunate, but acceptable; they didn't need to be friends, just teammates.

The rest of their time together was blessedly uneventful, until, of course, it wasn't.

"We're just gonna leave them some shit and hope they make it count? That's an unbelievably dumb plan. Contraband just increases the likelihood they're gonna get skewered. You sure you heard Central correctly?"

Nyla turned back and faced Pyke, a sympathetic smile on her face. She had, of course, had the same thought: We should be doing more. "I've been inside, Lazar. I saw what it was like. Believe me, I'd love to get everyone out and burn that camp to the ground. But we all know that the Alliance won't send in a liberation team without more intellige-" The girl stopped talking abruptly, then, silently, mouthed "Oh."

A trio of shapes appeared in the sky, rapidly growing in size and clarity until they had become a collection of duracrete-grey spearpoints hovering in the sky. The shuttle that had been ejected from the lead ship, small as it was, would not be visible for some time. This was a small blessing in its own way; Nyla could deal with that additional stress a few minutes later.

"That..." For the first but almost certainly not last time during this operation, nervousness crept into the padawan's voice. "That is a complication. We should hurry."

 

[Jem Fossk]

<Knight Fossk,> Osarla whispered into the commlink, glancing up at the gates. They were still manned by one, not three. <Your orders not to engage. What are you doing.>

What was she doing? What was she doing? Jem felt herself propel forward with no real answer, drawn by the pulse in her ear and the rapid beating of her heart.

"I'm joining you." She scattered into a bush and pressed herself flat, an annoyed look tossed over her shoulder as she shook off the telekinetic grabs. "I can do more than clear water-- they said you're going into the out buildings. I need to see them. School me later," she dismissed, with all the exacting confidence of a certain fair-haired friend. She had put them in an impossible situation and she knew it.

In the dark she found a set of intense eyes baring her down. She lifted her chin and started the timer on her watch.

59.59
59.58
59.57

"Perimeter clear."

Osarla Ridor Adric Rocheford

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko stood close enough to the soldier on the radio. He could hear the voices coming through his earpiece.

Voices were brief and professional, but interspersed by the occasional short scream.

"What's happening?" Makko asked.

No one replied to him.

The command team spoke amongst themselves and someone slapped a beacon on the ground.

"Platoon five commander actual. Casevac, called on Beacon seven, six, auresh, five. We are..."

"I've lost contact with the forward team."

"I've got movement ahead."

"Fallback. Bring the beacon."

"Kid," one of the soldiers said to Makko, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Run."

 

[Iris Arani]

"Yeah. Surviving and staying safe is always the priority."

Iris chuckled a little as she lead the way down the ramp into the camp itself. It was.. Dismal, to say the least, here. The colors, bleak and barely with any light. People were defeated here. Long defeated. Her expression didn't change though. This wasn't the first time she'd seen people like this. That's what it meant to fight the Maw, to face this kind of darkness here and anywhere else.

Her gaze lifted up towards the suit of armor, watching him more than anyone else here. She knew they'd be able to help the people here, but that was the point of bringing him here. For him to see it himself that he can help people.

They were met by one person. The only person's whose light hadn't dimmed as much as the others. A young man with a burning desire to survive, if she had to guess.

"You're Jedi."

"Yes. We're here to help."

He swallowed once before nodding his head and motioning for them to follow. "Good. Come with me."

Zoar

 

[Maran]

She was pale as a sheet. A light green, limish sheet. She couldn't help it. Being in the tent, looking at the boy so flooded with the Dark he was visibly sick, she didn't even know this was possible. Maran could only listen as Jasper explained everything and try not to faint or run away. She didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be in danger or face this kind of darkness. It was their job?

She was starting to doubt it was a job she wanted. Feeling useless sounded like willing punishment to take on the pain of others. Then, the Light. She blinked slowly as she watched the Light fill the room. Fill the boy to start healing him. Actually heal him. Why did he say useless was common if this was something they could do! For a moment she actually thought the most they could do was watch the boy suffer.

She swallowed loudly as she took a step forward. Looked at her hands, then to her Master. His calm expression, in the face of all this darkness.

"C-" Her voice cracked before she cleared her throat and spoke instead in a whisper, afraid to disturb the sleeping child any further.

"Can you teach me?"

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Kahlil Noble]

The sudden surge of ice caught Kahlil off guard. For a split second his focus, his calm, turned to innate panic. Wide eyed his gaze turned to the Padawans. His Padawan. She was still up and moving at least. Cora was there too, and the droid- His eyes drifted as he caught sight of what happened to BB. He clenched his jaw before turning his gaze back to the barrier of flame he'd created. Kept it alive and burning so they wouldn't be overwhelmed.

At least long enough for Valery's barrier to take it's place. Then he moved, sprinted past the Padawan's into the cockpit to get the ship online. Switch to switch as his faithful freighter kicked on. "Quick this time, alright?"

Yeah he was talking to his ship. He patted part of the dashboard as the engines turned over and at once the ship lurched into the air. Then he left the controls. Not completely. Part of his attention was still in that room, using the Force to keep the ship moving. But he needed to get to the ramp.

He extended a hand, knowing Valery was already leaping for the ramp. Already moving seemingly to catch her, if not for the same rune as before in his palm. It ignited, unleashing a torrent of flame to batter back the Drengir trying to follow her example. "Get to the controls and contact high command. I'll check on the Padawans."

Valery Noble | BB-610 | Corazona von Ascania | Capris Halcyon

 

[Capris Halcyon]

LOCATION: Xa Fel
TAGS: Valery Noble Kahlil Noble BB-610 Corazona von Ascania

​

​

Sliding to a halt, Capris could only stifle a pained grimace. Bee was.. definitely hanging in there. Damaged albeit functional. If there was a silver lining to be gleaned, he at least accomplished what he’d set out to do, buying enough time for the other two to escape relatively unscathed. Well, relative to him anyway.

Were droids simply not programmed with self-preservation or was that brazen act of self-sacrifice just a fluke?

Not wasting time mulling over the prospect, she instead moved to help Bee situate himself back on the ship alongside Cora. Despite having reached supposed safety, the padawan’s jaw only tightened, her sense of survival still kicked into full gear. A tension only slightly alleviated as the ship lurched beneath them. They were leaving. Finally.

Her initial relief was quickly overshadowed by a far more oppressive guilt. There was no victory to be had. Just the relief of a narrow escape. She’d let that poor woman slip right out of her hands, utterly defenseless all while she fought to save her own skin. And yet she had the gull to call herself a Jedi.

Shoulders dropping with an exhausted sigh she turned to the incapacitated droid. They weren’t out of the woods yet, self-pity could come later, now was the time to lick their wounds. Hands feeling over his dented chassis in an attempt to scope out the worst of the damage she spared a glance over to Cora, brow furrowed, “Are you hurt?”

It was only when Kahlil came running in that her expression seemed to ease up. “Kahlil-” Try as she might, she couldn’t hide the relief in her voice. He was in much better condition than the rest of them, at least from the look of it. The nagging feeling she’d failed him that had securely wedged its way into her mind could be set aside for later. They were safe. For the most part.

“Bee took heavy damage. I can’t really tell the extent of it but- but he needs immediate attention.”

 

[Zoar]

All life had drained from the camp.

Following closely behind Iris, the large mech kept it's head on a swivel as it observed it's surroundings. Everyone looked... defeated. Totally and utterly, as if all hope in the galaxy had been lost, covered like clouds cover the sun. Part of Zoar feared the things that made them this way. A bigger part wondered if there was anything two Jedi could do to help.

It made Zoar sick.

So as he looked down at the one person who still held onto that spark of life, Zoar tried to put on a brave face, hidden underneath layers of durasteel. The Jedi began to follow him.

Zoar tried to temper any sort of emotion from his voice, failing spectacularly. //There's... only two of us, but we'll do as much as we can.//

He winced a little. He wanted to raise their spirits. Downplaying their abilities would do the opposite. Time for an overcorrection. //I-I mean, we're pretty good though. And we can help train, if there are people willing t-to fight, yeah?//

- Iris Arani -

 

[Xashe Tistya]

cat's eyes shining in the darkness
Cordé Sabo | Nyla Ven | Pyke Lazar

"A welcoming committee." Xashe confirmed as Nyla pointed their attention to the ships.

Hurried, she did. Little mind was paid to the group she was supposed to protect as the she trudged ahead of them. Though Nyla had done nothing, it had taken less than a jump to peg the agents for the slime they were. She had seen plenty like Lazar in the lower levels - mistakenly assuming snark was a defining personality trait. The light xenophobia was new and exciting, at least.

Mutated shrubbery had grown to half-conceal the breach Nyla's intel had forewarned. Xashe's approached crouch, looking for any signs of Imperials. Someone found her first. A boy, slightly younger than herself, was happening across the wall. Eyes widened as they met one another. A poorly manicured finger rose to indicate silence. Right before he looked as he might bolt, Xashe's other hand extended, offering a ration up. The slave boy slid across a spectrum of emotion and back again. Xashe could feel it - despair, suspicion, desire, fear. A slow acceptance dawn as he reached for the peace offering. With his first bite, something unfamiliar came to him. His demeanor finally settled into one of hope.

A true warm smile lit Xashe's face, but she remphaized the quiet gesture and waved him away. He had grown used to taking orders - he simply nodded and went, lurking with his ration tucked in his cloak.

"That is why we're doing what we can today." Xashe's voice was thicked as she watched his departure.

It all happened in an instance. An imperial rounded the corner, coming face to face with the boy.

"Halt. What do you have there?"

Momentary silence met the question. Prey caught in trap, the boy could neither speak nor move. The soldier didn't wait for his answer. A commanding hand reached to grab the pack Xashe had just handed over.

"Where did you get this? Those dirty rebels?" Further silence agitated, and as a hand reached to seize the boy, Xashe's own grip sprang to light her saber. ​

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Xa Fel |
| SHIP: The Bastion |
| TAG: Valery Noble | Kahlil Noble | Corazona von Ascania | Capris Halcyon |

Processors damaged, the astromech's remaining power wasn't enough to stabilize his motors, unable to move anything but his head, magnets thankfully functional as he weakly peered around the now dented curve of his chassis, flickering optic bouncing between Cora and Capris as the two Padawans heaved him up and relocated him within the comforting realm of the Bastion. Audio outputs lagging, his voicebox struggled to keep up with his thoughts, with his words jumbled and glitchy, each bweep and bwoop tripping over each other, hiccupping with wince-worthy glitches. His central view had become skewed, the glass of his optic cracked annoyingly down the middle, leaving the BB unit to rely mostly on the barely in-tact photoreceptors decorating the hull of his tool-bay disks.

Tweeting and chirping as coherently as he could, he thanked Cora and Capris for helping him, and that they didn't need to do that.

It felt like a chore to focus. While he had no ragged breaths to take, each passing moment spent online grew more and more taxing, as though a heavy weight had forced itself onto his core, pressuring it after every second. BB-610 wasn't sure what was worse: the searing pain coursing through his circuits from a struggling system working overtime to keep itself online, or just how familiar it felt. He'd done this before. Perhaps one of the luxuries of being completely artificial, consisting of nothing but hardware, was how easy it was to fix relative to the injuries of organics. Bits and pieces, for however damaged they may be, could be replaced painlessly as long as the droid's core components weren't destroyed, and it's why BB-610 was perhaps a tad too impulsive on his decisions. If he were crushed, he'd suffer nothing but the inconvenience of waiting for a new body. If Cora or Capris had been in his stead, well...

It was just like this on Xolu, when he had sacrificed himself to ensure the safety of his friends, the safety of people he didn't even know, and the safety of Imperials he had now betrayed by siding with Jedi. Broken, offline, it was a miracle he had been retrieved at all as his little ragtag group made it out by the skin of their teeth. And what had followed BB-610's selflessness? What reward had he earned?

Nothing.
Black.
Repaired and abandoned in one of the many storage facilities of The Eternal Empire.
Alone, cold, scared, and confused as he finally reactivated after little over a year of dormancy.
Just like that, he had been cast aside like any old tool and left to collect dust.

And there it was. That visceral fear of abandonment. That anxiety that crept into his circuits and strangled any rational thought away. He had been thrown away once after a stupid stunt like this, what was stopping it from happening again? BB-610, immediately, snapped his head around to glance at Valery, trying his hardest to roll over to her, fidgeting and wobbling as his dented chassis refused to budge from his damaged motors, the droid growing more and more restless with every second. Warbled crying, broken up by static and stuttering, reverbed from his voicebox, optic dilating as he'd plead and beg, struggling against the two Padawans that had surrounded him.

' I did good, didn't I? ' he chirped, desperation plaguing his binary. ' I fo-fo-followed ord-orders li-like a good droid. '

Sparks flew from overheating circuits, the astromech hyperventilating as he shook his head.

' D-Do-Don't leave me. '
' I can b-be better. '
' Don't re-replace me, please- '

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

And just like that, it was over.

After a torrent of fighting, running, and escaping, the ramp closed and Kahlil initiated their ascent. Cora couldn't help but peek out the window, at the fire that raged below, at the vines thrashing about wildly. She closed her eyes and thought that she could feel the whisper thin threads of life from the people of Xa Fel fade from her grasp as they pulled away from the cursed village.

Capris asked her if she was alright, and Cora's eyes fluttered open. She was breathing hard, everything had been a blur and there was nowhere for her adrenaline to go.

"Y-yeah," Her voice cracked, suddenly parched. "Are you alright?"

As Capris called for Kahlil, their focus pulled towards BB-610. Cora knew that he'd taken on damage, but they hadn't been able to stop and assess until now. The poor droid was wailing, modulated voice tugging at every heartstring on the freighter.

"It's..it's okay Bee, you're going to be okay!" She tried to soothe tentatively as he rolled shakily towards towards Valery. Cora braced a hand around him, trying to steady his strained movements. She flashed a pained look to her Master, grateful to see her alive and desperately hopeful. Her heart still fluttered wildly behind her ribs.

' D-Do-Don't leave me. '
' I can b-be better. '
' Don't re-replace me, please- '

Startled by the astromech's cries, Cora bit her lower lip. This sounded...personal. And painful. Whatever had happened to the poor droid before he'd come into the Noble family's possession?

"You did great. You saved us Bee." She gestured between herself and Capris, looking to the other girl with a solemn expression that threatened to crack with emotion.

Valery Noble Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon BB-610