Private Sabotage

[Valery Noble]

Temple Hangar

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

"Alright, Bee," Valery began after stepping down from a very different-looking X-wing, "This is the first ship I had built after being rescued from stasis. At the time, I made it to travel around without having to worry about running into trouble, but it has also served me well as a Jedi Shadow," she began to explain. "It's a modified Stealth-X, and today we're going to take her out for a new mission." She looked at her little friend with a bright fire burning in her eyes, and a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. Valery had always loved flying, and while it wasn't going to be the most important part of this mission, any chance she had to take out one of her two fighters was something she'd enjoy.

"The Alliance is preparing to strike back at the Maw with a much faster offensive, but that means we need to plan ahead. The Maw has listening posts everywhere that can warn their defenses of our troop movements, so the plan for us is to sabotage one. If we were to destroy it, they'd reroute to another station or build a new one, but if we can sabotage it cleverly, they won't find out until it's too late." Pausing again, Valery gave Bee some time to process everything she had said thus far, and while he did, she booted up a small projection of a Galaxy Map that showed the borders of Maw space, as well as their corridor into the core.

"We're going to travel along the border of the corridor and target a listening post at its base, where the original border between the Alliance and Maw used to be. So when we neutralize their corridor, we can start the counter-attack through their own territory as well."

"Any questions?"

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: NJO Temple, Coruscant |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

BB-610 glided along the hangar bay floors, having been assigned ('assigned' being his word for 'asked') to his first official mission with Valery. If he were being honest, there was an underlying nervousness to the idea, because the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint the nicest person he'd ever met, but not even BB-610 could deny the excitement buzzing throughout his servos.

Rolling over to the Jedi, his first step was to examine the modified Stealth-X before him. Whistling, BB-610 announced his approval of the vessel, clearly interested as his optic constricted and dilated, getting as best a view as possible while studying every last detail. He'd always taken a keen interest in starfighters, and this marked the second of Valery's ships that tickled his fancy in all the right ways.

Of course, he couldn't just sit there and marvel all day - the droid had a mission, listening attentively as Valery went over their plan. BB-610 was relatively inexperienced when it came to ground missions, and so the aforementioned nervousness had been, unfortunately, dialled up a notch, but if Valery had trusted him to tag along, then he'll simply have to trust her to have made the right call.

Glancing at the map, he promptly sectioned a file within his data banks to store it inside, internally prioritizing it and running a series of algorithmically tuned scans and probabilities all related to their assignment's coordinates.

BB-610 rolled beneath the Stealth-X's astromech slot, lifted up and socketing himself neatly inside. Much like the other X-wing, its navicomputer had a sleekness to it that felt like luxury to a state of the art BB-unit like himself, and as the ship's engines whirr online ever so satisfyingly, the droid spoke up with some curious (and, perhaps, nervous) beeping as he asked Valery how many times she'd performed such feats in the past.

 

[Valery Noble]

Temple Hangar

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

"Feats like sabotage?" Valery asked as she began the climb up into her cockpit while Bee was moving into his little astromech slot. She had her helmet on already now, put on the jacket over her tank top, and got strapped into her seat. The X-wing was, in many ways, very similar to her other fighter, but this one was built far more for stealth, while her primary fighter was meant for intense space combat.

"I used to be a Jedi Shadow, so infiltration, sabotage, and taking down specific targets was very common. Often behind enemy lines as well, and more often than not, I worked entirely alone," she went on to explain. "A few years ago, I felt that it was best for me not to work in the Shadows anymore, and be a more visible leader for the NJO. So I stepped down as Shadow, joined the Council and it's how I transitioned into my new role as Sword."

The canopy now lowered, the engines fired up and systems were starting to come online. "But I still occasionally take on missions that are meant for the Jedi Shadow types. There aren't many of them these days, so it's a skill set in demand at times. That said... I'm not a good slicer, as I'm sure you've noticed with my lack of tech skills."

"This is what I'll really need you for the most. I'm going to keep us safe, but I'll need you to get into certain systems, open locked blast doors and upload a little program into their systems." The ship was about ready to get going, but Valery decided to wait and looked over her shoulder at Bee. It was likely that he felt nervous about this assignment, so she wanted him to be reassured and confident before they'd head out.

"You feeling good over there, Bee?"

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: NJO Temple, Coruscant |
| STARFIGHTER: Modified Jedi T-85 X-wing |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

It's incredible just how much progress a human can cram into their relatively short lifespan, BB-610 thought, as he listened to the woman. Not just anybody could become a Council's Jedi Master, he realized, but it was impressive all the same. Valery had existed far longer than most of her kin, of course, having been subject to an indefinite limbo for thousands of years - it was something BB-610 knew all too well himself, and while their stories were made from the cloth, the Jedi had achieved far more than the little astromech could ever dream of.

He could finally start remedying that, however. He could finally start making a difference, just as he had sought to do under the wing of The Eternal Empire.

"That said... I'm not a good slicer, as I'm sure you've noticed with my lack of tech skills."

The droid giggled at that, gently chirping that not even a Jedi as great as Valery could be perfect at everything. BB-610 double-checked their engines, ran a brief diagnostics test, and once the ship got back to him with nothing short of amazing results, the astromech finally met Valery's gaze. He's nervous, and he knew that she knew, and he was willing to bet that she knew that he knew that she knew, and prompted him to play it off, which only made him seem even more nervous; engines roaring, the Stealth-X left the hangar, taking into the gorgeous orange of Coruscant's skies before he could change his mind and impulsively shut the ship's engines down.

A brief silence, the BB-unit fidgeting within the astromech slot, before he finally replied. Bweeping and clicking, the droid confessed that he was worried of letting her down, and that he'd been abandoned and stranded by his partners before. Insisting that he knew Valery wasn't like those people with an eager string of binary, he added that he still couldn't dismiss the feeling that he wasn't good enough for her.

BB-610 wished it was different. He really did. He wished he wasn't defective. The damage had been dealt, unfortunately, and the droid's trauma lied too deep within his circuits for a simple re-programming to change now. Prior to arriving at the hangar, the droid had tried to coax the First Order programming out of him, shrieking into the mirror in hopes of awakening the side of him he utterly despised, just so he could get it out of his system for the day in fear of it emerging during his time with Valery.

It hadn't worked, leaving the astromech terrified of every last move he made, thought he had, and word he spoke.

Leaving Coruscant's atmosphere and entering the deep blues of space, BB-610 idly ensured the starfighter remain steady as he pondered on it all. The droid scoffed, shaking his head, and with some much more confident clicks and boops, he told Valery that she was the best thing to ever happen to him, and that he won't let her down.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

"Mhmm, but luckily I don't have to be good at everything. I've got amazing friends like you to help me," Valery told him, her tone genuine and kind, as it always was towards him. She hoped to boost his confidence a little because even though he struggled with self-doubt after being abandoned so many times, Valery knew that he had so much to offer, both as a friend and as someone to work with during missions.

Today's assignment was about more than making a difference in the war — she hoped to grow their relationship and build up a team with him that could tackle any problem. It required them both to not just trust each other, but also be confident in their own skills, and she was going to make sure he'd be able to shine today. First, that meant listening, and giving him the freedom he needed to express his concerns.

Which he did, as they left the hangar and flew over Coruscant.

"If you do your best, you'll never let me down, Bee," Valery said while she checked all her systems one more time. They were about to enter space, and with Bee's hyperspace calculations being processed much quicker than she could, they'd be on their way very quickly. "You're just perfect the way you are, and I'm very happy to have you be more than just someone I work with. You make both my daughter and myself very happy." Valery chuckled and broke free of the planet's atmosphere a few seconds later, as they entered the vacuum of space.

A few seconds were spent admiring the stars, but what Bee said meant far more to her. "I'm glad to hear it, Bee. You're part of the family, so I always want you to feel this way," Valery said before she started to grin.

"You want to take us into Hyperspace? Once we drop, scramble enemy sensors and we'll be going in."

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Maw Space |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

Giddy, overjoyed bweeps filled the air as BB-610 rocked from side to side within the astromech slot, unable to contain his excitement from the near overwhelming praise. The droid had remained as modest as possible, but the warmth behind Valery's words only got him starving for more, addicted to compliment after compliment as though they were drugs. Very rarely did anybody have anything good to say to him, and while the offhand niceties he was given by the few friends he'd made over the years were enough to coast him by, BB-610 had not once felt as appreciated in his time as he had been within the relatively short duration of his stay with Valery.

Thankfully, a droid was unable to tear up, because the sheer amount of emotion welling up at his core told him that he would have definitely gotten wet eyes if he were organic. While a blush wasn't as visible, BB-610's servos had definitely warmed up, so much so that his internal cooling system had briefly panicked in making sure his circuits didn't overheat. Composure somewhat regained, it was time for him to (reluctantly) let his excitement fizzle away into concentration, giving a nod and an accompanying chirp of affirmation as BB-610 set a course to hyperspace, millions of precise calculations flooding his droidbrain and fed into the Stealth-X's navicomputer before its engines boost them beyond the speed of light.

With the satisfying thud of a successful jump, the starfighter blipped just before the border of Maw space, flying steadily towards it. As agreed, BB-610's antennae rise to full length, the low mumbling of dial up-esque frequencies heard throughout the droid's audiobox as his signal jammer scrambled all nearby communications, range heightened by the swirl of his signal enhancer. Task completed, BB-610 tweeted and clicked as he told Valery that enemy sensors had been successfully scrambled.

Tipping the Stealth-X ever so slightly to swiftly drift to the nearby listening post, BB-610 readied the landing sequence, strings of prompts inputted into the navicomputer, the starfighter's engines steadying as their mutual sensors guided them safely to the nearest landing bay; all systems still perfectly healthy according to a brief diagnostics run, the Stealth-X gingerly grounded itself, powering off with a quieting hum.

So far so good, BB-610 turned his gaze toward the cockpit, focused on the Jedi as bweeps and bwoops asked Valery what their next course of action was.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

Even though Bee focused on the tasks he was given, Valery knew just how much what she said had meant to him. The compliments, the praise for his work, and how he fits into the family — it was obvious that he had never been treated like that before, so she was going to make sure to tell him more often. She didn't just want him to be a reliable companion for missions like this, but a true friend and someone she could rely on as much as he could rely on her.

That required him to feel good about himself, and his place within the family.

Having given Bee the task to take them to Hyperspace, Valery just sat back and monitored her instruments while they made the jump and activated all scrambling systems. The benefit to not having to do it herself was that Bee could trigger such things much faster, so their enemy didn't even receive a faint blip. The stealth systems did what they were supposed to, and with a steady approach with minimal power on board, they made their landing as close as they could to their target.

Once they had touched down, Bee inquired about their next steps, and Valery opened up the canopy to get outside. Not too far away was a large facility with a huge dish that was used to receive signals and transmit them as well. If this hadn't been a sabotage mission, that would have been their target.

"We're going to get inside, and upload a bit of software that will interfere with their ability to detect our fleets." Valery offered him a Datacard that contained the software and smiled encouragingly. "I will handle the guards as much as I can, but I'm going to need you for uploading the program. Can you do this for me once we reach the right terminal?" Valery asked.

While Bee answered, she already glanced away, and began to plot their approach. The main entrances were all heavily guarded, but she had a way inside that didn't require any doors, and she figured Bee was small enough to get through vents. "You uh, don't have a fear of heights right, Bee?"

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

With the Stealth-X landed ever so delicately, BB-610 lowered himself from the ship's astromech slot, touching down on the ground with a quiet tink. Almost immediately, the droid had surveyed their surroundings, optic enhancing his zoom as the facility's walls were studied. While his photoreceptors, advanced as they were, failed to see past the fortifications, his droidbrain had nonetheless formed an educated guess of the interior layout.

Gingerly accepting the datacard, BB-610 promptly stored it within one of the slots on his chassis with a nod. If droids could smile, he'd have returned Valery's encouraging grin wholeheartedly— despite the lingering traces of nervousness in his system, BB-610 was entirely ready to succeed in his mission. He'd come this far, he wasn't about to ruin things now. Not when the Jedi showed zero hints of mistrust in him, he thought, beginning to slowly roll forth.

~​

The darkness of space loomed over them. Daunting, as a single misstep meant the jeopardizing of their plan. With the facility heavily guarded, there laid a cloud of pressure above them; BB-610 had nothing short of utmost confidence in Valery's abilities, but he would be lying if it didn't occasionally waver at the sight of such overwhelming security.

BB-610 rolled steadily before her feet, akin to a guard dog ensuring they were the first line of defense for their owner, though the droid certainly allowed Valery to take the lead as he loyally abided by her directions. With enemy comlinks disconnected, the pair took advantage of the ensuing scrambling as the Maw guards attempted to retrieve their signals, allowing them to dodge any possible distant sightings.

"You, uh, don't have a fear of heights, right, Bee?"

Peering up at the Jedi, the astromech shook his head 'no', bweeping quietly as to inquisitively question why she asked him.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

Valery bent down through her knees to crouch down closer to Bee's level, before pointing up at a ventilation shaft in the side of the building. It was about 3 stories up and while big enough for some people, Valery definitely wasn't going to squeeze herself through it. "I'm going to lift you up there quietly with the Force, and I need you to cut your way into the shaft. It does mean you'll be alone for just a little bit, but I'll be waiting for you on the other side."

"I promise."

She knew that Bee probably preferred to stay with her throughout the entire mission, but the way she planned to bypass security and the walls of this facility, there was no way to bring him along. If she had been able to go through the ventilation shaft herself, perhaps she would have opted for that instead. But getting stuck in one was not a risk she wanted to take.

"Once we're inside, we'll try to move as quietly as we can, but we will run into trouble at some point. Just stick with me, and everything will be okay." Valery placed her hand on top of his little head and offered a warm, and hopefully comforting smile. As difficult as this likely was, she also felt it was good for their relationship. It built trust and even confidence in himself.

"Alright, let's get this going." Valery stood back up and raised a hand to gently wrap the strings of the Force around her little friend. Slowly but surely, if he had agreed to it, she would levitate him off the ground and bring him up towards the ventilation shaft. To cut himself through wouldn't be a difficult task, but once he was inside, he'd be alone. On the floor beneath him, guards were patrolling and even a simple scan would reveal just how many people worked inside. Most of them weren't armed or necessarily trained to fight, but it was not going to be an easy task to slip by unnoticed.

Meanwhile, Valery had approached a blind spot, and tapped into the Force to phase her way through the walls — an old Jedi Shadow skill she had mastered and still used frequently. Now inside, and standing somewhere quiet, she raised her comms device up to her lips and spoke softly. "Bee? You inside already?"

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

Following Valery's hand, the droid glanced upward, head rearing back to get a proper look at the ventilation shaft in question. BB-610 paused, muttering some nervous bweeps as he turned back to Valery. He had been high up in the vacuum of space plenty of times before, and while there wasn't any underlying fear of heights, he would be lying if he said he wasn't hesitant about the whole ordeal. BB-610 whimpered, optic constricting as the idea of being split from the Jedi for too long weighed heavy at his core, anxiety overcoming him. Even at Valery's reassurance, there still lingered that same paranoia that had stricken him all those years ago. It was a feeling he would much rather ignore than face, but perhaps, in some cruel irony, being pushed outside of his comfort zone would allow those wounds to heal faster.

Slowly nodding into her hand as he begrudgingly convinced himself to accept her words, BB-610 promptly found himself inching higher and higher off the ground. Glaring down at the floor, solemnly watching as Valery grew more distant the further he ascended, embraced by the Force and suspended far too high for his preference - now wouldn't have been a bad time to have an R-series' rocket thrusters, he thought. Nevertheless, Valery had skilfully lifted him to the shaft, with BB-610 twirling his head around to face it. Tool-bay disk sliding open to reveal his utility saw, it shortly began grinding away at the vent, sparks flying as it was gradually worn down until it had been weakened enough for the droid to forcefully push past it and enter the ventilation system.

Giving Valery one last glance and a cautious bweep, BB-610 turned to begin his path through the passageway, flashlight enabled as he navigated through the vent's twists and turns. Peering down at the floor beneath him, a few wayward scans revealed three guards, two of which were stood still while another paced back and forth, boots clicking intimidatingly against the pristine floors. Musing on a way to exit the vent without alerting them to his position as he stared through one of the vents, BB-610 began filling the room with smoke, quickly fogging up the area with a thick cloud through the vent's slits until the guards were completely blind.

"What the-?! Where did all this-" One guard grunted, before coughing into his arm, "smoke come from-?!"
"Open the damn door, I can't see a thing!" Growled another.

Swiftly, BB-610 made haste as he took a left and rolled down the forked vent's passageway, gaining enough speed to RAM into the vent loud enough for the guards to hear. "What was that?" The third asked, before the first replied, "It came from the next room." BB-610 patiently waited as they opened the first door and quickly sprinted to the room in question, all while the astromech quickly retreated back to his initial position. With the room now empty and slightly clearer, his saw began slicing at the vent until he was able to bust through it, landing on the ground. Before the guards could trace their steps and run back, BB-610 rolled up to the door's access socket, inserting his scomp link and promptly sealing the door shut to buy him some time. Twirling around to speed down the hallway, he answered Valery's call by bweeping and chirping to tell her that he was inside and had locked the guards out.

Spotting a duo of astromechs - an R2 and an R4 unit - wheeling along up ahead, BB-610 joined them in order to blend in, with not a single guard suspecting him as they ran past the droids. Sometimes, it was beneficial to have the colors and design of an Imperial droid.

"Fan out, there's reason to suspect an intruder within the ventilation system." Shouted a guard, gesturing a few to run over to him as he held up his commlink, completely unaware that BB-610 had broadcasted it over Valery's own commlink to let her know. Deciding now to split off from the other astromechs, the BB-unit rolled down another hallway before accessing a seemingly empty room to better talk to Valery, chirping quietly to ask her where she was.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

"You locked the guards out?" Valery asked, her tone first showing hints of surprise, but they were quickly replaced by a proud chuckle. She had been happy to have heard that he safely made it inside, but this would make their job a lot easier already. "Great job, Bee, I'm coming your way," she then assured him, as she passed through hallways, still within her Cloak. Until she reached her little buddy, there was no reason for her to expose herself in any way, so she stuck to the Shadows and used the integrated computer in her vambrace to locate Bee.

She needed it because she couldn't sense his presence. But with some fancy tech they had worked on, she could still track him and know that he was alright.

After detecting him in a room nearby, and hearing some guards move away over comms, she made her approach and phased inside the room through the walls. Finally, it meant she stepped out of her cloak, which had her suddenly appear visually and on sensors again. "Alright, I sense a few guards still closer to the control room, and I doubt they'll be leaving. It's the core of this facility and we'll be going in there," she told Bee with a soft smile.

"If you can help me neutralize them, preferably without killing or serious harm, we'll upload our software, and then we're going to head to the server room to cause some physical damage. Distract them from our real intent by making them believe that we're here to destroy this place internally." Perhaps some exterior damage to the huge dish would help as well, but that could be trickier. It meant they'd be in here for far too long.

Turning towards the door, Valery waited for Bee to join her, and gestured at a group of three guards that were moving towards the door of the control room in the center of the station. It was a huge blast door meant to withstand large explosions, so it would be in their interest to get inside before they were closed.

"We'll have to do this quickly. I'll take the two on the left if you can handle the one on the right there." Valery waited a moment for his response and then began to move, ready to strike and set their plan in motion.

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

There was something warm buzzing through his circuits - delightfully so - that got the droid unable to sit still. It was... pride. Pride! BB-610 was beaming, positively giddy after being told he'd done a good job. It was almost a little too much to bare, as so much barely contained excitement within the diminutive astromech was just begging to be released. So it was no surprise that as soon as Valery removed the Force blanketing her body to reveal herself once more, BB-610 could no longer hold all that happiness back.

Immediately, the droid rolled up to her, nuzzling into her legs as he wobbled back and forth, far too excited as he circled around her, bweeping eagerly and rubbing up against her ever so affectionately. It had only been a handful of minutes since they'd last seen each other, but BB-610 was far too scared of separation to care, chassis wiggling like a wagging tail as he glanced up at the Jedi.

Peeking around the door of the room they were in to stare at the guards in question, BB-610 turned back to Valery, nodding much more confidently now that he had her at his side again. Inching out into the hallway, the astromech took his friend's lead, rolling in front of her as he neared the three opposing guards. Nonchalantly, the astromech promptly rolled up to the blast door's associated lock, scomp link emerging and plugged inside its socket. Heads turning to direct their attention on the BB unit, one of the guards took a few steps towards him, brandishing their weapons out of impulsive caution as curiosity steered them away from reason.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He asked, gun raised threateningly at the droid.

Gazing up at the man, BB-610 had banked on this moment of opportunity to be used by Valery, with all three guards keenly focused on the astromech. If Valery had used it to spring an attack on them, two of the guards would twirl around in shock, hastily attempting to fend her off as the guard stood closest to BB-610 brought his commlink up to his lips, eyes widened in guttural fear as he yelled,


"Officers, there's a Jedi loose in thehhaghNAAAA--"
BZZZZZZZZZZZT

The guard bit his words into a scream, before falling to his knees with a thud and slumping unconsciously onto the floor, trails of smoke meeting the air and surges of electricity lingering throughout his slack body as BB-610 retracted his electro-shock prod, giggling mischievously. With all threats taken out, the droid swiftly twisted his scomp link, opening the blast door for him and Valery as he pulled away and rolled inside, photoreceptors identifying the myriad of computers present before them. Rolling up to one, BB-610 brought out the data card stored inside him, inserting it within one of the computers. Naturally, it was rejected, which is why the droid shortly socketed his data probe inside the computer's port.

[ FOREIGN INTERMISSION DETECTED. ]
[ _BYPASSING OVERRIDE. ]
[ ...INITIATING SYSTEM REBOOT. ]

Turning his head around to face Valery, BB-610 tweeted that he'd started hijacking their systems, but he'd detected reinforcements headed their way.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

"Heyy, I'm happy to see you again too, Bee," Valery chuckled and reached down to pet the top of his head. She knew separating wasn't easy for him, even if only for a few minutes. So rather than moving on too quickly, she gave him some time to be excited and affectionate and offered the same affection in return. Perhaps it didn't always show because of her calm and confident exterior, but she always carried her own fear of loss with her. So many people she cared about in the past were no longer around anymore, and with how much she cared about Bee, she just couldn't imagine losing him anymore.

"If all goes well, we won't have to separate again. So let's do this together," she encouraged before they both turned to the hallway and assessed the situation. Valery's plan had been rather simple — split the targets up between them and quickly overwhelm them. But Bee had something in mind that she hadn't even really considered. Because of his design, he was able to roll around without drawing all that much attention, and he cleverly used this to his advantage.

After rolling up to the door like it was the most normal thing in the world, Bee brought out his scomp link and inserted it into the door's socket, much to the surprise of the guards. They turned to face her little friend, and Valery knew exactly what she had to do. With an explosive burst of Force-augmented speed, she closed the distance and jumped up into the air. The rush of air it caused forced the guards to slowly turn around, but before they could even lay their eyes on Valery, she had already knocked two of them out with a powerful kick.

The other, as planned, was promptly zapped by Bee while he tried to warn the station of the intruders. After his body hit the floor, Valery heard Bee's giggle and smirked a little. "That was very clever," she told him appreciatively before he opened the doors and rushed inside to the computer terminal they needed. Meanwhile, Valery stayed behind to close the blast doors again, and looked around to make sure nobody was hiding somewhere inside the room with them.

"All clear," Valery said after a moment.

Bee had already uploaded the program and bypassed system security, so now they only needed to wait for the upload to be completed. But of course, that wasn't going to be made easy for them. Reinforcements were on the way, and on camera footage available inside the room, they could see them heading for the control room from both entry points. To make matters worse, a strange hissing sound began to escape from the ventilation shaft, and within seconds, a green gas of sorts started filling the room.

"They're trying to gas us," Valery said as she looked around. "I'll be fine though." She grinned and dreep in a deep breath while she tapped into the Force to sustain herself.

The reinforcements reached the door and first tried opening it through its control panels, but when that inevitably failed, heavier tools were brought out to start cutting through. Valery and Bee had very little time until they'd make it inside, but was the upload going to be done before then?

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

It was a good thing BB-610 had locked the door, sealing it shut least they either override the astromech's inputs or brute force their way in, as the loud thuds and thumps against it signalled both how furious the guards were - voices shouting over each other, vaguely muffled from the other side - and just how little time they had left. Internal alarm system flashing, BB-610 glanced skyward, watching as nauxeous gas began snaking through the vents and slowly filling the room. The droid would be fine, of course, and as he went to unplug his scomp link in favor of shutting it off for Valery, he was relieved to see that she had a solution of her own; and great news it was, as BB-610 was certain that he couldn't spend any time pausing the software installation process.

[ REBOOT COMPLETE. ]
[ ...INITIATING DATA TRANSFER. ]
[ ████░░░░░░ _40% ]

The screeching of steel drilled into the room, sparks flying as the tip of an energy saw had been revved up and promptly seared through the door, steadily beginning its journey while the officer guided it along the rim with the attempt to loosen its framing. Body beginning to tremble as the sound of footsteps grew louder and louder, BB-610 quickly accessed the computer's files and brought up the facility's layout, head turning around to face Valery as his holoprojector blinked to life to display a map of it for her to see. The droid highlighted the second entrance to the room and its path that forked into three separate hallways, and subsequently selected the third branch - it was a room away from the server room, meaning they'd take slightly longer in arriving, but his lifeform scanner had detected far less guards that way.

[ REBOOT COMPLETE. ]
[ ...INITIATING DATA TRANSFER. ]
[ ██████░░░░ _60% ]

Thud.

THUD.

THUD!

The opposing forces' efforts grew heavier, guttural and fuelled by anger and desperation, with the second entrance now getting sawed in haste. After having explained to Valery the plan, BB-610 bweeped anxiously, telling her that they're going to have to break through the door as soon as the guards get through, but that Valery was going to have to handle most of them. Gas getting thicker, fogging the room as the idle beeping of the computer was drowned out by ear-piercing metal and venomous shouting, it was obvious that time was running out.

[ REBOOT COMPLETE. ]
[ ...INITIATING DATA TRANSFER. ]
[ ████████░░ _80% ]

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD!

The saws were almost through, each entrance's frame burning red from the scorching heat of their tools, a cloud of uncertainty meeting the air as hope grew slimmer and slimmer, saws inching closer to the ground while BB-610 hastily focused on his upload, wobbling impatiently and muttering bweeps and clicks beneath his breath from just how anxious he was getting.

THUD THUD THUD!

Panic. Fear. Was this it? Was this how it ended? Cornered by an overwhelming amount of armed guards and officers, knees deep in enemy territory as a filthy Jedi and her droid were subject for destruction? BB-610 had faith in Valery's abilities, far more than he might should, perhaps, but even he had his doubts as the animalistic pounding against durasteel shook the foundation of the room and brought the Maw closer to victory, until-

[ REBOOT COMPLETE. ]
[ ...INITIATING DATA TRANSFER. ]
[ ██████████ _100% ]
[ DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE. ]

BANG!​

The entrance doors were kicked down with a deafening slam, but the second entrance featured not the scene of swarms of Mawite grunts flooding the room, but rather, a strong Jedi Master and her trusty astromech bursting past it, sending the sliced door back and pinning a trio of officers to the ground, allowing the pair to hastily sprint past them as they made their way through to the server room. A number of enemies stood in their way, with six guards rushing at the duo, but BB-610 was nothing but confident that Valery could handle it.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

"I've got it," Valery told Bee after he showed her a projection of the facility's layout and helped determine a plan. Without him, she would have had to rely on peculiar Force tricks and improvisation skills to escape or break through this new threat. But now they had a solid plan and because she knew exactly what to expect, Valery was able to mentally prepare herself for the fight.

It showed in the way her confidence wasn't affected by the slowly progressing download and imminent attack. She knew that she'd be able to fight her way through them, and she knew exactly where to go.

"Once that door opens, we burst through together. Then I'll make sure any other guards won't be able to stop us." She shot a grin in Bee's direction and positioned herself in front of the second entrance. The Download was almost completed and the metal of the blast door was also about to buckle.

What was going to happen first?

Quietly and with her hand already positioned over the hilt of her lightsaber, Valery watched and allowed time to slow down for her. The Force augmented her senses and reflexes, so the very second that the door dropped, she was right on top of them with her little friend. The metal door was slammed into the armored Mawites, forcing them down to the ground, and both Valery and Bee were quick to speed passed them. But it didn't take long until they ran into more trouble — a group of six guards were coming their way, and Valery knew they had no time to individually take them out.

So rather than drawing her blade, she jumped forward and slammed her fist into the ground. A wave of powerful Force energy traveled along the path until it slammed into the guards and sent them flying. Of the six enemy targets, five were out completely and she knew Bee would be ready to zap the sixth, to make sure he wasn't getting up either.

"Great stuff, Bee!" Valery called out, as they drew closer to the server room. "I'm going down the left side to cut through some servers. Can you take the left and destroy some?" It wasn't necessary to destroy everything, as long as it looked like an actual attempt to destroy as much as possible.

So the second they reached the entrance of the server room, Valery drew her lightsaber and carved a straight line into the first group of physical servers. Sparks exploded from circuitry and consoles, and with a slight grin on her face, Valery continued cutting her way through some more.

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

High on artificial adrenaline and egged on by an intoxicating feeling of empowerment, BB-610 swerved beyond the door, trailing behind Valery as they charged forth without an inkling of doubt or hesitation. As he'd suspected, the Jedi had little trouble at all in handling what, to him, felt like an overwhelming number of guards - sending them flying, a ricochet of thumps echoing throughout the hallway as their backs hit the wall with enough force to knock them unconscious.

Not all of them, apparently. The sixth guard, holding onto the last droplet of consciousness, staggered to his feet, breaths heavy and weapon primed, taking aim at the Jedi Master. Before his finger met the blaster's trigger, however, one of the droid's cables launched forward, hooking around the firearm and tugging the Mawite forward. Caught off guard and aim knocked astray, he was promptly met with the astromech reeling himself towards the man, metal chassis slamming into his gut and knocking the wind from his lungs. Pinning him to the ground, blaster sent spiralling across the floor, BB-610 barely gave him a chance to process what had happened before his electro-shock prod emerged, crackling to life and ZAAAPPing him unconscious.

Hopping off to quickly speed up to Valery, dancing between incoming blaster fire, BB-610 nodded, watching as the Jedi took a turn to the left while the droid split off to the right. Dual doors opening, the pair entered the server room and began their onslaught, the guards hastily chasing after them.

As Valery reached for her blade and ignited it with a blaze of purple to slice through an array of computers, BB-610 opted for an even more grandiose approach. Tilting his chassis, the droid's oil dispenser began splurting out a stream of gasoline, glazing the desks and their accompanying computers in a coat of glistening fuel, the astromech rolling through the room as he produced a trail of oil in his wake.

As the door slid open, the guards charged into the room, only to screech to a halt as they spotted the droid's doings. Peering up at them, BB-610 wordlessly brought out his welding torch, tilting it downwards for it to innocently kiss the pool of gasoline.

FWOOOOOSH.

In a matter of seconds, BB-610's side of the room was engulfed in flames, swallowed by fire as the guards screamed in panic. Seizing his opportunity, the droid rolled over to Valery's side, chirping as he told her that he'd 'sorted it', before leading the way outside and speeding down the hallway.

Facility flashing red as the alarms sounded, mass hysteria had given the duo a rather lucky break to make their exit, running past an assortment of guards shrieked in fear while the pair planned their escape.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

Once the consoles and servers had exploded at the touch of her lightsaber, Valery turned and felt a wave of heat reaching all the way into her part of the server room. Bee quickly followed after, so when he told her that he had it covered, she knew exactly what he meant. "Very good, now let's get out of here," Valery told him before she began to run down the hallways again to exploit the chaos they created.

The intruder alarm was still deafening, but various fire alarms were now going off as well. Guards no longer knew where to look and even if they managed to find the hallways that Valery and Bee passed through, all they saw were the guards who had failed to take them down.

It wasn't good for their morale and willingness to search.

"I'm not getting you out through that same vent again. Stay with me and I'll clear the way," Valery continued as they breached into a small garage section of the facility. Several speeders were stored here, but Valery had no desire to take them. Instead, she destroyed all of them with quick slashes of her lightsaber to make sure nobody could follow them and actually be able to catch up.

"Alright, stand back."

Walking up to the closed and locked blast doors, Valery took a small breath and tapped her hand against the metal frame. Instantly, large cracks expanded until the entire thing shattered into tiny pieces, allowing a rush of fresh air to meet the two infiltrators. "Alright, Bee. Once we reach the ship, I'd like you to get inside and start everything up for departure. I'll remain outside in case anybody tries to attack."

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

Speeding through the facility's halls, BB-610 trailed behind Valery, occasionally glancing back behind them as a myriad of guards ran past them, racing to the server room with indistinguishable screams and shouts. The fire had spread throughout the entire room, inching towards the doors, but as the pair of intruders turned a corner, BB-610 could only get a small glimpse at a handful of officers finally beginning to extinguish the creeping flames. Entering another room, the droid watched as Valery swiftly sliced through the speeders, rolling back ever so slightly while he braced himself when the Jedi neared the doors.

Staring in amazement, the room shook with shattered tension as Valery splintered a series of cracks along it, crumbling to dust shortly after. BB-610 would have loved to marvel and pry for details on what he assumed was a Force ability, but more important matters demanded his attention as the duo rushed through the newly formed exit and made a run for the ship, with the astromech rolling past Valery when she opted to stay behind.

With the X-wing in sight, BB-610's motors whirred faster, his chassis a blur as he neared the starfighter, only to spontaneously swerve to the right as incoming blaster fire scorched the ground right in front of him. Peering up and spotting four guards beginning to fire, the droid screeched in panic, dodging and weaving as best as he could as he navigated through a volley of blasts. When the Mawites saw that the BB unit was too fast and small to hit, they redirected their fire to the X-wing itself, issuing an onslaught along its hull.

Hurriedly getting escorted up into the astromech slot, BB-610 promptly activated the starfighter's shields, humming to life as they absorbed the remaining fire. While the droid could ready its engines and plot a course, the guards had knocked their cannons offline, jammed and malfunctioned while the vessel's engines roared. As more and more Mawites appeared, sporting powerful gatling guns to attempt to wear the X-wing's shields down, BB-610 cowered with a string of nervous bweeps, trembling.

The droid shrieked loudly to Valery as he told her that it was up to her to deal with the guards. If she could hold them off until she boarded the X-wing, BB-610 could fly them out and begin repairs on their cannons while en route to Coruscant, but until then, Valery had to face a swarm all on her own.

 

[Valery Noble]

Space

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Ship: Link
Tag: BB-610

After rushing over to the X-wing, Valery spun on her heels and deflected as much of the incoming blaster fire as she possibly could. However, the Mawites weren't targeting her as much as she would have liked — they realized that if they destroyed the X-wing instead, there would be no way for the intruders to escape. It would either result in their deaths or their surrender. Valery noticed this quickly herself and immediately pressed forward.

They couldn't shoot the ship if she was right up close to them.

One by one, Mawites were falling to her blades or unarmed strikes, and with Bee activating the shields of the X-wing, she began to feel confident in their chances. But the facility's guards weren't going to give up easily. Through the shattered garage doors, even more of them showed up, and with heavier weapons too. Gatling guns were being charged up and this gave Valery an idea to buy herself the time she needed.

The very second that the Gatling guns were about to open fire, she pulled on their barrels through the Force. It sent their salvo into friendly ranks but also threw them off-balance at the same time. Chaos erupted almost immediately and without wasting any time, Valery sprinted back to the X-wing. Blaster bolts were hitting the ground around her and while it seemed she was going to dodge it all, a single bolt struck her between the shoulder blades right before she entered the X-wing's shield bubble.

Valery gasped for air as a tremor of pain passed through her body, but forced herself through it. She jumped up and into her seat, allowed the canopy to close, and fell back into her chair quietly. She was in a lot of pain from the heavy bolt that hit her, but she didn't want to worry Bee.

She could worry about her injury later.

"Get us out of here, Bee," Valery said, now sweating from the pain. Luckily it was very hard to see her pale skin from the astromech slot.

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Listening Post, Maw Corridor |
| STARFIGHTER: XJ7-Stealth Starfighter |
| TAG: Valery Noble |

BB-610 was anxious, trembling in the astromech slot while he readied the X-wing's systems. He wasn't going to doubt Valery's capabilities, but the longer she remained on the field, the more that underlying panic began to worsen, bweeping quietly to himself as he muttered for her to hurry up, concerned for her safety despite the expertise behind her swings. There were too many of them, as each defeated Mawite had their place taken by more and more as they flooded out the gates and rushed to their starfighter, and their shields wouldn't be able to hold on forever.

Jolting up at the hiss of scorching blaster fire meeting flesh, BB-610 had little time to dwell on it as Valery finally backtracked and swiftly hopped into the cockpit. Without a moment of hesitation, the X-wing's idle engines finally roared, lifting them off of the ground and into the air, twirling around and barely dodging incoming fire before it took off, soaring into the distance with a blip into hyperspace until the facility had become nothing more than a pinprick in their sights.

Slumping back into the astromech slot with a relieved mechanical sigh, the droid ran a diagnostics test on their starfighter. Engines were, thankfully, still online, but their cannons remained damaged and their shields had lost power. Taking advantage of the downtime they'd finally achieved, BB-610 sought to repairing the X-wing's damages, lowering himself further within his socket as he dug through an array of wires and crossbeams, promptly identifying a series of cables lit by sparks. Pinching them with his utility arm and beginning to weld them together with adhesive as his probe was inserted within the cannons' associated data port, BB-610 gradually fixed them, and before long, the X-wing's laser cannons ka-thunked back online.

Rising back up to peek his head comfortably over the astromech slot, the droid cast a glance down to Valery, who had been suspiciously quiet. Hypothesising that she may be low on spirits, BB-610 bweeped and chirped, happily exclaiming that their mission had been a success; the atmosphere was uneasy, however, and the droid felt rather uncomfortable because of it. Suspecting there to be something more, as the X-wing exited hyperspace and soared into Coruscant space, BB-610 tilted his head, whirring and clicking in concerned binary as he asked Valery if everything was okay.