Private Silence at the Border

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

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Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

Valery was about to turn to help Amani back up to her feet but noticed the Mirialan was already climbing up herself. Even though dangerous droids of unknown origin and skill were trying to force their way in, she took a moment to make sure Amani really was able to keep going. The bruising on her neck looked painful, but luckily she didn't seem to struggle to breathe.

That was all she needed to know for now.

Amani then suggested getting out, and Valery followed her gaze to the grate — it instantly made her swallow, as she remembered the last time she went into a ventilation shaft. She ended up getting stuck because it was too narrow for her body type, and she never wanted to go through that again. "Sure but you go first, just in case I get stuck..." she smiled sheepishly and looked over her shoulder.

The banging was getting louder, and the door was definitely not going to hold much longer.

"Come on, let's go quickly!" She'd wait for Amani to go up, before taking a deep breath and going up there herself. Droids would soon swarm the room, but they had closed the grate and were moving quickly. "Where to next? Back to our ship and we blow this place up? Or do you think there might be any survivors hidden somewhere?"

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani just scoffed, then nodded, before springing up into the shaft. She didn't envy Valery's position, but the mirialan was smaller and more dexterous than her, so the duct was of less inconvenience. She crawled ahead to give Val space to move into, checking behind her repeatedly to make sure that her friend was right behind, "You good?"

Once they were on the move, the sound of a mass of servomotors and clanking metal flooded into the room behind them, but it seemed their gambit had paid off. Amani grumbled, obviously conflicted by Valery's question. It would be so easy to turn around and go home. "I don't want to risk blowing this place up if we don't know for certain that it's free of survivors," It would be recklessly negligent, at best. "Besides I doubt that we have the firepower to blow up this entire station with our ship alone." Perhaps the station had some kind of internal self-destruct?

"We never got to take a look at that console either. We need some information." Eventually another vent grate appeared, and looking down, Amani blinked, "Looks like some kind of medical room. I don't see any droids…"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

"I'm fine," she grumbled and squeezed herself beyond what felt like an extremely narrow part of the ventilation shaft. "...I'm glad that at least Aldric likes that I have a lot of chest because I sure don't right now," she muttered as a joke to keep the mood as light as she could. After Amani was nearly choked to death, it wasn't easy to remain entirely composed and not give in to her fiery nature.

"Yeah, let's just be safe and check the station for survivors first, then," Valery agreed, but it did mean a much tougher mission and escape for them. "I could blow this place up with my ship by targeting the power source, but it'd take time and I fear those droids will board their ship again and engage us." They would have to either blow the station up from inside or take out the droids somehow.

The two then reached another room, which Amani identified as a medical room, "Good, it should have better scanners we might be able to use to find survivors," Valery said before she waited for Amani to drop down, after which she did the same. She then immediately rushed over to make sure the doors were locked and turned to her friend. "If you run a scan to find survivors, I'll check the immediate area for droids." She winked and suddenly disappeared completely, as she cloaked herself with the Force. Valery then stepped towards the wall, phased her way through, and began to move through the halls.

Sometimes her old Shadow skills really were useful.

A few minutes passed until she returned and stepped out of her cloak, a little further from Amani just so she didn't accidentally startle the woman and draw out a more aggressive response. "You found anything?"

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani snorted, "Your own worst enemy," The Sword of the Jedi's downfall coming at the hands of her chest size would certainly be one for the history books. Thankfully, one they would avoid this time. After the pair of jedi committed to seeing their mission through, they hopped down into a new room. Anything would be better than crawling around in that air duct for much longer.

The first thing Amani did was search the stores for a bacta salva, compressing the cool gel against the burning contusions on her neck. It was a welcome relief from the soreness that still lingered. While doing that, she went over to a medical terminal, and hit the jackpot, "Perfect. They've got a full biometric monitor for people on the ship." The enthusiasm quickly faded as she scrolled through a long list of faces and names.

Status: Deceased

Status: Deceased

Status: Deceased

Amani swallowed the lump in her throat, continually flicking through only to find more of the same results until,

Status: Active

"There. There's someone," She sighed in relief, "Now if we can just find out-" A noise came rustling from one of the back rooms. Amani grabbed her saber, and moved to check it out. She looked at Val, and waited outside the door for a few tense seconds, before something registered. A presence. And therefore, not a droid. She flung open the door to find a wiry looking woman hiding in the storage closet, "Val? We got someone." It didn't look like the same person she had seen on the terminal, either. Perhaps there would be others as well, then. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

"We're cleared for now," Valery said after her return.

She then watched as Amani went through the logs, and the results brought back some hope. Someone was still alive at least, perhaps more if they were bundled together. That was all the reason she needed to keep going in this fight. "I have a map downloaded into my vambrace, so I'm sure we can find them if we have a rough location," she said. But before she could take a look, she also heard a noise and readied her weapon while Amani stepped closer to investigate.

The door of the closet opened, revealing a scared woman who had likely trapped herself inside for a long time now. At first, she seemed to panic because she feared the droids had found her, but seeing the lightsabers, she realized that she was saved. "J-Jedi?" she asked with widened eyes. "Oh thank goodness! I'm saved!" she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Amani's neck.

"We still need to get out of here first," Valery reminded her.

 

[Amani Serys]

"It looks like this one is in… the armory," Amani blinked. It made sense that even a place like this would have one, she supposed. On the edge of Alliance space, where outside help might come too late, it stood to reason that they would be equipped with means to defend themselves. Not that it had prevented a takeover this time around.

When the woman realized that her discoverers were here to save her, she jumped up and latcher herself around Amani's neck, earning a pained groan from the mirialan, who was still sore in that particular area. "She's right. And we need to find whoever else is stuck here."

"R-right. I overheard you mention the armory, no? I know a group of people went down there and barricaded themselves inside. If the one you saw is still alive, chances are most of them are too."

Amani nodded, finding some solace in the possibility. But they wouldn't be able to camp out there forever. She went back to the terminal to look for security tapes or other incriminating evidence, and then asked, "Do you have any idea what the hell happened here?"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery listened to the woman, who confirmed what Amani suspected about someone still being alive in the armory. In fact, there was likely an entire group hiding down there, which made Valery all the more relieved that they came here with a larger ship than usual. "We'll need to figure out a good way to reach them. Are there Maintenance tunnels we can use?"

The woman nodded, "Yes but not all the way into the armory, for safety reasons. They will have to open the blast doors for us or we need to find a way to force our way in," she explained before turning to Amani with a frown.

"I...am not sure. We detected an unknown ship transmitting a strange signal. They didn't respond to any of ours and before we could relay anything to the Alliance, they started jamming us. That's when they boarded and..." she swallowed hard and looked away.

The security footage confirmed it as well - the droids showed no mercy and killed everything on sight. Their motivation was not clear yet, but they are extremely hostile.

"Alright, let's prioritize getting everybody to safety. We can investigate more later." Valery turned to the woman and smiled softly. "What is your name?"

"Lyda."

"Alright, Lyda, stay close to us and we'll get out of here alive."

 

[Amani Serys]

"Hopefully that won't be an issue," she hummed. No doubt the people barricaded inside would be a bit paranoid of any newcomers. The tapes verified the woman's claims, and Amani could only bear to watch a few moments before turning it off. The gist was well understood. Lyda offered a name, and the mirialan did in turn, "My name is Amani. This is Val. We'll keep you safe."

She turned towards the main door, and nodded, "Maintenance tunnels then. They can at least get us there most of the way."

"Right. I can show you the nearest entry."

"Let's do it, then." Amani held her back a moment longer as she opened the door, peeking down the halls to ensure that they were empty. After doing so, she gestured for Lyda and Val to join, and they crept down the corridor in a close-knit group.

"It shouldn't be too far. We just need to-" Lyda sealed her lips, and looked around. A distant thud of metal had drawn her attention, which Amani quickly noticed in turn. More thuds. A group of them were quickly approaching. The healer drew her saber, but ushered Lyda against an alcove, where they could all hide. Hopefully a fight would be avoided, but if not, she was confident that they could take care of the issue.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

With introductions out of the way and all three of them ready to go, Valery let Amani lead from the front while she covered the rear. This way, Lyda would be between them and kept as safe as possible. But even grouped together like this, Valery knew that it was only a matter of time until they'd run into trouble, and it was going to be a challenge protecting Lyda, who didn't exactly look like she had any combative training.

Not too strange, considering what kind of station they were on.

"It shouldn't be too far. We just need to-"

Valery's Keshian eyes snapped into the direction that the sound was coming from before she quickly exchanged glances with Amani. "Stay quiet," she whispered. Valery then grabbed her own lightsaber and positioned herself for what could be their next encounter with the droids. Their mechanical sounds were getting louder and coming closer, but when they threatened to reach their hallway section, everything went very quiet.

A long moment of complete silence passed, but suddenly one droid stepped around the corner and immediately opened fire. Amani would stand directly in the way, and Valery pushed herself in the center of the path, so she could reach for Lyda's arm and pull her close, "Can't go that way! We'll go around and fight our way there!"

 

[Amani Serys]

The trio waited for the incoming patrol with bated breath. Amani inhaled deeply, but Lyda was having more trouble maintaining her composure. The mirialan took her hand as an act of compassion, hoping to ground the fear-struck woman. It was enough at least for Lyda to recognize her erratic breathing, and she quickly used her other hand to cover her mouth. The metallic thuds grew closer. And then… stopped. The pause lingered so long it was hard to tell if the droids were waiting, or really had off and disappeared. But surely they couldn’t have without the Jedi noticing…

One sprang out from behind the corner of the wall, startling Amani and earning a scream from Lyda. The former at least was capable enough to deflect the bolt, igniting her saber mid-swing and sending it right back into the droid’s face. More were quickly approaching though, and they had to move. For all they knew, these droids were capable of signaling for their entire force to converge on this location, “Let’s hurry then!” Amani said, moving as Valery instructed.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

Valery didn't waste a second and began pulling Lyda along while she made sure the woman was constantly shielded either by her own body, or by Amani. The two Jedi had no trouble defending themselves against blaster fire, even with this many droids, but Lyda had mo way to defend herself. Even if she had a pistol or rifle, Valery would never have allpwed her to try and fight. It was simply far too dangerous.

Because they had turned around to run the other way, Valery was now leading, which left Amani to shield the whole group on her own. But rather quickly, it became evident that there was no other way - a second, albeit smaller group of droids showed up in front of Valery. They were coordinating and working together to trap the three between two groups, but Valery had no intentions to allow this to happen.

WIth a powerful burst of Force energy, she blasted through the few droids in her way, knocking them down and out of the fight for at least a bit. "Keep going!" She called to the others.

"Amani, you holding up?!"

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani had devoted her full attention to defending the rear, and though it was challenging with so many attackers, this was where she excelled. Her saber pike spun about in her grasp, blocking bolt after bolt with a speed that could only be offered by the Force.

There was hardly an opportunity to even register that more had appeared in front of them, but thankfully, she didn't need to. Valery had it covered, giving them the opportunity to continue pushing forward. "So far!" Amani called back, deflecting a bolt right back at one of the frontmost droids. She then outstretched a hand, repulsing the wave of machines with a wave of Force energy. The toppled over one another, giving them another chance to make steady gains. The trio eventually passed by a blast door, and Amani quickly slammed the console, forcing an emergency seal just as some of the droids had begun to recover.

"That should buy us some time, at least," They would either tear it down, or unlock it through the systems. She wouldn't put either option past them, and wasn't interested in waiting to find out which they chose. "Let's get a move on."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

Once Amani made it clear that she was holding up, Valery put all of her focus on leading the way to safety. The droids that had appeared in her path were taken down, but there could be a lot more of them out here. It was always the struggle with droids — there was no way to tell just how many were out there, waiting to strike. She could feel danger, she could feel tension whenever they were about to enter a room full of enemies, but nothing gave her an impression of their numbers.

"Right here!" Valery called out as they pushed passed some blast doors, and Amani was quick to force them shut by triggering their emergency response. It sealed them off from the other droids and made sure that they even had protection against loss of atmosphere out here. With how much damage the droids had done to the station, Valery didn't believe it was beyond them to compromise the hull further and blow the Jedi out into space.

"We should be getting close!" Lyda called out when they went around a corner and spotted a new room up ahead. It was even more reinforced than others, and the doors were shut as well. There were special signs indicating explosive dangers, and that was all the information Valery needed. "The door looks sealed, so I don't think they can open them anymore." She turned her gaze to Amani and sighed. "Either I break us through, and we'll have to keep all these people moving, or we have to find a way inside and find out a way to open those doors." She looked up at the vents and grumbled.

"I'm not going up there again though..."

 

[Amani Serys]

They were afforded a break in action as the door sealed shut, delaying the flood of droids from converging on their location a while longer. There was no time to waste, though, as they still needed to find the armory. Thankfully, it wasn't too much longer until they found what they were looking for. It had effectively been quarantined off, unable to be opened from either side, especially given the fluctuation of power throughout the station.

"Brute force might be our only solution here," Amani mumbled, then followed Valery's gaze up to the vent with scoff. She approached the sealed door, and banged on it a few times. From inside, there were muffled sounds of commotion, then abrupt silence, "Hello? Anyone in there? We need to get you out of there."

No response.

"Please? There's two Jedi out here, we can keep you safe. Lyda is here as well. It's only a matter of time before those droids find us."

"Oh hell no, this is some kind of trick! Just- Back up from that door! We're armed in here!"

Amani sighed, and looked to her allies expectantly.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

When it seemed like Amani agreed with her opinion to not take ventilation shafts again, Valery began to smile just a little. It, however, shifted to a more surprised expression when there was no response from inside the armory, even though she could clearly sense them. Then it went from surprised to annoyed when they didn't believe them and even threatened them. Valery just sighed, looked at Amani, and rolled her shoulders.

Brute Force it is.

"Stand back, Lyda. They will probably shoot but only until they see who we are."

Lyda blinked and looked at Amani to make sure Valery wasn't insane and actually knew what she was doing. But there was no stopping the somewhat stubborn Noble now. She stepped up towards the door, placed her hand against it, and tapped into the Force. Almost in an instant, the large metal blast doors shattered into tiny fragments, revealing the station crew on the opposite side with shock in their eyes.

On instinct alone, they opened fire but Valery (and hopefully Amani) would easily deflect those unprecise shots. "We're Jedi! Stand down and lower your weapons, please!" she called out, her voice friendly in an attempt to get them to listen.

"We're here to help!"

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani saw that certain look in Valery's eyes. She knew what it was going to take, and posted up beside her friend, ready for what came next. Not even the healer was expecting such an impressive display of the Force, making the door fall into pieces before their eyes. The people inside, predictably, opened fire, but their imprecise training was no match for Jedi reflexes. The bolts were deflected with ease, and as Valery's voice cut through the din, the attack abruptly ceased.

"Oh… shit. You're really Jedi?" The apparent leader of the group said.

"We're saved?" Another chimed in.

"You kidding? There's still no way we'll get out of here!" Various other voices all began to speak up, expressing varying degrees of optimism. Amani raised her hands in a gesture for them to lower the volume.

"Hey, hey, there's still droids on board. If we're gonna escape, we need to play it smart. Are there any other survivors on board? Do you know?"

The group all looked between one another, before one finally spoke up, "...N-no. We're all that's left."

Amani nodded solemnly, "Then our current plan is to make our way back to the ship Master Noble and I arrived in. We'll blow up the station by attacking the power core, and get rid of these droids once and for all."

"...Any questions?"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

Once the first wave of blaster bolts had been deflected, it seemed that Valery's voice cut through their fears. If they had been Sith or enemies with ill intent, they would have all been dead already, so they finally understood that they really were seeing Jedi. It sparked the expected responses and internal debates, but Amani was quick to streamline everybody's thoughts and plans to escape. If the two Jedi showed confidence and remained decisive, it would give them hope.

Valery gave Amani an appreciative look, knowing that if she had stepped forward, things could have been different. As kind and helpful as Valery was, her appearance sometimes made strangers a little... uneasy.

"...Any questions?"

"Only one, Master Jedi. Do you want us to stay back or help and fight?"

Valery stepped forward to chime in now, "Stand back and leave it to us, but defend yourself when necessary. Knight Serys and I can handle the droids and it's best if you don't get in the way." She offered a kind smile, and the man simply nodded. If they didn't have to fight, it would be a lot less stressful for them, so they didn't mind this decision.

"Alright, let's get going," Valery then said, as she turned to Amani and nodded.

"We should move around the other way. It'll take longer but taking the same path might be dangerous," Lyda said, and Valery dipped her head in response before glancing at Amani, "You want to take the front or rear?"

 

[Amani Serys]

Valery was quick to answer, and Amani nodded to affirm what she had said, "We'll keep you safe. Just keep an eye out and follow our lead." The survivors gathered what things they had, and readied to venture off. Lyda offered a smart suggestion, one that might be longer, but also safer. The way they could would likely be compromised by now.

Amani looked to Val again, cocking her head to the side, "I'll focus on the rear. You work better as a vanguard," The mirialan was a skilled defender, which would also function nicely from the front, but ultimately an attack from behind would leave the people more vulnerable. Hence, Amani's role in balancing out that disadvantage. She trusted Valery to lead them to freedom.

Once they were out, the halls had an eerie silence to them. Each little creak or groan of machinery could be a droid in hiding. But so far, nothing came. The people were tense, but vigilant, "Any signs up ahead?" Amani asked, breaking the silence. Their biggest weakness was not being able to register the droids through the Force. So they had to rely on other cues that indicated their proximity.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Hyperspace

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Amani Serys

"Sounds like a plan to me," Valery said in response. She would have preferred to have Amani at the front with her because they made quite the team between her offensive focus and the Mirialan's defensive skills. But these droids were too unpredictable to take any chances, so one of them covering the rear was definitely the safe bet.

With their plan laid out, the group then began to walk with noticeable tension lingering between them. Valery was calm, and Amani more than likely was too, but each little sound that echoed through the empty hallways startled the others and added to their nervousness. Understandably so, but people on the verge of panicking could become very unpredictable. They had to stay close to the Jedi, but Valery feared they would run at the first sign of trouble.

"So far, so good," Valery called back to Amani, having spotted nothing up ahead. Perhaps they already destroyed the bulk of the enemy droids? Or they could have even left this place behind by now, if they had found what they were looking for... whatever that could be.

Those thoughts, however, were quickly interrupted by a spike of danger in the Force. Valery paused immediately to check where it came from, but surprisingly there was nothing at all. A long moment of silence passed and very suddenly, a loud metallic bang struck their ears, as a group of droids punctured through the ceiling.

A pair of them dropped down in the middle and slammed their arms around to beat some people down. There was a lot of yelling instantly, and Valery turned with widened eyes, "Amani!"

 

[Amani Serys]

Their walk continued unimpeded for a bit longer, but the drawn-out tension only made the survivors more antsy. Each creak earned a harsher gasp, each groan earned a higher jump. But there was nothing. Not even the Jedi could sense it.

Until Valery began looking around, that is. Not a moment later, Amani did as well. "W-what is it?" One of the survivors asked, having noticed their hesitance.

"There's something here!"

"Where are they?"

People back to whisper in panic, stirring amongst themselves in anticipation, "Shhh," Amani whispered sharply. The space around them remained quiet, until a loud burst from above rang out, and droid's dropped onto the crowd. Immediately people began scattering for their lives, spare the few that had been made the targets of these droids' wrath. Amani immediately leapt onto the scene, impaling one of the droids on her spear, before swinging the blade up and through to cleave it in twain. She swung around to decapitate another, focusing her efforts on the ones that were currently attacking people, "Back! Off!"

Valery Noble​