Private The Midnight [Valery]

[Xarielle Pavanos]

It was one thing to leave home in search of adventure, perhaps another entirely to actively seek out Jedi Temples. Especially in this day and age, Xarielle was confident that doing so isn't going to kill her. Even if her parents have warned that it may very well do so - and if so, her mother Kaalia Pavanos was not going to be happy. Still, Xarielle figured at that point it wasn't her problem, rather it would be the problem of whatever poor sod who did her in. The rather happy-go-lucky kid from Balmorra bobbed her head to the Synthwave as it poured through the speakers of the old retrofitted TIE Bomber.​

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While some hipster kid lived out of a freighter, she had this tiny living thing down to an art. Not a single part of the ship went to waste, she whistled along to the retrowave song as the music seemed to reverberate off every angle the ship had to offer. The hue of hyperspace only added to the effect of the song. Xarielle sighed as she looked at the dashboard, power levels didn't look good. While she was sure she could push the ship to its limits, she didn't want to do that this far from home. Most especially so close to the NIO/GA border, but there was a system nearby the looks of the map.​

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She set the ship in motion to revert back into realspace...​

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"Ilum..." Her voice trailed off.​

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She knew the name well, the history of the planet was basic Force user knowledge 101, hell it was basic intergalactic history as well. Probably wasn't the best place to stop off in a TIE Bomber but at the moment, Xarielle didn't care. She needed to land the bird and figure out what the hell was going on with the ship. Once the hues of hyperspace disappeared, the void greeted her with its normal emptiness, save for the white dotted stars beyond her reach. Xarielle pushed the old bomber down toward the planet with little regard for the chatter on the radio. She grimaced as someone kept trying to talk. Xarielle smashed the radio once or twice with her fist but nothing happened. "Another thing that I've gotta fix on this bucket of bolts."​

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It swooped down with the elegance of a rock in a pond, as Xarielle did her best to keep it from simply nose diving. "C'mon baby, glide baby, glide baby glide, yeah that's right, gli- c'mon no, no, c'mon you can do this." It did not in fact, do it. In a-podracing-second, she secured herself in her seat with the five-point harness and managed to find a promising snowbank into which the TIE Bomber simply, "splooshed." The snow flew up into the air and the young woman sighed, she exhaled and felt the back of her neck with her hand. "At least all those drills came in handy, thanks ma." An absent thank you to her mother Ishana who drilled it into her and her sister's heads to quickly prep for a crash landing.​

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"Gonna have to find a way to get the ejector put back in here."​

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She stated as she unbuckled herself and walked toward the hatch.​

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Xarielle popped the hatch after a short climb out of the cockpit and looked around for a second. At that very moment, there was nothing, but the Force whispered that people were on their way. Jumping down from the bomber she walked around the TIE and winced, "aw... c'mon." It was going to take a lot of work to get it up and running again. "Right... okay, battery." She walked around it again to find the silver-tinged rectangular in shape box. It was damaged from the landing, more than she would have liked. "Son of a!"​

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The young woman kicked the battery. "Of all places, this is where you're going to give out on me, here?"​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

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"Master Noble? Are you there? We have something that requires your attention."​

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Valery had been sitting silently within a meditation room at the Temple, trying to process recent events and keep herself centered before the next big mission awaited her. Normally, other Jedi and people working on Ilum respected the time she needed to herself, so for them to be calling her in the middle of a meditation session piqued her interest quite a bit.​

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"Master Noble here, what is it?"​

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"Air traffic control reached out to us — a Tie bomber has just attempted a landing on Ilum."​

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"What...?"​

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"Air traffi-"​

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"I heard you. Send me the coordinates and I'll take a look. Master Noble out."​

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Valery sighed heavily and pushed herself up from the floor, slightly irritated but this seemed important. A tie bomber usually meant forces from the Maw or maybe even the NIO, but only a single one? That was peculiar and made her wonder what exactly was going on.​

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So with the coordinates downloaded into her wrist device, she jumped on her speeder bike and blasted off across the vast icy planes of Ilum. It was likely going to make it rather easy to spot her approaching, but she wasn't overly worried about a single bomber becoming too big of a problem.​

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Eventually, the woman got close enough to spot the vessel partially buried within the snow. She sensed a single presence close to it and figured it would be the pilot. Maybe it was a crash landing or an accident? There was only one way to find out, so she got of her speeder and slowly approached with one of her lightsaber hilts drawn into her hand.​

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"Whoever is there, please identify yourself."​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

Xarielle used what she knew of the Force to move the snow out and away from the TIE Bomber's battery. She knelt down to it and examined it, "the flux connector is loose again, because of course it is." She exhaled focused with the Force, for while the TIE's battery was dead, it didn't mean that it had to stay that way. The winds howled and bit at her skin, of course, she was outside without a jacket. Getting to her feet she used the Force to bring over a heavy leather jacket. It was a fleece-lined bomber jacket that read, SITH IMPERIAL STARFIGHTER PILOT in High Sith on one sleeve and aurebesh on the other.​

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Words were embossed while the dual-clawed emblem of the old sigil was on the back. Beneath the sigil was the rank of Lord Marshal followed by the name Pavanos. It was a black jacket, with the best faux fur sticking out from the collar, the white fleece was off-white when compared to the white snow of Ilum. She moved with it of course a set of earbuds and a portable audio player so she could listen to music while repairing the battery.​

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Back to focusing on repairing the battery, Xarielle would not have noticed the woman with the lightsaber, if the Force didn't call out to her. Even so, she was loving the music that poured through her earbuds, "hypa hypa, you're pretty and I like ya!" She moved her body around the broken and busted battery, she slid into the snow and using the Force worked to reconnect the connector with the coupler. It was only when the woman got closer with said lightsaber that Xarielle may have noticed even so, she repeated the chorus, "hypa hypa, you're pretty and I... like ya."​

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Xarielle slowly put her hands in the air, "uh, hey just uh, listen, if I can just fix this I'll be back on my way! No, uh, lightsaber necessary." Maybe basic isn't the language around here, "lo siento, yo soy uh... I'm just... shite, uh hey is the translator working?"​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

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As Valery approached the bomber, she could faintly hear a woman's voice singing over the sound of the wind. It caused her to stop for just a moment, clearly surprised that anybody could seem remotely happy being out here in the cold and the snow. But finally she did step around to see the other woman dancing along to the music.​

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It took a moment before she was actually noticed, which then sparked a rather defensive reaction from the other. Since Valery felt no ill intent, she swiftly returned the lightsaber to her belt and perked a brow.​

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"I can understand you just fine." she said in basic, a tad surprised that she was even trying other languages. Or did her orange eyes make her look alien enough for it to be worth a shot?​

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"But what's up with the jacket?" Valery gestured for the bomber jacket with rather troubling insignia on it. "You don't look like you're actually a Sith bomber pilot. So you might want to be careful wearing that in Alliance territory." ​

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Valery, at this point, believed it to be more likely that she had stolen the ship or gotten her hands on it from some shady merchant. Nothing about the situation really added up to the woman being a trained pilot of her enemies. If she was, this was about to get a lot more interesting.​

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"As for your ship..." Valery leaned to the side to glance over towards it. "Unless you can fix it up real quickly, I suggest you come with me to the Jedi Temple. It's about to get a lot colder here and that jacket isn't going to cut it. Even the animals that live on this planet will be looking for shelter."​

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"I can give you a ride there on my bike if you need it."​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

"Oh phew," she exhaled and slowly lowered her hands, "yeah my power levels were fluctuating and I needed to land, somewhere or be doomed with no communications or anything else once the power on this bucket of bolts died." Xarielle cleared her throat and stepped forward and away from the ship for a moment as the woman came closer. Her eyes didn't bother Xarielle much, she'd see her mother Kaalia Pavanos get really pissed a few times, not many... But still.

Plus when you grew up with the Sith Empire, seeing an array of colorful eyes such as red, redder, and sometimes yellow didn't really phase you anymore. "It's my ma's..." Xarielle commented, "she was one of their Air Marshals back in the day. She got a bunch of jackets made because momm- er um, mom." She cleared her throat again, as to not be caught outside of home calling her mother, mommy. "Uh stole the jackets often and liked wearing them so she always had a bunc- why? Why should I not wear this, it's cold..."

It didn't really dawn on Xarielle to not wear something Sith-associated simply due to her being raised by a Sith so she didn't really see them as scary. Then the words sith bomber pilot, "oh, oh, OH." The elevator finally reached the top floor, "so I- I uh, this is just a nice jacket and also that's not gonna drop any kind of ... well I mean, I guess the only bomb that thing is dropping these days are dookies and uh as you can see, itself."

"I live out of it and it's all I got..."

Hand gestures.

"I mean this far... Out of Balmorra...."

More hand gestures.

"The Jed-"

Xarielle held her hand up in the air, "let me try that again, go with you to the Jedi Temple..." The Balmorran ran her hand through her hair and exhaled hard enough that her cheeks puffed out slightly while she thought about the offer. She wasn't a Jedi and while she could try to stay out here with the ship that no longer had power. "Well, while I'm sure with the coupler connected... I uh just... is there a way that I can come back out here and grab it later? It's got all my stuff."

"I, yeah, sure we can I can... yeah, yep."

"I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Was it nerves? Was it the cold? Was it gay panic? Yes? Yes. Okay, either way, Xarielle wasn't sure why she was rambling and wondered how long she had been rambling for there was a bit of nervous laughter as she then shoved her hands into her pockets and looked away from the woman.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

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Valery remained quiet while she looked at the young woman.​

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With the rambling about the jacket and her ship, as well as the hand gestures leading up to her avoiding eye contact, Valery quickly got the feeling that Xarielle was really nervous. She wasn't entirely sure about the reason, but maybe she thought that she was in trouble because of the jacket? Or was it just the awkwardness of realizing that the insignia paired with her flying a bomber could be taken the wrong way?​

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Either way, Valery didn't want her to fear anything or get overly nervous.​

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"I'm rambling, aren't I?"​

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"A little bit, but it's okay," she said with a kind tone of voice, as well as a comforting smile.​

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"As long as you stay with me, nobody will cause problems but I'll get you a warm coat without Sith insignia when we make it back to the Temple. Just to be safe," she smirked and shot the woman a wink.​

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Valery then made her way over to her speeder bike and gestured for Xarielle to follow her, "Hop on, we'll head over to the Temple and I'll bring you back to your ship when the weather allows it. You won't have to abandon all your stuff." she said while she waited for Xarielle to get seated behind her.​

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"Oh, and before I forget, I'm Master Valery Noble but feel free to just call me Valery." She was hoping to get the other's name in return but there was another question that quickly came to mind as well.​

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"What brings you all the way out here in Alliance territory, if you don't mind me asking?"​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

Xarielle calmed down, shoulders relaxed even though her hands remained in her jacket's pocket. "Sure, sure yeah." She definitely understood although she wondered if a simple jacket might make others trip over themselves. It was only at that moment that Xarielle took out her earbuds and planted them in the left pocket. She trekked through the snow, consciously watching as her boots punched neatly shaped holes into the compacted white substance beneath them. "Oh good, there's a lot of stuff that I'd hate to lose." Xarielle then wondered if it was worth it to have her mother have someone come out and get it. "I suppose if I can't get it back up to par. I'll uh call my ma to see if someone can get it out of here."​

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Although that would put a dampener on the whole travel the galaxy and see it for yourself sort of deal. Then there were introductions, a Jedi Master. Huh. "Xarielle Pavanos, uh, explorer? I guess?" She wasn't really sure what she would call herself. "Xarielle or Xari is fine, I answer to both." She hopped onto the back of the speeder bike. "Um..." Xarielle heard the question, she really did but she also wanted to make sure that she was as respectful as she could be while back there.​

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"Oh, well, I've been traveling the galaxy visiting different temples, Sith, Ren, Jedi, really anything related to the Force. I guess you could say I'm something of an explorer. There's really such a rich history to it all, so many stories, I just find them all fascinating." Hopefully, that answered Valery's question. Then a moment or two of silence fell and Xarielle tried to think of a question to ask, "so uh... Master Jedi, huh? Don't think I've ever really met one... thatwasstillalive."​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

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"If you need to make use of some good communications equipment at the Temple to reach your mother, I'd be happy to help you. But they have spare parts for ships as well, so hopefully, you can get it up and running with some of those." Valery said before she took a tight grip on the handles of the speeder bike and revved up the engine some.​

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She always enjoyed feeling the power of it echoing through her arms and body — it brought a smirk to her lips. But where she'd usually blast off, she was carrying a passenger now and decided on a more gentle acceleration to a comfortable cruising speed. And as they began to take off, Xariella answered her question.​

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"Explorer, hm? I'm sure you know it all too well but be careful going into Sith Temples and the like. Unless you're trained to shield your mind really well, it can be dangerous. Some artifacts you find in them are very... invasive." Valery had been a Jedi Shadow for much of her life, so her experience dealing with the Sith or anything tainted by the Dark Side was vast. She knew the dangers of Sith temples especially well.​

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Valery then went quiet for a moment as she focused on getting them back safely. The Temple was already visible on the horizon, built into the snowy mountains of ilum, but she still had to be careful that she didn't hit any animals along the way. It was only when Xarielle spoke again that she briefly looked over her shoulder and smirked.​

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"That so? Can't say I've met that many myself actually. A lot of Padawans and Knights, but far fewer Masters than I was once used to." she admitted — in the days of the Old Republic, there were far more Jedi in general but especially a lot more Jedi masters. She only knew two or three within the NJO.​

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"So what do you plan to do with what you learn? Just interested in history or are you looking to pursue a path yourself?"​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

"That'll definitely help, yep." Xarielle remarked as she held onto the Jedi Master as the speeder bike hummed to life. She took the time while back there to look at what landscape she could. Doing her best to avoid getting too comfortable on the bike. Ilum seemed alright so far, even if it was super cold. The jacket helped of course but it only did so much and the more she thought about the more this Jedi Temple sounded more like warmth.​

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Valery replied, mentioning shielding yourself from Sith Temples. "Of course, people should be aware of the dangers going into any temple, really." She paused a moment to put together what she wanted to say. "And yes there are definitely dangerous artifacts. I personally do my best to stay away from them." She wasn't nearly as well trained as she wanted or needed to be to truly delve into the darkest of dungeons and temples. Xarielle didn't mention of course that there were times, although rare when her mother brought her and her siblings to the Sith Temples.​

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The younger of the two caught that smirk and chuckled lightly. "Ah, well..." She exhaled and then Valery said something about more padawans and knights. "Can't say I've run into many of those either," most of those were dead before anything could be done... "That's... I don't know that I've really answered that for myself just yet, but I guess my fascination started when I was a child."​

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The Jedi Temple wasn't too far now, Xarielle peaked around the Jedi Master and could see it easily on approach.​

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"While it was rare for myself and my siblings to be with her in the Sith Temples or Libraries, there were some days where it couldn't be helped. No one to watch us and my ma would be out, away on some mission for the Empire. Sure it was kind of fun hanging out with the other Sith Lord's kids, but I really enjoyed just being able to study and read, getting away from whatever game the kids made up that day." Xarielle pushed her lips to the side, now that she thought about it. Maybe telling a Jedi Master that she so casually spent some of her childhood in Sith Temples and Libraries wasn't the greatest of all ideas.​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

​

It was definitely a strange thing to hear someone talk this casually about visiting Sith temples, almost as if it was a family trip to her at some point in her life. But if her mother was still a Sith lord and she was Force sensitive, it would have been strange for her to not be tainted by the Dark Side either. Perhaps this past she spoke of was mostly behind her?​

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"A true explorer at heart, then." Valery said with a tone that showed she was not overly bothered by the mentions of a Sith family. She knew a lot of people who had fallen family members.​

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For a little while longer, the two continued at cruising speed towards the temple, but they were finally getting closer. Valery gestured ahead as the massive structure really began to pop out to them from the mountain, and circled her speeder around so Xarielle could get a good look at it before she took off towards the hangar area.​

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As they entered the hangar bays, Valery slowly came to a stop and turned off the engines. She was expected to return, so a crew had gathered around them rather quickly to take the speeder away and handle its maintenance. A few strange looks were shot Xari's way because of the jacket, but none of the people working questioned Valery bringing her along. The Jedi Master wasn't stupid, so there had to be a perfectly sound reason for it.​

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"When it's warmer outside again, please send a crew over to her ship. See if it can be repaired." Valery told the repair crews before she looked back at Xarielle.​

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"This is a lot warmer, hm?" She smirked and began to move into the main structure, where heaters were keeping the Jedi inside warm. Rebuilding efforts were still ongoing, so it did look like a bit of a mess, with crates of supplies in seemingly random places everywhere and people working hard.​

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"Are you hungry? We can grab some food while we walk, if you'd like. But if you prefer to explore or get some questions answered, that's perfectly fine too." Valery said with a smile.​

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"You're my guest, so I'd be happy to help you any way I can."​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

Xarielle remained silent as they approached the Temple. Perhaps it was simple awe, or perhaps it was something that silenced the ever-talking child of Balmorra. She scrunched up her nose as the hair on the back of her neck stood up, this was probably the first Jedi Temple she had come across. Darkside temples, such as the ones belonging to the Sith felt more like home than anything else. A byproduct having been raised around them she suspected, a consequence. While Xarielle was sure that her mother Kaalia Pavanos had no intentions of creating or causing it. It was there nonetheless, children born of the dark... Naturally more inclined to follow the path, it was perhaps a stronger more soothing call than that of the light.​

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Although not unheard of for those born to the dark, to choose the light. Questions and curiosities formed within Xarielle's mind, but the prickly stings from the light had not gone unnoticed. Xarielle chalked it up to nerves and not something else, something beyond her own comprehension. The speeder bike's mechanical thrum as it moved around the massive structure allowed Xarielle to behold the beauty of Ilum itself. There was something quaint about it, the way the snow seemed to know where it was going. How even when the winds raged across the porcelain-like grounds, they whispered in the softest of tones.​

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Valery maneuvered the bike toward the hangar, and Xarielle felt herself almost awaken back to reality. The stares that were thrown her way made her feel more out of place. Even a fish on land knows when to flop back to the sea... An old Balmorran proverb struck into the back of her mind. While no one said anything, the looks said enough, and Xarielle wanted to keep her jacket on - out of protest. This, however; was not the time to die on a rather mundane hill. So she gingerly took it off and draped it across her arm as the Jedi Master informed the crews of the stranger's ship.​

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"Uh, yeah, definitely." She offered Valery a small smile, weary now of where she was. Xarielle felt unsure of her decisions, at the time it made sense - the ship had no power and there would be no way of getting it fixed in these harsh conditions. Not without help anyway, but now she wondered if she might have been better off on the ship. The uncertainty prodded her mind only briefly as Valery's offer of food distracted her. A true Pavanos, food would always be a great motivator. "We can uh, we walk, talk, eat. I don't mind."​

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Xarielle's clothing was otherwise rather plain, a soft synthcloth shirt dyed black and imprinted upon it were the words, "Kessel Run Club" with an image of an old, outdated, and definitely mythological Corellian freighter on it. Her pants were black as well, flight pants by the looks of it and two thin red stripes on either side. She stood roughly five foot six, seven and a half or so with the boots she had a slender build at best. "Oh." She looked at Valery and nervously smiled, "uh well. I, this is - this is great thanks."​

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"I realize, maybe talking about uh... S I T H, wasn't the greatest idea."​

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Her hands clasped beneath the jacket.​

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"So thank you, again... I-, yeah so food, food is good and um, maybe a bit of exploration later. Wherever I'm allowed at least..."​

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Xarielle surveyed her surroundings and exhaled softly, it was a strange feeling being within the temple. Although at least by that point the prickling feeling had gone away and her body seemed to be more relaxed. The temple was quite massive from the outside and from the inside, she wasn't sure if there was a suitable comparison. Like any temple, she felt dwarfed by comparison to them, such ornate structures with such deep meaning. Gone slightly now were her nerves, replaced once more by the awe that she felt when she stepped into places like this.​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

​

Valery had noticed the way Xarielle looked since their arrival, especially after the strange looks that were thrown their way by the ground crew. It hadn't escaped the Jedi, who knew a thing or two about feeling out-of-place. So in an attempt to make her guest feel at ease, she offered a comforting smile and briefly glanced around before speaking.​

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"Hey, don't mind them giving you strange looks. They're not used to seeing those symbols out here. But they don't think less of you in any way." Valery said as she began to guide the woman through the halls, and first down to her office. She stepped inside and opened a closet where she kept some additional clothing. ​

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Right now, Valery was dressed in her usual outfit, which showed an awful lot of skin for something she was wearing on Ilum. She had other ways to keep herself warm, but for longer trips out in the snow, she did have better clothing. ​

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"I realize, maybe talking about uh... S I T H, wasn't the greatest idea."​

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"Oh it's fine, I know quite a few people with Sith family ties. It's just important to be careful with it. The wars create a lot more tension between people, so they are less tolerant these days." Valery said as she pulled a leather jacket from the closest and offered it. ​

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"Can leave your jacket here and wear mine while you're here. Might be a little bit big, but it should be warm. When you go back to your ship, we'll pick up your own jacket again." She smiled. Valery was only about two inches taller than Xarielle, but her build was a bit different too. Nothing too crazy, though.​

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The two then began making their way over to the food hall, where the smell of freshly made meals would quickly reach them. But as it did, Valery looked over her shoulder with an almost apologetic smile. "As a slight warning, the food here isn't the best. They are still renovating..." she said before she stepped in line to get a meal.​

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"We'll take our food and I can show you some of the ancient rooms if you'd like? Large statues, wall paintings and all the interesting things are found there, in my opinion."​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

"Huh?" A pause, "oh, yeah."​

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A sheepish smile, she supposed that was only natural it wasn't like anyone could really escape war it always seemed inevitable. The way of things, just as the Force always needed the light and the dark. Even if they seemed to compete for dominance over the galaxy. She didn't really say much else with regard to being thought less of. She didn't want to show that it had bothered her, but clearly, she had. "Understandable, I suppose." Tolerance. Xarielle had followed the Jedi Master through the temple halls. Her step slowed only to take in the full measure of where she was.​

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Xarielle felt so small within the office while Valery busied herself with getting another jacket. The younger of the two women opened the old Sith jacket up and then folded back down, neatly setting it aside. "Of course, and yeah that'd be great, would hate to leave this behind." She said rather affectionately of the family jacket before accepting the one Valery offered. "Thanks."​

The smell of food wafted through the air, the jacket was big but nothing that wasn't comfortable. It wasn't home and it wasn't instant noodles so she'd have to just gamble on the old iron guts. "If my ma could stand imperial rations while on the campaign, I think I should be okay... In theory at least."​

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"And that sounds great," Xarielle enthusiastically replied perhaps more eager for the tour than the food, although she knew food was a must. "So, what are we talkin' for lunch, mystery meat sundaes, gulash, powdered eggs, and wax paper bacon?" She had heard the stories regarding food in various places. Whether it was a military base, rebel camp, imperial outpost or even a temple, sometimes the cafeteria didn't quite hold up to the delicious part of the meal.​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

​

Valery snickered at the mention of food rations. "Don't get me started on those. There were times where I practically lived on those field rations for years." That was perhaps one of the things she really didn't look back at fondly. Her days as a young Jedi Knight on the frontlines of the war between the Old Republic and Sith Empire was always tough, but she made some of her closest friends there as well.​

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But they all agreed that the food was chit.​

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The woman's gaze then shifted back to the kitchen and she smiled almost nervously, "They sometimes serve this soup with weird chunks in it. Supposed to be healthy, but it personally makes me think we have an infiltrator in our kitchen trying to kill us all." She chuckled and stepped up now that it was her turn to grab something.​

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"But I think we can get some scrambled eggs or bacon as well. Not the best quality, but still better than rations." With a smirk on her face, Valery dropped quite a lot onto her plate. To maintain her physique, she ate a lot and had gotten used to the strange looks that she got for it.​

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She then made her way over to a table, and plopped down. "So what are your plans when your ship gets up and running again? Were you planning to explore something specific?"​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

"See, I've only heard stories, either from ma or mom," she went on to elaborate, "see, my ma before she and mom married was a pilot for the One Sith and then the First Order. In waning days of the One Sith, she told me about these powdered meals, supposedly all they had to do was toss it into this thermos with some warm water and their meal would basically be made." Xarielle followed Valery's lead on the eggs and bacon, probably piling as much as the Jedi Master. "She always said it tasted like duraplast that had been left out to bake."​

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A light chuckle escaped the Balmorran as Valery spoke of soup and possible infiltrators. "I bet they don't put enough salt in it." She took a guess and then grabbed a biscuit as the last item on her plate before following Valery to a table. "Always happens, which is why you gotta taste what you're cooking." Xarielle peaked down at the eggs, "well." She got another look and then gave her assumption, "they don't look powdered. I've seen the pictures of some military bases' food and what passes for eggs. Usually, just a dotted lump of foodpaste made to look like an egg, at best."​

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Xarielle had no physique to maintain, she was just a Pavanos and they seemed to have a high metabolism. One of those lucky type families that can pack in the calories and not really feel the consequences of it. She sat down opposite of the Jedi Master only to notice she had skipped out on the caf and water. A quick trip to grab herself some drinks and she sat back down. "I really should've been paying more attention to my ship's navigation. I should have turned toward Bilbringi, but I just set it to autopilot without setting my coordinates and took a nap, and so by the time I woke up..."​

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The Balmorran dug her fork into her eggs and all but shoveled them into her mouth. Chasing her food down with water the coffee remained untouched save for the cream and sugar that had been stirred into it.​

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She gestured to where she was to indicate, here I am.​

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The biscuit was torn, bacon stuffed inside with a bit of egg to boot.​

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"So, likely, I'll try to get back on course." Her hand on the glass of water, "but while I'm here, I think the tour of the temple should suffice. Although, I guess I should add more Jedi Temples to my map. Never really thought of them as having cafeterias though, cafeterias weren't really a thing in the Sith Temples that I knew."​

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Polishing off the glass of water, and cleaning her plate of eggs, it left only the bacon and the biscuit.​

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"Honestly, I'm surprised the ship has done as well as it has, the thing's a relic. After ma stole her ol' TIE Bomber away from the One Sith, she made a habit of collecting the old things, them, and the TIE Defenders, Fighters, anything that was an Imperial Starcraft, really." She shrugged, "but she had a few X-Wings too, I remember her taking me and my sister up in them, showing us how to fly them." Xarielle made use of what bacon remained to mimic the fighter. "All around the skies of Dromund Kaas, and then Balmorra. Of... course, the TIEs over Dromund Kaas and uh, X-Wings over Balmorra, of course."​

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She cleared her throat and then finished off the biscuits and bacon, washing them both with coffee which she seemed to down in almost one take.​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

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Valery visibly cringed at the mention of powdered meals — she remembered the horrible taste vividly but even worse, she remembered the conditions in which she often found herself eating them. Stuck on the frontlines in the cold and the rain, surrounded by Jedi and soldiers who were slowly losing their sanity from watching friends fall around them. It sparked a brief frown from Valery, but she quickly shook it off and looked over at Xarielle.​

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"Powdered meals were terrible, but nutrition bars were maybe even worse. We used to carry a bunch with us on the Battlefield and ate them to replenish energy and lost calories. To this day, I have no idea what is in them." She smirked a little and poked into her eggs with her fork to begin eating some herself.​

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"I've seen plenty of Sith Temples myself, and I agree — they are quite different. I think you'll find Jedi Temples quite interesting, they contain a lot of history. The Ilum Temple here also has a more special role; something you don't find in most Temples." Valery said before turning to her bacon for a moment.​

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"In the hall deeper within the structure, you'll find a large wall of ice that functions as a door. Behind them are the crystal caves, where Jedi can go through their gathering to retrieve a crystal they use in the construction of a Lightsaber. Perhaps it would be interesting for you to see them, and to possibly even feel its call." She raised her glass of water up to her lips and downed the entire glass now she finished her plate.​

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"Of course, the statues and decorations are quite pretty too, if you can appreciate them despite the cold." Valery then smiled at the story about flying the Tie bombers and X-wings. She herself had two X-wings, each for a different purpose, and enjoyed flying them quite a lot.​

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"An explorer and avid pilot, then."​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

"Maybe that's for the best," she offered with a smirk, "someone once told me, if you have to ask what's in it- you don't need to know and you don't want to know." Xarielle heard Valery talk about Jedi Temples being different, even heard the talk of a crystal cave, "mom had a friend who was something of an artificer, studied and created crystals." She pushed her lips to the side as she thought about the stories her mom used to tell her. Stories of adventure, fighting on the frontlines against the Jedi Order as a Knight of Ren.​

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Her mind lingered on the 'call' and she looked over at Valery, "I don't know about calling. Just a kid from Balmorra who's out to see what the galaxy has to offer and uncover stories of the past." A bit of a chuckle, "yeah, ... well, I'm sure the jacket will help." She gestured to the oversized jacket that hung on her body all too easily. "Well, ma always said, if you can fly - you can go anywhere." Xarielle thought about her parents, and her siblings there was a small ache in her heart, that ache for home.​

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Distracting herself she cleared her throat. "Now the history part, that's what I'm after, hard to find consistent files though. Every two years some temple is getting purged or burned down. Makes it terribly hard to keep track of anything." It was almost as if these things were scheduled. Taking her now empty try, Xarielle looked around before following others in disposing of it properly. Mom started out as a Jedi... The thought lingered in her mind for longer than it should have.​

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"After you, wherever you go, I'll follow."​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

​

"Well, with calling I meant..." she paused and pursed her lips in thought for a moment, then shook her head.​

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"You'll see."​

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Valery then got up and chuckled as she began to guide Xarielle through the Temple, and towards the large hall that held many statues and decorations. What she said about temples being destroyed was quite true too — between Ossus, Ilum, and Coruscant alone, the Temples have been sacked at least a dozen times. Maybe more.​

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"It doesn't help that the Maw specifically targets them either. They're not just focused on planets or territories of strategic value. The Maw wants to actively destroy anything related to the Jedi, remote Temples of no tactical importance included." Valery explained ​

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The two then finally entered the hall with the giant door of ice she mentioned earlier. And as they stood before it, Xarielle would likely feel it — a call from the Force that seemed to be drawing her inside.​

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"Felt anything like this before?"​

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[Xarielle Pavanos]

Xarielle's brows arched, "... uh-huh, alright then." Indeed, Ilum's Temple had been grand and the kid from Balmorra's jaw never quite recovered from its proverbial drop to the floor. The history that radiated from its walls was strong, stronger than she anticipated. "No, I gather not... which is a shame really." She then sighed somewhat exasperated by it all, "there's so much history, so many stories of Jedi and force users past that are just about vanquished with each sacking."​

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She paused momentarily and looked up over at Valery, "but with all things in the Force, nothing is truly gone."​

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"My mom once told me that our loved ones are never really gone and that they live on - in us, and through the Force." Because one day, Xarielle's own parents would too return to the Force. One day, but not today not if Kaalia Pavanos had any say in the matter. The Balmorran's thoughts were scattered when Valery asked if she had felt anything like this, this? Xarielle hadn't been paying attention to it but as she turned to face the door. Shoulder to shoulder beside the Jedi Master, the younger woman quieted her mind she took in a deep breath and exhaled.​

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To focus and concentrate as she had been taught.​

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At first she was going to say she felt nothing...​

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And then, like a whisper, there was something faint...​

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She closed her eyes and held her hand out toward the door. "No," her voice was quiet and Xarielle looked over to Valery. "I hear something, it's a voice? Voices? I- uh, yeah no, I definitely don't uh hear or feel things like this inside the Sith Temples."​

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Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Ilum​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Tag: Xarielle Pavanos ​

​

With a gentle smile on her lips, Valery watched Xarielle closely as they stood before the entrance to the crystal caves. The lesson her mother had taught her about losing people, and how their existence still lived on through other people and the Force was something that reminded her of Jedi lessons — so to hear that it presumably came from a Sith as well, was interesting.​

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But perhaps more interesting was the young woman's reaction to the call from the caves. Valery had brought hundreds of Jedi here, if not more, and it was always amusing to see their first reactions. All of them had felt the Force before, maybe received visions, but the way the caves whispered and drew someone in was quite unique.​

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"Sith Temples can call out to people as well, although often in sinister, manipulative ways. This call you're hearing is without ill intent — it's the Force drawing you to a crystal that is meant to bind to you." Valery explained before she raised a hand and channeled the Force to affect some mechanisms within the room.​

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Moments later, an intense ray of light was focused on the wall of ice, causing it to melt and reveal the beauty of the caves.​

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"Don't feel pressured to go inside, but it's a journey I think you might find interesting. Be careful though, the caves do put you to the test. They may confront you with your fears, or give you a challenging obstacle to overcome."​

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"But it is quite safe, and I'm here in case you need help as well."​

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