Private We Who Are About to Die || Part 2

[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

“I surrender.”

The two words haunted Judah for the better part of a day. It was the tactical decision, and he knew that she would be fine. The master could not help but be bothered by the feeling Kahlil was going to want him dead if anything bad happened. There was a small window where Judah could have busted her out of the cell, but even though they knew nothing about a second person, he did not want to raise suspicion. A Jedi Shadow was best when they state out of sight. His cover was already blown with Valery being captured, and he could not risk further danger to the mission.

Judah spent the time he had learning the layout of the arena. The tunnels within it were not difficult to navigate after exploring them for a few hours. It gave Judah the time he needed to formulate an escape plan. He mapped the quickest way out of the cells. They would make their way out when the time was right, the cover of nightfall.

It was not the most ideal of accommodations, but an empty pipe gave Judah a chance to get some rest before enacting his plan. After a few bites of food he had stolen from the barracks, Judah was ready. They had to leave by morning, before the next round of fights, or the next slave auction, Valery was going to be put on the spot if he did not, and that was just something he could not allow.

When all the guards fell asleep, Judah popped out of the manhole cover in the prison, where they intended to pop out in the first place.

“Hey Val, wake up…”

Judah whispered as he started toward her cell.

“…we gotta get out of here before they…”

He stopped. Looking around the Jedi saw the cells were full. All of them were full. They could not simply leave without helping them. Judah could not simply leave without helping them.

“Dammit.”

Judah finished walking over to Valery’s cell. They needed to leave, but they had to take the rest with them. He needed a new plan, but one thing was sure, Valery needed to be free to help him out with that plan.

“Valery… c’mon wake up. We gotta get you outta here.”​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Tatooine​

Valery: Appearance​

Tag: Judah Lesan ​

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After surrendering herself to the guards, Valery was stripped off her weapons and communications equipment before they brought her to a cell. Other slaves and captives were bunched together but Valery was kept isolated — they knew better than to allow a Jedi to have potential help from within. They had also not been overly kind to her, and some of the guards had gotten their revenge for the deaths of their colleagues and friends.​

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So when the time finally came to get some sleep, Valery felt herself struggling to even close her eyes and rest. Her body hurt and her mind was too busy planning an escape attempt. There was simply no way that she'd let herself be used for the entertainment of others, whether that was in a fighting ring or on a slave auction.​

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But eventually exhaustion did win the fight, and she fell asleep for a few hours. It was only when she heard a voice calling out to her late at night that her eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the darkness. ​

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"Jud-" she stopped herself, not wanting to call out his name to be safe.​

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"I'm awake but it's not safe here." Valery whispered to avoid alerting the others. Even though most were slaves, she feared that they'd use this conversation to blackmail her. If one threatened to tell the guards about it, she'd be in trouble.​

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"They're keeping a close watch on me as well, and I don't have my lightsaber."​

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[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

“Not safe, love, when have you ever known me to stay away from unsafe situations?”

Judah smirked, even though he nodded as he looked around. It was very possible that one or more of the slaves in the cells were plants which would be used to keep the other prisoners in line. If that were the case they needed to move quickly. The Jedi simply sat on the floor and leaned his back against the wall and continued their conversation in his mind.

<< “I have a way out of here if you want to take it. Just not sure I can leave the rest of these slaves behind.” >>

If Judah could have sighed with telepathy he would have. The tone in his voice would have given away the conflict Judah felt. On one hand they needed to get out and try to recover their cover. On the other hand, they were there to shut down the fighting arena and the slaver ring. This could not have been the top of the food chain though, could it?

<< “Normally this would be easy, and I would just bust you out of here… Help me out here, hmm?” >>​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Tatooine​

Valery: Appearance​

Tag: Judah Lesan ​

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Valery rolled her eyes when he called her love, "You're lucky I'm stuck in this cage." she whispered before she looked around to make sure nobody had spotted them again. But luckily, the others seemed to be either sleeping or trying to. They all knew what the next day was going to mean for them, so this was their last chance to get some rest in preparation.​

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She then sat upright and leaned back against the cage while she listened to his telepathic words. Much like him, she wanted to help these people get out of here but it was going to be incredibly difficult to make it work. A long sigh escaped after a moment of silence, and her fiery eyes turned towards him.​

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<T> "I fear we can't escape with all of them. Some are frail, others can't really be trusted." Valery said as she glanced around. Some of those captured here were criminals as well, but ones who got on the bad side of whoever runs the fighting ring. To bring them out would endanger the entire group.​

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<T> "If something goes wrong and they're caught... they will be executed." ​

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Another soft sigh followed as she weighed their options, and finally, she turned to Judah again. The options they had weren't exactly great but they'd have to do something.​

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<T> "Either you break me out now, we get my weapons and work on a way out for these people. Or we wait until tomorrow and create some chaos to help them escape. With a crowd watching and civilians in the area around the fighting ring, it might be easier to hide away."​

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[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

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Judah hated the situation they were in. It felt very much like it was a lose lose type of situation. He sighed as he tapped the back of his head against the stone wall. They did not have enough room on the ship, and he certainly did not want any of them to die because he drew too much attention. At the same time, they were likely dead sitting in those cages as it were anyway. He simply did not want them to suffer any longer no matter what it took.​

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<< “We have to spring them out another way.” >>​

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His index finger touched the locking mechanism for her cell, and with a ripple of energy, Judah fried it. The door keeping Valery locked in unlatched and soon the Jedi Master was free. Her weapons were missing of course, but they could retrieve those later. For now, Judah pointed to the way he came in, and leaped back into the pipe.​

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It was only a few feet before they were hidden away within the walls of the facility.​

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“So I figured out the maze this place is. About thirty paces ahead of us is where they will be keeping your personal belongings. Ironically they do not heavily guard this place overnight, so if we are going to do something to get these people out of here, now is our chance to set up whatever we need to.”​

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The Jedi looked over his shoulder and smirked, though it faded as soon as it was offered.​

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“Don’t do that to me again,” he said referring to her impromptu surrender. “I might show it in a weird way, but I care for you. I get you’re a big girl and all, but…”​

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He did not want to finish the sentence. The truth was Valery’s independent spark reminded him a lot of Katara. It was a little selfish, but every mission seemed like a few more stolen moments with his wife. Judah was convinced that the woman never needed to know that. She had found her happiness where Judah was missing his.​

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“C’mon, just another few paces ahead, and we can get your stuff.”​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Tatooine​

Valery: Appearance​

Tag: Judah Lesan ​

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<T> "Don't worry, we'll find a way." Valery said telepathically after she noticed him gently banging his head back against the wall. Beneath his flirtatious and somewhat unserious layers, Judah was a very caring person, and she knew that he was bothered by the prospect of not being able to help these people. She hoped to inspire some hope and determination in him that he could carry with him throughout the rest of this mission.​

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"Alright, let's get my gear first and we'll figure out an escape route for these people before we set them free. If we release them without a plan, it's going to be chaos and the strong will trample the weak." Valery turned to him after he released her from the cage and ran a hand up through her hair. Now that they were closer in the barely lit room, Judah would likely be able to see the bruising around her right cheekbone — they had definitely used some force to get Valery in here.​

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She was about to turn away with him when he stopped and looked over his shoulder.​

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"Don't do that to me again," he said referring to her impromptu surrender. "I might show it in a weird way, but I care for you. I get you're a big girl and all, but…"​

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Valery blinked and even though he called her a 'big girl', she just offered him a smile and nodded, "I know, Judah, and you're a friend I care about as well. That's why I did it." she smirked and followed Judah into the room where they kept her belt, lightsaber and communications equipment. Luckily, the room had no guard assigned to it because even getting to this point required one to pass plenty of guards already.​

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So without much trouble, she geared up and turned to face him again, "You figured out this maze, right? Is there a path out of here that we can cover with just the two of us? Maybe we can lead those people through it and from there, we just need to guide them into safer territory somehow."​

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"I'd propose a distraction of some kind, but that would be risky."​

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[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

Yes, they would retrieve her gear first, but without sharing a very real moment first. It had been some time since Judah had admitted actually caring for someone. The perpetual flirt did not often stop to consider his feelings, but he knew them where Valery was involved. He exercised some restraint for the sake of Kahlil, but the Jedi knew their bond ran deep. She was the first in a long time that had been allowed to see behind the facade he often wore for others to see.

He wanted to protest when she gave her reason as to why she surrendered. Instead he simply shook his head.

“It was still foolish,” he said.

His eyes feel on the bruise he had not seen in the dim prison lighting. She could protest all she wanted, move if she wanted to, but Judah reached out to place his hand on it. If she let him, the force would begin to flow though his hand and onto the wound. Judah was not the best healer, but this was not a large wound. It would be taken care of with ease, as though it had never been there.

Judah kept walking about the gaps in the walls once they had retrieved Valery’s equipment. He nodded with a simple yes to the question.

“It took some doing, but yeah we can get out of here just us. I discovered that this place is just one arena built on top of another one. They lay outs were not the same, and a few charges at key locations could damage the integrity of the arena floor itself. Might be the distraction we need?”

He kept leading them out until they reached his speeder bike. He smirked finding it parked right where he had originally left it.

“So your call… we can work out a plan here, or head back to the ship to grab the charges and get ourselves cleaned up. I don’t know about you, but after two days in the walls…”

Judah paused.

“...I stink.”​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Tatooine​

Valery: Appearance​

Tag: Judah Lesan ​

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"It's not foolish if it worked," she said with a slightly smug smirk, but when she looked at him and noticed that his comment came from how much he cared about his friends, she offered a more friendly smile and nodded. Her intentions had not been to worry him at all — she was just being her protective self, and that often meant putting herself in trouble to keep others safe. Even if they didn't want her to.​

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Valery then stood ready to leave but from the corner of her eyes, she spotted Judah reaching towards her face. She blinked and instinctively began to pull her head back at first. At least, until she realized that he was trying to help with the bruise. It hadn't really bothered her, as she was too focused on the mission, but when his touch healed her up, she smiled brightly to show her gratitude. Valery was completely incapable of healing and would have had to use Curato Salva to slowly make it fade.​

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This was a lot easier.​

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"Hmm, didn't know you knew some Healing — thanks though, I appreciate it."​

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The two then made their way outside and Valery gave their options some thought. To stay here was likely a bad idea because they'd find out that she had escaped soon enough, and that would raise alarm bells. The idea of not stinking like a sewer was also quite convincing, so she made up her mind very quickly.​

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"Let's head back to the ship and grab what we need. I'll warn you though... not exactly an explosives expert. You'll have to either show me how to set them up or I'll leave it to you and just stand watch." She was about to step onto the speeder, then paused and looked at him with a smirk.​

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"Oh and you're right, you do stink." she chuckled and got ready to head back.​

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[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

Judah nodded as his hand slowly moved away from Val’s cheek. He allowed a little silence between them, unsure of what to really say. It was a tender moment to be sure, and the Jedi had been lacking in moments like that since the death of his wife. It was not that he had not put himself out there or tired, Judah had simply refused to allow himself any form of attachment.

“Just enough. If that had been life threatening I am not sure I would have been able to help.”

He was certain she understood why it had bothered him, the way she had just tossed herself out the way she had. Judah was independent, and he knew she was as well. The Jedi simply did not want to lose someone he was close to. While Judah had not allowed attachments, his position on that had been changing. Valery became a fast friend, and that was an attachment in its own right.

At least she agreed they needed to get back to the ship. Her small tease had not gone unnoticed, and it caused a smile to stretch across Judah’s face as he laughed. It seemed like it was one jab after the other for the rest of the trip to his ship. Whether it had been Valery needling Judah about what exactly was going on with Malcoma or Judah teasing Valery about Kahlil, the pair kept the other laughing.

By the time Judah got to the ship he was laughing so hard he almost fell off the speeder. Fortunately for them both he did not. His habits were another matter. Judah had been living alone on his ship for so long he did not even consider his company as the man made his way to the shower. His clothes littered the floor in a path that led anyone right to where he was getting clean. Yes, he would pick them up afterward as he always did, but it was certainly the habit of a man that had been a bachelor for far too long.

He dried himself as soon he was finished and found a pair of loose, comfortable pants. His feet carried him out to the galley where he started a fresh pot of caf as he waited for Val to finish her own shower, and whatever else it was she needed to do. Judah gathered up his clothes in the meantime and tossed them into the incinerator. He was not even going to try to get the sewage out of them.

When the caf was finished he poured himself a mug and leaned back against the booth. The fabric was cold against his bare back at first, but eventually he got used to it. There were some noticeable scars on his torso, all from a past life. Being a Jedi had not been easy in his younger years, and not every wound could be healed without leaving scars. For the briefest of moments, Judah let his world be still. The steaming hot cup of coffee was lifted to his lips, and he took a sip.​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Tatooine​

Valery: Appearance​

Tag: Judah Lesan ​

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"Well, luckily it wasn't too bad, then," Valery said as she got situated on the speeder bike. She was still very much aware that he disliked the decision she had made earlier, but the joke luckily shifted the topic of the conversation and lightened up the mood a bit. There wasn't really a reason to stay focused on what had happened — they needed to move forward because there was still a lot to take care of.​

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But most of all, she enjoyed that they were able to laugh about something silly as well, even now that the stakes were pretty high. It showed that their friendship had come a long way since their first encounter, where Judah had deliberately tried to anger her to see how she'd respond to things like that in the field. ​

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It was the first time that part of her wanted to slap him, and it definitely wasn't the last time. But despite the behavior that sometimes provoked the urge to strangle him, she considered him one of her best friends at this point. And one that she feels she can rely on if she ever finds herself in serious trouble.​

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Eventually, the two made it back to the ship and once inside, she'd lock herself into the bathroom for quite some time, hoping to get the nasty stench out of her long hair especially. When she finally finished up, she put on some jeans, tugged a t-shirt into it, and looked for a jacket but she hadn't brought any extra along. So she ditched the idea and made her way into the ship, where she found Judah leaning back against a cabinet with some caf.​

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"I hope being shirtless isn't part of planting explosives," Valery joked as she stepped up to the sink and grabbed herself some water. She rarely drank anything else, and right now she really had no reason to try other drinks.​

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"When do you think we should hit them? Right now it's still dark enough, so it might give us some cover," she asked as she turned to him and took a sip from her water. ​

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[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

“Oh… no… just used to being alone. I didn’t think about it.”

Judah used the force to grab a shirt and pulled it over his head. It would have been possible that Valery would have been fine with the shirtless Jedi, but Judah did not want to risk it. As much as his answer seemed like an excuse, it was genuine. A sigh escaped Judah’s lips as he leaned forward on the table and began to sip the hot liquid which was in the mug in front of him.

“It will give us the cover to plant the explosives. If we plant them correctly we can cause chaos without harming anyone. The scattering crowds would make it harder for any of the guards to target the slaves. We use the crowd as our cover.”

It was a risky plan, but Judah never did anything so simple. While it was unorthodox, it was the best way Judah saw to save the most lives.

His eyes locked with Valery’s.

“Talk me out of it…”​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Tatooine​

Valery: Appearance​

Tag: Judah Lesan ​

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Watching him use the Force to call a t-shirt into his hand sparked another eye roll, but she wasn't going to get into that with him now. There were bigger things to be worried about than how one chose to use the Force, and she didn't want to frustrate him with endless philosophy debates. So when he leaned forward and sighed, she leaned back against the table and took a sip from her water, her eyes watching him closely.​

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"That sounds like a plan to me, but I'm leaving the planting of explosives to you. We'll have to be careful and I'll do what I can to keep people from trampling each other in the chaos as well." ​

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That was another part that added to the risk of their plan — people were unpredictable in chaotic situations. Their natural instinct to hold self-preservation over anything else could result in ugly things happening. The two Jedi were going to have to be extremely careful with it all.​

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Valery then looked him in the eyes after a moment of silence, and she saw the hesitancy within them.​

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"I don't think I can or should. You know we have to do this." she smiled softly and patted him on the shoulder, "I believe in you though; we'll get this done."​

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She then finished her drink and pushed herself away from the table.​

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"Let's go, before we start overthinking everything. You have the explosives ready?"​

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[Judah Lesan]

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G L A D I A T O R

Of course she was not going to talk him out of it, but her words were encouraging. They were not correct, however. She knew the truth even as she gave place to what Judah had asked. Not only did they have to do it, they needed to do it. Innocent lives were at stake, and those that were in cages were forfeit if they did not act.

Judah simply nodded.

He silently finished his caf and got out of the booth. They had charges to plant, and Judah had the better knowledge. He was a shadow yes, but like a true sentinel he had no problem employing methods that were not connected to using the force. It did not take long to retrieve, and only slightly longer to return to the arena.

Once again, Judah quietly got to work. Each placement was important, it needed to be precise. The shadow worked efficiently and when he was finished, he found Valery where they had agreed to meet.

“All we have to do now is wait for the best time to set off the charges. The way I see it is we do it before anyone actually gets into the arena. That means we have to have those cells empty.”

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Judah rest his head against the stone where they hid. His body and mannerisms showed every sign of exhaustion it possibly could. Nothing had gone according to plan so far, and the older master needed to sleep.

Slapping his own cheek a couple of times, Judah forced himself to snap out of it.

“I’ll be fine,” he said before Valery could protest. “I’m just tired.”​

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Valery Noble​