Private Allies

[Tydeus of Tion]

Allies​

Nordra
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Spaceport


A young man moved through the crowd of the spaceport, pale gray eyes stern as steel as he sought out his target.

Finding her took some digging, but this was much easier with the resources of the Tarkin Initiative now at his disposal.

For all his training, there was still one weapon that Tydeus had not mastered: the pike. Whether it was a force pike, or a lightspear, the principles were highly similar. If he wanted to have a hope in hell of taking on Kaine Zambrano in a fight, then he needed to be a master of more than just obscure Force abilities. He needed to understand every weapon and be capable of wielding it if the time came.

His Miralukan tutor had done well on Tion, but a student's journey is never truly over.

The muscles in Tydeus' jaw tightened as he reached out in the Force to try to sense her. Felt like she was still inside the tea shop. He'd tailed her here after the surprise realization that she'd already been freed from carbonite. He would have to approach cautiously. Something told him she might not be as approachable as Tansu had been.

People seldom were when they realized you had been following them.

And Tydeus was not exactly capable of hiding his signature. Not yet. The Force Wound from Tion still roiled inside him, making every day a fresh exercise in discipline to try to control it and himself.

Taking in a breath through the nose, Tydeus pulled down the hood of his gray poncho and stepped into the tea shop. It didn't take him long to spot her. She was the only Mirialan here.

Tydeus slid into a seat opposite her.

"Iona Starchaser?" his tone was clipped, like all Core worlders. "I need your help."

Iona Starchaser

 

[Iona Starchaser]

Location : Nordra, Unknown Tea Shop | Weapons : Force Pike | Interacting With : Tydeus of Tion
​

Sitting at a small table against the window, Iona felt as if she was trying to sober up. Eyesight was still shaky. Up close was fine, if she held the to-go cup of her strong tea to her face she could make out the logo. Everyone else was amorphous blobs at the moment. A massive improvement. Nausea was getting better, so long as she didn't hang her down for too long or move too quickly things were looking up.

Navigating while using the Force was also helping.

Trying to get her bearings together and figure out how to get off this rock, her musings and self-pity moments were interrupted rather suddenly and rudely.

A white blob with a shock of black hair...or fur....no, his signature was human. Voice indicated Core world up bringing. Rich kid gone bounty hunter?

"Look." Voice was weary. "If you're here to collect a bounty let's just get it over with. We can go to an alley and you can just shoot me, okay? I'm too tired to play a cat-and-mouse game."

​

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

The Tionese boy's brows drew together sharply. Could this actually be the Jedi trainer? Younger than he thought. And apparently sick of living. For a moment, Tydeus wondered if he had wasted time and credits coming all the way out here. Time he could not afford. Every year that passed the Kainites continued to grow in power and burn more worlds and enslave more hundreds of thousands of beings. He'd already spent too long trying to prop up the Fels hoping that they would take the fight to the SIth.

And now here he was, getting told to just shoot her and take her bounty.

Tydeus snorted and shook his head.

"No," he said, voice the rasp of steel on leather, "You're barely coherent."

He couldn't hide the disappointment from his words.

Carbonite might have cooked her brain.

"I'm Tydeus, from Tion. And I'm not here for your bounty. I'm here for training... to kill Sith," gray eyes narrowed, "Not that you're in any state to give any right now. You need a medcenter."

And probably a bacta tank. She must have been in carbonite a while.

Iona Starchaser

 

[Iona Starchaser]

Location : Nordra | Weapons : Force Pike | Interacting With : Tydeus of Tion
​

"I'm perfectly coherent."

Iona didn't feel as if she was slurring her words. Her eyes probably weren't focused in the right area and she redoubled her efforts to look at him. Gaze settled on his hair because it would give the illusion she was actually looking into his face. Seemed a great compromise and this...what did he say....Ty something of Tion would get off her case.

"No medcenters."

She was firm on that. Nor was she going to appear to be weak in front of someone harassing her. Given her eyes were still adjusting much of what he said she had to take his word on. Couldn't exactly use the HoloNet in her current state.

"Training? Here for a history lesson? I have not taught in years and when I did it was to children. Those under twelve. You seem older than twelve." Iona paused. "I am certain you have the wrong person. I cannot help you. The Iona Starchaser you seek died years ago."

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

“No, I don’t,” Tydeus looked at her flatly, gaze analytical as he started to piece her apart the way the Miralukan monk taught him. He primarily practiced Teras Kasi, but he knew Echani as well. Echani was less a combat style than a language one spoke with the body - and he looked her over the way only an Echani practitioner did, studying what he saw.

A noise of disapproval tsked from behind his clenched teeth.

Her eyes did not appear to be dilating correctly. Still suffering carbonite blindness? High likelihood. It was the most common side effect of carbonite freezing.

“Fine,” he stood, reached under his poncho, and pulled out a stim injector from a belt pouch. The combination of bacta and stimulants were meant for combat. But needs must.

He reached over and tried to jam the injector into her arm.

“No med centers.”

Iona Starchaser

 

[Iona Starchaser]

Location : Nordra | Weapons : Force Pike | Interacting With : Tydeus of Tion
​

Iona didn't know what this guy's problem was. First he was judgmental and now he telling her what she was going to do. As if she was an insolent child. All without explaining who he was or why he needed her - beyond the use of Force pikes. Iona had no idea where hers were. Back on the wall of her former captor no doubt.

As he grabbed her arm, she acted quickly. The hot tea she was drinking was thrown in his face, hoping to knock some sense into the thick headed idiot.

"Hey!" The tea owner called out. "Get out of here if you're going to fight."

Iona took her arm back, reaching in her pocket and placing credits on the table she couldn't spare. Still it was only right by the shopkeeper. Shakily, she walked past the stalker and back out into the cold.

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

The tea was hot. Scalding even. And for a moment Tydeus just stood there as she walked past him, struggling to maintain his composure and manage his pain response. He felt the burn on his cheek and neck, but it was just tea. Superficial.

The more important thing was her reaction time. The speed. The directness. The decisiveness.

Yes, this was the Jedi he had been trying to find.

Still with the stim in hand, Tydeus used his poncho to rub the dripping tea from his face, then followed her out into the cold at steady gait.

No hurry. They both knew she probably had nowhere to go on this miserable iceball.

"Stop," Tydeus said, then realized that was probably not thing to say in this moment. He let out a hiss of frustration and moved to catch up with her, boots thudding on partially frozen ground until he came abreast.

"Stop - I am," painful, "sorry. Here."

He held out the stim shot to her. "But you are the person I am looking for, Knight Starchaser. And I do need your help to defeat Kaine Zambrano."

Iona Starchaser

 

[Iona Starchaser]

Location : Nordra | Weapons : Force Pike | Interacting With : Tydeus of Tion
​

Trudging through the cold, Iona was extending out her senses via the Force so she could navigate easier. Off to the spaceport to peddle herself to a freighter. Perhaps the Starchaser name carried some weight out here and she could earn passage as crew. Deckhand. Galley worker. Something.

Until she was stopped. Iona looked at his hand, she didn't trust him.

"One, keep it for yourself." A good night's sleep would do wonders, if she could get it. No luck with this guy around, she couldn't even enjoy her tea. "Two, I'm not a Jedi Knight. The Order is full of self-pompous egomaniacs who would rather sit high on their throne and start wars that children die in. I never completed traditional training nor would I ever. Don't lump me in with war criminals."

A shake of her head.

"Since you didn't do your research, you have me mixed with someone else. Maybe another Starchaser."

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

The lines of Tydeus’ mouth twisted just a fraction. The muscles in his jaw writhed as he clenched his teeth together. Did not do his research?

Maybe she is right. I am slipping. Too much time with the imperials, not enough on my true task.

He thought Caius Fel had been the answer to all his problems. The man who would set the galaxy back on its axis and right the injustices inflicted by the Sith.

What a fool I was.

The imperials were so fractured that Fel’s initiative splintered almost instantly. And the weight of it bore down on Tydeus.

Just another millstone to carry.

“No, it’s you,” Tydeus replied evenly, unable to hide the edge to his tone.

“Look, I don’t know what happened to you and to me it does not matter if you were or were not Jedi. I just need you to help me train so I can defeat Darth Carnifex.”

His fist clenched and unclenched.

“He burned my planet, Iona. I had to hold my sister afterward. She was the only one I could find. Do you know what the heat of a turbolaser does to a body, even a hundred meters away? There was hardly anything left of her.”

Emotion constricted his throat but he forged ahead, shoulders hunching.

“So I get it. You just got out of carbonite. You have a chip against the galaxy. And here I am ruining your tea. But none of it matters, ok? Every second I spend here arguing with you is another second that Carnifex gets stronger and closer to doing what he did to Tion somewhere else.”

Tydeus eyes were as intense as drawn swords.

“So I’ll ask again: I need your help.”

Iona Starchaser