Private Clean

[Allyson Locke]

//: Coruscant //:
//: Alliance Prison //:
//: Jyoti Nooran //:

Fingers moved, counting off something as the Corellian focused. How long had it been since Bastion? The itch in her feet only told her that it had been too long. Being a Corellian, the need for adventure was in her blood. She needed freedom, to feel the breeze of endless possibilities against her face, but all she felt nowadays was the mundane events of solitary confinement. Allyson let her hands fall into her lap as she looked up towards the light that peeked through the hallway's small windows. It was thanks to those little windows that she could even tell the time of day. ​

Allyson sat up in the cot and looked towards the guard as they changed over. To her, it was ridiculous how many guards were always at her door, she wasn't going anywhere, and with the force suppression, she couldn't even cloak her way out. Unnecessary, she thought quietly to herself, but she understood. A part of her wondered how the Jedi painted her and what the Alliance believed. Shaking her head, the Corellian had continued to feed information to the Alliance - if they accepted, it was another matter entirely. Sighing softly, she decided not to think about it anymore. There was no point in dwelling on the past. A lesson she had learned quite harshly during this mission. ​

If it was morning, it meant that a new stream of visitors awaited her. They ranged from people she had fought alongside to padawans that had heard rumors. Everyone that passed through had developed an opinion on the Corellian - all fabricated from what she allowed them to know. No one, from what she gathered, was on her side. They were more torn up about what had happened on Borosk than even wanting to hear her reasonings. ​

After a while, it got to her, but the guards seemed to enjoy watching the aloof prisoner slowly break. At least Allyson could remember good memories of when she was a hero. The taste of the vanilla cake with the dark fruit and people's sounds happy to see her was one of her favorite memories. ​

Allyson's face found the inside of her hands as she tried not to break before the flood of visitors arrived, another day of being accused of the worse crimes, she knew she could only take so much more of this. The end had to be near, she thought quietly - trying to find the strength.​

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

Jedi Robes

After checking in with a SIA liason, Jyoti was led to Allyson's cell block. As it turned out, the Corellian had a whole section cordoned off to herself, especially designed to suppress her abilities as a technopath. Walking through the hall, she could feel gaps in her perception where such countermeasures were employed. Perhaps overkill in her view, but the GA had it in their minds that Allyson Locke was a most dangerous individual.

Was she really?

Jyoti couldn't say at this point, she thought she had known her friend.

What have you become...

One of the guards offered to take her directly to Allyson's cell, but she declined, instead requesting an audience in one of the interrogation rooms. The second came for certain refreshments.

Whenever Allyson was finally presented to her, she'd find a very exasperated looking Echani sitting at the far side of the small square black table, completely bare save for two tall glasses of dark frothy liquid set on a saucer at the center.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

“Get up, you’ve got a visitor.” Allyson sat up and blinked. Usually, the visitors would wander in and scream at her for someone’s death that she had no personal hand in. She had done her job as an agent of the Alliance, but it was not enough. The cell door opened, and Allyson was led down, shackles and all. The interrogation room was a new place for her. They didn’t bother to question her when she had first arrived. The Alliance was prepared to throw Allyson into a deep dark hole and forget her existence. ​

The door opened, and Allyson was greeted with a familiar face, which looked like she didn’t want to be here. She decided not to smile, figuring it would be the worst thing she could do here, especially after everything. Stepping in, Allyson took the seat and stared at the drink. She really didn’t know how to start. This was something she predicted and warned Allyson about. Yet, she still went through with the mission that was given to her. ​

Her hands rested in her lap as she let her head hang. She was ashamed of what was happening. “Hey, Jyoti.” Hands reached up to try and scratch her head nervously, but the shackles clanked as she did so. Embarrassed, her hands quickly fell back to her lap. Staring at the root beer, she chuckled softly. ​

“You remembered.” This was awkward, and Allyson sighed heavily, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”​

Jyoti Nooran

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

Much to her dismay, she was presented with a disheveled and shackled Allyson. Her stomach turned knots as the reality of the Corellian being imprisoned finally hit her. It just seemed so surreal. A hero of the Silver Order and the Alliance now being reduced to such a shameful state. It was hard to maintain eye contact, but she did even as Allyson looked away,

She only offered a curt nod in response to Allyson's initial greeting, then the room became silent for a long while, each woman at a loss of what to say.

What could be said?

How did she go about inquiring if her friend was indeed a traitor to every oath they took together as Jedi?

Finally, silence was broken as Allyson noticed the root beer, eliciting moment of brevity and her admitting her surprise at Jyoti being present.

Don't worry, I'm just as surprised as you.

"Of course I remembered...we're supposed to be best friends. Are we not?"

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

Jyoti Nooran

For the first time in what felt like weeks, Allyson felt her stomach groan with hunger. The thought of the sugary drink coating her tongue and satisfying something in her. Her eyes lifted from the soda as she looked at Jyoti. The way the woman framed the answer to her comment made her feel that guilt again weigh on her shoulders. Their conversation on Kiribi echoed in her ear. ​

“We are. I'm really happy to see you.” Allyson spoke softly, she wanted to smile, but she only let the corners of her lips turn upward slightly.​

After their conversation, the weeks she spent on Kiribi helped Allyson accept her flaws and embrace the fragmented memories. She didn’t fully understand them, but the Corellian had figured out how to deal with them. As she looked back down at the drink, her stomach groaned again. She had been refusing food for a while, and the jumpsuit she wore just hung off her. Unable to fight it anymore, she felt her hand starting to inch towards the cup. ​

“I’m not a traitor.” Habit, she felt the need to protect herself every time someone came to see her. The cup slowly moved towards her as she watched the carbonation pop the foam. She wanted to drink it, but she kept her composure. ​

“I never was, but there were days I felt like it. Even now, they treat me like I am.” Allyson shifted in her seat. She could feel the guards at the door burning their stare into her. “I keep asking myself if this is how things are supposed to be.” ​

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

"Oh get on with it!" Jyoti interrupted. "Drink the damn Root Beer!"

It was honestly difficult to focus on the Corellian's words as she eyed the beverage so desperately. Taking the lead, reached for the glass near her and took a swig. Much more than a swig actually, she gulped down the glass until it was halfway. She sucked down that root beer like it was the real deal.

As awkward as things were, she could use a keg of it.

She took a deep breath and tried to relax, so she could be frank. "Allyson...if you think I came down here like the others to join in on the sad circus set up by the Alliance, then I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed. You have a skull thicker than the hull of a Super Star Destroyer, but I know you're not a traitor. If you were, then we wouldn't even be having this discussion right now."

Previously, Allyson had been held somewhere deep within the bowels of Bastion by the Sith Emperor himself. Even at their worst, the Alliance could only hope to create a glorified daycare center in comparison to one of Carnifex's dungeons. And yet, she had still escaped. She could from here too, if she really wanted.

"I doubt the Alliance would have even had a chance to 'capture' you unless you allowed it. I know - I trained you myself. This is honestly pathetic. You look like a sack of bones, and smell even worse. Is this how an innocent person acts, or do you enjoy slumming around in prison? Is that what you were doing with the Sith? Didn't get enough attention the first time on Bastion?"

Her words were cruel and biting, but that was the point. She wanted to get under the Corellian's skin, to snap her out of this haze. Last time she had been far too easy on her friend.

It was time for tough love.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

Jyoti Nooran

Allyson watched Jyoti take a drink of her root beer and then followed in suit. The Echani wasn't the type to beat around the bush or take time out of her day to berate the Corellian to make her feel better about herself. It seemed the rest of the Alliance wanted her to be some pathetic thing to feel good about capturing their so-called traitor. The foam of the root beer lingered on her lip, and she licked it off, chuckling softly.​

​

Out of anyone in this galaxy, Jyoti knew her and what she was capable of. She was right. If Allyson wanted to get out of the prison, she could have been out even with the Force suppressants. Allyson Locke wasn't called 'Lucky' for just any reason. The woman had been in tight situations and had escaped by the skin of her teeth. Not even the deepest and darkest pits of hell could keep the Corellian in one place if she didn't want to be there. Allyson was a savant with Mechu Deru, and before she had found some sense of the Force, she was barely a force-sensitive and had done some pretty amazing things with technology. If she wanted, she could have overwhelmed the system of the suppressant restrains and found herself free.​

​

Though after the year or so she had, she was okay with having this odd sense of a vacation. Another sip of the root beer coated her throat as she sighed with satisfaction. "You're right. I was tired of being out there. The mission was a flop once SIA burned me." Fingers rapped against the table as she tried to control her temper. Jyoti knew where to strike. The mention of her slumming and attention-seeking was below the belt jabs. But the Corellian started to show bits of a fight for the first time in a while. "These assholes don't have a proper shower, and I think they're scared of taking off the restraints. Everyone wants to come in here and tell me how I hurt them and the lives that died because of what I was doing."​

​

The hand that rested on the table clenched as she felt her jaw tighten. "I was seriously so close could have ended things, and yet all I heard in the back of my head." The Corellian's eyes settled back on her friend, emerald focusing on Jyoti's silver pools. "All I heard was your voice telling me that no one could kill him. I just felt stupid thinking that I could do it. But knowing that if I did do it, I could have my revenge and maybe start to feel fething normal again." Allyson frowned and looked away as she groaned. "I realized that even if I did kill him and such, I wasn't going to be able to get out of there alive. I might be good at what I do, but killing him would have killed me." Allyson waved her hand and continued to frown.​

​

"I hate failing, and every time it comes to him and the Sith, I fail. So I gave in and got captured, and I'm playing the part they want to see. What's annoying is I've done so much, and they were pretty quick to assume the worst of me." Allyson finished the root beer and sighed. Jyoti had quickly cut through Allyson's pity party for herself uninvited, but in reality, it's what she needed.​

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

Her words seemed to have the desired effect, lighting a fire in the Corellian who had been wasting away in her cell Ashla knows how long. The Echani could not save her friend from whatever punishment that Allyson may face from the Alliance, but at least she would help her do it with some dignity.

"There are fates much worse than death," she reminded Allyson. "As I said before, to destroy his legacy is to destroy him. His obsession with his reputation is his weakness. When that is taken, then he is nothing."

She wasn't sure how many times she was going to have to tell her student this, maybe now her words would finally percolate through that hard head.

Hmmm...

50/50

She treated herself to another sip of her root beer, this time almost dainty with her handling of the glass.

"There's no point in dwelling on the past. We'll have plenty of time to reflect upon that later. Right now what's important is getting you out of here." She looked around the tiny spartan room, silver eyes settling on the camera positioned in the far corner. "Assuming the Alliance doesn't only pay lip service to democracy, I assume you will have some due process?"

Due to the clandestine nature of Alliance and Jedi assistance to the NIO, she didn't expect any sort of public trial or tribunal, lest they risk divulging classified information or enduring another embarrassment in light of certain revelations. That could work to Allyson's favor, perhaps they would be eager to sweep the incident under the rug. Aside from her recent slip up, the Corellian's service record across several organizations was unimpeachable. It wasn't even her first time successfully infiltrating the Sith Empire.

If nothing else, she was still a valuable asset, and that meant something in the world of shadows.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

Jyoti Nooran

Allyson nodded, agreeing with everything that Jyoti was saying. To destroy Carnifex, she had to destroy the things that made him powerful - not himself. His life was nothing more than a plaything. Death meant nothing to him because it wasn’t an end. Erasing his legacy, destroying everything he created, that was his actual death. She sipped her root beer as her mind had already begun devising a plan to do just that. The Corellian planned to continue her mission, but change the means of doing so. ​

“Right, funny you should mention that,” Allyson commented. Adjusting her seat, she suddenly caught a whiff of her smell. Nose wrinkled, and she decided that after this conversation, she would suck it up and shower with the other inmates. “I was notified a few days ago by the senator that issued the mission on Carnifex.” Her voice lowered, mostly out of habit as she leaned in slightly and nodded. “The Director and some Alliance Defense Force head I don’t know much about are meeting with the senator and me. Because of my record and how terribly the SIA handled this among other missions. They’re more than likely sweeping this under the rug and clearing me.” ​

Allyson shrugged and finished off her root beer. “What’s annoying is that there’s nothing to really clear me of. I never betrayed the Alliance and was sending intel even after the Director burned me without an investigation. I thought the SIA was going to be better than the SIS. Guess the acronyms change, but not the person or whatever.” ​

“Part of me wonders if I should even bother with the rehabilitation and joining back up. But Force knows they’re pretty pathetic without me, feth I was trying to assassinate the head of foreign intelligence of the Empire during their attempted pick up of him - they threw smoke grenades into a crowded spaceport and harassed civilians. Ruined their own mission along with mine, a huge blunder.” Allyson shook her head, still with a sting of annoyance in her voice. “Wonder how they cleared that one up.”​

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

Allyson went on to explain more about how events had unfolded between now and her alleged "betrayal". From the sounds of it, serious mistakes had arisen from miscommunication between the undercover Corellian and her NJO compatriots with conflicted priorities. Such revelations made her wonder about the sincerity of the charges. Did the NJO truly believe she was a traitor, or was she a convenient scapegoat for their own blunders?

It was hard to say. Jyoti knew other things that she wouldn't speak to here, that painted the Corellian in less than a stellar light.

Jorryn...

In the end, Allyson had gone against her wishes, and she couldn't help but entertain the suspicion that the return to Sith Space wasn't all about Carnifex.

"I can't speak to the performance of the NJO, though they've done right by me in the brief interactions we've had in containment operations against the Bryn. For now, I will say that it's best that you take some time away from them, as it's clear that certain counterparts may be taking this situation too personally."

Seeing Allyson shackled up in the middle of a custom triple max prison, that was the understatement of the year.

"Work with the government, then we'll figure something out." She paused, catching herself. "I mean...if you want to leave with me."

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

Jyoti Nooran

The NJO was a sore subject for the Corellian. She still hadn’t figured out if her getting close to any of them was a good idea. Loske was currently her only connection with the Jedi part of the Alliance, and even then, she hadn’t seen the blonde in some time. Thinking about the situation made her stomach knot. The root beer lingered on her thoughts as she used it as a distraction from her frustrations. Still, with every dark time, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. ​

​

“More than likely, and those with personal vendettas against me are the ones they’ve placed in charge of the whole operation. From my understanding, I was one of a handful of Masters in the New Jedi Order - even then, I was more so a proxy to their Order.” Allyson forced a smile, she wasn’t very orthodox, but at least with the Silvers, she had fit in enough to have made connections. One is the former Grandmaster in front of her. She had known the woman before arriving bloodied and mangled on her doorstep. ​

​

Jyoti had given her an option. The woman had a knack for it, and Allyson nodded. “I do.” It was simple, but she wanted to make sure she quickly answered the Jedi. “I agree with you, some time away would do good for me and those that haven’t accepted the truth behind my mission.” She tilted her head and sighed. It had been too long, and without her, Allyson knew she wouldn’t have been able to survive anything in the Sith Empire. ​

​

“Things will get worked out as quickly as possible, and you’ll be the first I call. ” The Corellian smiled. “So what have you been up to?” She paused, “How’s everyone?”​

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

For the first time during their prison encounter, Jyoti smiled.

"Very well, I'll let you hash out things with SIA or whoever, but if you do leave with me, you should know that it's not going to be a vacation. I'm going returning to the Outer Rim to face the Bryn. As long as their war machine is allowed to exist, they continue to represent an existential threat to the entire galaxy."

Her thoughts about current intergalactic affairs mirrored that of the common man. She cared little for the civil war between various Imperial factions, or ideological conflicts that continued to rage between the Sith and Jedi. Most people would rarely be affected by these power struggles directly - the only thing that really changed is flag being waved by the federal tax man come collection time. However, the Bryn were different. When they seized a territory, they eradicated it of all non-Bryn life within it, harvesting all biomass down to the smallest microbe.

As far as the Jedi Shadow was concerned, they were the currently most dangerous instruments of the Dark Side, completely unrestrained.

Her smile faded as she thought about the grim future that lay before her as a soldier. "I passed through Kiribi on my way to the Core, surprising the family. Everyone seems to be doing fine, but the children are starting to ask questions - I haven't ever been separated from them this long. They're old enough that they won't forget me, but I hope that doesn't lead them to resent me either...good thing for holo calls I guess."

For now, things seemed resolved, but she was still plagued with some doubts. Despite her words, she wasn't quite sure how compromised her friend really was. What Allyson would have become if agents of the NJO hadn't finally intervened. Would they have eventually come to blows, then?

A chilling thought.

"I think we're good, thank you for agreeing to meet with me." Her smiled returned as she rose from her chair and came around the Allyson's.

The tall woman bent down to her side, and pecked her on the cheek.

"Keep your head up," she whispered into Allyson's ear, the Echani's silvery voice like chimes.

She straightened up, then slipped out of the exit, leaving the Corellian with two half empty glasses of Root Beer.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

Jyoti Nooran

Jyoti smiled.​

​

Through all of this, it was the one thing that brought Allyson hope. The Echani's smile meant that things would be better even if they felt bleak at the moment. Warmth spread from the Corellian's heart through her body as she felt at ease for the first time in a long time. Allyson nodded, wanting to chuckle at Jyoti, mentioning the adventure would be far from a vacation. A vacation, as much as she needed one was out of the question. Being in this prison was enough vacation for her. Work would provide a much-needed distraction from the mess she had created. ​

​

The Bryn was a threat to the Galaxy that seemingly was being ignored by the Galaxy's great powers. Allyson felt foolish occupying herself with the Sith, hellbent on a personal vendetta. If they had shifted their focus on the Bryn and not fought among each other - maybe things would have been different. She was glad that at least someone in the Galaxy was firmly focused on taking them out. ​

​

A small smile spread across her lips. She loved hearing about Jyoti's family; they were the closest thing to one she could ever get to. Though, deep within her heart, she wished that she really was a part of the family. She felt guilty, knowing that these desires were unrequited. Before she could say something about the children, Jyoti stood thanking her for the meeting. ​

​

Grace came naturally to the Echani, and Allyson watched her move, drawing closer to her. Even now, Allyson caught her breath when the Echani was close as she was. A quick peck to her cheek and the Corellian chuckled softly. "Of course. You know I can't tell you no." She wondered if the Echani heard it, but the advice given after the kiss on her cheek made Allyson feel different. ​

​

Out of everyone that had come to visit, this was the first time she felt like she could survive whatever was going to be thrown her way. The rut she was in left her as she grabbed the two glasses and combined them. Seeing the foam rise, she felt as if it was a sign that she would get out of this. There was more meant for her, and nothing was going to get in her way. She chugged down the root beer and stood, her head was a little higher than before. ​

​

This, too, shall pass, she thought quietly to herself and headed back to her cell.​