Private Histories Collide

[Jonyna Si]

​

Location: Denon
Mission Status: Investigate Vigilante in GA Space
Outfit: Normal Jedi Wear
Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira ​

Jonyna's job as a Shadow had opened her to many new ideas and tasks she hadn't considered until now. One of which was the idea of illegal vigilantism. On her trip to Denon, she did have to ponder the irony of sending her out to deal with a vigilante. Once upon a time, she was one herself. It did open the thought, that in this case, she was doing the job of an Inquisitor, in that case. Tracking down and finding whomever was disturbing the peace. After all, Bounty Hunting was legal, so why go the route this person had? All the intel she had was it was some form of Mando. Maybe an Enclave soldier, maybe a wanderer looking for blood, maybe even a GADF soldier taking the law into their own hands. It didn't much matter. Jonyna would track them down.

Of course, Denon wasn't exactly her favorite place. Yet another endless city that smelled like grime and smoke. Ugh...

Landing at the main space port, she quickly got to work looking into any local reports of trouble. She knew the game, and vigilantism wasn't a clear business. You always leave something behind...

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise despised cities. With a burning passion in her heart.

Gasses hissed, seeping from the rusted pipe. The bar moaned as the silent warrior gently balanced atop the half fallen pipe. Her stealth technology was activated as she watched the alleyway below. Three thugs were counting out some stolen goods, huddled next to a burning trash heap. The Mandalorian, cloaked and invisible, balanced on the pipe as she slid into position. She aimed her vambrace at the farthest thug.

Flink!

A paralyzing dart safely embedded itself into his neck, immediately taking him out. Before the other two could even process what had happened to him, Elise leapt down with a kick to the right criminal's rib, dislocating it. She lifted her hand in time to block a blaster bolt with an activated plasma shield. She turned and glared through her visor, silent and immediate. Her pistol was pulled, set to stun, and fired.

She soon had all three tied up, stolen possessions left to be retrieved by the police. The criminal's coms has been used to call the nearest station, and Elise knew that they would be coming. And so, she activated her stealth tech again and slipped into the shadows of the city once more.

After sneaking through the rooftops and alleys for a while, she deactivated her stealth gear and started refueling the equipment she had used for that quick skirmish. Currently leaning against a poorly maintained building wall in the city slums, she was inserting another paralyzing dart into her dart launcher.

Having recently returned from Archais, Elise felt a new sense of clarity. She was ready to get back out there, despite the soul shredding pain she felt. Was she just fighting crime here for practice? Because she felt like it? Because she wanted to feel like she was doing something good? Perhaps, even stick it to the Jedi that she could do a better job than them? She really has no clue. She was within Galactic Alliance space, getting more and more used to these planets. She would be an outside force defending these places, if the Enclave decided to attack. Perhaps, this was her way of getting aquanted. At least she was not doing this out of guilt anymore, and for that she could breathe easier than before.

She clicked her paralyzing dart into place and leaned her head against the wall. Her buy'ce was tucked away under the long, flowing red cloak she wore. While metallic white, painted red, and smooth armorweave peaked between the folds of the cape, her beskar'gam was mostly covered. It would take someone with the experience to notice that she was Mandalorian immediately. Was it risky to wear this armor in Alliance space right now? Yes. But... she refused to be ashamed of who she was anymore.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

The smell of the city easily kept Jonyna's sense of smell overwhelmed, but she had other ways of tracking. Despite the noise, she had always been a master of pinpointing certain sounds. The clatter of boots on a blaster bolt going off was one of them. Jonyna didn't need fancy stealth tech to keep her hidden, just a quiet step and a natural feel for climbing.

Perched silently above on a rooftop, Jonyna watched the figure silently. "Ya know, vigilante work doesn't suit someone who doesn't watch above them, ya know?"

Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

A soft gasp escaped Elise when she looked up, seeing the catlike woman standing on the roof above. She usually would have caught onto such a surprise, being Force Sensitive and all, but had let her guard down as she rested. Perhaps... she was not as recovered as she thought she was. She narrowed her eyes, annoyed at herself, and sighed.

"I usually can tell when I'm being snuck up on. I've been more tired lately."

She looked down, at her rustling cloak. Her buy'ce was still clipped to her belt, beneath her cloak. She looked up to the women, and she noticed that both she and an object on her hip had unique Force Signatures. A lightsaber, and a fellow Force Sensitive.

"You're a Jedi, huh?"

She sighed again, leaning her head against the wall again. "You'd think you protectors of the innocent and stuff would welcome all the help you could get, especially during some pointless war. I guess you guys can't admit that your system doesn't work? If you don't use a lightsaber, you can't fight crime?"

The jaded cynicism was obvious in her scornful voice. But that would also had a level of exhaustion to it. The mere mention of the war made her soul weary - even though she herself brought it up. It was obvious that she had poor opinions of the Jedi. Despite this, she was not at all moving to provoke her. She even pulled her hands out of her cloak and showed them, revealing that she had no intentions of fighting. Her demeanor was casual, and her body language was loose, as if in casual conversation with some friend in a garden.

"I didn't kill anymore, if that's what you're worried about. As much as I'd be happy to kill some slave traders, I'm not trying to make you pacifists too upset. So all I've been doing is turning petty criminals over to the authorities. Honestly, your cities are a disaster - and not just because I hate industrial worlds. This place is crawling with thieves and bandits that the Jedi obviously can't just take care of yourselves."

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"Preach." The Denik said, a bit of smugness in her voice. "You know, it's not every day I meet someone willing to call out the jedi for their bullshit." Leaping down from her perch, the jedi looked the vigilante up and down. "But that's the funny thing. I never played by those rules. If I had it my way, I'd be doing what you're doing. Going out into enemy territory, striking the mandos where it hurts. But I gotta play by the rules these days. Dealing with gross cities and fighting against the senators to get anything done. But that's the game you gotta play to be the good guys."

Part of the Cathar knew whoever this was, wasn't going to go down without a fight if one broke out. "Crime doesn't go away. You can't stop desperate people from doing dumb shit to get by. But you can show them a better way. And hopefully they'll follow it. You got issues with us? Tell us. Bring stuff to us and we'll help. But we can't deal with shit we don't know about, ya dig?"

Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise was surprised to hear of a Jedi willing to admit that their order was not perfect. By the sounds of it, this Jedi was the same kind of rogue Elise was turning out to be. At least, in her heart she was. But she spoke of "playing by the rules." and "what it took to be the 'good guys.'" Elise frowned, looking down at her vambrace with a sorrowful expression on her face. The mention of striking the Mandalorians where they hurt was... painful to hear.

"Karking 'good guys' and their karking rules. All these rules got your Galactic Alliance is corrupt senators and hypocritical warmongers who call themselves peacekeepers. Just going and trying to police another government system not even close to their territory, because good guys can't do anything wrong. And now, that group's wrath has been stacked against you, and you dare to blame them for your losses."

Elise clenched her fist, anger burning in her eyes and contorting her lips, "Not that the Enclave isn't blameless either. I disagreed with them from the start. That's why I defected."

She pulled her cloak back, revealing her beskar'gam and the buy'ce hooked to her belt. Several weapons were stored on her person as well, but Elise made no movements to reach for them. "All I'm trying to do is help anyone caught between two stupid superpowers playing Will Of The Force. But fighting my own people has been taking its toll on me, and I still have my reservations against the Alliance that poked the gundark. If I played by the rules, I'd be somewhere different right now, fighting for my people despite my better conscious."

She looked up to the Jedi. Red eyes were heavy with woe and weary with the exhaustion that came with being alone in her fight. Her body language was loose and open, with no attempts to hide movement or make any trouble. It should have been obvious, that despite her misgivings, she was not in the mood to make enemies today.

"I fought for your civilians at Lwekk, but I fought my own sister in the process. So you better be karking thankful that someone decided that the lives of unarmed strangers was more important than the survival of her own vod. I don't play by your rules, so what? I was never in it for your pretty senators and fancy Jedi. I don't necessarily know what's wrong and right anymore, but I'm trying to do the right thing still. And if that means breaking some rules, well, I already broke my mother's heart."

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Jonyna just stared at the mando, squinting her eyes. "How do you think this war started, exactly? Because I was there when your brothers and sisters decided to attack us over a prisoner exchange. I spoke to Shai and heard the reality of the Mando conquest. I keep hearing about how we're encroaching on Mando land, and that we're 'policing outside of our territory', and yet, I've yet to see any proof of that. I was there on Ryloth, fighting your bloodthirsty sister Dima who decided to crash a frigate into a city. You can talk about GA propoganda all you want, but we're not the ones firebombing planets for the sake of 'crusades'. I'm a Cathar. I know what your crusades look like."

What she had hoped would be a casual arrest now became a matter of principle. The Enclave wanted to paint the GA as the villains, and Jonyna wouldn't stand for that. "We came to help those in danger. Is that wrong in your eyes, or are yours too full of Enclave Poodoo to see that too?"

Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

The Cathar Jedi was quickly proving to be a firebrand. It reminded Elise of her sister. It reminded her of herself. She hissed as The Jedi went on about the Enclave's wrongs, and it only made her anger burn inside. This was anger, however, brought on from knowing that despite her misgivings, the Enclave itself had done things wrong.

Why else would Elise have defected at all.

Elise gritted her teeth, tossing her arm as bottled frustration overrode her depressive disposition. "Oh, you talk like I didn't just say I sacrificed everything because the Enclave was wrong too! Because their methods have gone too far, and they do have a new generation of glory seeking warriors with no concept of honor! My sister is one of them!"

She teared up, thinking back to her last moments shared with her mother. And she teared up, her fight with her sister haunting her. She gritted her teeth, "Shai was my auntie, by the way! She was the one who taught me to use my jetpack. And my mother was only supportive of me growing up. She taught me and trained me, and I betrayed her in return."

She clenched her fist, "I should know how the Enclave's path has been bathed in blood. I already told you I karking fought them because of it! And I feel that I can't forgive myself for the blood of my fellow vod, on my hands!"

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she slumped against the wall, "But I had to do it. Because there was no way I could stand by what they were doing either. I'm haunted by how my sister and I fought at Lwekk. But I would have been haunted even more if I chose to stay by her side."

She hissed, "You better be karking grateful, stranger. I've lost everything, and not a single one of your own I've met yet has understood how hard it's been for me. Because I just wanted to help people in danger too. And look where it got me."

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"I'm grateful for a lot of things. My home, my place in the order, the fact I'm not somehow dead after 900 years. But your defection? I don't know you. I'm grateful you're not shooting me right now. I'm grateful you're a decent enough person to see the wrong in what the Enclave is doing. You had the courage to leave your family. That's a good thing. But I'm not grateful for it. I'm sure it was hard for you. I'm sure you wish you could go back. But it's not something I'm gonna be grateful for. Now, if you were to stop running around like I used to, and maybe go join the GADF, then maybe. But you're not gonna win any points from me doing stuff on the small scale. I used to do that, and a fat lot a good it did. I helped some people, then the Empire would show up and blow up their house. I had to learn the hard way, you either gotta stick around and fix the problem yourself, or join a group who can. The GA isn't perfect, but it's better than the alternative. Fuck, become a Marshall if you really have a bug up your ass about the GA's internal issues. But this vigilante shit? You can't do that."

Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Two individuals, coming in hot, with emotions and goals so similar yet so unalike. The Mandalorian exile, who wanted to do good but always felt in the wrong. The time warped Jedi, once a rogue herself before stepping into a larger world. And right now, it seemed that both were feeling enough hostility to burn any bridges attempted to be made.

The lack of sympathy towards Elise's plight was enough to earn a bitter glare from the red eyed Mandalorian. Pain induced rage, in response to the dismissive nature of the Jedi's response. Once again, Elise was realizing that nobody understood how much agony she was in.

All Elise had come here to do was good. Beat up a couple criminals, save some lives. It was all she could do to feel better about herself. But being barred from even that was a cheated feeling. It doubled down on her sensation that whenever she tried to do right, she was still wrong. And aside the Novanian shamans back home, the entire galaxy still saw her as an enemy.

She sacrificed everything for a galaxy of strangers who refused to have her.

Tears formed in her eyes, as once again she contemplated whether or not she had made the right decision.

"This galaxy never gave me anything, save misery and brutality for existing. Why should I do anything for them?"

Elise blinked, suddenly remembering her mother's own bitterness. Gwyneira Vizsla had suffered so much, and it drove her to feelings of resentment and spite. Gwyneira still was compassionate for other people, at least within the Enclave, but ultimately was a selfish woman who looked out for her own interests. And as much as Elise adored her buir, she had come to the conclusion even as a child. I don't want to become that.

She sighed, dropping her glare and looking down to the city floor.

"I... doubt that I would be a good fit for the Alliance. I'm Novanian, my people once served the Empire that was at war with the Alliance. Not to mention, I'm sure all Mandalorians are disdained in your defense forces. And if your Alliance would treat us like how the Empire treated Chiss after their rebellion two decades ago..."

She shivered.

She lifted her hand and opened her palm. She gazed at it with a weary, long gaze.

"I've studied so much history during my studies as a shaman, and I keep seeing all the mistakes. I even hate my own Mandalorian history at times. We're far from innocent. And I keep seeing, that there will always be chaos in this galaxy. And no government or ordinance could ever make it perfect."

She looked up to the Jedi again, "So what changed your mind? What makes you think that it's worth it to trust any system at all? It all just looks like a grand waste to me. I truly don't want to cause more trouble than I already have. I want to do the right thing though, and every time I keep hearing I'm wrong."

Then, she just had to toss in sarcastically, "Thanks for your sympathy, by the way."

She did not want to cause trouble. But she couldn't help her tongue either.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"You'd be wrong. I know three mandos who've worked with the GADF. Drego, Minerva, Selle. All three of them are welcome here for their services. All three weren't asked questions, or asked to revoke their beliefs. You wanna keep being a mando? Go for it. I'm not gonna stop you, and I don't know anyone in the Defense Force who would. Just make yourself useful, that's all those folks ask. I should know, I own the company who makes their shit. You wanna talk about history? I'm a 900 year old Cathar. A Denik. The Cathar who stayed, and hid, while your kind glassed our planet for orbit." There was a bit of venom there, but it slowly faded to empathy. "But I've let that go. Minerva helped me through that. So unless you're still wavin' around an imperial banner, I don't think most folks will bat and eye if you enlisted tomorrow."

She paused, letting out a slow breath. "Don't twist honesty into a lack of sympathy. I really do hope you find a place here. A home you can feel safe in. Trust me, I've had to deal with that myself. Fuckin' Imps showed up at my childhood home's door step with a star destroyer a few months ago, and all of a sudden I didn't feel as safe there. You want my story? I fought the Empire, the original Empire for a decade, and then got frozen by an ice witch. When I came out? We'd won. We'd beaten back the Empire, and found peace in our time. Do I trust the politicians? Fark no. If the GA government decides to go down the same route the Republic did, they can kiss their fancy Si Tech guns goodbye, and I'll hold to that. But it's better than living in fear. Better than living in a world where the sith, or the Empire, or the Enclave can show up at your planet, firebomb it from orbit, and you just have to watch your home burn. You can queen all you want about GA interventionism, but we didn't start this war. We're just here to finish it."

Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise's tears continued to fall as Jonyna spoke. Hearing of the genocide of her people, the wrongs of Mandalorians and an older Empire, and her story of fear. Reassurances that Elise herself could find a place to call home in the Galactic Alliance, and a message that stepping out was better than living in fear.

That crippling fear. And the shame. The putrid shame.

A sickly expression of guilt, feeling the sins of her own predecessors, rested on her face as she looked down to the ground. Gripping her buy'ce, she gritted her teeth as she recalled all the pain. All the history lessons. All the experiences she heard from others. She had always known that she was no imperial. She had always known that she was ashamed of her own culture's history. And she had always known that she had wanted to change it. And yet, the inability to atone rotted in her bones, making her weak.

Throat tight, she lifted a hand and clenched her forehead.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I was raised on a world that was imperial once, and I'm Mandalorian. I always feel shame, hearing these sorts of things. If I could change it, I would."

Her vision blurred as her tears doubled, "I never wanted this war! I never wanted to watch my family fall apart! And I am afraid! I'm afraid of the consequences of leaving them, and I'm scared that I'll always be alone here! I'm karking terrified!"

A sob wrecked her back as she bawled on. "And being a vigilante, taking out criminals, makes me feel like a better person than the one who fought her little sister. I'm scared, and I'm alone."

She shuddered, sobs wrecking her as she tugged at her cloak and wiped away her tears. Trying her best to calm down despite her agony. She looked up to the Jedi who was brave enough to trust in systems of folly. The Jedi brave enough to face her fears, to join a cause, and to step into a light Elise feared being burned by. Perhaps, they truly were exactly alike. Or perhaps, they had been completely different from the very beginning. Elise leaned against the wall and slumped to the floor. Trash littered the filthy ground, but right now she did not care. She pulled her hood over her head, a self soothing mechanism she had developed long ago.

"I'll consider joining... maybe... I-I want to..."

She trailed off, looking away as fear gripped her heart still.

The poor Cathar Jedi having to deal with Elise's meltdown.

Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Slowly, brutal honesty faded to open empathy, the cathar slowly walking over and pulling the mando into an embrace. "I know it's bad now, but it'll be better later. Just...try and find a place here. You're welcome, you're safe, and I'll fight for you if they try and come for you. Anyone here would. We can...make it better in time."

It was clear this wasn't Jonyna's first time comforting someone in distress. She'd saved worlds, fought imperials, and taken down sith. Now she was back to where she started all those years ago. Comforting the distressed and making an empty promise to protect them. Nothing changed, and Jonyna meant every word of it. A woman of honesty, of compassion, and of passion.

Tag: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira