Private Pretty Kitties

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Allyson Locke

Coronet City.

The last time Jonyna had been on this planet, Jonyna had been falling in love. Falling for a woman she couldn't seem to find common ground on, anymore.

It still stung.

But she was here for answers.

When she got the encoded message from Allyson, Jonyna considered her options. There was always the option to ignore it. Put her curiosity to bed. Let it be. But Jonyna was always one to stick her nose where it wasn't meant. At least, that's what the Imperials always told her. The Inquisitors, the Moffs, the Hutts.

Instead, her response was cheeky. Just as it always had been.

It took some help from Dice, but she managed to broadcast her response through the holonet, in open space.

"See you on Corellia, Allyson Locke."

It was vague enough to not incur the SIA coming down on them, but open enough just to act as a jab at the spy. This wouldn't be some secret meeting. No, Jonyna wanted Allyson to know that Jonyna wasn't going into this ignorant. She knew the game.

Still...

Showing up in some seedy bar in the back alleys of the city wasn't Jonyna's ideal meeting place. Could've been a jungle, or a dance hall. Not some dive bar where her toes stuck to the floor.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Jonyna Si //:
//: Attire //:

Edgefields-on-Varonat
Several days prior

Allyson sat in the hammock she had finished putting up by the river. Her comm alerted her of a new message, and as her thumb flicked through it, she grinned. It seemed as if Jonyna was more interested than she let on.

The hammock swung as Allyson stood up, forgetting how these types of things worked. As quickly and smugly as she had gotten up, the hammock flipped and she landed face first into the lush vegetation under her.

Laughter echoed quietly a small distance away.

---

Corellia, Coronet City
Present day

Corellians were loud people. They made sure that wherever they went, people knew that a Corellian was around. They were even louder when heroes, those who had fought and made Corellia proud, came home. Allyson knew the exact place Jonyna was mentioning, and she wondered if the little cat had seen the small shrine dedicated to the wiley Corellian spy.

It had been some time since she had been back, but the moment she opened the door, she realized nothing had changed. The heavy door swung open, and the crowd grew silent as everyone stared back at the brunette, wearing the first-class blood stripes she had earned during the war with the First Order.

Silence stretched until an old man stood and narrowed his eyes. "Is that-" he stepped forward, "My stars it's Allyson Locke!" The bar whispered and then suddenly exploded. The music returned, and the small crowd gathered around the woman. Hugs were shared, and small bits of memories were exchanged. It had been a while since the hero had returned. She was a legend among Corellians - even when she wasn't doing the glorified good that the Republic had drilled in her head as a youth.

A Corellian making a stand and a name for themselves was worth more to the people than Jedi or Sith - good or evil. Make Corellia proud; that's all that mattered.

When Jonyna arrived a few hours later, she found herself staring at quite the scene. A crowd had gathered at the bar, and standing on the bar, stomping to the beat of the folk song that they were all singing, was Allyson Locke, waving a whiskey in her hand and using a fork as a mic.

"Oh, Allyson Locke, with hands unclean, She stole from kings and kissed their queens!" As she said the line, she winked at one of the girls who was reaching the bar. The small bit of attention elicited a squeal from the girl as the song continued, "But never once forgot the face— Of every world she helped replace." More cheers and voices chimed in as the chorus rose, drinks spilled, and the bartender rushed to fill.

"Oh, Allyson Locke, who burned and ran, fought alone with no one's plan. A thousand names, one oath she swore— She'd never let the weak bleed more."

Allyson downed the whiskey shot in her hand and looked towards the door. A grin spread across her face as she recognized the Cathar, the only one not singing right now. Jumping off the bar, the song continued, but Allyson pulled her way from the same girl who had now tried to steal a kiss for the folk hero.

Any other time, she'd indulge, but business and someone was waiting at home.

"Jonyna, right?" Allyson laughed, "Welcome to Corellia! Home of the Great Allyson Locke!" Her arms stretched out, and she stepped forward and patted the Cathar on the back.

"You look like chit. How about a drink, and you can ask me all the lovely questions you have burning in your little brain?" Allyson shoved Jonyna along towards one of the tables. As they sat, she waved her hand, and the bartender dropped an expensive bottle of Corellian whiskey, vintage from the years before Corellia's catastrophe. Allyson slid a glass towards the Cathar and poured some amber liquid into her.

"This is the good stuff. Before they started to have to distill off the planet, luckily, we're able to do it on Corellia again—but this…" she shook her own glass, the thin liquid splashing against the edges. "This is home."

Smiling, Allyson mused as the song concluded, and the crowd settled into singing about another heroic Corellian. "What's got you so curious about me?"

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Allyson Locke

Songs about legends of their culture were nothing new to Jonyna. She was sure, somewhere, there was a cathar lullaby about her beheading stormtroopers. What more intrigued her, and annoyed her, was the noisey brunette that came towards her, and offered her a drink. Jonyna's focus was fixated on the woman, eyeing her up and down.

"You're shorter than I expected." was Jonyna's first words as she smirked, meeting Allyson eye to eye. "Nowadays, feels like it's trendy for everyone to be tall enough to hit their head on the ceiling." Jonyna's tone shifted as her focus did to the drink, before downing the glass in one go. She wasn't going to let the Corellian intimidate her with a drink. "Trying to catch up on old business as a councilwoman. You're a tricky one to research. I like knowing my enemies before I hunt them. Call it an old Cathar hunting tradition."

Jonyna's tail flicked idly, as she side eyed the spy. "I just can't figure out one thing. You finally get settled, war over, get yourself to the point where you're the premiere shadow of the NJO, take on my nephew as a padawan...then you decide to make a deal with Kuun himself, and switch sides without warning. Why?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Jonyna Si //:
//: Attire //:

Allyson rotated the bucket glass in her hand as she listened to Jonyna. The Cathar was more interesting than she had given her credit for. In reality, Allyson expected her to stutter and stumble over her words. But again, there weren't many Jedi willing to sit down with her and talk. Though, most Jedi didn't really know she existed. To most, she was some specter or folk legend.

She didn't mind it, but sitting and talking with someone was nice. Though the pleasantries were quick to fade away. Mid sip, Allyson's eyes watched as Jonyna slammed the priceless whiskey like it was water. The Corellian felt the world end in that moment. A single tear fell from her eye, rolling slowly to the edge of the grungy table. Her glass lowered, settling on the table - the rest of Jonyna's words muffled and drowned out by her sorrow.

Allyson exhaled slowly, her sadness tightening like a noose around her throat.

She gave a moment of silence to her fallen brother.

The sound of the bar returned, and she looked at Jonyna and raised an eyebrow. Her nephew? Allyson let her gaze wander as she tried to remember the chaos of her last sixty-plus years alive. Nothing rang a bell; the only padawan she had ever had was Zaavik, the orchestrator of his own device. His death was something she felt through the Force; it was a solemn feeling when she thought of him - there was nothing she could do, and his death was inevitable.

She took another sip of the whiskey to buy herself more time. Suddenly, she remembered. "Oh, the little guitar guy was your nephew?" There was a small hint of recognition as she recalled the brief conversation.

"Oh no, I never took him as my padawan. The kid would have gotten me killed, gotten himself killed. Not gonna have his blood on my hands." She laughed and shook her head. "Hopefully, he got to do his thing and be a musician."

Allyson nodded and then paused, "I have a feeling you're going to ask why I never actually took him on. He couldn't answer the simplest question. Why? Why do you want to be a Jedi?"

Shrugging, she took another sip and slid the whiskey bottle protectively back to herself. "Family legacy is dumb; 'just because' is also stupid. I won't waste my time indoctrinating someone into this chit."

The rest of Jonyna's questions made Allyson laugh. They were superficial goals and things that Allyson never cared about.

"War is never over. You should know we know too much. Shadows know the rumblings of the galaxy—war is never over." She shook her head and sighed as her eyes watched the amber liquid swirl against the edges of the glass.

"Also, I'm never settled - whoever told you that is an idiot, and they don't know who I am. I hated being on the Council. I hated having to sit behind a desk and yap with some idiots that are so disconnected from the galaxy and make choices that affect people without their say."

She didn't know who this Kuun person was, so she ignored the comment and laughed again.

"Without warning? There were lots of warnings. No one listened to me when I mentioned the director of the SIA was corrupt - that cost me an eye." She pointed the edge of the glass to her eye.

"Jonyna, when you're plucked from your fighter, told you can be a hero, make a difference, fight evil, bring peace to the galaxy. It's all a lie. I was seventeen and went on my first mission to Bastion."

The glass continued to turn, and her eyes focused on the way the lingering liquid clung to it, ribboning down its viscosity thick.

"I was captured for forty-five days. I escaped after forty-five days of torture at the hands of the Sith. No one came, no one rescued me. I limped my stupid arse back to the Alliance. When I got there, I was punished for going AWOL."

She chuckled with a grin.

"I didn't switch sides because over here the grass is greener or because I'm some evil secret Sith Lord - unfortunately for me, I'm still a fething Jedi, the light still clings."

Allyson shrugged and finished the glass of whiskey. Placing it down, she leaned forward on her elbows. "I left because I was done being collared by fat masters who can't see the end of their own noses, who send children to die with false dreams of a peaceful future and…"

She leaned back and shrugged again, slumping into the booth, the legendary Corellian bravado gone.

"I was just done being called a traitor when all I was doing was my job...trying to be the hero - just trying to bring the galaxy peace."