Private The Yellow Brick House

[Eloise Dinn]

TA'A CHUME'DAN, HAPES
Continuation of the Crisis...
​

Eloise raced through the rain, the repulsors of her speeder blasting puddles as it scraped around a street corner. The city was still on fire, perhaps even more so as GA forces went to war against the Hapans. The radio, tuned to intergalactic news, spewed bulletins about the current situation at the Palace. Apparently the Queen had challenged the Chancellor of the Alliance to a duel. Eloise already knew the outcome of that fight.

What she still didn't know was where Dio was. He had disappeared on her while she was saving people from a burning building, vanishing without a trace. She had only the Force to help her find him, and while it was giving her enough of a gut feeling to guess where she needed to go, it didn't give her much in the way of what to expect when she found him.

The steady throb of energy she felt from him was like a heartbeat. Louder, then softer, then louder again as she drew near. It finally reached a fever pitch as she slowed to a crawl beneath an overpass, the wall covered in strange, almost ritualistic graffiti, dark colors rendered eerie in the rain. Up ahead of her was a garish old house constructed from yellow brick.

She pulled up down the street and got out. The speeder would probably be stolen or picked clean by looters by the time she got out of there, but she locked the doors anyway, stuffing the keys into her pocket as she stalked toward that ugly ass building, lightsaber hilt clutched in one hand...

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Captured—again. El was never gonna let him live this one down, if he survived. If she survived.

Diogo awoke to find himself bound and gagged. Thankfully, the after effects of the stun bolt were quickly weaning away due to the rapid healing properties of his Anzati blood. He blinked back the darkness in the corners of his vision and took in the space. Around him, the safehouse was sparsely furnished. Musty light bled inside, illuminating floating motes of dust as a Crimson Veil operative pushed apart the yellowed blinds to peek outside.

The operative wasn't the same one from before. He was a thickly built mercenary type with broad shoulders and massive forearms like Kashyyykian tree trunks. When he turned, Diogo was taken aback by his mean mug. A deep scar traveled down the right side of his face, splitting his scruffy eyebrow in two, cleaving through his milky white eye, and ending at his sliced upper lip. His one good eye was large and bulging. "You're awake," he said. His deep voice was as coarse as he looked. "What do we do with you, boy?"

"We can use him as leverage," came a voice from behind. Diogo recognized it as the man who shot him. Bastard. He was washing blood off the looted Consortium armor in the kitchen sink.

Footsteps echoed around the mostly empty room, growing louder as a third man approached. This one was smaller than the others, but with an athletic frame. He had thick, dark hair, swirling blue eyes that mirrored the luminous gases of the Hapes Cluster, and a chiseled jaw crowded with stubble. He cradled a datapad in his hands, which spewed a small video of intergalactic news reports and the Queen's brazen duel challenge. The man's voice was reedy, "We should kill him. The Jedi are no friends of ours and he'll just slow us down. This is our one window of opportunity, we need to leave while the Queen's occupied and the Consortium forces are bogged down by the Alliance."

"Extrajudicial execution? You'd have us be like the Queen, then?" the disfigured man asked. The question was accusatory, but the tone lacked bite, like they'd had this debate before.

"I'd have us live," the third man replied. "If that means adopting the strategies of my enemy, so be it."

Diogo was quietly assessing the situation. With stun cuffs locked tight around his wrists, his mind was clouded and his muscles were atrophied. His eyes darted around, searching for his lightsaber—it sat idly on the kitchen counter next to the man who shot him—and looking for an escape route. Though he wasn't sure how he could accomplish anything with the stun cuffs incapacitating him. Through the haze he felt a dull, yet familiar presence in the Force approaching, thumping like a heartbeat.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise didn't do stealth. Her height and purple hair weren't exactly inconspicuous, and she was a little too honest and direct for skulking around. So there was really only one option for her to rescue her boyfriend, and that was charging in lightsaber blazing.

She kicked the front door down, the slab of metal hitting the floor with a loud thud, sending up clouds of dust. The trio of Crimson Veil operatives would see her, a huge and hulking woman wearing a wet hoodie, a green lightsaber igniting in her hand.

All Eloise saw was Dio, gagged and tied to a chair. She fought through the red threatening to cover her vision, enough to grind out a command through grit teeth: "Let him go. Now."

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Diogo watched with heavy-lidded eyes as Eloise burst through the metal door. She'd never been subtle—no reason to start now. Seeing her soaking wet, hulking with unbridled anger, and smelling vaguely like a washed out campfire, Diogo wanted to comfort her, even though he was the one bound, gagged, and in need of rescue.

"Let him go. Now."

The Crimson Veil operatives froze for half a second, not expecting a six-foot-plus woman to come storming in like a purple whirlwind with a lightsaber.

The thick built man was quick on the draw. A blaster was held firm in his calloused hands, aimed at Eloise. "Easy, lady," he urged in his rough drawl.

The small man hastily dropped the datapad, holding his hands up in surrender, though an easily-accessible blaster pistol was holstered on his hip. He stared intently at the green lightsaber blade and licked his lips nervously.

The third man swiftly strode out of the kitchen wielding Diogo's lightsaber hilt—it had been the closest weapon within reach and he was no slouch when it came to melee combat. "Or what?" he growled.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Each of the three men had a different response. The big and burly one drew his blaster; the scrawny little guy immediately surrendered; the third one grabbed Diogo's lightsaber. Either he was a Force User, or an idiot who thought lightsabers worked like vibroblades.

"Or what?"

"What do you think?" she replied. Her green blade growled as she held it out in front of her, ready to attack. But she didn't plan on engaging them in melee yet. "You're Crimson Veil, right? We saved your people from that burning building downtown." And if that alone wouldn't convince them to back down, she added with more vehemence, "The Queen Mother hates us and wants us gone, same as you. Ever heard the phrase 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Diogo was grateful El was trying the diplomatic route (he didn't know if she had it in her, tbh). She seemed to harbor some sympathies for the Crimson Veil. He did, too, but mostly 'cus of Charlotte; they were connected to her and whatever she left behind, as though she left smudges of lipstick on the rim of a glass he couldn't bring himself to throw away. She existed only in traces and memories now. Which made him want to befriend these men despite the dicey predicament and death threats.

That would all go out the window the second they laid a finger on his girlfriend, though.

The guy with Diogo's lightsaber was definitely an idiot who thought lightsabers worked like vibroblades. But he was smart enough to realize he was outmatched by a Jedi, especially one as imposing as Eloise.

He was on the verge of backing down, but they'd worked too hard and sacrificed too much to give in so easily. After finally finding the ignition switch, the Crimson Veil operative carefully raised the sizzling blue lightsaber just shy of Diogo's neck. He looked expectantly at Eloise.

With leverage secured, he was willing to negotiate. "I saw what you did," he admitted, but the recognition fell purposefully short of gratitude. "But the Queen's made many enemies—that hasn't made 'em our allies. The Jedi and the Alliance have never been our friends. You'll make peace with the Consortium when the dust has settled, then turn your backs or your guns on us. We'd be fools to trust you."

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

As the one with the lightsaber ignited the blade and held it to Diogo's neck, Eloise's green eyes flashed dangerously, something feral and decidedly not diplomatic lurking behind her gaze. But she hadn't worked so hard at tempering her anger just to give up at the first sign of resistance.

"I saw what you did," he admitted, but the recognition fell purposefully short of gratitude. "But the Queen's made many enemies—that hasn't made 'em our allies. The Jedi and the Alliance have never been our friends. You'll make peace with the Consortium when the dust has settled, then turn your backs or your guns on us. We'd be fools to trust you."

"It would be more foolish to threaten me," she spat back, unwilling to play at being a representative of the Jedi Order. No, she was just Eloise, their captive's very pissed off girlfriend. "If you harm him, I'll wipe out the entire Crimson Veil myself. Including General Kalen. Is that what you want?" Especially when they were so close to achieving their goals of overthrowing the royals...

"The Jedi Order won't side with you. They're too busy wringing their hands over civilian casualties, playing the enlightened fething centrist like the clueless idiots they are. The sooner you get that through your heads and let us leave Hapes in peace, the sooner you can get back to your anti-monarchy revolution."

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Diogo witnessed the feral flash in Eloise's smoldering green gaze. He wanted to move, to cry out, to do something—anything. But he was stuck, forced to be a spectator to this morbid Holodrama that had leapt out of the screen.

"Keep the General's name out of your mouth, woman," the man spat. A pissed off Jedi was a dangerous thing, but so was an indignant revolutionary wedded to a righteous cause. He carefully inched the lightsaber closer to Diogo's throat. "Threaten my people one more time and see what happens."

The operative shared Eloise's disdain for the Jedi Order, and the Alliance as a whole. Their centrism was complicity. They feigned the moral high ground and were too cowardly to pick a side, which meant they ultimately served to uphold the status quo.

He started to speak, to press her, but his words were drowned out by the angry roaring engines of a heavy hover transport. Instantaneously, blinding lights flooded the safe house, bathing the room in a harsh white glow that exposed everyone and everything inside. When the engines ceased, commands soon followed—barked in the native Hapan tongue.

The Consortium was here.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"Keep the General's name out of your mouth, woman. Threaten my people one more time and see what happens."

Oh, she was going to kill him. Personally. Slowly. Painfully.

Eloise paused and shook her head as if to clear it. Her thoughts had taken a sadistic turn, provoked by stress, anger and frustration. But damn it, who wouldn't be pissed in this situation?!

It seemed they were at a stalemate. For a moment it looked like the guy was going to start grilling her for information or making demands, when a noise outside drew his attention. The Consortium had arrived.

While he was distracted, Eloise seized the lightsaber from his grasp. The hilt flew from his hand into hers as she rushed forward, one blade slicing through Diogo's restraints, the other slashing at the man's chest.

Time was now of the essence. They needed to escape before things got any worse.

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

The restraints gave way, clattering to the ground in a useless heap. Diogo was free! The fog lifted from his mind and he felt his muscles breathe again. He stumbled as he stood, regained his balance, then yanked off the gag. A screaming hail of Consortium blaster fire erupted around them, but that could wait a second.

"Hey you," he croaked, trying to find his voice. Diogo took Eloise by the waist, if she allowed it, and pulled her in for a kiss. He took his lightsaber from her hand, casually deflecting a few blaster shots away while they did or did not embrace.

The operative that suffered the sting of Eloise's lightsaber was staggering back, eyes wide with disbelief. When the pair parted, Diogo dealt the finishing blow with a swift strike. "Threaten my girlfriend one more time and see what happens," he said mockingly. The dude might've been too busy choking on his dying breath to hear it, though.

Meanwhile, the burly insurgent hunkered behind hastily constructed cover—a flipped over couch—and angrily fired his blaster rifle at the Consortium forces. Poor bastard wasn't gonna last long, but at least he was going down swinging.

The smaller man said feth this chit. He wanted to survive, and so he broke into a cowardly retreat down the hallway, leaving his doomed comrades behind in a desperate bid to escape. Perhaps he knew a way out. "We should follow him," Diogo suggested.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

No sooner was Diogo freed, ungagged, and standing on his own two feet, he took Eloise in his arms.

"Hey you."

"Dioweareinthemiddleofa—" She started to hiss in protest, only to be swept up in a kiss. Whatever she was going to say was cut off as his lips pressed to hers, and she seemed to temporarily forget they were in the middle of a rapidly deteriorating warzone, eagerly kissing him back. With tongue.

While they were smoochin', the CV operatives were largely preoccupied with the Consortium forces outside. Eloise parted from Dio to the tune of exchanged blaster fire, her blade rising to deflect a bolt that passed through the busted-down doorway.

"Threaten my girlfriend one more time and see what happens."

Her gaze flicked down to the dying man, then back up at Dio. "Thanks," she said breathlessly.

More shots were coming in through the windows, the doorway, the walls. "Remind me to show my gratitude later," she muttered, continuing to block any bolts that strayed too close for comfort.

The burly guy was doomed, and he seemed to know it as he made his last stand. The scrawny one fled down the hallway. Diogo wisely suggested they follow his lead. "Let's go," Eloise agreed, heading after him.

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Hell yeah. Havin' a girlfriend was so cool.

"I should get captured more often," Diogo mused, deflecting blaster bolts away as they trailed the CV operative.

The man they were following stumbled down the hallway, clutching at his stomach. As he rounded a corner in the hallway and disappeared from view, his hand left a smear of crimson on the wall.

As Diogo approached the corner, he caught something out of the corner of his eye; there was something in an adjoining room—a body. Brunette hair matted with blood; corpse pale skin; familiar bone structure protruding through gaunt cheeks.

Charlotte? Had the CV operative brought her here, too?

The recognition hit him like a ton of yellow bricks. Diogo came to a sudden halt. The screaming hail of blaster fire became subdued wails of grief, then morphed into a distorted dirge that made him feel like he was underwater. He drifted inside the room, unaware that the ominous sounds of thudding boots and gunfire were drawing closer and closer. He was vaguely aware Eloise was behind him, saying or doing something. He wasn't sure. Diogo pressed forward regardless, moving with purpose but not willpower, until he quietly stood vigil over what remained of a woman he loved.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise tracked the man's movements, her green eyes noting the smear of blood on the wall. So intent was she on following his lead, it took a second for her to realize Dio was lagging behind. Pausing, she waited for him to catch up before turning back.

She found him in another room, lingering over a corpse laid out on a table. As she approached, it became clear why he had stopped: the body was that of Charlotte. They had already stripped her of any valuables, leaving only what was left of her torn clothing, stained with soot and dried blood. Eloise frowned, torn between urging Diogo to hurry and letting him have a moment with her.

"You want to bring her with us?" she asked, glancing back the way they had come. The last man standing seemed to be keeping the Consortium's forces at bay for the time being, but they couldn't afford to dawdle too long. Her brow furrowed with unanswered questions. "Who was she to you?"

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Diogo stared down at the body; it was stripped of valuables, soot stained, and caked with dried blood. A datapad rested on the other side of her arm as well as a few blood stained documents strewn about. Evidently, those weren't deemed valuable.

The last thing he wanted was to remember her like this, but he couldn't look away. The body wasn't Charlotte anymore. This was the face of the galaxy's abject cruelty and wonton disregard for justice. It stared back at him indifferently, taunting him, reminding him of his place.

"You want to bring her with us?"

"No," he said quietly, facing away from Eloise.

"Who was she to you?"

"She was a close friend," he said, voice trembling. "I think I loved her." What kind of love? He didn't know. By the time it dawned on him, Charlotte's life went from being counted in years to minutes. There had been little time to process it all.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

He didn't want to bring the body with them. Probably for the best, as it would slow them down. She was ready to head out, already turning toward the exit.

"She was a close friend," he said, voice trembling. "I think I loved her."

Eloise waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't add anything else to that vague statement. She pursed her lips, then jolted as she realized the sounds of gunfire had stopped. "We need to go now," she said, her volume pitched low and tone urgent. Without waiting for him, she checked the hallway outside before darting across, following the trail of blood.

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Eloise was taciturn in response. Diogo quietly wondered what gears were spinning in her head. Usually he didn't have to guess with her—if she had something on her mind, she said it, even when she was being morose. When she did finally speak it was just an urgent call to get a move on as the gunfire ceased. He twisted to face her, his eyes sad and pleading for something, but she was already gone.

Diogo frowned and turned back to Charlotte. He gently brushed his hand against her's. It was cold and lifeless and made him want to scream. After one last moment with her remains, he hastily scavenged the datapad and bloody documents, stuffing them in his jacket pocket. He gathered himself, finished his lonely vigil, and sprinted out of the room, chasing after the blood trail and the echoes of Eloise's sprinting footsteps. He didn't look back.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Oh sure, Eloise would totally speak her mind. If the timing were better. The one thing in all the galaxy that could make the outspoken El shut up was if there was a clear and present danger afoot.

She burst through the back door of the house, only to find the scrawny Hapan she had been tailing laid out on the duracrete steps, bleeding to death. Squatting down, she took his blaster from its holster and rolled him over, checking his wound. He was past helping.

"I parked the speeder down the street, but I don't see how we can get to it without being spotted," she said, tucking the gun into her waistband. "So I guess we have to find another way off this planet." Turning toward Dio, she added, "So. You loved her, huh?"

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

Hot on El's tail, Diogo emerged out of the safe house. The scrawny CV operative was laid out on the duracrete steps, mortally wounded, and El prudently scavenged the man's blaster. Dio took a moment to catch his breath.

"I parked the speeder down the street, but I don't see how we can get to it without being spotted," she said, tucking the gun into her waistband. "So I guess we have to find another way off this planet."

He might've made a disparaging joke about her choice of parking location, but she had been in a rush and wasn't expecting a Consortium squad to show up. She also saved his life. So, she might get annoyed and stab him. "Any suggestions?" he asked. He was good at getting into trouble, not out of it.

"So. You loved her, huh?"

Basic and direct. That's how she was. But it sounded accusatory, or maybe he just felt guilty. "Yeah, but it's not what you think. Actually, I don't know what you're thinking..." he paused, processing in real time. "She was like a big sister. I looked up to her. She was brave. Risked her life for others. She wasn't even considered a woman when she was born, y'know. Can you imagine what she had to deal with? On this stupid fethin' planet?"

It felt weird talking about this with an audience. Diogo tapped the scrawny dude's body with his boot to see if he was dead. He was.

"I didn't feel about her the way I feel about you," he was quick to add after.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"Any suggestions?"

She shrugged and jerked a thumb over her shoulder, down the road in the opposite direction from where the sounds of yelling female voices were coming from. "Go that way, maybe." It seemed their best bet. Accordingly, she began jogging in that direction, keeping her eyes peeled.

"Yeah, but it's not what you think. Actually, I don't know what you're thinking..."

"I'm thinking you had feelings for someone other than me, and I'm only finding out about it now."

She was definitely being accusatory, though given the vagueness of his statements and how he had been acting since Charlotte's death, in her mind it was justified. Fickle though she may have seemed when they first met, once Eloise called a man her boyfriend, she stuck with him. Her mother had never cheated on her father - at least, not that Eloise knew of - but she had, as the saying goes, committed adultery in her heart by yearning for the arms of other men during times of loneliness and strife. Eloise had been disgusted with her for that long before she witnessed her mother devour a sentient being. If she found out Diogo was doing the same shit...

"She was like a big sister. I looked up to her. She was brave. Risked her life for others. She wasn't even considered a woman when she was born, y'know. Can you imagine what she had to deal with? On this stupid fethin' planet?"

"I can imagine," she muttered. In fact, it was all too easy for her to picture the life of someone so incredibly unfortunate. The whole concept of Hapes was downright insane, and yet they had decided to base an entire society off this idiotic idea that one sex was better than the other. Said society was now burning down all around them, and Eloise felt no sympathy for the ones who had been propping it up for a millennia.

"I didn't feel about her the way I feel about you."

One corner of Eloise's mouth twitched up in a little half-smirk. She was relieved, but was trying not to make it too obvious. "Good," she said. "It better stay that way, because I'm not sharing you with anybody else."

Diogo Talon​

 

[Diogo Talon]

He nodded and followed suit.

As they ducked between alleyways and slipped beneath the watchful eye of Consortium troops, Dio intuited an abnormal sense of chaos in the frantic shouts of Hapan soldiers—an energy beyond the expected mayhem of a battlefield. Perhaps something in the throne room had altered the dimensions of the conflict.

"You said you knew the Chancellor, right? Does he stand a chance against the Queen?"

"I'm thinking you had feelings for someone other than me, and I'm only finding out about it now."

A reasonable assumption. Grief-stricken, Dio had been vague and failed to choose his sparse words carefully. He could already feel the nausea in his gut just thinking about if the roles had been reversed. Shit—he fethed that one up.

"I can imagine," she muttered.

Dio knew she meant it, too. El's strong sense of right and wrong was one thing that made her so attractive.

That's also what drew him to Charlotte. Wide swathes of Hapan society ostracized her. Some erroneously failed to see her as a 'real' woman, while some disdainfully viewed her as an upstart or a traitor of sorts. As if she chose to be born in the wrong body. Idiots. Despite her mistreatment, her politics were not born of resentment; they were built on an uncompromising foundation of justice, equality, and respect for all living beings. Dio would never forget that.

"I'm sorry I didn't mention her before. I think you two would've gotten along."

"Good," she said. "It better stay that way, because I'm not sharing you with anybody else."

"Nah, I'm all yours," he grinned, liking what she said a little more than he'd want to admit. He thought he caught a little smirk at the edge of her mouth. "I like how you kiss too much." With tongue, he left out.

Eloise Dinn​