Private Who Tells Your Story?

[Taeli Raaf]

Continuation of this thread's private duel
Allyson Locke
​

The response was quick to the emerald lightning of righteous judgment, Allyson launching an arrow into the floor to ground part of the lightning streaming towards her. As she did so, Taeli would pull the arrow from her shoulder even as the light from the kyberite infused tip continued to flow through her. Pain flashed through her shoulder anew, but she could rotate it in full range of motion still... it definitely hurt.

She would stop the lightning as there was a pause, Allyson calling out her story didn't matter. Another arrow was nocked, ready to be fired. She could feel the frustration of the Shadow, the determination... the apathy. The hopelessness of her role in the galaxy, that she would never be anything else but what she was. It frustrated her in turn that the Jedi before her just could not accept that there was more to life, to purpose, than throwing their life away to the Jedi and the Alliance.

"Who lives, who dies, who tells your story, Allyson Locke?" she muttered quietly as the arrow was let loose, striking the space between them and exploding in a flash of shrapnel, flame, and smoke. Sapphire light erupted and she came speeding out of the smoke, blade swinging upward. It would be met by, not the red blade of a Sith, but a strange blend of purple and orange, not unlike a sunset, as she activated the saber in her hand.

"You have done what you had to, what you were taught to do," she remarked, forcing the blades apart before quickly launching a flurry of feints and strikes in a blend of Makashi and Niman. "But why? What have they done for you, Allyson?"

From her free hand, a glow would form around her fingers and palm.

"What awaits you back there?" the glow would become brighter. "Nothing. You know this. You say that your only purpose is to just keep fighting... but why? Why must that be your purpose? They. Don't. Care."

It became clear to Taeli that to set Allyson free from the chains she had bound herself with to the Jedi, to the unfeeling and uncaring Order and the Alliance that had thrown all the Force users out of the SIA, she would need to break the links bit by bit. The eye would be first, she decided, once she had an opening.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Taeli Raaf //:

The clash of the ion blades sparked, causing the smoke from the explosion to disperse faster. A part of the Corellian was surprised she had so quickly resorted to her blade. In most cases, she only used the weapon to cut through things she couldn't hack through. For some reason, Taeli pulled something primal out of the woman.

Each strike from the Sith was met with a parry into another strike. The years had passed, allowing the Corellian to finally develop her dueling skills. However, she had to after facing Zaavik during her attempt to save him. With every deafening blow, Allyson felt her mind drift to each mission she had - failures and successes. No one knew anything of her contributions, or so she felt. The missions she carried out created openings or closed doors for the Jedi. She saved lives and put many in danger. There was nothing to celebrate when it came to her, no one in her corner telling her everything was worth it - because everyone there was now gone.

People left Allyson, and those who stuck around held onto an illusion of what she was. At times, she did feel welcomed within the Order - but she feared it was because of what she knew. Did the Jedi consider her one of their own? Or was she a significant liability if they ousted her?

All she remembered was the look on their faces when she tried to come home. It all boiled down to that one mission, that one mistake, and her own hubris of thinking she could juggle a real life and her work. All of it backfired in her face. Even the promises were broken, all of them. She was left alone, rotted in a cell, and paid for her crimes—ones that were committed to protect the Alliance.

But the Jedi see things in black and white nowadays. To some, she would always be a threat, even if the Corellian did everything to prove her loyalty.

Allyson let Taeli's words sink into her mind, weaving, and warping even the happy memories into cruel stains on her life. Nothing was holding her back to the Order except the guise of duty.

Her blade blocked once more, pushing Taeli's aside. Allyson put her weight behind the next attack, driving to strike the side where her arrow had damaged the woman's shoulder. "They don't have to do anything for me." She forced the words, the lie she continued to tell herself. "They owe me nothing." The force continued to push the Corellian beyond her means as she stepped forward, wanting to gain ground on

"I work in the shadows like I always have. I am not who I am for glory or recognition - I do it because I have to, because —" Allyson stopped her words. She didn't need to explain things to Taeli Raaf. No, Allyson had no one waiting for her, but it was okay. It meant that she remained silent in her duty to protect what she cared about, even if it meant disappearing into the wind one day as death welcomed her.

This was her penance for not being there to save the ones closest to her.

"Why are you doing this?"