soft epilogue
….Shortly after the events on Borosk and Dubrillion
Coruscant // Underworld // Undisclosed internal hangar place idk
Her hands were shaking and there was a tightness behind her breastbone that made it difficult to breathe. The longer she watched the recordings the blearier the silhouette of the Corellian became. The unsteadiness was more than her physical exhibition, it was all over her mind.
On Borosk she’d felt Allyson’s metamorphosis into Rae Cooke. The plea from her friend, the apology from her alias. It was a stain that she couldn’t get rid of and it woke her up at night. It intoned while she chewed her food. It drowned out everything else when she was doing monotonous chores or tasks. Those whispers danced around her brain, rattling in the corners of her consciousness even as she stood at the bedside of her brother.
Trembling, she touched the area where Bait’s nose would have been and looked away. Frank, next to her, rocked side-to-side on his treads.
It wasn’t the first time she’d watched through Allyson Locke ’s diary since she’d recovered Bait. It was like an addiction. When the droid had first suggested he share it, the pilot had been apprehensive. She’d denied it, pacing back and forth and rationalizing with Frank about how much of an invasion of privacy it was, versus the necessity of it. Eventually, she conceded and sat down to listen. She regretted it at first, seeing the rawness of the display, but the longer she listened the more confused she felt. She hadn’t even twitched a smile at the commentary about Maynard; she’d been too overwhelmed to agree with her friend. Compounding with the ghost of the shadow in her mind.
This time she mouthed along to some of the Corellian’s words. “Protect my friends.”
But the scared look, the blood from the Borosk imagery threatened tears again. She used the heel of her hand to wipe her eye, sniffed, and wrung her hands. How could Allyson have been protecting someone while maiming them and shattering their worldview?
None of it made sense to the clone.
Bait was a wealth of information and was willing to share it with Loske as he often did, operating as a means to interface with Allyson while she was behind enemy lines. Probably solely because of the trust and link between them, the pilot had fallen into some sort of role as a handler for the spy. It wasn’t much of a leg to stand on and she should be replaced, but in the meantime, there was work to do. And she wasn’t the person to do it.
Getting Allyson back to the Galactic Alliance was a priority for.. several reasons. Personally, Loske warred with herself on her true motivations. She wanted to yell and scream at the woman. Take her by the face and share the memory of Ryv’s wan expression as he clutched to the slipping threads of life. The wretchedness she’d left in her wake by deciding to be compromised by an Echani woman. Then she wanted her friend back. But would it be her friend? What would the repercussions be?
Professionally, Allyson Locke was a liability to The Galactic Alliance. Beyond penetrating the tight-knit ring of heroes within The New Jedi Order, she had intel on The Alliance’s undercover operations.
Loske’s heart was a numbness behind her ribcage when she thought about Allyson. Vacant. Empty. When –– if –– it came back, she wasn’t sure what she’d be to the woman and conversely, who Allyson would be to her. Would she be more than the one who shattered her brother and put The Alliance’s intel in jeopardy? Could Loske be so big a person to see past that? To aid in redemption and forgiveness?
She’d have to figure that out later.
Her first action was to ask Bait to reach out to the Shadow network. A collection of names and contacts he was privy to by way of Allyson trying to organize something more clandestine for The Alliance. Names that were largely unheard of by any of the wider persons within The Order, and by extension, Alliance. All Bait gave Loske was a total number of contacts reach, little else. No names, no dossiers, nothing. Part of her wondered if the information wasn’t shared because they didn’t have it, or because of the protocol.
At this point, Bait was the protocol master. He suggested the location for the rendezvous and set up the encrypted dial-in option for those who’d prefer to appear as a holo.
It was an empty space, secluded, and easily overlooked in the lower belly of Coruscant. But not so low that they’d draw attention to themselves by being so obviously from the surface. Loske had made some adjustments to blend in a bit more, heeding the commentary from Asher so many months ago. Mostly just wearing a hood of sorts to obscure her face and conceal some of her striking blondeness.
She still didn’t know who’d be walking in. Bait had fed them some sort of passphrase so she’d know who to talk to.
And what would they talk about? Frank helped her draft an agenda. First, an update on Master Locke’s betrayal. Secondly, the information she’d divulged before her defection –– including the new hierarchy of The Sith Empire. Finally, plans to act on the previous two subjects.
Reid Brimarch // Sinestra // Charlie Nooran