Private Roads Untraveled

[Matthew Locke]

O B J E C T I V E​

Tag: John Locke ​

Matthew made his way onto the ship once again, they had spent some time making up here a few months ago, but it still made him look upon it in awe at its size. His steps echoed down the corridors as he made his way towards his where his brother was awaiting him. The people on board gave him a sideways glance but otherwise left him alone. These were sailors and soldiers, he was just a hired gun around the galaxy, the only thing that he and his older brother seemed to share was name. Not letting this disturb him he found his way to where he had been directed previously and raised his hand to rap his knuckles onto the door.​

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Stopping for the briefest of moments he thought about the reasons why his brother would have called him there. They had only reconnected and now it seemed that things were quickly changing for the better between the two. They had always been there for each other, and Matt had broken the trust that was shared between the two, he was lucky that John had even accepted him back into his life. Finally, he let his knuckles hit the door, hearing this hiss as it opened, revealing an open room.​

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Matthew peaked his head inside as he glanced around, apparently, his brother wasn't there yet. Letting out a soft sigh of relief his eye caught the stars outside, his legs took him to the viewport, where he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it in his hands before taking a long drag from it, letting the smoke fill his lungs, before releasing the toxins from his nostrils. He had traveled in the stars many times, but he enjoyed the view that had come from the viewport in this room. It was much better than the differing displays he had seen over the years.​

 

[John Locke]

“There’s something about that view that gets me everytime.”

Footsteps echoed, the sound of shoes tapping against the floor echoed around the empty room as John stepped past his brother, dark eyes staring out of the viewport. No matter where you were in the galaxy, which planet you were orbiting or which nebula you were exploring or space station you were visiting there was no escaping from the darkness of space. The stars twinkling like diamonds peeking out of a velvet sheet.

“You know, I remember the first time I took a trip off the planet, the first time I saw the stars. Really saw them. There was something different about it, I’d looked up at the night sky, I’d stand on the street and look up at the stars passing overhead every night. Wondering what planets, what people were out there. Where in all of that you were.”

The Exarch offered his brother a small smile before turning his attention back to the viewport, one hand reaching out to rest against the transparisteel.

“It was like a punch in the gut, the first time I really saw it. Saw the vastness of space. I don’t think I was the only person on the shuttle who felt that way. Even after we reached the space station, I had to find a viewport to just stare at it. It’s hard to appreciate just how big it is, how incredible it is. The forces, the reactions that created this, that make it work. It’s the ultimate piece of engineering, and everything I do is just a pale attempt at leaving a mark. I think that’s what we’re all trying, to just leave a mark, to let people know we’ve been here. To let people know we were here, but the universe keep turning and the greatest of empires fades to dust, fades from history but creations, objects, those can last for a little longer. The conceit of the businessman I guess.”

A wry smile turned up the corner of the man’s lips as he took a step back from the viewport, fingers undoing the buttons of his suit as he lowered himself into a nearby chair.

“I guess I like coming here because it keeps me honest. I can sit here, look out there and I still get the same sense of wonder, that same urge to push on, to strive for something better. To leave my mark. Standing here in a ship that I designed, with all the technology that I’ve made, it’s not yet enough, there’s more out there for me.”

A laugh escaped the man’s lips as he leaned back in his chair.

“Talk about conceit right?”

Matthew Locke

 

[Matthew Locke]

L O C K E​

Tag: John Locke ​

The sounds of footsteps coming from behind him drew his attention away from the twinkling of the stars from the viewport in front of him. He gave a soft nod as he looked at his brother as he looked back to the viewport, the two of them looking out as he listened to his brother talks about his first time going into space. A soft chuckle as he thought about his first time into the darkness that is the abyss of space. He closed his eyes softly as he let out a deep breath. He took another long drag from his cigarette before he put it out.​

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"We are definitely two halves of something, I haven't thought about any of that stuff until recently. You were always the real one though, who thought about all of the things that make things the way they are. I was always the one who just wanted to have fun, look at where that got me, I'm a nobody from nowhere." Matthew let out a soft sigh and let out a shrug as he glanced over towards his brother. "You were always made for something, I was always there to make sure you got to there in somewhat of one piece."​

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Matthew made his way across from his brother as he sat down, pain shooting through his back as he winced a little, all of the years of fighting had started to take a toll on his body, but he just intended to forget it, he would make it through as he had many times before. "Glad you got a good head on your shoulders, or all my black eyes would've been for nothing."Letting out another chuckle he leaned back in his chair and looked towards his brother. He grew to everything that Matt had wished for his brother, he was glad that they had gotten the chance to come together again. He remembered the days where he thought he wouldn't ever face his family again, and that he would stay alone forever. But that was in the past, he was there with his brother now, he wasn't sure why John had wanted to see him though.​

 

[John Locke]

A sound, somewhere between a snort and a chuckled slipped from John’s lips as dark eyes flicked over to glance at his brother before he pushed himself up out of his chair. The soft tap of shoes echoed around the dimly lit room as the Exarch made his way to a wall, to a bar that revealed itself at his approach, the wall sliding down to reveal a row of glittering glass, the transparent material catching the twinkling starlight, almost glowing in the ethereal light. A practised motion acquired two tumblers and a bottle, the amber liquid splashing out to fill the crystal vessels before he made his way back to the chairs offering Matthew one of the tumblers before lowering himself into his chair.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, I’ve built a life in an ivory tower, separated from everything that made us real. I mean, look at this, we’re sitting in a Super Star Destroyer, ok it’s a giant hospital ship, and has an enormous garden in it but…it’s still a gigantic ship. This is what my life’s become. Do you know the last time I actually went to buy my own groceries, I don’t even know how much a pint of milk on Naboo costs. Oh, I could find out, could tell you the price on any planet you want but…I ..it’s a long way from a rundown house in coronet city. You’ve at least got to live, to experience all that the galaxy had to offer from the ground up. Be honest, our 8-year-old selves could see us, who would they recognise, and who would they think had sold out?”

Dark eyes fell to the amber liquid as John swirled his tumbler around, watching the patterns of light dancing before he took a sip, feeling that burn as the Corellian whiskey slid down his throat.

“You always have been better at taking a hit and giving them out than I’ve ever been. I can’t remember the number of times that someone would leave me alone because I was Matthew’s brother, or because they were afraid of what you would do to them if they even so much as messed up one hair on my head…and I thought I was supposed to be the big brother.”

Dark eyes went back to the viewport, staring out at the twinkling multitude of stars that decorated the heavens in front of them.

“I couldn’t really do too much of the big brother thing before, back then I couldn’t help you out the way that I wanted to. But I can now, you’d mentioned that you were starting to get tired, worn out of the mercenary life…so…have you ever considered politics?”

Matthew Locke

 

[Matthew Locke]

L O C K E​

Tag: John Locke ​

Matthew's eyes followed his brother as he made his way to the wall, watching as a bar seemingly came from nowhere. John's words flowing to his ears as he hunched over folding his hands together as he listened to the words of his older brother. His eyes catching on the glittering of the glass, and the light that was seemingly coming from them. Matthew lingered on every word his brother said, much like he used to when they were much younger, as every little brother does to their older brother, whether they know it or not.​

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Slowly Matthew stood up, going to speak before taking a second, thinking about his words carefully before he began to speak, "Come on John, don't give me that. You know where we came from, it wasn't the worst of the worst but it wasn't all sunshine and roses. You are one of the few to come out of that on top, a little worse for wear in some departments but you are still functioning. You do things to help people, even if it's not all you do least you have used some of your resources to try and make a difference in this god-forsaken galaxy. You think I want 8-year old me to see this good-for-nothing bum that has spent most of his adult life drinking away the time he wasn't fighting for anything. Come on John, it's not a sin that you don't have to worry about the things that are now your lesser, that doesn't make you bad, it just means you have more responsibilities now than before, your decisions aren't what's for dinner tonight, it's who do I save and who dies." Matthew let out a sigh as he put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I know it's not easy sometimes, especially for you but don't let other people put you down, you're better than that."​

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Moving His hand from his brother's shoulder he reached out for the other glass that was laid out before them. He lifted it and downed it in and one go, letting the liquid slide down his throat, feeling the burn as it did. He closed his eyes before shaking his head a little and putting the glass back down before he turned his attention back towards his brother, his brow slightly cocked as he did.​

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"Me In Politics? You've got to be kidding me, all those white-collar fools don't want some ruffian doing paperwork with me. I know I said I wanted to slow down, but even for me that's a far reach to ask for."​

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Matthew turned around leaning his back on the counter as he looked at his brother gaging him for what game he could be playing at with a suggestion like that.​

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"Knowing you as only a few do, I know that you wouldn't suggest something if you didn't already have something in mind so shoot, what do you have brewing up there you maniac."​

 

[John Locke]

A smirk tugged at the corner of John’s lips, spreading that smile across his face, the expression reaching all the way up to his eyes. It was the kind of expression that you revealed to very few people at this level of power, at this circle, the expression of any emotion was a weakness you couldn’t afford to reveal. A coin to be paid out sparingly unless you were with those you trusted. There were perhaps two people John could let his guard down completely around, could let down the walls that he’d built up over the years and just be himself.

Well, one, perhaps two. He wanted to trust Matt, he really did but the years of separation had taken their toll on the brother’s once-close bond. It was perhaps inevitable, the passage of time was an enemy that couldn’t be fought, that inevitably changed all bonds one way or the other. The man sitting across from him, he looked familiar, acted familiar, but was a stranger at the same time.

Less of a stranger than he had been. The time they spent together, the words and memories exchanged had bridged that chasm that had opened up between them. It was that time that made him so sure of this decision.

The Exarch lifted the glass to his lips, taking a sip of the whiskey, feeling the burn as it slid down his throat before he let his dark eyes shift away from the viewport to rest on his brother’s face. For a moment the man’s eyes were as deep as the depth of space that were held away from them by a thin layer of transparisteel.

“See, I think that’s exactly why you should consider it.”

A hand came up to gesture at the viewport, at the worlds that lay hidden nestled amongst the darkness of space.

“All those countless worlds out there, they’re filled with people who don’t have a single iota of similarity with people like me. The people out there, the people we represent, that we need to protect don’t care about galactic politics. They don’t care about what the price of laminium is, or what piece of the legislature the Galactic Alliance is debating on today. They care about the rent, they care about the price of food at the local store and to see that tomorrow is just a little bit better than today. They care about the price of schooling, about the level of crime in their neighbourhood and if that pothole on the main road has been fixed, or if it’s gonna make their journey that much bumpier.”

An eyebrow arched up towards his hairline.

“Does that sound familiar?”

The crystal tumbler caught the light, twinkling like it was made out of diamonds, as if for a moment it was more than just a piece of crystal but the very stuff of the stars made into a conductor’s baton.

“If you look at the Viceroys you’ll find more people like me than not. People as you say don’t worry about little things. And you’re not wrong, I’ve built myself a platform, a place in the world where my concerns aren’t the same as theirs. But, it’s a place where it’s increasingly hard to understand them, to commiserate with them. There are times I feel like a conductor, an engineer looking down on the pieces of a machine laid out in front of me. My concerns aren’t theirs…but yours are. You can still understand what drives them from a real place, because you’ve lived that, you are one of them.”

A small shrug lifted the man’s shoulders as he lifted himself out of his chair, letting his whiskey hang loosely between his fingers.

“The viceroys…see the world from their lofty perch and forget that a lot of the time the worlds they live in aren’t the same as the people they’re meant to protect. Most of the citizens on their worlds can’t go gallivanting off to Shorehaven at a whim. Pork barrel politics at its best.”

The dark-haired man turned around, sliding his hands into his pockets in a well-practised gesture as he inclined his head to the side and smiled.

“Care to be a voice of reason?”

Matthew Locke

 

[Matthew Locke]

L O C K E​

Tag: John Locke ​

Matthew stood beside his brother nursing his cup as he looked into the brown liquid, swirling it in a circular motion, letting it hit the edge before coming back down. Rising and falling as all things do. His eyes lifted to catch his brother's, raising his brow slightly as he saw how far away they seemed before his brother slowly came back to him. Matthew stood silently for a moment, just listening to the words of his older brother, taking in what he was saying. He wanted to understand where his brother was coming from. He understood that he definitely had a different perspective on these things than the other members of the viceroyalty, but he wasn't sure if he was the right man for that type of position.​

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Looking towards John Matt thought for a moment before he began to speak, "Brother you always make yourself out to seem as if you are working on droids like you used to do back at home. We've both grown from that, we are both far away from the boys we once were. You have reached some of the highest highs and look for out for the little guys, for the guys we used to be, two men that had to fight for everything, whether it was with their brains or with their brawn. You might have risen above it, but the brother I know still cares about the little people." Matthew slid back the whiskey, letting the burn run down his throat as he gave a slight Aaaah.​

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Closing his eyes he took a moment, letting the rest of his words tumble around in his head for a moment. "Why me, I know I would be able to look out for the little guy, but that doesn't change the fact that I have no experience at all when it comes to politics. I don't even know the first part of what I would do as a Viceroy, let alone meetings, what am I gonna talk about, I won't know how to speak in front of dozens, if not hundreds of people like that." Letting out a soft sigh he looked towards his brother. "I know it'd be the change of pace I'm asking for, but I don't wanna ruin people's lives, John, there will be who depend on me, actually depend on me for guidance, for strength and for the right choices to save them from despair. one mess up and people can lose everything, any bad decision I make would affect more than just me. I have only relied on myself the last couple of years, I don't know if I can have so many people look to me for direction and for safety." Matthew put his face in his hand softly rubbing it with his hand as he let the thoughts run through his head. Why would his brother even think of this, they had only just reconnected, maybe that showed something about John, or maybe that showed something about himself. He wasn't sure anymore, he just was scared. Scared of the prospect of hurting innocent people, that was all he was ever scared about ever since he started working as a hunter and mercenary, and he didn't fear anything, and he ruined the lives of people whod din't deserve it. But that was a lifetime ago.. or was it....​

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[John Locke]

John twisted slightly, tearing his eyes away from the vista that stretched out before them, resting one shoulder against the sheet or transparisteel as he reached out to poke his brother in the head. For a moment the Exarch was silent, dark eyes staring at his brother before he relented, a small smile curling up the corner of his lips.

“You can’t tell me that you’re actually afraid of that?”

A soft sigh slipped from the man’s lips as he turned on a heel, crossing the room to settle back into his chair, raising his tumbler to his lips.

“When you on a mission, when you have a team around you who are they looking to for leadership? The essence of any military unit is that connection, you all look out for one another. From the moment you left Corellia you’ve had people’s lives depending on you. Even if you’re the most junior of the team, you’re still responsible for the lives of your team. Everything you’ve ever done is a matter of life and death, you’ve had people’s lives in your hands for decades now. You said it yourself, we’ve both grown since we left home, since we took our first step into the stars.”

John fell silent for a moment, staring down into the crystal tumbler clutched between his fingers, watching his reflection in the amber liquid for a moment. He could see a man watching him back, dark eyes staring back, piercing into the depths of his soul. There were times that he didn’t recognize the man who stared back at him from his reflection. When he did speak his voice was quiet, introspective.

“There’s nothing more terrifying than knowing a stranger is relying on you, that someone you’ve never met, someone you will never meet. That there are countless lives in your hands that your decisions will have all these repercussions that you never considered. That one day historians sitting in their stuffed armchairs will look back with all the benefits of hindsight to judge you. But…how is that any different from what you’ve been doing? You say that you’ve only relied on yourself for the last few years, but your decisions have had implications. If you’re protecting someone, or assassinating them, if you’re conducting industrial sabotage or rescuing a prisoner. Everything you do has affected more lives than you can imagine. When you broke into that facility on Ryloth, you got the information that you wanted but that act meant that 3 scientists were fired because they lost all their research, families left without income and jobs forced to move. Everything you’ve done has been about changing people’s lives, one way or the other. You can’t get away from it, all that’s going to change is the scale that you’re dealing with. Going from a few lives to dealing with the lives of a whole planet. But, in the end, the decision boils down to the same thing.”

The dark-haired man looked up at his brother, pausing a moment before he continued.

“In the end, everytime, all you can do is your best, and try to make the decision you can be proud of at each point. No-one can ask for anything else.”

Matthew Locke