Private The Running Free

[Talin Treicolt]

Chest puffed, Talin’s head bobbed along to Tandy’s arguments, assisting her sisters assault with yeahs and mhms. Their parents history had broken faith bureaucracy. If the Alliance would get assistance out, she wholeheartedly agreed it would come too late. One rogue ship moved leagues faster than an army.

“Plus, we can help! We’ve done a ton of drills - ya know, being twins means we can meld like nothin’.” Realizing he might not have exposure to force trainin’, she back tracked. “Er, it’s like, our minds joining through the force, but not as crazy as it sounds. Really useful for quick thinking and like, good shootin’ and flyin’ under stress. We could even try to loop you in! We managed once, with our sister.”

As Talin went on, she approached the pod, crawling in to paw around for something. She reemrged victoriously with a silver handle in hand.

“We’re not Jedi, yet, but our parents were. It’s in our blood.”

A flip of the switch sent a shaft of cerulean luminescence cackling. The crystal hummed with excitement. It had been twenty years since it last action, and it was eager to serve again. Just holding the thing instilled her every word with gumption.

“That’s why Coruscant. There are enclaves all over the core, secret Jedi hideouts, but we know where the one on Coruscant is. We want to be Jedi, like our parents before us. But, Jedi wouldn’t ignore those in need - and Treicolts help family.”

Unwavering, she looked to the boy they were trying to convince. She couldn’t blame him. They were almost strangers, and the encounter had started at gunpoint - but she thought maybe, she sensed a duty not far off from theirs, wrestling with logic.

“Please. If it’s money, we’ll pay double. Kyric would help get your ship right if it took a shot. We’ll owe ya a dozen… but it’s the right thing to do.”

 

[Dax]

"Oh, we have to help, Dax, please! Please, please."

"I'm sorry," Dax declined again. With a frown, he wrested his arm from Tansu's pleading grasp.

"I can't imagine sleeping soundly ever again knowing someone saw danger, asked for help, and I ignored them."

I can't either, he admitted mentally. Deep down laid a genuine wish that he could help, but that human, all too human drive for self-preservation restrained it. A loss of sleep was a small price to pay to stay alive. He'd only recently paid off a similar debt, the once prominent bags beneath his eyes now barely visible.

"Your ship will be fine, we promise."

"That's not the point," he contested. A grim elaboration clarified why he brought up his ship's perceived shortcomings; "We'd get ourselves killed."

"You said you've shot someone before. Easy!"

Not fatally, but he wouldn't expound that reality. It was an omission that made him sound much more capable than he was. After all, it nearly broke Talin's nerve, serving its intended purpose. Truthfully, he was almost as green as either of them in that respect, but the twin had a particular unfledged look in her eye when she pointed that blaster at him. Not at all like the real killers he'd encountered. Dead giveaway.

"You can't ignore something as ancient and true as The Will of The Force!"

"I don't even know what that means!" he argued, exasperated.

As Talin began to speak, Dax took a step backward. His glance turned hesitantly toward her. It looked like he'd take off running any second.

"- ya know, being twins means we can meld like nothin'."

"I don't know what that means, either!"

"We could even try to loop you in! We managed once, with our sister."

Jaw agape, now thoroughly convinced they were crazy, his head shook slowly. "I don't-" he stammered around his intended words.

When blue plasma erupted, Dax flinched at the abrupt hiss. It wasn't the first time he'd seen one, but he was surprised that either twin had one. Given she was somewhat unseasoned with that blaster, at least against real targets, he couldn't imagine she knew how to use a lightsaber.

"Your parents are Jedi?" It sounded pretty unbelievable. "But... didn't you say you lived on a farm?"

Jedi lived in temples, right?

"Dax, please, we have to. He'd do the same for us and even though he doesn't know you yet, our cousin would absolutely do the same for you I just know it. Pleasepleasepleaseplease."

"Please. If it's money, we'll pay double. Kyric would help get your ship right if it took a shot. We'll owe ya a dozen… but it's the right thing to do."

"I-" Dax nearly slapped himself in the face, endeavoring to snap out of whatever empathetic trance had come over him. Why should he be so moved by the pleas of two people he just met for the sake of someone he's also never met on a planet he'd, once again, never heard of? Sure, he'd heard the message for himself, but how could he be sure they were entirely truthful? He hadn't been. Plus, they'd stuck a blaster in his face based on some vague notion that he looked like someone of a completely different species.

They're gonna get me killed, or kill me themselves.

That transmission, regardless of the twin's alleged relation to it, was most definitely real at the very least. Dax wouldn't bet they were smart enough to come up with something that elaborate even if they truly did have less-than-good intentions.

It is the right thing to do, she's right. Wildly inconvenient, but...

"Damn." It was mumbled aloud this time.

"Fine," he conceded. An accusatory finger pointed between the two. "If either of you pulls something again, I won't miss next time." They'd have to build trust later. Dax wouldn't completely get over Talin pointing a blaster at his face overnight.