Tell me a story

[Talia]

Talia gave a snort of derision at the droids obscene suggestion. Anyone else might have taken offence but Talia wasn't a prude, besides which, taking offense would have suggested that she had the slightest inclination of sharing Ijaat's bed. Which she absolutely did not. "You need a better wing-man." she commented.

The talk of AI reminded her of her own ship. She activated a holocomm on her wrist a blue sphere with many revolving rings within it flickered into life. "Do you need a pick up?" the voice was cool, tone almost bored. Speech registered as spikes that rippled from her surface. "No, I'm alright Lex. Any word from the contractor?"

"Negative. Though you've had a bill come through for damages to the casino."

Talia rolled her eyes. "I'll deal with it in the morning. Lock up, but stay alert."

"Understood." The hologram flickered out of existence and Talia pinched the bridge of her nose. The fallout from this evening was going to cost her dearly, but not as much as it would cost her contractor. The battle for her payment wasn't about anger, it was about reputation, and maintaining it. She cast a sidelong glance at Ijaat. Would what she'd just accepted and sworn to him, affect that? Possibly, but only in the eyes of those who'd already damned her, so it didn't matter.

"Its strange, seeing you after seeing Mia. I saw her at the end of her days, she was so..." Talid tried to find the right word. "Lucid. Utterly insane, and completely aware of the fact and yet in control. You though...You're not insane, you're just...broken."

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Mia. His blood boiled and his heart ached. A friend. A tormentor... What was she to him, the father of a shattered clan? For a moment his eyes swam in rage induced tears, but not a single one spilt, and his response to the Droid when he collected himself was to chuck an empty oil can at it's retreating back. For a moment he sat in silence, trying to think of a proper response to either the Droid or Talia, and couldn't for either. But eventually he looked at her, and spoke almost numbly as his hands turned over against themselves, almost wringing.

"I am a father and husband who could not keep his family safe. A Protector who failed to safeguard the Mando'ade, an Alor who ripped his Clan's name into infamy it may never rise from. I did more harm to Mereel than Vizsla ever did in ancient times. Everything I stood for, by my own hand I wrecked. And I didn't choose the easy way like she did. I refuse to accept death. I will spend my time paying for my crimes in pain and servitude. But if you wonder at our differences, look closer at who we were before we took action. Look at the man I was, and tell me what it must have cost to force myself to live, once knowledge settled. And further, what it costs me still to know even the extremes I went to failed to break our yoke or wake our people."

For a moment, he paused, knuckles white on a bit of wood intended for carving a weapon handle from.

"Everything I was is a lie because of what I did, and everything I am is an affront and dishonor to my way of life. What else should I be, but broken? I have no purpose and can find nothing but repentant service until death. My name is destroyed, and I will never be able to redeem it, and I have no one to carry it on in hopes of such."

A cough and a sigh.

"And the droid is mad. No offense, but you're not my type, even if you are a red head like Aerin was. You'll take my quarters, there's nothing personal in there anyway. Just a better bed I never really use. For anything."

[member="Talia Fett"]

 

[Talia]

Talia's eyebrow arched. "You think her death was easy?" she challenged his view with a dangerous glint in her eyes. She might have been mad, they might have all hated her, but everyone that had stood with her against Ra had a great deal of respect for her even if they all dreamed of killing her. "Do you think it was easy for her to lead people who would have seen her punished the moment the war was done? Not five minutes ago you gave me the choice to take your life, quietly...honourably. Ra never gave her that choice. He tied her to the back of his besu'liik and hauled her through the streets of the Iron City until she died. Then he hung her for a day from the fortress walls."

She recalled the moment in her minds eye with startling clarity. "When they finally burned her body, Death Watch spat on her corpse. She should have been remembered for what she was, not what she became, instead they dishonoured her."

Talia glowered at him. "Be grateful you've a chance to avoid that, to earn back your honour. Because she did not."

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]