Location: By a random fire pit - leaning against a log, sitting with [member="Darth Metus"].
Srina didn’t interrupt her Master while he devoured his purrgil as if it were going to run away full speed. This beast was dead. Very, very dead. The silvery woman took her time, choosing little birdlike bites, versus the wolfish gobbles of the man beside her. Truth be told, she was surprised he’d left her alone by the fire pit. Even to get alcohol. The Sith Lord was becoming superstitious in his seat of power and seemed to believe that if they parted ways, even momentarily, one of them might wind up dead.
Usually, in this irrational fear,
she was the casualty. He found it unbearable.
Some part of her wanted to be annoyed by it, considering her experience in war, but most of her simply indulged it. It was nice to be cared for without question. Even if she complained, teased him, or told him that he worried too much. He was always there for her. No matter what, no matter who he had to go through, or even if he was across the galaxy. At least, if they’d been trapped in this mess, they’d had each other. Not that the Jedi Coalition and their Rainbow Squad wasn’t a delight…
To be honest? They just weren’t
droid enough.
The snowy-haired apprentice realized with a start that she had been spending far too much time in Confederate space if she was actually bothered by the loss of their Magnaguard. She had grown fond of them, in their nightmarish, red-eyed splendor. Most said they didn’t have much of a personality to speak of but the Echani disagreed. Some of them stood out. Especially, the ones that hadn’t had a memory wipe in a while.
“Should we try and find the rest of our droids before someone tries to sell the parts?”
If they were hocking bodies then it didn’t seem out of the question for their departed droids to also be on the chopping block. Their memory banks were programmed to wipe clean once grievous damage was sustained to protect the nation, but still, Srina felt a little strange just leaving them.
Dread Queen,
Droid Queen, same thing.
Primrose lips formed a pale smile when she felt [member="Darth Metus"] force himself to swallow his food before speaking.
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”, she commended softly, knowing, all the little things he did or didn’t do because it subconsciously drove her up a wall. He asked if they ought to stick around and her smile remained. Of course, she knew why he was asking, and she shook her head slowly in amusement.
“I think the Ministers will forgive our tardiness if we explain what happened. We can stay for a moment, however, I would suggest finding out what the Coalition needs to help repair this mess.”
There was a nasty bit of damage around the Palace and more than a few bodies that needed to be buried. She didn’t know numbers, however, most people didn’t turn down full battalions of droids to do the heavy lifting for them after surviving something that could have easily gone sideways.
The fire crackled and popped, casting shadows, but Srina simply remained where she was. She was comfortable with the earth beneath her and Darth Metus within reach.
“You did say you wanted a vacation, Master.”
The moonlit woman breathed smoky air, the scent of cooking meat, and exhaled slowly. It was only then that she found a pair of familiar eyes skirting past her person. The crowd hid many faces, some known to her, some not, but this one was a surprise. Her head tilted as she surveyed the older warrior without shame. Echani eyes were sharp, concise, and Srina had learned long ago how to read a room full of unknown elements.
“…Kaine Australis of the Mandalorian Empire is present.”
Her words to her Master were informative and precise. Likely, redundant. She might have held keener visual acuity but between the two of them, he was the former Mandalorian, and a Sith Lord. Srina held conflicting images of [member="Kaine Australis"]. On one hand, she remembered him clearly from a wedding she had been invited to by Rex Taff. He’d been kind to speak to her while she did her best to imitate a wallflower. Social situations like that left her at a loss. He’d been
welcoming. Dare she say humorous? A small pang ran through her heart at the memory of her subsequent departure, but, that was where her impression changed.
The second impression arrived through the eyes of her Master. It was incomplete but the hard words that had been traded none too gently on Mandalore lingered in her mind. She could see and hear events through Darth Metus on occasion—like watching an old holovid. Sometimes the connection was too vivid and even more bled through their Force Bond, such as pain, and anger. Srina had not been physically present but she might as well have been standing right beside him.
What did it mean to find this man amongst their allies?
Not long ago she would have scoffed at the political side of things, but now, it was something she couldn’t avoid. For the time being, she let it be. This wasn’t their space. It wasn’t their rules or their world. She didn’t understand, not yet, but answers would come in time if she held patience.
Not to mention, someone else popped up on her radar. He was a master of evasion, wonderfully lucky, and notorious for surviving. She'd helped drop a
building on him.
[member="Koda Fett"].
Silver eyes narrowed briefly. This was a strange, strange place.
