Mal
Am I, or the others crazy? - Albert Einstein
|
|
last online Nov 1, 2015 16:27:49 GMT -5
Padawan
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2015 14:44:10 GMT -5
Post by Mal on Mar 28, 2015 14:44:10 GMT -5
Mal felt his cheeks burn slightly as Chias kissed his cheek. He'd be sure to give her a good joke or two about that when they were done here. The soldier smiled as Chias started to excitedly talk about going to a cafe and talking about more shops. "Yes, tea sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can get some of those little tea cakes too, you know the ones with the fruit filling." As they turned to go he kept close track of his countdown, "3... 2... 1... Now." Right on cue the toydarian interrupted them leaving and then Chias started standing up for herself. This was a good thing, he was happy he was getting to see it. And he was also making a mental note to never get on the Historian's bad side. Mal nodded when his name was mentioned, "Most definitely."
Mal watched the exchange between the two with a smile plastered across his face, he only wished he had some snacks for this show. Then it was time to go, but before he did he turned to face the toydarian one last time. "Oh and I'll be keeping my eye on you. And if I hear one complaint, I find one business practice that I don't like- Mal held up his hand pointing his finger at the shop keeper with this thumb straight up, clearly imitating a blaster. -and I'll be back to pay you a visit." He brought his thumb down and his finger up, mimicking the recoil from a blaster and smiled at the alien before he turned away with Chias. Mal remained quiet as they walked the two blocks, only smiling when Chias started cheering.
"It's good that you stood up for yourself." Mal said with a smile, then he put his hand on her head and messed up her hair a bit. Smiling the whole while. "My name is just Mal by the way, my parents were too lazy to write out Malcolm when I was born." He said with a clear and true laugh, standing straight and looking around again. Before motioning with his head for Chias to follow him, after all their talk about it he was now in the mood for a good cup of tea. He did have those tea leaves his father had sent him... but they had wondered a good distance from his apartment. It was now much easier to simply go to a tea shop. So it was time for a trip to a tea shop, or maybe one by a fountain. He liked looking out at the water while he drank tea. It helped him to think, and even relax a bit.
Mal glanced at Chias out of the corner of his eye and the smile mischievously, "Pretty girl like you kissing the cheek of a soldier like me. Might give a guy the wrong idea." His smile never left, but he did look away from her and scratch at the cross shaped scar on his right cheek. That was an old habit of his, he had never entirely gotten used to the first scar, and now that he had the second one he had also never adjusted to that one. He didn't think he ever would adjust to the lightsaber scar to be honest, but it was that one cut that opened up his world and allowed him to discover his Force sensitivity. So he guessed that he had that much to be thankful for, even if it had been incredibly painful at the time.
Arriving at a small stand that sold tea, and snacks, Mal paid for two cups of tea and let Chias order what she wanted. He got an Alderaanian blend, not one of his favorite but it was close enough that he wouldn't complain at all. He had yet to find a decent Corulag style tea here, but he was looking. And keep asking his father to send him tea leaves whenever he needed them. "The Jedi are honored to have you in their ranks Chias. And you certainly know how to entertain your friends too." He said with a laugh before sipping his tea. Mal motioned for Chias to decide what they would do next, or if she even had time to spend out still. He wasn't as concerned, he had the time, and he had a cup of decent tea. Food tended to always be better when it was served on hovercarts. At least that was his opinion.
|
|
|
|
jedi334
Love conquers all...even the Force.
|
|
last online May 8, 2020 23:07:18 GMT -5
Padawan
|
|
|
Apr 7, 2015 0:24:15 GMT -5
Post by jedi334 on Apr 7, 2015 0:24:15 GMT -5
Chias blushed as Mal ruffled her snow white hair as she gave a playful nudge to his ribs, she never had a brother but he though this what it must feel like. She blushed even deeper when he brought up the kiss and her calling him by his full name.
She smirked and skipped ahead of him a few paces as she turned and walked backwards in front of him. “My Master always taught me that deception is just as useful a tool to a Jedi as her lightsaber.” She said they settled in the seats at the café “The kiss, using your full name was just to make that awful little thief squirm more. I guarantee he is looking up Senator Icharus right now just to see how connected she is. Even if she is not, the mere fact that the Senate will be watching will make him think twice before cheating another.”
She ordered her favorite blend of mint and caramel in her tea and ordered some those fruit filled tea cakes Mal had mentioned in the shop “I must say you were quite superb.” she said “If you had become a merchant instead of being a bodyguard, you'd own half the East district I’d say.”
Chias had no real experience in such matters but given the way Mal handled himself she doubted she was wrong, their tea and snacks arrived she held her mug up with a look of true happiness on her face.
“A toast.” She said “To small victories. True I may have not dueled the Overlord and you may not have had an epic gun battle with Mandalore. But it is the small victories that make life worth living.”
The chinked glasses and she took a long sip of tea, savoring the bitterly sweet flavor as she nibbled the flaky crust of the cake, rolling her blue eyes as her teeth hit the pocket of red berry filling.
“First a doughnut and now cake.” Chias said before taking a last bite. ”I may be a tad plumper by the time I return to the Temple.” She giggled and picked another cake.
A relaxed silence passed for a good while between them; Chias brought up a knee and rested her chin on it and looked at him. “Can I ask you something?” she said carefully “As someone who served I mean….these two wars the Republic is fighting…with the Sith and Mandalorians …do you think we will defeat them?”
She did not know why she asked, perhaps because never had any real access to the military save through holo recordings and things she saw on the Net. But Mal was a solider, an ex solider but a solider who had seen combat. If anyone could give her a straight answer it was him.
She realized she might have crossed a line “If you do not wish to answer.” She said quietly. “I understand.”
|
|
|
|
Mal
Am I, or the others crazy? - Albert Einstein
|
|
last online Nov 1, 2015 16:27:49 GMT -5
Padawan
|
|
|
Apr 7, 2015 20:36:54 GMT -5
Post by Mal on Apr 7, 2015 20:36:54 GMT -5
Mal accepted the nudged ribs in playful good humor, offering little more than a soft grunt in response. Not an unfriendly sound, but more one of acknowledgement. The soldier silently wondered what Jedi training was really like. He doubted that it was anything like boot camp, he was willing to bet it was far more complicated. Far more in depth than simple combat training, he felt slightly jealous of the Echani for having been able to be trained. But it wasn't too late for him to receive some form of Force education, and for that he was grateful. Even if it would be nothing more than self taught, he was happy to learn.
Mal let out a light laugh as she described why she had done what she had done, and then decided to repeat himself on one thing. "But my full name is Mal." He flashed her a grin to show he wasn't upset, many people made the mistake of thinking that his full name was Malcolm, but that wasn't the case. "Oh if Ina finds out about this she might be unhappy with me letting her name be brought up. Still, she'd be happy that I helped make sure he treated everyone fair from now on." Truth be told he was probably not going to say much about this unless he needed too, Ina wasn't exactly the connected type. She did what she needed to do and that was that, she didn't go out looking for people to owe her favors. That was one of the things that Mal liked the most about her, she didn't lie or cheat her way to where she was going. She did it through hard work and honesty, if she made a promise, she made sure she kept it.
Mal ordered a Corulag blend tea and sat with Chias, raising his mug when she offered a toast. Taking a light sip he grinned and nodded. "And a blasted good thing I'm not in a firefight with Mandalore, I might not make it out alive." It was only half a joke, he was a solider, but Mandalorians were warriors, they were raised in the heat of battle. Baptized in combat, trained from childhood to fight and survive. And Mandalore was the best of them all, he didn't like his odds in that fight. Trained or untrained in the Force, he didn't like his odds. There was something to be said about that level of skill and experience in one person.
Mal couldn't help but let out a laugh when she mentioned the food and being plumper when she got back to the temple. "I highly doubt you would gain that much in just a couple small snacks." His mind shifted to their mutual friend Alaari for a moment, he then motioned at Chias with his teacup, "Besides, worse come to worse you could always get a work out or two in with Alaari. You two looked like you were close when I saw you both together." He sipped his tea and let the warmth flow through him, it reminded him of home, sitting around the holo-projector with his family watching a film. Or listening to a story about heroes from the past, it couldn't help but bring back good memories. That was probably a good portion of the reason that he preferred tea from his home planet.
Then Chias asked him his thoughts on the war, and he slowly lowered his cup and stared at the table while he thought. He had to stop and consider it for a long while, he supposed to Chias it may seem like he wasn't going to answer. But truth be told he had every intention of answering her. This was quite a loaded question however, and he wanted to consider it from different angles like he would if he were playing a game of dejarik. There was no point in answering before he knew what he was going to say for sure, this meant thinking about the question as a civilian, a solider, and even a bodyguard. A loaded question indeed.
Finally Mal raised his cup and took a sip of his tea before he answered, "Truly it's only one war. The Sith and the Mandalorian's are on the same side, however they act independently which means we're fighting a war on two fronts. It's dangerous and draining on our resources, but it's not impossible to win." He took another sip from his cup before finally looking up at the Jedi and speaking as a soldier, his voice adopting a slightly cold tone, his eyes becoming hard for a moment. His every movement spoke of all the death he had seen. "The easiest way I see to win this war is to cut the head off the body. Kill Mandalore and the Sith Lords and the troops will no longer have leaders." Mal didn't like that portion of himself, and took several breathes that helped him to calm down and regain his normal tone and attitude. "Can we win Chias? Yes we can, but it's not going to be an easy fight. It will be the hardest we've seen in centuries and it will leave scars like none other. But we can win."
|
|
|
|
jedi334
Love conquers all...even the Force.
|
|
last online May 8, 2020 23:07:18 GMT -5
Padawan
|
|
|
Apr 12, 2015 14:53:34 GMT -5
Post by jedi334 on Apr 12, 2015 14:53:34 GMT -5
Chias frowned with a bit of embarrassment when he brought the fact that the Senator would be angry at Mal. “I did not think of that.” She said an apologetic look on her face as she fidgeted slightly with her pale hands “It was simply first thing that popped into my head. If there is any problem I will go to the Senate Tower and apologize to her in person. This was my problem to begin with and I would hate to see you get in any trouble with the Senator because of it.”
She picked another cake and held it between her fingers; the crust slightly darker than the others and had a light coating of sugar on it. She took a tentative bite as her eyes went wide as she tasted blue berry and ate the rest of the cake in one swift motion.
She saw Mal smirking at her as she ate as she casually put the reminder of the blueberry cakes on her plate with a smirk of her own. Her cheeks flushed when he brought up Alaari, it wasn’t as if he was wrong as more time was going by she found herself spending more of her days with the young Torguta padawan.
She felt more at ease with her around and could be herself. There was a part of her that wondered if she should of took her on as her apprentice when she was a youngling, but their relationship would be drastically different and would be more teacher and student rather than the bond they shared now and Chias would never wished to loose that.
“We are very close yes.” Chias said nodding as she wiped a bit of blueberry filling from the corner of her mouth “We share many common interests and her relaxed nature is a welcome change from all the nervous padawans I encounter in the Archive day to day. I swear the mere fact that I am Knight makes them think I will report them to the High Council for asking a simple question.“ She took a sip of tea before speaking “Quite humorous and vexing at the same time I assure you.”
She listened to him speak on the Republic chances in the war and it reassured to hear that the conflict was winnable, but she shook her head lightly when hearing his strategy “No disrespect to your experience but I must disagree.” She called the waiter droid over and order a fresh cup of tea another order of cakes with an emphasis on more of the blueberry ones, she looked back to Mal and continued
“True, both the Sith and Mandalorian hierarchical structure are based on their leadership.” She said “Killing either or both the Overlord or Mandalore seems the most direct and easiest way to disrupt their campaigns, but you forget the Overlord is supported by his Dark Council.”
The droid returned with her tea and a fresh batch of cake as it set it down on the table, Chias quickly grabbing the data pad and paying for this second round before Mal had a chance too, he had done enough for her today, the least she could was pay for some of the meal.
She took a quick sip of her tea and continued. “There is a saying amongst us Jedi. When it comes to the Sith, there is never one but two…a Master and a apprentice. If the High Council were to defeat or kill the Overlord his student would simply take his place and become the new Dark Master. Or perhaps there would be in fighting amongst the Dark Council members to fill the empty vacuum.” She said “The Sith do spend a vast amount of energy plotting and trying to overthrow one another but the one thing they hate more is the Republic and Jedi Order. As for the Mandalorians the principle is very similar, the title of Mandalore more of a symbol than a person. If she were to die the next strongest warrior would take her place.” She picked up two cakes, one for herself and placing the second on Mal’s plate.
“If you ask my opinion the proper strategy would be for the Republic Generals to go to the independently held systems and maybe send one of the diplomatically trained Jedi to the Hutt worlds to purpose an alliance with the Republic. I doubt eithe the Overlord or Mandalore will be pleased with just defeating just the Jedi and Republic, they would want to rule all systems.” She said “Under a single banner, a vast armada could reclaim all Sith and Mandalorians held planets, pushing each force back to their home worlds surrounding them and forcing a parlay.”
She took a small bite and blush slightly “Not that I have much experience in strategy…but I know history and simply killing high ranking officials rarely ends wars…it just makes them worse.”
|
|
|
|