A Familiar Stranger [berserker]

[Mara]

(((Sorry for the delay in getting to this…
Also, hopefully I’ve left you with enough of an opening here…)))



[…from No Rest for the Restless]

Her feet pounded rhythmically against the hard-packed earth as she moved carefully along the forest trails through the morning light. Though she had started in at an all-out sprint, she had now steadied into the relaxing, easy run she could keep up for miles. With each step, each intake of slightly chilled air, her mind seemed to clear ever further, her troubles melting away. There was nothing left to focus on except for the path in front of her. For the immediate moments, she had no struggles. None of it could worry or bother her; all had been pushed away.

Generally just heading to the base’s firing range and letting off a few clips with her rifle was enough therapy to push back any stress or pain, but this time she had just needed to work off some energy. The special operations lieutenant had just returned back to Concord Dawn the previous afternoon after a vacation to Alderaan that had been part suggestion, part order. Her leave technically wasn’t over yet—she had only been away a few days—but she had been going half-crazy in that environment. But her superiors had reluctantly granted her request to return early. The same officers had been trying to do her a favor, knowing that she was always working, training when not actively involved in a mission. But Ambria knew herself, knew that she was at her best when she was serving her people.

She also knew that when she wasn’t keeping her mind and body active, the memories she had worked hard to brick away would leak through the cracks. With her defenses low, she would see him more easily, and the pain would be back. Instead of just coming in dreams—the only part of herself she had no control over—he would be everywhere. A flash in the daytime, those familiar blue eyes showing up in a passer-by for the briefest moment. A recognizable laugh coming from behind her in the crowd. And with no way to combat Turin away while on Alderaan, she had spent most of her time in torture, not the relaxation her COs were hoping for.

Now all she could hope for, as she emerged from the forest and began running along an empty field, was that a new mission would come up, and she could immerse herself in it. The dark-skinned young woman always felt her best while in battle, helping forward the cause of the Mandalorians. But until that day came, Ambria would do her best to keep her mind away from her demons. She would continue her training and practice, working herself to exhaustion. For only then she could keep her away all the pain and the memories. It would be work, work, work, slight breaks for repast, and sleep. Ambria would accept nothing less.

The fields began thinning out as she came closer to the town. She hadn’t meant to run so far from HQ, trying to stay in the vague vicinity of it, but sometimes it just happened when she blocked everything out. Though she could have gone on a fair distance longer, Ambria decided to slow down into a jog and then a walk as she entered the settlement. Perhaps she could grab a late breakfast to satisfy the appetite she just realized she had worked up. Her bite to eat before she set out had all but disappeared. Plus, she enjoyed walking past the shops, restaurants, and various establishments, feeling anonymous in her running gear. A few beings might recognize her from her semi-frequent visits and know her as a soldier from the base, but to most she was just another stranger.

Ambria saw the café up ahead where she had had a meal a few weeks prior with a fellow soldier, Zarik. Recalling the awkwardness of the entire situation, she passed it by without looking inside. That was an experience she was hoping to never relive again. While she had thought she was just having a conversation over lunch with another Mandalorian fighter, the man had other ideas in order for the motive of the meal together. Such a thing had never crossed her mind. Hadn’t for over a decade. But she had made it through with as much grace as she could muster, and they had parted amicably with ultimately no harm done.

Passing still more buildings, the memories of lunch with Zarik threatening to let Turin surface, she just kept walking. Ambria glanced in windows as she moved on her way, looking but not really seeing the wares on offer in them. She no longer felt like staying in the town any more than she needed to. Perhaps she would just return to the base and eat in the mess, Even if she wasn’t actively doing anything, just being in the presence of such order and military training could help her keep the unwanted parts of her mind at bay and hidden away.

A commotion at the small spaceport she was nearing caught she her attention, though, snapping her from her quiet reverie. Though it wasn’t on her way, she detoured that way, her military bearing kicking in and wondering if she could be of some help with anything. She walked slowly, casually, in case there was actually nothing the matter, and she had only heard the clanging tools of a ship mechanic. But she kept her senses alert and her body tensed for action. Rounding a corner deeper in, Ambria saw that the noise was coming from an argument. It looked harmless, but she decided to step closer anyway to the three beings. She raised a hand and called out to them. “Is there something I can help you with?” belatedly wishing she had some kind of military I.D. on her person.

[berserker]

Sunlight began to flood the cargo hold of the Concordia as its bay doors lowered to reveal numerous plasteel barrels and crates containing military supplies from Mandalore. Standing just behind the bay doors as it lowered into an incline was Lee Dova, clad in battle-worn purple Mandalorian armor commonly associated with her clan. As the ramp made contact with the landing pad, the short Mandalorian woman began to walk in a leisurely pace towards the customs officer to do the necessary paperwork. As she was halfway down the ramp, a familiar, synthetic voice called out to her through her helmet’s HUD.

“Leaving so soon?” Her droid companion began. “I was hoping you would join me as I enlighten you on how dreary the trip was.” A’den said, in his usual sarcastic tone. Lee turned around to see the large, Zakkeg-shaped war droid emerging from the cargo hold shadows. It was a wonder how Lee managed to stuff him in there along with more than twenty tons of cargo.

“No thanks, Addy.” She said. “I’ve been listening to your complaints since Mandalore.” The statement was meant to be a joke, but most of it was true. Lee agreed to most of what he said, however. The past few months, she has been tasked to help resupply posts within the sectors currently held by the Mandalorians. As such, it has been a while since she has been in action, and boredom was the only enemy Lee was not too eager to face.

Lee chuckled as she heard her droid did something that resembled a “humph”. She then instructed her droid to find someone to perform maintenance on him within the spaceport. As she turned around, she took of her helmet, her short, red hair fluttering with the wind; the sun’s rays bathed her face with soothing warmth. Lee spent almost a week in the cold emptiness of space and the warmth of Concord Dawn's sun was most welcoming.

After she had finished reporting to the customs office, Lee decided to take a walk around town as the dock workers unloaded her ship. It didn’t take her too long to notice a group of people arguing not far from the space port’s gate. Sensing trouble, she strode over to see what was going on. Before she could confront them, however, a woman, slightly taller than she was, already confronted the group. When she was close enough, she began to introduce herself, in her thick, Manadalorian accent.

“Lieutenant Lee Dova of the 43rd. How may I assist?”

[Mara]

(((I wrote the end of this rather quickly because I was running out of time and wanted to finish it, so hopefully it's not too awful. ;p
Oh, and feel free to control the two men/Twi'lek if you'd like. They're NPCs after all.)))


At her interrupting question, the three beings went quiet and looked at her, the Twi’lek in obvious relief, the two humans with hard glares. Ambria swallowed, took a deep breath, and came further towards the small group that were standing near a large freighter, obviously noticing that she was not wanted by two-thirds of them. But she drew on all her military training and bearing, mustering all the authority she could. She was not a member of the local police, but had felt she must help in some way. Even if it was to keep the two burly humans from beating the quivering Twi’lek to death until the real authorities arrived. Again, she wished she had had some form of identification with her, showing her as a Mandalorian lieutenant. If any of the three beings were Concord Dawn natives, they would likely be more willing to speak with her.

Before Ambria could ask them again about what was going on and how she could help, though, another voice put forth the same request. She turned her head around to see a woman standing a few meters behind her clad in full Mandalorian armor except for a helmet. The dark-skinned woman didn’t recognize this officer—she knew most of those from the base—but this woman had no insignia displaying her as special ops. Just regular army, then. Coupling that with her appearance in the spaceport, she deduced that she was only a supply runner or maybe a transfer. Whatever the reason, Ambria realized she was grateful for the assistance. Not because she was afraid of any trouble from the two men, but because negotiation was not something she was fluent in. She probably would have been able to stumble through some compromise for the trio, but now her odds had just improved.

One of the humans muttered ‘great, a Mandie’ under his breath, and his companion nodded in unhappy agreement. The one who had spoken had a blaster in his hand, casually and absently tapping the barrel against his leg. At the same time, the male Twi’lek put more distance between himself and the two thugs, shuffling a few steps closer to the two women. He was wringing his hands in nervousness, the blue fingers like wriggling worms in front of him.

Ambria moved to the side to allow the army lieutenant better access to the situation. She nodded at her and smiled in gratitude before turning back to the three. Having been the first to arrive, the one who bothered the beings, she decided to take the first move, hoping the red-headed woman would take her lead and jump in when she could. First snapping her fingers to gain the attention of the grumbling humans, she then folded her arms against her chest and put on a stern but kind look on her face. She cleared her throat as well. “Now… can one of you explain to me what’s going on so that we…” she waved a hand towards where the army woman was standing, making sure none of the three forgot the presence of the purple armor. If she herself couldn’t be a visible authority figure, at least someone could. “So that we can come to some kind of agreement?” Ambria pointed at the Twi’lek before either of the two humans could speak. “You, go first.”

The Twi’lek’s words came out in a tumble, and Ambria kept an eye on the two humans, holding up a hand whenever it appeared one was about to interrupt. Apparently he had his own small delivery transport business, shuttling various cargo from place to place. He normally didn’t work in this area of the galaxy, but had gotten wind of an offer he couldn’t refuse. If he completed it successfully, it could gain him more notoriety, and he’d be able to grow his business. Unfortunately the job had been for the two humans who were now standing nearby him, and their cargo was a fairly fragile one. The Twi’lek said the trip had gone smoothly until he had run into some unexpected turbulence from a sudden storm on the other side of the planet. He was a good pilot, he said, but when he later inspected the cargo boxes, a couple of them had been leaking. And now the two humans expected him to pay for the damages, and he was arguing that he shouldn’t have to be responsible for weather beyond his control. “It wasn’t my fault…” he ended, lamely.

At this, the human who appeared to be in charge butted in. “Of course, it was!” He and his partner believed it was entirely the other being’s fault. In his logic, the Twi’lek pilot could have obviously waited for the storm to clear before entering atmosphere. Or he could have gone around the storm. To him, there were plenty of scenarios where his precious, exotic fruits and vegetables did not arrive bruised and broken. He added more, saying he should have expected the Twi’lek’s cargo hold more thoroughly, making sure there were enough straps to secure everything, in case of jostling. In his mind, it was a bust, and the pilot had to pay. He waved his blaster around to emphasize his point.

“Whoa, whoa…” Ambria unfolded her arms and held out her hands, gritting her teeth. What she did not need right now was an upset man waving around a weapon and accidentally discharging it who knew where. Then the situation would really get out of control, especially if the man hit herself or the other woman, or even his companion, instead of his target. Though, it wouldn’t be good for the Twi’lek either. She took a deep breath, keeping her hands out in front of her. “Sir, please put your blaster away… I’m sure we can figure something out here that would benefit the both of you. There’s no need for violence.”

[berserker]

(OCC: I really didn’t know what to do with the NPCs, since I thought you have something different planned for them, but since you’ve clarified that a bit, I think I see where the thing is going. Hope you won’t mind me toppling one of these people. XD)

As Lee confronted the four individuals, she began studying all of them. One was a Twi’lek with a somewhat timid nature, and the two humans confronting him, one of whom was holding a blaster, and both displaying great displeasure of her presence. But none of them made the same impression to Lee as the woman that was already talking to them before her.

The dark skinned woman seemed to be different from the others, as she barely flinched with the man with a blaster. Either she didn’t notice the pistol, or she knows what Lee knows: a civie holding a gun is more of a threat to him than to others. Still, Lee had to diffuse the situation. It would look bad on her report if her supply run was botched up by some idiot holding a blaster. Who knows where her superiors would send her next. As it turned out, she didn’t have to do much beyond standing there. The other lady took charge; pacifying the two men and having the Twi’lek speak out his side of the story. All Lee had to do was stand there and look intimidating. The way the other woman took control of the situation was another reason for Lee to believe that she was no ordinary civilian.

As the Twi’lek relayed his story, Lee couldn’t help but rub her eyebrows out of exasperation. Apparently, the Twi’lek made a mistake and the two humans are blaming him. Before she can say anything, however, one of the humans began waving their gun about, staying adamant about how the whole thing was the Twi’lek’s fault. Lee instinctively moved her hand over her holster, only to find it empty. She cursed under her breath. She left her blaster pistol on the Concordia. Lee attempted to stay calm, as she thought of what she needed to do. As she looked around, there was already an anxious crowd around them. She had to do something, before someone ends up hurt.

“Seems to me, this whole thing was your fault.” Lee began, attempting to talk the man down. All three people, including the one holding the blaster out, were dumbstruck and stared at her.

“If the stuff this guy…” Lee said, as she pointed towards the Twi’lek with her thumb. “…was carrying was so valuable, why not hire a proper courier company to deliver your goods, hmm? That way, you could have had insurance if things like these would have happened. Either you didn’t want your cargo to go through proper Mandalorian channels, or you were just being cheap.” The two humans looked at each other. Apparently this was something they have thought of, as the other one muttered “I told you so”, which the one holding the blaster dismissed.

“Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?!” The human with the blaster said. What Lee said seemed to have stricken a nerve, apparently, as he came closer to confront her, whilst waving his gun at her. Lee merely smiled. At less than half a foot away, he was close enough.

At speeds only another trained soldier could react to, she grabbed the man’s blaster hand by the wrist and pulled him close, taking him off balance. Lee twisted the man’s wrist, forcing the blaster to point towards the ground, which fortunately didn’t discharge. As the man fell towards Lee, his face met her hard forehead as it came crashing towards his nose. This stunned the man, who fell back, and dropped his blaster.

As she straightened up, Lee rubbed her forehead. “That went better than expected.”

[Mara]

(((No worries… I had left it open in case you wanted to put Lee as one of the three in the commotion. So I kind of just improvised… ;p
Sorry for the wait, and for the length of my post…
Also, just an FYI… I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but you’ve been using present tense at times instead of past tense.)))


The wheels in Ambria’s mind had been working overtime. In the background, she could hear murmured conversation, and without looking, she knew that a small crowd had started to gather around them. She needed to figure out a way to diffuse the situation that was close to growing out of control, one with preferably zero casualties, and soon. The human with the blaster wasn’t paying any attention to her pleas to work through the trouble amicably, though, and kept arguing his point that the Twi’lek pilot was at fault. Without any weapons herself, Ambria considered her only likely possibility: using her body and tackling the man, despite the dangers of doing so.

But luckily the Mandalorian newcomer came to her aid, speaking to the man and saving Ambria from diving atop an angry man swinging around a blaster. She continued to keep her hands aloft, though, as the two spoke and argued. Firstly, to keep all three beings at ease as much as she could manage, but secondly, and more importantly, to allow herself to stay alert in case she did need to put her last-ditch effort into motion. Especially since the other woman seemed to be taking a slightly different negotiating tactic with a high risk/reward ratio, a long shot if Ambria ever saw one. If it worked, great; if not, well… Her eyes remained on the man, waiting to see how everything would play out.

Just as she thought, the leader of the two humans didn’t exactly seem all that thrilled at the points that the woman was putting to him. Not surprising, since she had probably just exposed a weakness of the guy. And even if she were wrong in her deductions, it had pushed the guy over the edge. It was a reaction that the dark-skinned woman had expected to occur, though not exactly hoped for. Ambria shifted her balance and slightly bent her knees, preparing herself to act, the movement second nature to her, developed over hundreds of hours of practice over the past twenty years or more.

As the man moved menacingly, and stupidly, towards the armored woman, Ambria watched with wide eyes as she took the man down quickly, breaking his nose. She relaxed her body but stayed alert and shot the Mandalorian a short nod before turning to focus on the situation that was unfolding. The man was on the ground, groaning and holding his face instead of a pistol, blood rushing past his fingers. His companion had stepped back behind him and raised his arms in fear. The Twi’lek, meanwhile, seemed to be recovering rather quickly, no longer shaking and actually allowing himself a small smile. And the mass of onlookers had grown further.

Folding her hands against her hips, she took in the crowd and spoke to them, letting a bit of her officer’s commanding voice come through. “Please, be on your way. We have this matter under control, and it doesn’t concern you. Return to your business. Go. Please, go back to what you were doing. Thank you.” She lifted one hand briefly and made a shooing motion. The beings seemed hesitant to leave but at a hard look from Ambria’s emerald eyes, they started ambling away begrudgingly, a few of them glancing over their shoulders as they did so.

When she was satisfied that they no longer had an audience, she let out a breath and looked back to the woman and the trio of male beings. Now it was time to decide what to do about things. While what the woman had said made sense, Ambria was also reluctant to put all the blame on the two humans. She saw equal fault on the Twi’lek’s side of the matter. A compromise was needed that would satisfy both parties or else this might escalate further, and there would be more than a bloodied nose to deal with.

Ambria cleared her throat, more to steady herself than to gain the attention of the beings. “All right… It seems to me that both of you have a right to be upset.” She glanced in turn at the Twi’lek and then the two humans. They all seemed to agree with this, nodding. “However, I also see fault on both sides.” At this, the humans’ smug looks disappeared and were replaced with ones that were less than happy, and the Twi’lek’s eyes widened in surprise.

“So how about this…” She gestured at the two humans. “You two will pay him for the safe delivery of your goods.” The man in charge took offense at this and made to get up, but Ambria stopped him with her next words, directed at the Twi’lek pilot. “And you will deduct the damaged crates from your fee.” She moved her hands from her hips and folded her arms against her chest. “Are we all in agreement?”

She watched the trio carefully, all of them clearly unhappy but quietly considering the compromise she had given them. Ambria had felt it was an option that would benefit both parties and dearly hoped they would take it. This negotiating stuff was giving her a headache and trying her patience. All she wanted was to get back to base and get cleaned up. Her body was beginning to feel a little stiff, having not had a chance to properly cool down after her run. A nice, hot bath was calling her.

The two men whispered to themselves and the Twi’lek looked forlornly towards his ship. Eventually, though, the Twi’lek must have come to a decision and walked courageously towards the men, offering a blue hand with obvious difficulty. “Deal.” There was a pause, and the human in charge stood up and lifted his one clean hand to shake the offered hand awkwardly. “Deal.” With matters apparently settled, the three started off towards the ship, presumably to finalize which boxes were actually damaged and could be reimbursed.

Watching them go, just in case another fight started out, Ambria finally turned to her fellow Mandalorian and stepped towards her, letting her arms fall to her sides. She nodded at her. “Interesting choice of negotiating tactics there. A bit messy but it worked.” Ambria briefly considering offering her hand but decided against it. They were both army and Mandalorian, at that. So she merely just introduced herself. “I’m Lieutenant Ambria Arcane.” Ambria tilted her head slightly. “Lieutentant Dova, was it? What brings you to Concord Dawn?”

[berserker]

(OOC: Oops, My bad. XD I tend to do that. I'll try to reread stuff next time I post.)

[berserker]

(OOC: There. I did this as fast as I can since I didn't wanna do this during vacation. Plus I wanted you to have time to write since i'll be gone about a week. Also, please tell me when you want Lee to find familiarity in Ambria's family name.)

Lee felt at ease as the other woman began dispersing the crowd away from the scene. She wasn’t the type of person who liked to be surrounded by numerous people. The things that happened in her past made her feel edgy around others, not because she was scared of them, but because of the fact that she might accidentally cause them harm.

She was amazed as to how quickly the other woman diffused the situation, brokering a deal and allowed the three to work it out amongst themselves. After the dark-skinned Mandalorian spoke with the three people, they walked off. The man Lee brought down looked over his shoulder, as he looked at her grudgingly. Lee merely gave him a smirk.

“Interesting choice of negotiating tactics there. A bit messy but it worked.” The dark-skinned woman said as she faced Lee. She chuckled at this, as this was the sort of thing her droid would have reprimanded her of, if not for the lack of entertainment, then her lack of people skills.

“I’m a soldier, not a diplomat. I had to do something fast before someone got hurt.” Lee said. “And that was the only way I know how.” She added, as her sunny, light-blue eyes met with the emerald eyes of the woman, a sweet, pleasant smile crept across her face. Somehow, because she made her laugh, Lee found the dark-skinned Mandalorian to her liking.

“I’m Lieutenant Ambria Arcane.” The woman then said. “Lieutentant Dova, was it? What brings you to Concord Dawn?” Lee wasn’t surprised that she was talking to a lieutenant. Ambria’s movements and reaction to the whole event up to that point gave her away. Lee then caught a slight twitch on the woman’s hand. Did she thought of shaking hands?

“Yes, Lee Dova of the 43rd.” She said, as she offered out her own hand. “I’m here to resupply the barracks and the outpost.” She added as she tilted her head towards her ship. “Can’t leave our boys and girls hungry.” She added again, this time with her usual sweet smile.

“What about you, lieutenant? What brought you here?” Lee asked. “You don’t seem to be from any division I’m familiar with.”

[Mara]

(((No worries.
And whenever you find an opening is fine. It’s up to you. Also, I can PM you if you'd like more information about her husband's family. Let me know.)))


Now that she was closer to the other Mandalorian and had her full attention on the woman, Ambria allowed herself a brief moment to study the other woman. At her first appearance to the small confrontation, she hadn’t recognized her and left it at that. But now she had a moment or two to inquire further in her memory banks. Originally she had noticed the woman’s army insignia on her armor and dismissed any thoughts of knowing her. Now, though, remembering that she had only recently switched from regular army to special ops herself, she knew it was possible that she had been in contact with this Lt. Dova. However, nothing was clicking in her mind; she was sure that she would have remembered a Mandalorian woman with red hair and purple armor, despite how many hundreds of soldiers she had come into contact with over the years. No, she did not know this woman, not before today.

When the other lieutenant confirmed that Ambria had been right about her name, the dark-skinned woman nodded, glad that she had remembered correctly, even after the event with the humans and Twi’lek. At the other woman’s proffered hand, she hesitated, remembering that she had aborted her own attempt at casual pleasantries. But after all, though they were Mandalorian soldiers, they were not currently on duty. Or at least, Ambria wasn’t; she couldn’t be sure about this Dova, since she was still almost completely armored. So she pushed away her silly ideals, and a smile broke out over her dark features as she took the woman’s hand and gave it a firm shake before returning her arm to hang at her side. “Nice to meet another soldier for the cause.”

At Lt. Dova’s explanation of her presence on the planet, Ambria nodded again in understanding, a warmer smile coming out in response. “Of course.” After she heard it, it was a perfectly logical answer. It was also perfectly logical and just human nature that she would have never thought about suppliers such as the lieutenant standing in front of her. To her, who spent most of her time on base when she was not off-world taking part in battles, the necessarily items and supplies were just always there. Plus, she rarely if ever ventured into the spaceport and thus, wouldn’t have noticed any transports unloading cargo for the base. Ambria made a mental note to try to be more aware to all the workings of the Mandalorian military, not just the few select areas she had first-hand dealings with.

Ambria wasn’t at all surprised that Dova would inquire in kind about her. She had almost been expecting it. After all, it was a common conversation protocol: a bit of a back-and-forth question-and-answer session to break the ice. There was no hesitation in her answer; though there was a good deal about her past that she was unwilling to speak of or even think about, her time in the military was not one of them. If anything, she was sometimes too eager to talk about it. Besides, if one went through the right channels, it could all be read in her file anyway. Despite her morals already against its practice, it would do her no good to lie to this Mandalorian.

“A transfer to the special operations base here, actually. I’ve been here about a year now. Apparently the squad was in need of more bodies for missions, and my CO had suggested me for the job, given my skills.” She turned her gaze away from the other woman’s, staring into the spaceport for a moment before focusing on her companion again. “He kept saying that I deserved it and would be perfect for the job upgrade, but sometimes I wonder if he just wanted to get rid of me, and this was just as good an excuse as any.” Her emerald eye twinkled a bit in laughter before calming again. “No matter the reasons… I don’t regret the transfer one bit. I work with some great soldiers here. Top-knotch.”

Feeling she shouldn’t leave the conversation just hanging—this was, after all, not a one-sided matter—Ambria quickly searched her mind for something to ask Lt. Dova. Different options ran through her mind, and she rejected them one by one. She didn’t want to be rude to the lieutenant after having just met her, but she also didn’t want to tally too long before returning to wash up and decompress from her run and her spontaneous negotiation. “So… where are you based out of? Obviously not Concord Dawn…” Her dark brows raised slightly, polite curiosity showing on her face. Hopefully it would do the job of continuing the current topic they were casually discussing without causing it to run too long.

[berserker]

(OOC: I hope you won’t mind me making up an Arcane. I just couldn’t see a familiarity, since that thing that occurred with Ambria’s husband happened when Lee was somewhere remote. If you don’t like it, I don’t mind discussing it in PMs, and maybe do some damage control afterwards.)

As Lee listened to Lieutenant Arcane’s explanation, she couldn’t help but be impressed, even a bit envious. Being assigned to a spec ops outfit meant you had to be an elite soldier, the best of the best, as it were. She wanted to apply herself, but given her history of losing people under her command, and the guilt that went along with it, she decided that she wouldn’t deserve such an honour. After a while, there was a bit of an awkward silence that hung in the air. Small talk really wasn’t Lee’s forte. Though she loved the companionship of others, she was the type who preferred to listen than to talk.

“So… where are you based out of? Obviously not Concord Dawn…” Lieutenant Arcane finally said, to which Lee was grateful. The awkward air between them seemed unbearable to her. Lee then pressed her unruly hair down as the wind threatened to mess it up, not that it was any better earlier.

“Good ‘ol Mandalore.” She said proudly. “Born and raised. I just couldn’t think of not serving her, burned into my blood, really.” Lee added, with a huge smile across her face. “My Commanding Officer prefers that I be kept on the move. Since I’m picky with whom I put into my squad, I’m mostly alone. The Colonel usually sends me on moderate to low risk missions.”

A pang of familiarity suddenly crept into her head. Why hasn’t she noticed before?

“Colonel Lysander Arcane.” Lee said as she faced the Lieutenant, her face filled with the brightness of a child that has recently solved a hard puzzle. “Are you two related? Nasty business some years back with his fam-” She stopped her train of thought at that very moment. If they were indeed related, then what happened to the Colonel’s family also happened to the Lieutenant’s. Lee had a sudden urge of slapping her forehead for her insensitivity.

“He’s a good man.” Lee added with her usual warm smile, hoping she hasn’t offended the Lieutenant. She then looked around the spaceport, hoping her droid would save her from embarrassing herself. Alas, A’den was nowhere to be seen. Typical.

“Hey, err? Lieutenant?” Lee said, fumbling around the unfamiliarly dark world of socializing after an awkward episode. “I was just about to get something to eat, you know, while the dockworkers empty my ship.” She said with as little awkwardness as she can muster. “I know a good diner not far from here. Care to join me? My treat.”

[Mara]

(((Sorry for lateness of reply… Had a bit of trouble with motivation, plus the holiday and all that... (and finding my Age of Empires disc...)
And no worries… this should work out fine…)))


She nodded in understanding at hearing that Lieutenant. Dova was originally from Mandalore. It perhaps explained a little bit of Ambria’s odd familiarity with the woman. Though most of her time spent on the planet had been in her rural community, they had had contact from time to time with denizens of Keldabe and the other cities. In her military travels as well, Ambria had come across not a small number of fellow Mandalorian soldiers actually from Mandalore and not one of the other Mandalorian planets. There was a slight difference in their being that was just inherently there, born of the rich history of the planet.

Ambria felt a growing respect towards the woman, now knowing that they had a bit more in common besides just being female and raised Mandalorian. Not only had they been born on the same planet, but they had followed almost the same path. Of course, their reasons and motives for setting on that path divulged after that. Before tragedy had befallen her, she had never considered a military career. She had been content to work the fields as her father and mother and live a simple, mostly peaceful life, prepared to defend her livelihood at a moment’s notice. Lt. Dova, however, had obviously been a deep patriot since youth and had thought of nothing else.

The dark-skinned woman started and looked sharply back at the red-haired Mandalorian at the sound of a name that was at once both hers and not hers. It took her an extra nanosecond to realize that the lieutenant had not spoken her name but that of a Lysander, her commanding officer and an Arcane. Suddenly, without notice, her unwanted memories came bursting through the hole that the other woman had just cracked into her carefully constructed wall barred against her past. Ambria took a deep breath and looked away from the woman, trying to focus through the haze of soft but penetrating eyes in her mind that overshadowed any memories she may or may not have had of Lysander. It wouldn’t do to let herself fall apart in front of another soldier, especially one she didn’t know all that well and who was probably unaware of the details surrounding the ‘nasty business’ with her family.

Fortunately, Lt. Dova seemed to notice her discomfort and switched topics. The woman suggested taking a meal together, and the distraction allowed Ambria to pull herself back together a bit. Hopefully now the topic of her possible connection to the lieutenant’s CO was now a closed one, and she began to push the memories back, bricking them away. It was time for her to break away from this conversation and to be getting back to base; she really didn’t feel hungry, nor wanted to spend any more time with this woman who had unwittingly dredged up her past.

But despite her earlier need to take a nice soothing bath after her run and the more current need to run from her problems, the prospect of a nearby chair was actually quite attractive. At the moment, she realized she wasn’t sure if she could make it back to HQ on foot. And so, she nodded, turning her emerald gaze back to the lieutenant, and accepted the lieutenant’s offer. She really hadn’t a better option, as all her training overruled her personal feelings. Even in her civvies, she had to act like a lieutenant. Leaving abruptly and rudely after what had just passed between them would only serve to make things worse. “Lead the way,” she finally said after taking another calming breath and indicating with her hand, prepared to follow Lt. Dova to the aforementioned diner.

[berserker]

(OOC: Sorry it took so long. Busy, Busy, Busy. XD Plus I had a block, it was like: “Inspiration? I think not~! Falcon Punch~!” XD I’ll just proceed to make things more uncomfortable with Ambria then. )

Lee breathed a sigh of relief when the lieutenant took her up on her offer. But there was tension between them now. Lee has indeed struck a vein of bad memories with her awkward pickaxe of insensitivity. Still, at least the dark-skinned lieutenant knew how to act with civility, like a lieutenant should, like a true soldier. Despite all her training with the Dova Clan, Lee was only capable of acting like a ruthless grunt on the battlefield. Outside combat, however, she was as mellow and as she was dense. But to be fair, she was technically not on duty.

“Making friends, I see.” Said the familiar voice of her War Droid in her earpiece, as Lee began to lead Ambria out of the space port. This made Lee frown. Friends. Probably not the word she would associate with Lt. Arcane. The only reason she was offering to pay for food was because Lee felt that she owed it to the dark-skinned woman. Both for diffusing the situation with the traders and because she felt bad for bringing up something best left buried.

As Lee walked through the streets of the city, as she led the other lieutenant, she felt the need to make conversation again. She felt the awkward air between them needed to dissipate, lest she won’t be able to breathe.

“The diner’s not far. I hope you like spicy food.” Lee said, in an uncharacteristically loud voice, as if there was a wall between them. With the uncomfortable atmosphere, there might as well have been. “The Togorian there, he owns the place, he makes wonderful Tiingilar. Not as hot as my mother’s cooking, but he’s generous with the meat. He also has the same smile as my Pa when he sees me eat his cooking.” She added, the fond memory of her parents made her smile as she faced the lieutenant.

As they were nearing the diner, Lee tried to make an effort to know the dark-skinned lieutenant better. Also, to sate her curiosity. This was undoubtedly a bad idea, but she has already let the question loose before she has thought it over.

“Anyone waiting for you back home, Lieutenant?”

[Mara]

(((No worries… I’ve gotten a bit behind myself. Life’s been draining my energy and motivation lately, lol.)))


As they walked, Lt. Dova leading her towards the nearby diner, they lapsed into a tense and deafening silence. Ambria had no problem with the awkward quiet and was actually glad for it. It gave her time to further recover from the abruptness of their earlier conversation, forcing thoughts of Turin and her family away more forcibly and permanently. She would not allow her past to ruin the rest of her day. The two lieutenants would just have some idle chitchat for a few more minutes until a chance lent itself for Ambria to politely take her leave. And situation thus ended, she could finally get back to base and get cleaned up. Perhaps a couple hours at the firing range afterwards: shooting at targets usually helped to relax her.

Satisfied that her painful memories were sufficiently bricked away, she allowed her gaze to wander from the lieutenant’s back and out to their surroundings. She was merely curious about this area of the town. Ambria rarely ventured this far from the base, and when she did, she stayed in the more populated areas, had never gone near the spaceport. There was no need; the spec ops base had its own landing pads. Various beings wandered around, some aimlessly, some obviously with purpose. Signs and the names of various shops and businesses caught her attention but only briefly. It wasn’t worth committing such things to memory; this was just a casual walk.

She was just feeling herself again, mostly at ease with this foray into the town when Lt. Dova spoke. Obviously the red-haired woman wasn’t as comfortable with the silence as the dark-haired one was. Her unnecessarily loud voice and banal conversation topic told that story. Ambria turned her eyes back to the lieutenant. Normally, she would have just nodded along in agreement to show that she was listening. But with her walking slightly behind her companion, it wouldn’t have been seen, and so she voiced her thoughts. “Spicy sounds good.”

At hearing Dova mention the connection to her own family, Ambria’s smile dimmed a bit as she thought of her family back on Mandalore. Once in a great while, in her moments of greatest despair and depression, her loneliness would dredge up her homesickness. But now, the thought of home cooking easily made her remember her mother’s own special dishes. The community would sometimes have great picnics and potlucks together with all the families. And despite the myriad of great smells, Ambria had always gone for whatever delights her mother had brought to the tables. Those were always the best.

Pushing away the pangs of a long-lost past, she forced herself to focus back on more present issues. Especially since she had almost missed a turn while lost in her thoughts and had to jog up to catch back up to where the lieutenant was. She hoped Dova hadn’t noticed her momentary lapse. Getting caught daydreaming just wouldn’t do, even if she was technically off-duty at the moment, dressed in civilian clothes and without an ounce of obvious Mandalorian trappings. The other lieutenant, however, was, and just by association, many would assume Ambria was Mandalorian was as well.

Ambria had just resumed her place, at the back and to the right of Lt. Dova, when she almost stopped in her tracks. In fact, she had, for just a few heartbeats before her feet started back up again. The woman’s question had stunned her a bit and confused her as well. There were plenty of beings waiting for her back home at the base. Perhaps most of them were not actively missing her, but she had her fair share of responsibilities and acquaintances back at HQ.

The dark-skinned woman was just about to point this out when her mind finally clicked that the lieutenant meant home as in Mandalore, not the base here on Concord Dawn. Her face paled; the topic of her past had come up again, so soon after she had carefully hidden everything away. The only keeping her walking on was habit; otherwise, she probably would have frozen in place. Ambria’s mind whirled with thoughts, unsure of how to respond, if at all. “Um…” She swallowed a bit loudly and clearer her throat, trying to regain her composure. It didn’t work so well, and she could only breathe out a “no,” which wasn’t entirely true. Even if Turin was gone, obviously the rest of her family would still miss her. But Ambria wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at the moment.

[berserker]

(OOC: What? How dare life! I hope you won’t be too drained though, I mean, we’re gonna take Ordo pretty soon, and I look forward to writing with you again. Also, if you so choose, you get to control the people in the diner. )

Lee sensed some sadness in the other lieutenant’s voice, despite her resolve behind it. Lee never really was a good talker. The Dova clan’s training regime failed to include small talk to their curriculums. Still, Lee was glad she was on the lead. She didn’t want to make it even more awkward between them, which something looking at the lieutenant's face would surface. The simple answer was given a simple acknowledgement.

“Okay.” Lee said, hoping not to make things worse. “Anyway, were here!” Lee said, in an uncharacteristically energetic way, trying to lighten up the atmosphere between them. She raised her right arm outwards, her left arm remained at her side, holding her helm. She then pushed the door that led to the diner, and was almost immediately greeted by a Togorian, his striped white fur bristled in the hot kitchen’s fumes.

“Lee! It’s been too long.” The Togorian boomed. “I left your usual table empty soon as I heard you were on your way here. Sit! Sit!” The Togorian urged them both as he disappeared into the kitchen, obviously filled with other people as they prepared food and drinks of varying smells. Smells of which flooded the small building not far from the spaceport. Lee smiled at the ruckus caused by the Togorian upon himself.

“Thanks, Harruk.” She said with her smile, she hoped to introduce her company, but the Togorian disappeared too quickly for her to say anything. She instead looked behind her with a bright smile. “We get to sit on the best table of the house; next to the kitchen, with a great view of the spaceport.” Lee said as she led the other woman. She soon found the table and sat on one end and offered the other chair to the other lieutenant.

“I’ll make things up to you. You get to order anything you want. My treat.” Lee said. She knew she already said something similar before, but she needed to say it again to feel less guilty.

[Mara]

(((Nah, I wouldn't miss Ordo for anything.
And I'm just gonna try to do posts whenever I can find time; hopefully I'll be able to get stuff out more quickly (or moreso than currently, haha).)))


Ambria was glad when the other woman didn't appear to be hard-pressed to pursue the topic after her short and quiet answer and exhaled softly in relief. It was like a breath of fresh air wafted down the street and washed over her, calming her. She was still a bit shaken but was quickly recovering from the abrupt and unexpected question. Perhaps now the subject of her past and anything remotely related was closed between the two of them. Speaking of such things was the last thing she wanted, and she wasn't sure if she could handle one more prying inquisition.

She needn't have worried; another relief came shortly as Lt. Dova announced they had finally made it to the diner she had mentioned. The woman gestured and led the way inside. As Ambria followed, she tossed her worries aside, bricked up her past, and focused on the present, forcing herself to relax. Still, though, she kept her awareness in tune; her plan to break away from the other Mandalorian at her soonest opportunity had never left her mind.

Once inside, a Togorian almost immediately rushed up to the lieutenant. Belatedly, she realized that Dova must have mentioned the Togorian when she had first brought up the diner, but in the chaos of her emotions, Ambria hadn't comprehended it completely. Her face paled slightly at the sight of the large feline being as she was faced with jumbled memories of the botched mission to the Togorian's home planet. Even though it had only been a minority of the beings who had acted against her team and their Togorian allies, laying her emerald eyes on one so close briefly made her fingers itch for a weapon. Out of politeness and respect, she shoved down the feeling and remained quiet and off to the side while the two spoke.

Luckily, the Togorian left them again, and the lieutenant turned her attention back to Ambria. Nodding in understanding at Dova's directions, they both quickly arrived at the reserved table, and the dark-skinned woman seated herself across from the red-headed one. Now that her alertness had settled somewhat, her senses focused more on her surroundings, the sounds and smells of a busy eating establishment. And surprisingly, they were not completely unpleasant, and she found herself actually contemplating taking a meal before taking her leave of Dova and heading back to base to clean up. It would at least be an upgrade from the mess hall wares.

After a short pause, she smiled and nodded to the other woman in response to her offer. "Thank you. You're very kind. I hadn't been feeling hungry, but... the atmosphere in this place is a bit intoxicating. You were right. I may just order something after all." Ambria picked up the menu laying on the table before her and began perusing it. Most of the items sounded a bit exotic to her, having never encountered this particular cuisine before. "Hmm... Actually..." She set down the menu and looked back up at her companion. "What would you recommend? Perhaps I'll just have what you usually order?" Again, she wondered if Dova had mentioned specifics earlier, but had no recollection of them.

[berserker]

(OOC: Well, I’m looking forward to writing with you again. ;D)

Lee smiled at the other lieutenant’s acceptance to her offer. She knew she probably wouldn’t meet this woman again, but Lee didn’t want to leave things between this stranger sitting across the table as it was. She has a soft heart when it came to other Mandalorians. Eventually parting ways with a heavy awkward air between them didn’t sit well with Lee.

“Well, Harruk’s specialty is Tiingilar, meat and vegetable casserole, really. Very spicy, goes down well with Shig, since the citrusy flavor of the tea clears your nasal passages. Or so my mother says.” Lee said smiling, as she remembered her mother’s expertise with food, a skill rivaled only by her skill with the sword. “I suggest against ordering the Gihaal, though. The fish around here isn’t very fresh.”

As Lee dictated the different aspects of the menu, a man from across the street caught Lee’s eyes. She squinted behind the glass, as she smiled in recognition.

“That man, right there.” Lee said as she pointed. “He used to fancy me. He cooked well, and was good with words. Too bad I couldn’t bring myself to like him after Pallo…” Lee trailed off as her memories of the other man who used to like her flooded her head. Pallo Drik, she remembered. The man who fancied her, and whom she fancied back, until that one dreadful day in Shogun. Lee forced herself a smile as she faced the other lieutenant.

“Men.” She said as she shrugged. “Is there any man in your life, lieutenant? I mean, you’re quite beautiful, if I may say so.” Lee had to say something, lest those dreadful memories would overcome her.

[Mara]

(((Sorry for the wait… I keep seeming to run into obstacles…
Also bear with me, I’m a bit rusty yet, but hopefully this makes sense. ;p)))


She nodded at the lieutenant’s menu suggestions, her unforeseen hunger increasing as the woman spoke. This tiingilar sounded intriguing enough, almost like a stew back home but with a Togorian twist. Spicy, yes, but Ambria could handle that. Anything with actual flavor would be welcome to her. It wasn’t that she disliked the food back at base, but it left a little to be desired at times. Soldiers needed sustenance not pleasure to keep them going. And then, of course, there was the added bonus of the tea; she hadn’t been about to order anything alcoholic and was glad of the mention of the shig drink. All in all, the items mentioned seemed innocent enough, and she felt she could spare the time to at least try the food.

“That sounds good. Thank you. So I think I’ll…” Ambria stopped in mid-acceptance of Lt. Dova’s Togorian food preferences as she noticed the woman was no longer looking her way but out the window instead. At the lieutenant’s explanation and gesture, she turned her gaze in the direction indicated. She wasn’t really interested in random strangers that her companion recognized from her past, but the woman was treating her to lunch after all, and it was only polite to show some curiosity or at least feign it.

The dark-skinned woman couldn’t help thinking that this red-headed Mandalorian had a bit of a problem focusing on any one thing for long, a sort of ADD; maybe it was just a side-effect of her somewhat lonely job ferreting supplies. It’d be completely understandable. Ambria knew she’d probably go a bit stir crazy herself if she had been assigned to the same position as the lieutenant. But luckily for her, she had gotten out of the main army and been assigned to special operations. Impossible to know what she’d be doing now if she hadn’t left for her new post.

Her smile that she had brought on her face along with her feigned curiosity instantly faded once the other lieutenant turned her attention back on her. For an extra few moments she kept her face focused out the window, not able to look directly at the woman sitting across from her. When would these prying questions end? She had thought the subject was closed, and maybe it was, until Lt. Dova was reminded after seeing that dreadful man through the window. Ambria had half a mind to just make up an excuse and leave quickly, perhaps landing some violence on the offending man out in the street as she went by. But no, that wouldn’t be at all appropriate. Better to just squash the question as much as she could and move on.

With a deep breath to calm her nerves so that she could speak without hopefully revealing too much, she finally turned her emerald eyes on her companion’s. Ambria shook her head once with one swift twitch. “Well--No, there isn’t. It’s nice of you to say so, but… no.” She had almost said yes, because in a way, she did have a man in her life. He haunted her thoughts whenever she let her guard down, and she was still passionately in love with him. But Turin was no longer living, and beings would want to have her institutionalized for feeling such things for a dead man. Wanting to lighten the mood and move away from the subject, she added, with a forced smile, “A military career doesn’t really allow much time for such things.”