Pure and Easy, Hyperspace. Locked; Shay & Mac

[Mac Cheydin]

The hypnotising depth of hyperspace was the dominant view in the cockpit of the Centurion’s Blade. The view gave the whole room a bluish hue, making everything seem eerie, almost supernatural, if it hadn’t been a common occurrence when enduring hyperspace travel. For Michael Cheydin, it was a normal view, something he saw almost every day as he worked, but his thoughts were elsewhere than on the methods and sciences behind hyperspace.

His most recent job was fairly completed, all he had remaining was to bring his passengers to the rendezvous he’d been given before they set out. The little crew he’d temporarily taken on were most likely scattered around on the ship, the Zeltron no doubt looking after the whole reason why Mac was ferrying them around. He had no idea where ‘Brin’ or Davies was. Knowing Davies, he was trying to avoid the others. The job had nearly failed, by a hairs breadth, so he would assume everyone was collecting themselves.

Casting his gaze towards the co-pilot’s seat next to him, he looked down upon the vornskr Tysk lying fairly relaxed, as if nothing was amiss. Her pup was nested by her stomach. Sam was rapidly growing; Mac could see that Sam would be a large beast to handle once he grew to full size. But that wasn’t of any concern, no matter what size the pup would grow to be, Mac would be careful enough to train him properly before he even thought to use Sam as an attack beast, like his mothers function was. In itself, it was nice to have company from the two vornskr, even if they couldn’t make conversation. Their extra function of acting as security detail was merely a bonus to the company they gave Mac.

Looking away from the two creatures, he directed his gaze back to the hyperspace tunnel before him. He was relieved the mission was over and that no one had been killed. Everything had been a risk, not only because the mission itself was dangerous, but because faces could have been recognised. Mac would have felt guilty, but it had been unavoidable. They had employed him despite the factor that he was likely to be recognised, serving ten years with the Confederation ensured that you knew more than a few under its command.

Despite the fact that he’d worked with them now, he couldn’t bring himself to trust them any more than he already had. He’d been repeatedly proven that they were people with several layers, unwilling to share the full truth with him. The half-truths he was being fed was grating on the nerves, but he didn’t have a reason other than not liking it to bring it up, and that was hardly a reason. However, a gut feeling told him no one was being entirely honest in their ragtag group. He knew had his own fair share of secrets, but he wasn’t actively keeping them to himself, they just weren’t asking him the right questions.

[Shay Marin]

After quietly making her way out of the cabin Elina and Loran had chosen to rest in, Shay took a brief moment to lean back against one of the bulkheads and close her eyes for a few seconds. Force, she was tired! She'd been run rather ragged even before they'd started this mission, and now that it was nearing completion even her vast reserves of stamina were running dry. The small bit of Force healing she had just performed on the Director while he and the Zeltron were sleeping hadn't helped matters any, but it was better she be further exhausted now than he have to potentially deal with permanent damage later.

Master Marin could have called upon the Force to keep her functioning at peak efficiency--not to mention sane--for many days after this still, but she had decided against it. Prolonging the inevitable crash would only make it worse, she knew from experience. It wouldn't do for Shay to collapse in front of the Council when she finally got home... and besides, something might go wrong later that she'd need to expend the energy on more to deal with. Not that her precognitive skills had warned her of any approaching threat, but it never hurt to be careful.

Due to her levels of mental and physical stress, her emotional controls were not quite up to their usual snuff. The loneliness that normally she was able to keep at bay began to creep up in her thoughts again. Even in the midst of a crowd, Shay was always isolated. Even with her 'friends' on board the same ship as her now, she remained separate. The barrier between herself and the others was of her own devising, a wall of subterfuge and withheld information. That made being alone even more poignant to her mind, because she didn't have to be. It was her choice, her self-appointed duty to go the places less subtle Jedi could not go, do the things 'purer' Jedi could not do.

It struck Shay then that she wanted company, if not needed company. Unfortunately, her choices were fairly slim at the moment as for companions. She was closest to Elina, but the Zeltron was out like a light, and Shay would never be so selfish as to deprive someone of needed sleep just to make herself happier. Daniel was still awake elsewhere on the ship, but the Jedi Master didn't think she could stand up to the look of hero worship in those wounded eyes right now. It would hurt her far too much to endure, and she wasn't much up for personal pain at the moment.

That left the confounding Corellian. A quick outward 'flick' of her Force perceptions showed he was still in the cockpit, just as he had spent most of the trip to Dolomar. It was probable his pets were there too, which was the reason Shay herself had avoided the cockpit for so long. Mac and her weren't exactly friends... she wasn't sure precisely what they were at this point, other than people who had worked together on more than one occasion. He was also far too perceptive for her own good; he'd pieced together the small clues Shay had let slip and correctly deduced the fact she was still hiding her true identity from him.

Beggars can't be choosers, Shay mused to herself wryly. If she wanted company, he was her best option at this point. He might let that sharp tongue of his tear into her for going on with the mission alone after he'd advised against it, and the vornskrs would look at her like she was prey... but the distraction Mac provided would help the loneliness go away, at least for a little while. Pushing herself fully straight again and opening her eyes, Master Marin made her way along the corridors towards the cockpit.

While it wasn't in her to be all that noisy, Shay made sure she couldn't potentially be accused of deliberately sneaking up on the Corellian. His guard animals would know she was coming anyways, after all. Just after crossing the threshold into the cockpit proper, she stilled her approach, leaning one shoulder up against the bulkhead and appreciating the view of hyperspace for a few seconds. "Mind if I join you?" she eventually inquired in a soft voice. Shay had done her best to keep the weariness out of her tone, but she hadn't been entirely successful to her chagrin.

[Mac Cheydin]

Staring at hyperspace had never been awfully entertaining and as a result Mac found himself growing bored, but it was a boredom he could easily endure. On space travels it was something to expect, and no doubt its arrival was faster than usual because Mac hadn’t exactly been idle lately. All this infiltrating of hostile bases had made him adjust to the time without much boredom coming in, but now, back on his ship and free from the need to be constantly vigilant. Life was rather dull, really, when compared to a few days worth of excitement. Not that Mac wasn’t happy with what he had, it could be worse, after all. He doubted he could be more unlucky than he already had been, though.

Snapping to attention when he heard the sounds of someone stepping up the hall leading to the cockpit, he turned his head and swung the pilot’s chair to see who was approaching him, and not hiding out in some corner on the ship like everyone else. He glimpsed ‘Brin’ coming towards him. Tysk started growling, fidgeting in her position. Casting the creature a glance, he barked a sharp command and the vornskr fell still, her growls dying away. Returning his gaze to Brin, he gave the vornskrs behaviour no more thought. Brin was probably just Force sensitive, along with another quarter of the galaxy.

He let his gaze study her as she came, noting that like most of them, she looked just as tired and worn out. He experienced a brief flash of annoyance and anger when he remembered back to when she’d blatantly ignored his advice on how to proceed when the Zeltron had been captured. Her actions had been suicidal at best, but he quickly put a lid on those emotions, knowing that bringing it up now was not the time.

"Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” he said, gesturing vaguely towards the two free seats in the cockpit. “Plenty of room.”

Mac wondered what she was doing here at all. If the recent days had told him anything, they had told him Brin was avoiding him like the plague. He didn’t understand why either, but why when it came to women would be a subject that he wouldn’t understand either. The options were fairly limited as to what he could do about it, but it seemed now she was deciding to stop avoiding him.

“I don’t know what to call you anymore,” he stated, fixing her with a quirked eyebrow, but keeping his expression fairly neutral. “Brin, Nara,” he flicked his hand slightly, signifying his confusion, although the motion was probably superfluous. His voice held no hostility towards the idea that he didn’t know her real name, and he was obviously hinting to the fact that he didn’t believe either was her real one.

[Shay Marin]

Shay stifled a regretful sigh when the vornskr started growling. This was exactly the reaction she'd been expecting, and the reason why she'd been giving Mac such a wide berth. He'd had the mother and pup constantly around, and Shay hadn't wanted to keep provoking an aggressive response from the adult guard animal. Especially not in front of the Corellian... he was a perceptive individual, with an annoying (for her) habit of jumping to the right conclusions. While it was unlikely that he'd come to the correct conclusion as to her nature on his own, there was always the faint possibility he might make a lucky guess. This time she seemed to have dodged the blaster bolt though; his emotions were momentarily negative towards her, but suspicion wasn't part of the mix.

"Not at all. Plenty of room."

Giving a small nod at his acceptance, she maneuvered herself towards the empty seat that would allow her to face Mac the easiest. Since he seemed inclined to ignore the vornskr's hostility towards her, Shay resolved to do so as well. After all, acting wary of the creatures would be just as potentially revealing as their reaction to her presence. Sitting down felt surprisingly good after all she'd done that day, and this time she wasn't able to hold back the sigh that escaped her lips as her aching muscles reported their relief at her new position.

"I don’t know what to call you anymore. Brin, Nara."

I just arrived here, and he's already fishing for information. Shay had to hand it to Mac--he was persistent as well as observant. He even gave her a run for her credits on both counts. Amusement mixed with concern as she returned his considering look, one hand absently reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck. Her body's tension always seemed to focus itself there, for some reason. "I'm not going to insult your intelligence by attempting to convince you either of those are my true identity," she murmured just loud enough for him to hear her in the relatively close confines of the cockpit. "You already know better."

Dropping her hand back down into her lap, Shay offered the Corellian a small shrug of her shoulders. "My name isn't all that important," she continued in a more normal register, echoing her earlier words regarding what her occupation was from back on Taanab. "I've had a lot of them over the years. Not sure even I can remember them all off-hand. Brin's more 'real' than most, at least." It was as much of the truth as she could give the man without fracturing her cover beyond all purpose. "It's what I do that matters, not what I'm called."

Because they so badly wanted to do so, Shay allowed her eyes to fall closed again for at least a short while. After a moment her hand rose up again to allow her to pinch the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She felt another headache coming on, which she had expected would happen. This one wasn't likely to be as bad as the one from Gerrenthum at least--here she'd only had to blank memories, not alter them. "Not that you've been especially forthcoming with your full name, I'd like to point out," she concluded, her tone decidedly wry at this point.

[Mac Cheydin]

”Brin's more 'real' than most, at least."

“I’ll call you that then,” Mac concluded, happy that she hadn’t tried feeding him any lies. While he would have much preferred a real name, a solid one for which he could identify her, it did seem like it would be impossible to get out of her, she was guarding it closely, he didn’t see it as any of his business to try to pry it out of her hands more than he already had. He was nosy most of the time, but he knew when to leave things alone.

"It's what I do that matters, not what I'm called."

“How heroic,” he commented dryly. Finding that statement rather silly from his point of view, but then again, he was a Corellian Confederate soldier turned smuggler. What he did normally wasn’t exactly something to be respected for. While Brin might not be talking about respect specifically, respect was what the line of thought usually brought you when ’what I do’ was mentioned. Respect was overrated, a petty thing people wanted to collect just to feel superior to those who didn’t do all those nice things. While Mac was not a glory hugger, he didn’t think any less than highly of those who did good deeds, but respect wasn’t something he’d give them. His respect they’d earn once they helped someone else other than the obvious charity cases.

Not that Brin was anything like that. Hells, Mac didn’t even know what she did for a living. He didn’t think she really was a bounty hunter, but other lines of work didn’t seem to fit either. She had skills in a lot of areas, but nothing specific.

"Not that you've been especially forthcoming with your full name, I'd like to point out,"

His expression turned smug, finding her words humorous. “You’ve got it all backwards, I’ve been perfectly forthcoming. You just haven’t been asking the right questions.”

With a small chuckle he leaned back in the chair. “It’s Michael Cheydin, if you wanted to know.” He flashed lopsided smile her way.

[Shay Marin]

"How heroic."

A pained expression tightened her features before she could will it away. It was an indication of the weakened state of her emotional controls that the reaction had ever made it to the surface at all. Mac didn't seem entirely serious about his words, but they prodded her in a particularly sore spot of her conscience all the same. "Don't you start on that now," Shay cautioned him vehemently, opening her eyes again and pinning him with a wary look. "I get enough of that out of Daniel, I don't need to hear it out of you too." She tried to make it sound like nothing more than another joke of hers, but she only managed to get it there part way.

Allowing herself the luxury of another sigh, she let her head fall back against the seat's support. Since Mac didn't deserve the glare she knew had formed in her amber eyes, she directed them both on a fixed point of the cockpit's ceiling. "He keeps looking at me like that, expecting me to put everything to rights like I'm some kind of guardian angel or other kriffing foolish children's story idea. Frack it all, but it drives me crazy." Her fingers went back to work on trying to alleviate some of the muscle spasms in her neck. "The whole way back from Gerrenthum he was like that, and it was all I could do not to yell at him for it." The chuckle that escaped her at this point was decidedly rueful.

Shay wasn't certain why she was suddenly opening up to this man in the slightest degree. If she were to venture a diagnosis, it would be that this was a symptom of the incredible pressures she'd been under the last few months finally forcing their way out of their containment. In the end she supposed it didn't matter; nothing she was telling him was particularly sensitive, or anything he hadn't already figured out on his own. Besides, after this mission was done, there was no telling if she'd ever have to see the man again, to say nothing of facing any potential consequences from her actions now.

Now why does that fact suddenly bother me so damn much? Force, I'm slipping even worse than I thought. With a focused mental effort, she shoved her unwelcome feelings back under wraps and hoped they'd stay that way from now on. She would not get attached to yet another person on this mission. Especially not someone who had already proven himself to be so... problematic.

"It’s Michael Cheydin, if you wanted to know."

"I did," she admitted without hesitation. "But I didn't want to pry any more than I already had." Bringing her gaze back down to him, she summoned forth a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks." Mac hadn't had to give her any information, especially not after she'd so blatantly refused to part with her own identity. Shay was pleased he'd chosen to tell her anyways. "Nice to meet you, Michael," she couldn't resist adding at the end, sounding to be in a bit better spirits than before.

[Mac Cheydin]

"Don't you start on that now,"

Mac blinked, wondering where that came from. He looked positively nonplussed, taken aback by her tone of voice. While his statement could have been taken as a bit offensive, such a strong response wasn’t warranted in his opinion, but when it came to personal matters of someone else’s mind, his opinions were void. No doubt Brin was feeling weary enough as it was, with that weariness came a certain degree of loss of ones emotions, Mac understood as much.

"I get enough of that out of Daniel, I don't need to hear it out of you too."

“Oh, oh,” he said, realising why she’d reacted like that with a flash. He couldn’t help but find it funny, because in all honesty, watching Daniel around Brin had been a special event in itself. He hadn’t seen hero worship like that since his early days in the Confederation academy on Dolomar. He let out a deep laugh, keeping it brief as he really didn’t want to laugh at someone as apparently dog tired as Brin was.

“Talk about ego!” He exclaimed softly. “Hero worship is the last thing that comes to mind when I think about you,” his expression turned into a wide grin, which he wiped off his face quite quickly, this wasn’t the time to mock her, too much at least.

”Frack it all, but it drives me crazy."

Sobering up, he settled for giving her a sage nod, a bob of his head that looked strangely out of place on his persona. He did understand her frustration, however, as just by seeing Daniel going at it with his hero worship made him annoyed. He conveyed a blinding naïveté by hero worshipping anyone in the first place, and his fawning over Brin was just simply annoying. Highly inefficient when it came to the mission.

This whole situation was surreal to Mac. While he wasn’t going to object to Brin finding company with him, it did seem odd, and there were better people to talk to on the ship than him. He tended to treat things with a fair amount of spite and he was cynical to say the least. He’d been described as not pleasant to be around at all. But her odd choice of confidant wasn’t the most out of place thing, it was simply the fact that she seemed to need one.

"The whole way back from Gerrenthum he was like that, and it was all I could do not to yell at him for it."

He gave a slow nod, remaining silent at first, mulling through the information she was giving him. He was at a loss for what to do, rarely did anyone seek anything apart from aid in the practical sense of him, but as far as reassurance in the form of words, he was as inexperienced as a rookie pilot on a first mission. Action was what he knew; words were not his strong suit, unless he was insulting someone.

“Well… why don’t you just tell him to stop?” He said weakly, taking the most direct path as was his usual tactic when it came to methods like this. “If he knows that you don’t like it he might stop… maybe?” He stuttered out, feeling very much out of his league.

"Nice to meet you, Michael,"

“Uh, Mac’s fine,” he murmured. No one had called him Michael for years, and even then the selection of people who had was thin. Close family, mostly. He gave a slight cough, looking away from Brin and gazing at Tysk and her puppy instead. The two had settled down from the earlier sign of aggression at Brin’s entrance.

[Shay Marin]

"Oh, oh."

The sounds and sensations of Mac's amusement had Shay openly rolling her eyes at him. See, that's what you get for letting yourself become overtired enough that you actually resort to being defensive about something. It had been many years since she'd had to worry about such responses. If she was irritated at anyone at the moment, it wasn't Mac but herself instead. "Go ahead, laugh it up flyboy. Glad to see someone apparently enjoyed what I've had to deal with." Her potentially severe words were belied by the small smirk that had begun to toy with her mouth. Shay supposed it was rather funny, from a certain point of view.

"Talk about ego! Hero worship is the last thing that comes to mind when I think about you."

"See, now you've got me wondering what the first things are." At any other time, under any other circumstances, Shay never would've said such a thing. She might not have even thought such a thing. Jedi Masters didn't answer such open-ended questions with such... provocative answers. Recognizing her mental stumble didn't do her much good though; once the words had been said, they could not be unsaid. The damage was done. Clearing her throat slightly, she tried to push past the conversational stumbling block before her pause was too telling. "Of course, given your previous expressed opinions of me... I probably wouldn't find them very flattering."

What the frack is wrong with you sister?! Her internal monologue asked the question even though the answer was quite obvious. She'd pushed herself too hard and too far. Shay had thought she could make it alright through this one last mission for the Council, but she'd been wrong. Oh, she'd handled the actual mission part fine; it's the aftermath she wasn't dealing with so well. If it wouldn't have made an awkward situation (for her at least) any worse, Shay might've just gotten right up, walked out of the cockpit, and pretended the whole conversation never happened.

"Well… why don’t you just tell him to stop? If he knows that you don’t like it he might stop… maybe?"

Gathering herself back into a more rational perspective, Shay swallowed down yet another sigh. "I tried that," she replied quietly, her amber eyes flicking away from him towards the front viewports and back as she forced herself to not start showing further signs of emotional distress. "The first time was just a few hours after I'd met him. The last was when we landed on Corellia. He apologized a few times, but... he's got the idea stuck in his head now, and I can't seem to shake it loose no matter how hard I try."

Unfortunately, there seemed to be no way to get Daniel to lower his opinion of her--at least, no way she was willing to go. Telling him the truth might do it, he probably wouldn't appreciate all the lies she'd told him about her life's story... but she couldn't. Committing some atrocity or another in front of him would effectively demonstrate her lack of moral purity... but she couldn't do that either. It seemed she would simply have to live with Daniel's hero worship of her for the time being. "Didn't mean to make it sound like I was asking you to fix my problem," Shay spoke up again with another shrug. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Uh, Mac’s fine."

"Whatever you say," she returned evenly, wondering at his apparent discomfort. Then again, Shay wasn't one to criticize other people on what they preferred to be called. Even as honest as she was when she was able to be a Jedi, she didn't go by her full first name either.

[Mac Cheydin]

"See, now you've got me wondering what the first things are."

By pure reflex Mac waggled his eyebrows suggestively. His wide grin properly conveying the pure glee at the fact that she’d left herself open to his reaction, instead of ignoring his comment altogether, which would have been what he’d expected of her. This surprise turned out to be rather pleasant, for him at least.

“I could show you.”

"Of course, given your previous expressed opinions of me... I probably wouldn't find them very flattering."

“Oh really?” His suggestive manner was still firmly in place. Despite the apparent weariness of the woman before him, and the fact that she looked very uncomfortable by the idea of what she’d just done to herself by responding to his suggestive words.

A pang of guilt made his emotions fade away and be replaced by remorse. Brin wasn’t exactly stable when it came to emotions, and all he was doing was pulling her leg and taking advantage of her mental shields being down. She was obviously uncomfortable with the can of worms she’d accidentally opened, the least Mac could do was leave the can alone. It wasn’t exactly a good tactic to try to rile her up any more than she already was.

”He apologized a few times, but... he's got the idea stuck in his head now, and I can't seem to shake it loose no matter how hard I try."

“I’d suggest slapping him around a bit, but you don’t seem the type,” he said, with a small lopsided grin. His words were a joke, of course, even if Davies deserved it; it would be hard to hit him. It was his own fault for making him appear so small and pathetic most of the time.

"Didn't mean to make it sound like I was asking you to fix my problem,"

Putting up his hands slightly he shook his head, backtracking a bit. “Oh no, didn’t sound like that at all, just trying to be helpful, that’s all.” Overall, his efforts in trying to sound nonchalant about it only worked about half way, this lie was an easy one to break.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you."

“No need to apologise,” he insisted. “People snap at me all the time.”

Mac felt like he was slipping and sliding on Dolomarian ice. He was a fish out of water and honestly had no idea what to do, other than sit there in silence. It was a odd sensation, he hadn’t felt like this in a long time, it was frustrating and annoying for one who liked being in control like him.

[Shay Marin]

"I could show you."

Part of her wanted him to. The same part that knew exactly what he was implying he could 'show' her. Shay's eyes shut tight in a potentially futile attempt to keep the reflection of that emotion from becoming visible to Mac's all too discerning gaze. This was bad... very bad. Master Marin had sworn to herself that she'd never let what had happened on Tatooine come back to haunt her, and now she found herself breaking her word for the first time in she wasn't sure how long.

"That... would be a bad idea," she managed to reply faintly. Master Marin's hands tightened their grip on eachother in her lap as she dealt with her internal struggle with more force (no pun intended) than she normally had to. A muscle jumped along the line of her jaw as she grit her teeth tightly together. Shay hated this, hated the betraying flush that momentarily warmed her cheeks, hated that she'd even let her mind wander that far afield at all. Nothing constructive or useful lay down this course, and she shouldn't want any of it to begin with.

"Oh really?"

Frack and double frack. The Jedi kept her apparently too loose tongue in check this time, resisting the urge to try to cover up her tracks even more. Not like she hadn't done an awful job of it the first time around anyways, right? Fortunately, she was saved from any further temptations down that road by the abrupt switch in Mac's feelings. Shay wasn't sure where exactly the sudden guilt had come from, but she was glad of it. Drawing in a deep breath, she forced herself to release it slowly, letting some of her embarrassment at having placed herself in such a compromising position to begin with escape with the exhale.

"I’d suggest slapping him around a bit, but you don’t seem the type."

Feeling at least a narrow sliver more like her usual self, Shay allowed her eyes to open again and refocus themselves on Mac. "No, I'm really not," she agreed with his teasing assessment of her, one corner of her own mouth quirking upwards in echo of his own lopsided grin. "I feel bad enough just telling the guy to lay off as it is; he always looks so damn wounded when I do it. I could never go that far." There, that was better. Focus on another subject, any other subject... whatever it takes to get your mind set straight again until you can leave gracefully.

"Oh no, didn’t sound like that at all, just trying to be helpful, that’s all."

Great... now he was uncomfortable. This hadn't been at all what she'd had in mind when she'd sought out his company in the first place. Of course she placed the blame for where the conversation had gone squarely on herself; she should've kept her mouth shut about such personal concerns as they were discussing now. "I know, and you were, I'm just realizing now what I must've sounded like. I don't normally... vent to other people like that."

"No need to apologise. People snap at me all the time."

"Maybe so, but I don't. And you didn't deserve it." Shay took one of her hands up on a swipe at her hair, fingercombing the strands back out of her face in a frustrated gesture. "You're really... not seeing me at my best at the moment." That was like saying Coruscant had some people on it. "I didn't mean to inflict myself and my... weakness... on you like this."

[Mac Cheydin]

"That... would be a bad idea,"

Mac raised his eyebrow, regarding her with a small amount of something that could be called wonder. Her reactions were different from what he’d expected. He watched with interest the emotions playing across her figure, many seemingly half suppressed at her attempt to strangle them out of existence, but he remained silent still, knowing that this was a place he really didn’t want to go to at the moment, especially with her acting like that.

"I didn't mean to inflict myself and my... weakness... on you like this."

He waved his hand dismissively, wafting the whole topic away like an annoying insect. This was not what he wanted to talk about, it was making him nervous and all they were doing was going in endless circles, one apologising to the other, one saying it didn’t matter, and so the circle continued. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience; he doubted either of them had been expecting to go into a conversation like that when Brin had entered.

While a change of the subject would be painfully obvious, Mac was willing to sacrifice that for the chance of getting out of the hole they were digging for themselves. Mainly he had to find something neutral for them both, normal conversation wasn’t something he experienced often, and when he did, he liked settling for the middle ground, rather than be bested himself. As one not used to using words, he much preferred practical subjects.

“Who’s the guy we pulled off Dolomar anyway?” He queried in a rather unsmooth manner. The object of their mission seemed like as practical subject as any, not to mention he was curious as to who the man was to warrant such a dangerous mission to extract him. As someone not a member of the Alliance, he hadn’t been privy to much other than the basics, which was what they needed to get the job done. He didn’t mind, the Alliance wasn’t exactly people who took their security lightly.

“He didn’t look very good. The Confederation always was nasty with torture, even if it isn’t obvious; the signs are there for everyone to see.”

[Shay Marin]

"Who’s the guy we pulled off Dolomar anyway?"

Shay felt like blessing Mac when he came up with the subject change. There was no mistaking it for anything other than what it was, as there had been no subtlety in the act. For once, Shay decided she was fine with chucking subtlety out the airlock, so long as it meant they could move away from subjects that didn't concern her so very personally. Neither of them seemed particularly inclined on focusing any further attention on what had been said--and not said--previously in this conversation.

"I probably shouldn't tell you that," she replied, some of her sense of humor returning to the fore of her behavior. "Breach of operational security and whatnot, y'know? However, it's not like you're not in as deep as the rest of us already with the Confeds for what we just pulled, and somehow I doubt you'd want to go blabbing to anyone else." His antipathy towards the Confederation had been all too easy for her to pick out from the beginning, even if she didn't know any of the details behind why he had served them at all, to say nothing of why he'd left.

"Besides, it doesn't seem quite fair that you're the only one on board who risked his neck that doesn't have an idea of what's going on." An amused smirk rested momentarily on her lips. "And since he's probably going to be mad at me anyways one way or another, I might as well take advantage of the situation." While she hadn't exactly gotten to know the guy yet, she didn't anticipate him taking the revelation of her true identity all that well. "Obviously, I'd ask that what I say doesn't go beyond these bulkheads."

Shay gave another absent swipe at some of her hair when it decided to fall into her face. "His name's Loran, and he's high up in Alliance Intelligence, from what I'm given to understand. Not that you'd know it from how he got himself captured on Kashyyyk during the ground battle there." Oh yes, she hadn't quite forgiven him for that yet. Not that it had been his fault, but still, his being taken prisoner had thrown a lot of hydrospanners into a lot of people's plans, not just her own.

"He didn’t look very good. The Confederation always was nasty with torture, even if it isn’t obvious; the signs are there for everyone to see."

The Jedi Master grimaced slightly at the memory of what the man's abused insides had felt like, to say nothing of the exterior damage on his body. "He's not very good," she confessed, her tone again approaching a solemn one. "But he should hold together until the Alliance doctors can fix him up. Of course, I'm not a doctor, I'm barely a field medic, so I probably shouldn't be giving prognoses," she continued in a rueful manner. "He seems to be stable now though; I checked on him before I came in here."

[Mac Cheydin]

”… I doubt you'd want to go blabbing to anyone else."

“Gossip isn’t my style anyway,” Mac said wryly, finding the whole idea of him telling anything at all to the Feds quite funny. He was not planning on having any conversation with a Fed that didn’t involve his blaster aimed at their head. They’d given him enough misery in the past, he wasn’t eager to give them another chance to do so, unless he had a chance to bite them back. By default, anyone wearing the Confederate uniform gave him a sudden urge to punch them in the face, female or male. He did have a lot of bottled up hate directed up at them, this hate rarely got out of it’s hiding place, but it leaked out every now and then when the Confederation was mentioned.

"Besides, it doesn't seem quite fair that you're the only one on board who risked his neck that doesn't have an idea of what's going on."

He sent her a mild glare filled with contempt. The idea that Davies of all people had more inside knowledge about things frustrated him to no end. He liked to be solidly in the loop of every job he did, preferably the one in charge. This mission had fulfilled neither of his preferences. He’d been flying with blinders, knowing only the near necessities and even that wasn’t enough to satisfy him entirely. His lack of information had not threatened the mission as a whole, which was why he’d remained fairly unwise on the whole matter throughout.

"Obviously, I'd ask that what I say doesn't go beyond these bulkheads."

Shooting her a pointing look, his mouth was set in a straight line. He looked offended that she’d even consider the fact that he’d run off and blabber on about something such as this. Unlike others, he didn’t thrive in the passing on of information. Disliking snitches of any kind, he was very careful with the information he held.

“What do you think?” He shot at her, deciding to not answer her bid for reassurance of the matter.

”Not that you'd know it from how he got himself captured on Kashyyyk during the ground battle there."

Loran, Loran, did he know that name? No, he didn’t think he did, he’d heard it somewhere, but he couldn’t for the life of him recall where. It could be anything though, as some names were fairly widespread in the galaxy, being a well travelled man, he heard some names quite a lot.

“We all have our bad days,” he said with a shrug. In general, Intelligence made him think of slimy little suckers that constantly went on with things under the tables, but that image was one he just couldn’t put on the tortured man’s face. While he’d looked like a right mess, he hadn’t looked any less fit than a normal army soldier; his whole build was one of a soldier, or maybe even a commando. Intelligence didn’t make sense, but then again, nothing made sense anymore.

"He seems to be stable now though; I checked on him before I came in here."

He gave a pleased nod. “That’s good, wouldn’t want him dying on us before we got to the rendezvous. Wouldn’t look good to the Alliance.” He chuckled at the idea.

[Shay Marin]

"Gossip isn’t my style anyway."

"So I've noticed," Shay returned in a bland tone, with only her eyes expressing the smile that she succeeded in keeping off her lips. Once again her curiosity decided to torment her again with the idea of asking Mac what had happened to him in the Confederation military, but she shoved the thought aside just as she had all the other times it had popped up. His comment about her not asking the right questions aside, Mac by all appearances was a private man, and she'd pried plenty into his past already.

Nor did she want to find herself empathizing with him over yet another emotion of his, one even more potentially destructive than desire or grief. She'd managed to keep her deep-seated anger at Dolomar and its Confederation pretty much out of sight from everyone else, even during their time spent on the planet. If Shay had anything to say about it, she'd keep things that way. Even if she were at liberty to be open and free with her background details, that was one part of her past she didn't intend on ever willingly exposing to anyone.

"What do you think?"

Now it was her turn to hold up both hands in a warding gesture. "I think you'd have done that whether I'd asked you to or not," she replied calmly, making it clear she believed wholeheartedly what she'd just said. Him being upset with her over one thing or another wasn't new, and at least it was something she knew how to deal with to a certain extent. Shay didn't enjoy feeling such things from him, but they were easier to handle than other emotions. "The words weren't meant to be a slight, Mac. Just a statement."

"We all have our bad days."

"Fair enough," Shay allowed easily, hiking up her feet onto the seat and resting her arms on her knees, folded loosely. Honestly, she'd had to find some other position to be in so she wasn't tempted to close her eyes again. She didn't think she'd fall asleep right here in the cockpit--she was still too tense for that--but she might've come close enough momentarily to allow her mind to wander. Master Marin definitely didn't want that.

As far as bad days go, this is probably one of my worst, in a number of ways. Going to Dolomar had only been the tip of the iceberg, to coin a phrase. However, being there had only made a bad situation worse, as far as her wobbling mental equilibrium went. By the Force, Shay never wanted to go back to her birthplanet ever again, she didn't care how good the reason was! Another Jedi could do the rescuing next time, she was done with the iceball forever.

"That’s good, wouldn’t want him dying on us before we got to the rendezvous. Wouldn’t look good to the Alliance."

Shay couldn't help but give a small chuckle herself at that one. "No, that it wouldn't. There'd be a lot of upset people to be certain. Not to mention I'd hate to have gone to all that damn effort just to bring back a corpse!" If anything could've made today darker in her eyes, it would've been if someone had perished during the breakout. Fortunately for her conscience in this regard, everyone on the 'team' had survived. It was something she could comfort herself with, if nothing else.

[Mac Cheydin]

”Not to mention I'd hate to have gone to all that damn effort just to bring back a corpse!"

Mac let out a little laugh and nodded. As far as he knew, which wasn’t saying much, Brin had done a lot to even get this mission to work. She’d recruited Daniel, taken a side trip to deal with him, which he still couldn’t believe she’d done without ulterior motives, and then recruited him to act as a pilot. He found it hard to believe that she wasn’t officially in the Alliance either, why she should stick her neck out like that for them when she didn’t even work for them escaped him, but then, he was quite a mercenary himself.

Now the silence returned again. Mac saw clearly that they had very little within the ‘normal’ range of conversation to talk about, and most of the time it seemed one of them, mostly him, got annoyed at something the other said. He rarely ever grew angry in the real sense when involved in conversations, but even the annoyance put a mark on the conversation. So as of now, their conversation was limping along like a wounded kath hound, it made Mac realise all the more than he’d spent far too many years in solitude than was healthy for the mind. He worked fine with people when it came to the job, but talking without planning some dastardly deed seemed an impossible feat without putting his foot in his mouth.

There was always room for improvement they said.

“Anything special I should know about our rendezvous?” He questioned, raising a sceptic eyebrow as his gaze left Brin and turned to the two vornskrs sitting comfortably in the co-pilot’s seat. Sam was fidgeting, annoying his mother, and so Mac deftly reached over and picked up the pup by the scruff of his neck and placed Sam on his lap, needing something to occupy his hands with.

The pup protested briefly at being taken away from annoying its mother, but fell silent as the attention span came to an end and turned to playfully fighting off Mac’s hands that held him, rather poorly at that.