First We Feast (D6, MA)

[Raven Cadera]

In preparation for the new armor she'd have, Raven had gone out of the enclave to pick up some supplies she wanted... it felt right to finally splurge a bit with all the money she had earned the past weeks, update her gear some.

So having finished her errands, the trip took a turn to Favna. Drinks and something to snack on felt right today.

As her drink was served at her booth, Raven took off her helmet and put it down on the table in front of her.

[Tranq Sayzin]

"Can't check all my weapons, when half of them are in my mouth." There was a dark, gutteral laugh, with that subsonic timbre that could set people on edge, make them worry about monsters in the dark. The Karkarodon laughed as he handed over his spear blaster, the bouncer seeming only mildly unnerved. The large being looked about the bar as he walked in, looking for a place to sit.

It didn't take long for him to see the familiar helmet of Raven, the Mandalorian. The one thing that was different, though, was it wasn't on her head. There it was, on a table, as she sat.

The Executioner moved to sit across from her, large, webbed hands placed on the table as he looked to her.

"Mind some company?"

[Raven Cadera]

Her pistol and sword had been handed over, though she still had concealed weapons on her because no Mandalorian would ever be completey unarmed of course. The thought that the Karkarodon might have to pull out his teeth amused her somewhat and she looked up to see his arrival.

"Not at all, Big Guy." She made a gesture for him to join. "They say drinking alone isn't the best thing, so I don't mind the company. Excited for tonight?" Judging by her tone, she seemed to be looking forward to a potentially very lethal undertaking.

[Tranq Sayzin]

"Excited might be the wrong word, but it'll work for what we need." He nodded, his grin too sharp. "I like it when a plan comes together, and I think this one will. So I want to see the follow through." He ordered a drink when the opportunity presented itself, then leaned back in the booth. His tone matched hers, and there was a slight thrill, as if he could smell the blood in the water. "I think our team will do very well, though I'll admit... I'd like another crack at that sand crab, too. Do some sport hunting. After business, of course."

[Raven Cadera]

"After this, we'll go get that thing. It's a worthy target for a hunt." The grin was returned though hers wasn't nearly as sharp as the Karkarodon's.

She took a sip of her own drink. "So... what's your thing with the, uh, [i]guys[/i] we met out there? You seemed pretty on edge."

[Tranq Sayzin]

He paused for a moment, then took a long drink. Closing his eyes, the Karkarodon focused on the burn of the alcohol, the flavor of the liquor.

"Worst day of my life happened during the War. Seeing them... brought back a lot of bad memories." His eyes opened, focused on the Mandalorian's own. "Hard to get past, sometimes."

[Raven Cadera]

Her own eyes, ocean blue and hard at a first glance, also showed something else. Understanding and pain.

She gave him a careful nod. "I understand. You don't have to tell if you don't want. I was a little worried though it might affect the mission, but seeing you excited about it, I guess not."

"Didn't realise you were in the war. You must've been pretty young back then?"

[Tranq Sayzin]

"I was a child. Barely out of youth. Who didn't the war touch? It consumed everything and made everyone so afraid and long for peace that they welcomed the Empire from the Republic on which it stood, because it meant no more war. No more armies of droids and clones destroyed everything in a fight to prove who was right, and in the end, neither party exists. It was... meaningless. It was just suffering." His hand clasped the glass, squeezing slightly.

"And was the Republic so right that they decided that Children could lead soldiers into battle..."

[Raven Cadera]

"Strange to think about really, that neither side remains, when you put it like that... The clones, the Jedi, the Seps, and their droids... all gone," she looked off into the distance, realising how little she thought about how the war had impacted the rest of the galaxy as she had been so consumed with how it shaped her own world and life.

"Children leading soldiers into battle? You mean the Jedi?" Raven asked, and then indicated for Tranq to wait with the answer as one of the workers came over with some of the snacks she had ordered earlier. Seeing it was only right to share with her company, she pushed the plate to the middle of the table. Wings, onion rings, poppers, fries... it was quite the unhealthy party-platter.

[Tranq Sayzin]

He didn't say anything as the server delivered the snacks to the table. He swirled the liquid of the glass as he waited, and nodded in thanks at the offered food. Raising it, he took another long drink from it, before taking a wing, and downing it cleanly. Every scrap of meat was cleaned from the bone, which was neatly set on a side plate, before he wiped his hands on a napkin.

"I do mean." He kept his voice low, watching her. He knew there was... history... between her people and the Jedi of the past. He hoped it wouldn't raise its ugly head here. "Putting apprentices on the front line, after having been trained to be peacekeepers, they made them fight a war and lead in battle. I don't think that was the right decision, but you know what they say about looking to the past."

[Raven Cadera]

Tugging at the fingers of her gloves, Raven slipped them off one by one. Underneath the dark leather, the hands were hardened and with scars and callouses as well. And with no chance of getting grease or dipping sauce on her gloves no, she helped herself to one of the big onion rings.

"Hm, maybe. Way I see it though, the Jedi were always some of the most legendary warriors in the galaxy - even more so than my own people. I don't think a lot of my brothers would admit it openly, but I... we admired the Jedi for their skill and dedicated to hone themselves to the warriors they were." She chewed the onion ring for a few moments before she spoke again. "Then again, sending kids into war is a bit early... even for our tastes. So yeah, probably not the right decision there, but... what else were they going to do?"

[Tranq Sayzin]

"They're job. Keeping the Peace. Wandering the Galaxy, helping people, being guided by the Force. Turned to Generals and Soldiers?" He shook his head, noting the scars, the roughness of them. So similar to his own. Even if he hadn't held one in awhile, the familiar callouses of where he gripped the hilt of the legendary weapon, so long ago, never really faded.

"Maybe we... they were tied too close to the Republic." He barely caught his slip there, fumbling forward, anger deep down in his voice. "To actually do what needed to be done. To notice what was happening around them." Then sadness as he then grabbed another wing, and picked it clean just as easily.

"War doesn't mean you're gonna be great. War means you get to watch friends die and that in the end... nothing stays. The Jedi weren't just warriors. They were supposed to be examples of what being in harmony with the Galaxy meant. They... didn't live up to that, in the end."

[Raven Cadera]

She picked up another ring, munching on it thoughtfully. If she noticed Tranq's slip, she didn't seem like the type to shout it out. But she did seem to take notice.

"Can't keep the peace if the galaxy dissolves into war," she replied thoughtfully. "Not going to say my people did any better handling a mess like that though... with the New Mandalorians, the Death Watch. The New Mandalorians wanted to live peaceful lives, to see what else we could become but warriors - perhaps in time with their philosophy, we could've also aspired to something greater, like the Jedi did."

There was a sigh, followed by a shake of her head. "At least we're still around. Harder to kill ideals and a way of life, compared to a select few folks with a special gift, I suppose."

[Tranq Sayzin]

"I suppose you're right. Something was growing. Something rotten and foul, and it brought the galaxy to this point." He shook his head. "And it wasn't seen before it was too late." A sigh as he looked to the plate of food, then back to the Mandalorian woman. "Yes, you're people are still around, and the galaxy is better for it. And maybe even... some embers of the Jedi remain. Somewhere. Maybe they could come back, remembering the ideals they once stood for, instead of what they became." Was that hope in his voice? For the first time? Maybe.

"I like to think it wasn't a special gift. But maybe anyone could become like that, with enough patience to still their thoughts, and just feel the Galaxy around them. To be one with it. Maybe. I dunno, it might just be crazy talk." A slight chuckle, before taking one of the onion rings, and rather unglamorously devouring it, as well.

[Raven Cadera]

"Heh, maybe it is crazy talk, but the galaxy's a crazy place, Big Guy," she retorted with a smirk of her own. "I hope they'll come back again though. I do. It's... I dunno, strange, to think that they've gone. But... even the Mando'ade have had to change and adapt many times over the millenia. Perhaps it can be so too for a new Order."

Raven shook her head and took a long swig of her drink.

"Is that something you would like to see? That they get a chance to rebuild into something different?"

[Tranq Sayzin]

"Right now, I'd just like to see this new order burn." His eyes narrowed, and his voice lowered, almost elevating that subsonic timbre to menace in his words. "Then we'll see. Maybe they could come back. Maybe it's up to one person, or maybe a group of people. I don't have the answer to that. But as for me... I'm focusing on this fight."

A sneer crossed his face. "The Empire took everything from me. And I want to make it bleed."

[Raven Cadera]

"Burn it down, huh. I'll drink to that." Her eyes met his narrowed ones with understanding and mutual respect as she lifted her glass. "And after tonight, we'll go back and deal with that sand crab. It will make for a glorious hunt."

Raven drunk deeply once more of her glass, probably emptying its contents judging by the hollow sound as it hit the table again. "And after that, I hope I'll get the chance to test my skills against yours." She quickly held up her hands. "A friendly bout, to be clear. We've already fought and bled together, so I have no ill will towards you. You're not Mando'ade, but you're a comrade-in-arms."

[Tranq Sayzin]

"It's been awhile since I had a friendly bout. Since... everything, I've put myself to being focused on ending fights as lethally and quickly as possible. Efficient, necessary death. But I would enjoy a bout with you." He nodded, giving a menacing grin. He down his drink with her, slamming the cup down on the table with emphasis on excitement.

"Such a great creature. Lethal, and beautiful. We will honor it with a challenge, and drink to its memory, and our trophies from it." He let out a deep and boisterous laugh, then looked for a server. "Another round!"

[Raven Cadera]

At his words, she gave a short laugh. "You speak like a Mandalorian, burc'ya. Sure you're not looking to start a new life in that direction?" her tone was joking, but there was a small bit of seriousness to the question.

As the server looked in their direction after Tranq's order, she indicated that she'd have one more too.

"It took me... it wasn't until coming here, that I was finally able to enjoy sparring again. Been too long on my own, but now I have a place to belong to again."

[Tranq Sayzin]

"That may be, but it's also how my people are. Hunters, always looking for prey. It's instinct. And I've honed that with my life as a bounty hunter since the war." He replied, looking to her cool eyes again.

"I've been alone as well, most of the past several years. It's too dangerous for me to stay in one place too long. Rumors start, and then that's when the Imps come crawling. ISB isn't exactly someone I want to dance with."