Shadows of Bankor

Daunt, his head still bandaged, pushed himself to seek out a certain Mandalorian before the varied paths of the Rebellion would separate them, perhaps for good. He didn't overthink it, so he sought her on her ship.

She emerged when she heard Daunt at the ship, coming down the gangway. "Daunt, hey. Come in."

He walked up, feigning lack of difficulty. Being weakened was irksome. "Hey, Sacha. Glad to see you alive."

She considered asking if he was all right, but it seemed rude with all the effort to make it look like he was. Instead, she nodded inward to the nearest place to sit in the freighter, a small common area. "I'm glad to see you alive, too, Daunt."

He took the seat and looked at her with his chartreuse gaze that had its intensity slightly dimmed.

"So what now, Sacha? We bid farewell and disperse across the galaxy?"

She sat down next to him. "I suppose we do, for the moment. Though I would like to keep in touch with you."

He took her hand. "We can do that. I've resolved to keep this going, I mean my involvement with the Rebellion. But on my own terms."

She squeezed it firmly but not painfully. There was a certain communication in it - whatever happened she still considered them close.

"What do you have in mind for your involvement?"

"I am going to found my own cell somewhere on the galactic edge. I've discovered that my path is unlike that of others who have chosen to oppose the Empire." He reciprocated the non-verbal message of closeness.

She nodded. "I'd like to visit sometime."

"You'd be welcome even as the cosmic address is going to be changing periodically. Lyla is possessive, but I think it's going to ease over time once she feels reassured of my..." He sighed, playing idly with the fingers of her hand. "...fidelity."

He paused to compose. "If more of your Nite Owls decide to act against the Empire, we could coordinate for amplified effects and better success rate."

"I don't know if they will," she sighed. "I can probably rally some of them, but a lot of us prefer to remain neutral, even when the Empire has clearly acted against us." She rolled her eyes behind her helmet, a slight rotation of her head showing it.

"It's one of the reasons I'm going for more prominence among us myself."

"I certainly like you better than any other Mando, so I can only applaud." He smirked.

"We can admittedly be... prickly," she laughed lightly. "When I first got here, I was as paranoid and resistant to outsiders as any of us."

"We went a long way to the hut where I used to live." He smiled fondly and forlorlny in one go. "Alas, that place exists only in our memories now."

"We did. Nothing like the Empire to make sure the phrase 'you can never go home again' is literal," she observed dryly, tone somehow simultaneously trying to be comforting.

"I've got used to the fact that home is something I might not be able to afford as long as the galaxy is run by those particular men." Daunt took a breath to run fingers across he bandaged wounds. "So I'll make that goal of theirs as difficult as possible. Because I am not big on forgiveness or supplication."

She nodded. "I've come to the same conclusion. I think strong and independent people will always be a threat to them. We're not good for that perfect order they want so bad. So we have to hit them hard."