(D8, MA) Seeking Sera with Secrets

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel had spend the morning poring over the often confusing information on Clara's datavault... and learning that stormtroopers had paid the ship a visit while she was out. That was super reassuring, for sure.

Mara needs to see this. But Mara's got a lot to do lately. So Dhel takes a wandering route to the hangout, hoping to to find Sera...Mylar would do in a pinch.

[Meiyokashi]

With how busy things have been lately, it was rare for anyone to find one of them- let alone all three of them in the room. Mara was sitting on the couch holding a datapad with a stylus in hand as she stared at it intently. Sera was nearby, hovering in the space between her and Mylar like she wasn't quite sure what she was doing, and Mylar was busy at his terminal working on something. When Dhel showed up Sera seemed to find an opportunity, or at least an escape, and quickly approached her.

[Sera]

Stepping forward she walks up to Dhel and gives her a look over by the far end of the couches and such. One more glance over her shoulder at the other two before focusing on Dhel. "Hey.." she starts slow, hands in her pockets. "Everything alright?"

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

The Bothan's fur is all at half-mast, giving her a distinctly spiky look to go with her jitters. "Not really. But maybe there's something..." She holds out the datavault on an upraised palm, fingers still wrapped around it though she'd damn near memorized it already. "Her sister found me..." There was just this assumption Sera'd know who she meant.

"It's happening in two days, and not even definitely her involved, just another empty space that might be..." There's hope and doubt all mixed up in her voice.

[Sera]

"Two days.." Sera repeats as she opens her hand to take the datavault. "That's precious little time but.. we have had those Mandalorians around, and a few others. Maybe.." she glances over toward Mara, "Deonis might be able to help. Some others too if it comes down to it. It's not the type of-" she shakes her head, looking back to Dhel with a put on smile. Measuring her for a moment, coming to a decision.

Reaching forward she places a hand on her shoulder, "We'll look into it.. and I'll figure something out, okay? If it's her, we'll get her back."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel nods, frowning a bit. "Yeah, Raven'd be up for that." She only barely knows Deonis, but anti-Imperial seems right up his alley. She sets the datavault in Sera's hand, nodding again to her internal dialogue. "If it's her, I should be there. Carla said..." she stands a bit straighter, though that's still pretty unimposing. "Doesn't really matter. We don't know what's been done to her, but it's not normal or you'd have spotted her in the system by now. She'll trust me, and I just...need to try."

After another moment of thought, she adds, "And if it's not her?"

[Sera]

"Okay," Sera says with a nod, giving that assurance first and foremost. Then her shoulders slack a little as she lets her hand down from Dhel's own. "Just- when we get there, if it comes down to anything dangerous.. keep your head down until it's over, alright? You aren't going to help anyone with a blaster bolt in you- and if she is.. we'll need to move fast. I'll go over the details," she says, waving the vault and slipping it into a pocket. "But I doubt it'll be a sit and chat kind of reunion.. and if it's not her.." Sera shakes her head.

"If it's not her, we make a judgement call. Honestly.. much as it might help, or save someone, I don't want to strike against the Empire if she's not there. Not in this to lose people but.." she looks to Dhel, her expression stiffens slightly and she puts on a smile. "I'll discuss that with the team going in though, hmm?" she smiles briefly and glances away.

"Thank you."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel nods "Yeah, no....not that kind of thing at all. I can't imagine chatting in the middle of that. I just want her out of there." She is so very in over her head. "I want to know I did everything that I could."

"If there's anything else that'd help...Well, I'm not hard to get hold of. OK?"

[Sera]

"If there is, I'll find you," she says, giving a nod to seal the promise. With the momentum glancing over toward Mylar, the thoughts already churning. However, she looks back to Dhel and regards her again for a moment, "Do me a favor, talk to Mara? Don't need to tell her anything yet just.. talk to her. Alright?" she gives a nod over her shoulder, toward Mara.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel looks rather surprised, following Sera's nod to where Mara sat, deep in her work, or reading...or just worrying maybe. "Ah..yeah. I can do that." Dhel's not sure what to talk about other than all this, but she's good at talking, surely she'll think of something. She gestures toward the hand with the datavault. "That's all kinds of scattered, by the way. A lot of bits and pieces to pull together. Carla's really worried. Said she'll be there too."

And then, her worn boots are a gentle thudding as she heads over to the scruffy couch. Dropping onto it sideways, cross-legged, one arm across the back. "Hey," she says quietly.

[Sera]

"Can't be easy on her," Sera notes, shaking the datavault in hand as she parts from Dhel. Walking not far, but over to Mylar and leaning in over his shoulder. As they start to speak softly between one another they drift into the background..

[Mara Kayde]

Mara, distracted by what she was doing, barely glances up to see Dhel and then looks back down. Eyebrows raising as the realization hits her she looks across, setting the datapad down, "H-hey! Sorry about that," she laughs briefly, but there's a lacking mirth to it, the past few weeks have been hard.

"Sorry.. I've just been," she shakes her head, "anyway.. you're here. You came to talk to Sera about something? Now me?" she asks, quirking her brow. Taking the moment to regard Dhel, looking to her, seeing how she was doing.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Yeah, I..." she glances back at Sera. "it's..." A deep breath. "How are you holding up? I'm feeling like at the end of my one space trip when we're finally landed but there's all this stuff the crew is doing before I can leave but I just want to move because I want off the ship so badly. And I haven't been having to worry nearly as long as you."

[Mara Kayde]

"I'm.." she glances down at the datapad for a moment, stylus still in hand she places that down beside it looking away awkwardly. Turning toward Dhel she brings her legs up onto the couch and crosses them, resting her hands in her lap. "It's tough.. have a lot of people looking to me for answers and.. and now my brother might be alive? In the same day Petra's gone? It's.. this always felt personal to me but now.. I wanted to avoid this all happening but we don't get to choose the consequences of our actions, otherwise they wouldn't be consequences."

"Still.. we have opportunity, despite these consequences, to bring everyone home. I'm- I'm just a little afraid that I'm only asking for those who have come to offer their help to exchange their lives and freedoms for those of people close to me. I.. Petra's case specifically but even with my brother, it doesn't feel right to ask for it but he is the closest one we know to this project now and saving him will bring us answers. But.. he's my brother, and I feel guilty as if I am guided by selfish actions. Sera has told me I'm being silly, but- it lingers, no matter the sense."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel nods, with an audible exhalation. "I feel like...how can we just get one...or two? When there's like prisons full? Folks like my pa who'd just...they let half of him out is what it seems like and the rest is gone for good."

She's quiet for a moment. "But...if we prove we can slip a few loose? Does that make it easier or harder to get more?" There's hope in her voice that the answer is 'easier.'

[Mara Kayde]

"My parents.. I think about them a lot, knowing.. I looked into people like your own. Knowing my parents are still locked away as well," her lips drag to a thin line as she looks down, reaching forward with her hands to cup one of Dhel's in-between them. "I don't know," she says, earnestly.

"I don't know if this makes it easier, or harder, and.. I don't know if I'm making the right call. But someone has to make it and I hope, I hope I'm right. Cause right now we have a chance to save two people we.. I care about, and I can only hope it means something more down the line too. There's too many other families like mine and yours to let this go after just two, but these two are the one's we can save now. That's.. that's why I think we need to do it, because I would rather save two now than ten later and knowing I gave up on two."

"I don't want to give up on any of them."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel nods, hand clenching within Mara's. "Something each day. It's what you can reach, right? You're...we're taking the opportunity because we can reach that far now..at least on that day, yeah?"

"Maybe ten more next week...maybe..." she pauses.

"You heard about the Gonks attacking the clinic, right? Like...I don't know what that was about, and everything I've heard about them is unpleasant...but that's what I heard about Jedi too and that's not entirely true. So, for the future...maybe the enemy of our enemy and all that?"

[Mara Kayde]

"Maybe but.." she looks down, uncertain. "From what I've heard, the Gonk are just as much a trouble for the people down there than they've ever been with the Empire. Harmed families, taken lives.. if it came to it? I'm not sure I could allow us to take them as allies even in that sense. They do harm and our mission, our goal, it's to do as much healing as possible," she smiles, shaking her head.

"Not like a doctor but.. systemic healing," a brief laugh, "feel like I sound like my father sometimes. My other others, and me.. rarely," the laugh comes back as she settles a moment, awkwardly, a sigh. Looking Dhel in the eye she promises, "We'll do everything we can to keep going, and keep saving lives while losing as few as possible. I promise."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel nods, but says. "Non-Gonks do a lot of damage too, I think. It's not the Gonks alone that make us all afraid to end up down there, right?"

Her expression is thoughtful. "Just, I keep thinking about how it's obvious that things are bad and have gotten worse, even if I'm not sure the old days were a whole lot better in a lot of ways. Eventually, healing has to mean more than just freeing prisoners and pushing Imperial presence away from here. So have to deal with them one way or another eventually."

"But that's not what's happening this week," she says with a smile.

[Mara Kayde]

"It's not," she returns with a brief smile.

"I didn't grow up in a very peaceful galaxy but my parents," she sighs with a pleasantness to it from the memory. "They used to tell me all the stories of how things were better, and would be better. Dreams I had as a child weren't of these make believe worlds but.. things that felt real? Like if we put enough work into it we could change the galaxy for the better step by step, argument by argument. But.. realitiy isn't quite like the dream," she says, a touch of a rueful smile.

"It's harder, there's a lot more work, but.. I still believe it's possible, ya know? We gotta, even when the galaxy tries to convince us otherwise. Plenty of people speak about faith but.. that's where mine lies, that trying makes a difference, but.." she pats her hand, "you probably don't need to hear me go on and on about this over and over again, huh?" she says with a smile, a brief laugh.