[D7MA] Birds of a Feather

[Cal Arcton]

It was a quick trip from the bar to the spaceport. Which was good, since Cal had a few other places that he had to be. On the other hand, this was a stop he felt it was important to make.

The Ivory Phoenix was easy to identify. Cal adjusted his neckcloth as he walked up the ramp. Reaching out, he pushed the button to activate the comms. "Hey there." He spoke into the tiny receiver. "It's Cal. Anyone home?" He shifted as he waited, adjusting the fit of the little bag he carried, the strap around his shoulder.

[Cefey Raneth]

Fey had been working on cleaning her blasters and checking Kai's rifle as well, as part of keeping herself calm in the storm that was happening. So the call at the door was a surprise to her. Turning down the music, she put the weapons away and sauntered over to the door, hitting the panel with her fist to open up for the visitor.

"Bonjour," she gave a little wave, standing there in a thin tank-top and dirty overalls that had been half-stripped down to be tied around her waist to show off some of her dancer's physique. "Good to see you well. Come inside, Cal."

[Cal Arcton]

Upon spotting her, Cal's lips quirked. Hadn't they been talking about almost exactly this? Him and Kai too, come to think of it? "Hey there. Doin' some work on your speeder?" He flashed her a quick playful smirk. After all, that was what he normally did, and he felt that she could probably use some normal.

His smirk softened as he stepped inside. "Glad to see you're doing well, too. I mean, I guess I knew that you made it out of there okay. But..." He shrugged. "What can I say? Beneath my rugged exterior, I'm a worrier at heart." He folded his arms, looking at her. "You okay? I mean, really okay?"

[Cefey Raneth]

"Shaken but not stirred," she offered with a brief chuckle, stepping aside for him. "Thanks for the assist though. I... guess I was feeling a bit paniced when it all blew up like that." Fey punched the control again, closing up the door again.

"And you? How are you and the rest holding up?"

[Cal Arcton]

"No problem." Cal said cheerfully. "Happy to help anyone, but especially a friend."

He shrugged. "We're fine. Had a big talk this morning about what to do." He let out a puff of breath. "Long story short, well, we're gonna do what we can. Just like old times." He chuckled darkly.

Cal frowned, his forehead creasing. "I heard that the Inquisitor picked up a woman with long blonde hair. That wasn't Jelna, was it?"

[Cefey Raneth]

"Yeah? Starting a new local rebellion or something then?" she waved for him to follow her to the lounge-room through the circular hallway of the Phoenix. For being a spaceship, it did have a feeling of home to it.

His question about Jelna made her tense a little, and Fey felt instantly that pang of guilt all over again. "... That was her, yes. She's back though... guess they let her go," the twi'lek murmured somberly.

[Cal Arcton]

Cal followed Fey to the living room, or whatever it was. Once there, though, he stood a little uncertainly, glancing around. "More like restarting it. There's more than a few vets around here. I plan to get together with Doc. Figure if we put our heads together, we can figure out what to do next." His lips quirked a little at his own phrasing.

"Oh." He turned to Fey, concern lines standing out on his face. "... is she okay?"

[Cefey Raneth]

The lounge-area was a nice place and clearly the main place for the crew, which had comfortable seats and a couch, a stocked bar, holo-screens, and a short trip to the kitchen. There was some store-bought cookies on a platter on the table.

"She's ok." While it wasn't a lie, it seemed like it was something that had left the crew a little bruised emotionally, at least Fey. What if she did that to avoid them taking others, or me... Her arms crossed over her stomach. "What kind of plans did you guys have in mind so far? Like, sabotage or something?"

[Cal Arcton]

Cal eyed the cookies, considered his waistline, and sighed. Well, he'd been getting more exercise lately. Maybe if she offered... but a gentleman wasn't going to take either a seat or a cookie before a lady, anyway.

His eyes were sympathetic at that 'ok', but he let the conversation move along. "Something like that. Don't know exactly what their plans are, but we only need to slow 'em down for a few weeks. If a message can go out to the New Republic, they'd be glad to catch the admiral's little fleet this close to a gravity well." He grimaced. "Just so as they don't take anything out on the people here, first. I'll know more once I've talked it over with Doc, and whoever else she can bring in."

He folded his arms across his chest, giving her a serious look. "Do you think we could get you and the rest of your crew on-board?"

[Cefey Raneth]

"Make yourself at home," she offered, taking a seat in one of the comfortable chairs herself. Not caring that Lena would worry she'd get dirt on the furniture. The twi'lek at least grabbed one of the cookies.

"The admiral is not a woman to be underestimated - I think she's old enough to have served during the Clone Wars too, so she's no green-eared upstart. Verlasso has had a long career with what she does. I met her once, actually," she confessed with some hesitation, but now wasn't a time to hold all the cards close to the chest if they were dealing with the Empire, "I doubt she remembers me though. Still, the... my former master, did speak well of her tactical ability. Verlasso must have some plan, something prepared."

Fey grimaced, thinking back to what Leo had said about the resources of this planet. "I don't think she's working completely alone. Not all the moffs and admirals are gone, after all. Sure, the ones in the Core are driven off, dead, or arrested, but in the Outer Rim - where people like the admiral made their careers? They're still around probably, plotting something."

[Cal Arcton]

Well, that was good enough; Cal took a seat of his own, facing her. And, after a moment, a cookie. He really had been exercising more, damnit.

If Cal was surprised that she'd met the admiral, it didn't show as anything more than his eyebrows going up a bit. "That's good to know. Even if I'd rather she was some green-eared upstart. And you're right, while we have some idea of the forces she commands, we don't know who else might be advising them." He grimaced. "I guess we put a fair number of those slimeballs out of work. Wouldn't be surprising to see they'd found something else to keep 'em busy."

He smiled. "On the other hand, we've done this before, too. Verlasso's clever if she stayed alive, but, well, her side did lose."

[Cefey Raneth]

"They lost, yes, but yo... the Rebellion didn't dismantle the entire system or the Empire. There are so many cogs in that machine, and while the Rebellion did damage that significantly, halting the way it works, it's still a sturdy machine that keeps on ticking still," Fey sighed and brushed a hand over her face in frustration. She didn't like thinking about it, especially not now, but it was the situation.

"Verlasso could be waiting for backup from other admirals or moffs."

She took a quick bite from the cookie, but she didn't really notice the flavor of macadamia nuts or the chocolate. "... I don't know about the others. What they will say or decide about this. I..." she sighed again, "Jelna wanted to leave a few days ago, said she had a bad feeling about this, and I convinced her to stay. And now it's my fault we're in this mess."

[Cal Arcton]

"I don't know." Cal said stubbornly, doubtfully. "We broke it pretty good. But..." He sighed. "You're right. The pieces are still there. Even one can be the death of thousands here, and who knows if she's gathered a few more. Doesn't matter, though. We're gonna fight them."

Following her lead, Cal took a bite of the cookie. His spirits weren't so low as hers, so he appreciated the chocolate. Nuts, eh. He swallowed. "Yeah. I understand." He shook his head. "But don't go blamin' yourself. It's their fault." He pointed up. "It's not fair or right to go taking blame that doesn't belong to you."

[Cefey Raneth]

"But it is my fault," she almost looked like she was about to cry, as the situation of everything was taking its strain on her. "I wouldn't listen to her. Not when she wanted to leave, not when she tried to warn me about the dangers of the Inquisitors. I was being stupid, and stubborn..."

Fey buried her face in her hands.

[Cal Arcton]

Cal's expression softened, further and further, seeing Fey seemingly begin to spiral downwards. He rose, moving over to the chair next to her instead.

"Hey hey, don't talk like that." He said, his voice soft, deep. Reaching out, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder. It rested there, warmly, as he gave her a soft reassuring squeeze. "I know things look bad, but it's not your doing. And you can't let it get you down."

He gave her shoulder a soft pat, even as he smiled at her. "Don't worry about what's happened. We can get through this, all of us. Think about what to do next. And, as one of the smartest, bravest people I know, I figure I can count on you to help with that part of it, at least."

[Cefey Raneth]

"I'm not that smart," the twi'lek sniffed, leaning a little against Cal as she felt the comforting gesture. "I've done so many stupid mistakes."

Her voice broke a little bit but she held herself in check for the time being. "What do I even do next? What do we do next? I thought I could get away from the Empire, but now I don't know anymore."

[Cal Arcton]

"Hey, it's okay." Cal's arm shifted, resting comfortably around her shoulders. His chest was warm, and perhaps just a little soft. "Seems to me that we play the hands that we're dealt. You weren't dealt the best hand, but you've done a lot more with it than a lot of folks could." He squeezed her shoulders gently. "Don't know if it means much, but I'm pretty glad to know you."

He let her continue to lean against her, still holding her. His voice rumbled in his chest as he spoke, against her head. "What do we do next? We go on, one step at a time, same as it always is. And for me, that means fighting." He chuckled softly. "Just ten years ago, it looked like the Empire'd last forever. But people all across the galaxy weren't having any of that, rose up, and pushed 'em off. We can do that here, too. Just gotta keep to hope."

[Cefey Raneth]

She was more used to the firm and solid form of Kai, but this was comforting in a way too. More... parental? Maybe? She didn't have any reference to such that she could really remember well, but Fey imagined it was something like this. "They have an Inquisitor. And a Destroyer," her frustration with the situation was evident. How did one go up against these things.

"What do we even do against those kind of odds?"

[Cal Arcton]

In fact, Cal was feeling a bit parental towards the young woman. She may have grown up quickly, but so did he, and he had at least a dozen years on her. In some ways, he felt about her the same way he felt about Quinn. Except Fey actually had a soft side. And wasn't a Jedi.

"Wait and see." Cal said, still softly. "I'm full of surprises." He smirked. "But I'm gonna visit the Doc after this. I've still got some old Rebellion contacts in the area, and I'd bet she does, too. If a message can get to the New Republic, well, things are gonna look a lot better." He patted her shoulder. "Trust me. We've been in this position before, or worse, even. We'll pull through."

He chuckled. "I need to talk to her anyway. We kinda made out last night, a little bit." See if that would distract the unhappy twi'lek.

[Cefey Raneth]

"Wait, what?" Fey looked up with a dumbstruck expression on her face as she was still trying to register what he had just said.

"... You... made out, with a Doctor...?" He had certainly managed to distract her from her own thoughts as the lekku were processing what he had said and why he had said it. It took a few seconds, but once the process was done, she weakly pushed him. "What? Are you some two-timer then?" she said in a slightly raised voice, but it seemed like she was joking.