Brawln and Rhen

Brawln is sitting in the common room one morning, with a little breakfast in front of him, with a data pad cradled held gingerly with both hands. The data pad comically small in the Wookiee’s hands, but somehow he still seems to be making progress with whatever he’s doing.

He looks up, sees Rhen, and waves. After a short pause, the Wookiee sets the data pad down and lets out a series of guttural tones, translated by HC-7 who is sitting nearby.

“You were looking for someone, right? I might be able to dig up some info if you could tell me more about - him? Her? And if it isn’t too personal a question - why are you looking for them?”

Rhen considers Brawln's question for a moment before responding. "I appreciate your offer. I have been so focused on the implications of the Sith taking her that I may not have considered some avenues of investigation."

Rhen walks over to where Brawl is sitting. "Sekar Mirah is my best friend. Like me, she grew up on Dathomir, so I expect information about her on the net to be limited. She is Dathomirian, a little taller than me." Rhen pauses, her face impassive. "I last saw her on Coruscant."

The Wookiee tones continue to drawl over the sound of HC translating, "Brawln says he is sorry to hear it. Misfortune seems to have plagued this group, but my misfortune - at least - was significantly lessened by the efforts of this group. If only Brawln had known all of you when the Mirror had so warped his life up until that point. Maybe things would have gone differently... In any event, perhaps it's the desperation of being on the run but this group seems to put in the effort to be there for each other, and Brawln hopes he can do the same for you."

Brawln makes a few notes as HC was translating the earlier part. "Speaking of which, Brawln is curious - is there anyone she might have gone to if she was in trouble (especially anyone on Coruscant?), family, friends, acquaintances she was close to - that kind of thing? Might make for a lead."

"Thank you, Brawln. And I agree; this group has indeed been there for each other. Back home we were taught that we could only rely on our sisters.

"As for Sekar Mirah, I do not know that she knew anyone on Coruscant. She was sent there on a mission. She may have built up some manner of network, but she wasn't there long. I think she would have kept to herself while she was...hunting, but I do not know for sure." Rhen shakes her head. "I am not trying to be difficult, but I fear that if someone took too great an interest in her she would have moved on. I can tell you I finally found her in an industrial, factory area of that great city. It was near the surface, yet seemed largely abandoned."

Rhen seems like she is about to say more, but instead freezes. She remains unmoving until Brawl speaks, her face unreadable, but he can see her hands are clenched tightly.

HC and Brawln exchange a look. Between the fur and on their faces, it’s difficult to tell the significance. Then their faces turn back to Rhen. HC translates, “What is it, Rhen? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” You can see concern etched into the Wookiees face.

Rhen slowly unclenches her hands and breathes deeply. "We were attacked. I was knocked out. When I regained consciousness... I was nearly dead, and Sekar Mirah was gone. I was certain she must be dead. Until she reached out to me through the Force, and I learned she was instead captured."

Rhen focuses on Brawln. "If you can track her, I will be indebted to you. But I fear it is the Empire who have imprisoned her. Still..."

Rhen raises her right hand, palm up before her. She focuses intently on it, her face betraying pain, but slowly a ghostly green image forms above her palm. It shows a Dathomirian woman in what Brawln recognizes as Nightsister robes.

Brawln does double-take at the image. HC interprets, "Brawln is curious what he is looking at. Is this what she looks like now? Or a holographic image of her from your last encounter? He doesn't notice a projector..."

"Brawln is sorry to hear that you were attacked - those experiences aren't easy to recover from - if possible though, Brawln wishes to know more about the nature of your attack - you mentioned the Republic has her - was it clone troopers who attacked you? Or other Jedi?"

Something that is not quite a smile flits across Rhen's face. "Jedi ways are not the only ways, and they do not know everything about the Force. This is what Sekar Mirah looks like now...or at least how she looked a few months ago."

Rhen grimaces and the image vanishes. She breathes deeply for a few moments, staring intently at her shaking hand. Once it steadies she lowers it to her side. "The nature of the attack, you ask? We were attacked with the Force. It was..." Rhen trails off.

"It feels very strange to speak of my defeat with you when I am the only one sharing. Perhaps you would like to tell me of the Mirror, and what he did to you and yours?"

Brawln is looking thoughtfully at Rhen until she mentions the mirror and wanting to hear about his experiences. His eyes go wide and you can see him tense up, as though Rhen had just pulled a gun on him. He looks away from Rhen as he lets out a very intentional breath, but his eyes continue to dart around as he speaks.

HC translates, “About the mirror? Yeah, okay. I probably should talk more about what happened. Speaking with Nomi and Vesper has made it clear that It helps - for me, at least.”

“My father and I had been out bounty hunting together for as long as I can remember. He was the only family I had, for sure, but also one of the only people out there who could understand and seemed to care enough to do so. He was a bit cocky, and not as nurturing as I would’ve preferred when I was small, but he was what I had, and that was enough.”

“A few months back, he and I were on protection detail for someone who was in the Mirror’s sights. We had some notion of what was coming for us, but when my fathers likeness suddenly turned on our allies… look, I knew it wasn’t him - I knew how he fought and the kind of bounty hunter he was, and this wasn’t it. But when I thought of fighting against him, I couldn’t stand the notion that I could be wrong and… so I fought with him, for a little while- even saved him from one of my allies. And then when he turned on me, I ran and hid.”

Brawln stills a shaky hand before continuing, “When I emerged, all of them- even my father - were dead. I had thought that killing the Mirror would help assuage some of the guilt I felt every time I heard something new about a new victim, because I knew that he should be dead - that he WOULD be dead if I had reacted the way I knew I should’ve. But since then, I only feel like I’ve been more haunted by what happened.”

He puts his hands between his knees and shakes his head, and his eyes return to Rhen, as though remembering where he was for the first time in several minutes. “So yeah… if what you’re telling me about is something that makes you feel vulnerable or powerless, and you’re worried about me looking down my nose at you for it,” Brawln suddenly has a bitter expression on his face “then you needn’t worry. You’re in good company. Few have messed up so massively, and been so punished in kind, as the Wookiee you are speaking to now.”

He lets out a long breath and steadies himself before returning his gaze to Rhen.

"Thank you for sharing your pain with me, Brawln. You have truly experienced loss, and knowing that makes it easier to speak to you of mine. I wish I had been able to be there for you when you confronted your nemesis. Yet in my weakness I know the others were there, and you triumphed." Rhen shakes her head slowly.

"You asked about the nature of my attack. It was precisely because of that attack that I have been so weakened, and that I needed to rest that day. The reason I am...less than I was before. You see, I was on Coruscant to stop Sekar Mirah from completing her mission, to stop her from revealing to the Sith that we were not all destroyed.

"The most difficult part of this situation to accept is that I succeeded. She understood. She accepted abandoning her mission, accepted my Mother's vision of the future. We had resolved to leave, together.

"And that was when he attacked."

Rhen draws in a slow, steady breath, then exhales carefully before continuing. "I threw myself in front of Sekar Mirah. I know not how he so twisted the Force, but the blast was tortuous. It knocked me unconscious almost instantly, and left my body wrecked. When I awakened, the factory was destroyed around me and Sekar Mirah was gone. I felt I had to accept that she was dead."

Rhen looks down for a while, before raising her gaze to Brawln's again. "So you see that I have little hope that any witness to her capture might still breathe. Yet if your sources know anything... Well, I will be most greatful for any help that you can provide."

Brawln takes a few notes as Rhen speaks. "Brawln sympathizes," HC-7 replies. "The pain of losing someone close to you is one he knows well. He is sorry you went through that, and hopes we can find Sekar Mirah together. He will let you know when he has something worth sharing. But in the meantime, he wants you to know that he feels you acted quite bravely, and even if your situation is a terrible one, you can be proud, at least, of the role you played in it, for whatever small bit of solace that may be - and hopeful that she will be as pleased to see you as you are to see her."

Brawln considers Rhen for a moment, and then nods and withdraws to his room for the remainder of the evening.