Safaeyet

Calo was honestly relieved with the bluntness of Ander's answer to his first question, and in a way honored. He had only ever worked at the fire team and squad sized elements. This jump to command of a platoon, while it might not seem like much, meant a lot to the Mandalorian soldier. To him it meant that his father trusted him enough to advance him. And honestly, he was glad to hear he would keep his boots on the ground during any fighting. He did not enjoy space combat, because he had no way to control his situation or help during ship to ship combat. With his rifle in space, he might as well be shooting spit wads at a an enemy vessel. He was a competent pilot, and ok in a dog fight, but his skills were much better suited for ground warfare, a fact his father obviously knew very well.

Calo looked as the hologram on the tablet came to life, he was fully aware of what they had at their disposal, and honestly felt pity for whoever ended up having GALSAF as an enemy. They did not have the largest army or navy in the galaxy, but Ander was right, they were an elite group that could adapt to most any situation a mission called for and it was an honor to be part of it. Thinking about all this caused a smile to appear on his face. He trained hard and worked even harder, all he wanted was for his father to see him as an equal; though he was still young and sometimes brash in his decision making, he felt that he had taken a good sized step toward reaching his goal.

He shook away the smiled and listened as his father continued to speak. As soon as the name Staton was meantion, Calo could not help but feel annoyed. He and the Admiral did not always get along. Calo felt that the man did not believe he should be in GALSAF and that he was too young and inexperienced. Calo honestly had great respect for the man's abilities as an admiral, but he believed Staton to be too pompous at times, and that he held himself up above those not on his level. Calo had made a point that unless he absolutely had to be around the man, then he was to be avoided.

Calo knew some of the ground vehicles that GALFAF had, but he had not looked at the list in quite some time. Most of his missions had been on foot and very rarely needed more than LAAT/i support, so he did not have a lot of time around the other vehicles, a point he intended to rectify as soon as he could.

Ander switches subjects from those pertaining to GALSAF to those of a more personal nature for Calo. He had tried to hide his feelings from Ander as best he could, but the man was his father and knew him better than anyone else in the galaxy, it was hard for Calo to hide things from him. Ander was right, he was definitely worried about much more than just his future tasks. His whole moral standing on the future war was conflicted. As the old man summarized the first paragraph of their charter, Calo went through it word by word. He had vowed to hold the charter above all else, including his people. But that was the problem...could he turn away from his people if the need arose?

He pondered on this as he continued to listen to Ander speak. They were there to help the galaxy, to protect the weak and the abused and to punish those who committed crimes against them. And if the men and women who follow this holy war were going to harm innocents, then they were would be going to a level in comparison to the maliciousness and cruelty to that of the Sith.

Calo had a revelation burst upon him. No matter what his ties were to his people, he could not stand by and watch the wanton slaughter people who did not deserve to die. His choice became clear, he would not watch a genocide occur. He would follow the path Ander had laid before him. If the time came that he would have to kill a Mando'ad, then his conscience would be at peace. There was no honor in killing the helpless and the innocent. If a Mandalorian would lower themselves to do such a thing, then they would be an honor dog deserving justice's wrath.

As Ander finished, he had clue how deeply his words had sunk in. Calo had realized the righteousness of their cause and would follow through with it. He stood up and looked over at his father and before Ander could look up at him he spoke, "buir, I am with you. I won't lie...I doubted my resolve, I never want to be in a position where I have to take the life of a vod, but if that time comes and I am place in that situation. I will pull the trigger, and I will keep pulling the trigger until the innocent is safe. I will not mourn the vod's death, for he will be without honor. My life, as it always has been, is yours." He saluted his father, more for sentimental reasons than anything. He knew that his father could alleviate his doubts and concerns, and sure enough he had.

"I have only one request, from a soldier to a commander. I have worked a long time with Javik's squad, and I formally request that they be placed in my platoon. They are good GALSAF men, and I have grown accustom to operating with them." He had little doubt that Ander would deny this request. He had already seen that the men worked very well together, and Calo did not want to be separated from them.

Calo seemed to mull Ander's words over in his head for several long minutes before standing suddenly and saluting him. The gesture, and his oath of fealty, were silly displays in Ander's mind, though he forced himself to appreciate them. Formalities and displays of honor held no water with him; he was a soldier bred of combat, where such things had no meaning or place.
"Sit down, you fool, salutes get people killed," he grumbled, waiving Calo down with a hand and waiting for his son to retake his seat. Despite the fact that Calo had been more or less adopted by Ander didn't hide the fact that they were two men of obviously different upbringings. Ander's own father had been a hard man, quiet and always collected, always patient with his son. Blood meant nothing to Ander, only his father's lessons, and the man he'd helped Ander grow to be, mattered.
But even so, the former Jedi couldn't help but realize he'd never formally said the words that would make Calo his legitimate son and heir. Instantly Ander regretted not having made it official before. Calo had spent so many years at Ander's side, helping him fight his battles, learning from him, doing the duty that a son owed a father, and Ander had never officially recognized the boy as his own. Not as far as his own culture was concerned, at least, which was the only recognition that mattered. The thought left a sour taste in Ander's mouth, and he felt he owed the younger man for all his years of dedication.

"Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Calo," he muttered suddenly, the Mando'a words flowing smoothly on his tongue. I know your name as my child.
He'd never had much trouble grasping the language, despite having gone decades without speaking it, but these words somehow came from him easily, more naturally. They simply felt right to say.
"There," he ended it, "It's official, as legal as it can be, Cal'ika. You are my son...and heir to everything that is mine."

Ander moved quickly on to approve Calo's command request. "Javik's platoon is yours." He said, adding after a moment, "That will put you under the direct command of Captayn Ashray, of Baker Company. You'll want to get in touch with him immediately, informing him about the transfer. I'll be taking Javik's platoon Lo'tenens in return for your placement there."
Ander struggled for a moment to remember all four Locumtenens assigned to Baker Company in 1-1, only managing to pull three of the names from the rear of his memory. Camullion was a stout man, short tempered but level headed in a fight. Asprey was less experienced than Camullion, though that said little, considering the man had fought with the New Republic Army all throughout the Yuuzhan Vong war. Farlter was a good woman, though Ander knew little more about her than her service record with the former Yavin Four Defense Force, which was rife with combat related accomplishments.
"Tell Ashray to send me their fourth Lo'tenens," he told Calo, "Not Camullion, Asprey or Farlter, the other one, I can't remember his name├óÔé¼┬ªHe's a Bothan, that's all I know."

Calo stopped saluting Ander and sat down at his request. Ander was right, saluting out in the field or during an operation could get people killed, though he doubted that anyone was going to be able to see, they were in a closed off room at the moment. He understood though, Ander was not one for all for these types of gestures. Honor was not something Ander cared much for, or at least it seemed that way to Calo. For him however, honor was of some importance, for example keeping one's word and fulfilling a son's filial duty to his father were both instances of honor to Calo. Honor had a place among his people, and though he did not grow up among them, his blood father taught him all he could about what it meant to be of the Mando'ad before he died. Calo knew that these things were trivial to most but he still held them dear, they were his only tie to his blood parents who died when he was young barely in his teens.

Though it had never been made official, Ander was his father, not by blood, but that mattered very little to him. The man had been his mentor, his leader, and his friend. Calo spent a majority of his life with Ander, after leaving the military, Ander took him as his apprentice and trained him in the ways of the Force. The man honestly taught him how to hone his skills as a warrior. Calo honestly looked up to Ander as a son looking up to a father. He loved Ander as only a son could.

Hearing his father finally say the words that made him his legitimate son brought joy to Calo's heart. The words had never been said because there had never been a real need for them. Calo recognized Ander as his father and Ander recognized Calo as his son. But hearing the words still meant a lot to Calo. He offically had a place in the galaxy, he had a family, though at the moment his only family member was his father, but that was enough for him. He was happy. He tried to hide the smile that appeared on his face but he was doing a bad job at it.

He knew that Ander would let Calo keep command over Javik's unit. He could not wait to inform Javik of their new posting. Calo had heard of Ashray before, in one of the GALSAF meetings. He had never met the man before but his record showed he knew how to get things done. He was a highly decorated field officer. It would be an honor to work under him.

Calo stood up once more, "I thank you buir, I'm going to tellJavik of our posting change." With that he departed the room heading to the landing pad.

Over time, the doctors continued to monitor Mai's progress, noting down any changes on her charts. Most had been subtle, wounds healing, small changes in movement, a stronger heartbeat, and only one noticed the change in her hand position. Her main doctor often placed his hand on her forehead, checking on her progress through the Force too. In her mind, she was healing her smaller wounds, yet the doctors kept her heart secluded from her mind, allowing it to heal naturally. They also kept her Force senses confined to her body, to alleviate any external intrusions that the medic would no doubt usually pick up on.

After one of the hourly checks, Mai's mind stirred once more. Fighting through the thick fog in her head, she could hear voices in a far off location. At the same time, her head twitched, just like pulling out of a heavy sleep. She couldn't make out words or the owner of the voices, but it was something to aim for. Her head was physically sluggish, but her thoughts were clear. Her hands clenched through effort of rousing herself, and there were small movements in her arms and shoulders.

It took a long time, but the voices began to appear closer, odd words finally being able to be made out. The whole effort was draining on Mai, but she knew she had to fight, to return to those who loved her most. The monitor next to her steadily bleeped out her heartbeat, before gently increasing to a healthy, steady pace. The voices were much clearer now, the fog in her head reducing a little. Two voices. Two men. She couldn't work out who they were, yet they were so recognisable...

In her mind, Mai told herself to wake. Her body resolutely disobeyed, every inch of her feeling heavy and slow. She tried opening her eyes, the weight of them causing them to merely flicker. She tried again to no avail, the voices now dissapearing. A small crease of a frown lined her forehead, determination and frustration getting the better of her. She tried her eyes again, this time managing to open them a tiny amount before they dropped shut again. The low light of the ward flooded her eyes in that instant, causing her head to subtly jerk. She forced her eyes open again, the tiny gap between her eyelids showed her eyes active and moving, although as yet not focusing on anything.

A... A small sound escaped her, barely more than a whisper. Mai's mouth was dry, her tongue feeling like it was stuck in her mouth. Clumsily she rubbed her tongue on the roof of her mouth, attempting to create a small amount of moisture to get it working again. She could only think of one word, one she was desparate to say

An... der... She tried again, her eyes fighting to stay open, her voice making very little sound. With effort she rolled her head to one side, where the voices had been earlier. She flickered open her eyes once more, willing them to stay open.

Ander...

Ander almost didn't hear Mai calling out weakly to him. Neither him nor his son seemed to hear a thing. Ander's mind took a moment to register the fact that she was actually waking, the bulk of her healing seemingly complete. His impulse was to call for a nurse to see to her, but Mai meant a lot more to him than most other people in his life. Instead, Ander stood, his lips curling into a gentle smile, as if he had been expecting her to wake, at that very moment, and had simply been counting down to the moment itself.
He stepped passed his son, reaching out and taking Mai's hand gently, leaning his arm on her bed. Softly, he stroked her hair, telling her, "I'm right here, M'ika."
Ander wasn't so much overjoyed at Mai's wakening as he was holding off on feeling anything at all. This moment was Mai's triumph, and his focus was to support her through the rest of her recovery. She had been through such dangerous ordeals many times before in her life, but not for some time, and Ander worried she'd grown unaccustomed to living so closely to the edge.
Perhaps it was better to live in the shadow of death.
"Hey, girl." He whispered, his smile growing as her eyes opened slowly. Of all the feelings he had buried deep for this moment, the worry poured out of him, like a breaking damn, leaving nothing but a dry river bed behind Ander began to fill with his love for her.
"Glad to have you back."

Mai managed a weak smile, her eyes still struggling to remain open, frequently shutting, and flickering back open. She gave a weak squeeze to Ander's hand, registering his gentle yet comforting touch.

I'm not... going... that easily she muttered quietly, the smile tugging back at her lips. The whole effort had drained her, even talking was taking its time, but she wanted to be awake more than anything.

Haydon chose that moment to walk back into the ward, pressing a cup of drink into Calo's hand as he passed, and setting one for Ander onto the small table beside Mai's bed. He perched on the bottom of her bed, where he had taken to sitting since they arrived there. Having been so used to not seeing any change in Mai, he didn't register the difference in her now. With effort, Mai shifted her foot, gently knocking it into Haydon, causing him to start. He looked behind him to see what had moved, then up at Mai. Seeing her eyes blearily open, his own widened.

Mai!!!!! he grinned broadly, almost spilling his drink in the process. He looked like he wanted to jump up and hug Mai, but forced himself not to. Instead, he turned his excitement on Ander, pulling him into an one-armed hug.

Mai couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, then glanced at Ander

Someone's.... happy. What'd I do?

Ander couldn't help but grin, "You lived."
There was little else left to say, though one thing left to do. Ander leaned over and kissed Mai, her lips dry from her weeks spent asleep. They felt soft still, and warm as always. He pulled away from the kiss after a moment, his hand grasping Mai's, still pierced at the back with an IV needle, attached to a fluid drip. He squeezed it gently.
"You're well on your way to recovery, M'ika." He stepped aside. "I believe Haydon owes you a hug," Ander murmured, smiling.

Mai smiled softly but didn't let go of Ander's hand. She had gone too long without his gentle tOuch to let him go for even a second. Haydon stepped forward, the biggest grin spread onto his face. He gently leant into her, hugging his arms around her neck.

"don't ever do that again!" he scalded playfully

"didn't intend it this time" she replied with a small chuckle.

The next few days saw Mai strengthen. She took her first bite of food for weeks which her weakened frame Desparately needed, and ate like she was never going to eat again. All too soon she was sitting up in bed, chatting happily to everyone, despite the doctors insisting she kept resting. Naturally once the medics had left, Mai was attempting to get up, frustrated with being stuck still. Ander and Haydon aided her when needed but agreed with the doctors on the resting so she frequently accused them of being spoilsports.

Finally the day came when Mai was to be released from the hospital, five days after her awakening. She had healed miraculously, her heart was as strong as ever, and as much as he was set against it, her lover knew they both had the Force to thank for that.
Ander helped her from bed that last afternoon, despite her protestation that she was fully capable of handling herself. The older man made a snide remark about how much he enjoyed "handling her."
Mai had rolled her eyes at that, but giggled playfully as they were the only two in the room. Haydon and Calo had both gone to the ships to prep them for take off, the Merry Miner happily returned to it's place with Ander. With their things all packed, Ander and Mai took hands and made their way to leave the facility, reaching its exit on the roof just as Haydon was tossing the last of their bags into Ander's ship.
Ander was garbed in a flight suit, blue with black trim around the sleeve cuffs, ankles, and collar, a variety of pockets spotting its surface. His boots stuck out from under the cuffs of the pant legs, black with leather buckles and straps.
His rifle hung from his shoulder on its sling, the barrel tapping him regularly against the back of his thigh.
Mai had picked out her own clothing, settling with a light green flight suit of similar design to Ander's (both had been nicked from the garb racks inside one of the GALSAF LAAT/i's parked outside) as well as light, yet functional shoes, and a tan shawl draped over and around her shoulders, to ward off the cold.

They laid their bags inside the cargo hold of Ander's ship, and minutes later, where readied to leave.
Ander sat down at the pilot's seat of the Merry Miner, plotting coordinates for a planet far off from Anobis, a planet he'd been ordered to be in attendance to, for a task he hadn't spoken of to anyone, not even Mai.
Ashrah Intalbo had ordered him to Myrkyr before Ander had even left Mandalore, before him and Mai had even discovered the spark and flame of their own relationship.
And yet he'd put the trip off for weeks, unsure if Ashrah was still waiting there, or had even arrived yet. The man maintained an annoying sense of mysticism about himself, that made it hard for anyone to deal with him on even ground. Ander wondered how intentional that really was.
For the moment, he focused on prepping the ship for take off, both larty's would be accompanying them on the trip. Ander planned on briefing Mai on the situation once they were safely tucked away in hyperspace, confessing his agreement to find a way to sever his connecting to the Force, in order to strengthen his connection to his people.
He had felt his abilities rusting over the last many years, feeling branches of his knowledge corrode and crumble to dust. He still maintained several core skills, but much of his connection to the Force had dimmed in recent years, and Ander was unsure if he had the skill or the desire to renew any of it. For the moment, and for the last several years, the former Jedi was content to let the connection die altogether.
But Ander worried how Mai would feel on such a matter, for it would mean denying her the depth of connection he'd attained with others in his life, on an intimate level. First with Tebana Sor, a woman just younger than himself who'd grown to be a sister to him when he'd felt most hopeless and lost in the world. And later, Ksandra Mallan, his first real love as an adult, with whom he'd discovered more about life and himself, than he could have ever achieved on his own.

Severing his Force connection would forever deny Mai with the possibility of knowing Ander on a similar emotional and mental level. His moods, his feelings, his thoughts, his heart├óÔé¼┬ªshe would know only as much as he allowed her to know of each. For Jedi, past or present, this was a difficult relationship to maintain. Intimacy was defined on an entirely different level than as by non-Force sensitives; Ander was unsure just how desiring Mai was for such intimacy between them. Surely, he would find out when he confessed his plans to her during their flight.

With those final thoughts, Ander brought the ship's repulsers to life and left the planet of Anobis behind, with his mind focused on discovering the identity of those who'd tried to kill Mai, and whether distancing himself from the Force was worth the price he would pay for it in the long run.

Mai smiled. She had always been very independent but even now she had to admit a few times she needed help. Despite complaining, she let Ander guide her into the Merry Miner, settled herself into the flight chair and sighed. Haydon came and did a check on them, before saying he would join the others as he wanted to know more about their group. He clapped Ander on the shoulder, telling him to look after Mai, which he replied he always would. He turned to Mai, hugged her and a the same time stabbed a relaxant shot into her leg. Mai cursed him, smacking him hard across his back.

"what?! You wouldn't take it, and you'll need it travelling this quickly after recovery."

"Coulda warned me!"

"and have you talk me out of it? No way!" with a cheeky grin, he left. Ander set a course off planet, and already relaxing, Mai placed her feet on the panelling in front of her, ready for the journey head.