Disclaimer; I only own my plot, characters, etc.

Tale 4; It's complicated

Baylar Sordano sat in his pilot's chair, starring deftly out the viewport. He watched the darkness, pinpricks of stars, the glow of the planet below but never really took any of it in. His mind was cluttered as it was.

The recent mission was of course the cause. He'd been working with the Jedi for a while now. Despite his past jobs for both sides, they'd offered him a nice sum and some degree of trust. Sure, the missions were deadly and the risk of not coming back seemed bigger each time but that wasn't the problem. He could handle that. He was used to that.

Heck, he even got along well enough with the Jedi.

He pressed a button, showing the cargo hold. Inside, it displayed a young white haired girl, early teens. She was busy with several small training probes, gripping her bow. Bay watched as she carefully stalked the three probes, deflecting any attacks with her beskar bow as ah circled. After several seconds, she twirled, leaping and twisting as she fired her weapon three times in quick succession.

All three droids lay deactivated by the time she landed on her feet.

Baylar shook his head slightly at the sight, shutting the monitor off as he reclined in the chair again. Despite witnessing Basil perform feats like that...the mercenary still had a soft, protective spot for the young clone. Like an instinctive urge to keep her out of danger, keep her safe despite all logic.

It wasn't even exactly that she couldn't handle herself. He could see that. Of course, that wasn't to say that he didn't worry about that but...it wasn't the forefront thought.

"Baylar, you let down your guard. That is unlike you. Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong," The mercenary reassured. He leant back in his chair, swiveling to look at Basil. "I was just thinking. I guess I got a bit carried away. So how was your training?"

"You are attempting to deflect my question." Basil noted, cocking her head. "But it went well. I though I would like a live enemy to practice on."

"Uh-uh." Bay shook his head. "I still can't feel my arm from this morning's little sparring session."

"You did say any means." Basil reminded him.

"I didn't mean to hide a shock stick and hit me with it," He sighed, puffing out a plume of air. "The 'hand to hand' training rule trumps the 'any means' rules."

"Noted for future reference." Basil sighed. "However, I do wish to discuss something with you."

"Oh?" Bay turned to fiddle with the Blade's console. He had an idea of what she wanted to talk about. And he would rather not.

"I wish to a more active role during missions," Basil announced, staring at the mercenary. "I can contribute more to the missions and I wish to be an important part of the team."

Bay skid further down his chair. He ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to talk about this. "Basil, we've talked about this. We need you in a support role."

"Incorrect. Anytime I have attempted to address the subject, you have deflected the subject with use of sarcasm." Basil's tone remained level but he knew she wasn't happy with him. "You have not listened to my arguments on the manner."

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"I am perfectly capable of handling myself. I have training from you and Talris is basic Echani, Mandalorian and alternative fighting. I have received basic training from the Jedi, in addition to my Sith training and Flash training."

"And most of that is basic. What if you had to fight a Sith?"

"I have a wide range of skills that I am competent with. And I would not be alone in a fight anyway."

"What if you were separated?"

"That is why I should stay with the group."

"You're best suited for support and infiltration."

"I am capable of other roles as well. Stealth and Infiltration is my specialty and you do not allow me to do that anyway, yet."

Baylar looked at her. How long had she planned this for? "Basil, I just don't want to see you hurt."

"I am aware. You do not display the same concern for Talris or Ji-Hui, who are in the same situations." The girl paused, adjusting her hair out of her eyes. "Is there something else that is a problem?"

"Talris and Ji-hui are different. They're. . ." Baylar floundered for words.

"If you mean to say that they are trained for combat, I am as well," Basil reaffirmed.

"No, they're. . . they're used to it," The merc finally said. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Them, myself, Wulf, Davrel, Adot, Aaron, we're all used to it. Violence is a part of what we do. Maybe even of who we are. It's something common now to the point. . . to the point that we might even need it, expect it. Almost an addiction, I guess. I hate it."

"I don't like simply going from mission to mission, op to op, taking more lives than I seem to help. I say it's for the money, or the people but..." He didn't look at Basil. "I don't know how true that is. I don't want that for you. I don't know what the Sith did to you when they cloned whoever, I don't want you dying, I don't want you to become like the others. I don't want you having a more active part of the missions."

Silence.

"I will consider you're words." Basil finally broke the deadlock of quiet.

"Yeah? Good to hear," Baylar nodded tiredly as she walked out. Once alone, he sighed again. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered. Then he cracked his fingers and turned back to the navcomputer. Time for another mission

Author's Note; A little dip into the mind of everyone's (Or at least my) favorite mercenary. I try to write him with dimensions and I think this is a good way of showing it. Anyway, thanks for reading and until next time, Baldore out!

PS. Planning to add a short intro to the universe on the first Tale, just for those who have no idea what's going on.