Last time: Sasha apologized to Kait and they made amends.

Now: Kyr finally has a chat with Troy.

Chapter 5- Brotherly Advice

"Kyr." Cien said, throwing a miffed glance at him.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"We can't name one of them that." She said, from the privacy of the sofa that was thankfully unoccupied again. It was quickly becoming one of Cien's favorite spots on the ship, and hence his.

"Don't you think it would be a great name?" He asked.

"We can't name them after ships!" She stated. "'No X-Wing Xiv' is not a proper name for someone." She stated.

"But when you say it like that it has such an awesome ring to it." Kyr said defensively.

She rolled her eyes, trying to hide a smirk as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Kyr asked.

"Down to the shooting range to meet Wynnie so I can talk to someone less weird." Cien said as she started walking away.

"Oh, I want to go shooting too." Kyr said, trying to follow.

"Only if you put your buy'ce on and mute the exterior amp." Cien said with a roll of her eyes.

"Deal, then I can listen to my loud music." He said following her as she swept through the canteen. Kyr stopped when he saw Troy, who was sitting by himself at a table moving his food around on his plate with his left hand as his right was in a sling, not looking all that interested in eating. Despondent would be the appropriate term for how he looked.

"I'll meet up with you guys." Kyr told Cien. She glanced back at him, then followed his gaze.

"Okay." She said with a nod, continuing out the door.

Kyr walked over to where Troy was sitting, "mind if I sit?" Kyr asked him as he approached his table.

Troy looked up from his daze. "Sure," he said, straightening up.

"How is your arm doing?" Kyr asked, settling down into the seat. He put his buy'ce on the table off to the side in front of him as he scooted the chair out a little and sat with one leg crossed over the other in a relaxed position.

"A little sore, sir, but Doctor Kelscov said that I should be cleared to return to action when we reach Caranas," Troy said as he adjusted the sling.

"That's good, I keep getting injuries like that that put me down for a while and I always hate it." Kyr said, "Kelce's the best doc in the Republic, if he says you'll be good, you'll be good."

"Thank you, sir," Troy said before going quiet for a moment. "Not that I'm not enjoying your company, sir, but is there something I can do for you?" He asked as politely as he could.

"Nope." Kyr said. "I wanted to see if you were okay after the battle on Abbiados?" Kyr said, looking at him.

"I...I…" Troy trailed off as he looked down at his food. "I'm fine."

"That's good." Kyr said, nodding. "I remember my first real combat action, I was pretty scared the first time, definitely glad to be in my beskar."

"Sounds rather handy to have," Troy said, still looking down. "But you were scared? Sorry, but I find that hard to believe, sir. All the stories I've heard about you say otherwise."

Kyr chuckled slightly. "Eltee, the only person who goes into combat and isn't afraid is a fool. I get scared just like everyone else." He said, "Wynnie said you did alright, I trust her judgement."

Troy set his fork down at that and ran a hand through his dark hair. "It didn't feel like it. I feel like I screwed up at every turn. I got my men killed…" he trailed off when his voice caught in his throat. "Sorry, sir."

Kyr looked at him for a moment. "Your mom ever tell you about our first deployment together?"

"Once, I think," Troy said, resting his arms on the table.

"She got saddled with me because the Alliance thought that that little corvette she brought in would work best for hit and run tactics, and they wanted some trouble shooters that could run around to trouble spots and take care of messy issues. Same thing the 19th does now, just with a lot less firepower and a lot more creativity." He looked away, distant. "This was the original Coppers, Nova's the only one left from then. This was even before Scamp joined." He mused. "We were lucky, a lot, but it was the first time I was ever in command of anyone. I was used to doing everything solo. So we had Nova, a couple of other guys who got promoted or since retired, and then this little fireball of a former stormtrooper that defected to join us. I didn't like her much at first, after what the imps did to my family." He said, in a somewhat rambling manner. "It's hard to see a stormtrooper and not see a stormtrooper, even when they're not wearing their armor. But she became a really good friend in those first few months." He said, looking off a little distantly. "Reminded me a lot of my sisters or Cien in her own way. We went on a mission. Just a regular, milk run of a mission, and we got ambushed. I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. The Imps closed in on us and we didn't have a good way out. I was going to try to draw them away, trying to get the rest of the team some room to breathe so they could try to regroup and get out. But I was injured, and she just took off, doing it instead of me."

"We lost her," He said, "she was the first person I ever lost under my command, and the first friend I ever lost under my command. We got away because of her, but I admit I still kind of miss having her as a friend, especially through the rest of the war because she reminded me of some things I didn't have in my life anymore." Kyr said, looking back up at Troy.

"I screwed up a lot back then. And thankfully I was lucky enough to be with a group of people where it was okay. Until it wasn't. And I got one of my people killed because of it. One of my friends killed." He said quietly. "So I know what's going on, I've been in your boots. Don't let their loss be in vain. Take that, remember their names every night, and make sure you don't have to add any more to that list." Kyr said, looking at him. "You didn't get your people killed, the enemy did that. And yeah, maybe you screwed up. But are you going to do it again?" Kyr asked.

Troy looked at Kyr, stunned. He then shook his head. "No, I'm not." He said, confidently. But his confidence faded after a moment. "I let my ego cloud my judgment out there and I thought I knew what I was doing. But I didn't. And it's hard being the Admiral's son. Everyone expects you to do great things. That's a lot of pressure on a person who has never seen an active battlefield until a couple days ago." He paused. "If it wasn't for you or Scamp or even Wynnie. Especially Wynnie. I would have died out there. I owe her for that. All of you for that." He looked back to Kyr. "Thank you for telling me that story. It helps to know I'm not alone in this."

"Troy, don't worry about anyone else's expectations when you're out there on the battlefield." Kyr said, "or ever, for that matter. The only person you have to live with is yourself. Do what's right by you and those under your command, and don't care what I or anyone else thinks. It doesn't matter how people perceive you, it just matters what you do. And if you do the right thing, that respect will come naturally."

"Okay. Thank you, Col…" He corrected himself. "Thank you, Kyr," Troy said, gratefully. "If I can call you that, sir."

"You can." Kyr said, "at least when it's just the two of us." Kyr said with a smirk. "I will make one small addendum to what I said, though."

Troy smirked at that before asking, "and what's that?"

"If you ever have a significant other, you should care what they think." Kyr said, continuing a smirk, "so other than them, don't care what anyone else thinks."

"I'll keep that in mind," Troy chuckled. "If I ever get that far. Contrary to popular belief, I've never actually dated anyone before." He immediately turned red after he said that. "Please tell me you won't tell anyone that! Everyone thinks because I'm so handsome that I've had many girlfriends before. And I've tried correcting them, but they think I'm being modest. And… and I'm rambling. Sorry. I do that." He admitted bashfully.

Kyr chuckled. "Kid, I didn't date anyone till a few years ago, so you got nothing to worry about."

Troy sighed at that. "Thanks." He went quiet for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Kyr said.

"I got this feeling a couple of times, but up until now I didn't think you liked me very much," Troy said, glancing down. "Did I do something wrong? Or offend you in some way? If so, I'd like to apologize."

Kyr looked at him for a moment, then glanced away before looking back at him. "You ever met a Mando before?" He asked.

"Not until you and your wife," Troy answered truthfully.

"We get to be really good at reading people, because a lot of people we meet are buried in armor, and we need to know if someone is coming at us as a friend or a foe. I'm good at getting a read of people, so I trust that instinct a lot. But when someone casts a bit too much attention at the people I care about, it clouds my perception a bit, and I get a little protective of the people that are important to me." He said, looking Troy in the eye. "But I read you wrong, and my first take on you that I got after that sparring match between you and Scamp wasn't correct. And I apologize if I treated you unfairly because of that."

"It's okay," Troy said, smiling gently. "I'm not upset by that. I just thought I had said or done something wrong, but now I understand. It's because of Wynnie and how I acted around her that made you act that way. I'm sorry about that. I just… I really like her." He blushed a little at that.

Kyr looked at him for a moment, trying to keep from smirking. "First time I met her, she was this teeny little thing, living on the streets of some nasty little planet that had failed. The people there were starving, we were there with Twilight company. She was part of this gang of little ruffians that broke into our camp. We weren't sure why at first, just suddenly our camp was being attacked by a bunch of teenagers. Ferocious little shabuirs. The gang she was with was a bunch of older teenage boys that tried to slit our throats, so we handled them appropriately. And she was the last one, I didn't even notice her until she ran up and tried to stab me through my thigh plate." He said with a smirk. "Ruined her knife, but she kept trying to fight. So I just pulled out a snackbar for her to try to calm her down, and she looked at me like I was the most insane thing she'd ever seen. Only gotten that look one other time." Kyr said with a smile. "She's only gotten meaner since then. Just fair warning." Kyr said. "Also a lot better with her knife."

Troy only smiled. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. "I didn't know any of that about her, but it makes sense. I never met anyone like her before." He looked at his food again, it was long forgotten. "But she doesn't even notice me. I've tried asking her out and I don't think she realizes. Maybe I'm just trying too hard or something." He looked at Kyr then chuckled. "Sorry, I haven't had anyone to really talk to about this. Mom just thinks it's adorable. Scamp won't help. And everyone else just teases me. You're the first person who hasn't."

Kyr looked at him for a moment. "I've been there kid, trust me." He said with a serious tone. "Cien was exactly the same way, from a background that was very different but incredibly similar. So I've been in that exact spot. She's not the kind of person who is going to notice that unless you bash her over the head so hard she'll never forgive you. So if you want my advice… let it be a slow burn. Be a friend that she can rely on above all others, and be a kind presence that will keep her from ever feeling like she's alone. And offer her a cookie."

Troy smiled at that. "Okay. I will. Thank you, Kyr."

"No problem. And if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Kyr said. He paused for a moment. "You and I never went shooting, want to go now?" He asked.

"Sure, but I'm a lousy shot with my left hand," Troy said, smirking. "I might need a few pointers."

"Don't worry, if I can't help you I know there's someone down in the shooting range that can give you a few pointers." Kyr said, trying to suppress a smirk. "Bring a cookie, by the way."

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