Room 525, Saturday Night

[talon_wraith]

After leaving Caritas, Myn headed back to the dorms with Tony. Unlocking the door for room 525, he was relieved to find that Eric was elsewhere.

Donos switched the lights on, gesturing for Tony. "Come on in."

(locked to them; both Tony and Eric modded with permission)

Comments

[wantstodirect]

"I won't get hit with cherries, will I?" Tony joked.

[talon_wraith]

Myn shook his head, chuckling. "No, you won't. I wouldn't be able to recreate that if I tried."

[wantstodirect]

"Probably for the best," Tony said. "I keep finding cherries in odd places." He looked around, not sure where to sit.

[talon_wraith]

There was a chair at Myn's desk, as well as the two beds. Myn sat down on his own bed, looking down at his twined fingers for a long few moments. "So..." He looked up, figuring out where to start. "I'm here at Fandom because my CO doesn't think I'm fit to fly."

[wantstodirect]

Tony sat down on the other bed. "CO?" he asked. "Sorry, I don't know military stuff."

[talon_wraith]

"Commanding Officer," Myn translated. "A few months ago, I lead my own unit - Talon Squadron. We were ambushed on a remote planet, and the entire squad was destroyed - except for me. It really hit me hard. Eleven men and women who depended on me to lead them, wiped out because I failed to see what was coming." He stopped, biting his lip against the painful memory.

[wantstodirect]

"Shit," Tony said. "I'm sorry."

Nikki Waugh. Alan Wu. Charlie Harris. Rahal Singh. If he'd known more, done things differently, would they have lived?

[talon_wraith]

"Yeah. It knocked me into a flatspin that I didn't think I'd ever recover from. And then Shiner-" Myn broke off, pressing a hand against his eyes. "Sorry," he whispered, trying to pull himself back under control.

[wantstodirect]

"It's okay," Tony said quietly. "I know - I know what it's like to lose people."

[talon_wraith]

"Shiner was my R2 unit. A droid. But he was the last Talon, you know? As long as he was alive...I hadn't failed everyone." Tyria really had worded it perfectly, Myn thought, as he basically repeated what she had figured out for him. He took a deep breath and let it out shakily before continuing. "They forced me out of it. My new squadmates, the Wraiths. One of the female pilots, Falynn Sandskimmer, thought she was in love with me. I don't know if I loved her or not, but it still hurt when she died, too."

Myn twisted his fingers in his lap, not looking up from them. He'd gotten this far, he could tell Tony the rest. He had to. "They wouldn't let me drop back into that severe depression again. And when we got a new addition to the squadron-" a brief hesitation "-Lara Notsil, I fell for her. I fell hard. Thought I knew her." He shook his head hard. "She wasn't who I thought she was. She was a spy. She was the one who set up the ambush that destroyed Talon Squadron."

[wantstodirect]

Tony winced. "What happened to her?"

[talon_wraith]

"We were in our fighters when Face let it slip. I...I don't really remember what happened. I've been told that I lost control completely. I fired on her...proton torpedo, not lasers...Face put his fighter in front of hers. I almost killed him. The torp detonated before it hit, but I don't remember setting it off." Myn buried his face in his hands, his voice a little muffled. "I almost killed him, and she took off. Commander Antilles wouldn't let me resign. I wanted to, though. She's with the remnants of the Empire now, but she sent us a message, apologizing and saying she's on our side."

"...I guess I don't know what to believe anymore."

[wantstodirect]

"I don't blame you," Tony said.

[talon_wraith]

"So that's why I'm here," Myn said, letting his hands drop. His face was dry again, even if his eyes still held more tears he refused to let fall. "Because I'm certifiably crazy and just barely avoiding a court marshal."

He smiled, the expression one of self-deprication. "Bet you're sorry you came back here with me."

[wantstodirect]

"If your commander wouldn't let you resign and you're not being court martialled, there's got to be a reason," Tony said. "It sounds like they understand you've been through a lot of shit."

[talon_wraith]

"Commander Antilles is a good man. He believes in second chances. And third chances." Myn sighed. "I'm just not sure how coming here is going to help." He looked up at Tony, trying not to look lost and failing. "But thank you for listening."