Bankor

Back in the barracks, Arali was bent over a pile of scrap parts, tools scattered around her little table, with a lamp shining bright on her work, with bits of arcing and sparking as she fiddled with a new crystal mount. She would need more parts to actually make any headway, but this would be a start.

She reached to the side, and winced, her entire front a bruise at the moment. But the pain subsided after a moment into a dull discomfort, and she took a sip of tea. A light blend. Healthful and relaxing, without being something that would keep her up all night. And she had an entire pot ready for this job.

A knock came at the door before it opened and Luth poked her head in. She smiled warmly as she saw Arali, closing the door and walking over, hugging her from behind. "I'm so happy to see you."

As Luth came behind her, Arali finished off a connection and put her tool down, to lean into the touch. "Mm... hey, beautiful. I'm glad to see you, too." She tried being somewhat casual, but something told her either Luth heard about her battle against the sand demon, or else had some unfortunate excitement of her own.

"You okay? I heard about what happened, though no details," she said, concern lacing her voice.

Well, that confirmed that.

Arali got up, and held Luth, if only to confirm they're both still there. "It's okay. I wasn't alone."

She took a moment to mull over how to start, and eventually asked, "Want some tea?" She always found it easier to talk over tea.

Luth hugged her close. She needed the comfort of Arali's warmth at the moment. "... Yeah, tea would be good," she said, stepping back.

Arali poured Luth a cup, and they sat. The tea was light, floral, slightly sweet. A relaxing blend. After a moment to enjoy the tea, Arali began.

"It's a rather short story, really. A Mandalorian attack. They released a... actually I'm not sure what it was. A big, brown, tentacled bug monster of some sort. Apparently it came from Ryloth?" She shrugged, holding little attachment to the home of her ancestors.

"They sent it to cause chaos. A few of us faced it and said no. Fighting ensued. Lightsabers were involved. I learned the upper limit on power output from the wrong direction, and we managed to defeat that poor creature. There were injuries, but no fatalities."

She nodded, listening, sipping the tea. It really was relaxing. "Yikes... Well, that's good." She looked over at the parts at her workbench. "I take it the lightsaber wasn't so lucky."

Arali looked down at her work, then picked up the crystal. "This is all that's left. The rest of this?" she gestured to the bits and bobs scattered across the table. "That's new."

She set down the crystal. "The power output of a kyber is virtually infinite. The real limit is how well you can contain it. I draw a lot more out of my crystal than most, and today, I pushed it too hard to get in a decisive blow. Thankfully, my gloves and armor took the brunt of it."

"That's good at least... I couldn't stand it if you'd gotten seriously hurt and I hadn't been there," she said, shaking her head.

Arali rested her hand on Luth's, "I'm sorry. I never meant to make you worry. Though, I guess there's gonna be a lot of that for both of us until this campaign's over."

She let out a soft sigh. "Yeah."