Private Burning Bridges

[Sable Varro]

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MISSION REPORT: [Burning Bridges]

Operative: Sable Varro
Mission Classification: [Confidential]

Tags: Braze

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lothal

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable was quiet for a long time.

She didn't look at him right away—just stared down at the container he'd set in front of her, hands resting still and open on the table. Something in her posture had changed, ever so slightly. The armor hadn't softened, but the person within it had.

"You're kind," She said at last, voice low. Not disbelieving—just…distant, as if she didn't quite know what to do with kindness when it didn't come with a price tag or a hidden blade.

"I don't know how to be friends with someone who doesn't want something from me."

Her fingers curled slightly on the table's edge, almost like she was grounding herself there, keeping from slipping back into whatever shadows always followed her.

"But I think..." Her voice dipped again, almost hesitant. "I think I'd like to try."

She didn't smile—not fully. But the tension in her voice eased, the walls around it drawing back a fraction. She glanced over at him then, mask still in place but gaze steadier.

"You remind me of what I wanted to believe in. Before everything turned sour."

A beat.

"Maybe that's worth sticking around for a little while longer."

She reached out and pulled the container toward her—not because she was hungry, but because it meant something. Something small. But real.

And for the first time in a long while, Sable didn't feel like she was about to run.

She stared down at the container, feeling something stir within her. Something that made her feel, warm.

And she hated it. “I don’t deserve anything.”

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Sable Varro

"Well, thank you… not everyone thinks I am, but I'd like to try and be kind," Braze said gently. "I think everyone deserves at least a basic level of respect and human decency."


He offered softly. "At least, that's what I want to believe. I don't think most people are bad… just that sometimes they make bad choices. Or maybe they don't have another way to live. It's hard for someone who's only ever known one kind of life to see another path when it finally comes along."

His fingers idly tapped against the table, "In a perfect universe, no one would go hungry. No one would have to wonder if they were safe when they lay down to sleep. They'd have homes. Families that loved them. I can't make that possible for everyone, but I can at least make a difference for the people I meet."

A small smile crossed his face. "I'd rather be the change I want to see in the galaxy."

Braze glanced toward her. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like. I won't be here forever...I have someone to find, and when the time comes, I'll be gone again."

Then, with a softer, more earnest tone, he added, "But until then, I'll try to be a good friend to you, if you'd like." He met her gaze with his jade green eyes, "A good friend should be someone you can just talk to. Someone you enjoy spending time with. I think that's really all there is to it.... Most friends like to do things together... like hobbies, activities, or just sitting around, enjoying each other's company." He exhaled lightly. "Nothing complicated. Just… simple. And real."

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[Sable Varro]

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MISSION REPORT: [Burning Bridges]

Operative: Sable Varro
Mission Classification: [Confidential]

Tags: Braze

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lothal

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than before. Something in the way he spoke—gentle, sincere, without pretense—unsettled her in a way she couldn't quite name. Not because it felt wrong…but because it felt unfamiliar. Disarming. And maybe a little bit frightening in its softness.

"Simple," She echoed, almost as if testing the word on her tongue. "There’s not many simple things out there in the galaxy, Braze."

She looked away then, fingers brushing lightly against the edge of the container again. Not fidgeting—just thinking. Her crimson eyes stared down at the table, feeling how similar this all was.

How it all seemed to be so familiar. So…pathetic in a way. She was still waiting for the catch. For the gotcha.

But there wouldn’t be one today, not today at least.

"I think kindness is just another tactic. A tool, really. You offer it to get something. Or to catch someone off guard. Like a drug, they become more familiar with it, unless you have them right where you want them." Her tone wasn't cynical—just honest, shaped by scars more than malice. "But you…don't want anything."

She fell quiet again, then added, "That makes you dangerous, in a different way."

But there was no threat in her words. Just truth. The kind of truth that only came from someone who'd spent too long walking through fire and learning to flinch at warmth.

Her voice softened then, just a hair. "Being honest with you, kid, I don’t know how to be a ‘friend’. And frankly, it’s probably best if we don’t go down that route."

A breath.

"I am my own island, anyone that comes to shore, is asking for trouble." Her fingers curled lightly, resting in her lap. "You've already done more for me than you should have. You probably shouldn’t have, honestly."

And this time, her voice held something gentler—tentative but genuine:

"Maybe if you found me sooner, Braze, it could have been different, really."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Sable Varro

"That's okay. We don't have to be friends," Braze said, entirely unbothered. He didn't sound offended or disappointed, just oddly accepting of her wishes. Maybe she was right. Maybe everything she said made sense.

"We can be acquaintances," he offered simply.

He studied her for a moment before adding, "I'm sorry you've lived such a harsh life." There was no pity in his voice, only a gentle sense of empathy. "I hope you find someone who can be a good friend to you someday. Someone who sees you; and not just the weapons you carry or the damage you've survived."

His jade green gaze shifted to an expression of something knowing. "Dangerous is a good word for it, though. Friendship—like love—is one of the most powerful things in the universe." He let the words settle before adding, with a small, wry smirk, "Which is probably why people are so bad at handling it. I know I'm certainly pretty bad at it sometimes. "

He leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on the table. "The thing is, power needs to be respected. And that's where people mess up. They use it carelessly. They treat it like a tool or a game, instead of what it really is... Something that shapes people. That changes them."

Then, after a few moments he smiled faintly. " Try to think of Love and Friendship like Fires... Fire is dangerous and can burn you.... But not all fires are bad. Fire can burn you, yeah… but it can also keep you warm. It can cook your food. It can light the way in the dark."

He trailed before offering in a softer lighter tone, "The trick is knowing how to tend it...When to feed the flame, when to let it burn low, and when to step away before it consumes you entirely."

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[Sable Varro]

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MISSION REPORT: [Burning Bridges]

Operative: Sable Varro
Mission Classification: [Confidential]

Tags: Braze

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lothal

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable gave a quiet breath of something between a laugh and a sigh. It wasn't mocking; just tired. She was tired. So, very tired.

"You speak well for someone so young," She said, not unkindly. Her eyes stayed on him for a few seconds longer, studying the way he spoke, the strange gentleness he carried like armor. "But people like me can’t keep friends, because they are…like tools. We can’t use them properly."

She leaned back slightly, arms folding across her chest. not defensive, but contemplative. Comfortable in the silence for a moment, like she was weighing everything he'd said.

"I feel like you just proved my point," She said softly. "Fire is a tool, just like love. It’s a means to an end…it can be good or bad, but it’s always to your benefit…."

Then a pause. Her gaze dropped, thoughtful.

"You use it to control people, motivate people, manipulate them into being who you want them to be. That’s what love is."

Another silence passed between them, companionable now, less heavy than before.

"It’s not as simple as you say it is, it’s far more complicated that that," She added, voice lower now, almost hesitant. "Friendship. Or trust. Or knowing when someone actually means what they say…it’s written all over their form. But only if I fight them."

Her eyes flicked back up to meet his, the faintest flicker of something softer beneath her usual caution.

"But I can only know that, if I fight them…the more I fight them the more I’ll learn."

She let the words hang there for a moment, then added with a dry edge of humor. “People should be thankful when I fight them. I’m putting in effort to know them.”

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Sable Varro

Braze didn't argue right away. He just watched her, the faint trace of that earlier smirk fading into something quieter. Something that lingered between sadness and understanding.

"…You're not wrong," he said finally. "Love can be used like a tool. So can trust. So can loyalty, belief, even hope." His voice stayed soft, but there was a sturdiness to it. Like a stone polished smooth by time. "But that's not all they are."

"You don't have to believe me," he admitted. "But I think if someone only loves the version of you they can shape, then they don't love you. They love their reflection in you."

And then, as a soft glint of humor returned to his tone:

"Besides, if fighting's the only way you can read someone's heart...then maybe I'll just have to learn how to fight back in ways that don't draw blood."

He let that sit a moment before continuing, his words more thoughtful.

"I think love… real love… is the only thing in the galaxy that doesn't want anything from you. It's not a transaction. It doesn't demand you become something else. It just sees what you are, and says: That's enough."

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[Sable Varro]

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MISSION REPORT: [Burning Bridges]

Operative: Sable Varro
Mission Classification: [Confidential]

Tags: Braze

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lothal

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable was quiet for a long moment after he finished speaking, her expression unreadable, the silence between them stretching—not cold, not hostile, just... distant. Like something old now stirred beneath the surface, something buried deep beneath scars and silence.

"I don't think I'm capable of that anymore," She said at last, her voice low, flat—not bitter, just resigned. "Whatever part of me used to feel love…it’s gone. Cut out. Burned away. Doesn’t belong anymore."

Her eyes didn't meet his, instead drifting toward some vague, unimportant spot beyond him; like she was speaking more to the room than to him.

"I don't remember what it felt like. Real love. I remember the way people used me, the way they said they loved me while they turned me into something they could use however they wanted. I remember the entrapment. The lies. The way it all looked like love, sounded like love—felt like prison."

She shook her head slowly. "So maybe it's still in there, somewhere. Maybe it's not. But I can't feel it. Not like I'm supposed to."

A beat passed before she added, quieter still, "And if someone ever did see me as 'enough'…I wouldn't know what to do with it. I don't think I'd even believe it…I’ve never been enough, for anyone…can’t see that starting now."

She finally looked at him then, just briefly. Her gaze was guarded, but not cruel—just tired. "So if you're going to keep talking about love like it's some beautiful force that heals all wounds…save it for someone else. I don’t believe in it."

Her voice wasn't defensive. It was just matter-of-fact. The truth, as she knew it.

But maybe, just maybe, there was still a flicker of something underneath. Something fragile and unspoken, even if she couldn't name it anymore.

But it was there all the same.

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Sable Varro

Braze looked at her for a long time. Not with pity. Just… Hurt maybe. But not because of what she said, but because of what she'd been through.

"…I still believe in it." His voice was small, but sure.

"Even if you don't. Even if nobody else does." He scratched the back of his neck.
"I don't think love's supposed to be perfect. Or easy. I just… think it's real. And it's not gone from you. I don't believe that." He paused for a moment or two, "Maybe no one ever made you feel like enough. But they were wrong. And...That's not your fault."

He looked down. Then up again, holding her gaze as best he could.
"…I see you. And I still believe in you. Even if you can't."

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[Sable Varro]

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MISSION REPORT: [Burning Bridges]

Operative: Sable Varro
Mission Classification: [Confidential]

Tags: Braze

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lothal

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable exhaled sharply, something between a scoff and a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her fingers twitched at her sides, curling, then flexing again like she was testing whether she still had feeling in them.

"That's real nice," She said, voice quiet but edged, like she wasn't sure if she was amused or angry or just…tired. She felt it sinking into her muscles, her bones. Everything ached. She felt just..exhausted. "Real pretty words you have there."

Her gaze flicked away, restless. Too sharp, too guarded. She hated how it almost hurt to look at him, to hear that kind of certainty in his voice.

"I tried to believe in all that, once." Her lips pressed into a thin line. "But reality proved me wrong. See, I'm...a bit of a horrible person, Braze."

She forced herself to meet his eyes again, searching for something she wasn't sure she wanted to find. Perhaps searching for serenity And in a voice that almost cracked, almost softened, almost, she muttered,

"...sometimes, people are...like machines. Just, set in their ways. Only knowing one thing."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Sable Varro

"We all get told who we are. By the past. By pain. By people who wanted us broken because it made things easier for them. But none of that gets to decide who you are. Not really. Not unless you let it. There's always a choice. Even when it feels like there isn't. Even when it hurts like hell. You are the one who chooses what defines you. No one else. Ever. You don't have to be what they made you."

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