Mara Jade is SHIELD's ☕ Queen (marajade) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2014-06-11 11:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, mara jade, sarissa |
RP Log; Mara Jade & Sarissa
Who: Mara Jade & Sarissa
When: 11 June 2014
Where: SHIELD Transport somewhere between New York & Buenos Aires.
What: Mara Jade has trust issues right now; We’ll blame Jasper Sitwell for that - we hear he makes a great patsy.
Rating: Low
Status: COMPLETE.
It was a several hour flight between the Hub and the Treehouse and that was plenty of time for Mara Jade to read a best selling novel or two or three. Unfortunately for Mara pleasure was really not on her mind and hadn’t been for edging into two months. Truth be told, she hated the idea of leaving New York right now and the fact that she was headed somewhere more than a few hours away didn’t make her feel much better about the assignment. After all, it was difficult to have Jasper Sitwell’s back when you weren’t actually at his back. Mara sighed and pulled a leg up on the seat, leaning her chin on her leg and staring out a window, and considering the current situation. The mission should be simple enough - in theory: check out the base, get information, report back to the Treehouse, and then return to the Hub. She had never been to the Treehouse before, and it conjured up visions of Kashyyk in her mind -- visions that she suspected were highly misplaced based on her experiences with other SHIELD facilities. For a moment, Mara was home-sick for her own world, but the moment passed as quickly as it had come. The Galaxy Far, Far Away had its own share of betrayal, darkness, murder, and those who would control others. This world didn’t have any sort of patent on that type of thing, and wherever she was, she’d still be fighting it: That was what she did. Mara turned her head from the window down to the pad in front of her, picking it up, and flipping to her messages. She sent a quick one off to Jasper. It was the sort of sass that was typical of their relationship, but would tell him she’d be gone and where she was going. That done she then turned to flip through the information SHIELD had on the base and the team’s current mission. As she flipped through her fingers stopped on the newest agent - Sarissa. Mara Jade was an introvert, she kept her friends close, she didn’t offer a lot of personal information to people she didn’t know well, and years as the Emperor’s Hand had only amplified all of those natural personality traits. That said she had then spent years building relationships among smugglers and government officials, and another few years with Skywalker - who welcomed people in, easily believing the best of them to the point of naivete in Mara’s view - but it had rubbed off on her and until recently she’d found herself more Farmboy Jedi Master than Emperor’s Hand. Particularly when she had spent months upon first arrival feeling, as Sam had put it, relatively safe. But that had been before Jasper Sitwell had started talking around the notion of HYDRA still having a hold in SHIELD, before Nick had requested that she watch Sitwell’s back, before she had realised there were still snakes in the grass, before she hadn’t heard from Nick in over a week, and before she’d picked up a really bad feeling that she simply couldn’t shake. At the moment, she was as much Emperor’s Hand as she was Jedi Knight, and she was really not in the mood for an unknown in the middle of her team. Not now. Not when she knew there were problems within the organization, but she didn’t know who. Mara knew Charles and Echo, at least well enough to have an idea of their skills, their ethics, who they were and why they were SHIELD. She didn’t know Sarissa at all. Clearly it was time to change that. Who knew who had vetted Sarissa or what their loyalties were. The only thing Mara could be truly certain of were her own loyalties, and that meant she needed to ask the questions herself. She locked the pad away, and moved from her seat, towards Sarissa and offered her a smile as she glanced at the seat next to Sarissa and asked: “Mind if I sit with you?” Sarissa, too, was an introvert. Oh, she was friendly enough to most people who weren't actively trying to kill her, but seven hundred years in the Winter Court had taught her that it was best to stay quiet and out of the way, lest somebody decided to take it upon themselves to make a plaything out of the Winter Queen's Changeling daughter. Even in the mortal world, she'd kept to herself. Anyone she got close to was in danger, and it also raised awkward questions when the years went by and she showed no signs of aging. It hadn't been until she'd come to this version of New York that she'd begun to relax. There were no faerie courts here, no enemies or politics to worry about. No, all she had to worry about was the Mantle that was steadily pressing on her. It was likely because of that Mantle that she was here now. Sarissa hadn't been trained to go out in the field, but her powers would be extremely useful for where they were going. It was just too bad that it was going to be the dead of winter when they arrived. She could feel Summer slipping away as the plane moved south; she could feel the energy and life that had been building up and coursing through her start to fade. When she reached Argentina it would be the height of winter, and she could only hope what power she did have would be sufficient. She was in the midst of those thoughts when Mara sat down next to her. Sarissa didn't know her well, nor did she know the others. The only one she was familiar with was Xavier, and that was because she watched the movie. Getting to know her teammates was something she wanted to do before they landed, so she offered the redhead a friendly smile. "Not at all," she said. "Mara, right? You seem to be well used to this kind of thing." There were certainly times when Mara wished that she’d come from a world that was closer to a version of this one. A world where she might have had some chance to have read and be familiar with the individual that she now ended up working with and living with - but she didn’t, and there was no changing that - nor, if he were honest, would she have been likely to have read or be familiar with the breadth of stories that she knew were represented here. For the moment, she offered Sarissa a smile that was warm enough, despite the fact that her intention was really to begin to question the other woman and find out more about her. “I’m Mara Jade,” she said. “And, I guess you could say that I’m used to it. I’ve been in the business a while.” And that was more or less the truth - she’d been a SHIELD agent for over a year now, and she’d been in similar business back home as the Emperor’s Hand, a Smuggler’s right hand assistant, and a Jedi Knight. It was hardly the first time she’d shipped off with very little information to go on. “But you’re not?” She asked with a raise of an eyebrow. “Is this your first field mission?” "It is," Sarissa admitted. "I just transferred from Biochem/Med." It had become very clear that it was a very bad idea to have someone who could cause uncontrollable growth around diseases and biological samples. Despite Beverly's efforts to find an appropriate assignment for her, it had been deemed best for Sarissa to transfer. Mara offered an eyebrow raise - albeit not an unfriendly one - of interest at that. It wasn’t that people from the sciences didn’t do field work, and the timing of the transfer was probably just a coincidence. But under the circumstances, she knew she’d be remiss if she didn’t follow-up. On the other hand, there was a danger in dwelling too much in paranoia and worry and Mara had been dangerously sliding into that of recent. “What made you decide to take up field work?” She asked simply, using the transfer in conversation as a moment to simply clear her mind and reach out to the Force and listen to what was being said, both by Sarissa herself and the deeper quiet that Mara had learned to rely on. Sarissa hesitated. After so many years of hiding what she was, giving any information on herself didn't come easily. She knew, however, that it was important to do so on this mission. It could be very dangerous for her teammates to be surprised by her abilities if they were in the middle of a fight. "It was a better fit for my abilities," she said carefully. "I have the power to affect plants and animals, which isn't ideal for a biological lab, but is more suited for a mission in the jungle." Superpowers. It wasn’t a particularly large surprise considering the fact that the team was a Jedi Knight, a telepath, and a woman with multiple personalities. The fact that Sarissa had abilities of a variety like this just meant they were all really bringing things to the team. “What sort of power?” Mara shifted, settling into a slightly more comfortable position in the chair next to Sarissa, her expression open and curious. It was hard to talk about anything Sidhe-related in the first place, and harder still to describe powers even she didn't understand. Sarissa could have told Mara exactly what the Winter Lady was able to do, but she didn't know the full extent of what she, as Summer Lady, could do. "The power to make them grow, to control them," she said, after a moment's thought. "Which, I assume, is why I have been brought in." It would certainly make sense that this sort of power could be useful in the jungle. Mara didn’t know precisely what they would be working on, but being able to grow and control plants in a plant rich environment had the potential to be useful indeed. “There certainly will be a number of plants where we’re going, or so I’ve been told,” Mara said simply. And as she said it Mara realised that while she did need to have some idea of Sarissa’s abilities, what she really needed was something that the personnel file wouldn’t tell her. Mara really wanted to know what had prompted Sarissa to join with SHIELD. It was the sort of question that she might not get the full truth from, but even that would be information that would tell Mara something that might be useful to know. Jasper had said 1 - 2 weeks -- and that had been a week ago. “Are you looking forward to it? Field work, I mean?” It occurred to Sarissa that Mara was doing exactly what Sarissa herself did so often to other people: ask questions about the other person without offering anything in return. It worked really well for her: people tended to like talking about themselves, and she could have entire friendships with people without it once occurring to them to ask about her family. She liked it that way. It was just strange having it turned back on her. "It's new to me so it's exciting, but I can't say I'm not nervous as well." She gave Mara a wry smile and turned it back to her. "Any tips you can offer?" “I don’t think anyone is completely without some nerves when going out into the Field,” Mara responded truthfully. “And if they tell you they are, probably they’re lying, or they’re not a very good Field Agent. Use the nerves, don’t let them use you. I think that’s the best advice I can give you. They’ll keep you sharp, keep you thinking, and keep you paying attention. If you let them use you, they’ll paralyze you, and that’s not helpful to you, your team, or SHIELD.” Mara kept her senses tuned onto the woman sitting next to her. Right now nothing felt unusual and perhaps this was her opening to ask the question she wanted to know the answer to, or at least to know what Sarissa’s answer would be, and the sense of the woman when she answered it. Mara hoped that would tell her as much about her new team member as any of her other questions, and the definable thing that she really wanted to know before she had to trust Sarissa with her back. “You’re a pretty new agent, aren’t you?” Mara asked, returning the smile. “I mean, in general, not just to Field Work? What made you choose to apply at SHIELD?” Sarissa took a moment to think about that. Back home, she'd done everything she could to avoid conflict and danger. Enough came to her that she didn't want to go looking for it. Now she was about to plunge into a jungle with unknown dangers, with people she barely knew and powers she understood even less. How had she gotten here? "When the attack happened in London a few months back, I answered the general call for medical help," she said eventually. "I was a trauma nurse back home for a few years before I was a rehab nurse, and I thought I could help." Not that she didn't look like she was barely out of high school. "I ended up working with Beverly Crusher, and she helped me see that I could keep helping if I joined SHIELD. As a trauma nurse I saw a wide variety of emergencies, but the London attack really pushed me and exposed me to something I'd never encountered before, and I wanted to do more of it." It was, perhaps, one of the longest speeches she'd ever given about herself. "I think it's something a lot of agents have in common: the desire to be part of a greater force for good." Mara looked away then, smiling and nodding. She didn’t sense any duplicity from Sarissa so either she was telling the truth or she was a very good liar. It was the expected response, perhaps, and it might not mean anything under pressure, but it was at least something to build on. And for the moment that was going to have to do. “I think that’s probably true,” Mara turned to offer her a smile and with it, she opened up just slightly. “It certainly is true for me. SHIELD was a way to use skills and help people on this planet - even if it’s not where I was born. I think really that belief that you can do a lot of good if you’re a part of something greater is built into SHIELD. I know Director Fury has a saying along those lines,” Mara’s smile remained frozen on her face - no outward sign of the worry that she still hadn’t been able to reach Nick. Mara buried the worry and looked Sarissa in the eyes. “I’m glad to have you on board, Sarissa. We all had our first time in the Field at some point - if I can help make yours successful let me know.” "Thank you," Sarissa said gratefully. There was much she had to figure out on her own, but knowing she had her teammate's support helped. "Where was it that you were born?" she asked, curious. She didn't know much about Mara; she only knew that she was a Jedi, from the inquiries she'd made before coming on the mission. Her knowledge of the Jedi, however, was limited to the movies - and she hadn't watched them in almost forty years. "I don't know exactly," Mara said. It was the sort of conversation she'd be much more hesitant to have were the circumstances different than they were here. But when you had a Wikipedia page with your entire biography, some things weren't worth obfuscation. "I grew up on Coruscant though, or the Imperial Center as it was known then: A galaxy far, far away,” Mara added with a wry smile. It was something she’d gotten used to and most people understood the reference, even those that didn’t know who she was particularly. Mara didn’t offer more details about her upbringing at that moment. While it was hardly a secret that she’d once been the Emperor’s Hand - here, or in her own world - it also wasn’t something she was exactly proud of. She could rationally tell herself the things she’d done had been orders and that she’d thought she was doing the right thing for the galaxy as a whole, but the truth was she’d killed people, caused harm to others, and in some cases they had probably been the wrong people. Again Sarissa recognized the signal that Mara didn't want to go deeper into the past, so she didn't press the issue. She hoped, though, that Mara had shared it with someone. She knew better than most how the past could affect the present and even the future. She had been cut off from her mother because of their past. "It must've been quite the adjustment when you arrived here, then," she said instead. “I think the hardest thing at first was being stuck planet-side,” Mara said with a grin and a shrug. “Despite the fact that I grew up on Coruscant and that is where I consider home to be in many ways - I rarely stayed there for very long. Really and truly home was my ship, and I missed having access to transportation. “In the long-term, it’s been more of an adjustment just to the culture of the place,” she glanced out the window again. “I’ve been here for over a year now and I still find myself missing cultural references, or things that everyone around me - even other refugees - seem to know and understand because their worlds are so similar to this one. Fortunately,” she turned her smile back to Sarissa. “I’ve had some good teachers, and there’s a lot that is similar in the end. Where you’re from -- is it much like this?” "I think people are people no matter where they are or what time they're from," Sarissa said philosophically. She'd been around long enough to know. "But I was luckier than some of the refugees. My world is very similar to this one. We even have the same chain restaurants." Mara raised her eyebrows and nodded simultaneously -- Sarissa was right enough on that front. Of all the things she hadn’t found terribly difficult, it had been getting along with people from other realities. In fact, there certainly had been instances where it had been easier than getting along with those from her own who knew her so little. Back when their had even been people from her own reality. “I wonder percentage wise what it works out to,” Mara mused. “People from worlds similar to this one, versus those from totally different ones. I suspect most people are from worlds similar to this one - but I could be wrong. I mean, if we’re pulled in from sources that are fictional in this world, it sort of follows that most fiction would be set in some reality similar to this one.” "It does make sense," Sarissa agreed. She liked Mara's analysis; it was how her mind worked as well. "Which is likely why - aside from the mites - those who have come here are all human-like. No Cthulhu-type beings, for example." “Oh those mites! That SHIELD mite was so hilarious that for a while, he actually wasn’t annoying,” Mara actually laughed, and it felt nice to think about it. That had been before she’d realised how desperate things might be. Maybe if this was all over - it would be that way again. “You’re probably one of the few who wasn’t annoyed,” Sarissa said, smiling at Mara. The Jedi didn’t strike her as someone who laughed much, so it was nice to see her relaxing a little. “That little thing got everywhere.” “Oh, eventually I was ready to see him go,” Mara shook her head, smiling in return. “I suppose it helped that I wasn’t really the subject of his protestations, and wild stories and some of the stories he made up about others were pretty ridiculous and so - it was difficult to not be a bit amused.” Mara looked over at Sarissa and there was a smile still on her lips. It was nice to have a few things that were lighter. She’d been so worried about it all that she hadn’t even smiled since she left the Hub. Use the nerves, she’d told Sarissa, but she hadn’t been doing a spectacular job of following her own advice. “Never a dull moment at SHIELD,” Sarissa said wryly. She liked it that way, actually; she liked the hum of energy that pervaded the halls of the complex. She’d always been drawn to that kind of thing, as well as the people involved in it. “So do you know the others well?” Sarissa nodded at their teammates. “Charles and Echo?” Mara followed Sarissa’s glance and considered the question. “We’ve been working together for a while now,” she said easily. “Long enough that we have a good sense of our abilities and strengths. They’re good agents. Have you had the opportunity to speak with them much?” Sarissa shook her head. "Not really. We haven't even had much interaction over the network, and I try to talk to people I don't know there. What are your abilities and strengths? I only know what the medical records say." “Well, I’m a Jedi Knight,” Mara replied. That was easily enough guessed at and she’d more or less said so earlier. And it came down to the fact that she really did have to trust Sarissa at the moment - for the team to work, they had to be able to trust each other and have some knowledge of each other to help support and back each other up. “So a lot of the things that come with that. Some telepathic abilities, I tend to have enhanced reaction times, strength, and can manipulate objects to a certain degree.” She was honestly really good at manipulating objects - it was something she’d always been good at - better even than Skywalker, when it came down to it. “I’m pretty handy with a lightsaber - which, is what people typically think of with a Jedi Knight, of course.” Mara raised the hilt of her lightsaber slightly and offered Sarissa a smile. It was actually all right with Mara that people tended to focus on the showy aspects of the Jedi and ignore the more subtle abilities that were also a part of being a Jedi Knight. "Like telekinesis?" Sarissa asked. She vaguely remembered that this was an ability of the knights. Or was it Darth Vader? Sometimes it was hard to remember cultural trivia. The light sabers she knew about, at least. Those were iconic. “Like telekinesis,” Mara affirmed. “It depends a bit on the size of the object, and the distance how well I can do it, but it’s something I can do.” Mara tilted her head for a moment and regarded Sarissa curiously. “Tell me a little bit more about this plant thing - you said you can make them grow, and control them - what does that amount to? How much control do you have over the plants? Do you just make them grow, or can you control where they grow and what they do as they grow?” Again that hesitation. Sarissa knew the importance of giving full disclosure to her teammates about what she could do, but several centuries' worth of taboo was hard to break. Making it more difficult was the fact that Sarissa didn't even know the full extent of what she could do. "I have a lot of power," she finally admitted. "But even I don't know what I can do. There are a few simple things..." She reached down, and out from the metal floor of the aircraft, she pulled out a carrot and handed it to Mara. Before the Jedi could take it, however, it elongated and changed into a daffodil. Sarissa held out her finger, and the stem of the flower grew into a vine, which wrapped itself around her finger. A small line of ants marched along the vine, turning into the body of a snake as they did so. Sarissa curled her finger, and the vine broke off from the daffodil, leaving Mara with the flower and the vine and animals gone. "...but I'm not sure just how far I can take it," she concluded. Mara kept her eyes on the plants, the carrot, the daffodil, the vine, the ants, the snake, and it was years of training that kept her face curious, but not showing the full extent of the surprise. She wasn’t certain what she had expected, but that hadn’t been exactly it. On the other hand, it was the sort of thing that could be extremely useful - particularly in the jungle and Mara sat back in her seat, raising her eyes back to Sarissa. “Well, even simple things like that may be helpful where we’re going,” Mara said simply. “There’s going to be a lot of plant life, which means lots of things that may be in our way, or causing problems. I get the impression you’re going to be a valuable addition to the team.” And she offered Sarissa a smile then. She still really didn’t know Sarissa - what really made her work, what her goals were, her history, or any of those things - but Mara had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Cautiously so, at any rate. That was all Sarissa needed, anyway. She still wasn't comfortable talking about her past or her abilities, but she was committed to this mission. As long as Mara and the others believed that, it would be fine. She smiled back at Mara. "I'll definitely do my best." |