[Jax Dolross]

Jax grabbed a tray and found an open seat in the mess his own supplies were dwindling so he grabbed a tray of whatever they were serving so he could save his stuff for special occasions and/or the trip back. He played with his food a bit, the business with Niall gnawing at his mind.

Is this the right play? I mean it's too late for that thought now I guess I've already jumped, there's no climbing back up now is there? he thought to himself his brows knit together lost deep in thought.

[Lyseil Panteer]

"Hello, mr. Dolross!" came the unmistakeable voice of Lyseil Panteer, all sunshine and sparkles even late in the day. "Everything alright?"

She had just put away her tray after consuming the dinner, though was still working on the thing calling itself pudding. A part of her wondered if the chef had forgotten about the pudding because it seemed a bit weird to her tastes.

[Jax Dolross]

Jax's worried expression melted into a casual smile as he saw Lyseil approach. "Oh nothing overly troubling just wondering what I'm really eating." He said with a chuckle.

"How have you been? I haven't really seen you since we went dancing the other night."

[Lyseil Panteer]

"Me? Oh, I've been a busy bee! Lots of work to do and all. But good!" She smiled and took a seat opposite of Jax. "I sometimes wonder about the food too... like this pudding. It's... hm... not bad, but strange...?"

She smiled brightly. "And how are you?"

[Jax Dolross]

"I'd expect nothing else from you Seagent Sunshine. No report is safe from your efficiency." He said teasingly with a grin.

He motioned to the seat across from him "you can sit if you'd like. As for how I am well I've seen better days. Almost died last night chasing down some spys so you know that was fun."

[Lyseil Panteer]

"Oh, goodness," she leaned back slightly in the seat as she listened to his report. "I'm relieved to see you're up and walking about then! No one else was seriously injured, I hope?"

[Jax Dolross]

"Luckily for me we have an expert medical staff here that got me back into fighting shape before my afternoon whiskey. A little disappointed that I won't get a new scar to add to my collection though. That force healing is really something."

[Lyseil Panteer]

"Ooo... yes! The miracles of the Jedi Healers are pretty amazing," Lyseil nodded, recalling watching Rekara at work in the desert at the makeshift infirmary. "Lucky me, I've not needed much attention from the doctors and healers yet. Papercuts don't tend to warrant it."

[Jax Dolross]

That elicited a chuckle from the man as he took a bite of the food "Well let's make sure it stays that way, this may be war but we don't need any pretty princesses getting gunned down. You don't seem like a frontliner probably best to stay away from the fray, though" he says looking at her blaster "you know how to use that?" he asked nodding to the weapon.

[Lyseil Panteer]

"Of course I do. Everyone going through military training in House Panteer are taught to be proficient with a blaster," she nodded, glancing to the weapon on her hip. "I even had it modified recently to reach its peak efficiency. Quite the marvelous job he did too considering how difficult it is to work with this model."

[Jax Dolross]

"hmm" Jax thought for a moment "Perhaps sometime we should go out to the range and you can show me. Not that I'm some amazing gunslinger but I enjoy keeping my abilities sharp."

"So how does a girl like you, an academic by all appearances, end up getting a rank in the Panteer Military?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow "Just doesn't seem like the first place I'd put you."

[Lyseil Panteer]

Lyseil raised an eyebrow, but smiled still. "Hmmm... is that a round-about way of asking what's a girl like me doing in a place like this?" she let out a friendly chuckle. "Nepotism, Jax. It's as simple as that."

[Jax Dolross]

Jax smiled at her charmingly "Well I do suppose someone could view it that way couldn't they." he nodded as she answered his question "Well yes I had assumed that much but I more meant wouldn't there have been places better suited to your skills? Why the military?"

[Lyseil Panteer]

She shrugged. "All members of House Panteer serve the military in their youth, so regardless of where I wanted to be, I'd still have to be there. We're not the most militaristic of the Houses, but we understand the nescessity of maintaining a fighting force."

"Besides, my father think the military is a more real pursuit than scholarly ones."

[Jax Dolross]

Jax nodded "That makes sense I suppose." he made a taste like he found something distasteful "Thats a shame, even as a former member of the service scholarly pursuits are in my opinion more valuable. We don't move forward as a people through fighting we do through study."

[Lyseil Panteer]

"I quite agree," she smirked slightly. "Though, I'm not too bothered by it. I can help lots of people by being here too, so that's alright. And I'm pretty confident father won't be bothering me too much about it after this."

Her fingers tapped idly at the table. "I mean, I don't mind being here too much... it's just the fighting I don't like. Like, I think we could probably avoid conflict with the Mandalorians if we were willing to understand them more."

[Jax Dolross]

Jax shook his head "Now that last part. I don't agree with, these people aren't here to reason or find understanding they are here to subjugate, after what they have done you think the only thing standing between us is a misunderstanding? They released prisoners into the desert and gunned them down from behind as they ran, they butcher families and steal the children they decide are 'strong' no I think maybe not all of them are evil. Some are just following orders some may have other motives but they work with people who are cruel. I don't think there is any other option at this point." he spoke plainly he wasn't passionate or upset more analytical.

[Lyseil Panteer]

"That's where we disagree. Yes, there are horrible people who have done horrible things - the same can be said for the Sith Empire, and yet we've brokered a peace treaty with them, have we not?"

Lyseil on the other hand was passionate. "Besides, Revan achieved victory in the Mandalorian Wars by understanding his opponents, and later forged a friendship with Mandalore the Preserver because he showed understanding of the Mandalorians. If anything, the Republic squandered a perfectly good opportunity to provide the Mandalorian people with a better future, rather than letting them fall into the lifestyle of mercenaries as they have been after the Mandalorian Wars. Instead, we now have leaders who are out for revenge for what the Republic has done to them - think of how that could have been prevented had we treated the Mandalorians differently prior to this conflict!"

[Jax Dolross]

Jax nodded, he seemed unfazed by the vehemency of her response and himself maintain a cool tone "I see your point an agree with it. But at this juncture it does not matter what was done wrong in the past there is nothing that can be done about that in this conflict. Furthermore due to the republic's treatment of the Mandalorians after the Mandalorian wars I believe it will be incredibly difficult to convince them to form peace accords as they have history on their side for evidence of what that will get them."

Jax sat back and sipped his drink. "Simply put they have no reason to trust us and are out for revenge. I see little option other than fighting and after this conflict learning to treat the Mandalorian better to avoid further conflict."

[Lyseil Panteer]

"These Mandalorians, Clan Varad and Clan Kryze, are not the majority of the Mandalorian Clans. This is nothing compared to the numbers of a united Mandalorian people that we saw during the Mandalorian Wars. Even the Crusader Schism have more clans to their numbers than our current opponents here on Bankor. I think that shows that there is hope, at least, for a future where the Mandalorian people can be treated with the respect they deserve."

She sighed. "It is doubtful they would join the Republic, at least in our lifetimes, but for them to be considered a sovereign people to be treated with respect...? That is a future I hope to see for their people."

[Jax Dolross]

"Certainly, when I used the term Mandalorian I did not mean the greater people but just the ones we are fighting here. Sorry I didn't give a better frame of reference." He said with a disarming smile "I agree, hopefully this is a wake up call for the Republic that gets them to see the error in the way the Mandalorian people as a whole are treated."

[Lyseil Panteer]

Lyseil gave a nod, and a forgiving smile.

"Seems we're mostly on the same page in the end then. That's good. I just hope more people will think about that when the conflict here concludes, because... well, it's easy to fall into a loop of revenge."

[Jax Dolross]

"heres to hoping" he said as he raised his glass and took a drink "though many will likely view this as a separate conflict all together and won't look at the implications of what happens here and what it means for the future. We as a whole are a very short sighted group,"

[Lyseil Panteer]

"That's people for you," she chuckled ruefully. "As one of my teachers would always say; those who don't study history are bound to repeat it, and those who study history are bound to stand on the sidelines and scream in frustration when history is repeated."

Lyseil shook her head slightly at that particular memory. "Even my own homeplanet makes such mistakes from time to time. Might just be in the nature of most sentient species to do this?"

[Jax Dolross]

Jax nods matching her expression and tone "Yeah..I suppose it is, we fail to care about history most of the time and when we do that it makes it hard to learn from it. I think in general most thinking people are just short sighted and driven by base urges sex, power , revenge, ect. and the quest for those things rarely leaves space for reflection."