Niil gave Collan a sympathetic look, and nodded. "Yeah . . . no problem, Collan. I'll be around in here for awhile anyway if you want to swing by later. Catch you later."
He watched Collan go, then sighed. He did remember when he first met Collan; despite the fact that he was among friends and allies, one could still notice that he had the air of a hunted animal. After all that he told me about his family, who could blame him? Hell, I was pretty well in the same sailing barge when I first got to Karvis, and I was still twitchy after that. Ch'lana and Demaia . . . damn, they helped me a lot with that.
Unbidden, Niil's mind also flashed back to Karvis, and back to the sight of the Star Destroyers razing the northern resistance base. Jex, the royal family, Major Tiberro, Geneva, my Alpha team . . . all gone. Niil's breath caught in his throat, and he felt his eyes start to burn. "Oh, hell," he muttered savagely as he slapped the cleaning cloth down on the table and wiped at his eyes. And sure enough, the Dark Side was there, extending welcoming tendrils out to him, encouraging his grief, encouraging him to twist it into anger and thoughts of revenge against the people that vaporized his friends, encouraging him to use those emotions as fuel and strike out . . .
His hands tightening into fists, Niil's head snapped up, and he snarled, "No. Death will get me one day, but you never will. So go whisper your drek to your weak-minded puppets." Niil sat at the bench and closed his eyes, trying to ease the emotions that were making his mind a turmoil. The presence of the Dark Side was making it difficult, but Niil's mind shot back to the feeling that he'd encountered just as they jumped out of Karvis space. The feeling of peace, and the understanding that they were on a path that led to hope. Niil latched onto that, letting it and the Force flow through him. Slowly, slowly, the anger and grief ebbed away, and the Dark Side receded. Still, Niil felt physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted, and he sat there at his work bench, resting his body and mind.
It was a good hour later before he rose from his seat. He took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and went back to the task at hand. He'd test his crystal with the laser first, then he, too, would pack up and call it a day. A hot shower and an extended sleep cycle seemed to be very much in order this evening.
