Recall the ask I sent about Relu and the Consular crew, how about one for Merkara and Inquisitor crew. Who did she get along well with?
Merkara’s attitude toward her crew is basically like “I found you, I chose you, and you are going to love me. No, you have no choice on the matter.” She needs people, she can’t be alone, so she kinda adopts these weirdos she meets along the way to be her surrogate family. Talos is the one she gets along with the most. He shares her passion for knowledge, they can spend hours on enthusiastic discussions that jump from one topic to another so rapidly that no one else can keep up. Talos also helps Merkara with her self-education, because as a slave she only ever learned what her former owner wanted her to know and as Sith she wants to study everything.
Xalek wins Merkara over with his dedication and diligence. She doesn’t know how to interact with him at first because she is very chatty and he barely says two words at a time. But he grows on her, and soon enough she’s learning how to speak Kaleeshfrom him and asks him all sorts of questions about his culture. Xalek’s communicative capacity increases to one sentence at a time.
Merkara has an affair with Andronikos. It’s a lot of fun for both of them, but then he starts taking it too seriously. So what happens next is basically this
Andronikos: Hey, Sith, let’s get married!
Merkara: *nervous laughter* What the fuck?
They break up and Andronikos needs some time to process it, but they’re able to remain good friends in the end with no hard feelings left. Andronikos is her favorite pilot in the galaxy and she trusts him with her life.
Ashara may be Merkara’s apprentice, but the truth is that Merkara learns quite a lot from her. Ashara tells her about the Jedi teachings and techniques, and Merkara is curious because this is a refreshingly different approach to the Force she has never encountered before. They have a lot of ideological disagreements and there’s so much manipulation involved during the early stages of their relationship, but in the end they make a good team as Ashara helps Merkara with establishing a network of allies in Republic Space.
And Khem! Merkara is wary of him when they meet because, you know, he’s a Force--user-eating thousand-year-old monster and all. But she makes it clear from the start that she doesn’t consider him as her slave ― the thought of having a slave of her own makes her sick. This is how she wins his loyalty over time, treating him with respect. She’s delighted whenever he suggests that he can eat the people who cause her problems. He actually eats them sometimes and Merkara pretends that she doesn’t notice.
