Shadows of Bankor

In the course of his wanderings across the slums Daunt found a curious spot - a deserted school or daycare. The building seemed to have suffered some bad luck from either the walkers or poor construction, but it had already lost its original purpose some time ago. It may have been a house for squatters, but that Daunt didn't feel like checking.

It, however, had a playground. With railings, swings, slides, and all the good stuff. Part of that was unusable, but where others saw nothing of use, he saw an impromptu gym. He quickly invented a path and a regime, and decided to go run and hop and swing for a time, just to get stillness out of his muscles.

Liua watched the zabrak as she puffed out some smoke, she had time to kill before she had to meet Xanna so here she was. She finally quipped, "Hey sleemo, what are you doing?"

"Not getting my body rusty, hard to get another one." He replied. "You, on the other hand, seem to have a fresh pair of lungs somewhere in the closet."

"This is Vinecat turf, sleemo... well it used to be till those no-good bantha poodoo jerks betrayed me, so now it's Jays turf," she said letting out another puff.

"I don't see mowed grass here, hard to get the sense of whose turf it is. Neglect is a shitty expression of control." He switched to some pull-ups. "So you're a former gang kid or something?"

“It’s still our turf sleemo, and what do you mean former, I run with the Jays now,” she said proudly.

She then turned an eye to a stranger and took a deep drag.

Another stranger walked by and it was obvious he was lost and then a moment later walked back and then saw the Zabrak and the young girl and made his approach as they seemed like the only folks near by. He wore pretty nice but stylish street clothes, he obviously cared about his looks.

His right hand was gloved, a common thing if one had a prosthetic and it was not made to look natural. He had an easy going smile as he said, “Hey… kriff this is embarrassing but either of you know what time it is? My comm is all kinds of going nuts and I am supposed to meet.. A friend.”

“It’s 10 right?” he said hopefully.

It’s well past 11 at this point.

"Do you want me to leave or something?" Daunt had finished the series just ahead of the dandy guy coming over. "Comm? I am country bumpkin. I just look at the star. Feels like it's almost noon."

Liua narrowed her eyes and considered what Xanna would do and said, “Nah you’re fine sleemo just don’t leave your sweat everywhere.”


“Are you kidding me?” he said with a defeated tone.

“Well that’s what I get for not leaving earlier.”

The man sighed and then looked at the building, “I can’t believe this place is still here, man this takes me back. Time was the Vinecats ran this place, guess things have changed.”

The girl shot back, “No the Vinecats are just bantha poodoo now, it’s all about the Jays.”

She made, well created, the Jays gang symbol with her hand, index finger straight up and thumb curled and sneered, “Jays for life, sleemo.”

“Guess things do change,” he said thoughtfully.

"What comes into running the place? It doesn't look like much is being done in this neighbourhood." Daunt hung upside down and kept pulling up to reinforce the core.

“People respect your turf, they don't show respect you put two bolts in them, one for the disrespect and one for the crew. That’s how it works. If I were you, I would find those bantha poodoo vinecats and show them the Jays mean business,” the man said.

“Or everyone is going to think the Jays are punks, just saying.”


Liua replied, “Jays are not punks!” She frowned but also knew that Xanna and Petrus would not approve of just murdering people but then again it would feel good to get payback on the crew that deserted her.

Morality was hard.

He shrugged and said, “Do what you think is best kid, my gang days are over.”

"So Vinecats and Jays." He said more to himself, as both seemed to be engorged in turf debates without paying much attention to him. It wasn't bad though, especially that it didn't seem like it'd escalate.

"Yeah, whatever," the girl said walking away.


The man turned to Daunt and said, "I got nothing else better to do, so what's your story country boy? This does not seem like your kind of scene at all."

"Even country boys sometimes wander into big town to see how it's like. I've just come to visit some bars, will be back to waddling in soil and manure in the evening. Now, I'm just killing time. And you?"

Daunt wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 27, 2020 2:42 am

"Even country boys sometimes wander into big town to see how it's like. I've just come to visit some bars, will be back to waddling in soil and manure in the evening. Now, I'm just killing time. And you?"

“I was looking to meet a girl but obviously that is not happening… I used to live here, long time ago, came back and it’s like nothing has changed. The slums are still filled with gutter trash, but things have gotten better… so maybe not the same. I guess it’s true you can’t go home again,” he mused.

“You live in Jaklu?”

"Givak outback." He stopped exercising to ponder. "Yeah, you can't go home again. Better just keep going."

A leg pull-up.

"Maybe you can still find the girl."

"I have a feeling I dodged a bullet," he said laughing.

"You live way out... stranger, name's Daryu, but most call me Dee."

"It's Daunt, Dee." Another pull-up. "Morning dates are your usual thing?"

"I just go with the flow Daunt, like anyone else," he said honestly.

"Morning workouts in abandoned schools your thing, Daunt?" he asked in reply finding himself a seat to get comfortable.

"Why not? My flow takes what flotsam is on the way. But it's a first today. Usually, I just go chase game in wilderness when I need exertion."

Dee replied, "I guess that's one way to get a workout."

He tossed a rock and said, "Time was the slums were even worse like a war zone... Things have gotten better with that Foundry, good jobs..."

"Don't mean to get political but I got friends that are getting hurt because idiots try to resist the future."

"So the Empire has won you over?" Daunt commented non-judgmentally. "For the record, I don't lean strong either way, so you can speak your mind without risk of the situation here turning unpleasant."

"More I just see the big picture. Bankor is a good place but it isn't going to benefit from trying to resist the future," he replied.

"I just want people to step back and realize what they could gain."

"Sure you know the future, Dee? I kind of don't. And have always thought that's the thing about the future - you don't know it."

"If I throw this rock at the wall I could miss but it's a big wall and I'm a decent shot. I don't have to be a fortune teller to predict the most likely outcome, same thing," Dee responded.

"Unless someone kneecaps you while you're taking the swing. That's the thing, Dee. Black swans happen. People happen. Big plans sometimes lead to big flops." He dropped to the ground and straightened. "But then, who am I to tell you what's right. You may well be in your right mind on all this. We'll have to see."