Shadows of Bankor

...but at this part of the day, when it was flattish against the horizon, it was certainly not shining into the depths of the Wound. Still, the abyss at Daunt's feet was interesting to stare into.

It was quite a breathtaking scene! This far out, well away from where the Imperials had their secret prison camp, it was ruggedly beautiful. You would not catch Xanna standing too close to the edge though.

"I wonder what made this feature? It is such a dramatic piece of terrain."

There was so much of Bankor that she had yet to really experience. Her new occasional waiter had been keen to explore too. After that bullgoat he had brought yesterday she wondered what else he was going to find.

"Probably tectonics. Or something equivalent." He looked over his shoulder at Xanna. "Don't know too much about it though. I do wonder what's at the bottom, however, or whether there is something like a bottom there. Unspeakable monsters? Ancient secrets? Great treasures? Mounds of used plastic cups? Floor is lava?"

"Or maybe a combination of all the above? I could imagine some sort of flying beast emerging, covered in lava." She laughed a little at the idea. It sounded like the sort of thing that might actually happen in the show Petrus was so enthused about.

"Is that what you are searching for Daunt? Ancient secrets and great treasures? Or you are feeling guilty about littering perhaps?" She raised an amused eyebrow before returning to look into the depths below.

"I am certainly looking for something. Maybe I'll know what it is once I find it. For now, I live in a state of curiosity and confusion." He responded with an amused expression of his own, as if the lack of definition didn't weigh to heavily on him. "And it's only bad at odd times."

He took a step away from the precipice. "I refuse to believe it's even uncommon, the lack of single-mindedness, despite the fact that orthodoxies seem to be fashionable these days."

"A state of curiosity and confusion." She repeated the phrase, almost savouring it. "I like that very much. It certainly describes some significant periods of my life." The year after arriving on Bankor was one example. Most of her childhood another.

"I do not disagree, but the Empire would certainly like to prove you wrong. Will beings be more or less likely to bow to their orthodoxy after the display yesterday?" She breathed out slowly and shook her head. "But anyway, I wish you the best on your search Daunt."

"As far as I am concerned, the point didn't get across. The only thing they proved was that they can do mass indiscriminate violence if they have the numbers and the firepower. That's hardly unique." He shrugged dismissively. He chose not not boast about his ability to do violence. "Thanks. And you? Are you looking for anything, apart from ideas for tomorrow's soup menu?"

"That is their orthodoxy I think. Control through indiscriminate mass violence." She waved it away as if it were something that could, or perhaps should, be swatted.

She paced a little before answering his return question. "Hmm, you know, we do not just serve soup..." A small attempt at humour to sever the connection to the previous topic. "Ancient secrets and great treasure. Okay, maybe not really those things. Peace. Justice. Decency." With a little shrug she added. "So about as rare as those secrets and treasures I am supposing."

"Peace and justice seem rare because they may be quite implausible for all, no? It's always someone's peace and someone's justice." He mused, but didn't push it harder, seeing her already a bit distressed. "But decency, fairness, that's more viable because it can be done everyday by people like you and me. Add a bit of mutual toleration and suddenly life becomes worthwhile even without some overarching orthodoxy."

And, to keep up with the kind of conversation they were having, he threw in a lighter part.

"Then I must try something else than soup as well."

She gave him a funny look before nodding slowly. "An interesting point." She lifted her water bottle in a salute. "To decency, fairness, and mutual tolerance. And maybe a bit less of the oppressive heat." She took a long sip of the water.

"My people come from a Tundra world Daunt. This planet is always like someone is leaving on their sauna." She shrugged and scanned the horizon. "I highly recommend the bullgoat curry."

"While I am quite used to hot and stuffy." He tilted his head to joint the toast in any way. "And having solar heat all over while being scantily dressed and without sunscreen, but we've just invoked decency so I guess I won't show you the ways of my people." He smirked. "Give a woman a raw bullgoat and she'll give you a curry?"

"That was very kind of you Daunt. It has fed many people, and will feed many more. Bullgoat curry, bullgoat ramen, bullgoat stir fry. You get the idea." She was in good humour despite the arrival of a Star Destroyer over the city.

Looking into the chasm she thought she could make out a little haze. Smoke from the explosion earlier? Or perhaps just natural cloud forming down there.

"Have you been on Bankor a long time Daunt? I think I would have remembered you stopping in." A slight smile reached her lips. There were many Zabraks who came to the soup kitchen, but none quite like him.

"Guess giving away what I kill but don't need is my way of showing decency. Though it was a girl called Lyla who hunted with me and got that one. She works in deliveries. As far as meeting people goes, have you met her?"

His gaze followed hers to the billow. "Monsters in the depths are fuming..." He said semi-jokingly. "Just a few months. I may be just a passer-by, we'll see."

"Lyla? No, I do not believe I have met a Lyla. Perhaps she is working for a different delivery company? I am mostly using Bankor Express. Their droid is incredibly rude, but they are cheap."

She nodded at the drifting smoke or whatever it was. "Perhaps they are. Maybe they are angry about that Star Destroyer and plotting something?" A faint smile crossed her lips. "And so, other than its monsters, what are you making of Bankor?"

"It's haphazard in its diversity, but it also means I can have a niche here. For now, I don't have any strong motivation to leave." He looked up. "Those symbols of oppression can't cloud one thing for me, that quality doesn't follow quantity. Maybe inversely, like the bigger toys they have, the more incompetent they grow. I mean, if they were competent, would this even be up there? They'd have handled whatever without oversized scarecrows. Even if angry monsters don't exist down at the bottom of this canyon, it still looks for many regular people as if someone defecated on their courtyard. Some may want to lock away the smell behind doors until it withers, but a good portion would like to shovel it away. If they had the shovel."

"It is good for us that they are so incompetent." She liked his description of the situation. "After yesterday's oppression and today's revelations I suspect there are many who will seize the shovel when it presents itself. At least I hope so Daunt."

Her gaze shifted in the rough direction of the city. "Fear only has ephemeral power. Once overcome, beings wonder why they were ever afraid in the first place. Now, shall we take a walk and see if there is anything more to this Wound in the land that can be found from up here?"

"A good idea. Frankly, I've even been contemplating some abseiling or a climb-down, but this is not for today." He saw more value to fear than she, it was when it was getting into the realm of impersonal terror that appealed to him far less.

"Well, it is a nice evening for a walk at least." She set out along the edge, far enough away from the chasm that falling would not be deadly. "So, you met a nice girl called Lyla. You have met Bowse and Jenna. Do you have many other new friends here Daunt?"

The last few days had been a veritable shower of new meetings. And that was leaving aside the discovery of so many Padawans on Bankor. Perhaps the Force really was drawing beings here?

"I've been hanging around the Salty Nerf, so I at least recognise some of its regulars." He paused. "There may be one or two people I've been doing odd jobs with, so there's also that. But I've chosen to live in the countryside, where socialising is infrequent. Overall, I haven't become familiar with anyone's personal stories. Stranger in a foreign land, that kind of thing. You, Xanna, I assume you're local, a heart of community type?"

"Oh, the Salty Nerf? Yes, I know Vuxia, she has helped me from time to time." A stranger in a foreign land? Thar described much of her life, or so it felt. "I am local enough." She gave a curious little smile for a second. "I inherited the kitchen from the previous owner and found myself at the centre of everything that happens in the community. People trust me. I give them food when they cannot afford it. Sometimes I repair broken things, look after children, that sort of thing."

"I guess this is your way of saying that it doesn't take much to belong." He shrugged. "I don't know if I want to. But for now, consider the post of your meat supplier filled. And I'll help you wash and serve when I am around, like the last time."

"Thank you Daunt, I really appreciate that. A ready supply of high quality fresh meat means I can keep more bellies full of nutritious food. It really helps, as does your time." She nodded. "And no pressure from me about trying to find belonging here. We each have our own paths to walk."

"That much is true." He nodded, then his gaze hovered somewhere between the Wound and the Dictator in the wake of a small pebble that had catapulted from under his boot and had disappeared in the abyss. "What do you think happens next?"

"To the pebble, or the planet?" She asked with a sparkle in her eyes. "The pebble will find out which of our ideas about the Wound was right. The planet? I suppose that will depend on whether this new ship means a new approach to the Imperial presence on Bankor." She sighed a little. "I expect there will be suffering regardless of the eventual outcome. So I will try to do what I can to help those who cannot help themselves."

He chuckled, having received a rather comprehensive answer. "Anything beyond providing food and shelter on your plate in this regard?" He craned of the abyss beyond the precipice.