The Question of Identity (Day 1, EE)

[Djanik]

It was his habit to visit a diner in the evenings, but tonight Djanik actually expected to meet someone there and chat. His aura of distraction and seriousness kept even the street kids away this evening (apart from Scrap, who he'd had to distract with an almost functional flea droid he'd discovered) as he settled into a corner booth to await the girl... he supposed she was a woman now, that he had asked to meet him here. Force beyond, he was feeling old today.

Staring balefully at the menu, lost in thought, he pondered the strange happenstances of late. Was this the force? Or just luck? And if it were luck, was it good or bad?

At least the food was tolerable - the Iron Barrel wasn't a particularly classy place, but it served decent food cheap - with free refills on kaff. That was liquid gold, as far as Djanik was concerned.

(Expecting someone)

[Verse Aura]

Verse did indeed show up. It had been curious, the way he'd *almost* said 'master'. Maybe he'd been someone they'd helped, back during the war? Whatever it was, it was something to follow up on. Always a good thing to acquire more friends in dark times, after all. She found him in the booth, and took her seat across from him.

"Hi. Do they have anything with lots of fruit in it?"

[Djanik]

That was an interesting question.

Djanik flipped to the section he had ignored 'healthy handfuls'.

"It looks like they have some sort of salad, with berries on it. That or a drink is the closest you'll get, I imagine."

He glanced up from the menu, trying to take a measure of the woman. She *had* to be the same one he'd seen those years ago, even if she was older. There had only ever been a handful of Jedi he'd encountered, and he still couldn't quite square the treachery of the Jedi with the obvious innocence of this girl. Either that, or she was an amazing actor.

"Thanks for coming, I know it's a little weird asking out of the blue, but I had a few things I thought we ought to chat about - especially if you plan to spend much time on Bankor."

[Verse Aura]

"Oh. Are berries a fruit? I was really hoping to find a place with lots of fruit trees, thought that maybe they had to get their fruit here from somewhere like that. I guess I'll take the berries."

She stared at the menu intently.

"Yep, definitely the berries. And the salad they come with."

[Djanik]

Djanik shrugged, and then rose and strolled over to the owner behind the counter, saying "Moxx, it'll be my usual, the sausage with egged toast, and we'll also have the berry salad."

Then he returned to the booth, taking his seat, kaff mug in one hand.

"So, why the fruit quest? Following a hunch, or just going on a culinary adventure?"

[Verse Aura]

"A hunch," she said, looking at him intently. He seemed so calm, yet apparently he knew what she was. "So, why did you ask me to come here? Have we met before?"

[Djanik]

"I think we might have."

Djanik sighed, and took a sip of his kaff, using the chance to ensure they weren't being eavesdropped on.

"I could be wrong, I doubt you'd remember a junior officer in the Republic navy, but even during the clone wars, having Jedi aboard wasn't particularly common."

He watched her over the rim of the mug - trying to gauge her reaction, though if she got violent, he supposed he wouldn't really have any chance to defend himself.

[Verse Aura]

She peered about, wondering if anyone might overheard, before leaning in and whispering.

"Could be... could be. Dangerous thing to talk about, they say."

[Djanik]

"Seems so."

He took another sip. He was fairly certain the background noise would drown out quiet comments.

"They didn't seem the type to try and overthrow the senate. I never understood it."

His eyes were hard, and he seemed to be looking past her, into the past.

"I may never know why they did that - but things all went wrong after they did. I was hoping you might... have answers. After all the fighting, the lives lost, things weren't supposed to turn out like this."

[Verse Aura]

"We didn't. We were the ones betrayed. When my master and I were out on a misssion, the troopers suddenly turned on us. We couldn't even sense the betrayal through the force, maybe because they were clones. That happened to Jedi across the galaxy from what I've learned. And then suddenly there was an empire, and we got called traitors."

[Djanik]

His knuckles were white on the mug, and he gazed with a sudden intensity, as if his gaze alone could ferret out the truth of it.

"Why on earth would the Republic have done such a thing? I never got any orders like that."

Breathing slowly, to keep himself calm, his voice quiet, he added, "You were just a kid. I didn't understand the Jedi. Taking children into battle - going so far for the Republic, and then stabbing it in the back. None of it made sense."

Taking a deep breath, he set the mug down.

"I don't know what to believe - I fought for years for the Republic. My squadron died around me defending the listening post on Varristad - it was Jedi compassion that led them into the trap that got most of them killed... but those same Jedi organized the relief missions to the colonies near Ukio after the bombing."

Rubbing at this temples, he glanced at the counter, and then rose. "I'll get the food."

It would give him a chance to think about what he was trying to say, as he collected the two plates with a nod, left a tip, and made his way back to the table.

He took his seat, and found himself still struggling to figure out how to say what he meant.

Finally he simply said, "I can't stand the idea that my friends died for nothing."

And then he withdrew the hydro-fork he had overpaid for that morning, and began picking apart his toast.

[Verse Aura]

That was a lot to take in. A lot of resentment, anger, confusion. And here she was, not at all the kind of Jedi who could deliver grandiose speeches and what not. Still, she had to say *something*. Although...

...she did try some of the berries first.

She should've ordered the bacon.

"Well... I don't know the specifics of the mission you're talking about, but dying doing the right thing isn't dying for nothing."

[Djanik]

"Yeah."

He poked at the food, and then stabbed the toast with the fork, tearing off a chunk and eating it, following it with a hearty swig of kaff.

"Enough of that. I guess I just wanted to answer a nagging doubt I'd always had. I never entirely believed the Jedi would turn on us so suddenly. Given how things have changed... I guess it never was the Jedi who played us all, was it?"

Setting down his fork, he added quietly, "Which begs the question of what you and your master have been doing all this time. I mean, you have all those powers, it's hard to imagine some clones stopping you."

[Verse Aura]

"She..." Verse paused, clearly he hit a sore point, "...well, there were a lot of them. And it was so sudden. She died, and I ran, and that's that."

Obviously there was more to it than that; but she didn't want to get lost in the kinds of emotions that thinking about it brought. So as a distraction, she ate some more of the berries; which *were* starting to grow on her a little.

"It was... not what I'd wanted to do, but we were warned away from the temples. The Empire was everywhere, straight away. They must've been planning for a very long time."

[Djanik]

"So even jedi can bleed."

Djanik shook his head.

"Makes you wonder how we got here."

Carving off another hunk of his toast, he added, "Sorry, didn't mean to drag up bad memories."

[Verse Aura]

"It's alright, you're just trying to understand. That's a good thing, there's so many lies going around these days, and not enough people searching for truth and understanding."

She paused for a moment, gazing at the rest of her berries.

"So, you served in the navy, and now you don't?"

[Djanik]

"I thought it was just my commander, but now that I think about it, the entire navy started going that way."

He took a sip of his kaff and made a wry, dry sort of smile. "Non-humans started getting passed over, peace-keeping started getting violent."

The look in his eyes grew distant, looking into some past moment. "I... drew the line at gunning down dock workers on strike. I wish all my squadron had done the same."

Setting the mug down gently, he said, softly, "I know I couldn't have heard the screams from so far away, but sometimes in my dreams, I swear I can hear them."

Glancing at the half eaten dinner, he drummed his fingers on the mug, trying to dispel dark memories of his own.

"I admit, I did enjoy the TIE as a mount - handled nicely, but staying in the hot seat wasn't worth what was left of my faith of in the ideals I once believed in."

[Verse Aura]

She'd heard of such executions. Maybe even seen the aftermath herself. It was still unsettling though, that they lived in a galaxy where these weren't just hypotheticals, but real things that happened to real people.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. Sounds to me like you still believe in those ideals, though. Even if the Republic is gone, that doesn't mean its ideals are forgotten."

[Djanik]

"Aren't they, though?"

He examined the hydro fork pensively.

"If nobody fights for them, how much does it matter what we remember?"

[Verse Aura]

"Well I agree, we should fight for them. There's others that think that way too," she said.

[Djanik]

"Really?"

He glanced out one of the grimy windows.

"I guess I haven't seen it, myself. I've been doing trash jobs to get by - working with the sort of people I once would've happily put in binders."

Leaning back, he crossed his arms.

"Are you one of those people? Because unless there are a lot more people more powerful and influential than me, I can tell you it won't make a difference what I think - the Empire holds all the cards, even more than the Republic did during the war."

[Verse Aura]

"I *guess* I'm one of them, yeah. But I don't really know what that means, yet."

[Djanik]

"I don't suppose I do either."

Djanik sighed.

"Unless you have a squadron of old snub fighters lying around, I doubt my skill set would really make much of a difference to you. Still, for what it's worth, I glad we ran into each other. It's nice to know that the galaxy hasn't gone... entirely mad."

[Verse Aura]

"There's a part to play for everyone, I'm sure of it. Even if there's no spaceships to play around with. So long as you're willing to make a difference, I'm sure you will do exactly that, when the time comes."

[Djanik]

"Whenever that is."

With a faint chuckle, he picked up his kaff, and gave a faint, slightly ironic, toast.

"To crazy dreams, and things that once were."