Shadows of Bankor

Dak had built this cabin himself not long after he made it here to Bankor, the power and plumbing and all that he had professionals come in and do but the frame was all him. The building was what most would describe as cozy. The outside was rustic wood stacked together but sealed with environmental protections to not actually get weathered. Inside it had a decently spacious living area warmed by a genuine wood fireplace and the fur of some large animal acted as a rug under a woodwork and glass table and a couch that would seat three. There were two doors that led off this room but those were closed.

Tonight a fire burned in the hearth and Dak worked by fire light on the table. In front of him the parts of his rifle were placed and were each getting a thorough cleaning. Some slow, somber, jizz filled the room for ambiance as he worked. Not always his kind of music but it matched hi somber mood.

Who would want to live out in the wilderness, Dove wondered as she pulled up outside the cabin. Then again, if one wanted to disappear from the world, there were worse places to live. Just not for her - she was a city-slicker through and through.

Out of habit more than anything else, she checked her blaster, then holstered it again. The door was given a firm knock.

Dak opened the door after only a couple of seconds he was in simple pants and currently only wore a bandage wrapped around his gray fur on his shoulder but elswise nothing "Oh Dove! Come on in I was just doing some weapon maintenance. Sorry about the long trek been making my living as a wilderness guide and people like a guide that lives in the well wilderness."

He stepped aside and grabbed a plain white shirt off the chair and slipped it on only wincing slightly. "Well you were certainly the last person I expected to see here on Bankor." The cabin while having a rustic feel had all the conveniences of a modern abode. "Please have a seat if you want" he said motioning to a couple chairs and a big couch.

"You couldn't have chosen a more civilized place to lay low," she complained with obvious sarcasm. She looked... better than she had done during the assault, having been able to change into something that wasn't covered in blood or torn.

Stepping inside, she let the door close behind her. "Well, you're not the last person I expected to see here, but the chances seemed pretty damn unlikely. What are the chances that two scum like us ended up on this planet, at the same time?"

Not needing to be told twice, she took a seat on the couch.

He shrugged "backwater planet, off the grid. I stayed in Rygor for a bit while I built this place but it was much nicer to be out here not looking over my shoulder everytime footsteps echoed in the hallway, wondering if a hit squad had finally tracked me down or someone had taken the imperial bounty."

Dak walked to the table where his rifle layed in pieces and he looked at Dove "you want anything to drink? Water? Blue milk? Something stronger?" His tail moved slowly back and forth while he spoke.

"Something stronger. After being in that mess earlier, I need something stronger," she said and let her arms stretch out along the top of the couch. "Didn't know you had an Imperial bounty on your head. That's rough. Guess you didn't leave the Republic... the Empire, on good terms then?"

Dak nodded and moved through a door to the right the wood panel sliding out of the way as he approached, he returned a moment later with two glasses and something amber colored that smelled woody and faintly sweet. He set a glass in front of Dove and poured, the liquid dancing in the glass, reflecting the light of the fire. He made a glass for himself and flopped on the other end of the couch and then hissed "kriffing shoulder wound."

He shook his head and took a drink "Well I'd say bad terms is a little of an understatement." He said with a sad smile "an imperial purge squad killing your family is one hell of a severance package." He quipped with dark humor but pain certainly hid in his eyes when he took another larger drink. "Let's say I learned the hard way that the Empire doesn't handle dissent very well."

"Hmmm..." her gray-blue eyes kept their focus on him as she took a slow drink from the glass. Just the scent alone was enough to feel the tension in her muscles relaxing, and she took a deep sigh.

"That sucks. My condolances." It was a hard life, in the spy-biz. She guessed she was lucky in that she didn't have such attachments like that. "I wish you would've seen the way things were headed sooner - so that things might've turned out differently."

He shrugged again "I regret nothing from my service, I fought for what I believed in. I believed and still do believe in what the republic stood for, that's why i was targeted, once the chancellor became the emporer I left special ops and was rather vocal about what i thought of their fascism." He paused "...that might be what I regret, if I had been more guarded maybe we could have gone underground together....no matter crying over spilled milk" he said almost visibly pulling himself back, pushing things down.

"But what of you Gray? Last time I saw you was what? Utapau?" He chuckled "you almost got me there, one of the few times I was afraid you might punch my ticket. What have you been up to since?" He asked relaxing back, it was a little odd sharing a fireside drink with a woman who had almost killed him 5? No 6 times. But at least he had always given as good as he got.

She chuckled, swirling the contents of her glass around a couple of times before taking another sip. "Hm, yeah, I guess it was Utapau..." the fingers tapped against the glass. "You're one slippery kitten, I'll say. Not many can boast about getting away from me when it comes to close-quarters fighting."

It was funny how the tides seemed to change between them depending on the circumstances. He was by far the better marksman, and she was the deadlier melee combatant.

"I kind of just... kept doing what I was doing during the war, I guess. Once you're in the habit of fighting an enemy, just because they get a new name and a new dress doesn't mean you stop. Priorities changed over time since then, of course. Suddenly it became more being on the run, than diving into enemy territory."

He smiled "Its cause I stretch everyday, but seriously you're damn good up close and personal. I have to think it was luck just as much if not more than skill that got me out of that one. I mean no one could account for a random speeder coming by just in time for me to hitch a ride to safety. I'll never forget the look on your face when looked back on you."

He sighed at the time a life or death fight but now an actual kind of fond memory, he smiled a little "We played quite the game of cat and dove didnt we?"

"But yeah I did the same, after....what happened I went under ground did some work under the name Shadow Cat." He chuckled again "a bit on the nose but it actually deflected attention. Assassination for money and the like. Finally made some connections that found me valuable enough to hide out here and got me set up with Vandil and the local hutt."

"It must've matched the look on your face when I sabotaged your shot on Onderon. You were too far away to see," Dove teased in return, reminising of the time she had used one of the Republic representatives as a human shield to avoid getting picked off by the sharpshooter.

"Hm," she scoffed with a smile, taking another sip of the fine spirit. "Hutts. That's almost as bad as the Empire, don't you think? Or is it just a stepping stone to revenge? After what happened earlier... don't you feel it's time to hit back at those berks?"

He winced a little "yeah, I actually got in quite a bit of hot water for that one. Turns out the republic frowns upon you putting a bolt through one of their reps." He scratched the back of his neck with a little grimace

He sighed little "Yeah, not the first choice but when your old employer tries to kill you and is, you know, the entire government well enemy of my enemy and all that. I originally hooked up with Crimson Dawn and they sort of passed me off to the hutts. I've been looking for a way out the last year. Just have to prove I'm easier to just let go than try to deal with."

The glass met his lips again as he looked Dove over "Well you look as good as ever that's for sure. Was always a little sad my job was to damage someone so beautiful." He said playfully finally able to relax realizing these werent the old days and Dove felt similarly about their shared work history. Professional not personal.

While she might've felt more personal about it during those days, Dove had had years to put it behind her, and he hadn't earned that much of a long-standing grudge.

Besides, no point in fighting over old days now.

"You didn't seem to mind it too terribly back then," she chuckled. "A girl might've thought you enjoyed the more sadistic kinds of play with the way you were sometimes."

He grinned a bit "well you know business was business, you were an enemy operative and a troublesome one at that. That doesnt mean I didnt notice you were, and are utterly stunning. Just because I tried hard at my job doesnt mean I enjoyed trying to kill you." He let out a breath "i think you're actually one of the people in this galaxy that might know me better than most. You learn something about people you hunt and struggle with. Orders were orders, I didnt think you were a bad person, you were fighting for what you believed in, like I was. When all is said and done I think we are very similar people just were on opposing sides." His amber eyes looked up at her finding hers for a moment.

She chuckled, relaxing a bit more into the couch. "Well you're not too bad looking yourself. The Republic certainly could've done a worse job in choosing its operatives, in both appearance and skill," Dove said as she raised her glass in a toast of sorts.

"I sometimes wonder how much I really believed in it all though - or if it was just my sense of loyalty making me believe in it. But well, in the end, it doesn't matter, does it? Things have changed a lot since the days of the Clone Wars. The CIS is no longer the enemy of the Re... Empire, as far as we know, as they're focused on just squashing any sign of dissidence. In my opinion, they're kind of just making their own dissidence with the way they're behaving."

She emptied her glass and held it out for a refill. "But I have a feeling the tops there want it. They want the chaos. An enemy they can point at and say they're protecting the citizens from."

"Well, well, Dove I didnt realize you went for fur." He said well almost purred as he reached over and refilled her glass setting the container back down.

He let out an exasperated sigh "Its that damned Emperor hes so sure of his superiority and so power hungry. They went too far tonight, the are the greatest threat the galaxy has seen. They call for order and claim they are here to instill peace but they are no better than butchers and fascists." Dak's blood boiled a bit and he took a long drink finishing his own glass "To answer your earlier question, it most certainly is time to make them pay for what they did."

He refilled his own glass and took a deep breath, steadying his nerves "certainly a bitter sweet evening all around."

"I'm not one to judge a book by its cover... or its fur in this case," she teased warmly, accepting the refill with a smile. One eyebrow rose in a fine arc.

"You planning on joining up with the Resistance after today? For some retribution, and justice?"

He nodded "Its something I should have done long ago, I've know about it for long enough but I was focused on laying low and watching my own back......" his voice was softer with traces of guilt and regret "Maybe if I'd made a difference sooner....." he took a drink "maybe things could have gone differently."

"But what's done is done. All I can do now if jump in with both feet and help in whatever way I can. In fact I may have something useful already but I dont want to move forward with it until I know more."

"Oh?" she eyed him over the rim of her glass. "Anything in particular I might know about, perhaps? Otherwise, I'd say that jumping in blind kind of comes with our line of profession. We were the kind that couldn't always wait for confirmation or orders, but just had to act on our own instincts."

Dak thought for a moment "I was working a bounty earlier today and tracked her down and turns out she's the daughter of the commander of the imperial forces here at Bankor and I entered into a business relationship with her. Apparently her father has a soft spot for her. Seems like intel that could come in handy at some point should the resistance look for it." He paused sipping his drink "I'm not sure how far they are willing to go yet but the option is there."

He then chuckled a bit "For better or worse I think you're right about that last bit. I know I certainly made some hasty decisions in my day but nothing i didnt walk away from. Whether that's by skill or luck is up for interpretation."

Well that was certainly something interesting that she could potentially use. If she could find a bit more, Dove felt certain she could use it to throw some disarray into the Imperial ranks.

"Really?" Now she was the one purring. "Is that so? I think I know who this lady is, the one female human on the bounty board, yes? I had... other business to see to and couldn't pursue it further."

As she stretched out more on the couch, Dove brought up one leg to drape over Dak's knee. "Any idea why she got a bounty on her name?"

Dak chuckled "Oh lovely little Dove, how easily you slip into that temptress role. I've seen you do this many times remember." He said playing it cool but by the Great Tree, she is a tempting one. he thought to himself as a hand came down to rest on her leg "Dont forget this kitty has claws." He said in a soft half purr half growl as his claw lightly traced her leg.

"You sound like quite the voyeuristic pervert when you put it like that. Always watching from afar, probably fantasizing about it later," she teased in return and letting her white teeth show as she grinned in response to his touch.

"And you do say these interesting things that draw me in too... really, it's as much your fault as it is mine."

He opened his mouth in an expression of mock offense "Me? A pervert? How dare you Ms. Gray I was a respectable member of Republic Intelligence." He grinned in a mischievous display of teeth "I swear any survalience I did on you was purely professional." But his smile was as if to say not that i didnt see anything interesting.

"And as for what I say that may or may bot draw you in......" he leaned forward closing the distance between them "well now those are my secrets." He said softly his face close to hers.