Shadows of Bankor

The festivities had died, down Warrior's Heart had been watched, food had been had, and life had been celebrated to the fullest. Now Dak wandered down the beach away from things a swiped bottle of the good stuff in his hand and a beautiful super spy at his side.

The moon hung large and clear in the sky illuminating the area in a silvery light, one Dak couldnt help but notice played off of Dove's hair in a spectacular way.

"Been quite the insane few weeks huh?" He said with a smile as the walked along the beach gentle ocean waves lapping the nearby shore.

Dove kept a slow pace as they walked the beach. She wasn't directly limping from her injury last night, but she was listening to the doctor's order of taking it easy. It wasn't a bad injury and it would be good as new soon.

"I don't know insane can describe it," she remarked with a chuckle, looking back at him over her shoulder. "This is nothing like what either of us did during the war. Liberating a planet, bringing down a ship like that... every inch of the plan just a step away from falling apart-- ok, that one I'll grant I've done many times. But not the other things."

Dak wasnt sprinting any marathons either anytime soon it was a very leisurely stroll as he took a sip from the bottle and offered it to Dove. "Yeah. That's a new one for me too, though I often fly by the seat of my pants but that was indeed some next level shit as far as the category goes." He said chuckling as they walk.

Accepting the bottle, Dove paused to take a sip as she looked out at the moonlit sea.

"What sort of next level craziness are you thinking of doing next? The fight for Bankor might be done, but the Empire's not going away just because we kicked them in the knee here."

Dak grinned "I was planning on asking you the same thing. This was only step one for certain, and while i dont see myself as a great teacher I think my talents could still be of use to the resistance. So probably continue what I've been doing for the Bankor resistance for whatever this new alliance will be, laying a ground work gathering intel. I dont know though it's not set in stone."

He looked out over the waters for a minute just enjoying a bit of natural beauty before turning to Dove "And what about you? What are your plans?"

"Hmmm..." she took a deep breath to enjoy the scents of the night and sea, before taking another swig from the bottle and passing it back to Dak. "Sounds like what I was planning to do. It's a start, what we've done here. If it's going to be anything more than this, we need to act while the fire's hot, so to speak."

"I saw last night how much this Resistance might be in need of someone to call the shots, to tell people what is and what is not ok on a mission. The guy the CIS had brought in for the strike at the Foundry - a real piece of work. Well, to be fair, he's quite good at what he does, but what is not ok is settling personal scores and deciding to blow shit up." Dove sighed and pushed her hair back over her shoulders.

"Spywork needs more than just willing spirits with skill - it needs oversight, direction, information, support. That's what I'm going to do."

Dak nodded "Huk right? He was certainly a piece of work I was tracking him for a bit but he eluded us. Guess it's good we didnt find and bury him if he helped the resistance."

Dak paused "It sounds like our missions are the same moving forward. Want to continue working together on this? Stick together a while longer?"

"Huk," she said, confirming it. "Probably best you didn't try to get him though, he's... well, he did stuff during the war that was completely off the records. Really dark shit. One of the top dogs, taking orders directly from the Count himself, and later the General." Though judging from her words, she was more worried about the damage he would've done to Dak, rather than his so-called aid to the Resistance. "He didn't work for the Resistance. He was Bowze's goon."

Shaking her head, she decided not to think too much about that particular subject now. She'd been debriefed by Yusandr and the Senator after the fact, given them the full details and report of the heist, including the recordings. It was in their court now if they wanted to do anything about it. And if Bowze wanted to affiliate himself with someone like Dredgen.

"Working together, huh? I don't mind that at all. We've done good work together here, we might as well continue."

Dak thought for a moment. He was certain he could probably had taken Huk down especially with the back up he had.

As Dove agreed Dak smiled wide "Perfect, I look forward to it Agent Gray."

He looked out to the water again "wanna sit here? I know some people have a problem with sand."

"Because it's sandy?" she chuckled, looking around for a dry spot to sit, "but sure, let's sit down..."

There was a beat, as if she was swallowing some pride before being able to go on. "And hey... thanks for hauling my ass out of there last night."

Dak chuckled and sat next to Dove looking over the waters as she spoke. When she finished he turned his head to look at her and smiled softly "No need to thank me, I'd never leave you behind if there is an option."

He reached out and put a hand on her knee "You scared me for a minute there. I was......I was afraid I was going to lose you." He said more quietly. "Watching someone get gunned down can make you realize how important they've become to you."

He paused for a bit "I guess I'm just saying I'm glad you're ok." He gave her knee a slight squeeze.

"Hey, it was a good tactical decision to do so... someone like me would've been a valuable prisoner for the Empire, if they figured out who or what I am." The luckiest would've been immediate execution, compared to being taken alive.

"So thanks." Dove smiled at the touch. "And I'm glad you're safe too... you seemed pretty beat up even before we got into the fight there."

Dak snorted a little "You and I both know I wasnt thinking tactics when I scooped you up. Like yeah you're right nobody left behind is a good policy but it's not what was on my mind when I did it."

Then he sighed heavy "yeahhhh I think I've been shot more in the past couple of weeks than I ever was during all those years in the war. I need to leave the frontline soldiering to the soldiers.

It seemed her meaning was missed, but it wasn't something Dove felt she needed to clarify now.

"Well, when there's a shortage of soldiers, we do what we gotta do."

She sighed. "But it's not over with Bankor. It's gonna take a lot of work to get a proper Resistance up and running that can take on this fight... man, we are basically starting from scratch."

Dak nodded along and smiled looking up at the sky the moonlight reflecting off his teeth "Yeah itll be a challenge but it.....feels good. To be doing what I was meant to be. I lost myself here on Bankor but, now I think I've found me again." He looks to Dove "and I believe you had no small part in that, even if you didnt know you were helping. Thank you Dove, for being there, for reminding me who I am."

She looked over at him, with some curiosity on her face. "Me?" there was a brief chuckle. "I'm not sure I can take the credit for it. You had already made up your mind to get back into the fray of things after the razing of the Aznuri enclave... you said yourself I didn't exactly need to persuade you to join up with this resistance."

Dak nodded "yes true enough but then I was angry, looking for revenge of a type. But you, you acted like an example for me in a way. The way you threw yourself into the work, the way you put everything on the line going under cover with an inquisitor who for all you knew at the time would have beheaded you for it, and just talking about the past with someone who was there, who knew me back then."

He paused a bit "I dont know Dove you are inspiring in how much you really care. Now I'm not fueled by anger and rage and vengeance but I'm back to being me, fighting for what I believe in. For a while i was motivated by survival, then by vengeance, but you reminded me what it meant to do it for the job do it because it's the right thing to do."

He looked to her eyes "to remind me what it's like to have something to lose, something worth fighting for. You might not have meant to but you did, so thank you."

"Aw, shucks..." she laughed softly, looking away for a moment as if she was embarrassed. "All this hero-talk is gonna get to my head sometime. Last night Jennah was calling me a hero, and now you're saying pretty much the same thing, Dak."

Dove brushed some of her hair away from her face. "You don't need to thank me, Dak. Really... I think I might be flattered with all this praise."

Dak smiled "I mean we are heroes of a kind Dove, we arent the kind that stand up proud and tall and become the faces of movements. Not like Captain Alderaan or even your friend Mia. But we are the heroes in the shadow, pulling strings and doing the work that needs doing. We dont have songs written about us or holos made based on our job. only certain people will ever know what we do and thats all right because without heroes like us the movement would falter."

He moved in and kissed her cheek gently "I dont need to thank you but I want you to know you're appreciated Dove. People recognize you for what makes you, you and all you do for us."

She smiled at the kiss and gave him one in return on his fuzzy cheek. "It feels strange to be so lauded for just doing my job, but hey, I guess I'll take it."

"Now we just need to support those who can stand in the front and be an inspiration for others to rise up against the Empire. It's going to be a difficult balance to tread; doing what must be done, but also not going so far that we become as bad as those we fight."

His own smile brightened a touch at the feel of her lips on his cheek and he nodded "Yup, we'll be branded terrorists and criminals. A lot of people will hate us before they meet us. We have to be a cause worthy of following. Itll be a difficult line to walk but I think we can do it. I think weve done a pretty good job so far."

"As if I haven't been called worse," she snorted a laugh. "But yeah, I think it's important that we draw a line in the sand, so to speak. At least with most of the people on our side here, I think we should be able to do it... and we have the shining heroes to keep people like me from stepping over that line."

Because she damn sure wasn't above some things that most people didn't want to do.

"I think, almost more than the Clone Wars, that this will be a war of ideologies..."

Dak nodded slowly listening to her "Yeah, maybe. I dont know what the line is though." He shrugged "I guess I'll need someone with better vision to show me too, I mean I have some limits but when it comes to getting it done that usually takes top priority. But hey to win this war against a army that outnumbers us with better equipment, and more resources. Itll take all kinds, I think that line will get blurred now and again."