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Sitting quietly in Doogals, Tomoe is looking at the food in front of her with a mix of curiosity and confusion. She has two long, tapered stickes she seems to be trying to eat the food with, but has some slight issues with it, as, whatever it is, is some sort of slick dish. The drink next to her is some clear, colourless liquid. Maybe water, but there are any number of other things it could be, as well. Barely concealed next to her, on her left side, are what look like two swords, kept in a spot where, while they are not a provocation to anyone, if something happened, she could grab them easily.
Hylle looks over his shoulder as he ducks into Doogals, grimacing as he shuts the door behind him. The Arkanian dusts his hands off his jacket as if he had just been handling something slimy. He makes his way down the length of the former chapel, greeting the owner with a cheerful sounding, "I see the stench has gotten worse. Too much dandruff gathered in all the corners. How can you stand it?" The arachnid alien shrugs, cleans out a glass, and pours some pale liquid from a nearly-opaque bottle, "I don't look outside." <Aqualish>
Tomoe looks up from her meal, and seems to finally be resorting to the standard flatware of the galaxy, if a little inexpertly. Would you be good with a fork if you had to learn to use it? However, her eyes track the new arrival. She frowns in concentration briefly at the language being spoken, trying to figure it out in some way, but not quite managing.
Gathering up his stemless wineglass, Hylle moves down the bar to collect a stool, a little out of the way and coincidentally only a short distance from the woman with the swords. He gives a little salute to the Acclamator model hanging over his head, "Here's to fewer smells, less strangulation of breath, and not having to keep your head down." He seems to be talking to himself, and also seems rather satisfied with the sip he takes from his glass. The swordswoman gets a sidelong look, and he notes to her, "You might keep an eye on those blades, miss. The local color doesn't seem to take well to an overabundance of weaponry on one's person."
Tomoe nods,"Yes..they seem to be quite concerned with those carrying around weapons of killing light…unless in the hands of their own wearers of the colour of Death. I have, fortunately, not been bothered yet, perhaps because they do not see weapons as a danger. After all, why fear someone with a sword when you can shoot them several times before they can close, right? Besides, the smaller one is primarily ceremonial."
Hylle gives the woman a slightly puzzled look as he tries to work out the references, "Blasters, ah yes. Blasters, slugthrowers, vibro-weapons… all definitely more concerning to the authorities than an unpowered blade." He takes another sip of his wine, letting it linger on his tongue for a long moment before he swallows and speaks again, "It's likely because you're human. They seem to get oh-so bent out of shape whenever a Wookiee carries around a ryyk blade." Something about that statement amuses him, a slow, almost contented smile spreading across his lips beneath his luxurious white mustache.
Tomoe nods,"That is the term, yes. My world…was exceptionally xenophobic. It was thought outsiders would bring taint at best, destroy us at worst." She pauses, and seems slightly saddened,"In the last, they were most definitely right." She closes her eyes for a long moment, and then looks at the ships hanging from above, and motions to the first wedge-shaped ship she sees,"They came in a flying castle like that one, but it was grey and bigger."
"Oh, we do," Hylle responds cheerfully enough to the suggestion that outsiders bring taint, "Wonderful, wonderful taint." He looks up to the Acclamator model, then nods, "Without the red, that would be a Star Destroyer of some sort or another. Victory-class or an Impstar." He pauses a moment, then notes, "That would be a starship, by the way. Rather than a flying castle."
Tomoe nods,"But flying castle is more evocative of what it is. It is a fortress, with a Lord, and it holds an army. To call it a starship diminishes the power at its Lord's command….and also distances it from being assailable." She pauses,"And..yes, taint." She holds up the fork, and then the two wooden sticks she was trying to eat with,"Outside ways, barbarism, a lack of respect for life and one's place in the order of things. I was born to defend my Lord, and die in his service..I survived the destruction of my homeworld. No clue why that thing came, why its Death Warriors slaughtered women, children, peasants and warriors, and then burned the sacred surface below our Sky Islands, but..It did."
"Holoscreens, fine wines, capitalism, technological advances, and detonite," Hylle counters the woman's list of 'taint' with his own. Still, he waves a hand to accept her interpretation of the naming, falling silent as she describes her tragedy. The Arkanian takes a slow sip, nodding as he swallows, "It seems nearly everyone has a story of a dead, dying, or threatened world, don't they? One of my fellows has a similar story, and another's people have been enslaved. With the number of planets rendered lifeless hunks of rock, one would think the mining interests were running things."
Tomoe frowns,"Yes.." She pauses,"How many warriors do you believe are in one of those..Victory-class or Impstars?" She takes a long moment in thought,"Of course, there are a lot of worlds, so they could easily lose a few. Sort of like when you burn a field to drive the warriors out of it into your ambush. They either burn alive, or they go where you want them..a few will go where you did not plan, though, and those are the dangerous ones. The ones a Lord should be wary of, because they might also be patient men and women, even if they are cast adrift on the waves of fortune until they find that time and place to seek their revenge."
"About two regiments in a Victory-class, two thousand or so soldiers. Plus the crew. An Impstar? A division, nearly ten thousand. Plus nearly four times that in crew." Evidently, Hylle knows his Imperial warships. Or just his warships in general. Listening to the woman's words, his raises his brows, smoothing his mustache down with the clawed fingers of one hand, "And you would consider yourself one of those dangerous ones? Seeking revenge?"
Tomoe looks at Hylle, and seems to think about her next words carefully."I am sure there might be other survivors who would be seeking that Lord's head. I hope there are other survivors who did what I and a shuttle pilot did…maybe even who had better luck than we did.." She shrugs,"But, small steps. First, I just need to make sure I have a way to survive out here. I have only one set of skills, those of a warrior. And, those seem to not be in much demand here. But, I remember a story told to me many years ago. A group of warriors set out to avenge their Lord after he was wrongly killed. They spent years planning, hiding stashes of weapons and armour, working menial jobs around where the Lord who killed their Lord was, and then, one day, when the time was right, after several years had passed and the Lord had forgotten about the honourable man he had killed, they struck." She pauses,"They are considered heroes by my people, one of the greatest stories of the correct and honourable course to take in such a situation."
Hylle nods slowly, sipping on his wine again, "I have a friend, call him Vev," the aurebesh letter 'v,' "who has a similar story. Last survivor," that's an exaggeration on both accounts, "of his homeworld, revenge issues. It sounds like you and he might enjoy talking together. Although, as a good and upstanding citizen and a licensed mercenary in good standing," somehow, he manages to say all of that without a smirk, "I should caution you that actions against the Galactic Empire tend to have fatal consequences."
Tomoe looks at Hylle,"So, one also cast upon the waves of fate." She hmms,"And, where might I find this Vev? Or is it a he finds me type of thing?" She frowns,"Also, I must say, calling it an Empire when there is little of the signs of an enlightened ruler is troubling. I have seen things here already that I would never have seen on my homeworld..like people begging for food, and people without a home."
"Well, if you call it the rotting corpse of a galactic civilization that died long before, thrashing about as the last bubbles of discord ripple through its distended gut, Imperials tend to get… uppity." Hylle washes that delightful picture down with another sip of wine, "Why don't you give me your comm-code, and I'll pass it along to Vev. Oh, and this isn't an Imperial world, or it wasn't until recently. People begging for food or without a home is pretty much a constant throughout every part of the galaxy I've visited."
Tomoe thinks a moment, and ohs, and pulls out a comlink,"Right.." She looks at it, getting her comcode from it, apparently not something she is entirely used to still..what sort of world must she have come from?"And, it was not a thing on my world. If you peasants did not have a home, it made their Lord look bad. A Lord is supposed to care for all under his rule. A homeless person would be let have a place to live, even if it was a communal home, and everyone has some skills that can earn their place. A land with homeless and beggars is a land where the Lord has shunned the duties of the Heavens, and turned his or her back on Compassion and Generosity." She hands over the information of her comcode to Hylle.
Hylle's brows lift at the description of the system in question, and as he digs out his own comlink to enter in the comcode, he shakes his head, "Unfortunately, I would say that that system only works when people are benevolent. That it was able to take hold on an entire planet beggars belief, frankly. In the broad galaxy, there is always someone looking to make a credit, or to get ahead in life at the expense of others. An unfortunate truth."
Tomoe looks at Hylle,"It works only where people believe that there are things greater than oneself. And only where the Emperor who carries the Mandate of Heaven makes sure that his Magistrates enforce that Mandate. No Lord would see his title stripped, his family executed unless he removed the stain upon his honour with his own hands." She pauses,"Also, it might have helped that the unit of currency on my homeworld was backed by rice." She pauses,"What are Imperial Credits backed with, anyway? One my homeowrld, one credit was the amount of rice needed to feed one man for a month."
"Things greater than oneself besides credits, power, and influence, of course." Hylle seems breezy enough about that, but the mention of financial backing causes the Arkanian to blink in surprise. "Rice? Well… theoretically, the Imperial credit is backed by precious metals and other commodities. I don't know the details, frankly, as I never found economics beyond seeing to my needs and wants particularly interesting. They are merely a means to an end for me."
Tomoe smiles,"Money is generally beneath a warrior's concern. It is only needed for providing for food and equipment if the warrior's Lord does not, or cannot, provide that. A warrior's duty is to server their Lord, and be ready to die, without hesitation, at their Lord's command, because death in the service of your Lord, the fulment of Duty, is the highest honour a warrior can achieve."
Hylle raises a hand to brush out his mustache again, covering a world-weary smile at the description. "Out here, in the galaxy, everyone needs money. Even in an established company like my own, there's no expectation that the commander will see to your needs besides making sure you get paid. But then again, I was never much of a warrior… more of a soldier myself." Evidently, he sees a distinction. "But I should get you in touch with Vev. I'll pass your comcode along. And a name?" As he waits for it, he finishes off his wine and sets the glass down on the bar beside him.
Tomoe nods,"Tomoe of the Sakai family." She pauses,"And that is sad to hear that this galaxy is so..selfish. That is a galaxy run by" and here she wringles her nose, as if the word has a huge amount of distaste to it,"Merchants." If someone were to ask the proprietor of the establishment, she always pays, and tips generously, but…she always seems like she is uncomfortable handling money directly.
"And politicians." Again, Hylle's agreement with the sad state of the galaxy at large may be almost cheerful. He glances aside to study a human male stepping into the back room, and offers Tomoe a smile, "It was a pleasure to speak with you, Tomoe of the Sakai family. But I do believe that I should go see a man about a bantha. If you'll excuse me." And then he's pushing away from the bar.
Tomoe laughs,"Politicians are the same thing as Merchants. The warriors win the land with blood in summer, and the politicians in court get back in winter." She says it with the bitter tone of someone who had seen that happen. "And good luck with that." She says it simply, most likely not knowing the idiom.