Earthlings 2: The Dark Age

1

19 BBY, Ord Mantell

"SON OF A HUTT!" Ketch the Weequay's angry shout filled Cid's Parlor, catching the attention of the assistant. "YOU BROKE THE MACHINE! AGAIN! "

"Oh, I'm sorry! " Bolo the Ithorian replied sarcastically. 

"You better be sorry you-" The 2 customers proceeded to get physical. 

"Oh, god..." Kendall Chance facepalmed, anticipating the imminent task at hand- to break up the fight. This was probably the 20th time it happened since she came to Cid's seeking refuge from the Empire. There weren't many customers after the war ended, mainly Bolo and Ketch, who came by to gamble over dejarik. "Would you two cut it out?!"

Bolo dropped Ketch immediately before saluting, while still exchanging glares with the Weequay. "Yes, ma'am."

"Mm-hm." Kendall glared pointedly at them before continuing with her scrubbing. Just a few more hours, then she got her cut. 

"Hey, Candy, how's it goin' so far?" Cid asked, coming out of her office. Candy was Cid's nickname for Kendall, ever since she first came to this place with Master Mundi before the war. With the Empire after all the surviving Jedi, she'd taken that name as her alias. 

"Just finished with the counter," Kendall replied, holding up her sponge. "About to do the holotables, just to get those two to scram." 

Cid chuckled. "They do get on my nerves sometimes. Kinda reminds me of your kid."

"Leda?" Kendall raised a brow before sighing softly at the mention of her late padawan. "She was... quite something."

"Yeah, no kidding." Cid sat down on one of the stools by the counter. "Why it had to be her  who got snuffed... I have no idea. Poor kid didn't do anything to deserve it."

"Yeah..." Kendall mumbled before walking to the holotables. "Well, time to scrub some more... oh, what a life... what a wonderfully screwed up life..."

--

19 BBY, Coruscant

Toni Valorum stirred her cup of tea before sipping it slowly enough to not burn herself. Life in her family estate was taking some time to get used to, but at least it was better than the fugitive life her fellow surviving Jedi were facing. Not that she particularly liked  the pampered life she was living as the daughter of the deceased ex Chancellor and the sister of the current Senator of Coruscant. 

This dress is... so stiff, Toni thought, shifting in her seat. But unfortunately, she'd have to bear with it, in order to survive. No need to 'conceal' her identity, Imperial records had listed her as 'converted into a loyal Imperial citizen'.

Only thanks to Tara and Senators Mothma and Organa vouching for her, that was. Speaking of whom, Tara was hosting a small gathering at the moment, with those two invited. 

"This new Empire is already proving to be a corrupt regime," Mothma remarked. The Senator of Chandrila, Toni noticed, seemed to have expanded a bit around the middle. Was she expecting? If so, it had probably been at least 4-5 months by now. 

"Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it from here," Organa said with a sigh. "We are members of the Imperial Senate. To resist the Empire would potentially mean the death of our people."

"Senator Rivska of Takath was detained last week for resisting," Tara mused.

"And Takath's Capital City suffered consequences," Toni added. 

"Consequences isn't the right way to word this, sister." Tara helped herself to a refill. "The citizens of Takath City were either detained or massacred. This is best described as an atrocity."