35:01:26 - the afternoon
The day after Fox's “incident,” as Dash returns home from school, he sees Baron Swift along his regular route. The Baron waves Dash over and speaks. “Dash, good to see you - we barely had a chance to catch up after your trip. Do you have time to talk?”
He gestures to an open-air bistro just off the street. “I would like to know how you are holding up, and what you think of our team now that you have been with us for a while. I am sure it has been eye-opening - at least it has been for me!”
Dash checks his chrono and replies, “Yeah, I've got some time. It's not like my parents are home anyway. They've been working late ever since we got home.”
Dash and the Baron take seats at the bistro and Dash orders a Spacer Soda and Brekka Beet wedges, and Swift asks for the same. They chat idly about the weather and Dash's classes until the food arrives, and then they turn to more serious matters.
“So, things were really weird the other night. Well, before Brown Fox spaced out. I tried talking to Tor but he was as cryptic as a B'omarr monk!”
Dash pauses to take a sip of soda.
“And then you started going on about some mystical force and how the Imperials would want to kill you for it. Honestly, I'm not so sure about all this any more. It's getting pretty deep. The other evening there wasn't laughter. No smiles. At least not real ones. It was like someone had died!”
Swift nods, compassionate. Dash just can't keep it in any more and has to tell someone about Kay.
“And I want to go home! Not my house here on Balmorra, but back to Shikaakwa. I have a friend there. Kay'rashal. She is all I think about! Well almost… But with everything happening… being shot at! And you don't even know what the Empire has planned for us… Rebels. I saw their presentations the other day. They spell murder and death with colored charts and graphs. This doesn't feel fun anymore. I …”
Dash looks up at the Baron, his eyes glistening but refusing to give in to the ache in his heart and the fear of reality spread before him.
The Baron's eyes are also wet, but he openly stares back at Dash, unconcerned about his show of emotion. And yet his voice is calm. “I know how you feel. I was 17 when I lost those I loved. My parents and I were close; my father and I spent hours together every day, he had a way of making me feel important, listening to my ideas and gently guiding me. Back then I thought I knew it all - I had my life all planned out. And then the Empire destroyed it all.”
Swift's eyes snap back from gazing into the past, and looks right into Dash's eyes. “Dash, we fight the Empire because there is a faint hope that we can protect what is left. The innocence, the joy, the beauty remaining. There is some good in the universe left. Tell me about Kay'rashal. What is she like? What do you remember most, what makes her different than the rest?”
Dash's face changes as he describes Kay, remembering home and the good times before the move. The young Twi'lek shares that he really joined up with the party so he could find his way back home to Shikaakwa, to Kay. Somewhere in his mind he knows the near impossibility of actually leaving, at least yet. “Is there any way, maybe through the Rebellion, that I can get a message to her? Shikaakwa is very close to Coruscant and I'm afraid… I mean, species discrimination is bad here on Balmorra, and I can't imagine what might happen back home.”
Swift nods. “I promise, Dash. I'll speak to Compatriot, and I'll do everything I can to get a message through. The Alliance likely can't spend the resources to smuggle you out there, but Compatriot can check with her agents to see if they can track Kay down - it should be possible.”
Their talk turns to Dash's parents, and the struggle he has with their work for the Empire and the governmental doublespeak that is all-pervasive. They touch on the Force, but Dash retreats into himself a bit, insecure as teenagers tend to be. His thoughts are also complicated by Koyi'Tarkona, the green Twi'lek girl he rescued from the Imps. She's here on Balmorra and interested in at least talking to Dash again. Dash won't admit it yet but it's proving to be a distraction to him.
As he mentions the girl to Swift, the Baron chuckles and shakes his head. “Don't ask me for advice - I have problems of my own that don't seem to be resolving. Dash, there is obviously a lot going on for you, and I have found that it has been very healthy for me to write out my feelings, get those thoughts out of my head. It might work for you, too.”
Just then, an opulent twi'lek strides out of a nearby jewelry store and stops by their table. “Swift! So good to see you! And who is this fine, strapping lad?” He is green, wears rich clothing and appears to have 3 or 4 chins. His lekku twitch decisively, though any non-Twi'lek would not notice anything unusual - but Dash understands the signals that belie the large Twi'lek's outward attitude: Danger nearby - act natural.
“Baron Telmarr, this is a good friend of mine, Dash.” The Baron looks at Dash and winks. “Telmarr is one of my oldest allies, and definitely my largest.”
Telmarr pats his belly and laughs. “One must keep up one's appearances. Tell me, Dash,” he rumbles, looking at Dash's apparel, “Is that your Starhawk parked here? I must admit, I'm a bit of a collector of fast vehicles. Don't use them much, anymore, though, but in my youth…” He laughs again, patting his belly some more.
He doesn't really stop to listen to anyone else, but prattles on. “A friend of Swift's is a friend of mine, and mutual friends are a valuable resource. I have a proposal for you, lad. In my back garage, collecting dust, is a mint condition Starhawk sidecar - never used, just came with one a family member crashed a few decades ago. If you're willing to do an odd job for me here and there, I'd gladly donate it to your cause. You'll just have to give it a paint job. Mine's… well, I had a daughter that really liked pink.”
He roars in laughter again, but this time holding his jiggling sides. His lekku have been twitching the whole time: I'm always being followed, bloody Empire. Don't worry about it. Trandoshan mercenaries this time. Oh well.
Dash is extremely excited. “Any tech or mech to play with is great!”
Telmarr laughs. “I have another three meetings to get to - but Dash, stop by my mansion and pick it up anytime - it's not too far from Swift's. You'll make far better use of it than I will, I'm sure. Swift - you are coming to the banquet on the 4th, right? Bring someone nice this time - maybe that pretty little officer you mentioned, eh?”
He winks at Dash and tosses him a 10 credit coin. “Us twi'leks should stick together. Use this to treat some lady to an icecream or something, eh?” And with that, he trundles off to a waiting streetcar. A few moments later, a few trandoshans pass by, eyes on Telmarr.
Dash turns to Swift. “Telmarr said those thugs were following him. What's that about?”
The Baron shrugs. “It's life here. Politicians, especially non-humans, are shadowed constantly. I often have a tail or two, though I seem to be able to shake them fairly well. The Force helps…”
He grins at Dash's puzzled expression. “Alright, it's getting late. I'll see you later, Dash.” Swift pays for their meals, and walks off, leaving Dash to contemplate.
A few days later, Dash hears from Telmarr again - Dash is supposed to keep an eye out for news of missing Twi'leks. “You have access to some areas I don't. So if you see or hear anything, contact me as soon as you can. Our people are not doing well here lately - the Imperials have no respect for anyone but their own.”
