The Divided City - Pt 2
Title: The Divided City
Author:
autumnsdarling
Fandom: Star Wars
Setting: Prequel-Era
Rating: G
Characters: Original Characters (Shai Laren Ashak, Anselm Erith)
Length: 5 parts
Words: 3,500
Summary: Fresh from Coruscant, a Jedi Master takes his new padawan to a city at war with itself - where everyone has lived underground for decades in fear of one another - on a diplomatic assignment to find some common ground between the warring factions, and make the city whole again.
A/N: Although I'm posting this one later, this story actually falls chronologically before Murder on the Outer Rim Express, and is the first thing I ever wrote for Shai. It's worth noting that Anselm (in all his glory) belongs to
dark_knight_130, who is kind enough to let me borrow him from time to time.
* * * * * * * * * *
The two Jedi walked down the No Man's Highway that ran through the very centre of the Divided City. Their cloaks whipped and whirled in the dry, dead wind that tore through the calcified heart of the city - an endless, concrete mausoleum that stretched up against the featureless clouds above them.
Great bridges dissected the highway - squared arches of concrete and steel - and were themselves divided halfway across their length by chainlink fences and curls of razored wire. Nothing made a sound, but for the wind that tore between the crumbling, blocky towers. Nothing moved but for the whorls of paper moving in centrifuge-formation, or the shredded ribbons of rain-bleached plastic that struggled on barbed wire.
“I still don't fully understand why we're here, Master.”
The Jedi watched the road in front of them and for over a minute they just kept walking, until she thought that he'd forgotten all about her or that he hadn't heard her in the first place over the screeching of the wind.
“The situation isn't exactly what you'd call simple,” he said at last, although his eyes barely shifted from the road stretched out before them. “The Republic needs supplies of Chanlon. Many, many years ago - when I was still a child - the two peoples of this city exported it from here. Even back then, the city was divided. Not quite like you see it now, but even then...”
He paused for a moment, then shook his head and kept on walking.
“The people on the East side of the city had access to the ore - taking it from shallow mines that stretch out beyond the limits of the city, but the Chanlon on this planet is useless by itself. Only the people in the West have the knowledge that they needed to extract it from its ore and so they can export it.”
He fell silent for a moment, and the girl allowed herself a few seconds of that silence in which to think.
“The perfect symbiosis,” she said at last. “One half is useless without the other.”
“Hrmm,” said the Jedi.
“Only it isn't like that now, is it, Master? And I'm sure I could take a guess at why.”
The Jedi nodded. “Go on.”
“Greed,” she said flatly. “Plain old human greed. Both sides wanted more than they were getting, neither was prepared to give, and so the whole system fell apart.”
“Hrmm,” said the Jedi, meaning he wasn't sure if he agreed.
Out of the grey horizon, a great, domed building was emerging from the haze.
“It isn't quite that simple,” he said. “Things got a little bit more serious than that. The situation degenerated into war. The war destroyed everything above ground level - the people, the infrastructure, many of the buildings, everything. And so people did as people do and retreated underground - living in darkness and fear of one another, descending into lawlessness and chaos.”
The girl shook her head sadly. “And the Republic hopes that we can fix it?”
The Jedi laughed.
“No, padawan,” he told her. “The Republic expects us to fix it. And what's more there'll be hell to pay if we don't fulfil that particular little expectation.”
The girl swallowed. The Jedi glanced at her and smiled, then reached out and touched her shoulder.
“Don't worry,” he told her. “It isn't going to be a problem.”
She nodded. “Yes, Master.”
“Good,” he said, pausing for a moment to look up towards the great dome of ruined, fractured concrete rising up before them at the end of No Man's Highway.
“What is that place?” she asked him.
“Home,” he said. “But, before we settle in, we should really go and meet our hosts, don't you think?”"
Author:
autumnsdarling
Fandom: Star Wars
Setting: Prequel-Era
Rating: G
Characters: Original Characters (Shai Laren Ashak, Anselm Erith)
Length: 5 parts
Words: 3,500
Summary: Fresh from Coruscant, a Jedi Master takes his new padawan to a city at war with itself - where everyone has lived underground for decades in fear of one another - on a diplomatic assignment to find some common ground between the warring factions, and make the city whole again.
A/N: Although I'm posting this one later, this story actually falls chronologically before Murder on the Outer Rim Express, and is the first thing I ever wrote for Shai. It's worth noting that Anselm (in all his glory) belongs to
dark_knight_130, who is kind enough to let me borrow him from time to time.
* * * * * * * * * *
The two Jedi walked down the No Man's Highway that ran through the very centre of the Divided City. Their cloaks whipped and whirled in the dry, dead wind that tore through the calcified heart of the city - an endless, concrete mausoleum that stretched up against the featureless clouds above them.
Great bridges dissected the highway - squared arches of concrete and steel - and were themselves divided halfway across their length by chainlink fences and curls of razored wire. Nothing made a sound, but for the wind that tore between the crumbling, blocky towers. Nothing moved but for the whorls of paper moving in centrifuge-formation, or the shredded ribbons of rain-bleached plastic that struggled on barbed wire.
“I still don't fully understand why we're here, Master.”
The Jedi watched the road in front of them and for over a minute they just kept walking, until she thought that he'd forgotten all about her or that he hadn't heard her in the first place over the screeching of the wind.
“The situation isn't exactly what you'd call simple,” he said at last, although his eyes barely shifted from the road stretched out before them. “The Republic needs supplies of Chanlon. Many, many years ago - when I was still a child - the two peoples of this city exported it from here. Even back then, the city was divided. Not quite like you see it now, but even then...”
He paused for a moment, then shook his head and kept on walking.
“The people on the East side of the city had access to the ore - taking it from shallow mines that stretch out beyond the limits of the city, but the Chanlon on this planet is useless by itself. Only the people in the West have the knowledge that they needed to extract it from its ore and so they can export it.”
He fell silent for a moment, and the girl allowed herself a few seconds of that silence in which to think.
“The perfect symbiosis,” she said at last. “One half is useless without the other.”
“Hrmm,” said the Jedi.
“Only it isn't like that now, is it, Master? And I'm sure I could take a guess at why.”
The Jedi nodded. “Go on.”
“Greed,” she said flatly. “Plain old human greed. Both sides wanted more than they were getting, neither was prepared to give, and so the whole system fell apart.”
“Hrmm,” said the Jedi, meaning he wasn't sure if he agreed.
Out of the grey horizon, a great, domed building was emerging from the haze.
“It isn't quite that simple,” he said. “Things got a little bit more serious than that. The situation degenerated into war. The war destroyed everything above ground level - the people, the infrastructure, many of the buildings, everything. And so people did as people do and retreated underground - living in darkness and fear of one another, descending into lawlessness and chaos.”
The girl shook her head sadly. “And the Republic hopes that we can fix it?”
The Jedi laughed.
“No, padawan,” he told her. “The Republic expects us to fix it. And what's more there'll be hell to pay if we don't fulfil that particular little expectation.”
The girl swallowed. The Jedi glanced at her and smiled, then reached out and touched her shoulder.
“Don't worry,” he told her. “It isn't going to be a problem.”
She nodded. “Yes, Master.”
“Good,” he said, pausing for a moment to look up towards the great dome of ruined, fractured concrete rising up before them at the end of No Man's Highway.
“What is that place?” she asked him.
“Home,” he said. “But, before we settle in, we should really go and meet our hosts, don't you think?”"