Relative Freedoms

[Samka Derith]

Slowly and cautiously Sam began to cut the fruit open. She removed the seeds and then the rest of the fruit from the skin and dropped both halves into the bowl with a satisfied and chirpy "Mm!"

"Yes, yes," Sam nodded along. "The galaxy repeats over and over, it is a tiresome thing. The Dark or the Light will reign supreme and then be torn down. Rinse and repeat. Republics and Empires come and go with a weekly expiry date. We live in interesting times for politics to say the least."

She stopped mixing and turned to look at Jyoti once more, a frown returning to the young girl's face. "You.. want to take me? I'd be delighted!" The frown was replaced with a warm smile. It was suspicious but she'd appreciate more time out of her cell along with the potential for Jedi knowledge. It was always a good thing to know one's enemy. Although if Jyoti was right this Prime Jedi was also the ancestor of her own organisation and that of the Sith too. "You saw it in person? How is it different?"

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"And then the whole universe will collapse in Heat Death," she added with faux solemness. "or a Big Crunch. My credits are on the former."

After heating the pan with oil, she dropped the seasoned Shaak steaks in to first sear them off. Then she dropped in the herbs over the steaks, and began to baste them in butter, creating a lovely dark crust in the process.

"I haven't seen it yet," she admitted as she turned the steaks in the sizzling pool of fat. "Only in media. Perhaps I'll show you after I take the pilgrimage myself. So, with Empires coming and going these days, I imagine you'll be excited when the First Over finally keels over. I think it's about that time, with the Alliance out of the picture."

The steaks were done, now she only had to transfer them to a rack to let the meat rest. As soon as that was done, the potatoes should have cooked through in the air fryer.

"I always found Cloud City to be a lovely place, but all the stormtroopers and Star Destroyers hanging around create quite the eyesore."

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

Her task done, Sam trotted over to peer at what Jyoti was doing with her ingredients. Her wide ruby eyes watching intently over the counter.

"It would be an interesting experience to say the least. My knowledge of the Jedi Order is not what it could be admittedly," that was a truth. She was far more informed than the average denizen of the galaxy but it was difficult to find accurate and impartial accounts of the Jedi. The fact she was raised among First Order propaganda hadn't helped matters either. She had no issue with the propaganda as a useful tool to control the weaker minds but the stronger minds like hers needed clarity and facts, not emotion and bias.

Speaking of the First Order...

"I wish no harm to the Imperials," Sam shrugged, her expression completely unreadable. "They may be heavy handed but they're a better option for the people of Bespin than criminal cartels. I've always found the sights of Star Destroyers rather awe inspiring myself. That's not an Imperial thing, I feel the same about the large ships by any of the galactic powers, they're marvels of engineering and power. Well," Sam gave a quick derisive snort, "the Outer Rim Coalition excluded. Although they're an engineering marvel of their own in the totally opposite way."

"Let me tell you, Master Nooran, with all politics placed aside." The Ren sighed wistfully. "The sight of an Imperial Star Destroyer emerging slowly from the clouds the last time I visited home was a magnificent image indeed. Can you not appreciate the beauty in such an image?"

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

She couldn't help but smirk to herself as Elizah replied. Unsurprisingly, Elizah, who she had long suspected of being a Ren, was practically gushing about the First Order Imperials and their mechanical monstrosities.

"Heavy-handed is an understatement. This is the same First Order that blockaded an entire superlane once, threatening to cut off a good portion of a whole quadrant of space. Criminal organizations are an annoyance, to be sure, but the presence of the First Order will actually cause real harm in the long run. Cloud City and other rigs now face stiff competition from others that have now learned how to simulate the spin sealing process of Tibanna on the cheap. This wouldn't have happened if the FO wasn't so anti-capitalist."

With the sales and operation of their gas mining rigs, the SJO had become one of the largest producers of Tibanna and other valuable fuel sources. A similar thing with bacta production had occurred with the razing of Thyferra by the Sith Empire. By unintended consequences, their enemies had mad the SJO even wealthier than before. Funny how that worked.

When you pushed against the universe, in the name of 'order', the universe had a way of pushing back.

"Were I to see a Star Destroyer out of my window, I would probably only feel unease. People like to potentially forget that all these retro designs were originally created as instruments of terror. Not to protect the populace, but to keep them in line."

She motioned for Elizah to join her back at the booth, ready to enjoy a glass of wine as the meat finished resting. "If nothing else, the First Order has no shortage of those SDs you love. Did you ever consider joining the FO Navy? Great benefits and spiffy uniforms, from what I hear."

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

"Urg," Sam rolled her eyes at the capitalist rhetoric. "I'd rather Cloud City didn't begin a race to the bottom, no thank you. Societies like the First Order and to some extent the Sith Empire utilise their resources to be best managed by the state. A much better system than supplying foreigners so that the elite become richer and richer. They then live in their pristine apartments ticking boxes so that their societies can say they're prosperous all the while the underbelly starves. No, no. Precious, useful resources are never better utilised by creepy corporations than by Governments. In Cloud City, production is up. External exports may be down but that's because it's being better used internally. The war machine which crushed the Galactic Alliance is a hungry thing, after all."

She held her hands behind her and trotted after Jyoti at the booth, taking a bounce onto the seat to park herself next to the Jedi Master.

"People need a good scare once in a while," she smirked up at Jyoti as she grabbed a glass of wine. "As for the navy..." Sam paused as she took a sip, repressing the urge to shudder at the alcohol. She'd never been great handling the taste of the stuff. "It might interest me but the First Order doesn't take Force users, it thinks they're a menace outside of a select few. I admire them but I've made my own path outside of them. I certainly could never join their navy."

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]