Middle City - Southern Continent
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Lark Ridigan
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:09 pm
Middle City - Southern Continent
As has been the nature of Taris for generations untold, different castes of civilization tend to congregate in different levels of the skyscraping metropolitan continental cities. In the areas referred to as "Middle Cities", the hardworking and unassuming of civilization gather to live out modest lives, earn modest livings, and maybe... just barely, catch a glimpse of the direct sunlight gleaming over the Tarisian skyline.
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Lark Ridigan
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:09 pm
Re: Middle City - Southern Continent
The darkness of the night and the light of the day were only a luxury enjoyed by the citizens of the upper cities in Taris' vast metropoli. In the lower cities and under cities, daylight cycles meant nothing, and people simply lived their lives in the rhythms that best suited their needs. The midcity levels were the strange limbo between the two. With nothing but the courses of high noon shedding anything more than a passing radiance on the abdominal cavity of the city, those who inhabited it lived in a state of perpetual dusk, but they still adhered to the cycle of daylight because of their need to interact with the upper echelon. And so, as the end of their days arrived, they meandered wearily to their abodes after a full days work, surrounded by nothing but the continual dusk for lack of another option, and completed their evenings in their own ways.
Other denizens exist in the night by choice.
One particular midcity dweller had acquired a second shadow in recent weeks, though he was scarcely aware of it. Tulos stepped off the hover-tram and walked the rest of the mile home rather mindlessly, consumed by thoughts of work and the circumstances of his life, but his second shadow moved with a purpose, trailing him carefully into what passed as an urban neighborhood in a tarisian metropolis, finally slipping into an unoccupied data booth near his home. Hours passed. Foot traffic grew slow and finally came to a relative halt, much as it had the last four nights.
Two figures stepped into the dim light of the tiered walkway. A man, and a woman carrying a child. Both were clad in dark civilian attire, and moved with the same purposeful gait as Tulos' second shadow. When they reached the data booth, the shadow reemerged and greeted them quietly, ushering them back into the small space.
"Did you dose it?" Asked the shadowy figure, his rasping voice an odd mismatch to his smoothly rolling accent. The young woman hefted the child a little and turned his face outward.
"Yes, it's out cold."
"How long until it wakes?" Asked the shadowy one, eyeing the sleeping child.
"A good while yet." Said the young man. "We dosed it on the way down."
"How long until it wakes." demanded the shadowy one, his voice assuming an ominous edge. Both of the young people leaned away subconsciously in response, glancing at each other in uncertain concern for a moment. Finally the young woman found her voice again.
"Two hours, twenty minutes." She uttered, her voice wavering only slightly.
"Things rarely go to plan." The shadowy figure rasped, glaring between the two. "You must be accountable to each action, or you fall. I expect no less of myself or your own betters. Now go, I will shroud for you. Antillion said you were two of his best. Prove him right."
Both of the younger figures nodded furtively, then took careful glances out of the booth before moving out and into the complex where Tulos had entered some hours earlier. As they disappeared into the complex, the shadowy figure emerged from the dark of the booth into the vague light of the tiered walkway. He was a large framed man, with a face that appeared to have seen years of weathering and strife - it was a perpetual scowl. As he leaned against the side of the booth so casually, sporting smart casual civilian clothes and watching a video on his data pad, his mind surged ahead to extinguish the presence of the two younger individuals from the Force, making their presence a point of singular disinterest to all others in the building. They had their own task to manage, and he had his, so he didn't bother trying to divine their progress.
When they reemerged a few moments later, nothing appeared to have changed. Suddenly, the shadowy individual was more interested though. He reached out and carefully removed the sleeping child from the woman's arms. "The clone is in place?"
"Yes, there were no complications."
"Good. I will expect a report on its expiration within the week. And I don't want it from Antillion, I want it from you two. See this through to the end, show me you can complete what you start, and you will have my respect. Now go. I have another extraction to oversee in Verdiform."
The two young ones bowed quickly and receded into the shadows. The man at the booth, now holding the sleeping child newly kidnapped in his arms, turned and headed off gently in the other direction. The night was long still, and the harvest was unusually plentiful on Taris that day. Even with no Jedi watching over the force sensitive children of the galaxy, locating and acquiring them was slow, careful work. Kynrich felt a tingle run down his spine at the thought of acquiring two force wielding children in one night. A stroke of immensely good luck. He would go back to other oversights after tonight, but this he had to see for himself.
When Lark departed Taris four hours later, his ship held two young children in stasis pods, and the ranks of his cause had swollen by the same number.
Other denizens exist in the night by choice.
One particular midcity dweller had acquired a second shadow in recent weeks, though he was scarcely aware of it. Tulos stepped off the hover-tram and walked the rest of the mile home rather mindlessly, consumed by thoughts of work and the circumstances of his life, but his second shadow moved with a purpose, trailing him carefully into what passed as an urban neighborhood in a tarisian metropolis, finally slipping into an unoccupied data booth near his home. Hours passed. Foot traffic grew slow and finally came to a relative halt, much as it had the last four nights.
Two figures stepped into the dim light of the tiered walkway. A man, and a woman carrying a child. Both were clad in dark civilian attire, and moved with the same purposeful gait as Tulos' second shadow. When they reached the data booth, the shadow reemerged and greeted them quietly, ushering them back into the small space.
"Did you dose it?" Asked the shadowy figure, his rasping voice an odd mismatch to his smoothly rolling accent. The young woman hefted the child a little and turned his face outward.
"Yes, it's out cold."
"How long until it wakes?" Asked the shadowy one, eyeing the sleeping child.
"A good while yet." Said the young man. "We dosed it on the way down."
"How long until it wakes." demanded the shadowy one, his voice assuming an ominous edge. Both of the young people leaned away subconsciously in response, glancing at each other in uncertain concern for a moment. Finally the young woman found her voice again.
"Two hours, twenty minutes." She uttered, her voice wavering only slightly.
"Things rarely go to plan." The shadowy figure rasped, glaring between the two. "You must be accountable to each action, or you fall. I expect no less of myself or your own betters. Now go, I will shroud for you. Antillion said you were two of his best. Prove him right."
Both of the younger figures nodded furtively, then took careful glances out of the booth before moving out and into the complex where Tulos had entered some hours earlier. As they disappeared into the complex, the shadowy figure emerged from the dark of the booth into the vague light of the tiered walkway. He was a large framed man, with a face that appeared to have seen years of weathering and strife - it was a perpetual scowl. As he leaned against the side of the booth so casually, sporting smart casual civilian clothes and watching a video on his data pad, his mind surged ahead to extinguish the presence of the two younger individuals from the Force, making their presence a point of singular disinterest to all others in the building. They had their own task to manage, and he had his, so he didn't bother trying to divine their progress.
When they reemerged a few moments later, nothing appeared to have changed. Suddenly, the shadowy individual was more interested though. He reached out and carefully removed the sleeping child from the woman's arms. "The clone is in place?"
"Yes, there were no complications."
"Good. I will expect a report on its expiration within the week. And I don't want it from Antillion, I want it from you two. See this through to the end, show me you can complete what you start, and you will have my respect. Now go. I have another extraction to oversee in Verdiform."
The two young ones bowed quickly and receded into the shadows. The man at the booth, now holding the sleeping child newly kidnapped in his arms, turned and headed off gently in the other direction. The night was long still, and the harvest was unusually plentiful on Taris that day. Even with no Jedi watching over the force sensitive children of the galaxy, locating and acquiring them was slow, careful work. Kynrich felt a tingle run down his spine at the thought of acquiring two force wielding children in one night. A stroke of immensely good luck. He would go back to other oversights after tonight, but this he had to see for himself.
When Lark departed Taris four hours later, his ship held two young children in stasis pods, and the ranks of his cause had swollen by the same number.