evil? i've fought evil and it was easy: i shot it. it's apathy i can't stand.
e.k. johnstonstar wars: queen's shadow
IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS.
This is a sentiment that Danai Atreides holds to be true; the foundational cornerstone that she has built her life around. While the galaxy's rich and privileged sit prettily and protected as the Clone War rages on, the rest of the cosmos bleeds, trampled underfoot by the might of the cruel and the powerful. It is easy for those with power to play at being gods from the safety of their pedestals, arguing in endless circles atop senatorial soapboxes about the moral justness of their crusade — no matter the price that must be paid. Collateral damage is the label given to the ones who face the very worst the war has to offer before their names and stories are forgotten, buried beneath layers of pro-war propaganda. But Danai, an aspiring journalist who has seen the human cost of war firsthand, has no intention of turning a blind eye to the suffering of the innocent — and every intention of forcing those who do have their eyes closed to keep them open.
On the frontlines of the war, Danai's weapon of choice is truth; her biggest enemy —apathy. Venturing to faraway worlds where the fighting is thickest, she gives a voice to the voiceless and carries their stories with her to anyone who will listen in the hopes of raising a cry for peace across a war-torn galaxy. Yet there are those on both sides of the conflict who do not share her vision of a galaxy at rest; powerful interests that seek to sow seeds of discord and reap the benefits of a war that keeps their pockets lined. These shadowy figures, pulling the strings of their loyal puppets behind closed doors, would rather see the bloodshed continue than a ceasefire — and they have no qualms about silencing anyone who threatens to expose the corrupt inner-workings of their well-oiled, war-profiteering machine. (People like Danai Atreides, whose integrity is not a thing that can be bought and paid for with bribes or cowed into submission by the scare tactics of tyrants.)
It is fortunate, then, that she managed to make an ally out of a Republic general while following a story on the planet Ryloth. Danai is not overly fond of military men, but there is a gentleness to this Jedi that she is startled to find — something tender and kind that has no place at the heart of a war; a flicker of humanity when she'd been on the brink of giving up on it entirely.
And perhaps that is all that Obi-Wan Kenobi will ever be to her — a moment of peace, a glimpse of relief — but there's a pull to him that draws Danai in like a moon in orbit ... and who is she to argue with the stars?
