"A Crowd of Cad Bane"  

Blog No.54
 

You know the old adage, 'You learn a new thing every day'? That is absolutely the truth! 

 

Despite being a huge central location for many things and people and a large cultural center, the planet Coruscant has a vicious and dark underbelly to it. 

 

You can attend the opera with the elite on the higher levels, then take a city-transport shuttle to the lower levels and have everything stolen off of you before you can blink, by four different cartels and even then, you'll be struck by the poverty that surrounds you. All on the same planet!

 

I knew this, of course, and we deal with this sort of issue every day, trying to make it better. 

 

But last week, I experienced something entirely new to me!

On my way back from a Senate meeting, our transport ship had a mechanical issue and needed to pull over. 

Unfortunately, we were in a rather unsavory area at the time. My guards were nervous and one decided that he would walk with me and get me out of there while the ship was being repaired. 

This wasn't, as it turned out, the wisest option. 

But it was interesting!

 

As we hurried down an alley, looking for a taxi ship to the ports, we suddenly noticed a crowd of people heading our way. We turned to backtrack and there was another crowd boxing us in from behind!

 

We pressed against the wall, but it soon became clear that they weren't interested in us. In fact, they were all dressed in the exact same outfit! 
A wide brimmed hat, a strange facemask, with breathing tubes. A long black coat and boots, glowing red eyes. 

 

There must have been fifty of them! They all met and a tense silence reigned for the longest time. My mind was racing as I knew they looked familiar . . then I had it! They were all dressed as the ruthless bounty hunter of old - Cad Bane! 

Who would want to emulate him? 

He had been a mercenary, a bounty hunter and general blaster for hire, long ago. 

He had gone after force sensitive CHILDREN! In this moment, though, I was mainly hoping that we'd make it out alive. 

 

The crowd suddenly went wild, fighting each other! My guard tried to protect me from accidental blasts or fists, as everyone leaped into a melee. (Somehow - no one's hat fell off!) 

 

The Cad Bane crowd fought and leaped, spun and kicked and I began to see something strange. 
No one was using weapons. It was all hand to hand. 

Each Cad Bane fought another Cad Bane and if one went down, they stayed down, even though they were obviously conscious. 

Eventually, only one remained standing.

A Cad Bane stood on a nearby ledge and he whistled a series of notes and then all the Cad Bane immitators stood and bowed to the one who had won, I guessed. 

 

This one was led away and I plucked up my nerve and asked a Cad Bane type near me, what was going on.

 

It was a Sect, a Cartel gang group that admire Cad Bane and this was how they determined their next leader. Whoever won in the mass fight would lead. They all dressed exactly alike so it would be fair and no one would know who was who until they were unmasked at their ceremony. 

Then the leader would be taught all the secret moves and knowledge that Cad Bane had learned, from his secret diary. 

 

I asked if they really had a secret diary from Cad Bane! He shrugged and walked off. 

I don't think they do. I am sure I'd have heard of it from the Holocron Hall if there was one, but I admired their attempts at fairness. 

We finally got out of there and made it home. But I keep thinking of them. They were rough and tumble, but they were trying for some kind of honor. 

I think.