Dressed in what passed for nondescript work clothes in the Royal Palace, Keshani leaves her room for the first time since arriving. The droids and a couple of staff seem pretty insistent that they can help her find where she wants to go, but Keshani manages to put them off. How can they help her when she has no idea herself?
it is around noon, and the corridors of the palace are busy. People of many sorts are moving around about their assigned tasks. In that respect, this could be a transplant of the station where she was recently a slave. But there is a fundamental difference in the attitudes of the people. On the station, no one smiled. Not in a friendly way anyway - not the slaves, not the Imperial officers or soldiers, and certainly not the slaves. Here, people seem to have an ease about them that is refreshing. They greet one another with warmth and friendliness, not the emotionless way the Empire did the same thing. Here, most people do not seem to be sizing up everyone else and competition. In the Empire, everyone was.
She finds her way to some sort of large conference room near a side entrance, and sees a group of aliens of various species speaking to a human. Far too shy to insert herself into the conversation, Keshani lingers and listens. From the desperate look about them, she is sure the aliens have been mistreated. But it turns out they are refugees from the Empire, here as representatives of various refugees groups. They have come at the governments request to clarify their needs so the government can better serve them. Despite the strained looks on their faces, the aliens all seem to speak with a sense of relief and gratitude. For their part, the government of Alderaan appears to be doing what they can to help the refugees integrate into Alderaan society, yet maintain their cultural identities. The government helps them find living quarters, provides for their needs, and helps them find jobs or sources of income. Many end up employed by the government on various projects and jobs.
Later, she is wandering through the vehicle bay. A dozen vehicles are currently being worked on by a small army of technicians. Then, a supervisor of some sort moves through the work floor, and starts to berate some tech. Kehsani thought at first that it was due to work quality, but it turns out the tech had forgotten to engage the safeties on a vehicle lift, and the supervisor was berating him for that - not for the danger it might post to the vehicle, but for the danger it might post to the tech. The supervisor seems genuinely concerned for the welfare of his workers - not a sentiment you ever encountered among the Empire.
There are numerous balconies and large windowed areas that afford a view of the city and surrounding countryside, and here something else is different. Cities, an Keshani's experience, destroy much of the natural surroundings. Here on Alderaan, the city and palace seem to integrate with the environment. There are large swaths of trees growing in the city, and the mountain vistas are un-scarred by industrial facilities. No smoke stacks pour pollutants into the air here or water, though there is certainly evidence of industry in the city. There are no defence installations, cluttering up the skyline with turbolasers or concussion missile launchers. The populace seems free to roam and live their lives in peace.
Not that there are no signs of weaponry - she can see the domes and emitters of large ion cannons protecting the city, but nothing lethal, and the defence installations are integrated with the surroundings to be unobtrusive. Not that they are hidden - it just seems the people of Alderaan put for emphasis on aesthetics than defence.
The security force is very present within the palace, but they are not objects of fear and mistrust for those who live, work and visit here. Many speak in a relaxed manner to the others in the palace, offer friendly greetings, and even smile at Keshani when they notice her, without jacking her up about papers or authority. The uniforms are still a little scary for the former slave, but the men and women wearing them seem nice. They have weapons, but only stun sticks and ion blasters. There is no evidence of lethal weapons anywhere within the palace. Even the two armoured vehicles she had seen earlier were only armed with ion cannons.
From the small slice of Alderaan she has seen, the differences between her life experience and what she finds on Alderaan are profound. If the rest of the planet is like this, this is a strange and wonderful place.
Then, in the main entrance to the palace, she sees a statue of a soldier. The face of the kneeling statue looks tired, and sad, the head bowed. Beside the statue, abandoned, is a rifle. The soldier is staring at the ground, where the body of another soldier lays there.
There is a plaque on the statue which reads:
"At the end of the Clone Wars, the people of Alderaan, weary of years of fighting, took stock of the devastation Alderaan and its people had suffered in the wars. The wars were long and bloody. With the wars finally over, the people of Alderaan could see no point to the Clone Wars. Nothing had changed, but so many were dead. As a people, Alderaan made the decision that they would no longer be party to violence. A plan was born. The implements of war would be banished from Alderaan forever. The war frigate, Another Chance, was stripped of it's weapons and turned into a cargo ship. Every weapon of war on Alderaan was then loaded inside. Crewed by droids, and in the company of the Valiant, Fidelity and Courage, the ship entered hyperspace, never to return."
Before the monument, there is a large pile of candles and flowers - apparently left by citizens as they come and go from the palace.
