On The Run...

Cymrych · Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:46 pm Post subject: On The Run...

I felt lonely, depressed, and tired just wishing to sit down to some Mandalorian Wine and talk to my friends. Friends, how are my friends? I wondered what become of my troops as my leaving was sudden and I was unable to pass on information to them before I was gone. Should I have told them the truth? Had I let them down? Should I have stayed and risked losing my friends in battle? There was no doubt in my mind they would have fought beside me and some lost their lives in the process. But this, this was my past, something I had to do on my own, something that I could not ask them to help with. They had already helped enough and I had put them in harms way. Only few even had the knowledge needed to put this together. Those that followed me from Lost to Nova Recon might be able to connect the dots. Those I left behind in Lost that still help us in Nova from time to time might see the pattern as well. My secret was getting lighter instead of darker no matter my goal of keeping it hidden. It was coming back to the surface no matter how far or how fast I ran. I wanted to tell them, but what, what would they think of me? I needed to tell someone, and found a strange old man at the bar.

“Hello old man. You have time for a tale?”

“Argh” was the only response he gave, so I started in. That was good enough for me at this point.

“You see old timer, it all started a long time ago. As a young man I was working my way through the Imperial Officer training program. One day Vader himself made a visit to our training camp. We were told to run the obstacle course to show our progression in skills. As we did my roommate and best friend fell from the rope climbing the wall we had to scale, never had this happened before as we were both always in the top 5 in completing the course and top of our class. Vader was displeased with this and he began to ridicule our commanding officer as a failure. I hurried to complete the course in order to check on my friend and was the first one to finish. Vader congratulated me and asked that our commanding officer kill my best friend in front of everyone for his failure. It was to be an example for the troops that failure would not be tolerated. My commanding officer would not kill him and thus Vader made swift work of him with only the rise of his hand. It was some choke hold and our commander was dead quickly. Vader then looked at me, and told me I was now in command and I was to shoot my best friend. I took the gun knowing the fate of our commander, knowing that I too would die if I did not follow the order, knowing that even if I did not pull the trigger, someone would kill my friend. I looked my best friend in the eye, and he knew what I knew, and told me goodbye. I said it was not goodbye, but only see you later and I did what I had to do to preserve my life and resolve the situation as best I could. I had killed my best friend in the universe and for what? Vader gave me rank and left me in command to prepare the troops, but I only had revenge on my mind. That night I left the camp and went from one snake pit to the next.”

“As I was leaving I was grabbed by two Black Sun spies that had watched the entire event unfold. They knew my hatred of Vader and felt that I might be useful to their commander Price Xizor. It seemed his hatred for Vader was unequalled. Price Xizor was the Underlord of the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy. They were called the Black Sun. He was one of the most influential beings in the Empire, it seemed like he was only behind Vader and the Emperor himself. My meeting of Prince Xizor was another mark of death. He welcomed the story his men had told him and offered his condolences to my loss of my friend. He asked of my feelings towards Vader to which I replied they were vengeful. He then told me he wanted to see my skills that his men told him of and ordered that I fight one of his Vigos, or Lieutenants. Again in self preservation mode and still focusing on my anger I was able to defeat this Vigo. Xizor was impressed and so gave me the position of Vigo or Lieutenant of the man I had just defeated. I worked at Xizor’s side for a long time hoping to have my shot at Vader.”

“Then one day on a mission to frame some Rebels for an attack Xizor had planned against the Empire I found something amazing. She came in the form of a beautiful Twilek and her body was curved so perfectly. I was speechless, jaw dropped and vulnerable to anything at that moment. I just stared at this wonderful creature in amazement. She was to become my true love. We had almost a year together as I courted her and fell so deeply in love. Xizor noticed this change in me, and when he found out it was a Rebel that I was supposed to have set up I had fallen for, he was furious. I was tipped off by one of my men that Xizor had in fact found out and as I fled the compound leaving everything behind I knew this was the last time I ran. When I arrived at her house, there she lay as beautiful as ever across the floor. I was too late, Xizor had sent his men and they had carried out the order as blindly as I would have in the past. I was again on the run, not only from the Empire but now from the largest criminal organization in the galaxy as well.”

“I found a home in Lost City, Lok. Lok is an outer rim planet controlled by the Pirate known as Nym. Lost City seemed like the right place as I was in fact lost. I had lost everything and needed to find myself before I could be worth anything to anyone. I survived on my skills I had learned along the way. Being trained by the Empire initially, tweaking my skills as a Black Sun Assassin I had acquired the skills needed to survive in this desert place. I even acquired new survival skills from local patrons and found it to be a nice home. Word spread about the Empire and the Rebellion now growing as they fought against them. I figured this was my best chance. I figured my past life would not catch up to me as a member of the Rebellion, but I was wrong.”

“I joined the Rebellion and set off again to cripple the Empire and seek my revenge on Vader. It did not take long and I had worked my way up through the ranks of the Rebellion as I processed skills most of them didn’t. They were farmers, townspeople, women and young men that stood against the military power of the Empire. My skills set me above average and lead me to a commanding post. One of Xizor’s spies found me and he sent in a full out attack on Lost City. The Black Sun invasion we called it. My men were able to overcome the onslaught and fought triumphantly. After the battle we began to take inventory and found that our council member Sti-Fi had in fact gone missing. Soon after a note from Xizor was sent saying he had her and offered a trade, for me. I did not tell the men of this trade, but instead launched my own onslaught to a camp he had set up not too far out from Lost City. Sti-Fi was rescued successfully and the Black Sun were defeated. Xizor was furious and to avoid embarrassment blamed the whole thing on one of his overzealous Vigo’s and had him killed.”

“Change again came my way. Lost City was becoming a ghost town as people were leaving instead of coming. It was then that Sti-Fi had met with a neighboring city and told them of my heroics against the Black Sun and strikes against the Empire and invited me to move there. The Mayor Isleh-lin offered me a position as commissioner and head of security and I accepted and moved to Nocturnus. This time, it was Jabba the Hutt. I had secretly worked for him a few times under Xizor trying to get close enough to bring him down, and Jabba wanted to set foot in Nocturnus. I managed to stay on Jabba’s good side to this point and so figured an alliance with him was not all bad. Well, at least for a while. Nocturnus did not completely welcome the factories, Jabba’s men, and the crime that came with it. As a new Mayor came to office I found conflict in my duties protecting the city as security and overseeing Jabba’s handy work. A battle with Jabba’s thugs soon lead me on my way again. I was forced to set up a camp outside Nocturnus and named it Fort Noc and intended for it to be defensive tool for the city. Soon after Rebel Command contacted me to lead a strike against an Imperial Inquisitor and his men. We captured him and before I could transport him out of the city the Imperials attacked. The city was destroyed and again I found myself in transition barely escaping death. For what was merely a flash I found myself setting up in San Tsol Foru, Tatooine. I say flash because that is all it was. Based on my decision my men followed me to San Tsol. It was a neutral town, but had an Imperial Brigade stationed there for some reason, and my thinking I could sneak in unnoticed and continue to wreak havoc on the Empire and their plans hoping to one day meet Vader face to face again, was false. I had paid an Image Designer multiple times to change my identity, received new credentials, and everything to no avail. Someone from my old Imperial Academy in which I should have been command was now stationed in San Tsol Foru. He of course was quick to pass this news on to Vader as he knew the reward in which he would get for finding me. Vader sent Captain Thrawn and his men to attack and take over the city of San Tsol Foru. My men and the members of the Rebellion that helped us fought feverously, but to no avail. We were in fact defeated and the town is now under Imperial control.”

“So old timer, you see me here in front of you now a tired, beat down, and ready to give up. I made the mistake of going on the run again after swearing I would not and was looking to set up shop somewhere and try again to fit in. My men, no, my friends are all left behind and have no knowledge of my past. It’s time I just stand up and fight. Otherwise this will never end. So do I tell my men? Hope they stand next to me in the many battles that will come? Do I use my bounty hunting assassination skills and seek out my enemies alone? Two of the most powerful well guarded men in the galaxy! It is time I make a decision to end this running. Time for past to become my past and not influence my future anymore. Time to make a stand be it alone or otherwise. So I ask you old timer, you ever been to battle? You ever had troops trust in your judgment? You ever feel like you let them down? You ever had to face the devil knowing you could not run any longer? Cheers old timer, I’ll be on my way and I apologize for boring you with my tales."

I stood up as a polished off the last sip of my Mandalorian wine, pulled the hood of my cloak back up over my head, turned and faced the doorway when the old man spoke for the first time.

“Wait.”
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Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

Cymrych · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:15 am Post subject:

I placed my hand on the handle to my carbine hidden under my cloak not knowing what to expect when I turned around.

“The name of your friend, the one at the academy in which Vader forced you to kill. What was his name?” The man asked me. As I completed my turn back to face him we made eye contact and I felt as if he was looking beyond my eyes into my soul.

“His name? Why do you ask that?”

“Tell me the name!” he said loudly as he placed his glass down on the bar and began to stand up.

“His name was Wyll. Wyll Gomes. But why do you ask his name? That was a long time ago?”

The man sat back down at the bar, motioned the droid for another drink, and quickly sipped it. He sat quiet, not moving not saying another word.

“I was told he died an honorable death. The academy sent me this message when he died.” The old man pulled out a datapad that looked like it had seen much better days. He shook it a few times just to get the screen to work. He pulled up a message from the Imperial Commander saying that his son had died honorably in a battle with the Rebellion and his body destroyed so they could not return it for funeral proceedings.

“You’re…you are…Wyll’s father?” I did not know what to say at this point nor what the man would do now knowing I was responsible for his son’s death.

“I was...Like you I have a tale. I lost my family long before he went to the academy though. My wife left me saying I was more devoted to my work than I was to her and my son. I did not even get to tell my son goodbye. A friend of mine told me he had gone to the academy and he was doing well. I was proud…proud of him for becoming a man of strength and honor in joining the military. Notice of his death made me give it up. Thinking he died honorably all this time…if I had known you would not be here right now.”

My luck, are you kidding me? The odds I walk into a bar, talk to an old man and he turns out to be the father of my friend whom I was forced to kill. Come on, this kind of stuff just does not happen. Now would I have to kill him too?

“I assume you mean you would have killed me knowing that I killed your son? If my story was unclear, let me assure you many have tried, none have succeeded…”

“Indeed! I would have killed you back then.” he interrupted me. “Now I’m too old, too drunk, and too tired to even try. I’m also old enough to know that you had no choice and glad that you made it quick. But in my younger days I was much like you. You see I was once a very good bounty hunter myself.”

“You? You don’t look much like a bounty hunter.” I said with a slight chuckle.

“That is part of it. If they do not suspect you are hunting them it makes it easier to approach your mark. You see I’m what you would call one of kind. I’m a dying breed and one of the last that I know of my kind, The Mandalorians. We are warriors, hunters, fierce on the battlefield and once feared by many. Our skills were often unmatched and I was in fact a very good bounty hunter in my own right. I put being a good bounty hunter before my family, and thus lost them. After loosing my family and then the death of my son, I found peace in the bottle. I gave it up. The hunt, the thrill, the traveling I just couldn’t do it anymore. So as I said, if I would have known and found you back then, you would in fact not be here. I would not have cared to hear your story back then to learn the truth.”

“A Mandalorian, pfft. You look nothing of the sort.”

“As I said, I am too old and too drunk to argue with the likes of you, so pfft yourself. But I tell you what, come with me.”

The old man finished his drink and gathered his drunken self up and headed for the door. Curious as to why he asked me to follow I did going against my better judgment. He had no land vehicle and we must have walked for miles. The old man didn’t even seem to tire as I did and I wondered if I was that out of shape. We came to a small house on the outskirts of town. We entered and as I suspected there was not much for furnishings inside. A small chair, small table, and in another room a small bed I noticed as we passed, but then. We came to what looked like just a painting in the corner and I began to study it thinking he was trying to show me something in the painting. It appeared to be just the wilderness on what I thought from travels to be Endor. But he placed his hand on the corner of the painting, pushed down on it with two of his fingers on what appeared to be buttons of some sort built into the picture frame, and the wall before me moved open. He walked forward into the room and motioned me to follow. By now curiosity was beyond belief that this old man even had something hidden away in this old home. As I entered there was a full databank system that looked like it had not worked in years, multiple technical consoles again covered in dust and non-operational. As we walked my eyes became focused on the arsenal on the wall. Carbines, rifles, pistols, it seemed he had two or three versions of each type of weapon. He noticed my mouth hung wide open.

“You are starting to believe my story now huh?”

“Yes I am. I never in a million years would have suspected you had this hidden away.”

“Those weapons were once highly sought after and in the hands of an expert, deadly. But now most seem obsolete and not worth mentioning. But this, this is why I brought you here.” He began to type a code into a control panel on the wall and again the walls gave way and opened. My eyes, no way, they deceived me!

“That’s…that’s a full suit…a full suit of Mandalorian Armor!”

“Yes it is. Testament to my younger days as those colors were once feared. It’s been stored here for so long I’m sure I’m long forgotten by the outside world. You see…my son, my son was supposed to get that armor. It’s not doing me any good sitting in here and you seem to find yourself in a place where you could use it.”

“Wh…Wha…What? You can’t be serious!”

“I only ask one thing of you in return.” His eyes now turned down to the floor. This was supposed his father/son moment and instead he was sharing it with the person who had killed his son to save his own ass.

“I’m not sure what that could be as this is priceless. You could sell this and move from this wretched place. Why would you even consider giving it to me?”

“I ask that you finish your tale. The one you started at the bar. Consider this the answer in which you were seeking. That is why you told the tale, yes? You’ve been a leader of men all your life, yet you run from it when given the chance to surpass all others before you. You speak of your friends, the soldiers in which you lead to battle, the struggle you carry on your own, but you fail to realize each of those men has his own struggle as well. If not they would not be part of this Rebellion nor would they give their loyalty to you in battle. They trust in your strength fighting your own struggle to guide them in completing theirs. Their struggle combined with yours can lead you to victory over the Empire and one of the men you seek to kill. That is what I ask; you kill the man responsible for my son’s death. I want you wear this armor proudly as you complete your journey. It represents your best friend, the end of your running, and the ascension of a true warrior, a hero. Go end your quest and take those men that trust you to end theirs as well. You see their destination might be the same as yours.”

“I fear I can not…”

“NO! You let fear cloud your mind and drive your decisions. That got you here. Look at where you are, on the run, searching for what? You’ve experienced enough loss; now go get something back, yourself. Draw the line here. Your fear, your running, your being afraid that you might in fact meet Vader or Xizor in battle again and not win. But as you said it is time to quit running.”

The words, they were not there. My mind filled with thoughts, the past, the present, and even the future. I knew he was right, and I knew what I had to do. His eyes again stared past mine into my soul and I wondered what he was thinking waiting for my response. The moment lasted for what seemed like forever. Before I knew it he was helping me with the fittings and adjusting the armor to fit me. Not another word was spoken. I left with a handshake and a deepbow. As he closed the door behind me it’s as if the world before me had changed. Ready or not it was time.
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Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.