Wednesday, July 11, 2012

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with a lucky shot to the ships main generator. Lucien was glad he found the weakness in that freighter, but it was the only one of its kind so getting that lucky again wasn’t likely. His luck held out, he managed to pick off another one. Lucien heard his father in his headset, “Great shot son, kill with honor!” Lucien smiled and responded, “To victory or death!”  Lucien swore he could feel his parent’s ship being torn apart, the Phoenix Blade was built to take a beating, but not a full assault from a fleet of pirates.

                                                                     Fale received a transmission from the leader of the assault. A rather narcissistic man was before him on the screen with a smug look on his face. “Good day to you Fale Kane, I’m Captain Tank, I suggest you stop firing so we can discuss terms of surrender.” Fale grit his teeth, he knew Tank to be one of Unra’s top paid privateers, “Very well then.” Fale spoke to his son through the comm system, “Lucien cease fire immediately.” Lucien was puzzled but obeyed, “I don’t understand Dad we can take them!” Fale didn’t respond, he was too angry to respond. Tank smiled “There that’s better, now we can talk.” Fale bared his teeth and practically growled his response. “What do you want from us?” Lucien’s anger was boiling, why was his father toying with this lowlife scum? Dawn, Lucien’s mother, commanded him to follow her. Lucien obeyed begrudgingly; she took him down to the escape pod launch bay. Lucien could hear a ship docking, and boots hitting the deck of his parent’s ship. A man introducing himself to Lucien’s father on behalf of a captain Tank Tarshing, though Lucien could only hear bits and pieces. Lucien’s mother spoke, “Alright now son, get in the escape pod.” Lucien shook his head no firmly, “No mom I will stay here and fight with you.” Lucien’s mother smiled, “You are so much like your father, you don’t have a choice here I’m afraid.” Lucien’s mother moved so quickly he didn’t have time to react. She used a technique he knew too well, a precise shot to the nerve cluster at the base of the neck that caused brief unconsciousness.
                                                                     Lucien regained consciousness, as his mother activated the escape pod launch sequence. She smiled and waved as the locks engaged and the pod shot into the depths of space. The escape pod moved faster than Lucien had expected, he pounded the hatch of his escape pod until his knuckles bled. He watched helplessly as his parent’s ship exploded. This was supposed to be a routine mission, they had to track down a known informant on Dantooine interrogate him and leave. Everything went fine until the pirates showed up; Lucien immediately knew they had been set up by one of the hutt cartels on Nal Hutta. Everything pointed to it, the evidence was clear. Lucien may have only been an 11 year old Mandalorian boy, but he knew in his heart who signed their death warrants. He would make it his life’s work to see that sorry slimy hutt Unra killed at the end of his Bes’kad. Dantooine, the planet they just left was well in view, but it would take his tiny escape pod a standard day to reach the planet. Such lengthy escape pod trips were risky, but better than being on a doomed ship. Lucien knew his parents scuttled the ship, Lucien knew that they could have fought; they could have at least died trying. Lucien also knew that his parents did it to save him, and that was what made him so karking angry.
                                                                    
                                                                     Tears stung the boy’s face until he couldn’t even see; he just sat there in the silence of the pod fuming, in rage and grief over his parent’s deaths. If they had died in glorious combat he would have understood, he could accept that, but they just gave up, they just stopped trying. Yet he knew they did it for him, so that their family legacy would survive. So that the name, Kane would still live on to strike fear in the heart of the galaxy, but even so, he sat there for the full time that it took him to reach the planet in agony arguing with himself. He didn’t sleep, and there was nothing to eat in the pod, his anger kept him occupied.  Lucien shook violently as his escape pod entered the atmosphere, and gravity started exerting friction on the tiny vessel. When the pod struck the ground everything went dark, and suddenly nothing mattered anymore.
                                                                    
                                                                     Lucien woke up with a start, he was no longer in the cozy escape pod, and he was in some sort of dingy home. He lay in a makeshift cot that smelled strongly of whiskey and kolto, likely the medical supplies of a farmer. He tried to get up, but when he moved sharp pain emanated from his collar bone. He rested his head back on the folded blanket that served as his pillow, his weapons were removed from his black flight suit, and he couldn’t find his datapad anywhere. He was about as uncomfortable as he could be, no weapons, no supplies, and at the mercy of a stranger. What a disgrace of a Mandalorian he was. Only revenge could bring back his honor, he would track down that karking hutt, and then he would go after the pirates who executed the job. He already knew their captain’s name, they had hailed down their ship before boarding, the captain had identified himself as Captain Tank Tarshing, he obviously used Tank as a nickname, but any reputable informants would know the nickname well. He clearly liked to leave an impression, and had a theatrical flair, so most spaceports especially those on Nar Shadda would recognize him.
                                                                    
                Lucien chuckled at his plot for revenge, he had a busted collarbone and happened to be stranded, but he was determined to get the bastards responsible for his parent’s deaths. Once the pain finally dulled Lucien carefully sat up, his left collarbone was broken, he had a few cuts and bruises that had all been treated with kolto, and what he could guess was whiskey. The boy stood up and began to search the homestead he had been taken to. He couldn’t imagine someone taking in an armed stranger such as himself, but stranger things had happened. He felt such a warm sensation that he couldn’t explain. He brushed it off figuring that it was the whiskey talking, he took cover behind a shelf when he heard the owner of the estate talking to a visitor at the front door. “I’m sorry master Jedi, I haven’t seen anyone new around these parts.” The older gentleman said to the hooded figure standing in the doorway. The hooded figure was about 2 meters tall, a large imposing figure of a man dressed in simple brown robes with gleaming armor flashing beneath them. The farmer who stood before him was half his height and well advanced in years, but he gave no ground before the intimidating Jedi. The Jedi was obviously unconvinced “Be mindful, Llorian we Jedi are not so easily deceived.” Llorian smiled “Well we can’t all be as special as you Jedi think you are. If you’re done here I have work to do.” The Jedi smiled back, but he was definitely unconvinced. They were obviously investigating the escape pod crash site, and Lucien was now being hunted

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