The Darkness Within

This first post is an introduction to a fiction that I will be writing on how my character, Severon Vercingetorix then known as Severon Bolshev, came into the Brotherhood. It will start with his final day in service on the pirate ship Gorgon and end with him passing the Test of Lore. It is my hope that this fiction conveys the way my character felt and acted before being accepted into the Brotherhood.

0900 Hours
Nar Shaddaa

Rain poured down, spattering the windows of a small apartment. Its only inhabitant, a dark Alderaanian, sat at a small table. Empty booze bottles littered the table and the floor around him. His snores resounded around the room, mixing with the thunder claps. Every now and then, he would mumble in his sleep. Mostly, the things were job specifics, scrambled into something that was unrecognizable.

A knock came at the door. Grunting, the Alderaanian pulled himself out of his stupor and stumbled to the door. Upon opening it, a dark violet painted droid stepped in, a blaster clutched in its hand. After entering, the droid looked at the Alderaanian and gave a mechanic chuckle.

"Query: Are you thoroughly out of your senses master?" the droid asked. "I had not expected you to be otherwise."

"Shut up." the Alderaanian muttered. "Where's the credits?"

"Answer: Right here master. I received them right after the kill."

"Just give them to me."

The droid handed a 500 credit chip to the Alderaanian, who shoved it into his pocket. "Query: Where did your missions credits go master?" the droid asked. "Answer: You spent them on alcoholic beverages again. When will you meatbags learn?"

The Alderaanian whipped out a blaster pistol and held it to the droid's head. "Don't call me meatbag."

"Statement: Master, if you should destroy me, then where will you get your money?"

The man lowered his pistol. "Fine." he growled. He then walked back to the table and knocked the empty bottles onto the floor. "Damn." he spat. "Why did I buy it again?"

The droid walked over to him, its servos quietly humming. "Statement: Master, perhaps you would like to go to the cantina. It has always helped you think."

"Yes. Thank you HK. I think I shall do just that."

"Your welcome, master."

Two Years Earlier

0900 Hours
In Orbit Above Nar Shaddaa

The lights flickered aboard the ship for the third time that morning. Severon Bolshev, a young Alderaanian about 14 years of age, sat up on his cot, wishing again that he was somewhere else. For 5 long years he had slaved and worked at the mercy of the captain. He could have been on Nar Shaddaa, but alas, it was not to be.

An ear-piercing ring screamed through Severon's ears. That was the signal to all of the pirates to go about their duties on the ship. The pirate in the bunk above Severon's, a rather fat Coruscanti human named Bullock, rolled out of his bunk, and dropped his bulk onto the floor. He turned around to see Severon still laying on his bunk and gave the boy a hearty kick. "Get up you lazy prick!" he yelled in Severon's ear.

Groaning, Severon slid out of bed and hastily put on the miserable rags he wore aboard the ship, while Bullock put on a rather decent set of clothes. Just then, the first mate of the ship, a brutish Trandoshan named Slissk, entered the quarters, a whip in his hand. "Whoever is the last in this room will get 30 lashes" he said in his hissing language.

Severon rushed out the door first, he had received lashes before and was not inclined to suffer more, and quickly sped to the mess hall. His only friend aboard the ship was the cook, a fat human female from Bespin named Tarla. Tarla treated Severon with respect and was always courteous to the boy. She often put extra on his plate, "to make ya stronger" as she put it.

He entered the mess hall and quickly took his place in line, grabbing a plate. Tarla saw him even though he was behind two tall Aqualish. "G'mornin Sevvy." she said, using a nickname she had just for him. "How did you sleep?" she asked when he was in front of her.

"Just fine Tarla, except that I woke up to this tub." he replied making her laugh. Her laughing always made him laugh because her entire body moved with the effort. "I dreamt of Alderaan last night."

"Did ya now?" she mused, ladling food on his plate. "I usually dream of Cloud City. It was beautiful, but it grew old. I like this ship, it takes me places and..." she winked "I don't have to do much to earn my keep."

"Well," Severon said. "I had better get this food in and get the captain's breakfast to him."

"That you should Sevvy. Don't keep the captain waiting."

Severon hurried to his seat, a small table near the cooking station that Tarla had set up for him, and scarfed down his breakfast. The meals aboard the Gorgon, the ship he was on, were fairly good for pirates. Today, they had greasy eggs of unknown origin and some dried meat, also of unknown origin but extremely tasty.

As soon as his plate was clean, Severon hurried to Tarla to get the captain's breakfast. The captain, being from Naboo, preferred to have his food cooked to the finest of Nabooian standards, which Tarla was able to accomplish. The captain never ate the same as the crew, his dishes were always impeccable, as if they had come from one of the finest Naboo restaurants. The plates always made Severon's mouth water, and he sometimes stole a little, depending on the dish.

The captain's quarters was not too far from the mess hall. It was the nicest part of the ship, the door was cleaned and polished to a mirror-like shine. And the niceness continued into the room itself, which was furnished in the nicest of Nabooian style, lush seating and a beautiful desk upon which the captain's maps lay. There was also a glass cabinet filled with beautiful objects the captain had gathered on his journey.

Severon cautiously entered, and then grew confident as he heard the shower running. "Your breakfast is here, captain!" he called out.

"Good, but you were a little late. Don't let it happen again. Set it on the desk and get out." the captain replied.

"Very well." Severon went immediately to the captain's desk and lay the plate upon it. He then left the room as fast as he could, fearing what the captain would do to him otherwise. His first chore of the day was to clean off the bridge consoles before all of the hands arrived. He grabbed his utensils from a dingy closet which had a large dark red splotch on it. Severon had always thought that it was blood for he had heard rumors of many mutinies aboard the Gorgon including one that put the present captain in his position.

Slissk was on the bridge when Severon entered. The Trandoshan's eyes followed the Alderaanian as he set to work on his chore. Every now and then he would give a hiss whenever Severon would move to another station. "Get those consoles clean boy, " he hissed after a while. "Or you shall feel the bite of my whip."

By now, Severon was nearly finished and the bridge crew was starting to file in. Bullock was first, his large stomach hanging out of his shirt and swaying with each step he took. He glared at Severon, as if the boy were a scourge on the ship and the crew, much as he did everyday. However, Severon didn't worry about it; it had happened ever since he had been brought on the Gorgon and he really didn't think that it would ever end.

He finished wiping off the last console when the captain arrived, sipping a glass of fine Nabooian wine. He glanced at Severon, and then turned to the crew. "Man your stations." he said softly. Every crewmember, including Bullock, was at their post in less than a minute. The captain, whose name was Ricco Hornsburg, walked to his command chair and sat down after fluffing the cushions laid upon it by Slissk. Severon bowed to him, as he was told to do, and left the bridge. He returned his cleaner to the closet, and went back to the mess hall to help Tarla clean up.

When he stepped into the mess hall, Tarla walked over. "Severon," she said quietly; she never used his real name unless it was of profound importance to her. "Severon, I want to give you something."

She reached into her apron pocket, and pulled out a small knife. The hilt was layered with silver and studded with rubies. The blade, which caught the light beautifully, was made of strong durasteel. Severon's eyes widened to twice their normal size upon seeing it. "Is it...for me?" he asked timidly.

"Of course Severon. I got this knife back on Cloud City. I thought since you are now fourteen you should own a knife. Plus, maybe you'll get off this ship and then you'll remember me."

"Thank you Tarla. This means more to me than anything."

"Your welcome Sevvy."

1230 Hours
In Orbit Above Nar Shaddaa

Fire burned all around him as Severon ran down one of the ship's many corridors. Thirty-minutes earlier, an Imperial star cruiser had appeared traveling around the planet and instantly opened fire on the Gorgon. The ship had long been on a list of known pirate ships in the Empire yet had never been caught...until now.

The Imperials had bombarded the ship for twenty-minutes and had since sent boarding parties aboard. Severon had ran into one of these parties; bright white stormtroopers clutching their deadly blaster rifles. However, before they had the chance to capture him, he had swiftly sprinted back down the corridor that he had come from.

The troopers had took the mess hall first. Tarla had been rounded up along with at least ten of the crew members, who had come for an early lunch. The rest of the pirates had holed up in the bridge, and were putting up a slight resistance. Severon, instead of rushing to the bridge to aide in the struggle, was determined to get to the escape pods. This was the chance he had longed for, a chance to leave the ship behind.

He could hear the blaster fire ringing through the halls from the battle on the bridge. He could hear the captain shouting orders and Slissk hissing curses at the stormtroopers. Severon did not dwell on that long and continued towards the escape pods.

Suddenly, Bullock rounded a curve ahead of Severon, making his way towards the escape pods as well. He saw the young Alderaanian, and went to meet him. "Running away boy?" he asked gruffly.

"What were you doing?" Severon asked boldly.

"None of your business rat. Your supposed to be on the bridge with the captain, but you'd probably die anyway. No one should notice you missing if I take care of you!!" Bullock yelled, pulling out a vibroblade.

Severon didn't know what to do yet his body responded instantly. He dodged Bullock's first blow with a quick step and then leapt up onto Bullock's beefy shoulders. The large man shook like a dog, trying to throw Severon, which he succeeded in. Severon hit the wall with a heavy thud, breaking his leg. Bullock raised his blade to take the final blow...

...and gasped. He dropped his blade, both hands reaching for his neck. The silver-layered handle of Severon's knife protruded from his neck, the blade hilt deep in his flesh. Bullock gurgled, blood running out of the corners of his mouth. He swayed and then fell heavily, stone dead.

Severon crawled over to the corpse, slowly pulling the knife out of Bullock's neck. It made a wet sucking sound as it slid out, and blood gushed from the wound when Severon removed it fully. He wiped the blade on his pants. Then, dragging his leg behind him, he set off for the escape pods again.

He arrived at the eescape pod bay shortly after and found it, as he expected, guarded by stormtroopers. Severon looked around for anything he could use as a diversion. Then, he saw a broom leaning against a closet just a little way down the corridor. He concentrated on it, willing it to fall over, seeing it fall over in his mind. He concentrated hard on it, shutting out all else. He had learned this trick when he had been bored in his bunk, he concentrated on a ball that he had and managed to lift it. He'd then tried it on Bullock but to no success.

Then, the broom fell, making a clatter that sounded throughout the corridor. The stormtroopers raised their rifles and slowly walked down the corridor, unaware of the small Alderaanian that slipped into the escape pod bay.

Severon decided to make his chances better by firing off all of the escape pods. He went to the first one and fired it off, then continued, firing the pods off rapidly. As he was preparing to board the last one, a stormtrooper entered. The trooper's black lenses focused on Severon and the Alderaanian leapt into the pod, as the trooper fired. As Severon prepared the pod for launch the trooper came into the pod, his blaster aimed at Severon. "Don't move." he said.

Severon disobeyed and rammed the soldier's armored midsection. The soldier doubled over and Severon pulled out his knife and rammed it into the man's neck. The trooper grunted and fell. Severon hit the launch button and the pod shot into space.

Turbolaser fire streaked by Severon's pod as it fell towards the planet, and Severon hoped for his life. All he could do was hope, as the pod hurtled downward and the ship kept firing at him. Sweat poured down Severon's back as he clutched the side of his seat. His eyes were closed and he was breathing hard. The shots were so near and one almost...no it didn't hit. The shots burned by more and more...

...and suddenly they stopped. Severon looked back and saw the Imperial ship break away from the Gorgon. The cannons flared...and the Gorgon disappeared in a massive fireball. The sound of the explosion reached Severon's ears in a thundering wave, pouring over him and deafening him long after.

The pod began to buck as it entered the atmosphere, the outer shell began to glow with heat. Severon stared out the front viewport as the surface of Nar Shaddaa loomed closer and closer. The outer shell was now white hot and the pod's acceleration was rising. Severon closed his eyes...

...and the pod hit. Yet, the impact was quite soft to Severon and he opened his eyes. The pod was face down in a street...and people were looking. Severon grabbed the stormtroopers blaster and left the pod. He hurried down an alleyway and into a cantina, avoiding anyone's eyes. He had to get as far away from the pod as he could in case the imperials were searching the planet.

He sat at a table in the far corner of the cantina, his eyes searching the patrons. He was now on Nar Shaddaa, but not at all in the way he was intended.

0800 Hours
Nar Shaddaa

Light streamed onto Severon's face through the cheap glass window in his apartment. His eyes slowly cracked open, and he struggled out of bed. It was nice to sleep on an actual bed again, albeit a cheap one, and he was thankful to have the apartment.

Since he crashed onto the planet's surface about two days ago, Severon had attempted to get settled and then seek out his uncle. However, he was out of money; the last of his stash he'd kept on board the Gorgon went to getting his apartment. He needed some source of income, and he needed it fast.

Severon quickly pulled on some clothes and hurried outside. As soon as I get my first paycheck he thought, I'm going to buy some new clothes. He hurried to the cantina that he had first stayed in when he'd landed. The old neon signboard read "The Bantha". Not the most creative name, but it suited the purpose.

Severon shuffled in, keeping to himself. He went directly to the bar, taking no notice of any of the activities around him. "Excuse me." he said to the Bartender upon reaching the bar. "You don't, perchance, have an opening?"

"Hmm?" the bartender turned to him. "Ya want a job?"

"Yes sir."

"I only have need for a floor sweep."

"Done."

"Very well, follow me to the back room and we'll get ya started." The bartender motioned an assistant to take over for him and led Severon to the small back closet.