Running (A Smuggler's Tale)

[Kuronan]

(( This is my second article, using what I learned over time and from my last article, Dreams of Korriban, to bring forth a story for my most recent character. Kuronan, Scoundrel, Rubat Crystal. ))

 

As a massive explosion ran out in the background and the ground quaked, I knew it wasn't long before they would come... Likely the Cartel or Imps, for my work. When a shipment of young girls came for their sick masters pleasure, they only found empty cages, one always has my signature...

 

Don't try to find them, you won't.

 

My name is Kuronan. I'm a human 'Liberator' as my title is. What I do is I smuggle goods. I never touch spice or illegal mods. I usually smuggle arms, supplies, but there is one thing I smuggle that has made me a true hero, something so amazing I've earned several medals for my daring work...

 

I give slaves and dancers a chance to live...

 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. More likely, I'm getting you completely off the wrong foot, thinking I'm one of those troopers that people admire so much, or maybe some kind of Jedi. No, I'm just a guy that's good with my blaster shotgun and a heart of gold... Okay, I'm somewhat bad, and I'll admit I skirt and sometimes break galactic laws, but I mean well...

 

Anyway, how about I tell you how it all began, and THEN I explain what the hell is happening?

 

I started off on Nar Shadda. Yea, it's a crappy place to live, don't ever go there. I grew up on the streets, I got in trouble a few times with local gangs. No one wanted to recruit me until I was ten. By then, I was really good with my shotgun or a blaster. I preferred my shotgun though, much more damage and stuff like that. My first job was smuggling of course. I had a crappy Sabacc face though, so after a few failed attempts they gave me a different job, I was gonna deal out spice. It went well, sometimes I had to shoot the customer when he tried anything funny. At age fifteen is when they really decided I could handle stuff... I became an enforcer for a prostitution ring. Sometimes they would assign me the role of Collector...

 

That's a real nice way of saying I find women, I hook them on spice or knock them out, and then bring them to the gang to bring into the prostitution ring. Sometimes it was easy, I could just find a spice junkie and bring them in. Other times, I grabbed a girl that another gang had their sights on. I only failed my job twice. Two years after I got turned into an enforcer, I quickly rose to officer. Some guys were whispering that the boss of the gang was thinking about promoting me to his personal advisor, that's like, second in command!

 

And then I met her...

 

She was a Twi'lek, A Lethan, which is damned rare. She has these red eyes which shook me to the core, she had beautiful tattoos, and she was well endowed... I never saw anything so beautiful in my life... I walked up to her and did the usual, asked if she wanted any spice, she declined. I pushed, and she began to leave. I rifle-butted her with my shotgun. She fell quickly. I brought her to the boss, who was pleased. he promoted me to advisor. We partied hard that night, and the guys were pushing me to enjoy my position, if you get my meaning...

 

And then the bombs went off...

 

I don't know who started shouting first, the Republic or us, but neither party was exactly gonna deal any cards or talk about our quality selection of women. Everyone was armed in three seconds and blasting. The women were either fleeing further into our hideout or fleeing into the streets, and to freedom. Grenades were flying along with blaster fire, it was pure chaos. The fighting must have lasted an hour, but both sides had heavy casualties... We wiped out the Republic assault... but in turn... three fourths of our men were dead...

 

We were the top gang, we had the numbers, the women, the spice, everything, and just like that, an hour blew it all to bits... The guys turned to me for leadership... Guess what I did? I gave up, I knew there was no way we could beat the Republic... I convinced most of the others it wasn't worth it. About twenty said I was a traitor. So I gave one guy leadership under the condition the rest of us could take some things with us. He agreed grudgingly. I was gonna take the Lethan, but the new boss wanted her all for himself... I knew pushing would be a bad idea, so I settled for credits...

 

This was the only woman I ever sold, and the one I failed the most...

 

But I needed the credits to get anywhere... And there was a LOT of credits involved. We're talking seven digits! I cleaned up, got good gear, head to the nearest spaceport, and bought a ship. I swore from that day on I would never fail another woman again...

Edited April 4, 2012 by Kuronan

[Allenjzs]

Damn.

[silvershadows]

Man I feel like ever since I wrote In the Shadows, everyone has to put that it's a smuggler story after their title

[Kuronan]

All of us get behind cover, me and my crew. All of them are loyal and will die for the cause, something I am both sad for and insanely proud of. As the Imps come in we make an explosion of our own, a very sharp one...

 

Some of them panic, this was supposed to be one guy, not that big a deal, and yet there has to be at least twelve grenades flying to them... They all run as the grenades bounce perfectly to chase after them once, and then explode. The entrance to the hangar becomes a blossom of fire and shrapnel, it's beautiful... But I quickly duck as I see the lights refract off a well-polished scope and the blaster fire nearly shaves me... well... it would if I kept my hair long.

 

Damn, they have an Agent! Killing these guys is always a pain... I activate my stealth belt and put my right hand close to my face to test it, it's working. I quickly grab my shotgun and sneak around the crates. Meanwhile, blaster fire is deflecting off of the Sniper's cover. He shoots at my guys but most of them are sure to duck when he comes up... They won't be able to hold him off for long though, he looks like he's sensing a pattern. I sneak around but make sure to keep near cover in case I need it...

 

I get behind him and put the shotgun to his head, he knows he only gets one sharp breath before I pull the trigger, and he used it the instant he felt the cold metal against his light helmet. The explosion of brains and sinew is nothing new to me, I have seen it many times, and I have become coldly accustomed to death... All I do is get up more and stand over the corpse, the scarf on my widely rimmed hat just lightly blows in a moment that would make a really good holo... I quickly hear a lightsaber and sweep with my right prosthetic leg. He's not prepared for the sudden sweep and gets his jaw cracked as I twist the rest of my body to him and put my shotgun to him, killing him without hesitation.

 

I turn to everyone and they somewhat back off, because my eye implant is red, a result of my current mood. When it is red, I am heartless. I will kill a man who attacked me just as soon as have him locked up with a cell right next to me. I have killed with my blaster shotgun, with my blaster, with a vibroblade, with my bare hands, and once I killed using shrapnel that could be slipped into a drink. Some days I am as my reputation labels me, a paragon. Others... well, there's a reason I got implants, why I was born Albino...

 

In a way, I was born and raised to kill.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Kuronan

[Kuronan]

It's been a few days since the hangar was blown open by that assault, we're fine now. The door has been replaced, explosives we used have been replaced, blood and bodies have been disposed off, and our Imperial sympathizers have distorted the trail with falsehoods and lies meant to derail anyone who cares enough to try to follow us, there's only a few things missing...

 

Three people died in the raid. It's no surprise though, we're all used to it, it's part of our work. Thankfully for me, they weren't insanely important to the operation or to me. They can be replaced. That's the scariest thing that ever crosses my mind anytime anyone dies...

 

Anyone in this operation, including me, could just be replaced and nothing would change. We are that accustomed and accepting of the consequences and dangers of freeing slaves. I'm sure a couple of people would argue otherwise, especially in my favor, but even then it's true...

 

I go outside and look into the clear blue sky. Our operation's main headquarters is a space station, but most think it's this outpost on Alderaan. I stare at the sky and breathe in the coldly refreshing air for a few minutes, then look at my A-300 Heavy Sonic Blaster. How many lives has it taken, I wonder for not the first time, how many will it take when I'm dead.

 

I love to say I'm never going to die, that somehow I'll be flying and saving people two hundred years from now, just as fresh and active as I am today, but everyone knows I'm getting my hopes up for something literally impossible. That, like everyone else, a man who saves a life is not rewarded with a longer one himself. That one's lifespan, like countless other things, all relies on luck...

 

If that's the case, I have a long time ahead of me. But I'm never going to retire. As long as there are those who abuse slaves, who treat them like trash, who do not respect them as people, I will keep my blasters loaded, I will keep my ship fueled and loaded, and I will never back down. I probably won't live to see eighty years old because I'm going to die putting these bastards in the ground. And more then anything else, I will die with a smile on my face, because I made my life a service to everyone in the galaxy. I have saved countless people from the evils of slavery, especially from the evils of abusive masters.

 

I hear light footsteps behind me and a slight robe dragging, not for the first time she calls me Master, even though I'm not sensitive and have no respect for most of the Order's rules. I take a deep breath of cold, refreshing air before I turn to her.

"You know I don't like it when you call me that... I'd make a terrible Jedi." I turn to her. This azure-skinned Twi'lek padawan is not exactly a model Jedi herself. More then once I have been told she fantasizes that I am her master and we are far more then teacher and student...

"You certainly could be, the way you teach me so much about the galaxy..." She insists on staying with me and only learns from any Jedi inside of my organization, which is maybe two? The Order and my organization's relationships are strained for a few reasons, but this one is the biggest, and I have absolutely no control over it... The Order certainly thinks I do... I sigh...

"You could learn half of this stuff if you just went about and explored it yourself... You have a ship and everything. It's not that you couldn't learn it, it's that you want me to teach it to you..." She doesn't show any direct signs of accepting it, but I know it's true. She's sharp as any vibroblade and she could talk her way out of a rancor's stomach, but she REALLY likes me, and doesn't fully understand the Order's rules against relationships. Now, I'm not gonna say I exactly approve of them, but I don't want to test my luck with the Council any more then I have. Generally I'm likeable, but I highly disapprove of the Order having so many rules, and I don't even try to hide it.

"I like learning these things with you, it makes me feel like I have a chance with you." She's joking and serious at the same time. I hear some heavy footsteps and the deep voice that I somehow predicted would follow them.

"Message sir, it's from some Jedi Master... She wants to speak with you when your ready." I get up and proceed to go back inside.

 

Jedi Masters call me for one of two reasons. They usually call about their Padawan's relationship with me, even though I clearly establish every time they do that nothing is happening. The other reason they call is if something big has come up and they can't be bother to get out of their comfy chairs on Tython to deal with it themselves.

 

One of the reasons I believe the Republic is likely going to lose this war is the Jedi Council can't be bothered to do anything themselves. Then again, it's somewhat balanced out because the most powerful Sith are basically doing the same thing... The Jedi and Sith aren't really different in that aspect...

 

The aspect that neither one is ever helpful when I want or need them to be.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Kuronan

[Kuronan]

(( Just an OOC note, I don't like Kuronan anymore, I am now using Cara'sin, a male Twi'lek Gunslinger. For the sake of not annoying or confusing anyone that actually reads this however, this will still be about a human cyborg. ))

 

I pull out a coin and flip it boringly as we walk to the conference room. I also look around, Some of my allies are polishing weapons, disassembling them to replace mods, or just shooting on the target range. Out of boredom, the majority of them are playing Sabacc. It's not long before we reach the conference room and a Jedi appears on the Holo. I'm still flipping my coin when my apprentice, Lohmi'orn, pulls the coin away so I can focus on the conversation at hand, the Jedi Master starts.

"Well, I am so pleased you can take your time away from your coin to pay attention to me Kuronan." I give her a Sabacc face, not because I have anything to hide, but because I simply don't care.

"I don't really care Jedi, Just tell me what needs to be done and we'll do it, as we are obligated to, but I really couldn't care less. And if this is about the Apprentice, I will hang up on the first mention of her."

"And what if I told you that this has something to do with the Ascendancy?" My Sabacc face dissolves, if this involves the Chiss Ascendancy, this obviously isn't a joke. She smiles accordingly with the fact I am now actually paying attention.

"Recently, some Chiss have realized that the Empire is not a rightful governor, and have changed sides to the Republic. In addition, some Rattataki and Purebloods have also changed sides at their own discretion. What we are experiencing is an exodus. For now, it is very unlikely the Rattataki and Purebloods will ever join the Republic officially. And I highly doubt the Sith take this lightly, but recently an entire ruling house has decided to secede into the Galactic Republic. You can imagine how much the Empire doesn't want that to happen. Get all of your crew in ships, you have been assigned to escort them." The transmission cuts before I can respond. This is the biggest thing that's ever happened to us. I can't imagine one house has a lot of ships, and it's very likely we won't be the only faction protecting them, but this is BIG... I head out to tell the others, but they were all eavesdropping... I nod to them all.

 

"You heard the Jedi, we are heading out. Grab your gear, get to your ships, we need to protect the Chiss from the Empire." They all nod, eager to support the Republic, unaware that it's very likely none of us will ever come back...