[color=#FFFFFF]'*'In one of the houses on the Outcast planet of Malta, surrounded by lush cardamine plantations'*'
In an ornate living room, filled with various old and expensive looking heirlooms and luxurious leather furniture which must have taken quite some coin from it's owner, complemented with paintings of various combat ships known to be flown by Outcasts, stood a rather large and rugged looking man. He was with a small child, probably his son, standing near him and talking about something.
[color=#FFFFFF]"Father, may Xav and I come with you? Pleeaaaseee..." - begged the little six year old boy in the living room of their home.
The man was preparing for his tomorrow's haul to some destination where he intended to sell his Cardamine cargo and earn some money. After all, he owned his own trading ship, although it was quite an old one, and with poor cargo space.
"No, son, it's too dangerous, and you know it. I don't want anything to happen to you and your brother if something goes wrong. Besides, you two are too young, especially yourself."
The boy continued to insist with his nagging until his father told him off.
He was so eager to follow in his father's footsteps, but was unfortunately oblivious to all the perils of the life of a Cardamine smuggler. Not to mention the boredom of those long hauls.
However, the boy was not just an ordinary one, not just a drop in the sea. It was visible from his aptitude tests that he had an extremely high level of intelligence, and unusually quick and cat-like reflexes. All signals pointed towards him having a very bright future ahead of himself, whether it be one of academics, a future in piloting, or perhaps even a command of his very own vessel.
It could not be told with safety what lied ahead of him, but everyone could see he'd not get buried in the pile of the so called 'normal' populace.
At least that is what his father had in plan for him, and not continuing the family business of tedious, yet dangerous, smuggling for not so great profits to provide a living for himself and his family.
The man gave up much throughout his life to provide a good life for his two sons, and despite being considered evil by some, he was actually of a soft heart. However, it can be very surprising what one is capable of doing if it means the survival and wellfare of their family.
The boy was somewhat of a loner though, not preferring people's company, the one of his brother excluded. Those two were quite inseparable.
Nobody knew, though, of what went on in the boy's clever little head - was it something harmless, was it something genious.. or perhaps.. something insidious? It was clear, in any case, that he'd not end up average, that in any case, he'd be revered by some, and feared by others. That's at least what the boy dreamt of.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
[font=Century Gothic]The boy exited the room, but strangely enough, with a satisfied smirk upon his face, as if he was up to something.
"Xav, he didn't buy it.." - he said in a disappointed voice to his brother.
[color=#FFFFFF]"I told you what would happen.. So what do we do now?" - asked his older brother with a little spark of hope that his brother would have an idea.
"I will think of something, that's for sure. In fact, I think I already might have an idea." - he responded merrily.
He explained his somewhat rash and brave (Many would say stupid) plan to his brother. A plan that consisted of bringing some supplies and sneaking onboard the smuggling ship without their father's knowledge.
The two boys decided to proceed with their plan, not knowing what a domino effect they would cause.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
[font=Century Gothic]Their father entered the room.
[color=#FFFFFF]"I'm sorry boys, but you know the reasons why what you want will not happen.
Maybe once you are a bit older, eh? Don't get discouraged just yet."
They responded in an obedient manner, saying how they understood and that it was okay.
These little children did not seem to mind deceiving their father in the slightest.
There was something malicious about them, but it didn't manifest itself fully... Yet.
Their father kissed them for good night, and sent them to bed. At least that's what he thought would happen.
And he also went to sleep, knowing he had to be well rested and alert for his trip, which was, like any other, somewhat risky.
They ran upstairs with self-sufficient and smug looks on their faces, reveling in their little victory.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
The new day was here. It had been 3 hours since sunrise, and the sun was lazily hovering and shining over the planet surface.
It was a beautiful day.
The boys' father woke up, and slowly got ready for his long trip ahead. He looked for the boys in their room to wake them up and say goodbye, but all he found were messy empty beds. He just assumed they had gone out with their friends, not saying goodbye to him as sort of a silent revenge.
He did not mind much, as he knew what participating in a haul with him would mean to the boys.
He got his baggage, and headed with a land vehicle to the landing pads.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
The boys woke up at the sound of their clock alarm, quickly turning it off in order not to wake anyone up, attract attention and have their plan crumble.
They silently dressed themselves, and took the food and water they prepared earlier from under their beds.
Xav knew their father had an extra electronic key to his transport, and they knew, not to his knowledge, where he kept it.
Little Xav sneaked across the house, to their father's study and took the key from the top of the armoire, on the left side.
They sniggered happily to each other, and exited the house as quietly as possible.
The day was still very young, the sun had come up only minutes ago, and the orange-red sunrise only further emphasised the color of orange that was dominating throughout the planet surface.
They little boys ventured further than they had ever gone from their home, and they walked all the way to the landing pad, the whole 5 kilometers. They were in a hurry, realizing the importance of getting there some time before their father.
They arrived at the big landing pads, they were huge, much bigger than what they saw at the holovids they watched so frequently, fantasizing about flying in a real ship.
There were many ships there, including several Sabres and Falcata Bombers, at which they gazed with wonder. They admired the subtle deadliness that radiated from them, so beautiful, yet so deadly.
[color=#FFFFFF]"I would like to fly one of these" - said the older brother Xav, imitating ship movements with his hands.
"Heh, I know the feeling" - sighed the young one.
The boys continued to search for their father's transport, while sneaking past the few people that were hanging around there. Luckily, security was very low, as it was not very realistic for an intruder to even manage to survive the trip to planet Malta, let alone infiltrate it successfully.
They found it at last, between two odd dagger-like ships.
Xav asked his little brother for a leg-up, so he could reach the gate device and insert the key.
The device beeped in an approving manner, and the boys gleefully got in.
They hid in one of the many secret compartments they ironically knew existed in these smuggling ships, for obvious reasons. Smuggling was not very easy, not at all.
They were amazed at their success, yet they didn't think in advance at all. The supplies would not last too long, and they decided to reveal themselves once the ship left Omicron Alpha, because they knew their father did not have much time, and would be forced to let them stay.
After all, despite all their intellect and utter cheek, they were still just children. Not too capable of predicting consequences.
Xav barely lifted the compartment panel again and placed it back on it's entrance, so that they could remain hidden.
The space inside the compartment was actually quite roomy, so that was not a problem.
The boys awaited their moment with inexpressible joy in their hearts.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
[font=Century Gothic]The old man arrived at the landing pad, sighing at the familiar sight he saw so many times, but one which never got old.
He paid the land vehicle's driver some credits for the ride, and headed for the transport.
He got his liftoff license from the men in the control tower, who he contacted with his communicator.
He signed the routine papers, and got inside the rusty transport along with the two crewmen who usually flew with him on these hauls.
"Control tower this is the Orange.Galley, ready for liftoff." - he said confidently.
[color=#FFFFFF]"Roger that Orange.Galley, you are cleared for launch.
Good luck out there." - responded the landing pad computer in an automaton-like voice.
The transport launched lazily, and slowly got out of the orbit.
They cleared the docking ring successfully, and after heading out 5 K away from the ring, the ship entered cruise and headed out.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
[font=Century Gothic]The ship was heading at a blinding, yet seemingly very small, speed towards the Omicron Beta jump-hole anomaly.
It was at the very edge of the system, and it took half a day to get there at full cruise.
Their father - the captain, gave the 'Embrace for impact' and initiated docking procedure with the anomaly.
The ship slowly 'fell' into it, and everyone on the ship could feel the powerful tug as the ship rushed through the jump-hole like a little marble down a water-pipe.
The boys got a bit scared, and barely avoided breaking some bones by smashing in a bulkhead.
It was not just a tug.
After a seemingly short time, the ship was spewed out of the anomaly in the Omicron Beta system.
The boys decided they would not yet reveal themselves, but only when they would be close to the Sigma-19 jump-hole.
After quite some time they arrived at 10 K close to the anomaly.
The Captain heard a banging noise at the back of the ship.. He told one of the crewmen to take the helm, and went back to check it out.
To his amazement, after finding the source of the noise and removing the heavy bulkhead, he found the two boys, both content at their success, but with looks of terror on their tiny faces, for they knew what would follow.
"What in the hell are you thinking?!? Do you realize what you have done? I told you to why you could not go! Damn it! I am very disappointed in you. Crewman! Is there time to go back?"
[color=#FFFFFF]"Sir, no way in 'ell! We're past our deadline as it is, you know what them bosses gonna do to us if we miss the shipment!"
"Fine." - he said grunting, still raving mad at what the boys had done.
"You got what you wanted. You just better hope nothing goes wrong. You have no idea what's waiting beyond the next step, never. I will have you know, though, there will be some serious consequences once we are home!"
The boys were scared straight from all the yelling, but were still triumphant in their success.
They finally got to gaze out into the space. And it was truly beautiful. Beta is not the best looking system out there, but it felt so magical to them. It was still beyond words.
The green nebula, the numerous fighter patrols swarming around there, and it was so large.
They were less than a blip there, and they just realized what it meant when it was said that space was enormous.
Beyond comprehension.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
[font=Century Gothic]The portion of the trip through Sigma-19 was quiet, with nothing special but a bit of sightseeing and a few rare patrols going through there.
They were now in Sigma 13. The system was a bit on the ugly side, with a dense nebula that prevented them from seeing anything worth seeing. Except their first sight at a trade-lane, which they saw only from afar, as they avoided them because of pirates or authorities, there was nothing special about this place.
The ship eased in cruise towards the lower part of the system, when something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, 4 ships appeared within scanner range. Their transponders could not be read until they would be within 10 K, but the captain would not risk anything. They tried to run, but those ships, which turned out to be Corsair pirate raiders, were too good at their dirty work. The transport was intercepted, cruise-disrupted, it's engines disabled, and boarded by the filthy cesspool Corsairs.
There was nothing that could be done to prevent them from doing whatever they wanted. An especially nasty looking one burst in, and immediately shot those two crewmen dead.
They jetisoned all the cardamine cargo, and one of the fighter vessels destroyed it.
The captain was terrified, but the only thing on his mind was protecting his two sons, who now realized their blunder in thinking everything is good in space, all safe, and that there were no enemies anywhere.
Normally, had this been a combat vessel, or had it's captain been a fighter of any kind, they would be killed instantly. However, seeing they were both rich and to their logic harmless,
the Corsairs decided to take them into imprisonment, and have themselves some ransom money, or perhaps some not so harmless fun. They were taken to one of the Corsair bases in Sirius, somewhere in Omicron Gamma.
After waiting 2 weeks for a response, it turned out no one would pay the ransom, the Outcasts being too stubborn to succumb to a threat of a Corsair.
A grim fate awaited these three. Or did it await all of them?
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
[font=Century Gothic]They were in their cell, a damp place somewhere on one of the Corsair bases, smelling of god knows what, sitting there in despair, not knowing what they could do. The older boy, Xav, cried, and the younger one just stood there crouching, not letting out a sound, and their father did not know what to do to make it better. He was both angry and terrified. He wasn't really used to too much hardship, leading a relatively comfortable life.
One of the higher ranked Corsairs came near the cell escorted with a guard. They took one of the boys, Xav, and they did not know where. While he was being dragged the boy just weeped silently, and at times flinching out of despair, as if he could somehow shake loose. He never did come back. It wasn't at all known what had happened, they did not know at least, that's for sure, but they assumed the worst.
One day had passed since they got their last meal of years old rations and a cup of water. Barely enough to keep them alive.
After all that time, the Cardamine addiction did not go in favour of the father. He was going through withdrawal, and it would eventually result in death. A very, very slow one, with plenty of pain for good measure.
The little boy was forced to watch his father writhe in agony in the small cell for days, crying half the time, and half the time just sitting still, silently, in shock, distrought with despair. Those filthy Corsairs did not care the slightest bit about the inhumane treatment, in fact they enjoyed watching others suffer, alas what could be expected of them, they were deprived of so many things growing up, that they become monsters. Not that the way of the pirate, be it Outcast, Corsair, or any else for that matter, was all peaceful and loving.
The Outcasts were not the only non-humans you may say.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
The withdrawal was getting worse and worse. Death was only a few days away, and the Corsairs decided to play with him a bit.
One of those that seemed to have authority over the others came to the cell with 2 others.
"Come on then scum, we be playin' an' 'avin' fun with ya now!"
They grabbed the father of the floor covered in blood and vomit, and took him out of the cell and headed somewhere.
The leader paused a bit, and said:
[color=#FFFFFF]"You know, on second thought, let's bring the boy to cheer for ol' daddy too! Hahaha!"
The boy, who was crying again from the moment he saw his father was carried away, didn't resist the guard that pulled him out of the cell. He was just paralyzed, and lost his ability to care, it seemed like half his life was drained out of him. No wonder, being forced to watch monstrosities done to his father and him.
They proceeded into what seemed to be some sort of torture chamber. The guards put his father on what he guessed was an operating table and tied him down. After that, they went outside of the room and stood in front of the door as per their orders.
The boy was squating on the floor, helplessly watching.
The first incision was made, with such a tiny scalpel, which held yet so much potential for pain with it.
The old man did not make a peep on it, despite the pain vividly visible on his face.
The two guards were still out there, one of them standing with no expression on his face, while the other, for some wonder, felt a strange feeling. Perhaps it was... compassion.
------------------------- [font=Century Gothic]
[color=#FFFFFF]"Now now, silence? I'll make you sing just yet." He mumbled to his beard laughing at all the wretched and humiliating tortures he came up with.
He now took a knife from his belt, rusty and dirty from it's... use.
He was getting more and more furious, but still controlling himself, making shallow cuts, so the man would last as long as possible. He seemed to revel in that monstrous doing of his.
The boy was still paralyzed from fear and sorrow on the floor, now silent, just watching with his eyes blank.
The Corsair slashed and slashed, making it up as he went, the man now screaming in agony. He begged and begged for a quick death, and the Corsair enjoyed his pain, settling his debts with all his enemies on this here one man. Blood was flowing from the wounds, soaking the floor.
It was incredibly disturbing.
And he kept on, with things he did that are too despicable and inhumane to be written into words.
The boy was now sitting in the puddle of blood there, mind absent. His father had blown out his last breath.
The Corsair was a bit disappointed with the man dying so fast, and mumbled something about weakness and cowardice to his beard.
He walked out of the room, leaving the boy sitting in all the blood, distraught and his mind blocking it all out, it not being capable of coping with so much suffering, so much evil and sadism.
The boy was left just sitting there for hours on end. Who knew what kind of damage that long lasting sight would incur on him..
The guard that felt sorry approached his boss, saying how it might be good that the boy was left alive for now. Although he held no regard for his enemies, he was aware that this was just a boy. Just a scared little boy, who reminded him so much of his own dead son.
His boss said he didn't care, and that he could do what him whatever he pleases, that he is just dissapointed "daddy" didn't last longer.
The guard's name, incidentally, was Alfredo Navaro, of the Navaro Corsair clan, which was not too well known, but still regarded as honorable. He was one of the lower ranked there, but still held enough respect for his plea to be accepted.
<span style="font-familyalatino Linotype">
<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
alatino Linotype">