Pax Davalos

"Peace there pal, trust me when I tell you that pissing me off is the last thing you want to do... thats right, go find another bar to celebrate yourself in... good fellow... damn fringer."

A slim fellow, not weak looking, but still rather slender in form. The smooth way in which he carries himself with a certain grace lent to his every movement, betrays the athletic physique of his body, one of extreme agility and lightening reflexes. This physical confidence can be found in his cocky grin, yet within his eyes there is reflected altogether another kind of strength. The force of conviction weighs heavily upon his pale brow even as it guides his path through life. Pale skin and white messy hair, the extreme shade belonging to that of a subterranean human colony or one born and raised within the dark depths of space. Those that know Pax are inclined to favor the later, especially after witnessing him in the cockpit of a tie fighter. Like an extension of the man, the fighter he pilots is agile, lightening quick, cocky, confident and bearing the convictions of the Empire in all its deadly judgement of the enemies of order and peace.

Hot Shot Imperial Pilot

"See the universe, bring peace and order to the common citizen, fly one hot shit Tie Fighter, adventure and a paycheck... where do I sign."

It was an escape, a way off the useless rock, indeed out of the entire pathetic system of Ryloth. It's good to be somewhere that my talents can be of some actual use and be appreciated and if I can do some good while I am here then all the better. Its a hell of a lot more fun than speeders back home, that's for sure. I have a sleek shit of a Tie Fighter, a wreck just waiting to happen and almost useless as an actual space vessel, but when she is in my hands my baby sings. She sings and the bad guys listen. I can't believe they are paying me for this!

As for the colony, no one knows were I went when I left or cares and I sure as hell haven't allowed anyone here to know who I really am. A few small adjustments on my registration forms, backed up with a couple forged documents (nothing major, just fudged a few insignificant facts). The thing is they don't really care, not now that they have seen me in action. They are talking about some special unit, now that I have graduated with flying colors, perhaps even Black Guard!

I don't know what it is, being free of the shit hole, being out here in space, training so intensely with the fighters or maybe even that I finally have some kind of purpose, but something has changed. I feel... more alert... or more aware. Like the entire universe has come into a new focus, a better focus. I'm not sure, but I like it.

Fringe Colony Scoundrel

"It was never anything personal, just business and politics. Now I understand what the Empire is fighting, anarchistic cowards who hide and cause the common citizen pain and hardship so they can continue playing the galactic bastard! They WILL pay for all the pain they have caused, it has now become so very personal!"

I'm in my second term of intense training in preparation for the Black Guard when I hear the news. Chance really, that I would pause on the datanet channel just as a small piece comes through about the rebellion's devastating destruction on a remote colony in the Ryloth system. Everything is gone, all those who I pretended to hate, yet now realize were my only family. All dead, taken by the selfishness of the rebellion. Momma Salsas, the closest thing I had to a mother, who was mother to us all, gone. Tonbin, he was such a good little kid, used to run messages for me and I now realize that in leaving I left him without a job, without the neutral security of being my messenger, perhaps he was already dead when the rebellion forced the Empire to attack. And Jasmine, I feel the guilt of leaving my younger sis in Momma Salsas care so much more now that I know she is dead.

My simulation runs have increased in proficiency since hearing the news, every time the sim shows me an x-wing I can see Jasmine's big blue green eyes staring at me. It's not my fault, if I had stayed I would only have joined them, dead. Now I can at least avenge their senseless deaths. The rebellion shall pay, I only hope that when it is over and the Empire has brought order and peace back to the galaxy that I too will feel some kind of peace.

Bad Dreams

“Shouldn’t have said that about my sis.”

The shadows were thick, which was perfect. Sliding into them with ease, the rapid footsteps following him quickly passed by and faded as they continued on down the narrow alley. A few minutes later they ran by once more and then faded for the last time. In the shadows of the nook, pale lips pulled into a cocky grin and Pax Davalos stepped back into the alley to continue his way home. Confident, but still careful, he stuck to the shadowed alleyways, cloak wrapped tightly about himself and the bulging package grasped in his arms. The treasure won from tonight’s bit of wheeling, dealing and betrayal. There was a moment of stillness, a particular way in which the air was too quiet, alerting the youth of another’s presence and then time sped up once more as a thick black leather sap missed his pale ducking head by mere inches. Trouble had caught up with Pax.

The roll carried him away from the assailant, but left behind the coveted package which was gently taken up by the attacker’s partner. Two blasters were leveled at the crouching youngster, grins as cocky as Pax’s adding another level of annoyance to the already pissed off young man.

“Look fellas,” he started, slowly and carefully rising to his feet in the face of a pair of blasters, “I know we got off to a wrong start, but I’m willing to overlook the fact that this is the second time you have stolen my property,” his hands spread out to show that he held no weapons, he continued to step slowly towards them, his smooth confident voice further confusing the two who assumed they had the upper hand, “just return my property to me and we can began anew, start a proper business relationship.”

The two began to chuckle, a dark murderous gleam in their eyes. Only a matter of moments before the intent glimmering behind their eyes reached the trigger fingers held steady. Yet still Pax continued to speak as if bartering for a meal in the market, easy and calm, “I need that to treat my sister, she’s sick, now if it is a profit your looking for I can find it for you in another avenue and if you also need this batch of medication to ease the suffering of someone you care about then we can share what little is there while I arrange another shipment. Everyone wins, yes?”

They just laughed some more, until finally one of them decided to form words with his limited intellect and answered the reasonable offer, “fraid not, tonight we win and you loose.” The brute stepped forward and grasped Pax roughly by the scruff of his scavenged tunic, pulling him in close and spilling putrid breath upon the pale face of the barely fifteen year old boy, “and perhaps after I leave your cooling corpse here in this alley me and Druk will find this sister of yours and tell her just how long you squealed in pain before you died,” he was smiling, his partner chuckling behind him and both had thoughts of pretty young flesh on their minds, “then we make her squeal for a while, all night, maybe lon...”

He didn’t get to finish, the rage in Pax’s eyes had finally been unleashed. Where nothing was a moment ago, there was now a small blaster, the drooling goon didn’t even have time to register the gun’s appearance before taking a shot of intense coherent light at point blank range to the guts. He fell with a grunt, his partner still chuckling before realizing something was wrong. He then joined his partner, falling with a smoking hole in his face ringed with charred flesh. Pax arrived just in time to catch the fragile box and then turned to the still alive boaster, stepping over him with blaster leveled at his face.

“No, please...” the poor bastard managed to cough out, blood spilling into the dirt along with his wheezed words. The look in Pax’s eyes was dark, calm and deadly.

“Shouldn’t have said that about my sis.” Nothing else was needed to say and even the thug realized that there wasn’t anything else he could do to prevent his demise. It was quick, over with a single shot and before the corpse finished twitching Pax had already faded from the alley. The box held carefully in his arms, blaster once more out of sight and wishing he could escape the clutches of this underground hellhole that he was forced to call home.

*

Pax woke with a start, the echoes of his sister still ringing in his ears. The dream had continued, replaying the rest of the night and his sister’s medicated struggle with the planje poison in her system. She had screamed, painfully, all night. A night that had seemed to stretch on forever. At his movement the lights in his small apartment flickered on and he didn’t give any command for them to return to darkness. Instead he simply sat upon the edge of his bed, waiting for the beginning of his training shift and trying to block out the memory of his sister’s screams.