Darth Furion

Julio struggled to work his way through the muddy path. It seemed to go on far longer than he remembered, but that may have been because he was carried the whole way. Passing a bend in the trail, Julio spotted the ship, loading ramp guarded by two cloaked figures. He had a feeling that the two at the ramp were the ones "escorting" him earlier. His grip on his newly acquired bone saw tightened as he recalled the beating he took from them. They would pay. In one way or another, at some point in time, they would pay. When he got his guns back, even a suitable vibrosword, vengeance would be his. He stood twenty meters from the ship, staring at the pair, nothing but their death on his mind.

Julio sat straight up from the archaic table, dripped in cold sweat and racked with pain. It had seemed to him, in the brief moments between sharp, stabbing pain behind where his eyes used to be, that this was turning out the be a normal state of late. It took concentrated effort to remember a time when he had not felt some sort of pain. But he was still alive. Despite the constant stream of sadistic bastards crossing his path, his heart still beat, and that's all he needed to continue. Another wave of pain sent him rolling off of the table to the hard stone floor, but instead of just collapsing, his hands and feet found the floor before the rest of him and saved him from another injury. He reflexively opened his eyes, and for the first time in a couple weeks, saw. The stone grey floor beneath him was dull and lifeless, so much so like the countless victims less lucky than he that had laid on the very same table. Julio tried to stand, using his once iron maiden to keep his balance. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a torch with fire dancing from the unseen breeze. The fire captivated Julio, reminding him of what it was to see. With his new sight, Julio could see each movement of the fire. Each twist and turn as it attempted to dance away from the confines of prison. He looked around the new room for an exit out of this familiar hell into what would be most likely an unknown hell. He remembered that the men escorting/beating him came down stairs, so the logical choice was to go up stairs. Heading for the only set of stairs he could see, he paused first and picked up what looked like a bone saw that had never been cleaned from the tray of instruments the "doctor" had used and headed upstairs. He again stopped when he got outside. Like the fire, the rain fell at it's normal speed, but he could see each droplet clearly, with more detail than he had ever seen anything. Lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the full outline of the sinister clouds hanging ominously above him. Now is not the time for sight seeing. I have to get away from this place and back to the ship. Julio looked around for the muddy path he had been taken through and followed it. The ship wasn't far.

"I think I've tortured this soul to my content." The doctor put down his instrument and stepped away from the table, holding his blood soaked hands in the air. "Give him bacta injections and Haladreshin. I want him ready within the hour, but I don't want him free of pain. Understood?" The veiled acolytes gave only a nod and the doctor was off. Julio laid on the table, his face covered from forehead to cheek bones in his own blood. His unconscious form started to spasm slightly from the Haladreshin. The drug sent his neurons firing, urging him to awaken and see the world through new eyes.

Julio winced as he was slammed onto what he assumed was the ground. It didn't feel like stone, more of a hard metal. Julio's mind began to wonder as he didn't remember his "escorts'" footsteps echoing as if on metal. His neck was in something that felt like a half circle, meant to cradle a head. Surgical Table! What the hell kinda surgery?.... A hand clamped on his left, then his right. He struggled, but they were stronger. He felt the cold of neglected metal cover his wrists as he was fastened into place. Julio tried to lift his arms out of the trap, but to no avail. He was stuck. His hand rested on the metal table and he could feel lines of what he could only imagine to be claw marks. Julio freaked out and every muscle in his body made an attempt to move. "Let me out! Gods damn it! What the hell are you doing!" His waist, ankles, and neck were secured in the same manner, preventing him from any hope of escape. He felt vice like pressure coming from his temples as his head was fastened into place. "So....you seem to be disabled." Though Julio couldn't see it, he somehow knew a sadistic smile reached his captor's lips. "Let's fix that, shall we?" A cackle echoed throughout the underground surgical room. Julio heard what sounded like a drill start up. Something cold and mechanical pressed itself to his eyes and spread his eye lids open. "STOP! What the hell are you doing? I'm still conscious! You aren't really going to...." What felt like a glorified spoon reached into his eye socket, which was followed by a rather blood curdling scream. The instrument made a full circle, separating what was left of Julio's decaying eyes from the nerves connecting them to his brain. Julio quickly passed out. The doctors were accustomed to their patients being less than pleased with their methods. They ignored his pleads and screams and continued their work. That had been given orders, and soon this pile of flesh would have his new eyes. Just like the old ones. Only this time, they would be better.

Julio was being dragged, where he didn't know. When he landed, he had expected to be on Byss, as the crewman had said. Now Julio wasn't so sure. Exodus' command had been vague. Survive their craze and the senses that were stolen from you will return. Now Julio started to become unsettled. Without his sight and by extension his weapons, he was essentially helpless to whatever came his way. He still had his unarmed combat to fall on, but without his eyes it made it vastly more difficult to put into practical use. The men that had dragged him out of the ship were now dragging him farther from the ship. Julio started to worry about his destination. Beneath this world. Were they taking him underground? A cave? Where could they be going? He tried to get on his feet and walk himself with the two men as guides, but they just increased the pass for a second, making him tumble. Julio felt his legs go wet and could hear the two men sloshing through something like mud. "Hey! Hey! Let's try to avoid the mud guys. And I can walk if you two just guide me. I'm not an invalid." Julio felt a sharp in his already fractured ribs. He made no attempt to hold his weight as he dropped, leaving the two escorts bearing all his limp mass. They picked him up, not bothering offering aid in whatever injury just befell him. A few meters farther, Julio felt himself thrown this time into the now rocky trail. His reflexes managed to get his arms in front of him before his face met it's end at the rocks edges. He let out a grunt as the rocks cut their way through his flesh. They picked him back up, continuing their journey into apparent darkness. He felt the air get cooler and he could hear the echo of shoes on a stone surface. Julio could no longer feel the heat of the sun on his neck. They were no longer outside. Julio could hear the faint sound of mechanical equipment in the background. At least the beasts he spoke of aren't actually wild animals. But that opens up so many more questions. Julio's heart began to race as he contemplated what sentient beings could do to be considered beasts.

Okay, let's review the situation. You're blind. You have a couple broken ribs. You are on what has been thus far an inhospitable ship owned by a man made of living shadow who on your first meeting seemed to have no problem with taking your life. At least he hasn't started pumping poison into the room. He stood up to gauge how his ribs were healing. The fact that he was standing at all was astounding to him. He walked a few steps. Still very little pain. He smiled and let his fingers run along the cloth binding his chest. He let himself breath deep. To his surprise, his ribs didn't scream back in protest. Well, that was quick. They must not have been as bad as I had thought. He unbound his chest and let himself breath naturally. He took the continuous free time to think. Now, time to think some things through. First, what does this man want with me? He promised me power. Power to save the ones I loved from a horrible fate. But I don't really love anyone. The ones I sort of care for are my tribesmen, but that isn't love, that is duty to my tribe. Frankly I despise most of them. They never treated me as one of their own. And what sort of power does he wield? Does he know some form of combat? What could he possibly have to teach me? Why am I staying in here? I should be asking him these things. I don't even know why I'm still in this room. I'm going to go get some answers. He felt his way over to the door and knocked on it. "Hello. Is anyone there?" He stood at the door for a few seconds, waiting for a response. When none came, he made his way into the hall. He stayed close to the right side of the hall, keeping one hand close to the wall for balance. He heard a voice come from in front of him. "What are you doing?" Julio dropped his hand from the wall. He wanted to look as respectable as possible on his first meeting with the crew and using the wall for support didn't look too good. "My name is Julio Furion. I would like to speak with the Master of this ship." "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to get back in your room, we will be landing very shortly. I will ask for an audience on your behalf when we land." "Where are we landing?" "Byss. Now, go back to your room." Julio only nodded and made his way back to his room. They would be landing soon and he could ask all the questions flying through his mind. What the hell is on Byss?

Julio's dream went dark. His herbal meds had worn off a few hours ago and the pain had caused him to pass out. He had been dreaming of the beautiful scenery of Naboo. It had seemed like he was flying and could see every corner of the planet. He had found it odd that he knew what the planet looked like since he had never been before, be he was enjoying the view and didn't want to pursue the paradox any further as it may end the dream. The flight ended when he fell toward a giant lake. He felt whatever had given him flight leave him, only to be replaced by the feeling of extreme heaviness. He fell faster and faster, practically ignoring the physics of terminal velocity. Instead of hitting the seemingly solid water, he found himself on a cave floor. The cave was freezing, and all of Julio's wounds came back to him all at once. He cringed on the floor, feeling his body being racked by the all to familiar pain. He lay on the cave floor, motionless, helpless, until a deep voice called to him from farther in the cave. He didn't understand the language the voice spoke in. It sounded like a compilation of several sighs, inaudible whispers, and the final exhale of the dying. He just wanted to lay on the floor, hoping the pain would subside, but something deep inside him, some dark feeling, commanded to go. He tried to resist it, but the more he resisted, the more power it seemed to have. He finally gave into that feeling and willed himself to stand. Julio struggled to work his way to the endless cave, following an incomprehensible voice. The farther he ventured into the cave the colder it got. The temperature dropped to the point that Julio was on the verge of hypothermia. The more he walked, the louder the voice became, beckoning into an unknown fate. The thought about turning back, defying the dark feeling and saving himself from certain death, but he couldn't. The more he walked, the tighter the grip it seemed to have on him. He spied some form of light far into the tunnel. At this distance it appeared a mere spec, but it was enough to ignite his own curiosity. The voice steadily grew louder. At the center of the illumination, he came upon an archaic door. He walked toward the door and instinctively waved his hand past the center of the door, willing the inner locks to part way and open the door. Inside the door was a room, warmed and lit by fire. As his foot crossed the threshold, the voice was silenced, as if it's whole purpose was to draw him to this point. The door closed itself and Julio found himself looking at a hooded figure sitting cross legged on the far end of the chamber. "You are early." The figure seemed to have a hint of dominance to him. It was so subtle, Julio barely noticed it. "Why did you call me here?" "I did nothing of the sort. You brought yourself here." "What is this place?" Julio looked around at the room. It didn't look that special. It was maybe thirteen meters square with torches along the edges for minimal light. There were six large pillars in two rows of three holding up a ceiling too high to see. "This....is your destiny." Julio stood silent, waiting for an explanation. The hooded man seemed to offer none and remained seated. "What do you mean, my destiny?" "Listen. Can you hear it? The inner beast howling to be release. Scratching and clawing its way out." "I don't...." He was cut off. "The beast is strong, but you must keep it on it's chain. Do you understand?" "What the hell are you talking about?" Julio started to get upset. He didn't endure all that pain just to be spoken to in riddles. "I have said enough. I will leave you to your pain. Just remember what has been said in this place. Soon it will be yours to command." Before Julio could inquire farther, the man stood, dropping his hood to his shoulders. He looked straight at Julio with bright golden eyes. Julio recognized the man to be himself, only different. His skin had greyed but there was no mistaking it. The man standing in front of Julio was a distorted version of himself. Julio's eyes widened and his mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. "Who...who are you?" "Revenga" He paused just long enough to let the fear sink in. "I think it is time you depart." The dark version of Julio extended his left arm and revealed a large revolver. The gunshot was cripplingly loud. --------------------------------- Julio awoke in a cold sweat. He found himself no longer in the secure hut of his village, but on a cot surrounded by metal walls. He reflexively sat up and was reminded of his wounds. The pain forced him to lay back down. His dream disturbed him, but he had other things to worry about. He pushed it to the back of his mind for a better time to reflect on. He laid still, waiting for the man, if you could call that living shadow a man, to make himself known and explain the promised power.

Julio felt the man let go of him, still not hearing his exit. The sound of his physician's foot steps filled the silence, and left Julio perturbed. What power does he speak of? How did he get in here with out making a sound. What about Rose? Questions seemed to fly through his head all at once. He couldn't focus on a single one, but instead looked at them all at once, trying to connect them to one another for an answer. "Are you alright, Kazzabev? You look a little flush. Are you in any pain." Just in my neck, at the moment. "No, I'm fine. Thank you." What can that man teach me? He said something about saving the ones I care about. I can help them before such thing happen, but how? How will I know that it will happen before it does? How can I preemptively save my tribe from such heartache? It doesn't make any sense. And when I heal, where will I go. I cannot say here. The tribe has decided on my exile, and the decision cannot be changed. The wookiee started to leave, but Julio stopped him. "There will be a man to come for me. I am willingly going with him. Tell the others to let him pass. He will say he is here for me." The wookiee gave him a quizzical look, but only nodded and left him to rest. He said he was going to come back regardless, and I have a feeling the tribe wouldn't let me go peacefully right now. Let's see what power he was speaking of.

Julio lay silent. Though he could not see the one whispering in his ear, what bothered him most was the lack of sound. He didn't hear the man enter the room, nor anything breaking to show his entrance. He was just there. The threat seemed all more viable being that Julio was in no shape to defend himself. Julio only nodded to show his understanding. Someone would be in soon to check on his wounds, he only needed to wait.

Julio stood silent, listening to the life bleed itself away from Halal. With each struggled breath, he could hear it slipping away. He walked over to Halal and stood over him. Julio dropped to his knees, and extended his hand to Halal's shoulder. His hand followed the dying mans arm down to his hand and took the blade from his hands. The very blade that took his eyes would take Halal's life. He could almost feel Halal looking up at him, but shrugged the thought off. He bent down to Halal's ear to whisper. "You shall plague my people no more." Julio put his hand over the man's mouth and rested the blade next to Halal's left pectoral. The blade found a path around ribs as Julio leaned forward, applying his upper weight to the blade. There was a muffled sort of scream as the blade sank deeper. Julio pried open the ribs and exposed the heart. Leaving the knife to keep the wound open, Julio fumbled inside to get a grip on the beating heart. The body continued to stuggle, but lacked the life's blood to put up effective resistance. Julio's hand got behind the heart, and his fingers outstretched to grab the major veins and arteries connecting it to the rest of the body. Julio pause, letting the beating heart make him forget about the poison still lighting his body on fire. Julio jerked forward, bringing the heart with him. Julio stood, letting the man have his final seconds of life without Julio in his face. He left the body for the wild, letting the beasts take their natural course with fresh kills. He took the all to familiar path back to his village, each step reminding him of his impending death. The village's central fire shined through the forest. Julio held the heart in the air, letting out a loud, victorious roar before collapsing on the ground. In a few minutes, his tribesmen found him and brought him back for treatment. The recognized the bite marks on his neck as a snake bite and rushed to find the anti-venom in their storage. The serum was administered and his eyes bandaged. He would be out for days, but nothing would happen to him as long as a single tribesman was living. Their champion had pulled through for him. Sacrificed his eyes, and the possibility of death, for them. All to remind them that he didn't belong.

((OOC: Not sure how you can walk on one leg at all, considering it is physically impossible for the body to carry weight on a shattered knee. Also, I don't know how you know what I'd have done in that situation, but it wasn't necessarily to immediately back up and NOT lunge in at your throat.)) Mother F**ker! Julio scrambled back, dropping his left blade to try to wipe the dirt from his eyes. He felt the blade come across his eyes. He yelled in horror and fell back even further, now trying to hold his precious life's blood in his eyes. Then, Julio felt the snake's fangs dig into his neck. The venom burned it's way through his veins, setting more and more of his body on fire with every heartbeat. What Halal hadn't counted on was Julio's familiarity with the snakes on this planet. Growing up he was taught what each different one was. He was taught how to use the poisons on his blade. He was even subject to them himself a time or two being careless applying them to his weapons before a hunt. They still had an effect on Julio, but having experienced them before, they were duller and take more time to kick into full swing. Julio felt his chest constricting with the poison, and he knew he wouldn't have more than a half hour to finish this man. What an underhanded trick. He has no honor. He couldn't face me as a man. He fights as a madclaw. With the loss of sight, Julio's other senses seemed to perk up. He assumed it was the body naturally compensating for the lack of eye sight. Julio tried to focus, focusing on his remaining senses to guide him toward his mark. He could hear Halal's heavy breathing, his fumbling on one leg. He smelt his blood His thick, flowing blood. He knew Halal had the upper hand, but Julio still had a trick up his sleeve. I have one shot at this. No screw ups, no do overs. This is it. Julio let his hands rest at his side, ryyk blade still in his right hand. From what he could tell, Halal was about six or seven feet away. Probably tossing that snake away for all he could tell. He was in close, so his blade is small. He's going to underestimate me for my blindess, so he's going to let my attack go wide and go in for a quick hit. Julio took a deep breath, letting his blood slowly coagulate in his eyes, letting the venom continue it's fiery assault on his heart. I got this. Julio rushed in, coming with a swing with his blade from left to upper right, letting it look way off. Before he completed the follow through with the swing, he changed to another direction, now bringing the blade back around, coming from right to left, aiming for Halal's torso. This set Halal off balance, forcing him to further balance on only one leg. Instead of continuing his seemingly random and wide flails with the blade, Julio punched in at the torso. He connected right where the group of bullets had hit Halal. Instead of hitting with all his might, Julio reached into his neural implant, extending his final surprise. The flechette rifle buried itself in Halal's already bloody wound. Julio summoned all his strength to let out a shout to signal the shot. Half a dozen barbed needles ripped though Halal's chest, tearing through bone, tissue, and imbedding itself in shoulder and spine. Halal went flying. Either from the shot itself, or the punch Julio administered, he wasn't sure. Julio fell to his knees, feeling the poison start to hinder his breathing. He didn't have long. Julio stood up and found his left ryyk blade, and prepared himself. He remained still, waiting. If Halal was dead, he wasn't going to take any more chances. His arrogance had cost him his eyes already. (mod ruled 1 vs 1 3 posts) 3

The attack was surprising to say the least. So much so quick with a bullet wound. Julio felt his right Ryyk blade fall from his grasp. The blade he had used for years, killed so many lesser beasts with, just seemed to jump out of his hand like he was using it for the first time. Julio hit the tree with a thud, cracking a couple ribs. He winced, the flash of new pain being an all to familiar experience. He had broken bones before, and he realized this could be potentially threatening. The only thing he could do would be to fight through the pain. He lifted his right arm, extending his hidden slugthrower from it's cache. Every muscle from his newly sundered right side told him to just make the pain stop. As he aimed, he stood up and made his advance. One of Halal's stun bolts completely missed his head, but the second scored a glancing blow on his left arm. Julio grimaced, muscles in his left hand tightening, but holding on to his Kerarthorr Ryyk blade none the less. BANG The first shot hit him in the hand, dropping his rifle to the ground. Julio quickened his pace. BANG The second shot hit Halal in the right knee cap, perhaps the most painful place to be shot. The knee couldn't hold his body up. Halal hit one knee, both hands now reflexively dropping everything to cradle the now shattered knee. Half of the distance between them was close, and with a thought the revolver went back to it's resting place inside his sleeve. Now a few steps from Halal, Julio picked up his Ryyk blade with his now open right hand. Julio made a little lunge toward Halal and connected his knee with his face. Halal dropped to the ground, now bleeding from his knee, chest, and nose, profusely. Julio took a moment and kicked Halal's blade and rifles away from him. Standing above Halal, Julio paused. "At a certain point, the animal just realizes it's going to die and accepts it. Have you reached it yet?." Julio readied his right blade at the man's throat. Julio looked into his eyes, seeing what was in every beast's eyes when they are about to die. A hint of defiance. Try it. (mod ruled 1v1 3 posts) 2

He had arrived in the village close to dusk. He had a sense of foreboding. Something just didn't seem right. He made his way through the scattered houses and catwalks, noticing that no one was there. He walked toward the center of the village, noticing lots of raised voices. As he made his way through the crowd of wookies, they grew steadily more silent, until he had reached the middle, where a large wookie was holding a smaller. He was crying, holding the little one tight to his chest. Only at close inspection did he see the blood, still on the floor below the young one. The wookie looked up at him. Julio welcomed the familiar growls common to his peoples talking. "They....they killed him. They killed him Julio." He pulled the body closer to him and gave a howl toward the sky, then buried his head back into the coarse fur of the body. He took a step closer and kneeled in front of the mournful beast. "MY SON!" The wookie stood, now showing no sadness, but full on fury. "WHERE ARE MY BLADES! I NEED MY BOWCASTER! NOW!" The on looking crowd just stared at him, not heading his commands. "I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE FOR MY SON!" He stood up, ready to break through the crowd. Julio jumped up and stepped in front of the wookie, putting his hands to his chest to slow his advance. "STOP!" The wookie halted, but showed no attempt at hiding his anger. "You're acting like a madclaw, Arrimum. Please just slow down and tell me what happened." It took all of Julio's will to hold back his anger, and even more to stop the father on his pursuit for revenge, but he could not let him go like this. In his rage, the Arrimum would have no control, forgetting his lifelong training. He had no chance in defeating whatever did this. "A...a sniper. Fired into the village. He...he killed Jibev and four others." "Why? Did you attack any slavers recently? Any other clans?" "No. We haven't hunted slavers since you left. There haven't been any. And we have no ill will with the other clans." Julio thought for a moment. These random killings and the vision seemed related somehow. Not necessarily in the method, but the sheer brutality involved. The totally uncalled for violation of the corpse. The random shooting. "Arrimum. Did someone else die recently. In the past couple of days? Very little left from his body?" "Yes, we found Shorchuki's claw a few miles from here. That is all we found of him, but how did you?....." "I saw his death, and the man who did it. I believe he is the same man who killed your son." Arrimum slowed his weeping. "You could always see things, Kazzabev." He stood, now looking down into Julio's eyes. "You have always serve the tribe with honor. I'm sorry we sent you away. I cannot repeal my decision, but I must ask you do one final thing for the tribe." "Of coarse Arrimum. Anything you ask, I will do." "I ask you, Kazzabev, to hunt this beast. Kill the animal that stalks our tribe. Will you do this?" The wookie was no longer weeping, but now returned to his old self, thinking only for the tribe. "I will." The wookie bent down and put his paw in the blood of his fallen son. He reached up and smeared it on Julio's face. "Then go, Kazzabev. Hunt like you used to." With a nod Julio turned, walking south, where Shorchuki had fallen. He would find this man, and refuse to stop until he did. He followed a path of broken twigs and flat grass to a valley. He stopped just short and took a deep breath. Here, far from the village, all this anger had returned. He didn't need to hide it to help Arrimum remain strong. The death of Shorchuki flash through his head again, but this time, the monster's new victims joined him. They lay on the ground, motionless, dead. He looked upon them with sadness. They're deaths had cut into him like a plasma torch. He had been close to them, as with the rest of his village. Even though he was human, they had treated him better than his flesh and blood uncle ever had. His anger was returning, but he knew he couldn't let it consume him. He needed his complete focus for this hunt. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, not calming himself, rather pushing his anger back in a dark part of his mind until it was needed. He knew his prey was ahead of him, resting from his previous kills. He's a good shot, so i don't want to give him distance. I can shoot too, but these don't have near the distance. I have to get close. Keep him from pulling a gun. If he had a sniper rifle, he probably carried other guns. He replayed the vision in his head, focusing now one the mans weapons and style. He was injured pretty bad. He must have been down for a couple of days to fix wounds like that. And he had a blaster rifle also. Definately have to close the gap fast. Julio looked toward the tree tops, searching for branches that would support his weight. He found a tree with seemingly sturdy branches and climbed. He climbed about 10 meters before he started to move along the adjacent branches to better get over his prey. All of his hunts in the shadowlands had a lesson, a lesson he repeated over and over until it was drilled into his head. Climbing the trees, remaining silent, stepping lightly, using the shadows to your advantage, all of these he had learned and and practiced on every hunt. He had spotted his prey. Resting. He had the sniper rifle strung on his back, and a blaster rifle on his belt. He also had a vibrosword and some grenades. He knew how this would have to play out. He had to fight on several levels. Mental and physical. Rushing in and fighting wouldn't work. He had to break him first. Panic him. Make him doubt his own abilities. Then, when he was mentally broken, the real pain would come. Julio was in no rush to kill the man. Death wasn't really the ultimate in punishment. Pain. Pain was the true apex of chastisement. This was his tool, his method of punishment. Hidden in the trees, he began his first volley. "You seem to be enjoying yourself. Reveling in the death of others." Julio continued moving from tree to try, never speaking in the same place twice. "Do you find yourself as a god? Having that sort of power? Let me let you in on a little hint, you little bugslut. You are NOTHING!" At this shout several birds scattered, and Julio moved to his next possition. "You think your life is worth anything? So you kill some of the lesser beasts this forest has to offer. So you kill a wookie in combat. So you take the life of those you never have to look in they eyes. So, the FRAG WHAT!" Julio didn't find the time to enjoy this as he normally would. Right now all he could think about was that anger that he put in the back of his mind, clawing to get out. "Nothing you have done here has show any true power. No skill. You have nothing. You are nothing. I will make you nothing." At the last word, Julio drew his slugthrowers, crouched, ready to attack. It is time to RELEASE THE HATE! He jumped from the tree, aiming at the man. His guns centered on the middle of his chest and let loose. With every pull of the trigger, Julio put a little bit of anger behind the bullet. Trying to make the bullets hit their mark of sheer force of will. Firing as fast as he could, Julio dropped the empty guns, drawing his Ryyk blades on landing. Stunned by the impact of twelve consecutive bullets to the same area of the chest, which would pierce even the better forms of armor, the man had little time to recoup for Julio's onslaught. Less than a meter from the man, Julio brought down is Ryyk blade. This would be Halal's last day. ((Mod ruled, 1 vs. 1, 3 post)) 1

The ship landed on a remote trading post one the outskirts of the largest continent on the planet. Now his only goal was to find the man. The coward. The one who seemed to defy normal physical restrictions to expend his exacerbated emotions. The scarring vision still burned in his skull. Normally, it would have been difficult to locate one man on a densely forested planet, but Julio had the upper hand. The wookie in the vision was one from his tribe. He had grown up with him, and learned to hunt with him. Since they Awere from the same tribe, he knew where the village was located, and where his tribesmen would hunt. The man couldn't be too far away from that area. The coasted through the trading post just long enough to pick up a speeder and go. He didn't worry about food and other trivial things. This was his home, and his home knew how to provide for him. That, and his credits were about shot. He hoped on his speeder and headed south. He could be halfway there by nightfall. He probably wouldn't sleep. The screams inside his head wouldn't let him focus. He accessed his neural implant and found his library of music. He sifted through songs while piloting the nimble speeder in and out of trees until he found a song he liked. For some reason his music always drowned out noises, even if they were inside his head. He couldn't help but focus on the lyrics swimming in his mind. I can feel the blood, flowing through my veins, Spilling on my soul. And now the hunger's getting bigger. Come a little closer now pretentious whore and pull my trigger. Free the violence that is building in me. I say now end of the ride, murder suicide. Is how I've been feeling lately His ride would be a short one. He would be on his adversary soon.

The gift of the credits was unexpected, to say the least. Especially with so many digits. She was gone before he could thank her, or even say good bye. He considered following her, but he had to go. He didn't have much of a choice. I don't know why she couldn't come with me. With this much creds we could have almost bought a ship. What's the big deal about the mech anyway? She didn't seem to mind abandoning my ship. None of this mattered anymore. He wiped her from his mind and focused only on his target. He couldn't abandon his tribe. They needed him. Julio walked toward the nearest dock officer for a flight schedule. The next ship for Kashyyyk departed within the hour. If he hurried he could find one of the crew for a ride. They shouldn't be too reluctant, he could pay any reasonable price they wanted.

She took the bait. "No, I don't know what FUN is! If we're going to go prancing around the galaxy together, we need to work together, damn it! That means no disappearing in the middle of the f**king night! How am I sup...." He froze. Somewhere in the distance, was screaming. It wasn't a normal scream, but one more known to him. His attention perked up an he looked around, trying to find where it came from. It got louder. His mind flashed with distant images. A man fighting a wookie, a wookie he knew. It was one of the younger of the tribe he had grown up with. He gave a sly smile seeing the human get cut, and bashed, until he was almost spent. He felt proud for his tribe. Then, the ever present scream got unbearable. Julio dropped to his knees, covering his ears reflexively. The man stood, using what seemed to be an absurd amount of strength. Soon the wookie was down, bleeding and dying. To further insult the wookie, he continued to shoot and even blow up what was left. Then the man ran, bleeding heavily, but running none the less. The scream stopped suddenly, and Julio knew it was the scream of his kinsman. Anger rushed in him like a hot wave, filling every ounce of his being. He could do nothing else but feel anger, it consumed him. All he could think of was retribution, killing the man that killed one from his tribe. "We have to go. Now." He didn't give her a chance to ask questions or refute his decision. He walked to the nearest gun shop. His pace was double time, not even caring if she was coming with him. When he reached the gun shop, there was a single person running the place. A Rodian that seemed to be rather bored. Julio knew he didn't have the credits to get what he needed. His right hand gave a twitch and the blaster extended. He loaded five shots into the Rodian's chest, dropping him to the floor. Luckily for Julio it was a low end shop. No other clerks or sentry droids to load into him. The shop seemed to have mostly junk, relics that weren't even in circulation anymore. Mostly slug throwers. Slug throwers will work. Much more brute damage. He picked up a shoulder holster and put two slug throwers in it. The holsters went under his robe for more concealment. The gun was heavier than the blaster he was used to. He took off his riggings. The left one still had a broken blade. He took it off and looked for a replacement. He didn't want another slug thrower, it would just slow him down. He looked threw blasters and grenades until he saw it. A miniature flechette rifle. The idea of a wall of shrapnel pleased Julio to no end. He attached it to the left rigging so instead of extending out to his palm, it would only extend a couple of inches to get past his fist, then fire. He grabbed a couple boxes of rounds and started to walk out when he saw Rose in the doorway. "If you need something, get it quick, we're in a hurry.

She seemed to come out of no where, though Julio didn't mind. His earlier epiphany put him at ease. He noticed that she had some drops of blood on her, though it wasn't hers. He had sealed her wounds very well, so it had to come from someone else. She wasn't wearing the cloths he had bought either. He had felt somewhat angry at this. It was rather trivial, but at his current euphoric state, everything seemed to come a bit faster, even the rise in anger. He knew it was no big deal, but he felt like she didn't really appreciate everything he had done for her. He didn't even get so much as a kind word for keeping her alive. All he got was some yelling and a swift kick to the jewels. "You're one to talk. You were hurt more than me. I fall asleep for a few moments and you bail on me? What if your wound reopened, or you got jumped. You didn't even leave a note. And by the way, who's blood is that?" He stood, awaiting the immediate rebuttal to come. He knew her tongue lashing would be intense, but he felt a little frisky.

The eyes seemed to glare at him, blackened with the loss of life. In the depths of of that void, Julio was reminded of why he had fit in with those beasts so well. Everything they did was for the tribe. No selfish acts, just one collective goal. Humans were just the opposite. Every act that they did was centrally focus. They had so much potential if they'd just unite to complete a common goal, but instead focus on their own petty goals, continuing the cycle of perpetual stagnation. What angered Julio the most was that he was just as much to blame as anyone else. He was just as....human. For some this thought disturbed him. I'm....human. Ugh. I'm just as fallible as everyone else. Greedy. Self-indulgent. His mind was contemplating all of the new thoughts rushing into his skull. How people were self-serving. How they worked so hard to do whatever was necessary to complete their own goals. Maybe people aren't as useless after all. They would more than gladly do what you want if you could somehow help them in return. The key is to find the one thing they want more than anything else, and exploit it. Twist it and break it until they forget what they where even doing. People can be useful. They can be shaped an molded into whatever you want, as long as you had the right tools. He smiled as these thoughts came creeping into his mind, developing into greatness. As he continued to stare into those black, lifeless eyes, he felt himself grow steadier, more steadfast in his path. "Thank you, kind sir, for this." He took the credits of his newly created corpse and started walking to the nearest bar. He had just had a rather complex night and decided that a drink was in order. I wonder if she's coming back.

Julio had noticed her leave, but didn't really care. The pill had taken it's full effect and there was nothing in the galaxy that could bother him at the moment. He laid there, relaxing. Letting all his stress flow away. His ring seemed to pulse on his finger. He tilted his head to the side, not really able to fully lift it, to see what the ring was doing when it pulsed again, only this time, it emitted a sort of light that didn't seem to go anywhere but directly to his eyes. With the new light, memories of his childhood came back to his mind. He remembered parts of his past he didn't even remember remembering, but somehow it was there, as if it had been there all along. The pulses grew faster, and strong, starting merely with the finger, but continuing it's resonance to his mind. With each pulse, came a frame of memory, the faster they went, the more they seemed to be one string of memory, until it became constant. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The vision was of when he was growing up on Kashyyyk. It was after he had just saved the wookie from the small cage. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE JUST RAN OFF?!?" Julio's uncle was correct in his anger, as the cages were reinforced and extremely difficult to escape from unless you knew how they were designed and had some practice with them. "I don't know uncle. I wasn't watching." He was trying to look away, remaining as quite as possible while still answering his inquisitor's questions. "The Proximity Dome didn't go off, so no other beasts came to save it, so something must've happened, and I think that YOU let it go." Julio didn't respond. He just stood there, ashamed. His Uncle's men were rather upset since catching wookies, particularly young ones because they rarely left the village, was incredibly difficult. "Well fine, if you want to let them free, you can take it's place!" Without warning, Julio was grabbed by both arms and thrown into the cage. Julio pleaded, and apologized, but to no avail. None of the men seemed to show any pity for him. He was forsaken, stricken to the life of a caged beast. And for the first week, that is how he was treated. He was told he couldn't speak, only make grunts and growls like the beasts they hunt. He was barely feed, and when the hunt was slow the men would enjoy taking stun sticks and jabbing them into his flesh. All the while he held on to his father's ring for dear life, praying he would come and liberate him from this hell hole. But he never came. For weeks he had been condemned to that small cage until one night. The forest was unusually quiet, and the wind blew very little. Up in the trees, where their base was located, it seemed like a normal night. Everyone went to sleep except for a few night watchmen. In one stroke, the security dome silently went down and bowcaster bolts flew from below, killing all the guards. The wookie squad moved in, systematically sweeping the buildings and killing the occupants. One came to the cage Julio was in and paused. He made a series of growls at Julio who remained frozen in place. The wookie opened the cage and threw Julio over his shoulder. The atrophy in his limbs caused Julio to instantly black out from the sudden burst of movement. ------------------------------------------------------------- Reality seemed to come screaming back as his mental self blacked out, seeming to regain the consciousness of his physical self. The vision seemed to have consumed what was left of his potent narcotic, as his pain was revisited, only this time, much less intense. Now it was more of a dull, annoying pain. Julio glanced at his ring, what seemed to be his portal into the inner parts of his mind. Now it was just a ring again. He shrugged it off. He remembered that Rose had left, and he decided that he needed to do something. He checked his wounds. His blaster wounds seemed to be closed and healing quickly, and his bruises seemed to be fading faster than as expected. Yeah, I can totally go somewhere. He headed down stairs to the street and began walking, not sure of where he was going really. He spotted a man at the transit stop, waiting for his transportation to arrive. He felt cruel. His memory reminded him of so many hurtful things that the first person he saw had brought all of those feelings back up. He drew his blaster and walked toward the man. The man sensed him coming, but did as most people would and attempted to avoid eye contact with any stranger. The blaster had meet the man's neck with a fluid motion, and the trigger squeezed in the same. The man didn't shout, or grunt in pain, but rather fell down. Julio kneeled down beside him, tilted his head so that their eyes would meet. Their, in that dying man's eyes, did he see what death was. It wasn't an end of life, nor the perpetuation of some cycle. Julio focused and looked passed the eyes, and saw death for what it truly was. Power.

"Naboo?" The planet had seemed to come from nowhere to him, but she hadn't just picked it out of nowhere. "Nah, never been. Don't really know much about it." He paused to reflect on the limited number of planets he had actually been on. She had accompanied him on at least a quarter of them. "What's there to do on Naboo we can't do here? If you don't wanna harm anything, I could always gamble, or be a bodyguard. Several things to do when you think about it." His started to loose his balance little by little. The pill was starting to take effect and numb his pain, as well as his perceptual senses. Sounds faded, and light dulled. His heart started to race, and the tips of his fingers started to tingle. "I don't really care where we go, I'm just killing time until I get some information I'm waiting on." Oh yes, don't forget why you left. To find the murderer. The one who slaughtered my family. The egotistical bastard that had felt so confident, so sure of himself in his quest for slaughter, that he decided to carve into the planet side the symbol which has since fueled me in my path for revenge. Oh, I have not forgotten. I will not rest until I find your blood at my feet. Julio played with his ring, the ring his father had given him the week before the destruction. The family ring. He hadn't taken it off since, and was a constant reminder to him why life was worth living. For retribution. He laid down on the bed and folded his arms behind his head, fully enjoying the direction this little pill was taking him. He closed his eyes to better focus what he was feeling. He couldn't really hear anything around him. He could barely feel the bed he was laying on. The numbness felt good to him. The void of constant feeling comforted him into a peace he had long since forgotten. He started to fall asleep when his neural implant sent an internal reminder. ==WARNING: Grace period for reapplication of appearance chems has ended. Please reapply or effect will fade.== Shut up....God. He thought for a second, with immense struggle, and reached his neural implant, where he deactivated the scheduled reminder command. There, quiet.

((Glad to have you back )) He picked up the pill and looked it over. It wasn't a standard industrial pill, not some regulated pain control. No, this was the real deal. But what if it knocks me out entirely? Maybe she's just drugging me to kill me and be done with it. Heh, maybe she just wants to knock me out to have her way with me He chuckled at the thought. Doubtful. Ah, to hell with it, she's to screwed up at the moment to do anything. He put it in his mouth and swallowed it, waiting for the "bite" to take effect. "Yeah, bounty hunting. Or maybe do some hits if you don't feel to squeamish about it. We gotta come up with some income. Your "heist" won't last us very long. Or, we can hop back on the mech and head elsewhere for work. I don't really care. Either way, my only real skill is killing. And i guess diplomacy, should my killing be ineffective in the situation. Heh, wanna go into politics?" At this point the drug was starting to go into effect. He felt the pain slipping away, along with his ability to really focus. His heart started to go a bit faster, and colors started to jump out at him. He looked at Rose. My god those cloths are hideous, what was I thinking? He didn't worry to much, and let him slip into wherever the drug was taking him. He got up and went to the window where Rose was looking out. Out the window he saw the ruined city, scarred from countless bombings and raids on the planet. It was starting to be rebuilt, but he felt it would always be a disgusting and repugnant place. [/i]

He continued to lay on the bed as she came in, eyes closed, trying to out-focus the pain she had dealt him. She ignored is obvious "out-of-it" state and walked straight to the table, riffling through her possessions until coming upon a collection of pills she had collected. When she found the one that suited her, she downed it and let a smile grace her face. Well atleast she isn't entirely full of gumdrops and rainbows He chuckled at the thought, loosing focus and letting all the pain rush back to him at once. He grimaced at the pain, but kept silent. He couldn't reenter his focused state after that, as the pain continued to push through whatever barrier he tried to put up. He looked over at her, readying herself for whatever that magical little pill would bring her. I wonder what she took? It has to be for pain. She isn't going to shrug off an injury like that. She looks fragile, really. I doubt she's had to experience pain on that level before. Whatever it is, she knows what it's going to do. She knew exactly which one to take. He paused as the pain brought an end to his train of thought. Damn, she knew where to hit. And hit she did. I should have picked up some pain killers at the Doc's office, but there wasn't really much time. I'd ask for one of her little happy pills, but she's probably still pissed at me. He moved his train of though to her. He noticed the clothes she was wearing, the clothes he picked out. She probably doesn't like them. We could get new ones, I guess, if she makes a big deal out of it. It is her credits after all. She is the one that swiped it in the first place. He could feel his neck starting to swell from the elongated blood and oxygen loss, and the headache was coming into full swing. Wonder what kinds she has?

He had expected some form of retribution, but this was a bit much. Should have gotten sedatives too He foot pressed on his neck further, not only cutting of his much needed air, but starting to cut off the passage of his life's blood to his head, which started to make him black out. Gotta do something before i pass out and she field strips me before i'm dead. He looked up at her and made eye contact. The fury in her eyes shot through him like a bullet. He could sense, almost feel, the anger rolling off of her, directed straight at him. He summoned up everything inside him and forced himself to move. His legs moved upward at lightning speed. He hardly knew what he was doing. The momentum rocked his body, making Rose loose balance for a moment. In that second, Julio put his ankles under her arms and threw them down, forcing her down with them, while lifting his torso up. The single, fluid action made it so that she was on the ground, and he was near upright. When he found his footing, he dropped on her and reached for the gun with his left hand, while going to restrain her left with is right. His waist managed to stratle her stomach, making it difficult for her to do what he had just done to her. He knocked the blaster away as her left arm escaped his and managed to hit him square in the jaw. He recoiled from the hit, but regrouped and grabbed her wrists, bending them forward and turning them ninety degrees, making it so the backs of her hands were on the floor. She struggled, while he just let herself cause pain to the already over taxed joint. "That is the last time I save your ass." He tried to remain calm, but feeling the anger rolling off of her seemed to ignite some innner beast. "All I did was keep you from dying!" She continued to stuggle, but doing so less and less as he talked, "From the cantina, you passed out. I got a field kit, patched up the gaping hole in your torso, and kept you from bleeding do death." He was calming down, and so was she. "Why the hell am I NAKED!" She nearly shouted the last words "Your cloths were ruined. Not only did it have a nice slice down the side, but it was caked in blood, both yours and other peoples. I had to take them off to fix you, and to make sure you weren't injured anywhere else." She didn't seem to be buying it. He let go of her wrists and rolled backward off of her. She immediately scamble for the blaster, and readjusted the sheet. She picked it up and pointed it at him again, this time from a distance of about 10 feet. "When you were stable, I took the credits you grabbed and went to get you new clothes, and some food." He picked up the bundle of cloths and tossed it at her feet. He turned his back to her to let her get dressed. He walked toward the bedroom and layed down, leaving her in one of the outer rooms to change. He let a grimace escape his face. Damn that hurt

Julio arrived back to the apartment. He set the bundle of clothes and food he had picked up on the table. He had gotten some odd looks trying to get her clothes. "I'm looking for some clothes." "Well sir, we have a wide variety here for you. Were you looking for something causal, or maybe some formal wear?" "I'm actually looking for something for a girl. She's, um, sixteen? About this tall. Thin." "Do you have a size?" "No." It had taken several minutes to go through all of the choices. On set of particularly tight pants had stuck out in his mind, but he dismissed them, as they would inhibit her movement. And she would totally punch him in the face. He had settled on a dark set of loose robes. They matched her old ones rather well, so she would have no real reason to be angry at his choice. He looked around the apartment. Something didn't feel right. He walked through the apartment to the bedroom. Damn, she's gone. Don't think someone would have taken her, the building was rather abandoned. Sheets are missing. He set the clothes on the bed and turned around to see the business end of a blaster pointed at his face.

Dodging out of a fight he wasn't really apart of anymore, Julio ducked into a corner of the cantina. He spotted Rose putting up a fight of her own. Finally you prove your worth, little fox. He was rather enjoying watching her....fight, until a man from behind managed to surprise her. Julio paused, seeing if the man's blade hit its mark. From this distance he couldn't really tell. She continued to kick ass as though everything was alright, so he just sat back and continued to watch her. Just as another one of her attackers fell, she started to stumble. That's when Julio saw the blood. At first he thought it was the blood of the bartender she broke, but as it continued to spill from her side, he saw that she was indeed injured. He sprinted, as well as one could amidst a brawl, toward her. Jumping over or around, and even one good body check, those in the middle of the fight focused more on those that looked at them funny earlier rather than him. She ran toward the entrance, not really noticing which way he went. She seemed to grab some credits and make a dash for the door. He changed direction, just before he fell face first into a punch, and headed for the door. He reached her before she fell. She had passed out. It's deep. She may make it if she gets help fast. He carried her out of the cantina and on to a transit to the nearest doctor. He kept pressure on the wound, keeping in mind the lessons his own scars taught him. "I think i'm dying" The boy said weakly, holding onto his neck, blood spilling out regardless of his efforts. "That laigrek came out of no where, I swear." "Listen boy, you will die when it is your time." The great beast inspected his wounds, pulling back the boys hands, letting even more blood flow from the fresh wound. He had been with them long enough to discern what they had meant with the growls. The old wookie looked down on him. "And that is not today. No, you have a few more battles left in you before you fall." "But....the pain....it won't stop." He arrived at the doctor's office withing a few minutes. "What happened?" The doctor was rather perturbed, as it was about one four in the mourning when Julio practically burst in his office, demanding attention. "Knife wound. Got caught in a fight in the cantina down the street. I don't have time. I need a field surgeon's kit, and I need it now." "She is in no condition to be moved! I can't ju..." "I realize that. That is why I need it now. Look, I don't want you getting in trouble, and the guys after us will torch the building just because we're inside it, so the sooner you get me that kit, the sooner you can go back to sleep." It took the doctor a moment to realize what Julio had just said. When he came to his senses, he disappeared from the room for a split second, only to return with the kit. Julio grabbed it out of his hands and headed for the door. He had found an apartment complex that looked rather abandoned. Since the last attack on the planet, this portion of the sector had gone to ruins, but there were still some places with power. He picked the lock and set her down on the bed. He instinctively dug into the wound and stopped most of the bleeding. Now, just to clean up the wound. He looked down at her. The wound looked clean. In and out, no twist. Her clothes were drenched in blood. Mostly hers, but some of it was that bartenders. She's gonna kill me.... He stripped her cloths and cleaned up the blood off of what wasn't the wounded are. He double checked the bandages and her pulse. The bandages needed changing, but she was fine. He sat down and lit a Black. Intense. Well, my little fox, you certainly proved you weren't afraid to get your hands dirty, but why the hell didn't you just run for it? I might have gotten roughed up a bit, but I would have made it out of there all the same. What changed you? You certainly weren't this brazen on Roon. Why didn't you just leave my ass? Oh well, f*** it. Like I'm ever going to understand you. He took another hit and leaned back in his chair, and saw the credits sitting on the table. He sighed and got up. He walked over to the table next to the bed where the credits were setting. He took a second and took in the whole scene. Weird. This is just like that night on Coruscant, only this time, I saved a life instead of taking one. Hmm... He wrote a note, discribing where he would be. Rose, Went to get some stuff. Be right back. Julio