Post by Dee on Aug 9, 2012 12:39:08 GMT -5
Name: Kalyn Duren
Age: 28
Race: Human
Birth place: Pakrik Minor/North Barris
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 140 lbs
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Brown
Appearance:
Kalyn is a strong and healthy looking thin, her body well toned and clearly the frame of a very athletic and active woman. Her arms especially show it, leaving little doubt of her physical strength. She certainly looks like someone who works out frequently and takes care of her physical health. She stands at the above average height of five feet eight inches and always walks with a confident, unhindered stride. That neutral expression which most people have when they're feeling no particular emotion doesn't seem to exist for her. Her face is rarely without the slightest hint of a smirk, green eyes often sparkling with the anticipation of amusement along with it. Her brown hair is on the shorter side, easy to take care of and rarely a hassle in the midst of physical activity.
She has numerous scars of varying sizes covering her body: her back, her shoulders, her torso, her arms and her legs. The largest and most prominent is a long gash that runs diagonally across her midriff. If they are seen and asked about, she tends to do little more than smirk, give an obviously untrue and often elaborate reason for their existence, then change the subject. They are not often seen in public as she rarely wears short sleeved shirts, and has never in her life worn a dress or skirt.
She tends to be of the opinion that her style of dress is 'classier' than most of the crowds she tends to run with. In public simple long sleeve dress shirts and pants - usually black - are worn, showing as little skin as possible in order to avoid the annoying stares and questions about the scars that mar it. Always included with the attire is a dark colored formal looking vest, kept buttoned unlike many of her peers would wear such a style. Despite the more formal look it tends to give her, she seems perfectly comfortable in the garb, and has no difficulties 'working' in it. While alone or in the company of a smaller group of people, she tends to care less and it's not strange for her to lounge about in tank tops and loose fitting cargo pants, similar in style to what she would have worn during her time as a soldier.
Short leather boots are her footwear of choice at all times, as they are fitting for many and most of the situations she finds herself in. On planets where the climate requires it she will often wear a long black duster-like jacket to help offset the cold or other inclement weather. At almost all times her two blaster pistols hang from her belt, resting in leather holsters just below her waist, one at each hip. Even when they aren't there for whatever reason, they are never out of her reach.
Personality:
People who know Kalyn Duren usually all agree on one resounding fact: She's a huge pain in the arse.
Most of the time she seems incapable of taking anything completely seriously. Her ability to be obnoxious even while under great deals of stress and pressure may be her greatest skill. It's often said that you can judge her opinion on the severity of a situation based on how not sarcastic she's being. Apparently, if the way she acts is truly any indication, not many situations are considered severe in her eyes. She often makes rash decisions, is strong-willed and stubborn, and extremely sure of her own abilities. Her overconfidence often crosses the line into egotism, and she seems completely fine with that.
Kal get kicks out of seeing how far she can push certain people, though how harsh she is depends on why she's doing it in the first place. For people who've proven to be an annoyance or are clearly asking for it with their behavior, her comments can end up becoming harsh. If a fight breaks out because of it she's always more than willing to throw down. For those she just wants to learn the limits of, it usually will stay in the realm of teasing and not venture too far into overtly hurtful. Once a person's boundaries are more clear she becomes a bit more open and friendly, and a bit of a flirt sometimes. Though that depends on who she's speaking to, and she's never been interested in pursuing anything more than a quick fling.
When it comes to her 'profession' she typically looks out for herself before all else, and takes many jobs that she comes across even despite their often questionable morality. Though there is a line that she will not cross, certain beliefs she refuses to push aside or suppress. She's turned down a great deal of offered work because of it, and even backed out of a few jobs which she had already started. Needless to say she has annoyed quite a few 'employers' over the years.
Yet one thing no one could rightfully call her would be lazy. She's a very active person who becomes restless very easily if nothing eventful is happening. Relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet are not beyond her, but there's only so much she can take before the boredom sets in and begins to drive her insane. In desperate situations she may even invent tasks to complete just to keep herself busy, and often picks up extremely random hobbies on a whim.
There is a side of her rarely seen, often only known by those she cares greatly for, that proves that deep down she has a caring heart and a strong sense of loyalty to her loved ones that goes with it. It's been a very long time since anyone has seen that from her. It's buried underneath layers of sarcasm and smartassery. Most people don't have the patience to wade through it, and she refuses to change to be more appealing to others. People either like her for who she is, or they don't. She puts on a show for no one, and as far as she's concerned it's everyone else's job to deal with that in whatever way they will.
Profession: Fringer/Mercenary
Previous Faction: Republic Army
Rank: Private
Skills:
Dual Wielding Blaster Pistols
Trick Shots
Military Training
Piloting (Average: small freighters, shuttles)
Equipment:
Blaster Pistol (x2)
Vibroknife
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 5
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 5
Melee Weapons: 4 (Small blades, e.g.: knives)
Ranged Weapons: 8
Ship Name: N/A
Bio:
Beginnings (0-12)
"That sounds dumb. I'm gonna go over here and do somethin' fun instead."
Born into a relatively simple but good life, Kalyn had very little to complain about in her younger years. Her parents were produce farmers on Pakrik Minor where their families had lived for generations, dating back to the planet's first settled colonies. They lived on the outskirts of North Barris, one of the planet's larger cities, and supplied the local population with the foodstuffs they farmed. They were not rich or poor; they lived well enough and within their means.
They were hard working people and brought up their daughter to be the same way. They had a few droids and sometimes hired help to lighten the workload, but they chose to handle most of it themselves. As a result she learned early on never to be lazy or idle and had no aversion to work; unlike most other young children who would make it known that they'd much rather be playing. She was never a girl who avoided or whined about her chores. She just did them.
She was an only child and due to developed medical reasons, she always would be. As such she was taught and expected to assist in a wide range of chores and jobs to help her parents. On any given day she may have spent hours outside doing manual labor, and then the rest of the day inside doing housework. Being raised the way she was, she developed the ability to handle and adapt to all different sorts of tasks with no complaints and little difficulty.
Kal was very much a "tomboy" even from a young age. She wasn't very into what could be considered "girly" activities or interests. She would have much rather been rolling around in the dirt than playing dress up, and she had no problem telling other kids that. At first other children thought she was weird, and it even led to some little boys picking on her. That didn't last for very long, as she ended up hitting one of them and then pushing him down into the dirt. It got her into a lot of trouble with her parents and authority figures at school, but it also caused some of those same boys to accept her in a way. Others were just afraid to keep picking on her. Either way, the problem had been solved.
From then on she grew up with friends who were mostly boys. She didn't avoid befriending other girls, it was always just a matter of shared interests, or a lack thereof. She was very much considered and treated as "one of the guys" as the years went by. Not much changed in Kalyn's mannerisms as a teenager, though the kinds of friends she would make was a bit more varied. Her group of closest friends as a child managed to remain close to one another as they aged.
Teenage Years (13-18)
"Well Ma, to answer your question... I punched that other kid in the face 'cause he's kinda an ass, and I heard a rumor he hadn't been punched in the face lately. Really, I was just doing my civic duty."
As Kalyn grew older she developed a bit of a reputation for being a smart ass, cracking jokes and refusing to treat certain things with the severity others expected her to. It sometimes put her at odds with authority figures, who would bump heads with the smartmouthed teenager. It wasn't as if she had problems with all forms of authority. She obeyed her parents and others in leadership positions who she respected, not quite your typical 'down with the man' rebel, but she didn't feel obligated to treat others as better than herself if she felt they didn't deserve it.
She wasn't afraid to be who she was regardless of what others thought of her. She spoke her mind and was open about who she was, even when other kids her age could ostracize her for it. She wasn't what most people expected a girl to be, especially around those parts, and it made for a good amount of conflict between her and other teenagers that took offense to it. She wasn't one to back down or let others insult or start trouble with her without backlash, and found herself in fights with her fellow students. It got her into trouble a lot; detentions, suspensions, after school community service... she did it all. But nothing she did to receive punishment was ever so severe that it led to extreme consequences or expulsion. Her grades weren't anything spectacular but they were good, and that made some of the school's staff look on her more favorably. At least she was clearly learning and taking her schoolwork seriously, despite the trouble she got into.
Her parents weren't appreciative of her tendency to get into trouble. Still, they loved their daughter all the same and their relationship with her was a good one. They would of course discipline her when she did wrong and tried to steer her away from poor decisions as most parents would, but they accepted her for who she was and didn't try to change the girl... too much. Often they were even proud to see her stand her ground against others. Unless it was themselves, of course. That was an entirely different story and sometimes a cause of tension- not entirely atypical for teenagers and their parents - but never enough to turn their relationship sour.
Much of her time outside of school was spent helping her parents on their farm, doing the variety of chores and manual labor she had been brought up doing her whole life. Though she probably would have enjoyed extracurricular activities, particularly those that involved some sort of physical activity, she just didn't have the time to set aside for them. Her parents needed her. It was just as well. She didn't mind doing the work and it kept her strong and in shape. She was still able to spend time with her friends or do as she pleased with the free time she did have, so it wasn't as if she was missing out or felt like her parents were putting too great a burden on her. At least, not up until the approach of her eighteenth birthday.
One of her closest friends had made the decision to leave home and join up with the Republic army. He spoke of it often and seemed very eager and sure of his decision. Kal asked him about it one day and it led to them having a long talk about his motivations. He didn't want to stay on Pakrik Minor forever and take over his father's business as he had been expected to. That wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. He was young, idealistic, and believed in protecting the Republic and its people. Though the conversation came and went like any other, what was said stuck in the back of the teenage girl's mind and stayed there until it was brought back to the surface by unforeseen circumstances.
Months later, shortly before Kalyn's eighteen birthday, she was helping her father do some repair work on the roof of their house. They were almost finished for the day and her father told her to start bringing the tools they had been using down, but to be careful and to take multiple trips. She decided this would be a good time to be obnoxious for a laugh. Despite the warnings of her father, she thought it would be hilarious to show off. Her antics went a little too far, and as she tried to pile as much as she could into her arms she lost her footing, and slipped and fell the entire way down before landing hard onto the ground. She survived the fall but both of her legs had been badly broken, and a shoulder dislocated as that pile of tools landed on top of it.
Kolto was not uncommon on her homeworld, but it wasn't in extreme abundance or cheap either. Her family didn't have access to enough to completely heal her injuries, but it was enough to ensure no permanent damage. The rest of her recovery was going to take some time. Having no choice but to sit around all the time didn't sit well with the girl, who was always so active and used to always having something to do. She was bored out of her mind, and restless. It gave her time to start thinking. About her close friend who had left a couple of months ago. About the conversation they had. About her own future and what she wanted to do with it. Was this really what the rest of her life was going to be? Spent entirely on the same planet, doing the exact same things day in and day out? Living out her entire life as nothing but a farm girl? Was that really all she was ever going to be?
For the first time she was questioning what she wanted to do with her life, and it was no passing phase. Even after she had recovered, for weeks after the thoughts still haunted her mind. No. This wasn't all she ever wanted to experienced. She needed to see more than just this.
She made a snap decision as she was prone to do, and she knew what she wanted. She wanted to join the Republic Army as her friend had done. She wanted to see other worlds and help protect the Republic while doing it. When she brought it up to her parents, her father reacted angrily. He made his decision very clear: his daughter would not go. She had responsibilities, and she would not run out on them and turn her back on her family. Kal was stubborn and hot headed just as her father was, and they fought. Her mother tried to calm the situation, suggesting that the time away would be good for her, but her father would hear none of it. Neither would Kal, and she simply went and enlisted without the blessing of her father. He was furious when he found out, but at that point it was too late for either of them to do anything to change it.
The relationship between the two was greatly strained in the months that Kalyn waited to begin training, with her mother struggling in vain to get them to fix things before the teenager left. Unfortunately it didn't happen that way. The day that she left, her father was not among those to see her off and wish her well.
The Military Life (18-22)
"Kindly go frak yourself... sir."
Basic training was a bit of a wake up call for the smartmouthed Kal. Things were much different than the calm, quiet surroundings that she had grown up in, though that wasn't entirely unwelcome. She enjoyed the much more fast paced environment. The mental training was the hardest for her to deal with; the greatest difficulty she had was learning to keep her mouth shut and do as she was told without question. After multiple disciplinary actions she finally started to identify those situations when it was best to just follow orders... and of course, those rare moments where she was able to get away with some backtalk without too much backlash. It was a struggle though, one that continued long after basic training.
On the other hand, she did very well and quickly excelled at most physical aspects of training. She had always been strong and in good shape from an active lifestyle and the physical labor she did for most of her life, and that was only highlighted and improved upon throughout training. It was even a source of both amusement and disdain from other recruits, as there were many times where she showed herself to be physically stronger than some of the men. It rarely sat well with those she embarrassed, but was hilarious for everyone else. She even seemed to take well to weapons training. She had only rarely fired a gun before, a hunting rifle her father owned but it was barely even enough experience to matter. Still she was able to learn quickly, something she took quite a bit of pride in.
She finished training and went on to become infantry. The squad she had been placed in was made up of mostly humans, with a couple of Twi'leks, a couple of Zabrak, and an Echani. She knew quite a few of them from training already. She was the only woman among them, but she would fit in just fine, if not better with those circumstances. Just as she had growing up.
It was a time of relative, but shaky peace, and because of that things were quiet for them a good amount of the time but they still needed to be ready. During downtime when they had little to do but general patrols and wait, they had time for further training and drills. Kal at one point even took an offered course on the basics of piloting small crafts, should the need ever arise in the field. Her squad also had ample time to get to personally know each other. They grew into a close knit group fairly quickly, including their sergeant, Orin Raan, the man directly in charge of them. When they did have orders and objectives to complete, it usually tended to involve small skirmishes. Many of which involved pirates, some small pockets of terrorism within the Republic, and the occasional situations where military presence was required to keep order and safety for Republic citizens.
Taking life for the first time was a different experience for Kal, as was having to deal with loss. Over the years not all of her brothers in arms survived the skirmishes they were part of. Both had an expected effect on the woman, but she had never been one to outwardly show strong negative emotions. She did struggle to come to terms with these things as most would. Though rather than talking about it or showing it, she dealt with them the best way she knew how: by completely internalizing them and forcing herself to move past them and keep moving forward, regardless of whether or not she was truly ready to. It may not have been the suggested way, or maybe not the healthiest way, but it was the way that worked for her. It allowed her to still be herself.
One of the more known operations that Kalyn was a part of was a small Mandalorian uprising, carried out by a single clan tired of living in forced peace under the Republic and seeking to reclaim former glory. It started out as quiet rumblings and small outbursts of violence, and Kal's squad and a few others from the battalion it was a part of had been sent to keep the peace. The military presence only added more fuel to the fire. The Mandalorians ended up attacking first; it was sudden and brutal guerrilla tactics, but when the Republic soldiers were able to organize themselves they pushed them back. The constant pushing back of either side lasted for a few days due to the Mandalorians training and use of their terrain, and the insufficient amount of soldiers that had been sent by the Republic.
Kal did well under pressure. She wasn't the kind to bend or break under it and didn't become afraid easily, even perhaps in times when she should have. During the days that this skirmish went on she performed exceptionally well. She followed orders, was efficient at eliminating the enemy, and looked out for her fellow soldiers. She would've likely seen a great deal of praise when it was all over.
As usual though, her ego got in the way of things. She became overconfident and despite a warning from her sergeant, walked right into an ambush. She fell to the ground after taking a shot to the chest and another to the shoulder. Despite the shooting that erupted from both sides two of her squadmates risked running out there and dragging her back into cover. The entire time she continued to fire her gun from the ground, dealing with the pain by yelling taunts at the Mandalorians over the chaos.
Kalyn was kept out of the rest of the fighting to allow her time to recover. The fighting only lasted for a few more days after that, when reinforcements showed up and the Mandalorians were outnumbered and overpowered.
When the skirmish was over, Sergeant Raan spoke highly of her and her injuries in the line of duty to their officers. The officers knew her attitude and they weren't very fond of it, or her. Despite their correct assumptions that her injuries were a result of her unacceptable ego, they had no way to prove this, and in the end it mattered little anyway. They reluctantly commended Kal for her exceptional performance on the battlefield. Something that to this day amuses her a great deal.
That was typically how it went for Kalyn and her time in the military: she would do something admirable, then negate it a few days later with her less-than-passive and brash personality. The closeness of her squad allowed her to get away with more than she would have otherwise. Although with time she had learned to accept that sometimes she just had to bite her tongue and follow orders it was still difficult, if not impossible for her to control some of the remarks that came out of her mouth. She still saw consequences for it.
It was rarely with the soldiers she spent a lot of time with. Those who knew her well knew that she was a loyal friend and sister, who would watch their backs and support them completely as she stood and fought at their sides. It was when she had to interact with the higher ups, the officers, that she paid more for her sometimes defiant words and actions. Those were the times when their sergeant had little choice but to go along with and follow protocol and see that she was disciplined.
Overall she was lucky. Lucky that Orin was more lenient, lucky that he sometimes stuck his neck out for her, lucky that physically she was an exceptional soldier, and very lucky that she didn't get herself kicked out early on. Her attitude had left the highest ranking superiors with a less than stellar opinion of her, and though she avoided court martial she had little hope of rising far in the ranks. She didn't know it at the time, but eventually it would cause her even more trouble.
In her fourth year of service, a new group of soldiers who had just finished their training arrived at the base Kalyn's squad was stationed at for the time being. Overall they were good people who fit in pretty well. There was one boy in particular though, a human, who was a rude, unlikeable loudmouth. He thought himself the Force's gift to the Republic Army.
He would often suck up to officers, but to his fellow enlisted men and woman he acted and spoke as if he was better than the rest of them. He considered himself untouchable because he came from a family of military men and his father was- as he put it and made sure everyone knew- a well respected and influential high ranking officer. That did little to sway Kalyn and while he went on one of his rants against a poor fellow new soldier who had 'insulted' him, she called him out on what he was doing regardless.
He baited her, calling her derogatory names and insulting her squad. She fired back looking nothing but amused the entire time, which only fueled his anger more. He stepped things up and shoved her. She pushed him back and away from her, and as he recovered from the stumble he swung his fist, catching her in the jaw. At that point the gloves were off, and the two brawled right there. It was only broken up when three sergeants interfered, separating them and stopping the fight. Both were thrown into holding cells.
Kalyn wasn't worried at the time. She knew she would still see some backlash for fighting at all, but she hadn't thrown the first punch and it could easily be seen as self-defense. At the very least, she was pleased that the other guy would be disciplined too. As far as she was concerned, it had been worth it. What she didn't know, was that she was about to made an example of.
She ended up spending almost three months locked up, without ever being told why, how long she would be in there, or ever having any sort of trial, hearing, or even just someone in a position of power showing any concern for how events unfolded from her perspective. That other soldier she eventually found out had been released that first day, and saw no punishment at all. Not even a mark on his record.
The officer who had orchestrated the situation, that other soldier's father, came to speak with her only once; right before she was finally released, to tell her that she should be ready to accept the consequences she had brought down upon herself. He was sure to mention that in the end it would be best not only for herself, but also for the sake of her squad's reputation and well being. With that threat looming over her, he had little to worry about as he carried out the final twist of the knife.
A hearing was held to decide if Kalyn should be allowed to return to duty. The officer cited she had often been insubordinate, had been punished multiple times prior to the incident, and was clearly unstable. He said that in this time of shaky peace, she was not the kind of soldier that embodied what the Republic Army should stand for and she should be removed from it. The others present were quick to agree, deciding on a forced, quiet discharge. While they stated it was to avoid harming morale and also in fact to protect her from too much backlash, there was little doubt that at the core of that decision was the intention to avoid too much attention and publicity; to hide that there was in fact some corruption behind the scenes.
For one of the rare times in her life, Kalyn swallowed her pride and chose not to fight. It was obvious that this man was powerful, with friends in high places. She could push back, make a scene and cause all of this to blow up into something bigger than it was... but there was no guarantee that she would win, or that she would even come out on top, or that her brothers in arms wouldn't suffer for it. Not to mention some of the things he had said about her were true, and that would work against her. It wasn't worth it this time.
So she didn't make a fuss, she didn't become outraged or depressed, she didn't cry injustice. She simply did as she usually did; gave a cocky smirk, some smartass final remarks to her superiors, said her goodbyes to her squadmates, and moved on. With all the benefits she received from the military now lost and few other options left to her, she returned home to her family.
Her mother was happy to see her home, welcomed her back with open arms, and hoped that things could return to the way they used to be, but her father would quickly drive those hopes into the ground. He barely interacted with his daughter, and the few words they spoke to each other were done out of only the most extreme necessity. He had turned his back on her completely as he felt she had done to him four years before. It was as if she was dead to him. She chose to deal with it, figuring that eventually he would warm back up to her. After all, he was still her father.
Unfortunately for her, things got worse quicker than they got better. After a heated argument with her husband her mother began to slowly stop interacting with her daughter as well, seeking not to antagonize him or the situation further. It eventually got to the point where she would go days without a single word or even acknowledgment of existence from either of her parents. After months of this treatment, she decided enough was enough. She had tried to stay by her family's side, but things were clearly not going to get better and she needed to move on. She announced her intention to leave, and the next day she was gone. Neither tried to stop her.
An Honest Living... Is No Fun (22-25)
"Evenin', gents! I'm here to negotiate! With blasters!"
After leaving her home planet for the second, and maybe last time, Kalyn wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself. She had planned to stay with the military longer, maybe even for life, but that was no longer an option. Obviously she needed to find work, start her life again... but she had no idea what sort of life she even wanted or what kind of job she could hold. The thought occurred to her that she maybe should have put a little more effort into planning these things out in the past. Really, though... that wasn't much her style.
She ended up holding a few temporary jobs for a while, mostly involving some kind of manual labor. It was probably what she was best suited for at this point. One job that she got and stuck with for a few months was aboard a large cargo freighter with many clients. She was in charge of keeping track of, and moving and organizing the large amount of cargo it transported. It wasn't overly difficult work for her. She did, however, find it to be a pretty boring experience. It was steady though, and she needed the credits. Not to mention time to figure out what she really wanted to do with her life. She at least knew it wasn't this.
The captain of the ship, known by the name of Mak Vox, was not the most straight-edged man. He had been involved in crime before, but most who knew of it weren't stupid enough to say anything about it. Kal herself had picked up on some of his less than legal dealings. At the very least he had smuggled some illegal goods between worlds and she suspected he may have been involved in more. She could have brought it to the attention of the authorities... But if the highest members of the military could be corrupt and get away with it without consequence, she saw no reason why this guy couldn't. Spite may have played more of a role in her decision than she realized.
She was a good worker and the captain took notice of it; and of her silence. They got along well enough and her sarcastic, sometimes obnoxious demeanor didn't bother him. In fact it tended to amuse him more than anything. Eventually he approached her, offering her some extra work. Off the books. He explained that a couple of customers had swindled him, and refused to pay him all that they owed. He knew that Kalyn, with her military experience, had some skills in "negotiation" and could handle it for him and get what was owed from them. After the slightest of hesitation, Kal's answer was, "why the hell not?".
She went to the men to collect the unpaid credits. The men were less than agreeable and things of course got violent. They weren't expecting Kal to put up much of a fight, but they quickly regretted that assumption. They gave in and handed over the money, which she returned to Mak. He was extremely pleased, paid her what he had promised, and told her that if he had any other opportunities for "bonuses" that she would be the first to know.
True to his word, Mak came to her with more tasks, which she accepted everytime. They were all of a similar nature, dealing with clients or former employees who had in some way not kept to agreements with him. Eventually he also asked her to knowingly help with some of his smuggling operations. He even eventually supplied her with a blaster for protection. Kalyn knew what she was doing was very illegal, and morally questionable. But the extra money was nothing to complain about, and neither was the excitement of doing something more than organizing boxes all day. As far as she was concerned, none of these people were innocent and knew exactly what they were doing. Her conscience didn't put up much of a fight.
This continued for a few months. Mak may have been a man of gray morality, but he was good to those who were good to him. He mentioned Kalyn's name to a few of his associates and contacts on some of the planets they stopped on frequently, and spoke highly of her work and her discretion. Suddenly her name was out there, and when docked on those planets she would find herself occasionally being offered work from them as well. Her personality grated on some of them, but as long as she did what was asked, they dealt with it.
There was a certain company that Mak did business with often. They specialized in all things spaceship related. Building ships themselves, parts, modifications, anything that involved ships, they supplied and offered. It was run by two business men known commonly by their surnames, Sarkin and Feraan, who had started the business together as partners years before. Sarkin had a pretty serious problem. There had been attempts on his life, two so far that had failed. He didn't know who was responsible or why, but was worried about going to the authorities about it. Over the years the practices of the business had not always been completely... legitimate. He was worried they would be discovered.
Mak had sent Kal to meet with the man for business, this time, completely legal and related to transporting some cargo for him. But Sarkin was desperate, and when he met her he offered to hire her to both protect him and try to figure out who was trying to have him killed. She agreed. The next day, Feraan pulled her aside to speak to her privately. The partner admitted that it was him who was trying to have Sarkin killed. He had become greedy and wanted to take over their business fully and receive all of the profits for himself, but Sarkin refused to sell his half. So Feraan decided to take matters into his own hands.
He hadn't hired anyone professional to do it, which was why he had failed so far. Just a few of their workers who he had promised large pay increases to make it worth their while to side with him and do his dirty work. He offered Kalyn more credits than she was already being given if she instead sided with him, stepping aside and allowing the other man to be killed. He told her that it would be worth her while. Initially after some brief thought, Kal agreed. The promise of such a greater reward was enough of a reason for the brash decision.
Later that evening he arranged a private meeting with his partner. Kalyn, still acting as Sarkin's bodyguard, was present when Feraan strolled into the office along with two of the employees he had swayed, feeling completely untouchable. It was clear to her that this was the moment he was going to act, and he fully expected her to do nothing. Despite her earlier agreement with the traitorous man, things would not play out the way he expected them to.
At that last moment, Kalyn had decided to once again side with Sarkin. She had settled on siding with the better of the two men after all, though she kept her reasoning to herself. The young woman did have morals and a conscience, and it was speaking far too loudly for her to ignore this time. She also had no doubts that a man who would betray his partner of many years would likely rescind on his promised reward and do away with loose ends as well.
She revealed Feraan's plans which resulted in a frantic reaction. Blasters were drawn and shooting began. This was Kalyn's element, and they had been forced into it. The advantage was very clearly not theirs - a businessman and two ordinary manual workers - none of them were particularly good shots. Despite their attempts panic was what drove them, not experience, and after the brief chaos of a short firefight, Feraan was killed and the workers who sided with him had surrendered. Sarkin, who had cowered behind his desk, was unharmed.
Grateful to Kalyn for her help, Sarkin offered her an unexpected reward: her own ship, supplied completely for free by what was now solely his company. The ship itself was nothing special. Clearly an older model that there was no demand for anymore, one that would sit unused until it faded away into obscurity otherwise. Regardless of its age, it was in good enough shape to be fully functional and get her from one place to another. It would also give her something else: Freedom. Freedom to go where she wanted, when she wanted, at her own pace. She accepted the offer. She returned to Mak and thanked him for the steady job, but told him that she was leaving. Though disappointed to lose someone useful, Mak would not stop her.
Now with her own ship, some contacts, and the freedom to go where she pleased, Kalyn dove head first into this new life. She of course started out small, doing very minor, simple jobs such as those she had done for Mak. It would take a while for her to learn the ins and outs of fringer life, but adapting was never a problem for her. She tended to mostly operate on neutral worlds, such as those owned by the Hutts, as they were practically breeding grounds for corruption and illegal dealings. She was not afraid to look for and accept work in Republic space, and when it was available, she would take it.
Acquiring a blaster was a necessity. If she was going to be doing dangerous work and running in these sorts of circles, she couldn't travel around unarmed. Acquiring two however, was a snap decision. She liked the idea of wielding two guns at once. Blasters were easier for her to get her hands on and she had always felt a bit of a liking toward them, more so than the rifles she had mostly trained with while in the army. She had used them before and had plenty of shooting training and practice during her four years of service, but learning how to use them better was something she enthusiastically wanted to do.
Her practicing took more than just the traditional form. There was always target practice and shooting ranges and the like, and she used them very frequently... but Kal was a hands-on type of person. Whenever she found herself in a fight or shoot out - which with her charming personality and the crowds she ran with, wasn't so infrequent - she would try to pull off more complicated shots rather than playing it safe. Sometimes multiple times if she messed up at first. It may have led to more injuries, but it also helped her learn faster and more effectively.
It quickly became more than just necessary practice for her. It became a hobby, something she enjoyed and strove to improve at constantly in all ways from that point on and into the present. Over many years of practice and experience she grew highly skilled with her chosen weaponry and rarely ever chose to use anything else, a fact that still remains true now. Tricks shots, quick drawing and aiming without sacrificing accuracy, and of course, gun spinning to look stylish while doing it all were extra skills she worked on over the years and never stopped making an effort to improve in. She figured after all, might as well look flashy while also being amazing, right?
As time went by Kalyn wasn't picky with the jobs she would seek out or do. Smuggling, protection, retrieval, enforcing, even some bounty hunting. She would do any of it, as long as gave her something to do and it paid. Over time, even immoral circumstances and details began to matter little to her. She came to know, understand, and fit into this new environment and the people in it well. Some of them were more friendly than others, but overall it was a devious, shady crowd. Friends were not something she had among these people. Not only did her sometimes obnoxious personality not gain her many favorable reactions from others, but too many of them would readily stab you in the back for their own gain. After a few years in this life she had chosen, she couldn't rightfully say that she would be innocent of such a thing either.
Kal did make allies here and there despite her difficult to deal with personality. She got results, and some people were actually amused by the way she acted or the things she did. She wouldn't exactly call these people "friends", but they were a step above being classified as "that one guy I worked for/with/shot at that one time". One of these allies was a Zabrak man named Kisk Vekei, the owner and bartender of a successful cantina on Nar Shaddaa. Kalyn discovered it, liked the atmosphere and the owner, and became a regular whenever she was planetside.
She was there one night after a few drinks when a few members of a very small upstart gang decided to flex their tiny muscles and showed up, trashing the place, roughing up some of the more regular patrons who didn't look like they could put up a fight, and even being ballsy enough to actually shoot dead two of the customers before running off. Kalyn was a bit drunk, mixed with her typical overconfidence, and she decided she was having none of this. She went after them and gave them a lesson in karma.
From that point on Kisk considered her one of his favorite patrons, and told her that if she ever needed a favor, he'd be there. It hadn't really been the woman's goal, but she accepted the offer nonetheless. The occasional free drinks were a nice plus too.
As was probably the case with many others who shared her kind of life, Kalyn was not even fully aware of the slow change that took place in her the more time she spent in the fringe. Despite always being a bit of a pain she was never what one would consider a bad or evil person before she took that first job from Mak. She felt empathy and respected innocent life, and at one time truly did believe in protecting and serving others. She couldn't see how those morals had dulled, and how the voice of her conscience had been drowned out. Even when she found herself doing things that in her youth she could have never imagined she would do - things like stealing from those who needed most, or shooting men begging for their lives... - she couldn't truly understand what she had allowed herself to become. She was caught up in it. In the success, in the profit, in the constant excitement of it all.
For a a few years she lived blissfully ignorant and fairly well this way. The risk may have been higher than a normal, steady job, but it was also way more exciting and she could handle it. She even managed to earn herself a good reputation for a while as someone who was dependable regardless of the circumstances of the job she was carrying out. It ended up getting her a lot of work. The former farm girl was doing pretty well for herself. It was too good to last.
The Consequences of Good Intentions (25)
"You're not gettin' a word of regret outta me. Now try not to disappoint after all that big talk."
Nar Shaddaa was a world overflowing with corruption and crime. Though it was the Hutts who held most of the power on the planet, they were not the only ones to have it. Keth Targon was a name that many on Nar Shaddaa knew, and often spoke of with subdued voices and an intense, underlying fear. He was a cruel, severe human being with little room in his heart for sympathy or good will. He had ties to the Exchange, and had amassed a great deal of wealth, influence, and power across the whole of the planet. He was not a man one wanted to be noticed by, not a man to be trifled with, and not a man to cross. Kalyn Duren, with all her impressive people skills, managed to accomplish all three.
She got herself caught in the middle of a complicated situation that ended up being more trouble than she had expected. Targon was a man who had no aversion to slavery and owned quite a few slaves of his own. One of them was a young teenaged human girl named Cora, who had grown up alone on Nar Shaddaa and survived on her own however she could before she was one day grabbed off the street by slavers. She ended up becoming Targon's property, but never once gave up on finding a way out of her situation. Her attention and perseverance paid off, and one day she found a chance to escape and took it.
She fled from Targon's home and stowed away on a ship heading off world into Republic space, but not before swiping some holodiscs she had found in his office. She took them to use as leverage and insurance, enough to either keep him from coming after her or for bargaining for her freedom. A good theory, but in practice it caused more harm than good. They ended up being the very reason she was persued. Those holodiscs she had stolen contained recordings Targon would use to blackmail a Republic senator, and branch some of his influence out onto Coruscant. He wanted them back, and he wanted to make an example of this slave girl who had the gall to attempt to manipulate him. After shooting his inept head of security he sent two of his men to pursue her, and bring both her and the recordings back.
She was still only a teenage girl and not very good at covering her tracks. After only a short while of them searching and tracking her down they found her in the undercity of Coruscant and caught her easily enough. They just had to get her and the recordings back to Nar Shaddaa. Unfortunately for them, they had been a bit too unsubtle with their planetside activities. They were being very carefully watched by the authorities, who were suspicious of these men clearly not aligned with the Republic. They suspected them of something illegal but were uncertain of what and had no proof. Still it was enough to make Targon unwilling to risk having his lackeys caught and it leading back to him, especially because it could have jeopardized his attempts to extend some of his reach to Republic controlled Coruscant. They would need a third party for this, someone who could leave with and deliver their "cargo" without having the glaring eyes of the law focused on them.
When they went looking for someone to do the job for them, Kal was present on the planet to restock on some supplies and was someone who Targon had at least minute knowledge about. He had heard of her reputation for completing things to the end, no matter the circumstances. It was decided she was reliable enough, and his men went to her with his offer. They offered her a large amount of compensation with half up front to move some "delicate cargo". It wasn't until after she had agreed to do it that they would allow the details to become known to her. Despite the unusually loud screaming protests of her conscience due to a kid being involved, she decided to still go through with it. The voice at the back of her mind was quieted for a while by the prospect of just how many credits she would be getting for this.
Both the holodiscs and the girl were handed over to her, hidden away inside of an ordinary looking cargo crate and she left the planet with her with little issue. At first she fully intended to finish the job with hardly any inner conflict. That voice in her head would not give up that easily though. She fought internally with herself almost constantly, and by the time her trip was halfway over she couldn't even get it out of her mind. She knew what she was doing was wrong. She knew Targon's reputation, and she knew exactly what was going to happen to that girl. Kalyn had rationalized that she had made her bed and now she had to lie in it. But despite trying to convince herself that was true, the teenager was really probably nothing more than a kid caught in a bad situation who made a mistake. But her fate now was either a slow, painful death, or a lifetime of degrading and sadistic slavery. Kal didn't know this girl, but did she really deserve that?
Her conscience just wouldn't let it go. She felt the guilt weighing down on her, more than she had felt in a long time, reminding her that only a few years earlier she would have never dreamed of allowing such a thing to happen let alone been a part of it. Is this what she had become? Someone who would heartlessly, blamelessly, hand over a troubled girl whose life has barely even really begun to a monster like Keth Targon for some credits? Was that what another life was worth to her now? The realization hit her harder than anything had in a long while. No. She knew that she couldn't see this one through. She couldn't - wouldn't - be that person. This was too far over the edge. She needed to pull herself back.
Instead of continuing to Nar Shaddaa, Kalyn docked her ship at the Citadel space station. Somewhere she knew would have a good amount of ships coming in and out every day. She released the girl, gave her a gift of some extra credits, and told her to run. There were plenty of ships that would allow her on board for some credits, that could take her somewhere away from Targon and the reach of his arm. She told her to stay away from Nar Shaddaa, away from involvement with the criminal world, and to be smart and remain out of Targon's sight. The girl was still shaken and afraid, and confused by Kal's decision, but she thanked her and disappeared into the crowd. Kalyn never found out where she had gone, or even knew her name, and that was exactly how she wanted it.
Kalyn was left with the holodiscs, and the need to figure out what her next step would be. She could have used them as blackmail and leverage against Targon herself. Surely there was something she could get from him. At least the possible insurance that he wouldn't lash out at her for taking it upon herself to decide the girl should go free. Yet if he would chase down a teenage girl, what would stop him from doing the same for Kal? Targon was vindictive and powerful. He would not just sit around and allow that to happen to him.
She knew at this point that she had gotten herself into some trouble. Yet she wasn't overly worried or concerned about it. This was certainly one of those situations where it would have done her good to address the severity of her situation. She didn't. Instead she decided that she could handle this fine herself and come out of it alright, if she just returned the discs, didn't take his money, and washed her hands of the whole thing. He would have what he probably wanted the most back, for free, and have no reason to further drag it out.
In her head it made sense. She was overconfident and convinced she could talk her way out of this. Or if it really came down to it, that she could fight her way out of it instead. She traveled to Nar Shaddaa, marched herself right into Targon's office, tossed the holodiscs and the credits she had received upfront onto his desk, and explained what she had done nonchalantly and with absolutely no sign of regret.
Targon was, shockingly, displeased. This woman thought she could change the details of their agreement as she saw fit. As if she was the one in charge. That was incredibly insulting to his pride. She had cost him his chance to punish someone who had wronged him, and expected she could walk away without consequence while leaving him looking like a pushover. Well, if he couldn't make an example of that teenaged thief, he could make one of this arrogant woman instead.
The ensuing fight was a short one. Kalyn took a shot to the leg and was soon overpowered after that. He could have put a blaster bolt in her brain right there and then and have been done with it, but that wasn't how he worked. He was known for being overly flashy and elaborate in his actions, and in his punishments. He would cause extreme pain and leave a sense of constant fear in his enemies. He would be sure to leave his mark for others to see, to remind them to think twice about earning his ire. To him, all of that was far more effective, rewarding, and useful than simply ending a life.
He had her tortured for days upon days. His goal was to break her and make her regret what she had done. Yet despite the pain that racked her body day in and day out from all the different, 'creative' ways that she was made to endure it, she never once gave him what he wanted. She never apologized, and she never spoke a word of remorse. Regardless of that, it all took its toll on her eventually. Only then when she was the weakest and most feeble she had ever been did he finally decide he was satisfied. Now that he was, it was time for him to use her to send a message.
He had his men take her to the cantina she was known to frequent the most; one that was popular with the criminal element and where people would recognize her, and toss her battered form right onto one the tables. When they had the attention of most of the patrons they announced clearly that this was the price for double crossing and rescinding on a deal with Keth Targon, before one of them drew a knife and drove it into her stomach. Despite her screams of pain as he dragged it through her torso, no one stood up to challenge or stop them. Targon's men left the cantina, leaving Kalyn lying on the table and quickly bleeding to death.
She should have died that day. With what her body had already been put through and the severity of the wound she had just been given, survival was barely even a possibility. What saved her life was that the cantina they had dropped her off in was the cantina of one Kisk Vekei, and he wasn't about to let his favorite customer bleed out on one of his tables.
Together with practically all the medical supplies he had available to him and the help of a small group of regulars they were able to keep her alive for long enough to get her to an underground clinic with access to a kolto tank, backed and funded by a wealthy Hutt. Though she remained critical for days and her survival was still questionable during that time, she managed to pull through and stabilize despite all expectations.
It was a miracle she survived. It may have had something to do with her being stubborn even while on the brink of death, clinging to life and refusing to let it go. It took weeks for her to recover enough to even move around half as well as she normally did. Her body was left covered in scars from stabs, gashes, burns, and blaster wounds she had sustained during her time spent as Targon's captive. They would be a constant reminder of what she had lived through. Yet it was not in Kal's nature to brood or become overwhelmed by depression. It would take time, but mentally she would cover it up almost as easily as her permanent physical wounds were covered under her clothing. The extent of how deeply the experience truly does linger with her is questionable, as she's never spoken about it with anyone. Though hiding or covering scars never really makes them vanish.
After weeks of lying low as she physically and mentally recovered she leapt back into action, as was her way. She was forced to sell her ship in order to pay for her medical expenses, something which was not ideal but that she knew was necessary. The last thing she wanted to deal with was being indebted to a Hutt. As soon as she was capable she left Nar Shaddaa, not intending to return for a while if she could help it. Targon was well aware that she had survived, but instead of angering him it amused him. She was a walking warning to anyone who would even think of crossing him. As far as he was concerned he had broken and scarred her, and she would have to live with it for the rest of her life. Overall it was, he thought, a fitting and acceptable punishment, and a beneficial outcome for him.
Moving Right Along (26-28)
"Are we just gonna sit here and talk about how great I am all day, or you got somethin' for me to do? Just wanna be clear, either way's fine with me."
Though Kalyn's personality stayed the same as it had always been she was much more cautious in her dealings from that point on. She suddenly seemed vehemently opposed to certain ways of doing things. Despite what she been through as a result of helping that girl, she didn't regret her decision and didn't allow the consequences she had to deal with to change that. She would never be a part of something like that again. Maybe yet another showing of her stubbornness.
Still, this didn't magically turn her into some paragon of justice and good will overnight. She was still more concerned with her own well being and survival than she was with the plight of others. What it did do, was make her step back and think about what she was doing more often than before. She was still hardly an example of good morals or decent behavior, but she wasn't running around committing atrocities or turning a blind eye to all suffering. What Cora's situation had done for Kalyn was given her a line she wouldn't cross, and her conscience a voice again, though it still had to struggle to be heard at times.
Things returned to some sense of normalcy. Or at least what was normal for her. She traveled from planet to planet when she could, getting by and generally living very simply. She avoided letting herself become too noticeable in anything she did. She caught rides with others for payment, and even found a temporary place among a small crew here and there. Nothing was permanent or long-lasting for her though. She always left and went out on her own again long before there could be any real sense of attachment. For many years it had been difficult for her to settle down, and that never changed.
She kept on drifting about doing what jobs she could find. Things had slowed down for her, though she could never fully tell if that was due to her own caution, or if what had happened with Targon left some kind of mark on her that made others wary. Whatever the reason, she still had no difficultly making a decent living for herself and wasn't one to complain.
The most recent work she found was on Tatooine. Her and three others were hired to escort a shipment of cargo through the desert from one city to another. Their employer claimed the cargo was supplies for a scientific expedition, and that he only wanted to be cautious and keep it safe. It was an easy sounding job, if not a little strange. None of them seemed to see any reason to question it though, as long as they were paid. It turned out that they were little more than bait. The cargo was meant to draw the attention of two separate factions on Tatooine who would fight over it, causing increased tension between them, and apparently benefiting their supposed employer.
During what was supposed to be this simple escort they came under attack from two separate groups and blaster shots began to fly everywhere. Their employer had completely failed to mention that anyone with significant firepower and organization might be interested in this cargo at all. Two of the group were killed in the fighting, while Kalyn and the other remaining mercenary fought their way out of the mess and escaped by stealing a speeder from one of the groups.
It became clear to the two that the man who hired them was not expecting any of them to survive. Their suspicions were confirmed when they arrived at the given location where they were supposed to bring the cargo and meet their employer for payment, and found no one there at all to meet them. It was obvious they weren't getting paid at this point. After that the two went their separate ways. At this point, Kal was beginning to question her luck. As always though, what else was there to do but look forward and move on? She found transport off the planet and continued on with her life, though at the back of her mind she reminded herself to punch their 'employer' in the face a few hundred times if she ever saw him again.
Since then she has been laying low. Dwindling away her saved credits keeping herself fed and entertained, and keeping busy however and whenever she can while she drifts around the galaxy, searching for and waiting for her next opportunity to present itself. Whatever it may be.
RP Sample:
Five random people sitting around a table at the back of a dark, shifty bar in one of the most shady cities on Tatooine, discussing business. Yeah, this definitely looked legitimate.
The funny part was that as far as any of them knew, it was. They were being hired as protection for cargo, not being asked to do anything knowingly illegal. Though that wouldn't have been a deal breaker for any of them. None of them seemed to care about the details enough to ask many questions. It wasn't as if there was much to explain either. Escort cargo. Shoot any creatures or bandits that may happen to wander too close. It was a simple job.
"I've spoken to all of you separately regarding compensation." The man representing their employer was wrapping up an unnecessarily long-winded explanation. "Are we all still in agreement?"
Two of the four hired guns nodded in confirmation. Kalyn leaned back in her chair, watching the man with that ever present smirk on her expression. It was possible that the damn thing was welded onto her face. She spoke with a tone laced with sarcasm she made no attempt to conceal. "Thought about askin' for more since the job's so complicated, but hey, I'm in anyway." The man gave her an unamused look, which only motivated her to keep talking. "Should ask for hazard pay though, since that long drawn out explanation of yours almost bored me to death." The man drew in a breath and let out a sigh before simply glancing to the one person who hadn't answered yet.
The last of the four crossed his arms over his chest and answered with a deep voice, "Alright."
-----
"I am thinking of reneging on our contract."
Was spoken surprisingly calmly from behind the mess of boulders they were using as cover. They'd come under fire from two large groups as they moved through a massive canyon. Groups of speeders pulled up on either side of them and before they had time to process what was happening the shooting began. Not only were these groups shooting at them, but at each other too, clearly showing that they weren't friends. The entire situation was one hectic mess of confusion, and Kalyn kind of loved it. Here she was thinking this job was going to be boring and uneventful.
She side glanced at her companion, the only other hired mercenary left. The other two who had been with them were apparently not so great at not getting shot and had shuffled off their mortal coils pretty quickly after the attack began.
He was a towering gargantuan of a man. Standing at his full height he was at least a foot taller than her, and she wasn't exactly small herself. He called himself Biggs. Which was either a really unoriginal and redundant alias, or some impressive precognition on the part of his folks. Though they had talked a bit during the trip, he had been fairly quiet and soft spoken until now.
"As helpful as your whining is, you should probably stop and just go with the flow, Big Guy."
"Like them?" He jerked his head toward the corpses that had previously been their companions.
"They just got unlucky. These guys are awful shots. Now go be bait so I can pick 'em off one by one."
"If they're so awful, you be the bait."
"Nah, I'm comfy. 'Sides, this is a spot with good cover and I can see everything from here. 'Less you wanna get us outta this by complaining at them. I'm sure that'll make 'em stop shooting at us."
Biggs glanced at her blasters, well used and well cared for. He had to suspect that she was as good with them as she claimed to be. Then he looked at his own, a beat up old pistol he had grabbed off the ground after his own had taken a shot and ceased to function.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to trade?"
She turned to look at him, that smirk of her's widened. Kal was surprised that had worked. Most would've pretty quickly told her to go frak herself, and she would've ended up out there herself. She would've done it. She was pretty certain with her skills and speed that she could take out quite a few of these guys before they had the chance to shoot at her, even without the benefit of cover. But this worked too.
Biggs sighed and he shifted himself as he readied his blaster. "Ready?"
"Watch and see."
He grunted and shook his head before pushing off the side of boulder and rushing out into the open, screaming like a maniac to grab as much attention as possible and firing wildly at every open target he saw. It worked well much to his chagrin and he soon found himself dodging shots left and right and praising whatever force gifted these men with their horrible blaster skills.
"DAMNIT DUREN!" Was heard clearly amongst other yelled obscenities from the once subdued man's mouth. Kal grinned widely to herself at that before shifting to lean out from her cover. She immediately saw at least four open targets. They weren't even making this challenging for her, and that was a little disappointing.
Both her blasters were aimed in different directions, onto two separate targets. She pulled the triggers and near instantly both were hit, one collapsed backwards after the shot struck his chest, and the other slumped forward against the speeder he had poorly been using as cover. With no hesitation Kal's eyes slid to her next target, a man who had climbed up onto a low cliff on the wall of the canyon. He probably figured from up there he could see more and have a better chance. He was about to regret that. Her blasters shifted and she fired them one after the other. The first shot struck him in the chest and caused him to stumble until the second hit only a moment after and he tumbled from his perch and down into the sand below.
From the corner of her eye she saw a rifle being aimed in her direction. Seemed she had caught someone's attention. She ducked back down behind her cover just as a blaster bolt struck the boulder in front of her. She immediately popped back out, pistol pointed right at him and fired. As he scrambled to hide behind his own cover the bolt caught him in the side of the head and ended that failed attempt.
Biggs was making his way back now, probably tired of dancing around and barely avoiding death. Kalyn saw one of the attackers aiming for him and her blaster immediately snapped in his direction. She pulled the trigger and caught him right in the knee, causing him to collapse and the shot he had so diligently prepared ended up nowhere near Biggs, who scrambled and rolled back behind the rock next to Kal.
Clearly in pain and angry, the man raised his rifle and began firing wildly at them. Kalyn ducked down, just barely avoiding a shot that could have met her skull. She looked to Biggs, unphased and still smirking, before she spun her blaster a few times in her hand and again left the safety of their cover. She barely needed any time at all to aim. She lifted her gun at the man and squeezed the trigger. His head snapped back as the blaster bolt hit him square in between the eyes and his body quickly crumpled to the floor.
Biggs took a moment to catch his breath before turning eyes onto the woman beside him as she retook her safe spot.
"...Not bad."
"I know."
Age: 28
Race: Human
Birth place: Pakrik Minor/North Barris
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 140 lbs
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Brown
Appearance:
Kalyn is a strong and healthy looking thin, her body well toned and clearly the frame of a very athletic and active woman. Her arms especially show it, leaving little doubt of her physical strength. She certainly looks like someone who works out frequently and takes care of her physical health. She stands at the above average height of five feet eight inches and always walks with a confident, unhindered stride. That neutral expression which most people have when they're feeling no particular emotion doesn't seem to exist for her. Her face is rarely without the slightest hint of a smirk, green eyes often sparkling with the anticipation of amusement along with it. Her brown hair is on the shorter side, easy to take care of and rarely a hassle in the midst of physical activity.
She has numerous scars of varying sizes covering her body: her back, her shoulders, her torso, her arms and her legs. The largest and most prominent is a long gash that runs diagonally across her midriff. If they are seen and asked about, she tends to do little more than smirk, give an obviously untrue and often elaborate reason for their existence, then change the subject. They are not often seen in public as she rarely wears short sleeved shirts, and has never in her life worn a dress or skirt.
She tends to be of the opinion that her style of dress is 'classier' than most of the crowds she tends to run with. In public simple long sleeve dress shirts and pants - usually black - are worn, showing as little skin as possible in order to avoid the annoying stares and questions about the scars that mar it. Always included with the attire is a dark colored formal looking vest, kept buttoned unlike many of her peers would wear such a style. Despite the more formal look it tends to give her, she seems perfectly comfortable in the garb, and has no difficulties 'working' in it. While alone or in the company of a smaller group of people, she tends to care less and it's not strange for her to lounge about in tank tops and loose fitting cargo pants, similar in style to what she would have worn during her time as a soldier.
Short leather boots are her footwear of choice at all times, as they are fitting for many and most of the situations she finds herself in. On planets where the climate requires it she will often wear a long black duster-like jacket to help offset the cold or other inclement weather. At almost all times her two blaster pistols hang from her belt, resting in leather holsters just below her waist, one at each hip. Even when they aren't there for whatever reason, they are never out of her reach.
Personality:
People who know Kalyn Duren usually all agree on one resounding fact: She's a huge pain in the arse.
Most of the time she seems incapable of taking anything completely seriously. Her ability to be obnoxious even while under great deals of stress and pressure may be her greatest skill. It's often said that you can judge her opinion on the severity of a situation based on how not sarcastic she's being. Apparently, if the way she acts is truly any indication, not many situations are considered severe in her eyes. She often makes rash decisions, is strong-willed and stubborn, and extremely sure of her own abilities. Her overconfidence often crosses the line into egotism, and she seems completely fine with that.
Kal get kicks out of seeing how far she can push certain people, though how harsh she is depends on why she's doing it in the first place. For people who've proven to be an annoyance or are clearly asking for it with their behavior, her comments can end up becoming harsh. If a fight breaks out because of it she's always more than willing to throw down. For those she just wants to learn the limits of, it usually will stay in the realm of teasing and not venture too far into overtly hurtful. Once a person's boundaries are more clear she becomes a bit more open and friendly, and a bit of a flirt sometimes. Though that depends on who she's speaking to, and she's never been interested in pursuing anything more than a quick fling.
When it comes to her 'profession' she typically looks out for herself before all else, and takes many jobs that she comes across even despite their often questionable morality. Though there is a line that she will not cross, certain beliefs she refuses to push aside or suppress. She's turned down a great deal of offered work because of it, and even backed out of a few jobs which she had already started. Needless to say she has annoyed quite a few 'employers' over the years.
Yet one thing no one could rightfully call her would be lazy. She's a very active person who becomes restless very easily if nothing eventful is happening. Relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet are not beyond her, but there's only so much she can take before the boredom sets in and begins to drive her insane. In desperate situations she may even invent tasks to complete just to keep herself busy, and often picks up extremely random hobbies on a whim.
There is a side of her rarely seen, often only known by those she cares greatly for, that proves that deep down she has a caring heart and a strong sense of loyalty to her loved ones that goes with it. It's been a very long time since anyone has seen that from her. It's buried underneath layers of sarcasm and smartassery. Most people don't have the patience to wade through it, and she refuses to change to be more appealing to others. People either like her for who she is, or they don't. She puts on a show for no one, and as far as she's concerned it's everyone else's job to deal with that in whatever way they will.
Profession: Fringer/Mercenary
Previous Faction: Republic Army
Rank: Private
Skills:
Dual Wielding Blaster Pistols
Trick Shots
Military Training
Piloting (Average: small freighters, shuttles)
Equipment:
Blaster Pistol (x2)
Vibroknife
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 5
Leadership: 3
Unarmed: 5
Melee Weapons: 4 (Small blades, e.g.: knives)
Ranged Weapons: 8
Ship Name: N/A
Bio:
Beginnings (0-12)
"That sounds dumb. I'm gonna go over here and do somethin' fun instead."
Born into a relatively simple but good life, Kalyn had very little to complain about in her younger years. Her parents were produce farmers on Pakrik Minor where their families had lived for generations, dating back to the planet's first settled colonies. They lived on the outskirts of North Barris, one of the planet's larger cities, and supplied the local population with the foodstuffs they farmed. They were not rich or poor; they lived well enough and within their means.
They were hard working people and brought up their daughter to be the same way. They had a few droids and sometimes hired help to lighten the workload, but they chose to handle most of it themselves. As a result she learned early on never to be lazy or idle and had no aversion to work; unlike most other young children who would make it known that they'd much rather be playing. She was never a girl who avoided or whined about her chores. She just did them.
She was an only child and due to developed medical reasons, she always would be. As such she was taught and expected to assist in a wide range of chores and jobs to help her parents. On any given day she may have spent hours outside doing manual labor, and then the rest of the day inside doing housework. Being raised the way she was, she developed the ability to handle and adapt to all different sorts of tasks with no complaints and little difficulty.
Kal was very much a "tomboy" even from a young age. She wasn't very into what could be considered "girly" activities or interests. She would have much rather been rolling around in the dirt than playing dress up, and she had no problem telling other kids that. At first other children thought she was weird, and it even led to some little boys picking on her. That didn't last for very long, as she ended up hitting one of them and then pushing him down into the dirt. It got her into a lot of trouble with her parents and authority figures at school, but it also caused some of those same boys to accept her in a way. Others were just afraid to keep picking on her. Either way, the problem had been solved.
From then on she grew up with friends who were mostly boys. She didn't avoid befriending other girls, it was always just a matter of shared interests, or a lack thereof. She was very much considered and treated as "one of the guys" as the years went by. Not much changed in Kalyn's mannerisms as a teenager, though the kinds of friends she would make was a bit more varied. Her group of closest friends as a child managed to remain close to one another as they aged.
Teenage Years (13-18)
"Well Ma, to answer your question... I punched that other kid in the face 'cause he's kinda an ass, and I heard a rumor he hadn't been punched in the face lately. Really, I was just doing my civic duty."
As Kalyn grew older she developed a bit of a reputation for being a smart ass, cracking jokes and refusing to treat certain things with the severity others expected her to. It sometimes put her at odds with authority figures, who would bump heads with the smartmouthed teenager. It wasn't as if she had problems with all forms of authority. She obeyed her parents and others in leadership positions who she respected, not quite your typical 'down with the man' rebel, but she didn't feel obligated to treat others as better than herself if she felt they didn't deserve it.
She wasn't afraid to be who she was regardless of what others thought of her. She spoke her mind and was open about who she was, even when other kids her age could ostracize her for it. She wasn't what most people expected a girl to be, especially around those parts, and it made for a good amount of conflict between her and other teenagers that took offense to it. She wasn't one to back down or let others insult or start trouble with her without backlash, and found herself in fights with her fellow students. It got her into trouble a lot; detentions, suspensions, after school community service... she did it all. But nothing she did to receive punishment was ever so severe that it led to extreme consequences or expulsion. Her grades weren't anything spectacular but they were good, and that made some of the school's staff look on her more favorably. At least she was clearly learning and taking her schoolwork seriously, despite the trouble she got into.
Her parents weren't appreciative of her tendency to get into trouble. Still, they loved their daughter all the same and their relationship with her was a good one. They would of course discipline her when she did wrong and tried to steer her away from poor decisions as most parents would, but they accepted her for who she was and didn't try to change the girl... too much. Often they were even proud to see her stand her ground against others. Unless it was themselves, of course. That was an entirely different story and sometimes a cause of tension- not entirely atypical for teenagers and their parents - but never enough to turn their relationship sour.
Much of her time outside of school was spent helping her parents on their farm, doing the variety of chores and manual labor she had been brought up doing her whole life. Though she probably would have enjoyed extracurricular activities, particularly those that involved some sort of physical activity, she just didn't have the time to set aside for them. Her parents needed her. It was just as well. She didn't mind doing the work and it kept her strong and in shape. She was still able to spend time with her friends or do as she pleased with the free time she did have, so it wasn't as if she was missing out or felt like her parents were putting too great a burden on her. At least, not up until the approach of her eighteenth birthday.
One of her closest friends had made the decision to leave home and join up with the Republic army. He spoke of it often and seemed very eager and sure of his decision. Kal asked him about it one day and it led to them having a long talk about his motivations. He didn't want to stay on Pakrik Minor forever and take over his father's business as he had been expected to. That wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. He was young, idealistic, and believed in protecting the Republic and its people. Though the conversation came and went like any other, what was said stuck in the back of the teenage girl's mind and stayed there until it was brought back to the surface by unforeseen circumstances.
Months later, shortly before Kalyn's eighteen birthday, she was helping her father do some repair work on the roof of their house. They were almost finished for the day and her father told her to start bringing the tools they had been using down, but to be careful and to take multiple trips. She decided this would be a good time to be obnoxious for a laugh. Despite the warnings of her father, she thought it would be hilarious to show off. Her antics went a little too far, and as she tried to pile as much as she could into her arms she lost her footing, and slipped and fell the entire way down before landing hard onto the ground. She survived the fall but both of her legs had been badly broken, and a shoulder dislocated as that pile of tools landed on top of it.
Kolto was not uncommon on her homeworld, but it wasn't in extreme abundance or cheap either. Her family didn't have access to enough to completely heal her injuries, but it was enough to ensure no permanent damage. The rest of her recovery was going to take some time. Having no choice but to sit around all the time didn't sit well with the girl, who was always so active and used to always having something to do. She was bored out of her mind, and restless. It gave her time to start thinking. About her close friend who had left a couple of months ago. About the conversation they had. About her own future and what she wanted to do with it. Was this really what the rest of her life was going to be? Spent entirely on the same planet, doing the exact same things day in and day out? Living out her entire life as nothing but a farm girl? Was that really all she was ever going to be?
For the first time she was questioning what she wanted to do with her life, and it was no passing phase. Even after she had recovered, for weeks after the thoughts still haunted her mind. No. This wasn't all she ever wanted to experienced. She needed to see more than just this.
She made a snap decision as she was prone to do, and she knew what she wanted. She wanted to join the Republic Army as her friend had done. She wanted to see other worlds and help protect the Republic while doing it. When she brought it up to her parents, her father reacted angrily. He made his decision very clear: his daughter would not go. She had responsibilities, and she would not run out on them and turn her back on her family. Kal was stubborn and hot headed just as her father was, and they fought. Her mother tried to calm the situation, suggesting that the time away would be good for her, but her father would hear none of it. Neither would Kal, and she simply went and enlisted without the blessing of her father. He was furious when he found out, but at that point it was too late for either of them to do anything to change it.
The relationship between the two was greatly strained in the months that Kalyn waited to begin training, with her mother struggling in vain to get them to fix things before the teenager left. Unfortunately it didn't happen that way. The day that she left, her father was not among those to see her off and wish her well.
The Military Life (18-22)
"Kindly go frak yourself... sir."
Basic training was a bit of a wake up call for the smartmouthed Kal. Things were much different than the calm, quiet surroundings that she had grown up in, though that wasn't entirely unwelcome. She enjoyed the much more fast paced environment. The mental training was the hardest for her to deal with; the greatest difficulty she had was learning to keep her mouth shut and do as she was told without question. After multiple disciplinary actions she finally started to identify those situations when it was best to just follow orders... and of course, those rare moments where she was able to get away with some backtalk without too much backlash. It was a struggle though, one that continued long after basic training.
On the other hand, she did very well and quickly excelled at most physical aspects of training. She had always been strong and in good shape from an active lifestyle and the physical labor she did for most of her life, and that was only highlighted and improved upon throughout training. It was even a source of both amusement and disdain from other recruits, as there were many times where she showed herself to be physically stronger than some of the men. It rarely sat well with those she embarrassed, but was hilarious for everyone else. She even seemed to take well to weapons training. She had only rarely fired a gun before, a hunting rifle her father owned but it was barely even enough experience to matter. Still she was able to learn quickly, something she took quite a bit of pride in.
She finished training and went on to become infantry. The squad she had been placed in was made up of mostly humans, with a couple of Twi'leks, a couple of Zabrak, and an Echani. She knew quite a few of them from training already. She was the only woman among them, but she would fit in just fine, if not better with those circumstances. Just as she had growing up.
It was a time of relative, but shaky peace, and because of that things were quiet for them a good amount of the time but they still needed to be ready. During downtime when they had little to do but general patrols and wait, they had time for further training and drills. Kal at one point even took an offered course on the basics of piloting small crafts, should the need ever arise in the field. Her squad also had ample time to get to personally know each other. They grew into a close knit group fairly quickly, including their sergeant, Orin Raan, the man directly in charge of them. When they did have orders and objectives to complete, it usually tended to involve small skirmishes. Many of which involved pirates, some small pockets of terrorism within the Republic, and the occasional situations where military presence was required to keep order and safety for Republic citizens.
Taking life for the first time was a different experience for Kal, as was having to deal with loss. Over the years not all of her brothers in arms survived the skirmishes they were part of. Both had an expected effect on the woman, but she had never been one to outwardly show strong negative emotions. She did struggle to come to terms with these things as most would. Though rather than talking about it or showing it, she dealt with them the best way she knew how: by completely internalizing them and forcing herself to move past them and keep moving forward, regardless of whether or not she was truly ready to. It may not have been the suggested way, or maybe not the healthiest way, but it was the way that worked for her. It allowed her to still be herself.
One of the more known operations that Kalyn was a part of was a small Mandalorian uprising, carried out by a single clan tired of living in forced peace under the Republic and seeking to reclaim former glory. It started out as quiet rumblings and small outbursts of violence, and Kal's squad and a few others from the battalion it was a part of had been sent to keep the peace. The military presence only added more fuel to the fire. The Mandalorians ended up attacking first; it was sudden and brutal guerrilla tactics, but when the Republic soldiers were able to organize themselves they pushed them back. The constant pushing back of either side lasted for a few days due to the Mandalorians training and use of their terrain, and the insufficient amount of soldiers that had been sent by the Republic.
Kal did well under pressure. She wasn't the kind to bend or break under it and didn't become afraid easily, even perhaps in times when she should have. During the days that this skirmish went on she performed exceptionally well. She followed orders, was efficient at eliminating the enemy, and looked out for her fellow soldiers. She would've likely seen a great deal of praise when it was all over.
As usual though, her ego got in the way of things. She became overconfident and despite a warning from her sergeant, walked right into an ambush. She fell to the ground after taking a shot to the chest and another to the shoulder. Despite the shooting that erupted from both sides two of her squadmates risked running out there and dragging her back into cover. The entire time she continued to fire her gun from the ground, dealing with the pain by yelling taunts at the Mandalorians over the chaos.
Kalyn was kept out of the rest of the fighting to allow her time to recover. The fighting only lasted for a few more days after that, when reinforcements showed up and the Mandalorians were outnumbered and overpowered.
When the skirmish was over, Sergeant Raan spoke highly of her and her injuries in the line of duty to their officers. The officers knew her attitude and they weren't very fond of it, or her. Despite their correct assumptions that her injuries were a result of her unacceptable ego, they had no way to prove this, and in the end it mattered little anyway. They reluctantly commended Kal for her exceptional performance on the battlefield. Something that to this day amuses her a great deal.
That was typically how it went for Kalyn and her time in the military: she would do something admirable, then negate it a few days later with her less-than-passive and brash personality. The closeness of her squad allowed her to get away with more than she would have otherwise. Although with time she had learned to accept that sometimes she just had to bite her tongue and follow orders it was still difficult, if not impossible for her to control some of the remarks that came out of her mouth. She still saw consequences for it.
It was rarely with the soldiers she spent a lot of time with. Those who knew her well knew that she was a loyal friend and sister, who would watch their backs and support them completely as she stood and fought at their sides. It was when she had to interact with the higher ups, the officers, that she paid more for her sometimes defiant words and actions. Those were the times when their sergeant had little choice but to go along with and follow protocol and see that she was disciplined.
Overall she was lucky. Lucky that Orin was more lenient, lucky that he sometimes stuck his neck out for her, lucky that physically she was an exceptional soldier, and very lucky that she didn't get herself kicked out early on. Her attitude had left the highest ranking superiors with a less than stellar opinion of her, and though she avoided court martial she had little hope of rising far in the ranks. She didn't know it at the time, but eventually it would cause her even more trouble.
In her fourth year of service, a new group of soldiers who had just finished their training arrived at the base Kalyn's squad was stationed at for the time being. Overall they were good people who fit in pretty well. There was one boy in particular though, a human, who was a rude, unlikeable loudmouth. He thought himself the Force's gift to the Republic Army.
He would often suck up to officers, but to his fellow enlisted men and woman he acted and spoke as if he was better than the rest of them. He considered himself untouchable because he came from a family of military men and his father was- as he put it and made sure everyone knew- a well respected and influential high ranking officer. That did little to sway Kalyn and while he went on one of his rants against a poor fellow new soldier who had 'insulted' him, she called him out on what he was doing regardless.
He baited her, calling her derogatory names and insulting her squad. She fired back looking nothing but amused the entire time, which only fueled his anger more. He stepped things up and shoved her. She pushed him back and away from her, and as he recovered from the stumble he swung his fist, catching her in the jaw. At that point the gloves were off, and the two brawled right there. It was only broken up when three sergeants interfered, separating them and stopping the fight. Both were thrown into holding cells.
Kalyn wasn't worried at the time. She knew she would still see some backlash for fighting at all, but she hadn't thrown the first punch and it could easily be seen as self-defense. At the very least, she was pleased that the other guy would be disciplined too. As far as she was concerned, it had been worth it. What she didn't know, was that she was about to made an example of.
She ended up spending almost three months locked up, without ever being told why, how long she would be in there, or ever having any sort of trial, hearing, or even just someone in a position of power showing any concern for how events unfolded from her perspective. That other soldier she eventually found out had been released that first day, and saw no punishment at all. Not even a mark on his record.
The officer who had orchestrated the situation, that other soldier's father, came to speak with her only once; right before she was finally released, to tell her that she should be ready to accept the consequences she had brought down upon herself. He was sure to mention that in the end it would be best not only for herself, but also for the sake of her squad's reputation and well being. With that threat looming over her, he had little to worry about as he carried out the final twist of the knife.
A hearing was held to decide if Kalyn should be allowed to return to duty. The officer cited she had often been insubordinate, had been punished multiple times prior to the incident, and was clearly unstable. He said that in this time of shaky peace, she was not the kind of soldier that embodied what the Republic Army should stand for and she should be removed from it. The others present were quick to agree, deciding on a forced, quiet discharge. While they stated it was to avoid harming morale and also in fact to protect her from too much backlash, there was little doubt that at the core of that decision was the intention to avoid too much attention and publicity; to hide that there was in fact some corruption behind the scenes.
For one of the rare times in her life, Kalyn swallowed her pride and chose not to fight. It was obvious that this man was powerful, with friends in high places. She could push back, make a scene and cause all of this to blow up into something bigger than it was... but there was no guarantee that she would win, or that she would even come out on top, or that her brothers in arms wouldn't suffer for it. Not to mention some of the things he had said about her were true, and that would work against her. It wasn't worth it this time.
So she didn't make a fuss, she didn't become outraged or depressed, she didn't cry injustice. She simply did as she usually did; gave a cocky smirk, some smartass final remarks to her superiors, said her goodbyes to her squadmates, and moved on. With all the benefits she received from the military now lost and few other options left to her, she returned home to her family.
Her mother was happy to see her home, welcomed her back with open arms, and hoped that things could return to the way they used to be, but her father would quickly drive those hopes into the ground. He barely interacted with his daughter, and the few words they spoke to each other were done out of only the most extreme necessity. He had turned his back on her completely as he felt she had done to him four years before. It was as if she was dead to him. She chose to deal with it, figuring that eventually he would warm back up to her. After all, he was still her father.
Unfortunately for her, things got worse quicker than they got better. After a heated argument with her husband her mother began to slowly stop interacting with her daughter as well, seeking not to antagonize him or the situation further. It eventually got to the point where she would go days without a single word or even acknowledgment of existence from either of her parents. After months of this treatment, she decided enough was enough. She had tried to stay by her family's side, but things were clearly not going to get better and she needed to move on. She announced her intention to leave, and the next day she was gone. Neither tried to stop her.
An Honest Living... Is No Fun (22-25)
"Evenin', gents! I'm here to negotiate! With blasters!"
After leaving her home planet for the second, and maybe last time, Kalyn wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself. She had planned to stay with the military longer, maybe even for life, but that was no longer an option. Obviously she needed to find work, start her life again... but she had no idea what sort of life she even wanted or what kind of job she could hold. The thought occurred to her that she maybe should have put a little more effort into planning these things out in the past. Really, though... that wasn't much her style.
She ended up holding a few temporary jobs for a while, mostly involving some kind of manual labor. It was probably what she was best suited for at this point. One job that she got and stuck with for a few months was aboard a large cargo freighter with many clients. She was in charge of keeping track of, and moving and organizing the large amount of cargo it transported. It wasn't overly difficult work for her. She did, however, find it to be a pretty boring experience. It was steady though, and she needed the credits. Not to mention time to figure out what she really wanted to do with her life. She at least knew it wasn't this.
The captain of the ship, known by the name of Mak Vox, was not the most straight-edged man. He had been involved in crime before, but most who knew of it weren't stupid enough to say anything about it. Kal herself had picked up on some of his less than legal dealings. At the very least he had smuggled some illegal goods between worlds and she suspected he may have been involved in more. She could have brought it to the attention of the authorities... But if the highest members of the military could be corrupt and get away with it without consequence, she saw no reason why this guy couldn't. Spite may have played more of a role in her decision than she realized.
She was a good worker and the captain took notice of it; and of her silence. They got along well enough and her sarcastic, sometimes obnoxious demeanor didn't bother him. In fact it tended to amuse him more than anything. Eventually he approached her, offering her some extra work. Off the books. He explained that a couple of customers had swindled him, and refused to pay him all that they owed. He knew that Kalyn, with her military experience, had some skills in "negotiation" and could handle it for him and get what was owed from them. After the slightest of hesitation, Kal's answer was, "why the hell not?".
She went to the men to collect the unpaid credits. The men were less than agreeable and things of course got violent. They weren't expecting Kal to put up much of a fight, but they quickly regretted that assumption. They gave in and handed over the money, which she returned to Mak. He was extremely pleased, paid her what he had promised, and told her that if he had any other opportunities for "bonuses" that she would be the first to know.
True to his word, Mak came to her with more tasks, which she accepted everytime. They were all of a similar nature, dealing with clients or former employees who had in some way not kept to agreements with him. Eventually he also asked her to knowingly help with some of his smuggling operations. He even eventually supplied her with a blaster for protection. Kalyn knew what she was doing was very illegal, and morally questionable. But the extra money was nothing to complain about, and neither was the excitement of doing something more than organizing boxes all day. As far as she was concerned, none of these people were innocent and knew exactly what they were doing. Her conscience didn't put up much of a fight.
This continued for a few months. Mak may have been a man of gray morality, but he was good to those who were good to him. He mentioned Kalyn's name to a few of his associates and contacts on some of the planets they stopped on frequently, and spoke highly of her work and her discretion. Suddenly her name was out there, and when docked on those planets she would find herself occasionally being offered work from them as well. Her personality grated on some of them, but as long as she did what was asked, they dealt with it.
There was a certain company that Mak did business with often. They specialized in all things spaceship related. Building ships themselves, parts, modifications, anything that involved ships, they supplied and offered. It was run by two business men known commonly by their surnames, Sarkin and Feraan, who had started the business together as partners years before. Sarkin had a pretty serious problem. There had been attempts on his life, two so far that had failed. He didn't know who was responsible or why, but was worried about going to the authorities about it. Over the years the practices of the business had not always been completely... legitimate. He was worried they would be discovered.
Mak had sent Kal to meet with the man for business, this time, completely legal and related to transporting some cargo for him. But Sarkin was desperate, and when he met her he offered to hire her to both protect him and try to figure out who was trying to have him killed. She agreed. The next day, Feraan pulled her aside to speak to her privately. The partner admitted that it was him who was trying to have Sarkin killed. He had become greedy and wanted to take over their business fully and receive all of the profits for himself, but Sarkin refused to sell his half. So Feraan decided to take matters into his own hands.
He hadn't hired anyone professional to do it, which was why he had failed so far. Just a few of their workers who he had promised large pay increases to make it worth their while to side with him and do his dirty work. He offered Kalyn more credits than she was already being given if she instead sided with him, stepping aside and allowing the other man to be killed. He told her that it would be worth her while. Initially after some brief thought, Kal agreed. The promise of such a greater reward was enough of a reason for the brash decision.
Later that evening he arranged a private meeting with his partner. Kalyn, still acting as Sarkin's bodyguard, was present when Feraan strolled into the office along with two of the employees he had swayed, feeling completely untouchable. It was clear to her that this was the moment he was going to act, and he fully expected her to do nothing. Despite her earlier agreement with the traitorous man, things would not play out the way he expected them to.
At that last moment, Kalyn had decided to once again side with Sarkin. She had settled on siding with the better of the two men after all, though she kept her reasoning to herself. The young woman did have morals and a conscience, and it was speaking far too loudly for her to ignore this time. She also had no doubts that a man who would betray his partner of many years would likely rescind on his promised reward and do away with loose ends as well.
She revealed Feraan's plans which resulted in a frantic reaction. Blasters were drawn and shooting began. This was Kalyn's element, and they had been forced into it. The advantage was very clearly not theirs - a businessman and two ordinary manual workers - none of them were particularly good shots. Despite their attempts panic was what drove them, not experience, and after the brief chaos of a short firefight, Feraan was killed and the workers who sided with him had surrendered. Sarkin, who had cowered behind his desk, was unharmed.
Grateful to Kalyn for her help, Sarkin offered her an unexpected reward: her own ship, supplied completely for free by what was now solely his company. The ship itself was nothing special. Clearly an older model that there was no demand for anymore, one that would sit unused until it faded away into obscurity otherwise. Regardless of its age, it was in good enough shape to be fully functional and get her from one place to another. It would also give her something else: Freedom. Freedom to go where she wanted, when she wanted, at her own pace. She accepted the offer. She returned to Mak and thanked him for the steady job, but told him that she was leaving. Though disappointed to lose someone useful, Mak would not stop her.
Now with her own ship, some contacts, and the freedom to go where she pleased, Kalyn dove head first into this new life. She of course started out small, doing very minor, simple jobs such as those she had done for Mak. It would take a while for her to learn the ins and outs of fringer life, but adapting was never a problem for her. She tended to mostly operate on neutral worlds, such as those owned by the Hutts, as they were practically breeding grounds for corruption and illegal dealings. She was not afraid to look for and accept work in Republic space, and when it was available, she would take it.
Acquiring a blaster was a necessity. If she was going to be doing dangerous work and running in these sorts of circles, she couldn't travel around unarmed. Acquiring two however, was a snap decision. She liked the idea of wielding two guns at once. Blasters were easier for her to get her hands on and she had always felt a bit of a liking toward them, more so than the rifles she had mostly trained with while in the army. She had used them before and had plenty of shooting training and practice during her four years of service, but learning how to use them better was something she enthusiastically wanted to do.
Her practicing took more than just the traditional form. There was always target practice and shooting ranges and the like, and she used them very frequently... but Kal was a hands-on type of person. Whenever she found herself in a fight or shoot out - which with her charming personality and the crowds she ran with, wasn't so infrequent - she would try to pull off more complicated shots rather than playing it safe. Sometimes multiple times if she messed up at first. It may have led to more injuries, but it also helped her learn faster and more effectively.
It quickly became more than just necessary practice for her. It became a hobby, something she enjoyed and strove to improve at constantly in all ways from that point on and into the present. Over many years of practice and experience she grew highly skilled with her chosen weaponry and rarely ever chose to use anything else, a fact that still remains true now. Tricks shots, quick drawing and aiming without sacrificing accuracy, and of course, gun spinning to look stylish while doing it all were extra skills she worked on over the years and never stopped making an effort to improve in. She figured after all, might as well look flashy while also being amazing, right?
As time went by Kalyn wasn't picky with the jobs she would seek out or do. Smuggling, protection, retrieval, enforcing, even some bounty hunting. She would do any of it, as long as gave her something to do and it paid. Over time, even immoral circumstances and details began to matter little to her. She came to know, understand, and fit into this new environment and the people in it well. Some of them were more friendly than others, but overall it was a devious, shady crowd. Friends were not something she had among these people. Not only did her sometimes obnoxious personality not gain her many favorable reactions from others, but too many of them would readily stab you in the back for their own gain. After a few years in this life she had chosen, she couldn't rightfully say that she would be innocent of such a thing either.
Kal did make allies here and there despite her difficult to deal with personality. She got results, and some people were actually amused by the way she acted or the things she did. She wouldn't exactly call these people "friends", but they were a step above being classified as "that one guy I worked for/with/shot at that one time". One of these allies was a Zabrak man named Kisk Vekei, the owner and bartender of a successful cantina on Nar Shaddaa. Kalyn discovered it, liked the atmosphere and the owner, and became a regular whenever she was planetside.
She was there one night after a few drinks when a few members of a very small upstart gang decided to flex their tiny muscles and showed up, trashing the place, roughing up some of the more regular patrons who didn't look like they could put up a fight, and even being ballsy enough to actually shoot dead two of the customers before running off. Kalyn was a bit drunk, mixed with her typical overconfidence, and she decided she was having none of this. She went after them and gave them a lesson in karma.
From that point on Kisk considered her one of his favorite patrons, and told her that if she ever needed a favor, he'd be there. It hadn't really been the woman's goal, but she accepted the offer nonetheless. The occasional free drinks were a nice plus too.
As was probably the case with many others who shared her kind of life, Kalyn was not even fully aware of the slow change that took place in her the more time she spent in the fringe. Despite always being a bit of a pain she was never what one would consider a bad or evil person before she took that first job from Mak. She felt empathy and respected innocent life, and at one time truly did believe in protecting and serving others. She couldn't see how those morals had dulled, and how the voice of her conscience had been drowned out. Even when she found herself doing things that in her youth she could have never imagined she would do - things like stealing from those who needed most, or shooting men begging for their lives... - she couldn't truly understand what she had allowed herself to become. She was caught up in it. In the success, in the profit, in the constant excitement of it all.
For a a few years she lived blissfully ignorant and fairly well this way. The risk may have been higher than a normal, steady job, but it was also way more exciting and she could handle it. She even managed to earn herself a good reputation for a while as someone who was dependable regardless of the circumstances of the job she was carrying out. It ended up getting her a lot of work. The former farm girl was doing pretty well for herself. It was too good to last.
The Consequences of Good Intentions (25)
"You're not gettin' a word of regret outta me. Now try not to disappoint after all that big talk."
Nar Shaddaa was a world overflowing with corruption and crime. Though it was the Hutts who held most of the power on the planet, they were not the only ones to have it. Keth Targon was a name that many on Nar Shaddaa knew, and often spoke of with subdued voices and an intense, underlying fear. He was a cruel, severe human being with little room in his heart for sympathy or good will. He had ties to the Exchange, and had amassed a great deal of wealth, influence, and power across the whole of the planet. He was not a man one wanted to be noticed by, not a man to be trifled with, and not a man to cross. Kalyn Duren, with all her impressive people skills, managed to accomplish all three.
She got herself caught in the middle of a complicated situation that ended up being more trouble than she had expected. Targon was a man who had no aversion to slavery and owned quite a few slaves of his own. One of them was a young teenaged human girl named Cora, who had grown up alone on Nar Shaddaa and survived on her own however she could before she was one day grabbed off the street by slavers. She ended up becoming Targon's property, but never once gave up on finding a way out of her situation. Her attention and perseverance paid off, and one day she found a chance to escape and took it.
She fled from Targon's home and stowed away on a ship heading off world into Republic space, but not before swiping some holodiscs she had found in his office. She took them to use as leverage and insurance, enough to either keep him from coming after her or for bargaining for her freedom. A good theory, but in practice it caused more harm than good. They ended up being the very reason she was persued. Those holodiscs she had stolen contained recordings Targon would use to blackmail a Republic senator, and branch some of his influence out onto Coruscant. He wanted them back, and he wanted to make an example of this slave girl who had the gall to attempt to manipulate him. After shooting his inept head of security he sent two of his men to pursue her, and bring both her and the recordings back.
She was still only a teenage girl and not very good at covering her tracks. After only a short while of them searching and tracking her down they found her in the undercity of Coruscant and caught her easily enough. They just had to get her and the recordings back to Nar Shaddaa. Unfortunately for them, they had been a bit too unsubtle with their planetside activities. They were being very carefully watched by the authorities, who were suspicious of these men clearly not aligned with the Republic. They suspected them of something illegal but were uncertain of what and had no proof. Still it was enough to make Targon unwilling to risk having his lackeys caught and it leading back to him, especially because it could have jeopardized his attempts to extend some of his reach to Republic controlled Coruscant. They would need a third party for this, someone who could leave with and deliver their "cargo" without having the glaring eyes of the law focused on them.
When they went looking for someone to do the job for them, Kal was present on the planet to restock on some supplies and was someone who Targon had at least minute knowledge about. He had heard of her reputation for completing things to the end, no matter the circumstances. It was decided she was reliable enough, and his men went to her with his offer. They offered her a large amount of compensation with half up front to move some "delicate cargo". It wasn't until after she had agreed to do it that they would allow the details to become known to her. Despite the unusually loud screaming protests of her conscience due to a kid being involved, she decided to still go through with it. The voice at the back of her mind was quieted for a while by the prospect of just how many credits she would be getting for this.
Both the holodiscs and the girl were handed over to her, hidden away inside of an ordinary looking cargo crate and she left the planet with her with little issue. At first she fully intended to finish the job with hardly any inner conflict. That voice in her head would not give up that easily though. She fought internally with herself almost constantly, and by the time her trip was halfway over she couldn't even get it out of her mind. She knew what she was doing was wrong. She knew Targon's reputation, and she knew exactly what was going to happen to that girl. Kalyn had rationalized that she had made her bed and now she had to lie in it. But despite trying to convince herself that was true, the teenager was really probably nothing more than a kid caught in a bad situation who made a mistake. But her fate now was either a slow, painful death, or a lifetime of degrading and sadistic slavery. Kal didn't know this girl, but did she really deserve that?
Her conscience just wouldn't let it go. She felt the guilt weighing down on her, more than she had felt in a long time, reminding her that only a few years earlier she would have never dreamed of allowing such a thing to happen let alone been a part of it. Is this what she had become? Someone who would heartlessly, blamelessly, hand over a troubled girl whose life has barely even really begun to a monster like Keth Targon for some credits? Was that what another life was worth to her now? The realization hit her harder than anything had in a long while. No. She knew that she couldn't see this one through. She couldn't - wouldn't - be that person. This was too far over the edge. She needed to pull herself back.
Instead of continuing to Nar Shaddaa, Kalyn docked her ship at the Citadel space station. Somewhere she knew would have a good amount of ships coming in and out every day. She released the girl, gave her a gift of some extra credits, and told her to run. There were plenty of ships that would allow her on board for some credits, that could take her somewhere away from Targon and the reach of his arm. She told her to stay away from Nar Shaddaa, away from involvement with the criminal world, and to be smart and remain out of Targon's sight. The girl was still shaken and afraid, and confused by Kal's decision, but she thanked her and disappeared into the crowd. Kalyn never found out where she had gone, or even knew her name, and that was exactly how she wanted it.
Kalyn was left with the holodiscs, and the need to figure out what her next step would be. She could have used them as blackmail and leverage against Targon herself. Surely there was something she could get from him. At least the possible insurance that he wouldn't lash out at her for taking it upon herself to decide the girl should go free. Yet if he would chase down a teenage girl, what would stop him from doing the same for Kal? Targon was vindictive and powerful. He would not just sit around and allow that to happen to him.
She knew at this point that she had gotten herself into some trouble. Yet she wasn't overly worried or concerned about it. This was certainly one of those situations where it would have done her good to address the severity of her situation. She didn't. Instead she decided that she could handle this fine herself and come out of it alright, if she just returned the discs, didn't take his money, and washed her hands of the whole thing. He would have what he probably wanted the most back, for free, and have no reason to further drag it out.
In her head it made sense. She was overconfident and convinced she could talk her way out of this. Or if it really came down to it, that she could fight her way out of it instead. She traveled to Nar Shaddaa, marched herself right into Targon's office, tossed the holodiscs and the credits she had received upfront onto his desk, and explained what she had done nonchalantly and with absolutely no sign of regret.
Targon was, shockingly, displeased. This woman thought she could change the details of their agreement as she saw fit. As if she was the one in charge. That was incredibly insulting to his pride. She had cost him his chance to punish someone who had wronged him, and expected she could walk away without consequence while leaving him looking like a pushover. Well, if he couldn't make an example of that teenaged thief, he could make one of this arrogant woman instead.
The ensuing fight was a short one. Kalyn took a shot to the leg and was soon overpowered after that. He could have put a blaster bolt in her brain right there and then and have been done with it, but that wasn't how he worked. He was known for being overly flashy and elaborate in his actions, and in his punishments. He would cause extreme pain and leave a sense of constant fear in his enemies. He would be sure to leave his mark for others to see, to remind them to think twice about earning his ire. To him, all of that was far more effective, rewarding, and useful than simply ending a life.
He had her tortured for days upon days. His goal was to break her and make her regret what she had done. Yet despite the pain that racked her body day in and day out from all the different, 'creative' ways that she was made to endure it, she never once gave him what he wanted. She never apologized, and she never spoke a word of remorse. Regardless of that, it all took its toll on her eventually. Only then when she was the weakest and most feeble she had ever been did he finally decide he was satisfied. Now that he was, it was time for him to use her to send a message.
He had his men take her to the cantina she was known to frequent the most; one that was popular with the criminal element and where people would recognize her, and toss her battered form right onto one the tables. When they had the attention of most of the patrons they announced clearly that this was the price for double crossing and rescinding on a deal with Keth Targon, before one of them drew a knife and drove it into her stomach. Despite her screams of pain as he dragged it through her torso, no one stood up to challenge or stop them. Targon's men left the cantina, leaving Kalyn lying on the table and quickly bleeding to death.
She should have died that day. With what her body had already been put through and the severity of the wound she had just been given, survival was barely even a possibility. What saved her life was that the cantina they had dropped her off in was the cantina of one Kisk Vekei, and he wasn't about to let his favorite customer bleed out on one of his tables.
Together with practically all the medical supplies he had available to him and the help of a small group of regulars they were able to keep her alive for long enough to get her to an underground clinic with access to a kolto tank, backed and funded by a wealthy Hutt. Though she remained critical for days and her survival was still questionable during that time, she managed to pull through and stabilize despite all expectations.
It was a miracle she survived. It may have had something to do with her being stubborn even while on the brink of death, clinging to life and refusing to let it go. It took weeks for her to recover enough to even move around half as well as she normally did. Her body was left covered in scars from stabs, gashes, burns, and blaster wounds she had sustained during her time spent as Targon's captive. They would be a constant reminder of what she had lived through. Yet it was not in Kal's nature to brood or become overwhelmed by depression. It would take time, but mentally she would cover it up almost as easily as her permanent physical wounds were covered under her clothing. The extent of how deeply the experience truly does linger with her is questionable, as she's never spoken about it with anyone. Though hiding or covering scars never really makes them vanish.
After weeks of lying low as she physically and mentally recovered she leapt back into action, as was her way. She was forced to sell her ship in order to pay for her medical expenses, something which was not ideal but that she knew was necessary. The last thing she wanted to deal with was being indebted to a Hutt. As soon as she was capable she left Nar Shaddaa, not intending to return for a while if she could help it. Targon was well aware that she had survived, but instead of angering him it amused him. She was a walking warning to anyone who would even think of crossing him. As far as he was concerned he had broken and scarred her, and she would have to live with it for the rest of her life. Overall it was, he thought, a fitting and acceptable punishment, and a beneficial outcome for him.
Moving Right Along (26-28)
"Are we just gonna sit here and talk about how great I am all day, or you got somethin' for me to do? Just wanna be clear, either way's fine with me."
Though Kalyn's personality stayed the same as it had always been she was much more cautious in her dealings from that point on. She suddenly seemed vehemently opposed to certain ways of doing things. Despite what she been through as a result of helping that girl, she didn't regret her decision and didn't allow the consequences she had to deal with to change that. She would never be a part of something like that again. Maybe yet another showing of her stubbornness.
Still, this didn't magically turn her into some paragon of justice and good will overnight. She was still more concerned with her own well being and survival than she was with the plight of others. What it did do, was make her step back and think about what she was doing more often than before. She was still hardly an example of good morals or decent behavior, but she wasn't running around committing atrocities or turning a blind eye to all suffering. What Cora's situation had done for Kalyn was given her a line she wouldn't cross, and her conscience a voice again, though it still had to struggle to be heard at times.
Things returned to some sense of normalcy. Or at least what was normal for her. She traveled from planet to planet when she could, getting by and generally living very simply. She avoided letting herself become too noticeable in anything she did. She caught rides with others for payment, and even found a temporary place among a small crew here and there. Nothing was permanent or long-lasting for her though. She always left and went out on her own again long before there could be any real sense of attachment. For many years it had been difficult for her to settle down, and that never changed.
She kept on drifting about doing what jobs she could find. Things had slowed down for her, though she could never fully tell if that was due to her own caution, or if what had happened with Targon left some kind of mark on her that made others wary. Whatever the reason, she still had no difficultly making a decent living for herself and wasn't one to complain.
The most recent work she found was on Tatooine. Her and three others were hired to escort a shipment of cargo through the desert from one city to another. Their employer claimed the cargo was supplies for a scientific expedition, and that he only wanted to be cautious and keep it safe. It was an easy sounding job, if not a little strange. None of them seemed to see any reason to question it though, as long as they were paid. It turned out that they were little more than bait. The cargo was meant to draw the attention of two separate factions on Tatooine who would fight over it, causing increased tension between them, and apparently benefiting their supposed employer.
During what was supposed to be this simple escort they came under attack from two separate groups and blaster shots began to fly everywhere. Their employer had completely failed to mention that anyone with significant firepower and organization might be interested in this cargo at all. Two of the group were killed in the fighting, while Kalyn and the other remaining mercenary fought their way out of the mess and escaped by stealing a speeder from one of the groups.
It became clear to the two that the man who hired them was not expecting any of them to survive. Their suspicions were confirmed when they arrived at the given location where they were supposed to bring the cargo and meet their employer for payment, and found no one there at all to meet them. It was obvious they weren't getting paid at this point. After that the two went their separate ways. At this point, Kal was beginning to question her luck. As always though, what else was there to do but look forward and move on? She found transport off the planet and continued on with her life, though at the back of her mind she reminded herself to punch their 'employer' in the face a few hundred times if she ever saw him again.
Since then she has been laying low. Dwindling away her saved credits keeping herself fed and entertained, and keeping busy however and whenever she can while she drifts around the galaxy, searching for and waiting for her next opportunity to present itself. Whatever it may be.
RP Sample:
Five random people sitting around a table at the back of a dark, shifty bar in one of the most shady cities on Tatooine, discussing business. Yeah, this definitely looked legitimate.
The funny part was that as far as any of them knew, it was. They were being hired as protection for cargo, not being asked to do anything knowingly illegal. Though that wouldn't have been a deal breaker for any of them. None of them seemed to care about the details enough to ask many questions. It wasn't as if there was much to explain either. Escort cargo. Shoot any creatures or bandits that may happen to wander too close. It was a simple job.
"I've spoken to all of you separately regarding compensation." The man representing their employer was wrapping up an unnecessarily long-winded explanation. "Are we all still in agreement?"
Two of the four hired guns nodded in confirmation. Kalyn leaned back in her chair, watching the man with that ever present smirk on her expression. It was possible that the damn thing was welded onto her face. She spoke with a tone laced with sarcasm she made no attempt to conceal. "Thought about askin' for more since the job's so complicated, but hey, I'm in anyway." The man gave her an unamused look, which only motivated her to keep talking. "Should ask for hazard pay though, since that long drawn out explanation of yours almost bored me to death." The man drew in a breath and let out a sigh before simply glancing to the one person who hadn't answered yet.
The last of the four crossed his arms over his chest and answered with a deep voice, "Alright."
-----
"I am thinking of reneging on our contract."
Was spoken surprisingly calmly from behind the mess of boulders they were using as cover. They'd come under fire from two large groups as they moved through a massive canyon. Groups of speeders pulled up on either side of them and before they had time to process what was happening the shooting began. Not only were these groups shooting at them, but at each other too, clearly showing that they weren't friends. The entire situation was one hectic mess of confusion, and Kalyn kind of loved it. Here she was thinking this job was going to be boring and uneventful.
She side glanced at her companion, the only other hired mercenary left. The other two who had been with them were apparently not so great at not getting shot and had shuffled off their mortal coils pretty quickly after the attack began.
He was a towering gargantuan of a man. Standing at his full height he was at least a foot taller than her, and she wasn't exactly small herself. He called himself Biggs. Which was either a really unoriginal and redundant alias, or some impressive precognition on the part of his folks. Though they had talked a bit during the trip, he had been fairly quiet and soft spoken until now.
"As helpful as your whining is, you should probably stop and just go with the flow, Big Guy."
"Like them?" He jerked his head toward the corpses that had previously been their companions.
"They just got unlucky. These guys are awful shots. Now go be bait so I can pick 'em off one by one."
"If they're so awful, you be the bait."
"Nah, I'm comfy. 'Sides, this is a spot with good cover and I can see everything from here. 'Less you wanna get us outta this by complaining at them. I'm sure that'll make 'em stop shooting at us."
Biggs glanced at her blasters, well used and well cared for. He had to suspect that she was as good with them as she claimed to be. Then he looked at his own, a beat up old pistol he had grabbed off the ground after his own had taken a shot and ceased to function.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to trade?"
She turned to look at him, that smirk of her's widened. Kal was surprised that had worked. Most would've pretty quickly told her to go frak herself, and she would've ended up out there herself. She would've done it. She was pretty certain with her skills and speed that she could take out quite a few of these guys before they had the chance to shoot at her, even without the benefit of cover. But this worked too.
Biggs sighed and he shifted himself as he readied his blaster. "Ready?"
"Watch and see."
He grunted and shook his head before pushing off the side of boulder and rushing out into the open, screaming like a maniac to grab as much attention as possible and firing wildly at every open target he saw. It worked well much to his chagrin and he soon found himself dodging shots left and right and praising whatever force gifted these men with their horrible blaster skills.
"DAMNIT DUREN!" Was heard clearly amongst other yelled obscenities from the once subdued man's mouth. Kal grinned widely to herself at that before shifting to lean out from her cover. She immediately saw at least four open targets. They weren't even making this challenging for her, and that was a little disappointing.
Both her blasters were aimed in different directions, onto two separate targets. She pulled the triggers and near instantly both were hit, one collapsed backwards after the shot struck his chest, and the other slumped forward against the speeder he had poorly been using as cover. With no hesitation Kal's eyes slid to her next target, a man who had climbed up onto a low cliff on the wall of the canyon. He probably figured from up there he could see more and have a better chance. He was about to regret that. Her blasters shifted and she fired them one after the other. The first shot struck him in the chest and caused him to stumble until the second hit only a moment after and he tumbled from his perch and down into the sand below.
From the corner of her eye she saw a rifle being aimed in her direction. Seemed she had caught someone's attention. She ducked back down behind her cover just as a blaster bolt struck the boulder in front of her. She immediately popped back out, pistol pointed right at him and fired. As he scrambled to hide behind his own cover the bolt caught him in the side of the head and ended that failed attempt.
Biggs was making his way back now, probably tired of dancing around and barely avoiding death. Kalyn saw one of the attackers aiming for him and her blaster immediately snapped in his direction. She pulled the trigger and caught him right in the knee, causing him to collapse and the shot he had so diligently prepared ended up nowhere near Biggs, who scrambled and rolled back behind the rock next to Kal.
Clearly in pain and angry, the man raised his rifle and began firing wildly at them. Kalyn ducked down, just barely avoiding a shot that could have met her skull. She looked to Biggs, unphased and still smirking, before she spun her blaster a few times in her hand and again left the safety of their cover. She barely needed any time at all to aim. She lifted her gun at the man and squeezed the trigger. His head snapped back as the blaster bolt hit him square in between the eyes and his body quickly crumpled to the floor.
Biggs took a moment to catch his breath before turning eyes onto the woman beside him as she retook her safe spot.
"...Not bad."
"I know."
