Private A New Beginning

[Ko Zan]

A NEW BEGINNING
PLANET: ANAXES

Looking around the scrap pile that Ko was currently standing beside, he wasn't sure what to think about the whole situation. Sure this wasn't Apatros, and the air was already markedly better but it still looked like another Shavit hole of the Galaxy, all be it a Shavit hole with much more potential. And if Ko was being honest with himself, any planet was better than Apatros. From orbit, the surface of Anaxes looked like it was completely covered in broken-down ships of various sizes and classes, and scrap parts. Here there would be much more opportunities to build something worth more than some scrap mining machines.

"Well kid," the sour Captain of transport started to say as he walked up beside Ko. "This is as far as the credits you gave me takes ya. Unless you got some more this is where we part ways."

"Thanks," Ko replied his voice stiff and with very little of the gratitude, he was expressing. He was grateful for the ride away from Apatros and the mess that he had left behind there, but he had paid most of what few credits he had to get here in addition to the massive amount of repair work he had done for the Captain. He had thought that would have at least gotten him out of the Outer Rim at least, but the Captain wasn't about to extend that kindness to Ko. "But I think I'll be good here, do you know of anywhere to get some food around here before you take off?"

"There is a general store just outside the spaceport," he replied chuckling. He probably thought Ko wouldn't last here for long, and if he had been a miner like the others from Apatros he would have been right. This place though looked like a gold mine of ships and parts that he could use and doubted he would be here long. "Good luck kid," the Captain finally said as he walked back up into his ship. "You'll need it."

Making his way into the settlement that seemed to surround the spaceport, Ko tried to get his barrings. The first thing he needed was to secure some food and water. From what he saw in orbit he doubted there was anything to safely eat or drink out in the open, and as soon as he could Ko planned out heading out into the scrap and see what he could find. If he was lucky the credits he had left would keep him alive long enough to get a ship working, or long enough to build something he could sell.

As he walked Ko looked at the people around him, seeing the same broken, empty, and haunted looks on the faces of the denizens that filled the small streets, he began to get that weird tingling feeling on the back of his neck. |Usually it meant something dangerous was just around the corner, or something he needed was nearby, but this felt, different. He had never felt anything like it before. Stopping Ko looked around trying to figure out the source of this feeling. He was sure it was another person, he wasn't sure why, but he knew it was another person. And it wasn't dangerous, but definitely important.

 

[Cailen Corso]

Cailen would be about 10 years old here, four years prior to his current adventures...

"Ow!" Cailen yelped as he pinched his finger between two duralloy plates. He was picking over the rusted remains of an RZ-1 A-wing, a relic of ship that was barely recognizable in its battle-damaged state. He removed the panel and looked at a mess of wires and capacitors. Cailen took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let his fingers run gently over the electronics. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and grinned wide. He carefully plucked a few choice capacitors from the panel and dumped them into his satchel.

Not bad for the first job of the day. Cailen moved around the ship to the opposite panel and performed the same method as before; He couldn't explain how or why, but when he closed his eyes and focused, he could almost feel the residual energies within the components of the ship. It was very useful in the shipyards where he worked. Only functional parts were kept and reused by the Galactic Alliance fleet, and it was Cailen's job to help find such parts to pass along to the crews on Anaxes Station.

Cailen withdrew another handful of capacitors from the rusted ship before climbing on top of the vessel. It was a magnificent ship, or at least it used to be. He could sense the echoes of the pilot who flew it ages ago and smirked. He was a witty human, Cailen sensed.

He wedged his hand into the manual lock release mechanism on the exterior of the cockpit and opened the piloting pod. He took a glance into the cockpit and examined the dashboard scanners. The monitors were cracked and dusty, but several of the energy couplings near the bottom of the console looked to be intact. That's an excellent find by scrapper standards, worth enough to feed his family for a week if he can get the couplings to the station by the end of his shift. Cailen nearly squealed at the sight.

He carefully pulled the couplings from their sockets and held them up high.

"Baatu, look!" the boy called for his friend, a Rodian scrapper about the same age as Cailen. But his friend must've gotten off somewhere else. He wasn't in sight. Cailen looked about for a moment before spotting another human boy a few years older than him. He looked like he was new to the shipyards, but Cailen wasn't sure. He only knew that he'd never seen the other boy in this part of the scrapyard before.

Cailen slipped the couplings into his satchel and waved kindly from the top of the A-wing.

 

[Ko Zan]

As he continued to scan the scrap piles around him, his attention got caught on a boy waving towards him. At first, Ko wasn't sure the wave was actually meant for him, turning around to scan the area to see if anyone else was returning the wave, but no one else was paying the other boy any attention. Back home, Ko didn't have any friends, especially after his parents had died. The miners regarded had him more as a nuisance, and anyone else around his age was either working in the mines or attending the little school the cooperation charged parents to have their children attend. With no parents to pay for school and still being too small to actually work in the mines, people generally ignored him. Smiling and trying to look friendly Ko decided to wave back. Maybe that feeling was trying to help him make a friend? It wouldn't hurt. At the very least maybe he could get some information about his new surroundings before everyone went about pretending he didn't exist.

"Hey," Ko said trying to put as much friendliness into his voice as possible as he approached the edge of the shipyard. "Are you waving to me?"

Looking around at the A-Wing, Ko could almost feel that most of the vessel wasn't worth salvaging, but there were still a few components that might be worth looking at, however, he wasn't about to poach someone else's claim, not on his first day. "Is this your pile?"

(OOC: Ko would be about 14 in this time period then)

 

[Cailen Corso]

Cailen giggled at the older boy's confusion, nodding to let him know it was okay to come over. He slid down the wing of the ship and brushed his hands off on his utility pants before extending his arm for a handshake.

"Yeah! This is my job, but you're welcome to look it over as well. I've got what I need already," Cailen said with a smile.

"I'm Cailen, by the way. Are you new to Anaxes? I don't think I've seen you around the shipyard before..." he added inquisitively.

It was nice to see a new face. Things can get rather stale when you work all day with the same crew of kids day-in and day-out.

 

[Ko Zan]

For a second, Ko was taken aback by the other boy's giggle, he wasn't used to hearing such simple joy from another person. The feeling didn't last long, however, as Ko quickly found himself smiling then giggling along with the other boy. It was a nice feeling, unfamiliar, but definitely enjoyable. Even though this planet wasn't perfect by any means, already Ko found himself feeling lighter. Like the weight of Apatros had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

"Nice to meet you Cailen," Kop said still smiling as the other boy approached. As he got closer, Ko could see how young the other boy was, he guessed maybe nine or ten years old, but still capable. He was used to younglings like himself having to work to survive after his mother died and even before his father joined her, he had needed to go out salvaging to help make ends meet, so he wasn't surprised at all this boy was working such a difficult task. Still, he couldn't help but wish that it wasn't the case, that someone got to enjoy their young years rather than doing what was needed to survive. "The name is Ko," he said pushing away the darker thoughts and just enjoying the company of a friendly person. "And yeah, I'm new here. Just arrived on a transport."

Looking over the A-Wing, Ko could tell that the vessel, while badly damaged and mostly scrap, still had some useful parts left. He wasn't sure how he knew that since this was the first time seeing such a vessel in person, but he knew it was true. For a moment he considered looking it over and taking what was left but decided not to for now. He didn't know what he would need and really didn't know what people were willing to buy in this world. "Thank you," said as he turned his attention back to Cailen. "Maybe later we can both pull it apart. I don't know what anyone would be willing to buy here, and I don't know what I need yet."

Allowing a mischievous grin to come on his face, Ko leaned forward and whispered gently to the other boy, making sure no one else could hear him. "After looking at this place from orbit, I kind of want to find a ship I can rebuild." For a moment Ko hesitated, but that feeling deep inside told him what he was about to say next was not only the right thing to do but was the reason he had met this boy in the first place. "Maybe you could help, we could build one together."

 

[Cailen Corso]

Cailen's eyes grew wide as he heard Ko's idea. He was surprised the older boy wanted to build a ship and leave Anaxes so quickly after arriving, but Cailen was even more surprised that Ko thought he could be any help in his goals.

"You want to build a ship? With me?" Cailen replied in a hushed tone. It wasn't that he couldn't, or even that he wouldn't, but he wasn't sure how the crews on Anaxes Station would feel about getting gypped out of good, working parts.

"Why do you want to build a ship?" the boy asked, turning his head slightly to one side in curiosity.

 

[Ko Zan]

Pulling back Ko tried to keep his smile on his face, even as he tried to search his own thoughts to figure out the answer to Cailen's question. He wasn't sure why the idea had come to his mind, or why he would express the idea to this boy he had just met. It was true, he had just landed on Anaxes, hadn't even been here an hour yet, and was already looking for a way to leave. This didn't seem like a bad place, and already he felt that things were better here than back on Apatros, but he couldn't ignore the feeling either.

"I don't know why I want to build a ship," Ko admitted after taking a moment to think. "I just have this feeling. It's like a call that this is just a stop on my way to somewhere else, somewhere important. I don't exactly have the credits to buy a ship or passage to anywhere, but I have a knack for building things, so it makes sense I guess."

Taking a moment Ko looked into Cailen's face and asked himself again why he felt like sharing so much with this boy. He never shared, never let people close to his thoughts, and especially never shared his plans with anyone. In the past, people would have used him and taken advantage of anything he shared with others. Yet he knew the boy wasn't about to betray him.

"Why not you?" Ko asked. "I saw you pull out the best part of that A-Wing, you know parts, and you know the planet way better than me. Do you think we would get in trouble building a ship?"

 

[Cailen Corso]

Cailen listened intently to Ko, absorbing his wish to leave Anaxes for someplace better, someplace more important. He felt the same, hoping one day he and his parents can save enough money to go somewhere else, too. But Cailen knew better than to get his hopes up too high. Even if he could save enough credits, Anaxes was his home, and he knew deep down that his parents felt the same way.

”Sounds like you feel pretty strongly about leaving. Can’t say I blame you. Anaxes isn’t exactly stellar,” Cailen said after a moment. He rubbed the back of his neck before going on.

”Really, I don’t know if we’d get in trouble or not. I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for building ships on their own, but then again, I’ve also never heard of anyone trying to build a ship.”.

Cailen pondered for a moment, then spoke again.

”We can ask some of the others. My friend Baatu might know. His dad works on Anaxes Station with the Alliance. He’d know!”

Cailen was excited to introduce Ko to Baatu.

 

[Ko Zan]

"Maybe Anaxes isn't stellar," Ko started, a new grin forming on his face as he suddenly felt the shift in his new companion. He wasn't sure how he knew it, but suddenly he had a distinct feeling that Cailen was not only important but the key to him finding what he was looking for, whatever that was. "But it's much better than where I'm from. Here at least we have some hope for something better."

"That sounds like a good plan," Ko agreed readily to Cailen's suggestion of reaching out to some of the others he knew that could help. He didn't know if any of those that Cailen suggested meeting with were trustworthy, but he had to trust Cailen, and that feeling deep down told him that he could. "What about your parents?" Ko asked when Cailen didn't mention having any. Maybe he was orphaned like he but hoped that wasn't the case.

Looking around at the many many different ships that surrounded them, Ko had a hard time believing that no one had attempted to restore some of these vessels. Most were antiques, some even thousands of years old, but a few were newer and with various parts that could be found around could make a pretty reliable ship. Even though Ko hadn't even started to explore the possibilities, of what the vessels on Anaxes had to offer, he could almost picture a ship starting to form in his mind.

"Wait," Ko stopped at something that Cailen said that finally caught his attention. "Does the Alliance own everything here? Or do they just buy the parts?" Ko wasn't about to become a criminal. Despite how hard life had been he was always honest, and never stole anything from anyone, and he wasn't about to start stealing from the Galactic Alliance. He figured if this was salvage they could build what they liked from what they found and not worry about the legality of it, but if the Alliance had made claim to the ships on the planet and were simply paying for the labor of the salvage operation then they would be in trouble and would have to find another way. Maybe he could work with Cailen and make enough money to buy what he needed to build a ship since he doubted he would ever earn enough to actually buy a ship outright.

 

[Cailen Corso]

Cailen smiled when Ko asked about his parents.

"They're around here somewhere," Cailen said.

"My mom works in another yard that focuses on getting old droids out of ships. Dad works with the Alliance crews on the station, kinda like Baatu's dad. Except my dad is usually on the far side and they keep him too busy for visitors..." Cailen trailed off, a brief look of loneliness on his face.

His parents worked hard to keep food on the table and the lights running in their apartment on the station. He appreciated everything they did for him, but he does miss them when they have to work double shifts and overtime. He shook it off after a moment and answered Ko's questions about the Alliance.

"That's the thing," he started, "I don't actually know for sure. Most ships that come here go through Anaxes Station first before getting dumped into a shipyard for us to pick over."

Cailen thought for a moment before continuing.

"The Alliance is good to us, though. We should find Baatu's dad on the station to find out more. Besides, I've got these!" the boy said with a huge grin as he withdrew the energy couplings from his bag.

He beamed with pride and excitement.

"Gotta be worth enough credits to buy one of these junkers from the Alliance if we need to!"

 

[Ko Zan]

Ko felt his stomach twist when Cailen mentioned using his energy couplings to buy the ship if they needed. He hadn't approached Cailen in order to use him to get a ship, in fact, he didn't want to use the other boy at all he just wanted a friend. Would that be what he was doing if he allowed Cailen to use his find to buy the ship? Would he be hurting or helping the other boy? Ko knew that he would give anything he found or had to help Cailen and his family, even though he had only known him for a few short moments, so maybe he shouldn't worry about it. If Cailen wanted to use his energy couplings to help Ko and his family to leave Anaxes was it any different than what Ko was planning?

"Hopefully you won't have to use the energy couplings to buy a ship," Ko finally said, feeling a new sense of pride as he saw the generosity and deep caring of the other boy. "You and your family will need credits for wherever we end up going."

"So," Ko began as he started to feel excited about this plan, "how do we get to meet your friend?"

 

[Cailen Corso]

"Wait..." Cailen said as he lowered the couplings, a look of realization spreading across his face.

"You mean - you want us to leave Anaxes with you?" he asked very seriously.

Cailen had never thought of leaving Anaxes Station, let alone the planet. The idea frightened him. Where would they go? What would they do? He put the couplings back into his bag.

"Baatu works in the yard closest to the station. It's not far, but we should be quick. If I don't turn in these parts before my shift is over, the foreman will kill me," Cailen said with a soft smile.

 

[Ko Zan]

"I mean only if you and your family want to go," Ko corrected himself as he realized he had started to make assumptions about what the other boy wanted, what his family wanted and needed. He just assumed whatever was sweeping him along to something and somewhere else that this boy was part of that, and that he would want to come along. He needed to take a step back and allow Cailen to decide what was best for him and his family. They had only been friends for a few moments and already Ko was trying to run his life, if he wanted to keep this friend he needed to give himself a slap and think better than this. "It is completely up to you."

"You better lead the way," Ko said grinning. "I don't exactly know where anything is around here."

As he followed Cailen to find his friend, he couldn't stop himself from asking, "would you actually get in trouble for not turning in the parts?" If that was the case, maybe building a ship would take a lot longer and be more involved than he thought. The Alliance must have some means of tracking parts that are collected if the foreman knew Cailen had them before even presenting them to the foreman. Maybe surveillance droids? Looking up he couldn't really decide if anything floating and flying in the sky above was surveillance or just regular traffic. He didn't know enough about this place to judge, and he had already made way too many assumptions with no information for one day. "If so I have some credits," Ko winced as he mentally counted how few actual credits he had, "maybe I can give them to him to make sure you don't get into trouble."

 

[Cailen Corso]

"It's just that... well, Anaxes is our home. I don't know what my mom and dad would even say. But..." Cailen said, pausing for a moment before giving Ko a determined grin.

"I'm going to help you either way!"

He started down the aisles of the shipyard, leading the older boy through the heaps of ship frames and piles of scrapped metal and computer systems.

Cailen looked over at Ko, and said in a solemn tone, "I've never held onto anything that the Alliance pays for, so I'm not really sure what happens when they catch you with stolen parts. But there was a boy who used to work with Baatu and me who got caught taking droid scanners back home."

Cailen paused as he took a wide step over a puddle of rainwater and oil, then continued.

"The Alliance didn't take him away or anything crazy like that, but I heard they docked his pay for the parts he kept. It was a lot of credits. But if I sell these couplings, we can use some of the money to start buying parts for ourselves from the station."

The boys continued walking through the shipyard until they eventually came to a bustling mag-train platform. The platform was a large metal hub where trains came to collect workers, cargo, and salvage for transport.

One train takes passengers to and from the spaceport, where Ko first arrived on Anaxes. The other would take them to Anaxes Station, the Alliance's main facility on-world. A larger third train is intended for cargo and scrap only. Cailen pointed to one of the closer trains.

"That one. That will take us the the station where Baatu works," Cailen said.

 

[Ko Zan]

Ko was both taken aback and filled with gratitude, at Cailen's unselfish generosity. No one in his life had ever done anything for him out of kindness, they had always expected something in return or were looking for an angle to take advantage of him. Over the years he had managed to learn who was looking to take advantage of him, he could feel no such deception from Cailen. Still, he was also a little disturbed that he might be taking advantage of the younger boy. He didn't want to take anything from his new friend, if he and his family didn't want to leave with him when he left, maybe he could find another way to pay the boy and his family back.

"If we have to pay for everything," Ko started as he followed through the maze of ship frames and shattered hulls, "maybe you can help me get a job here so I can pay for things as well. Hopefully, though there are some things we can legally salvage without having to pay for, this is a huge planet with so many broken ships, the Alliance surely doesn't have a claim on it all."

As the pair approached the mag trains, Ko couldn't help but be impressed with the sheer magnitude of the whole system. Nothing on Apatros came even close to this. The mining world was small, the so-called Apatros city was small, the only thing that would come close to being called massive was the underground tunnel systems where they stripped the world of the only thing of value. Here though the whole surface was covered with ships, he had already seen more people since arrival than he had in his entire life, and now this impressive train system. He was suddenly feeling really small.

"So," Ko started trying to push away his insecurities while boarding the train that Cailen indicated. "What does your friend do? is he a salvage like you?"

 

[Marck Vallen]

Please Delete

 

[Cailen Corso]

"I could introduce you to the foreman. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's not so bad once you find him a few heat sinks," Cailen said as he hopped onto the mag-train.

He quickly made his way to a pair of open seats in the second car, a rarity during the end-of-shift hour on Anaxes. People were scurrying all over the mag-train station and inside the cars, eager to get an early ride back to Anaxes Station and turn in their hauls for the day.

"Let's see what they say on the station first before you get a job, though," Cailen said.

Cailen looked over at Ko and couldn't help but feel that the older boy seemed off. Something was definitely on his mind, Cailen could feel it. Like his 'second-sense' with ship components, Cailen could also tell easily when someone was upset or troubled. And Ko was certainly troubled.

"Baatu?" Cailen responded to Ko's question.

"Yeah, he's a scrapper, too. He usually works with me in the shipyards, but they've had him closer to the station recently. He was supposed to be with me today, but he must have gotten called back for something."

Cailen looked through the thin metal blinds covering the window as the doors closed and the mag-train's massive weight began to lurch forward along the magnetic rails from which it was suspended. The weather was rainy, streaks of thin, white lightning flashing and illuminating the carcasses of ships as large as star-destroyers and as small as X-wings.

He looked to Ko and smiled.

"It's a short ride," he said reassuringly.

 

[Ko Zan]

Ko settled back into the seat and allowed himself to relax a little. This place was so different, with so many people, and incredibly large, but it was also less stressful. With Cailen already being the first friend he had ever made in his life. No one back on Apatros cared about him after his parents died, no one was his friend. Maybe the galaxy was a far less dark place than he feared.

"Thank you," Ko said as he felt the train coming to a stop. Before getting up to exit the train Ko decided he needed to stop thinking about the past, stop thinking about the darkness that had been living on Apatros, and focus more on the here and now. Ko could feel a bright future coming over the horizon, and knew that Cailen was just the start of new people in his life that would care about him. He didn't know how or where, but could almost taste a better life in the stars. It was what had made him escape Apatros and led him to Anaxes, and was driving his desire to build a ship and head out there now. "If you and your family stay here, I'll make sure I find a way to repay your kindness Cailen, you are a good person."

As the exited the train, Ko again was taken aback by the sight in front of him, more people than even at the spaceport, and so much activity. How did anyone find their way around here without getting lost? How did anyone not get lost in a sea of people and faces? "This is massive," Ko said as he followed Cailen, making sure not to lose sight of the other boy. He had no doubt that if he got lost here it would be a long time before he found his way back. "How are we going to find Baatu? Or how does anyone find anyone with so many people?"

 

[Cailen Corso]

As the mag-train slowed itself and came to a stop at Anaxes Station, Cailen looked to Ko, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"That's really nice of you, Ko, but you don't have to repay us for anything. It's what friends do," the younger boy said with a smile.

Cailen hopped off the seat and made for the exit of the train car, stepping out into the busy crowds of Anaxes Station. A cool mist of light rain speckled Cailen's cheeks as he looked around the station. He turned to Ko, who was mesmerized by the sheer size and complexity of the station; Cailen frowned, worried he'd made Ko uncomfortable. He stepped toward the older boy and put his hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," Cailen said sincerely. "Just follow me. I won't let you get lost."

Cailen made sure to keep a steady but deliberate pace, one that wouldn't be too difficult to follow through the crowds of people rushing to catch the mag-train or report to their foreman. He heard Ko's voice from behind and slowed up a bit to answer him.

"It's actually easier to find him than you think," Cailen said with confidence. He pointed to a holo-sign featuring a brightly-colored image of an astromech droid, flickering intermittently in the light rainfall.

"See that sign over there? The yellow one? That's where they've been sending Baatu lately. He pulls busted droids out of the ships." Cailen continued through the crowd, looking back over his shoulder to make sure Ko was still close behind.

When the pair finally arrived at the door beneath the yellow sign, Cailen looked at Ko, his hair dripping from the mist, and smiled.

"See? Told ya you'd be fine!"

 

[Ko Zan]

"Thank you," Ko said feeling absolutely overwhelmed by how honest and genuine the other boy was being. No one he knew would do everything that Cailen was doing, not even close, and the other boy was doing so without any expectations of getting anything in return. Sitting back Ko just enjoyed the rest of the ride.

'How the...' Ko thought to himself. Ko hadn't expressed that he was worried about getting lost, but Cailen seemed to have instantly known what he was thinking and said exactly what he needed to hear to feel better. It wasn't the first time either, Cailen seemed to have a talent for knowing what Ko needed to hear and easily picked up on his feelings. It was an amazing talent. Maybe he had a similar one to Ko's own. Occasionally Ko sensed where he needed to go, what he needed to do, how to avoid danger, and even where the best finds would be. It was a sense he had learned to trust but hadn't found in anyone else. Maybe Cailen was like him? He would have to watch closer before he even considered bringing the subject up.

"That's a good job to have," Ko commented hearing what it was that Batuu did. Droids were extremely rare on Apatros, the very fine dust and toxic air wreaked havoc on standard droid systems, very few droids remained functioning very long. Only a few special droids brought in by the corporation were ever-present, and most of those had been only at the spaceport to load and unload the freighters. "I imagine he makes good credits with good droid parts. On Apatros droid parts were always the best find, made the money credits when I could get them working again."

When they approached Cailen's friend, Ko stood back and allowed the other boy to take the lead. He didn't like meeting new people, and despite how quickly he made friends with Cailen, that didn't mean everyone would click that quickly. Cailen was definitely special, but then any friend of Cailen's had to be special as well. He was getting excited about the idea of finally building a ship of his own, setting out into the stars, and finding the source of this feeling deep in his soul.