Private One Man's Trash

[Varin Mortifer]

Haro Aven

The streets of Vardin were exceptionally busy on this day. Perhaps it was just the students enjoying a weekend off from their studies. The walkways filled with conversation and spoken promises of plans. Varin could hear some of them as he passed by, whispers of a ship that had crash landed a couple miles out from the walls of the academy. His ship, that had crash landed into the planet. There were still some things he needed from it. Perhaps he could even get it to fly again, perhaps he could get all of the essential systems running again instead of most of them. The ship was an older model, a hybrid class built for combat and cargo hauling. Its hull was thick with plating to make up for its lack of maneuverability.

At any time Varin could have gone by to investigate it and grab some things, but the truth of the matter was he was too afraid. Too afraid of the memories that haunt its walls. The voices and screams that echoed in its halls. He would never admit it to anyone about this fear.

Earlier in his time in the academy he ran into a young man by the name of Haro Aven, a gifted engineer and pilot. He seemed very fitting to help him with this task and perhaps get it to fly again. He was told he worked in the shipyard, Varin didn’t question it, it was just fitting that was where he would be. Perhaps he would even gain a new ally? Or at least someone to talk to. He was still a stranger in a strange land, and his social skills were not great to begin with. So it was no surprise that Varin would just walk up to the shipyard ignoring any AUTHORIZED WORKERS ONLY signs or marked off zones with other engineers using machinery to efficiently do their jobs, some even tried to get his attention but he would shrug them off, until he saw Haro.

Slowly walking up to him he awkwardly held up his hand in a wave from a short distance away and spoke quietly as a couple of worker droids were hauling heavier loads by them.

“Uh…hi..”

Wasn’t his best start to conversation but it was definitely a start.

He let out a shaky long winded breath.

“I wanted to ask for your assistance in something. Do you have time?”

 

[Haro Aven]

Haro Aven was already deep into his work by the time Horuset crept past the ragged peaks above the city of Vardin, casting long, copper-colored beams into the shipyard carved into the sandstone spires. The cavernous bays hummed with the low, steady thrum of fusion welders and the hiss of pressurized coolant lines.

Crouched beside the flank of an academy shuttle, the young mechanic and his little droid, Bodie, worked to coax a stubborn panel back into alignment and weld it shut. Instead of listening to one of his playlists, today Haro opted to listen to the familiar music of hammers, plasma cutters, and low voices echoing beneath vaulted hangars. This place felt closer to home than the Academy's cold lecture halls ever could. The smell of scorched wiring and lubricants carried a strange comfort, reminding him of long shifts spent elbow-deep in engines back in the Undercity of Coruscant—back when life was simpler. The work suited him. It was honest, even if everything else about his life here wasn't.

A moment's pause let him roll the stiffness from his shoulders, and his gaze drifted past the row of docked speeders toward the hangar's wide entrance where he caught sight of a familiar face approaching. He stood up, powering down his welding gun and tucking it away into his utility belt as he grinned at Varin Mortifer —a fellow student, or at least that was what he claimed to be. Varin was decidedly odd, even by Korriban standards—a pale-faced boy who had seemingly appeared from nowhere, claiming to have crash-landed on the planet and taken in by none other than Revna Marr , as her new apprentice. He'd had first met Varin alongside his usual companions, Naamino Zuukamano and Leshanna Dromar , and he'd been quietly curious ever since.

"Uh… hi," Varin ventured, his voice soft against the low clang of tools around them. "I wanted to ask for your assistance in something. Do you have time?"

Haro lifted his dark welding glasses to rest atop his unruly mop of coal-grey hair and pulled the rag off his shoulder to wipe clean his hands, curiosity already sparking behind his bright green gemstone eyes as he stepped up closer to Varin. It was sometimes hard to get a read on the other boy's calculating and decidedly haunted demeanor, but Haro treated him with the same enthusiastic and friendly greeting he always did with people he was familiar with.

"Hey, man. Yeah, I'm just finishing up this shuttle." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "What's up?"​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Haro Aven

Varin looked over Haro’s shoulder to peek at the shuttle behind him. Then his eyes fell on the little droid that was by him.

“Oh my…”

He crouched to get a better peek, keeping his hands to himself. Ships may not be his forte but he was a big fan of droids in general.

“Who is this little guy??? He’s so…….small for a labor droid. But I guess that makes it easier for him to fit in tight spots?”

Before he knew it he was spewing questions about the little guy.

"What's his lifting capacity? Any special plated alloys on his outer shell? What kind of power source does he run on?"

He admired the little droid for just a moment longer before he shook his head and stood back up.

“Apologies, I used to work with my droid a lot before I came here. They always fascinated me, but I have to admit, I have never seen a droid design quite like this.”

He cleared his throat as he remembered why he originally came to find his engineer companion.

“My ship is still out in the desert, and I wanted to try to salvage what I could from it. Would you be interested in helping? I’m sure you’ll find something of interest in it, it's an older model. Somewhere in the triple digits of age, I think.”

Every now and then he would find himself unable to control his eyes from just peeking at the little droid. He would probably never say it out loud but he found the little guy quite adorable. Nothing like the droids he had worked with, mainly used for mines and combat.

“There's a few things I need to keep an eye out for, but if anything catches your attention just let me know. That's about all I would really have for any type of payment.”

Varin instinctually found himself to be running his thumb over the white crystal on his neck once again, as a small sign to control his mind during social interactions. One of these days he will get a handle on it, hopefully soon.

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

​

Upon being noticed, Bodie perked up from where he clung to the side of the shuttle and took to the air, buzzing over to greet the newcomer as well.

"Oh! This is Bodie! Can't believe I haven't introduced you yet. And yeah, that's exactly right! S'why I built him so small." Haro answered proudly, holding his open palm out for Bodie to land on.

Varin proceeded to fire off a few more questions about Bodie's specifications but, before Haro could respond, he shook his head and apologized, explaining his past experience and fascination with droids. The acolyte then launched into what appeared to be the reason behind why he'd come to find Haro today.

"Well, first of all, I didn't know you were into droids! That's totally astral! I'd be happy to go over Bodie's specs with you sometime and I definitely wanna know all about this droid of yours. The droid I built for Lesh recently is pretty cool too, I'll totally ask her to show it to you next time we're all hanging out." As he spoke he placed his free hand over Bodie's beetle-like back and the little droid folded all it's little legs in on itself and tucked into it's most compact form before Haro tucked him away into a pocket.

"And yeah, I'll help you with your ship. Salvaging stuff sounds great, but why not try to get it operational first? What kind of damage are we talkin here?"​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Haro Aven

Varin blinked a few times as he wrapped his head around the fact that someone so young was able to successfully make another droid, let alone multiple. It was just simply fascinating to him.

“I would absolutely love to hear more about both of these droids. As for CC, He was, to simply put it, one of the very few friends I had. I haven’t seen him in a while unfortunately. Not since I got here.”

The young apprentice smirked as Haro accepted to help Varin with this small project. Though the damage was extensive to the ship, if anyone could possibly get it running again, it would certainly be Haro.

“The damage is…..well lets just say I’m lucky i made it out alive. Both thrusters are blown out, the shields are dead since I had to move them to the bottom of the hull to try and soften the impact, the landing gear is practically non-existent now, and the main body is barely holding on by nuts and bolts. Though I’m sure you could give it a good look over and diagnose it better than me.”

He pulled out his datapad and started searching for the tracker on his ship in hopes to get its coordinates. It had been a while since he visited the site, close to a few months, who knows what has nested in it or even picked it clean.

“We may need a vehicle of some sort. It is a good way out in the desert, looking at a couple hours of travel likely.”

After fiddling around with his datapad for a bit he eventually sent the coordinates to Haro.

“If you don’t mind, I also have a secondary project I wouldn't mind helping me with, depending on if I find what I need on the ship.”

He paused for a moment to see if his partner showed any interest, waiting for an answer before continuing.

“My planet had a traditional way of fighting. Call it a sword and board. I have the sword, all I’m missing is my shield. But it can’t be just any shield.”

His voice grew hushed as he looked around the shop, he wouldn’t want anyone to eavesdrop on the conversation and possibly take his idea.

“A shield powered by a kyber crystal. The hardest part of this is that I need an extra crystal.”

He paused for a moment letting his words hang for a moment.

"But one project at a time I suppose. I'll have you pick out how we will get to the ship."

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

Haro's eyebrows steadily lifted as Varin proceeded to paint the picture of the damage that had been done to his ship from his crash landing.

"Wow... well, yeah, that does sound pretty bad, but we'll give it a look. Won't know until we try," he said with a shrug, slinging the greasy towel over his shoulder.

"Sounds like we gotta find it first. We can take my speeder," he offered, a proud grin pulling at the edges of his mouth. "Just finished the new paint job the other day so she's lookin' good and ready to ride."

His eyes flashed with curiosity at the mention of a shield powered by kyber. He'd only ever heard of things like that in stories. "Interesting..." he muttered, his distractible mind trying to take that new bit of information and run with it, but he reeled in his focus, running his fingers through his hair and mussing it up a bit.

"Let's definitely chat more about that later," he said, motioning for Varin to walk with him toward the yard manager's offices.

"Let's focus on getting to your ship first. I'm gonna need as much information about it as possible so I know what tools to bring. Does it have a remote homing beacon we could activate so we can plot a course?" He would continue to pick Varin's brain for details as they prepared for their journey into the desert.

With surprising ease, Haro was able to persuade one of the other mechanics to cover his workload for the rest of the day. It was clear from the few interactions Varin witnessed that the half-Kage boy was well-respected and well-liked around the shipyard, despite his young age. The manager event lent them a few tools, including a portable full-spectrum sensor suite to help locate the missing ship, and kept a tow ship on standby in case they needed to call it in.​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin tried his best to describe the intricacies of his ship to the best of his abilities. Some answer he unfortunately didn’t have, but it seemed the talented half kage mechanic was able to easily piece together what was needed.

Seeing the sense of camaraderie between Haro and his mechanic crew was quite surprising. One would almost assume this young mechanic was their top mechanic. Just simply fascinating, even more fascinating that Varin couldn’t feel any bit of significant force signature from Haro. He was relying on everything within him, and that earned a significant amount of respect for Varin. Almost reminded him of….

Varin snapped out of his thoughts when he was shown the speeder. The paintjob certainly made it stick out like a sore thumb, but it certainly was not sloppy. Painted with care, the care of someone who lives and breathes working with machines. Almost like how a smith admires their craft when finishing a project.

With little time to spare they made their way out into the desert, the speeder ran smoothly and quickly as they traveled. Not long after leaving did they reach their destination and Varin could see the scorched remains of his crashed ship. What was left of his home.

“There she is. I’m surprised she hasn’t been fully picked clean yet by avengers yet, but best we stay on our guard. The ship did have valuable ancient tech in it. It was basically a museum piece in my father’s hangar. Said to have belonged to a famous sith turned smuggler. I can’t remember their name though. I think her name was Asaj.”

As the speeder slowed to a stop Varin scanned the horizon and sent out his feelers through the force for any immediate threats nearby. He almost looked like he was in a meditative state, but his body had briefly enhanced itself to amplify his senses. His smell, hearing, feel and sight heightened to a degree of a near predatory sense. After a few moments he felt nothing. All he heard was the haunting howls of the wind cascading and echoing off the nearby ravines walls, singing their haunted lullabies.

Slowly he walked up to the jammed door that he struggled to pry open at the time. He continued walking past the doors and around to the ships front where he had to crush the glass to escape the burning metal coffin he was trapped in.

“There was a fire inside as well. But I don’t know what the damage looks like inside. I had to shatter the front glass in order to escape with my life.”

He looked over the front of his ship taking all the memories in as he ran his hand gently up its hull as he climbed back up towards the window.

“Feel free to inspect whatever you wish. If you find anything interesting, feel free to take it, study it if you want. There's a lot of history here and supposedly, hidden compartments from the smuggling operations, and who knows what could be in there.”

He glanced at Haro with a slight smirk as he took a deep breath.

“Being this close to something from my home, it…”

He sighed softly.

“Its good to feel it again. Like for a moment I’m whole.”

As he climbed into the window his feet planted onto the deck of the ship where he scanned around one final time for any possible threats, until he saw a specific dark mark on the floor that caused him to freeze. The last place he saw…..her.

The moment of your rebirth.....I remember like it was yesterday.

Varin frowned as he absentmindedly spoke aloud to Ignati.

"I'm sure you do."

Haro Aven​

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

​

Between the sensors and Varin's recollection of the crash site, the two were able to pinpoint the location of the ship with relative ease. They took Haro's speeder to get there, making good time as the raced through the Valley of Golg given the fortune of good weather. As they crested the final dune and the ship came into sight, Haro slowed their pace so he could better hear Varin speak. He perked up at the mention of "ancient valuable tech" but was soon distracted by the name drop.

"Asaj—wait, you mean Asajj Ventress? Like, the Asajj Ventress?!" Haro knew of the famous Sith from what he'd read about the Clone Wars as he'd taken an interest in her story, specifically the more dramatized holo-comic adaptations.

They dismounted the speeder and, while Varin did his strange Force meditation thing, Haro began assessing the damage from the exterior. It was certainly as bad, if not worse, than Varin had described. Despite the cushion of the deflector shields, the impact of the crash clearly took a heavy toll on the integrity of the hull but not nearly as much as the gaping hole that had clearly been made prior to the crash. Beyond that, plasma scarring and sections of melted durasteel from turbolaser impacts decorated ship with a violent story, and one of the thrusters was missing completely.

"We're uh... definitely gonna need that tow ship," he suggested as he pulled out his datapad out and started taking notes. He also pinged the shipyard to send backup to their location at their convenience.

Haro followed Varin around to the front of the ship where he had apparently shattered the thick transparisteel in order to escape. To shatter a starship's viewport was no small feat, even with powerful weaponry, and Haro silently marveled at the strength the Force granted its wielders, especially those who used the dark side. He eyed Varin with cautious curiosity, watching the boy take a wistful moment with his ship, suddenly very aware that the two of them were pretty far out in the desert, alone, and Haro still knew very little about this guy or what he was capable of. Varin hadn't given him any particular reason to be worried... yet, but he was still Sith. Even so, Haro climbed up after him, slipping through the busted viewport and into the cockpit. He glanced around, taking it all in as Varin essentially gave him free rein of the place, his curiosity piqued at the possibility of hidden treasures.

"Smuggling operations?" he wondered aloud, cocking a wry eyebrow before he began moving over toward the mainframe terminal. He brought Bodie out of his pocket and the little droid took to the air to hover nearby, prepared to be helpful. He ventured to place a reassuring hand on Varin's shoulder briefly as he passed him on the way to the terminal, a kind smile on his face.

"Glad to hear it," he offered warmly in response to Varin's admission that it felt good to be close to something from home.

"We'll make your ship whole again too, I promise." He pulled his datapad out again and plugged into the mainframe before he continued optimistically. "She's clearly in pretty rough shape, but we'll get her back up and running."
​

"I'm sure you do."​

"Huh?" Haro asked over his shoulder, confused by the strange response, even as he sifted through the information flooding into his datapad. Fortunately, the mainframe appeared to be mostly intact and was prioritizing notifications regarding critical system failures. He closed out the notifications and began downloading the diagnostics in the background so he could continue searching through the system. He hovered over the <<Recordings>> file before he opened it and began scrolling back through the footage from before the crash. He paused when he noticed someone new, someone other than Varin, in the recording and played back the scene.

For the next couple minutes, Haro's eyes were glued to the recording that played out before him. It showed a desperate Varin and a gravely injured young woman with him. Nier, he called her. Haro suddenly felt like he was witnessing something he wasn't supposed to, a private memory, but his curiosity won out and he let it play out until Nier passed away and the scene took a violent turn. He paused the recording and stood in stunned silence for a moment before he finally turned toward Varin again. There was some caution behind his gemstone eyes as he wasn't sure how reliving such a tragic memory would effect the other boy, but mostly he looked solemn and sympathetic.

"I'm... I'm sorry that happened to you, Varin," Haro consoled, his tone genuine. He let a moment of silence pass before he asked his next question.

"What exactly happened to your home?"​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin watched Haro’s reaction when he brought up Asaj. It pulled a small smirk over his face.

“Allegedly.”

As Haro inspected the ship he suggested they would certainly need the tow ship, to which Varin grunted in agreement. As Haro made his way inside behind Varin, he could tell the mechanic was excited about possibly finding some tech. He watched him after he felt his hand on his shoulder. His reassurance did bring some hope to Varin. But deep down he knew that the ship would never be the same. Perhaps it was for the best though, his mother always told him that some things have to die to birth new life. He supposed the same could be said about a ship.

Varin’s head shook after he spoke aloud to Ignati, noticing it caught Haro’s attention. Gently he placed his hand over his head slightly shaking his head from discomfort.

“Sorry, it's nothing.”

His hand glided over parts of the ship as memories flashed back into his mind. The heat, the pain. That’s when he heard her voice. He froze like stone instantly as he remembered what happened to her.

“Nier…I’m…I’m so sorry.”

He spoke softly as he heard the recording, his hand dropping to his side as a tear ran down his cheek.

"I'm... I'm sorry that happened to you, Varin,"

Varin’s eyes flicked over towards Haro. He was quiet for a moment.

"What exactly happened to your home?"

Varin looked at the charred floor of the ship. He remembered his home. The wind, the scent of the oceans…the garden.

“Carcosa…”

He spoke softly as he slowly sat on the floor, his back resting towards the console of the ship.

“I come from a planet called Carcosa. My father, Lord Virelius Mortifer ruled over it. But our people loved him as a ruler. He held an iron grip over our people and their safety. We prospered. My mother, Lady Ravnika Mortifer, taught them how to grow crops, and how to do alchemy. Citizens all learned how to do alchemy.”

His voice ran quiet as his breath choked for a moment.

“Then there was….”

He took a deep shaking breath.

“There was my younger sister. Nier’Atta Mortifer.”

He looked over to Haro.

“You remind me of her, if I can be honest with you. Force dead, but she did not make that a weakness. In fact she was a genius when it came to Sith Spawn and alchemy.”

He laughed slightly as he began to reminisce.

“She and I were inseparable, just like you and Naamino. We did almost everything together. She would even help me train. Passing me weapons to clean and repair, helping me in my armor.”

He chuckled.

“She even gave me mystery brews to test out her concoctions.”

His body shifted slightly so he could get a clearer view of Haro.

“She turned me invisible once. The first hour was absolutely fun, but then after that it just….people tended to walk right by you like a ghost…”

His eyes stared off beyond Haro and the ship.

“My father had me do a month of fasting to prepare for some harsh training. Fast, meditate, pray and sleep. But I would always lose focus by day five. He would reset the clock. Two months of this training prep went by. I had almost completed my prep. I just needed two more days.”

His jaw trembled slightly before he locked it in place.

“Nier came bursting into the room excitedly. She had accomplished something near impossible.”

“Varin, come here! Come quick, I finally did it!”

He slightly imitated her voice, his voice cracking. He took a deep breath as he pushed forward to tell his story.

“Not now Nier. I’m trying to do something really important. Is what I told her, but she wouldn’t take that as an answer. She practically begged me to witness this great marvel, not letting up, I tried to decline, and said I would look after my training is done. She then pulled my arm, breaking my concentration.”

He looked at the ceiling as tears welled in his eyes, slowly dropping down his cheek.

"I snapped at her. The frustration was too much. I couldn't fail again. Get away from me! I yelled at her. She flinched and recoiled back, she was terrified of me, Haro. Why? Why should she be terrified of me?"

He sighed softly remembering to breathe.

“I looked at her in her eyes and said training would be so much easier….if you weren’t around…”

His fist clenched tightly.

“Her achievement was that she made a one to one recreation of a long extinct creature that was deeply important to our culture. A Lava Wyrm. Children of The Eater of Suns.”

He was quiet for a long moment.

“I didn’t think that, within the next week, she would be bleeding out in my arms. A jedi brought a rogue military during a celebration of my father granting me the title of squire, apprentice in your terms. It was a surprise attack. This Jedi, I will never forget that white blade he wielded, the venom that spewed from his lips as he chased children through our halls, slaughtering servants and my parents. Our beautiful mass garden was set ablaze. Carcosa had fallen. I brought Nier with me on the ship and during our escape we were hit. A piece of shrapnel had dug into her ribs and straight to her heart. I couldn’t even protect my sister. The first order I was given. And I failed my blood line.”

Varin’s voice broke. Silence fell upon him, the only evidence he had, to know, that he was still here was his harsh breathing.

“Keep the ones you love close, Haro. Protect them with everything you have.”

Haro Aven​

 

[Haro Aven]

The footage and Haro's sympathetic curiosity seemed to crack something open in Varin Mortifer and the story of his home, his family, and what had happened to them spilled from him. A hint of a sad smile flickered across Haro's face when Varin equated him to his sister. The smile turned more contemplative at mention of Naamino Zuukamano . He hadn't really thought of them as "inseparable," but he had to admit it did ring true upon reflection. Varin hadn't been around for their contentious beginnings, but Haro and Naami had definitely become far closer since then.

Haro grew solemn as Varin explained the last interaction he'd had with this sister before she was killed, but he had to school his reaction at mention of a rogue Jedi being the villain of the story. He was immediately reminded of Naami's story of losing his home and his parents to the Jedi and Galactic Alliance. His gaze fell away for a moment as he tried to shove down the complicated emotions that brought up, but it rose again to meet Varin's when heard the immense pain and regret in the admission of failure.

“Keep the ones you love close, Haro. Protect them with everything you have.”

The words carried with them a weight someone so young shouldn't have to bear, and they were followed by a pregnant pause as Haro considered how to respond. Everything that came to mind just didn't feel like it measured up to the gravity of what had been shared. What would Niynx Ioune say, Haro silently wondered, studying Varin's eyes as if seeing him in a new light. He took a deep breath.

"I... can't imagine... how hard that must've been," he began, "to lose everything, and everyone, all at once like that."

He paused, that rueful smile briefly returning. "I guess I've just... never really had that much to lose." It was an offering of an honest admission, rather than anything intended to evoke sympathy.

"It sounds like you really loved her. Your sister. And that you did your best to protect her. I bet she felt that. Even if you had a fight before... before everything changed." He sounded as if he believed every word. Then he leaned back against the wall of the ship and shook his head as if ruminating.

"It's kinda messed up how our brains do that, huh? Try to torment us with regret after someone's gone. I remember after I lost my mom, I couldn't stop replaying all the moments I regretted for months, maybe even years. All the stupid little fits I threw or the times I made her life harder for no better reason than that I was upset or wanted something I couldn't have." His gaze found Varin's again, hoping his attempt to relate landed well, feeling inspired to share his own experience with grief in hopes that it might help.

"Eventually, I decided I didn't want that to be how I remember our time together. I didn't want it to overshadow all the good times." Recalling those memories he shared with his mother brought a warm smile to his face.

"What's your favorite memory of Nier?"​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin remained silent as Haro’s words fell upon him. The attempt at relating to Varin that Haro drew to him about his mother caused Varin’s head to shift slightly. Loss is loss, no matter who it was in relation to you. Haro losing his mother was not something to compare, but to relate. His gaze shifted to the floor as Haro followed up with his question.

His favorite memory of Nier? It’s not something he had ever thought about. Perhaps it was something he heavily took for granted. He thought for a good long moment. A breeze rolled into the ship that stirred up a scent. The kind that you can never figure out where it comes from or how, but all the same, a scent that makes you remember. Remember the best of times, the happiest.

He remembered the garden.

“Nier and I were in the garden. Doing our daily chores, some weeding and watering. Of course I was trying to just get the chores done to get away from the mundane.”

He chuckled slightly to himself.

“I felt a thick cold wet slap of mud on the back of my head. Of course there she is giggling and laughing. We were much younger back then. Of course I had to retaliate, so I pushed her into a nearby puddle. But somehow I ended up missing her and I fell instead.”

He gently ran his thumb over the white crystal in his palm.

“Instead I tried my luck at throwing some mud back at her. Long story short, that was how she lost her first tooth.”

He paused for a moment, thinking on the moment.

“She didn’t even cry. Just kept laughing. Eventually we were chasing each other and got lost in the hedge maze. I had to ruin the maze to get out with her, carrying her on my shoulders.”

He smiled for a moment before it faded.

“Father of course was not happy about the maze, but I took the blame for it.”

He looked up at Haro. Almost as if he was about to say something before a slight beeping caught his ear. His gaze tore towards the sound as he slowly got up.

“That sound. I know it.”

He Listened for a moment longer before his eyes slowly widened.

“That’s CC’s SOS beacon!”

Haro Aven​

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

​

As Varin painted the picture of his favorite memory with Nier, Haro's expression went on the journey with him. He chuckled at the image of the mud fight, then his eyebrows shot up at the broken tooth comment. He noted how good of a storyteller Varin was as he listened.

When Varin's attention was suddenly pulled away from their conversation, Haro tensed, preparing for potential danger.

"CC?" He repeated, temporarily confused before he remembered what Varin said earlier. "Your droid! Do you think they're somewhere on the ship?"

Now that he was paying attention to the sound, Haro identified the beeping Varin was referring to and turned his focus back to the terminal. He keyed in a series of commands in an effort to pin point the SOS beacon and trace it to its location.​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

“No he couldn’t be. He was crushed right before my eyes before I even got to this ship.”

He watched Haro as he worked on pinpointing the location. Varin’s eyes squinted a bit as he read over his shoulder.

“Is that…the outer rim? What planet is that?”

He moved so he was now beside him.

“Do you think…”

His words paused for a moment.

“We need to get him. He is…He’s very important to me. He practically raised us while my parents were off world, served as their body guard too. A combination of a combat droid and a service droid.”

He scoffed slightly as he could not believe what he was seeing.

“He trained our military in combat tactics…Why is he now here?”

He picked up his datapad, the microcracked screen flared to life as he began to tap in the coordinates in an attempt to save them in case it was needed later.

Haro Aven​

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

In moments, Haro pulled up the sector coordinates for the source of the beacon. A holoimage of a star system glitched to life on the tactical display, a bright red dot pulsing within the floating projection of planets and moons. Haro commanded the computer to hone in on the signal until one planet dominated the display.

"Lotho Minor," he said as information about the planet propagated the screen.

"Says it's a junk planet." He paused, brow furrowing with concern as he read on. "Lots of environmental hazard warnings. Extreme levels of radiation and severe weather conditions."

He glanced at Varin, noting the determination in his voice. He didn't know him well, but he had a feeling Varin would end up going to look for this droid of his with or without Haro's help. He sighed, studying the holoimage of Lotho Minor as a sinking feeling settled in his gut.

"Guess we're about to find out," he said in response to Varin's question about why the droid was where he apparently was.

"We're gonna need a working ship and some damn good radiation protection." Haro determined aloud, already shutting down the Varin's ship's systems and heading for his speeder so they could get back to Kor'ethyr and start making preparations for their journey.​

***​

LOCATION: OUTER RIM TERRITORIES > WAZTA SECTOR > LOTHO MINOR​

EQUIPMENT: BODIE | BLASTER PISTOL | VIBROKNIVES | RADIATION SUIT​

OBJECTIVE: FIND AND RETRIEVE VARIN'S DROID "CC"​

It had taken the boys the better part of a week to make the necessary preparations for the journey to Lotho Minor, but together they proved where there was a will, there was a way. They managed to commission the use of a military freighter under the auspices of an "academic field trip" and gathered the necessary equipment to keep them safe while they searched for CC.

So it was that they found themselves descending upon the planet most know for its acid rain and for being Naboo's primary dumping ground. From the cockpit, Haro watched Lotho Minor swell from a rust-colored sphere into a diseased world that seemed to repel the very idea of visitors. Even from orbit it looked wrong—brown and bruised, its surface scabbed with continents of refuse piled so high they distorted the planet's silhouette. Fires burned everywhere, dull orange veins threading through the trash mountains, as if the world itself were feverish.

There were no clean approach vectors, no polite corridors through the atmosphere marked by beacons or traffic control. Lotho Minor offered only turbulence and guesswork. Haro brought the ship in anyway. As the vessel crossed the upper atmosphere, the hull began to shudder, buffeted by unpredictable winds carrying particulate metal and ash. The sky darkened into a choking brown haze, and warning lights flared as solid fragments—rust flakes, twisted shards, even whole plates of corroded alloy—bounced off the shields like shrapnel in a storm.

As they descended, the planet's true face revealed itself. A dark blanket of smoke clung to the viewport, limiting visibility to little more than silhouettes. Through the murk, the carcasses of ancient starships jutted upward, their gutted hulls half-buried in newer garbage, ribs of durasteel frozen in eternal ruin. They made the landscape feel like an industrial graveyard, a place where the galaxy's forgotten machines had come to rot. Haro felt a chill despite the heat warnings scrolling across his displays.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Closer to the surface, the ground refused to stay still. Vast pools of toxic sludge reflected the fires above them, their surfaces bubbling sluggishly. Entire trash mountains shifted without warning as underground explosions rippled through the lower layers.

When he finally brought the ship down, it was less a landing than a careful surrender. The vessel settled onto an uneven plateau of compacted junk that groaned under its weight, heat shimmering off the fires nearby. He kept the ship on standby in case they needed to make a quick retreat and secured the helmet of his radiation suit with a click and a hiss as the air inside of it pressurized.

With a pat on Varin's shoulder, he pressed the button to extend the boarding ramp.

"Here goes nothin."

They were welcomed by the crackle of burning waste and the distant thunder of shifting trash. The atmosphere was technically breathable—Type I, the readouts insisted—but it carried a chemical bite that stung the nose even through filtration of his suit. He held up his datapad and activated the tracking beacon calibrated to CC's signal. The datapad buffered a moment before providing a direction to begin their search. Haro nodded to Varin.

"You ready?"
​

​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

The planet itself looked to be fabricated from junk flame and poison. An amalgamation of everything that was unnatural, terraforming into a space one could never declare as liveable. Varin had never worn a radiation suit and the fabric seemed to be uncomfortably clingy to him. He shifted in his seat slightly, causing the suit to let out an unsettling and unbearable creak like a wet rubber glove. He grimaced to the sound.

“Already not a fan of these suits.”

He mumbled as the planet came into view. The orange veins that seemed to be the lifeblood of the planet seemed like rivers of hot liquid or melted metal. Up close the planet looked like a massive ball of a festering wound on the galaxy. It was ugly. It was dangerous. But somewhere there an old friend was waiting for him.

The ship descended through the smog infested atmosphere, silhouetting what ships and towering junk would and could swat them out of the sky ending their journey in an instant. But Haro was a very capable and a very competent pilot. Varin had all confidence in him, until the ship landed a bit unevenly, that one hundred percent confidence was brought down to about ninetynine. Wasn’t much he could do about the landing, the whole damn place was just a ball of scrap.

He gently placed a hand on his shoulder as a nervous exhale left both of them.

“Good landing, the hard parts done.”

He smiled and put his helmet on. The ramp opened up and extended. Varin gave Haro an approving nod as he looked out to the sickening greenish yellowy sky, faint bruising of orange from distant fires. He stepped onto the ramp, already the geiger counter on his suit was making slight popping noises. Varin’s jaw set as he looked down at the meter on his suit.

“Hm, I guess the suits were a good idea. Suddenly they seem a bit more bearable.”

The slight jest came out of nowhere as he looked at Haro and hooked his saber hilt to his belt. Could never be too careful on a planet like this. Salvagers tend to fight over anything shiny here and his saber had a very distinct shine to it.

Haro Aven​

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

​

The ground shifted nearby, making room for a bubble of putrid gas to belch from the depths of the mountain of refuse they stood upon. Haro jumped at the pop and shuffled away as the ominous ticking of his geiger counter swelled.

“I’d say,” he agreed, the concern is his voice clear. “But they have limits so let’s make this quick. I’d prefer to keep my insides from melting.”

Setting a hurried yet cautious pace, Haro led the charge, the pulsing icon of the SOS signal already tugging them forward.

For the first hour, the ground betrayed them constantly. Each step sank into layers of compacted refuse that gave way without warning, forcing Haro to move slowly, testing his footing before committing his weight. Rusted plating and shattered hull fragments jutted up at odd angles, threatening to tear suits if brushed too closely. Strong winds surged through the valleys between trash mountains, slamming into them hard enough to stagger Haro and peppering his armor with flakes of oxidized metal. More than once, he had to brace himself as a sudden gust sent a cascade of sharp debris skittering past where his legs had been seconds before.

The datapad guided them across a landscape that never stopped moving. Fires burned beneath translucent layers of garbage, glowing faintly through warped plastics and cracked transparisteel. Toxic sludge pools forced long detours, their surfaces churning and steaming as acid rain struck them in violent bursts. When the rain came down, they took cover, listening to it hiss and spit against the junk around them, watching drops eat small craters into exposed metal, forced to wait until the downpour passed, knowing their suits could only endure so much abuse.

By the second hour, the terrain grew worse. The ground shuddered beneath their feet as a distant underground explosion rippled through the lower layers, knocking loose entire sheets of debris. Haro heard the scream of tearing metal an instant before a slab of corroded durasteel slid down a nearby trash slope, crashing apart in a cloud of dust and sparks. His pulse spiked, breath loud in his helmet, but he forced himself onward, eyes flicking constantly between the datapad and the unstable world around him.

The signal grew stronger as they descended into a low basin choked with a foul fog. Ancient starship remains loomed out of the murk. Haro felt small walking among them, as if trespassing through a graveyard of titans.

Then the ground dropped away. The fog thinned enough for Haro to see the edge just before he reached it. He stopped short, boots skidding on loose scrap. The light vanished downward into darkness, swallowed by a vast opening in the planet’s surface. The cavern yawned wide and irregular, its edges formed from fused junk, collapsed hulls, and melted slag, all sloping inward. The datapad chimed softly in his hand.

“The signal’s strongest here,” he said, glancing at Varin then back down into the darkness. He tightened his grip on the datapad, feeling the weight of the hours behind them and the certainty that the real danger was only just beginning.​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin gave Haro a look of confusion as he jumped from the gas bubble, he had trained himself to be aware of certain things that could happen and observe. But that was his training, Haro had likely been through something much different than him and on top of that Varin was used to the front lines. After a quick moment a snicker that turned into a bit of a laugh escaped him from Haro’s reaction.

“We definitely do not want to lose that big brain of yours, besides, I’m very sure Lesh and Naami would kill me if I let you die here. We will make it out, I promise you that.”

He had a bit of an odd way to try and ease Haro’s nerves, trying to help him keep his focus on what was going on around them and to stay focused. They needed every second they could get. The combination of unstable ground and strong winds slowed their advancement exponentially. Of course of all planets for CC to be dumped in, it HAD to be this one. Varin stayed behind Haro in case he badly misstepped he would catch him, keeping him from tearing his suit, or worse, getting the galaxy’s worst case of tetanus it has ever seen.

It was almost like delving into old ruins, just like the stories CC would tell him. Stories of daring adventurers diving into the depths of the unknown and impossible odds, only to find treasure or a sense of meaning. It was a bit funny to him. Never did he think he would be part of a story like that.

Though his story seemed to be missing something. Probably a tale of the heroes having to hide from acid rain, or having to circle around toxic pools of thick viscous sludge. Varin swore he saw something within it grab some poor small critter and drag it inside without so much as a yelp. Bogan knows what the hells that thing was, and how dangerous it could be to just casually lurk inside one of these pools.

“Stay clear from the edge.”

Varin sharply commanded towards Haro as the acid rain finally ceased its descent for the time being.

Heavy junk trembled from the mountainous piles around them as a deep rolling tremble loosened their hold. Varin stepped in front ready to redirect any falling debris as the trembling continued for a moment longer, the metal groaned and ached as it repositioned itself. The planet’s surface ever changing and ever shifting. Nothing was the same, it was frequent enough that Varin could tell the way back would be tricky, and likely much different than it was before. He heard Haro’s breathing and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re doing good.”

He heard the device beep as the signal swelled in strength, they were getting close. Varin looked ahead at the open cavern before them, following behind Haro, making sure he retained his balance. Every now and then Varin would grunt in frustration as the junk seemed to try to pull him under with every step.

“Never coming back here again, not even for spare parts. That damned droid is lucky I like him so much.”

He stopped as Haro announced the signal's strength. He looked on towards the darkened tunnel and closed his eyes, sensing, feeling. He felt a couple of things, one was a sense of familiarity, his droid companion was indeed down there. But he sensed something else, and it was hungry, and it was big.

“...So…You’re not gonna like this one bit.”

He looked at Haro with a very serious look.

“Something else is definitely down there.”

This posed a big problem. Normally Varin would have no issues fighting back, but his suit is more fragile than what he was used to wearing. Using fire was out of the question and staying too long was also out of the question. The possibility of melting his suit was a very real reality.

“Unfortunately, I am severely limited in this suit. I don’t think we can fight it. We will have to be quiet and quick. An impossible task I know, but if something does end up seeing us, we will have to run for it. I’m not risking both of us for some ego.”

He looked back at the darkened tunnel ahead of them.

“You may need your blaster for this.”

Varin fell quiet as he began to walk towards the tunnel.

Haro Aven​

 

[Haro Aven]

Varin Mortifer ​

"...So…You're not gonna like this one bit." Varin's foreboding tone drew Haro's worried gaze back to him.
"...What?" He asked cautiously.
"Something else is definitely down there."
Haro sighed dramatically, shoulders slumping. "Of course."

It certainly didn't make him feel any better that Varin felt severely limited in his ability to defend them in his suit, but he nodded in agreement at the proposal of the stealthy approach. He could do that. He was good at that. He hoped Varin was too. He glanced behind them. They'd made it this far, no sense in turning back now. With another heavy sigh, he faced forward, brow furrowed in determination.

"Let's hope I don't have to use it," he said, pulling his blaster pistol from its holster on his belt and holding it in a ready position.

"Quiet and quick. Let's do this."

Haro started down into the cavern, stepping carefully so as not lose his footing or dislodge any loose pieces of debris and send them tumbling into the darkness. As the last of the light disappeared, Haro's subterranean eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, but it occurred to him that Varin's likely did not so he turned up the output volume on the field-com in his ear and whispered.

"I'm worried about turning on a light down here but... you gonna be able to see ok?" He thought he heard something shift nearby and aimed his blaster in the direction of the noise.​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He watched as Haro drew his blaster.

“I know you would rather stun, but you may need to make this lethal. Last case scenario in case stunning it makes it angrier.”

Varin followed behind him, trying to mimic his steps, unfortunately the ground shifted from weight difference with ease. Varin would have to step slower and with more awareness of what he was stepping around.

The chamber’s acrid stench was much stronger here, housing a lake of viscous acidic bile that bubbled and garbled ahead of him. A low groan could be heard as they drew nearer to the chamber.

Varin took a step, feeling an uneasy shift under his foot he stopped before it made too much noise. Slowly he shifted his boot to purchase a better footing. He looked at Haro and whispered back to him in his comms.

“For once…I wish I was smaller, and um…”

He squinted as faint light beamed down from the openings above them, barely silhouetting the area around them.

“No, not really. But if I take a moment I can start to see shapes. Best to hold off on the light for now.”

His boot slightly shifted some metallic garbage and he froze, a ripple in the acidic lake plopped nearby, he stayed still for just a bit.

Haro Aven​

(16-3=13)