Those Who were Dead will Arise Once More, Just Once (Open to Rebel Alliance)

[Corruck Kazen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCQ53pWxDcE​

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It has been awhile. Scratching his slightly grown beard, Corruck thought. He had been off about business that he was sure he would have to explain to his comrades. They had probably been worried about his disappearance. He didn't flatter himself that they had been lost without him. They had probably accomplished much while he was gone.

At the time he had needed time to clear his head. The Rebels had decided to join the Republic and he had needed time to think about that. Nothing wrong with that most definitely, but he had not been sure what to think. He had never been a staunch supporter of the Republic, though he had never been against it either. He had not been sure if would have stayed. He had contemplated just running away, running from it all and setting himself up on a planet in the far unknown regions of space. That would have been betraying of those he had fought alongside though. And always his arm reminded him of what it had cost to come so far. He was a changed man from when he had first joined. Not by much maybe, but he had changed.

He did not know if it was for better or worse, but he knew that he could not just leave. Not without leaving some of himself behind. One of the main reasons he had been alright with joining the Republic had been the fact he had later learned, Matchbox was now leader. Chancellor was probably the right word, but Corruck was not one for those fancy titles. Benefactor had been almost too grandiose a name in his mind.

There had been other reasons for leaving of course, but most of them had been dealt with on his travels away. One problem still worried him, but he had found too little to be able to solve the problem. He hoped that it would be alright, but he did not like the idea of a rogue AI in the galaxy. Especially when it was intended for war. But he didn't concern himself with that right now. He had enough to work on to try and track down the droid hopefully. He had to focus on his arrival. He expected to be bombarded with questions, probably get in trouble for being away without leave.

Corruck would not have blamed them. He felt something like a traitor for running when there the going got rough. He was upset with himself, while still being glad that he had taken a breather. He felt horrible still, abandoning his allies and friends without so much as a notice, just up and left. That was poor manners, impolite, and definitely not professional. Especially after all they had been through together. Battles, diseases, defeats, victories, and everything between. He knew he should have left, he looked forward to apologizing.... and seeing the Recalcitrant again.

He had grown accustomed to the old Z-95 that he had picked up after leaving, buying it from a spaceport that had upgraded to newer craft and had been selling the older ones. It had not had everything he would have wanted in a ship, but it had become like home to him, if a really needy one, it broke down quite often. He was fortunate to not have it stop working in the midst of a flight, though most of its problems seemed to be related to leaving and entering planetary atmospheres. Not very good at handling the stresses was his guess.

He was glad to see Praesitlyn again. He idly wondered if it were still a Rebel base. When he had left there had been a lot of turbulence with a rival power nearby trying to take them out. He remembered the battle of Geonosis. That had not been pretty. More potently he remembered the battle on Makeb. The memories were still fresh and painful. The tortures under Dredge. He had overcome the damage that monster had done, repairing his mental sanity. The physical had been slower, he still had the arm that Armand had made him. Though it was now stained brown and green, something of a signature he had picked up during his time away.

He had come to grooming his hair in order to hide the half of his face which had been burned. Most people found it revolting and he generally agreed. Shaving became a bit more difficult, the only good thing was that her felt no pain on that side. The sound of a plasma torch still made him wince, he was lucky he had taken it so far down. Originally he couldn't have stood the sound, often he would run or become violent. When he could he would have ear plugs on when he went through engineering areas or droid works. Fire did it sometimes to, just seeing it was enough to give him trouble, but for the most part he had that under control.

He brought his fighter down towards the planet, slowly changing frequency of the comm until it reached the one he remembered the Rebels using. He stopped and turned his fighter into an orbit pattern. This was his last chance, if he spoke now he could never turn back. Once he came back in, he would have to answer for his crimes. You deserve it. You never told them everything, yet you often judged them. Time to pay the price for your own shortcomings. He told himself as he opened the comm and spoke over it.

He didn't look directly at the comm, instead focusing on the console of the Z-95, he didn't think he could handle seeing their faces again. "This is... Nemesis calling Rebel ground base. Do you read me ground base?"

 

[Oddball]

"Unity people, that is what we are about. Freedom, the idea that has been planted in the heads of people that imperialism is the only option has destroyed that idea for billions of people. We are here to show people that democracy is the true guiding force to galaxy, and yes we have fought for that idea. Some of us have paid for it more than others though." He said gesturing to his robotic arm.

But it wasn't just an arm, it was people. Thousands of faces that Oddball remembered, each and every name that was carved into his mind of the people who paid the ultimate price for that idea, for freedom. People who paid that price for his freedom, people who would never see another day. That pulled at him for a moment as he looked over to the crowd of fresh rebel recruits, graduates of their boot camp about to be sent off to their schools of training. More faces, more names, more people who would die in a war they were losing.

Oddball stood there for a moment and soon a blonde female intelligence officer passed along a message to him by coming onstage and whispering something into his ear. The man nodded his head, whispered a few things back and had the woman walk off stage.

"As your colonel here on base, I just want to tell you all how proud I am of all of you. I'm going to tell you something my father told me and my brothers, if you ever find yourself in a position where all hope seems lost. Do not have fear in your hearts, fear will get the man next to you killed. Have courage, courage that you will survive, and courage that if you don't you will take as many of them with you before you go. There is a pressing matter I need to attend to, I leave you now with your company first sergeant." Oddball said as he walked off the stage and grabbed his comm link to hook up on [member="Corruck Kazen"]'s signal

"Welcome home Nemesis, land in hanger A." Oddball said to the man.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

"Thank you ground base. Hangar A." Corruck could not remember the name of the man on the other end of the comm, it had been too long ago. He was still trying to master himself as he shut off the communications. He did not wanted to hear anymore from the ground right now. He had to be in control, he had lost it far too often before. Right now he needed to be strong, if only so that the new people who had joined in his absence would not see weakness. This group could not afford to have weak leaders, he had to put on a strong face and deal with that.

He took a breath, held it for a full minute before slowly releasing it. He pushed the control on the old starfighter forward and sent it towards the planet he had once called home. He questioned his resolve again. He realized that even now he could turn and disappear. They would simply see perhaps someone playing a prank, or a security breach. He could turn activate the hyperdrive for a second or two and never be seen by his old allies. How much was this worth to him? Was his sense of guilt so overpowering that he would even contemplate betraying these people.

It was a silent few minutes, he found that the hangar had not changed overly much from the plans he had originally overseen. He took the old fighter in gently, not wanting to put more strain that necessary on its frame. He landed and stayed seated in the cockpit for what felt like eternity. Even now he could simply power the engines and leave. But he felt the need to stay. He felt that if he were to leave he would be a traitor and worth less than the dirt on which this station had been built. He did not want that. He wanted forgiveness for his disappearance. He did not want to ask for it though, he felt that it would be wrong. He had to be accepted, not ask for acceptance.

At last he pulled the control on the cockpit and the top opened. He stood up in the seat, stretching to get the kinks out of him. He had been in the ship too long again, but then again he had done that too often anyways. He looked around once he finished.

[member="Oddball"] [member="Patricia Susan Garter"] [member="Krasnaya Xue"]

 

[Juwiela Melec]

Nemesis. That was an old name, a callsign Juwiela had nearly forgotten over the years. The Alliance had gone through much and more since the one claiming that moniker had been present, rising and falling in succession but never quite fading completely. Nemesis. Yes, she knew him. The two had shared a common cause when the Rebels had made an effort to draw up a treaty with the Red Ravens, something they had both spoken out against. It was true that they had never been exceptionally close, but maybe this second chance would offer something different. Now that he was back where he belonged, maybe things would change for the better. Corruck.

The brief exchange chattered through her own comms, but she only listened, not adding her own voice. Instead she strode purposefully towards the specified hangar, pausing just before she entered and studying the individual within from the outside, her version of sight allowing her to look past the physical realm and into who he truly was as a person. There was no doubt that this was the man that had taken that callsign, seemingly returned from the brink of death for all they had heard from him since he disappeared. It would be nice to have one of the old guard back with them.

Finally she stepped into the wide open space, this being nothing short of her second home some days. Her hand absently trailed over the noses of a few of the vessels as she walked by, halting once she was within conversational distance and considering his place here for a few long moments. A slow smile eventually formed, and she nodded in greeting. "It's been awhile, Corruck. I don't think I've seen you around since awhile after Makeb." It felt as if that had been ages ago, as if she had been an entirely different person. There was no doubt that war took its toll. "Welcome home."

[member="Corruck Kazen"], [member="Oddball"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck was pleasantly surprised that the face he saw was friendly. He probably had been overly dramatic in his expected response to his arrival. He stepped down from the cockpit, nodding his thanks to the ship engineer that had rolled up the ladder. Once on the ground he replied with a weary smile, it had been an eighty seven hour day for him so far. Between the work he had finished in that new ring of information gatherers, the nights he had spent deciding what to do next, and the long flight here he was thoroughly worn. But he knew that it could not end yet.

"It has been awhile. Thank you. How is everything?" He recalled [member="Juwiela Melec"] from some battles. They had not gotten to know one another very much, probably because Corruck had kept himself busy with other things. He wondered if this was another chance, one to meet with a person who had only been a name, face, and ally until now. He took a few steps forward, getting some feeling back into his legs after the trip. He wondered how many of the people he had known were doing. Though, in truth, he had only really gotten to know one person in any real form within the Rebels and that was Matchbox, who was now in the Republic if he remembered correctly. There was a new leader, at least there had been when he had left.

He realized that he had mostly kept to himself for some reason or another, but now was a chance to repair that failing. Now was a time to see if he could step above and beyond who he had been before. Starting with those around him.

[member="Oddball"] [member="Krasnaya Xue"]