History
Xin as a child
Glee Anselm
Clockwork Rebellion
Xin felt the impact reverberate through his bones. Sound carried far better through the water than the air and the devastation being wrought upon Corellia ran through her seas in a series of shockwaves. Xin didn't blink his eyes open; he didn't blink. Awareness slowly returned to him and he kicked his legs to reorient himself. For half a second he wondered if he had imagined the sound. Just a waking dream. The second shockwave disavowed him of the notion.
Frozen with fear he hung in the middle of his chamber. The city they lived in was deep in the oceans. Several higher layers were pumped full of pressurised air, but most of the city was underwater. Their infants could not survive in the air and most of their communications: language, visual cues and pheromone exchange were more suited to being underwater. It wasn't just the noise. The sudden shock was so powerful it made him feel nauseated. Still it was something else that frayed Xin's fragile nerves.
The grown ups had been speaking in hushed tones around him. Mentions of 'droids’ searching the oceans. The whole community had become sombre and even Xin had become more quiet and introverted in the last week. Another time and his parents might have been thankful for some peace.
“Xin!” he heard his mother's cry a moment after the sound of the door to their abode sliding open. It roused him from his stupor and he swam quickly to open his own door. Their home was a number of spherical chambers connected by tubes to a residential district of the city. His mother was already coming towards him quickly.
“What was…”
“Don't worry, don't worry,” she hushed as she grabbed him and pulled him close. As reassuring as her presence was it was too easy to read his mother. As young as he was he could see the panic in her eyes, feel it though his head tails.
“We have to leave. Now.”
She wrapped her fingers around his wrist in a firm grip and started to swim for the door. He has to kick hard just to keep himself aligned with her. If he hadn't realised her panic before, he did now. The front door opened to frame his father. He was a broad and angular man. People always chose to comment on the fact that Xin had his father's colouring, but his mother's features.
His father said nothing to them. He just turned and started down the corridor. Everyone was out of their homes, an alarm was blaring now. As he was pulled along in his mother's wake he heard people calling out to each other.
“Depth charges!”
“The droids found us!”
“...evacuating from all bays…”
“They've breached the lower levels…”
“...sink the entire base…”
Xin noticed that the sudden noises had stopped. He was glad of that at least. Each had felt like having his insides struck with a hammer.
“Are we leaving?” He asked.
“Yes,” his father replied sternly.
“But Daggy and…”
“Don't worry about your toys now. No time.”
His point was accentuated by a sudden scream of tortured metal. The entire corridor shook, the waters swirling as they pressed on. There were people all around them now, swimming for the landing bays. The water was thick with their fear.
Another mighty crash. This time the pressure suddenly changed. Xin felt his ears prickling with pain. The tunnel wall suddenly crumpled in towards them, metal layers unfolding like petals. He felt mum’s grip tug him back sharply before she released him. Xin hit the far wall with a thud.
Shaking his headtails he pushed himself from the wall as his father swam back past him. He turned at the sound of his mother’s cry. A heavy girder had burst through the wall, its weight had her pinned against the floor.
“Mum!”
His dad braced against the floor and wrapped his arms around it. Muscles bunched and strained as he heaved. She managed to wiggle a few inches before his strength gave. She cried out once more. A dark cloud seeped out from beneath the girder. She was bleeding.
Xin started to swim towards the but firm hands wrapped around his waist and pulled him back. He struggled against them frantically.
“Go!” he heard his mother plead. She had placed her hands on dad’s head.
“Not yet.” The words were perhaps the softest Xin had ever heard from his father. “Xin!” he called turning to face him. “We’ll catch up. I promise.”
“Promise?” Xin croaked.
“
Promise. Gersh, take him with you!”
Xin stopped struggling and was pulled away. He saw his father brace himself for another pull. Mum closed her eyes, her hands searching for something to grasp.
4th Correctional Facility, Bastion
Present Day
The wooden stylus made a rasping sound as it was drawn back and forth over the leather strap. It was slow work. In their shop classes they weren’t permitted to use long straps. The risk was they would use the length as a garrotte. They also weren’t permitted particularly sharp, metal tools for obvious reasons.
Xin smoothed the piece out and canted his head to one side, admiring his efforts with his wide, glassy eyes. With an approving nod he set down his tools and started to tie it to one of his headtails.
“Makin’ yourself a pretty princess?” growled the houk next to him menacingly.
“You’d think anything was pretty as long as you’ve been in here,” Xin retorted. A hush fell upon the shop. Enough that the silence attracted the attention of one of the guards.
A laugh like rockslide brought it to an end. Jope elbowed Xin hard enough to nearly knock him from his feet. “Not been
that long squidy.”
Jope kept himself to himself. Everyone else kept Jope to himself by steering well clear. Except for Xin. For some reason the houk had taken a shine to him. That was quite useful given the young convicts predilection for mouthing off at the wrong time. Jope thought he was funny. And if Jope laughed, no one else tended to say otherwise.
“Gotta look good. My big day tomorrow,” Xin replied.
Jope gave him a sombre look. “Anyone coming to see you?” he asked. The houk pointed to the new braid and then to a tattoo on Xin’s arm. He could be a little simple like that. Xin just shrugged.
“Don’t think so,” Xin replied.
“Ah we’ll miss you.”
Xin smiled. It was a kind thing to say even if it wasn’t true.
“Good to see you Xin.” The gravely voice suddenly ruined a perfectly good start to a day. The doors slammed loudly behind him. Xin stood on the roadside outside of the institute, free from his first serious time inside.
The nautolan turned to see the a group of vagrants emerge from a large airspeeder. “You boys didn’t need to give me a lift,” Xin called out cheerily. He swung his bag of belongings over to his right hand, just in case.
“Oh we did. Yulon’s been thinking about who’s responsible for the last job going bad. Now normally you’re the first spot trouble. Got us out of a lot of tight pinches. But everyone remembers you being oddly quiet that day. And now here you are, out after just two years.”
Xin shook his head, tails decorated in simple leather straps shaking. “I wouldn’t do that Gualt. I promise I didn’t betray anyone. Radio’s weren’t working. They picked me up just two blocks away from the job and…”
“Now what was it you used to say all the time?” The broad chested human moved up until he was just inches away. “
A promise is nothing but empty words ‘til you follow up on it? Get in the car Boa.”
