Edge of the Empire: Maniac's Requiem

   The destruction of the Death Star was a surprise to all of us.  We all knew the risks, we knew what we were facing, and we knew it was near impossible.  It had to be done, but it just seemed like there was no possible way.  How could we, so unorganized and unproffesional, possibly stop one of the greatest powers in the galaxy.

   And yet it happened, the greatest miracle we could have ever hoped for.  It was all ended in one singular battle over the Death Star.  There are plenty of rumors as to how it happened, but no one really cared in the end.  The Empire had been dethroned, and the galaxy was at peace...well, as peaceful as it could get.  The celebrations lasted for weeks, but now, a few months later, things were starting to calm down...except in Corellia.

  I couldn't help but laugh as a few drunk Corellians walked by.  Being fairly resistant to alcohol, it took a serious celebration for Corellians to get drunk, but I guess they considered this as an excuse for such.  But with such a happy atmosphere, it was kinda hard to get frustrated at them, and we are somewhat known for our alcohol.  

  "Back at this bar again, Brennis?  I never thought you were the drinking type."

  I chuckled as a man sat down at another empty table.  "I'm not, I just like the atmosphere here.  Very peaceful, gives me a good place to think."

  He smirked.  "Right, because a bar in the middle of Coronet City is the most serene place you could think of."

  "Hey, it's not THAT bad.   Besides, this bar is a fairly unpopular one."

  "Which is exactly why you're here," he said, laughing.

  "Very funny, Torva."  I said, taking a drink.

  He was an old pal of mine from the Rebel days, Torva the mechanic.  He always took care of our weapons and suits back in the military.  We both were new recruits when we met, so we hit it off really well.  He couldn't wield a gun very well, but that man could find any problem with your weapon and fix it in minute's flat.  I'd hate get on his bad side, he could do some nasty stuff.

  I stood up and walked over to his table.

  "So, how's the family?" I asked, sitting down.

  "You knew?" He said, smirking.

  "I'm not THAT outside the circle.  How was the honeymoon?"

  "It was wonderful." he said, smiling.  "It wasn't anything special, but we had a great time.  Corellia is truly beautiful if you look in the right places."

  "I second that," I said, raising my glass.

  We both sat silently for a few minutes.  At first I didn't pay any attention to it, but after a minute I became a little curious. Usually Torva was a massive chatterbox, long moments of silence weren't usual for him.

  "Are you alright?" I asked, curious as to what made this change.

 Torva's  face suddenly became serious.  "Yes...and you?"

  "Hmm?"

  He turned his face towards mine.  "Don't act stupid, Brennis, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

  "Do I?" I said, smirking.

  He nodded, still looking serious.

  "What gave you that idea?" I said, taking a drink.

  "Why else would you be in this specific bar, ordering some of the worst alcohol known to all of Corellia?  You know, just like..."

  "That's enough, Torva."

  "Oh, sorry..." he said, suddenly looking very shameful.  "That bad, huh?"

  "Eh, not really," I said, taking another drink.  "Common depression, occasional nightmares, nothing serious."

  His face took on a look of horror.  "Shouldn't you see somebody about it?"

  "I wish I could...but you know I can't do that."

  "Because you're a stubborn coward?"

  "Yeah."

 We sat in silence for a few more minutes.

 "So, why else are you here?" I asked.

 He looked surprised.  "What do you mean?"

 "If you were done talking about serious things, you would have gone back into talking about your wife or something again.  You obviously have something else in mind."

 "Well..." he said, sheepishly.

 "Is it because of my resignation?"

 He looked surprised, then slowly looked down.  I put my hand on his shoulder.

 "Torva...the war is over.  There's no need for me anymore."

"That's not true...there are still plenty of things for you to do." He said, looking serious again.  "There's still quite a few Stormtroopers walking around, we're having some difficulty with some of the local merchants, and we stopped the Empire, we didn't destroy it."

 "Isn't stopping them good enough for now?"

 He suddenly stood up, looking very offended.  "Of course not!!!  The existence of the Rebellion was to put  an end to the Empire!!!"

"Torva..."

"They're so powerful...even with the destruction of the Death Star, their reign of tyranny isn't over!!!  They will come back, probably even stronger!!!"

"Torva."  I said, slowly standing up.

"They've killed so many innocent people!!!  They've destroyed so many planets!!!  They've-"

"TORVA!"  I said, grabbing him by the shoulders and glaring at him.  His face quickly turned to one of shame.

"I-I-I'm..." he said, stuttering.

My glare softened.

"I'm sorry...," I said, firmly grasping his shoulders.  "I know it's selfish of me.  I know you still want me around, and I know there's more I could do.  I just...just...I can't.  Not now."

He looked sad at first, but slowly began to nod.  "Yeah...sorry about bothering you."

He began to walk away, but was surprised as he felt one of the hands on his shoulders resist.  Curious, he turned around, noticing in the other hand I was extending a cylindrical metal object to him.  His curious look quickly turned to that of shock.

"B-Brennis!  This is her..."

"I know." I said, putting it in his hand and closing his hand around it.  I backed up a few steps, and he noticed that I was smiling, but with a touch of sadness.

"I will be back.  I do not know when, but I will be back."  I pointed at the object in his hand.  "Consider that a symbol of my oath."

I then walked away.  As Torva began to fade into the distance, hundreds of conflicting emotions flew through my head.  So much had happened, and so quickly...how much more damage would it do?  How many more people would I hurt?  Why did it have to happen?  Why?

As I continued to walk along, I noticed something strange in the distance.  It appeared to be some form of ship, and a very messy one at that.  But people seemed to be going in and out at a pretty fair rate.  Curious, I walked towards it and peeked in.

To my surprise, it looked like it was some sort of small bar.  It wasn't too pretty or that large, but it seemed to be rather crowded.  It was full of all different kind of people: Tradoshans, Twi'leks, humans, Bothans, and even a Wookie.  Whatever this place was, it appeared to be a fairly popular spot.

I walked in and ordered the cheapest drink on the menu.  The bartender droid looked at me strangely for a second, but poured my drink and I sat down.  I couldn't help but ponder over the strange look of the ship.  It looked well used and I noticed many weapons that were hidden from plain sight.  Just what was this place?

"You know that's trash, right?"

I turned around noticed there was another human sitting next to me.  He was covered in strange gear and I noticed quite a few weapons hidden in his jacket.  He also appeared to be very drunk.

"What are you talking about?" I said, taking a drink.

"That!" He said, pointing at my drink.  "How can you drink that stuff?"

"It's not THAT bad."  I said, taking another drink.

"I'm pretty sure that stuff came out of the drain." he said, drinking out of his own bottle.

"Well, maybe you don't have that good of taste then," I said, smirking.

He whirled around, suddenly looking very upset.  "What did you just say!?"

"All I said was that maybe you don't have very efficient taste buds," I said, laughing.

He stood up.  "You asking for a fight!?" he said, his voice getting louder.  I noticed people beginning to look in our direction.

"I don't think you want to do that." I said, calmly taking another drink.

"Why not!?"  He said, fuming.

"Because I'm not in the mood for bullying kids today."

That did it.  He flipped the table over, and I quickly jumped back.  He pulled up his fists and went into some form of fighting stance...if you could call it that.  He was so drunk that it looked like he could barely stand up.
The people in the bar suddenly began to cheer.  At first I was confused as to why they looked so excited, then I realized that they were expecting and looking forward to a bar fight.  I couldn't help but grin.  Who was I to displease the crowd?

"I guess a small warm-up won't hurt," I said, cracking my fists.  I charged forward and landed a solid hit in the stomach.  He staggered backwards, and I couldn't help but laugh.

Then all of the sudden HE charged forward, and before I knew what happened he punched me directly in the face...really hard.  I was so shocked I almost fell over.

As I tried to regain composure, I tried to figure out what happened.  Did that drunkard really just land a solid hit on me?  He looked like he could barely stand up!  Did I just dream that?

I tried to land a kick, but he suddenly dodged it.  It was only a second later where I found his other fist once again aiming for my face.  I managed to avoid it, but just barely.  A second later and it would have been another direct hit.

I couldn't believe it.  How was this happening?  I may not have been the best fighter, but I was certainly no pushover. How was I doing so badly?

I backed up a second and looked him over.  I suddenly noticed that his jacket didn't look worn because of alcohol stains, but with dirt and sand.  There were even more weapons than I originally noticed hidden in his jacket.  As he charged forward again, I noticed that despite his drunk appearance, his fighting stance and attacks were surprisingly solid.

I grinned.  As drunk as he appeared to be, this man was not the simple idiot I imagined him to be.  As to what exactly he was and what he did, I couldn't tell, but he certainly knew how to fight, and fight well.  This was a good challenge, the best one I had found in awhile.

We traded blows a few more times, each blow coming faster.  The crowd cheered more, and I got even more hyped up.  This fight was awesome!  It had been a long time since I had so much fun!  It was just like when I hung out with the guys...

A thought suddenly occurred to me.  I smirked and put up a certain combat pose I had learned long ago.  I waited patiently, waiting for what I knew what was to come.  Sure enough, he charged forward, going for another one to my face.   Just when it looked like I was about to be hit, I suddenly dodged and retaliated, punching him directly in the face...

...a little TOO well.  As to whether we were that different in physical strength, whether his drunkenness had finally began to take him over, or just dumb luck, we'll never know...but he flew.   Over 10 feet backwards, directly into a group of wine bottles.

The crowd suddenly stopped cheering, and most of them began to leave.  It took a minute for me to realize that I had just damaged some important beverage, and who knows how much I would have to pay for it. Everyone left looked in my direction both angrily and curiously as I sheepishly grinned back.

A few of them began to walk in my direction menacingly, and I prepared for the worst.

"Stop."

Everyone suddenly stopped and slowly turned around, hearing the commanding voice.  It came from a tall Trandoshan wearing dark robes and concealing what appeared to be a powerful sword.

"Why!?" Asked what appeared to be some strange medic.  "What's wrong with killing him!?"

"Whoah whoah whoah," I said, panicking rather seriously. "I didn't mean any-"

"Restrain him." He commanded.  A bothan wearing incredibly massive armor came and took the gun from the medic while a wookie held him still.  The Trandoshan walked forward and gestured the Twi'lek to follow.
"Just so you know, you just broke bottles of some very important alcohol known as Whyren's Reserve." the Trandoshan said, rather seriously.

"Of course, just my luck," I said, panicked and confused.  "I'm guessing there's no peaceful way out of this."

The Trandoshan grinned.  "No, there isn't...however, I think I have a solution to both of our problems that will work out for both of us in the end."

I stood there rather confused as the Trandoshan whispered to the Twi'lek for a few seconds.  Then the Twi'lek stepped forward.

"We, um...have recently received a job offer from someone.  Uh...in return, he has promised to replenish the supply of Whyren's Reserve upon completion." she said both very professionally and yet unprofessionally at the same time.

The Trandoshan then stepped further forward.  "It is a...somewhat dangerous mission.  It's not completely legal, and requires some precautions.  I couldn't help but notice your...brawl with the drunkey..."

"Oh yeah, um, about that..." I said hoping to change the subject.

He actually grinned.  "I was impressed by your skills, you handled the fight very well.  And guessing by the many guns you have with you, I would assume you are not just good with your fists."

The conversation began to interest me. "What does that have to do with this mission?"

He gestured back towards the droid.  "Our previous gunner was looking to become a full-time barkeeper, and we needed someone to fill his position.  After seeing your fight, I think you'll do nicely."

"What are you offering?"

"A very generous deal," he said, grinning in an intimidating manner.  "Help us with this mission, and consider the damage you dealt paid off.  If you show enough promise, we might allow you to join us.  That is, with your consent of course."

I thought for a minute.  These guys were a band of fighters, definitely strong and definitely not legal.  Whatever we would face would be incredibly dangerous, full of traps, tough enemies, and lots of other things.  Who knows how many laws they broke on a daily basis, and none of them looked very trustworthy. They could easily just backstab me after the job and leave me for dead.  In the end, the choice was obvious.

"Count me in," I said, grinning.