Hey guys,
I've decided to go ahead and post Arsenal's backstory.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.
A flash of light reflected off the bes'kad as it was thrust towards the wielder's opponent. Solus Arin danced out of its reach before bringing her own weapon up.
"You're too slow, old man," she said, a gleam of excitement in her eyes.
"I may be slow, but I can still kick your skinny shebs all the way back to Mandalore," her father, Nolan Arin, said. They had been cooped up in their ship for the past two weeks chasing down a bounty named Driso Sladner who had murdered two women and a child in an attempt to hold them for ransom. The victims' family, one of the head families of Devaron, hired Solus's father to track him down and bring him back to Devaron for trial.
The comm crackled and the voice of Solus's twin brother, Ves, came through. "Buir, we're approaching Sladner's ship."
"Alright, Ves, we're on our way," Nolan said.
Nolan was in his mid-forties. He was born and raised on Mandalore and eventually met the love of his life there. His wife was killed when a bounty of hers blew up her ship, leaving Nolan to raise their two toddlers himself. Nolan's armor was colored gray in her memory. If he removed his helmet the first thing to catch people's attention was his emerald green eyes which were surrounded by lines and scars he had gained over his years as a bounty hunter and raising Solus and Ves after their mother's death.
Solus and her brother, Ves being the older of the two, were identical twins, about eighteen years old. Both of them had one emerald green eye, like their father, and one deep purple eye, like their mother, and each had a full head of thick, brown hair. They both grew up on both Mandalore and their father's ship the Gra'tua. Both wore a full set of Mandalorian armor, each colored in varying shades of red, Ves's being darker and Solus's being lighter.
"Bring us along its starboard side and prepare to board," Nolan said. According to reports, Driso Sladner was a formidable opponent and Nolan wasn't taking any chances. There was another ship attached to the port side of Sladner's ship, but they paid it no mind. When the docking tube was secure Nolan, Ves, and Solus boarded cautiously.
All the lights were out and their was an eerie silence throughout the ship. "Ves, Solus, I want the two of you to head to the cockpit, try and restore power, I'm going to check out the crew's quarters," Nolan said over their internal comms.
"Yes, Buir," they replied and Nolan headed off. Solus sighed through her helmet. "It's too quiet," she said. "Are we sure he's even here?"
"He's here alright," Ves said, his voice made deeper by his helmet's mic. Unbeknownst to them, Sladner had known that they were coming and prepared for it. Ves had just stepped inside the cockpit when an explosion rocked the ship.
Nolan was making his way towards the crew's quarters. It was too quiet, Nolan thought to himself, echoing Solus's words on the other side of the ship. He stepped into the first cabin and did a quick scan. The bed was situated against the right wall with a crate for a nightstand. There was no closet, just some pegs hung up on the wall, and a small dresser. The 'fresher was located on the left side of the room, he searched it quickly before moving on.
As far as he could see, all the cabins were the same. He had just placed his foot through the doorway of the next cabin when there was an explosion. He could feel the heat through his armor plates and he could hear himself screaming. Then everything went black.
Ves and Solus wasted no time as they ran towards the explosion's origin. As they turned the corner they froze, where one of the cabins had been there was just an empty mass of twisted metal and flames. Solus was the first one to see Nolan, he was just inside the cabin's threshold with flames beginning to creep towards him.
"BUIR!" She screamed and ran to him. Ves followed and the two of them dragged Nolan away from the fire. "Shab," Ves said as he looked over his father's body. There was a jagged piece of metal imbedded in his upper thigh. Ves only had to take one look at the blood pumping out before he knew his father's femoral artery had been severed.
Solus removed Nolan's helmet and his eyes fluttered open. He coughed and blood ran down his chin, a sure sign of internal injuries.
"Solus, Ves," he said weakly. They removed their helmets before each took one of his hands.
"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, I love you, take care of each other," he said, his eyes closed and his hands went limp. The twins just sat there frozen in shock, then Solus started to scream. Ves moved around his father's body and held his sister as they mourned their father.
Slowly, sadness gave way to anger, and Solus stood, grabbing her helmet she jammed it on. She marched down the hall with Ves right on her heels. "Solus, where are you going?" Ves said, his voice laced with worry. She could hear it even through his helmet's mic.
"I'm going to find that hut'uun, and I'm going to kill him," Solus growled without stopping. Ves grabbed her and forcefully turned her around.
"That's not what Buir would have wanted," he said and Solus realized he was right. They made their way back to the cockpit where they found Driso Sladner arming the ship to self-destruct. He turned, standing to his full height, as they came in.
He was a Devaronian, but much larger than average. He was two meters tall with his horns adding an extra half meter on top of his bulky frame, bringing him to a full two and a half meters. His ears had three golden rings in them and each of his horns had a thick gold band around them. He was muscular with scars lacing his torso under the open vest he wore.
"Sladner, we suggest that you surrender, or this could get messy," Ves said, his voice calm but firm.
"And why would I do that?" Sladner asked, his voice filled with hate and scorn.
"Because there are two of us and only one of you," Solus said, her voice matching Sladner's.
Sladner shook his massive head. "I'll say this only once, get out of my way and I MAY let you live."
"Not a chance," Ves said.
Sladner just shrugged and charged, knocking the two of them aside. "He's heading for the other ship!" Solus yelled and charged after him. "Solus, wait!" Ves called after her. "We need to stay together!" But Solus wasn't listening.
She charged after Sladner, firing at him, but only succeeded in hitting his shoulder. He roared in pain and turned, backhanding Solus across her helmet and sending her flying.
"SOLUS!" Ves yelled as he drew his blaster and fired a steady stream at Sladner. Sladner dodged the bolts as he ran at Ves and knocked the weapon out of his hand.
Ves drew his bes'kad and swung it at Sladner, but he grabbed Ves by the wrist and squeezed, forcing Ves to drop the blade as he yelled in pain. He tried a jab at Sladner's solar plexus but Sladner grabbed him by the throat, lifting him a good half meter off of the deck.
"LET HIM GO!" Solus screamed as she came at Sladner, but he simply grabbed her arm through her against the bulkhead. She screamed as she felt the bone in her upper arm snap. Sladner just stood there holding Ves up, his movements were becoming weaker as his body was starved of oxygen.
"You want me to let him go?" Sladner sneered. "Alright."
He squeezed, there was an audible crack, and Ves went still. "NO!" Solus screamed as Sladner threw Ves to one side.
"I would love to stay and kill you, but I don't want to be here when the ship explodes." He stalked off. Solus crawled to Ves's crumpled body, his head was at an awkward angle and she knew he was dead. She started to cry, but stopped. There would be time for mourning later, right now she had to get them off the ship.
Her broken arm screamed at her, but she ignored it and continued to drag her brother's and father's bodies onto the Gra'tua. She had just dislodged the docking port when there was an explosion, within seconds the entire ship was nothing more than a pile of debris. Sladner's secondary ship was nowhere in sight.
One Month Later-
Solus stood in front of her father's and brother's graves on their farm on Mandalore where they had been laid to rest beside the grave of her mother. Since their deaths she had tried to cry, but couldn't. Friends and neighbors came by and offered their condolences before returning to their own farms, they never stayed long due to the fact that Solus had retreated into herself.
Every day she would stand there for hours without moving and today was no different. She had been there for four hours, oblivious to the fact that it had started to rain, before she finally spoke.
"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum," she said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "I swear to you Nolan and Ves Arin that I will not rest until Driso Sladner is dead and you are avenged, I swear this on my own life."
With that phrase she turned and headed back towards the farmhouse. She packed her gear and her father's emergency credit stash, pausing a moment to look around. There would be no need to lock up since she had made arrangements for the neighbors to look after the farm for her. She grabbed her duffel and headed towards her father's ship.
As she left Mandalore's atmosphere she looked back once, knowing that she might not see it again for a while. She punched some coordinates into the nav computer, she would head to Devaron first and start tracking Sladner from there. She hit the button that would send her into hyperspace, speaking out loud as she did.
"You will pay, Driso Sladner," she said as the stars became blurred lines around her. "You will pay."
