The Crow and The Rat

[The Crow]

Cawrion looked at the kid while he was looking at the mask, he noticed him getting worried again when he talked about the killing but hen relaxed when he said he was looking for a better way. As Cawrion looked around on his datapad for ideas the kid spoke. Cawrion took back the mask and held it in front of him. The kid seemed to have fun with the stars flying by as they flew while he thought. What should the mask stand for, there were many feelings around birds for him, that was the reason he had taken on the name Crow.

“Let me tell you this, you are observant so I assume you have seen that multiple things around me have a bird element. The two most obvious being my ship, the Galaxy Crow and the mask which has a beak on it. I have had o long relationship with birds, Crows in particular. My entire life I’ve had the wish of being free, I saw birds flying on Tatooine, I watched them for hours growing up, dreaming of flying away, of being free. My parents died, my friends died, the people I started working with me died, non by my hand however people didn’t want to get close to me, that is when I started hearing stories about these black birds that have been a sign of death for a long time, deaths companion. So I embraced my curse hoping embracing it would make it go away, even taking the name myself didn’t help, but I still choose to keep it. That has yet to change, that is what I hope will change with you at my side.” He put the mask on, next time he spoke his voice would change.

“I guess this mask will be a symbol of freedom, a freedom without death for whomever that chooses to follow”

The Mask: ​The Mask of Corvine

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat heard the man spoke again, this time he talked about how he had always been fond of this bird...the bird of death, the crow. The man explained that pretty much everyone who he had formed a relationship with died, this caused rat to turn his head away from the window and look at the man. Rat let him continue, and when the man began to put on the mask, Rat opened his mouth to speak.

"I will to help you..." Rat said. He then watched as the mask began to cover his face. The mask was odd to Rat, he had never seen one such as that. Rat then heard Crow continue, this time his voice was different. Crow's voice sounded weird.

Crow talked about how his mask would be a sign of Freedom, this made Rat smile. Rat sat up in his chair then looked back out the ship.

"So...I guess I call you Crow then... I like it." Rat said.

Rat then made a bird shadow puppet with his hands.

"As long as I am with you...the crow's meaning will change..."
[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion then took of the mask “Yes it shall kid, yes it shall” Cawrion stretched and yawned

“we are not getting there until morning so I am going to a nap, the autopilot will take us there, there is a bed above mine if you want to sleep”

Then he stood up and found his bed, put huis mast under the box under his bed, where an identical on lied next to it, stripped down his armour and weapons. And then he lay down to get some sleep before the ship reached its destination

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Crow said that they would reach their destination in the morning and he was going to go and take a nap. Rat turned and nodded to hom before turning back to the window. Rat sat in his thought for another few minutes. Crow seemed to be honest and truthful to him so far, Could Rat do the same?

Rat shook off the thought and stood up off the co-pilot's chair, then he walked out of the cockpit and into the sleeping quarters. There he found Crow slipping a box under his bed, Rat didn't see his armour on, so he guessed that Crow had stored it in the Box he just slipped under the bed.

Rat shrugged before walking to the beds, and climbing up to his. He just stared at the room's interior for a few minutes, he put his hands into the jacket's pockets and slowly drifted off to sleep.

[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion woke up, got dressed and went to the cockpit. He had a little breakfast and soon they dropped out of hyperspace. Then he brought the ship down for a smooth landing on one of the plains.

He sat there thinking through his plans of what to do next, he figured he would let the kid choose what he wanted to learn first. So he sat there waiting for the kid to wake up and get into the cockpit and then he would ask him “So what do you want to learn first, shooting, operating the ship or slicing and with that I mean learning the intricate workings of the computers”

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat opened his eyes, for a moment he forgot where he was, then realization hit him, he was in The Galaxy Crow. They had probably landed and Crow had most likely let Rat sleep in for a bit. Rat threw his legs over the side of the bed and took his hands out of his pockets and stretched a bit before slowly sliding off the bed, upon hitting the ground he ran his hands through his hair and walked to the cockpit.

Crow was asking Rat what he wanted to do first. Rat looked at him and rubbed his eyes, "Umm, let's do shooting first." Rat yawned.

Rat then sat in the co-pilots chair for a bit, before reaching between his belt and pulled out the blaster pistol Crow had given him, he looked at it for a bit, then up to Crow.

[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion threw him a food package, just a simple ration, it wasn’t to bad, he actually liked it. “Okey then, we are going to start very simple, just meet me outside when you are ready, you know have eaten and stuff” then he went outside to set up a training area.

He took some durasteel plates about 20cm in width and placed them at 5 meter intervals, 5 disks on each line with 1 meter intervals. Each time he placed a line he walked a couple of meters to the side so that all disks could be seen from the firing position. Then he walked back this process had taken a couple of minutes and then he pulled out his twin Peacebreakers and started taking down some of the plates on every row, then he put them away with a flourish, then he pulled out his, Death-Hammer and repeated the process until there were 1 left on each interval. He put the blaster in its holster with a single spin so that the barrel of the gun pointed down. Then he flexed his wrists a little rolled backwards and lifted up his arms and shot all the other targets with his wrist blasters.

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat accepted the food ration package, it was probably better than what he had been eating. "Thank you" Rat said great-fully, he then nodded to Crow as he left the ship. Rat opened the package and began to eat. a little later, after he had finished his meal, he got up off the co-pilot's chair and exited the ship.

Upon walking out, he would find Crow shooting at different targets, from what Rat saw, Crow seemed pretty efficient. Rat walked next to him, careful not to get in his way. Rat waited till he finished, then looked at him. "Woah..." Rat was speechless. he then looked at the targets left.

He waited until Crow said something.

[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion turned to the kid and smiled “that is how good you are going to be soon, with a little practice that is” Then Cawrion walked over to all the targets to place all back up again. Then he turned to the kid “So we are going to do this quite simple, first you will stand here” He led him right in front of the first targets “and now try and hit the target furthest to the left I just want to see how good you are naturally before starting aiding you and of course if you hit it feel free to try other targets”


Target range:
| | | | |
30m
| | | | |
25m
| | | | |
20m
| | | | |
15m
| | | | |
10m
| | | | |
5m .
Firing position behind this line


[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat nodded as Crow led him about five meters from the first set of targets. Crow said he just wanted to test Rat's natural ability to hit the targets before he offered help. Rat had nodded yet again before pulling up the blaster, tilting his head and closing one of his eyes to aim. When Rat fired, he completely missed the target.

Rat lowered the blaster and a frustrated look fell across his face. He tried again...and missed, this caused him to look down at the ground.

"I'm never going to get this right am I?" ​Rat said with annoyance in his voice.
[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion saw his shoot and miss the target, nothing less than he expected of course but he saw frustration in the kids face a he asked him the question “Don’t give up after two shots, I am more than twice your age and I’ve been shooting since I was your age, so don’t worry all you need are some adjustments and repetition, practice makes perfect my friends”

He smiled encouragingly to the kid “First of all you should shoot with both your eyes open, this is because you will see more and therefore be more aware, which is very good. Secondly you should change your stance and grip a bit”

Then he showed him how to grip his hands on the gun, and his stance, adjusting him a bit before letting him shoot again.

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat looked up to the man as he spoke, and after Crow had reminded him that he was way older, Rat calmed down a bit and accepted the fact that he would not magically be able to shoot down the targets without some practice, he waited for Crow to continue.

Rat listened to Crow's advice closely as he decided that he would not close one of his eyes again. Crow adjusted Rat's position, and grip on the blaster.

Rat aimed for the set of targets that were five meters away. He took a deep breath and fired. The shot had hit the target, Rat smiled, and tried for the next target, the bolt missed, but not by much. Rat had taken another deep breath and fire again, the target fell.

He turned back to Crow and smiled.

"Wow, I didn't know I could actually hit the target!"

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion resisted to utter a whoop as the kid hit the target and almost hit another, but then after collecting himself hitting it. He had never taught anyone before so he wasn’t sure how to, but his current method seemed to work. He grinned at the kid as he turned to look at him.

“Well done that kiddo! Now the cats have something to be afraid of” He winked at the kid and chuckled at his own joke.

“That was really good, now it is repetition time, it’s not that fun for all but I enjoy a good blaster session. When you are able to hit some of the farther targets consistently we’ll move on to other and bigger blaster pistols” He tapped at his side on his own blaster.

“And I have some good news, upon you making to change my mind on taking lives, I ordered some new weapons. They are a little different and I think you may like them, but until then we’ll have to train with blasters” He smiled at the kid and continued “Now I won’t bother you again until you do something wrong while shooting, like I said, practice makes perfect”

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat cocked his head at Crow's joke before shaking it off and listened to Crow continue. Crow said something about repetition, and constantly hitting targets before moving on to bigger pistols.

Rat went back to trying to hit the rest of the five meter targets, but then he stopped as Crow talked about how he ordered new weapons. Rat wondered what kind of weapons they were. The boy then looked back to the targets and continued to fire, a few shots missed but Rat eventually knocked down all the targets.

"New weapons? sounds cool!" Rat said happily

He then aimed for the next set of targets. Before he fired he looked at Crow

"Thanks for teaching me." He said before he pulled the trigger, the shot hit the target.

"Hmm lucky shot I guess." He said softly.

[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion smiled as the kid showed appreciation for the new incoming weapons, he was looking forward to showing them to him. The kid was showing much promise, he figured they would move on to moving targets in a couple days, when he was able to hit the third and fourth line.

It’s my pleasure kiddo and that isn’t luck you are experiencing. It is in your blood I can see it, you’re a natural at this. You keep this going and you’ll be hitting moving targets soon!” He did believe that the kid was talented, but it was more than that. He needed to motivate him, he needed the kid to want to learn things.

Over the next days they continued, practicing with different exercises like Cawrion throwing disks in the air and Rat shooting at them, shooting from the back seat of a speeder, driving a speeder if the kid wanted to try and so forth.

After some while whether the kid became better or not Cawrion would show him some other types of blasters as well, all of his own and some different types of low end blaster rifles, they were probably a little big for him, but manageable. The days went by, where Cawrion would try and get closer with the kid, like friends, building a mutual trust and bond.

After 5 days he got word that his shipment had arrived. Due to him wanting to remain only recognizable as the crow, he went in his work outfit, hood mask and all. When he got the message he asked the kid if he would mind him taking a speeder to pick up the weapons alone. Leaving him by the ship practicing.

He would explain why, he had multiple reasons, but wouldn’t deny him if he wanted to join. He wanted himself with the mask to be the “face” of the Crow and not the kid. That would give them a description and easier to find if anyone wanted to. He didn’t want to put the kid in danger, a weapons pickup could always be dangerous. And it would just be faster to go alone.’

When he got back to the ship he would show the kid the weapons (regardless if he joins or not). He would first try and fire some shots himself. They were of course top of the line and they were wonderful, almost entirely, very accurate at the same range a blaster pistol, but could shoot very far, but that would require loads of training.

He would then hand one to the kid to let him try it a little. “Meet the Corvine Beak, our new non-lethal weapon” He smiled at the kid as he gestured him to try it out. It had no recoil, which for himself was a little weird but he adjusted to it quickly.

After the kid had tried the weapon a bit he would say “These weapons don’t kill, they just stun, or make you fall down and take a forced nap. I think they are great and we’ll test out if they work properly soon, but before we field test them I need you to do me favour.”

Cawrion walked out towards the range they had set up, walked to the second line and looked at the kid “I need you to shoot me with that kid, I need to know it works properly and I need you to know how it feels to shoot someone with that. So let’s hit two targets with one shot”

He would smile at the kid and quickly follow up with “Shouldn’t be too hard to wake me up, just throw some water in my face and slap me a little, I should come back quite fast” He stood there now grinning, arms stretched out in a, hit me with your best shot gesture.


[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

After a couple of days, Rat made it further down the line. He was able to hit most of the targets but he was not nearly as good as Crow. Crow really encouraged Rat, Rat felt as if their bonds as friends were growing.

A few days later Crow began different shooting exercises like shooting disks that were thrown into the air by Crow, or Shooting the disks from the back of a speeder. When Crow asked if Rat wanted to try and pilot the speeder, Rat shook his head in a frightened way.

"No thanks ....I might break it." The boy said.

At the five day mark, after he had practiced a bit with blaster rifles, they were a bit big for him so he decided to stick to the blaster pistols for now.

Crow had said that his new weapons had come in, and Crow asked if he could go pick up the weapons shipment alone. At first Rat looked confused, but then Crow had explained why he wanted to go alone, and Rat nodded.

"I guess if you feel that it would be safer and easier." Rat said with a small frown, but then he brightened up.

"It will leave me time to practice for a little while."

Rat watched as Crow began to examine the new weapons. Crow then handed one to Rat. "The Corvine Beak." He said softly as he examined the weapon.

Rat smiled as he fired it, there was no kickback.

Crow then explained that they only stun or knock out the target. Then Crow said before they could field test them, he needed a favour. Rat looked at him before the man continued. He walked out to the second line and explained that he wanted Rat to shoot him with the weapon.

Rat frowned as Crow smiled. He didn't want to hurt Crow, but then he could tell Crow really wanted to figure out if the weapons worked. Rat aimed the non-lethal weapon at Crow, then fired. When the bolt hit Crow, he passed out and hit the ground. Rat instantly ran towards Crow, but then stopped and went into the ship and got water. He splashed it over Crow.

Then slapped him.

"Hey Crow.....Wake up.....Wake up." He said as he slapped Crow again, He laughed a bit, that was pretty cool.

[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

Cawrion felt rigid and he fell to the ground, then everything went black. He woke up to a soar cheek then he sad groggily “I’m up, I’m up. Damn that was ridiculously uncomfortable. But luckily I won’t be on the receiving end of that thing” he smiled, stood up and stretched.

“So now that you have shot your first person, I think it is time to do our first job together. Your job will be simple. You’ll find me the slave of a rich person and convince her to come to me to talk. Everything is easier with an inside man. You up for it buddy?”

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat smiled as Crow woke up. The boy laughed at Crow's comment.

Rat listened to Crow as he spoke about a job. The job, as Crow explained, was to convince a rich person's slave to talk to Crow. Rat was confused.

"yeah I'm up for it." Rat said said

"Where is this umm slave?" Rat asked with a small frown.

The boy handed the weapon back to Crow.

"I don't think I'll need this for the mission right?"
[member="Cawrion Chyrox"]

 

[The Crow]

“Great! Well, where she is exactly will be somewhat of a guess. But my sources say that she does walk around on the markets by herself, while shopping for her master and so forth. So I figure we fly over there, you study a picture of her and get her to me when you find her. I of course will be wearing my mask so that my face won’t be recognized”

Cawrion took the weapon and smiled. “I believe you don’t but keep your little blaster at hand, just in case. And remember you don’t have to hit someone to stop them from being your problem, a couple of shots near them should be enough. Lastly before we leave I do need to teach you one thing. That is to fly this thing”

He pointed with his thumb behind him towards the Glalaxy Crow. “I am going to have enough trouble getting the ship all by myself, so I need you to get her to the pre-set coordinates I’ll but in on the may there. It should be no more than hitting as couple of buttons, you’ll be fine”

[member="Rat"]

 

[J'Kara Jakar]

Rat listened as Crow explained where the woman would be. Crow took the weapon from Rat before reminding him to keep his blaster pistol on him, Rat then heard Crow say that he'd have to be taught how to fly "The Galaxy Crow." This made Rat smile, but inside he was a bit nervous.

Then Crow said he'd only have to remember the correct buttons. Rat exhaled a bit before nodding.

"Sounds easy enough." Rat said as he ran his had through his hair.

[member="The Crow"]