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Absolute Comics - Justice Rising

I R O N M A N

_{Stark Mansion, Malibu, California - Present Day}

Issue 1.01.02: All or Nothing at All

---

_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: Issue 1.01.01: The Wee Small Hours of the Morning

The sound of sparks flying off welded steel filled the Armory in the basement, mixing well with the beats of AC/DC blaring in the background. Sweat was practically pouring through his black t-shirt, causing it to cling around the frame of the arc reactor emerging from the center of his chest. But the inventor took a step back to admire his work. The red and gold device sitting on the workbench seemed like a seamless metal briefcase. Suddenly, the music was cut short as a familiarly calm voice washed over the Armory. "Sir, Miss Potts is here to see you."

Stark sighed and lifted up the visor of his welding mask, taking a moment to acknowledge his drenched shirt just long enough to begin panicking. He ripped off his shirt and mask, tossing them aside so he could grab a towel to begin mopping up the lake of sweat attached to his skin from the combined lack of proper filtration and the welding. "Tell Pepper I'll be there in a minute."

"There's a slight problem with that, sir."

Just as Tony had managed to throw a graphic t-shirt on, a rapid knocking emanated from the glass door behind him. A woman with straight red hair wrapped up into a ponytail and wearing a white pantsuit was leaning to her right side with her arms folded, giving Stark Unlimited's Founder and CEO a glare that he was all too familiar with. Tony shook his head, forcing an awkward smile. "Why did you let her in?"

"She's still your emergency contact and on the permanent guest list, sir."

"Take her name off!" Tony continued his awkward smile while barking the order through grit teeth as he rushed towards the door, opening it to let the already irritated Pepper into the Armory. "Pepper, what brings-"

"Business." She walked right past Tony and out into the open floor space at the center of the Armory, her eyes seeming to examine in a mere moment all the tools, components, prototypes, and suits that were scattered or displayed throughout the place. "I see you haven't changed a bit."

Tony lifted his hand and opened his mouth to speak, only to fall slack as soon as Pepper's eyes met his again. It took him only a moment to shake off the nervousness he felt to mutter out a few words. "You look... great..."

Pepper rolled her eyes, readjusting the work bag on her shoulder. "Thank you. Can we just cut the small talk? I'm only here because you're ignoring my calls."

Tony raised an eyebrow for a moment, before walking past Pepper to the counter along the far wall. He picked up his phone, and shook his head a little at the information overload. The first realization is that Tony had been in the Armory for twenty seven hours, having only eaten whatever leftovers he had in the minifridge in the back and sleeping on the futon shoved in the corner like he was a freshman in college all over again. The second, of course, were the seven missed calls from Pepper over that period of time. The inventor turned on his heels to face his ex, the same old surprised and sarcastic look on his face that made her blood boil. "In my defense, I've been working."

"I noticed. What is it this time?"

Tony once again found that words wouldn't come from his lips as he was speechless under Pepper's cold gaze. Stark picked up a wrench lying on a bench next to him, tapping it against his hand nervously for a moment. "Just a... security breach. Trying to figure out who did it."

Pepper nodded, folding her arms once again and giving her foot a subconscious tap for a moment. "Well... do you think you'll be free in time for the Stark Next Conference? We... well, I was hoping you'd be the keynote speaker."

Tony tossed the wrench aside and scratched his goatee, his brow furrowing for a moment. "I thought you didn't want me around any Stark Industries events?"

"I want you at this one."

"Why?"

Pepper's grip around her own forearms tightened as she closed her eyes, her voice tightening up. "It's your name on the conference, Tony." Her grip and throat relaxed as she opened her eyes, her cold gaze replaced instead with a pleading look. "I might not like you getting in the suit of armor, but people still look up to you. A hero's endorsement would mean a lot. The biggest hospital networks are coming in for this conference, and we need them to know that we know what we're talking about when it comes to robotics."

Tony couldn't bear to look Pepper in the eye, his gaze instead intensifying on a small crack in the concrete a few inches from her feet. The spot in the Armory where he had first tested the Mark II. After a deep breath, he nodded. "Yeah, I'll be there."

Pepper too nodded in response, and the two stood there motionless for a moment. As the first female CEO of Stark Industries turned to walk back towards the glass staircase and leave, a million thoughts shot through Tony's mind. A year of unspoken thoughts and feelings. Thoughts that remained unspoken as Pepper left and Tony silently went back to inspecting his work.

Absolute Comics - Justice Rising

As if either of you will be around midseason.

Absolute Comics - Justice Rising

I R O N M A N

_{Malibu, California - New Years Day, Early Morning}

Issue 1.01.01: The Wee Small Hours of the Morning

---

_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: None

Tony shook his head as he sat in the passenger seat of his red and gold luxury car. The driver-less vehicle sped along the winding roads along the Malibu coastline with expert precision, much to Stark's delight as he reminisced about the night he had. To his own surprise, the billionaire had chosen to spend the New Years festivities at Happy's. He had declined a visit on Christmas, and Happy's wife was as hard-headed as her husband. Their son seemed to enjoy his new, state of the art and specially designed drone. The kid didn't seem to mind that the gift was a week late, but Happy was a little pissed that "Uncle Tony" had managed to spoil his boy yet again.

The memories of that night slowly trailed off, though, as Tony's gaze fell upon his home in the distance. "JARVIS, go ahead and turn the lights on 50, and filter out any blue light. I think I'm going to go straight to bed."

There was silence for a moment, before the disembodied British voice replied softly over the car's speakers. "I'm sorry sir, but it appears that I cannot connect to your home system."

Stark's head cocked to the side for a moment as the car began to slow down, its headlights washing over the circular driveway of the beach-side mansion. His face relaxed from alarmed to annoyed as it was apparent a single black SUV sat parked in the driveway. "Go ahead and park her in the garage once I get the connection restored. We've got company."

The sports car pulled up behind the SUV, and Tony's door swung open on its own as the industrialist moved to exit. He walked with no hesitation in through the front door of his house and straight ahead past the double staircase to the second floor towards the living room overlooking the beach. To no surprise, watching out over the piercing night was a suited man. As the intruder began to turn, Tony called out. "You know, you can always just call sometime."

Rhodey gave a small smile as he nodded and walked towards his old friend. The two shared a short embrace, before James broke away straightened his coat. "Happy asked me to come too, but you know how SHIELD is about..."

"Everything?" Rhodey gave an awkward chuckle as Tony moved towards the bar on the South side of the room. "I take it you're not here then to just wish an old friend a happy New Years, then."

"I take it you haven't heard anything about the backdoor in the Legion coding?" Tony stopped mid-pour of his nightcap, his head cocking to the side but his mouth incapable of making any noise. Rhodey sighed. "One of your software engineers, Tyler Rahm, sent an email on January 30th to both you and Ms. Cabe detailing a cleverly hidden backdoor in the current version of the Iron Legion's firewall."

Tony took a deep breath as he finished pouring his scotch, turning to Rhodey with a quizzical glance. "I never got an email from Mr. Rahm, and JARVIS would have notified me the second I got that email."

"The email was deleted in the one millionth of a second between the time the email was sent and the time it would have been delivered."

Tony's eyes widened for a moment, before he set the drink down and immediately broke out into a hurried pace across the living room. "I need you to drop your Fury-branded cone of silence bullshit so I can get JARVIS-"

"We're way ahead of you, Tony." Rhodey reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small metal disk that he set down on the coffee table in front of him. A large holographic display sparked to life. Glowing with a strange blue light was a map of Europe with a red dot glowing in the Mediterranean off of Greece, the email Tyler Rahm had sent, a digital copy of Tyler's employee badge, and a picture of a car being towed out of the water at some dock. "My team has been true to their word in only monitoring Stark Unlimited's premises and email communication. The very second that Rahm's email was sent, our own software was able to intercept and receive the message. A second after we received that email, our server shut itself off from all internet connectivity in response to a hacking attempt. To put it simply, someone really didn't want you to find out about that backdoor."

Tony's jaw and eyes clenched shut for a moment as he took a moment to compose himself. Tony then opened his eyes and gave a curt nod. "You have a lead?"

"Ever heard of Midas Management?"

Tony was silent for a moment before nodding. "Yeah... yeah, private hedge fund. They also provide gold for some of the components I use in the Iron Man suits. You think Midas would-"

"We traced the attempted hack into our servers to a private island owned by Mordecai Midas."

Tony gave a nod. "Alright. What's the plan?"

Rhodey stood silently for a moment, his gaze lowering to the ground. "Midas is untouchable. Waller denied my request, saying that my team can't lead a raid on his private island. Especially given Midas is bankrolling a couple of SHIELD projects until next years budgets are formalized."

Tony sighed, walking back over the bar to sip on his scotch for a moment. The retired superhero turned his gaze back towards the projections. "That's Rahm's car, isn't it." Rhodey solemnly nodded. "Alright. Then I'm going to schedule a meeting with Old Mordy for later this week. Tony cocked his head back and downed the rest of his drink, using the back of his hand to wipe off his mouth after slamming the glass down on the bar. "I'm extending everyone's holiday through next Monday, so I don't want anyone going in or out of Stark Tower in New York until then. Got it?"

Rhodey nodded. "Yeah. I'll let my team know right away." The two men nodded and made their way out of the living room and to the lobby, with Rhodey only stopping along the way to remove a small magnetized chip from a security panel on the wall. The lights came back on with a soft glow, and the front door swung open on its own as they approached. Rhodey was halfway out the door before he hesitated and looked back. "And Tony...?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy New Year."

Absolute Comics - Justice Rising

The Absolutely Invincible...

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

I R O N M A N

---

^{_{T O N Y S T A R K ♦ G E N I U S / B I L L I O N A I R E / P L A Y B O Y / P H I L A N T H R O P I S T
M A L I B U / N E W Y O R K C I T Y ♦ S T A R K U N L I M I T E D / S. H. I. E. L. D.}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

---

^{"I am Iron Man."}

I wanted to take the concept of Iron Man and Tony Stark in a slightly new direction from where I've planned to before. With this concept, Iron Man has been around for years working with the U.S. government and SHIELD while also protecting Stark Industries assets. Iron Man was involved in warfare in the Middle East on behalf of the U.S. government, worked with SHIELD in covert operations, and in taking down geniuses who designed their own suits of armor in their vendetta against Tony Stark and Iron Man. The world was shocked when Tony Stark revealed that he was, in fact, the Iron Man three years into his career.

This story, however, takes place a year and some change after the first (and last) "Armor Day" festival that Tony set up to announce his retirement as Iron Man. Stark will be working to unpack his memory of that day, which reportedly saw him intercept the launching of a rogue nuclear missile and wash up on the shore of a small village in Alaska after he disappeared from the celebration. Following that incident, Tony gave Stark Industries over to his personal assistant and former lover Pepper Potts. He hasn't worn any suit of armor since, and Stark has been busy working on a SHIELD contract through his new company, Stark Unlimited. In just a few weeks time, Tony will be launching the first satellite that will allow for the remote deployment of unmanned suits of simplified Iron Man armor remotely to solve problems ranging from spills on oil rigs to the elimination of terrorist cells in remote regions. After all, given the panic around mutants and heroes like Captain America himself, wouldn't it be best if SHIELD had a way to curb such threats?

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

---

I've always loved Tony Stark as a character, and I like the idea of taking a proper dip into the character this go around. I wanted to take a spin in the character in a slightly different direction than most might, as I want to create an overarching mystery that is slowly unraveled towards the end. That being said, Tony's motivations are complex. The Tony Stark that exists within the Absolute universe is one who sympathizes and even has his own fears about heroes getting out of control. He is one who is willing to work with and side with SHIELD as a peacekeeping force in this new world of fear that is expanding. That being said, Tony isn't one who's going to blindly trust SHIELD. He keeps his suits of armor, its schematics, and his infamous arc reactor technology a secret from everyone but himself. That's why the latest threats to Stark Unlimited's upcoming launch will push Tony to put on the suit once again, and come to terms with the fact that he IS the Iron Man.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

Supporting Characters

JARVIS: Tony Stark's current AI assistant, following the destruction of his former experimental AI assistant FRIDAY during the Armor Day celebration.

Happy Hogan: Tony Stark's official bodyguard. While Tony may have little need for a formal bodyguard, Happy remains employed by Stark Unlimited to act as a voice of reason and personal confidant for his boss.

James "Rhodey" Rhodes: Rhodey is a longtime friend of Tony Stark, since their meeting during a brief stint in which Howard sent his son to a military academy. The two became fast friends, with Rhodey often acting as the voice of reason to the eccentric billionaire. Rhodey was Iron Man's handler when he was working for the U.S. armed forces overseas, but has since transitioned to SHIELD where he works in "asset management."

Pepper Potts: Tony's former personal assistant, Pepper is now the CEO of Stark Industries. She has continued Tony's trend of straying away from the company's roots in weapons manufacturing, and has instead shifted focus towards biomedical research and cutting edge prosthetic treatments.

Bethany Cabe: Stark Unlimited's head of security. She has previously served in the Air Force and the FBI.

Mordecai Midas: The CEO of Midas Management, a Hedge Fund that provides significant funding for Stark Unlimited and Stark Industries.

Whitney Frost: Mordecai Midas' personal assistant, who wears a golden mask to hide her disfigured face.

Ivan Vanko: A nuclear scientist who believes that Tony Stark stole his father's arc reactor schematics, and whose lawsuit against Tony and Stark Industries was just dismissed a month ago.

Former Antagonists

Obadiah Stane (Arrested): Former Executive for Stark Industries, who was responsible for Tony's first encounter with the Ten Rings terrorist organization. He latter secretly attempted to recreate the Iron Man armor and used it as the Iron Monger. He is currently in SHIELD custody on The Raft.

Justin Hammer: The CEO of Hammer Industries and longtime rival of Tony Stark and Stark Industries. While Tony is aware of Hammer's involvement in creating the armor and weapons of some of his adversaries, Justin Hammer has never been convicted for his crimes.

The Mandarin: The leader of the Ten Rings terrorist network, The Mandarin has remained elusive to the Iron Man. The two have never fought directly, though the Ten Rings have continued to operate despite Iron Man's previous efforts.

Donnie Gill (Arrested): Donnie Gill was an engineer at Hammer Industries who used stolen schematics of Victor Fries' technology to develop the "Blizzard" suit. Justin Hammer had Donnie use the suit against the Iron Man, but was defeated and imprisoned by SHIELD. He is currently being held on The Raft.

Gary Gilbert (Arrested): A political lobbyist seeking to force Congress to pass a bill forcing Stark to manufacture his arc reactor technology for public use. His efforts failed, but the lobbyist was able to get in touch with Justin Hammer. With his career in shambles, Gary Gilbert accepted Hammer's deal and worked with Donnie Gill to try and take down the Iron Man. He too was defeated and is currently imprisoned on The Raft.

Colonel-General Valentin Shatalov (Arrested): The Vlatavan Royal Family reached out to the Ten Rings organization following a vicious civil war six years ago. Shatalov was given a modified Iron Man suit to become the Crimson Dynamo, but was defeated and taken into SHIELD custody for possession of a "WMD." He is currently serving time for unrelated war crimes in Vlatava against the insurrectionists onboard The Raft.

Bruno Horgan (Arrested): Also known as the Melter, this inventor who believed that Tony Stark had stolen his repulsion technology from his patented "Melter" technology tried to assassinate the Billionaire. He was originally just locked in a local jail, but was later mysteriously released and returned with a suit of armor as well. Once defeated a second time, he was locked up on The Raft.

Armors

Mark XXXVII - The Iron Avenger 2.0: One of his most impressive armor designs to date, the Iron Avenger is the most capable suit of combat armor in Stark's arsenal and was created to replace the original Iron Avenger armor destroyed during Armor Day.

Mark XXXVIII - Anti-Radiation Armor: A rather impressive suit of armor that was designed to not only survive in high radiation environments, but absorb radiation to convert it into energy.

Mark XXXIX - Hydro Suit 3.0: An update of a utilitarian water-based suit of armor he developed. The suit was improved to survive in high-pressure environments and an improved propulsion system.

Mark XL - Space Suit: Stark designed this suit as part of a thought experiment in the event of an alien invasion or need for prolonged space travel. This suit is meant for high maneuverability and is outfitted only with repulsor weapon technology.

Mark XLII - Vanguard Armor [INNOPERABLE]: While early tests seemed to suggest this suit of armor was viable, this large armor variant (designed to be an outer suit used in conjunction with the Iron Avenger) is not power efficient. It does boast the most impressive creation Stark has made thus far: energy shielding.

Post Catalog

P O S T C A T A L O G:

---

Book One

Issue #1: The Golden Touch

Chapter #1: The Wee Small Hours of the Morning
Chapter #2: All or Nothing at All

Absolute Comics - Justice Rising

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

I R O N M A N

---

@webboysurf

Just for transparency, decided to take the sheet out of it's hider and added Bethany Cabe as a supporting character that I needed to toss back into the sheet.

Absolute Comics - Justice Rising

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

I R O N M A N

---

^{_{T O N Y S T A R K ♦ G E N I U S / B I L L I O N A I R E / P L A Y B O Y / P H I L A N T H R O P I S T
M A L I B U / N E W Y O R K C I T Y ♦ S T A R K U N L I M I T E D / S. H. I. E. L. D.}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

---

^{"I am Iron Man."}

I wanted to take the concept of Iron Man and Tony Stark in a slightly new direction from where I've planned to before. With this concept, Iron Man has been around for years working with the U.S. government and SHIELD while also protecting Stark Industries assets. Iron Man was involved in warfare in the Middle East on behalf of the U.S. government, worked with SHIELD in covert operations, and in taking down geniuses who designed their own suits of armor in their vendetta against Tony Stark and Iron Man. The world was shocked when Tony Stark revealed that he was, in fact, the Iron Man three years into his career.

This story, however, takes place a year and some change after the first (and last) "Armor Day" festival that Tony set up to announce his retirement as Iron Man. Stark will be working to unpack his memory of that day, which reportedly saw him intercept the launching of a rogue nuclear missile and wash up on the shore of a small village in Alaska after he disappeared from the celebration. Following that incident, Tony gave Stark Industries over to his personal assistant and former lover Pepper Potts. He hasn't worn any suit of armor since, and Stark has been busy working on a SHIELD contract through his new company, Stark Unlimited. In just a few weeks time, Tony will be launching the first satellite that will allow for the remote deployment of unmanned suits of simplified Iron Man armor remotely to solve problems ranging from spills on oil rigs to the elimination of terrorist cells in remote regions. After all, given the panic around mutants and heroes like Captain America himself, wouldn't it be best if SHIELD had a way to curb such threats?

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

---

I've always loved Tony Stark as a character, and I like the idea of taking a proper dip into the character this go around. I wanted to take a spin in the character in a slightly different direction than most might, as I want to create an overarching mystery that is slowly unraveled towards the end. That being said, Tony's motivations are complex. The Tony Stark that exists within the Absolute universe is one who sympathizes and even has his own fears about heroes getting out of control. He is one who is willing to work with and side with SHIELD as a peacekeeping force in this new world of fear that is expanding. That being said, Tony isn't one who's going to blindly trust SHIELD. He keeps his suits of armor, its schematics, and his infamous arc reactor technology a secret from everyone but himself. That's why the latest threats to Stark Unlimited's upcoming launch will push Tony to put on the suit once again, and come to terms with the fact that he IS the Iron Man.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

Supporting Characters

JARVIS: Tony Stark's current AI assistant, following the destruction of his former experimental AI assistant FRIDAY during the Armor Day celebration.

James "Rhodey" Rhodes: Rhodey is a longtime friend of Tony Stark, since their meeting during a brief stint in which Howard sent his son to a military academy. The two became fast friends, with Rhodey often acting as the voice of reason to the eccentric billionaire. Rhodey was Iron Man's handler when he was working for the U.S. armed forces overseas, but has since transitioned to SHIELD where he works in "asset management."

Pepper Potts: Tony's former personal assistant, Pepper is now the CEO of Stark Industries. She has continued Tony's trend of straying away from the company's roots in weapons manufacturing, and has instead shifted focus towards biomedical research and cutting edge prosthetic treatments.

Bethany Cabe: Stark Unlimited's head of security. She has previously served in the Air Force and the FBI.

Mordecai Midas: The CEO of Midas Management, a Hedge Fund that provides significant funding for Stark Unlimited and Stark Industries.

Whitney Frost: Mordecai Midas' personal assistant, who wears a golden mask to hide her disfigured face.

Ivan Vanko: A nuclear scientist who believes that Tony Stark stole his father's arc reactor schematics, and whose lawsuit against Tony and Stark Industries was just dismissed a month ago.

Former Antagonists

Obadiah Stane (Arrested): Former Executive for Stark Industries, who was responsible for Tony's first encounter with the Ten Rings terrorist organization. He latter secretly attempted to recreate the Iron Man armor and used it as the Iron Monger. He is currently in SHIELD custody on The Raft.

Justin Hammer: The CEO of Hammer Industries and longtime rival of Tony Stark and Stark Industries. While Tony is aware of Hammer's involvement in creating the armor and weapons of some of his adversaries, Justin Hammer has never been convicted for his crimes.

The Mandarin: The leader of the Ten Rings terrorist network, The Mandarin has remained elusive to the Iron Man. The two have never fought directly, though the Ten Rings have continued to operate despite Iron Man's previous efforts.

Donnie Gill (Arrested): Donnie Gill was an engineer at Hammer Industries who used stolen schematics of Victor Fries' technology to develop the "Blizzard" suit. Justin Hammer had Donnie use the suit against the Iron Man, but was defeated and imprisoned by SHIELD. He is currently being held on The Raft.

Gary Gilbert (Arrested): A political lobbyist seeking to force Congress to pass a bill forcing Stark to manufacture his arc reactor technology for public use. His efforts failed, but the lobbyist was able to get in touch with Justin Hammer. With his career in shambles, Gary Gilbert accepted Hammer's deal and worked with Donnie Gill to try and take down the Iron Man. He too was defeated and is currently imprisoned on The Raft.

Colonel-General Valentin Shatalov (Arrested): The Vlatavan Royal Family reached out to the Ten Rings organization following a vicious civil war six years ago. Shatalov was given a modified Iron Man suit to become the Crimson Dynamo, but was defeated and taken into SHIELD custody for possession of a "WMD." He is currently serving time for unrelated war crimes in Vlatava against the insurrectionists onboard The Raft.

Bruno Horgan (Arrested): Also known as the Melter, this inventor who believed that Tony Stark had stolen his repulsion technology from his patented "Melter" technology tried to assassinate the Billionaire. He was originally just locked in a local jail, but was later mysteriously released and returned with a suit of armor as well. Once defeated a second time, he was locked up on The Raft.

Armors

Mark XXXVII - The Iron Avenger 2.0: One of his most impressive armor designs to date, the Iron Avenger is the most capable suit of combat armor in Stark's arsenal and was created to replace the original Iron Avenger armor destroyed during Armor Day.

Mark XXXVIII - Anti-Radiation Armor: A rather impressive suit of armor that was designed to not only survive in high radiation environments, but absorb radiation to convert it into energy.

Mark XXXIX - Hydro Suit 3.0: An update of a utilitarian water-based suit of armor he developed. The suit was improved to survive in high-pressure environments and an improved propulsion system.

Mark XL - Space Suit: Stark designed this suit as part of a thought experiment in the event of an alien invasion or need for prolonged space travel. This suit is meant for high maneuverability and is outfitted only with repulsor weapon technology.

Mark XLII - Vanguard Armor [INNOPERABLE]: While early tests seemed to suggest this suit of armor was viable, this large armor variant (designed to be an outer suit used in conjunction with the Iron Avenger) is not power efficient. It does boast the most impressive creation Stark has made thus far: energy shielding.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

---

A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

Star Wars: The New Guard

---

Travelling the galaxy was not as lavish as he had been led to believe. This transport ship had a strange smell to it, and the lack of natural light from his home planet's twin suns was making sleep difficult. To say that he disliked his time aboard the Falling Star was an understatement. He was stir crazy. He could gamble away his measly sum of credits, drink them away, or trade them in for overpriced trinkets that he didn't need. Without a job, Ralto felt like he was losing his mind.

Fed up with polishing his E-11 blaster rifle for the fourth time that day, Ralto had tossed the blaster's strap over his shoulder and began pushing his way towards the bar. He entered the busy room and let his eyes pass over the scene that unfolded. He simply stood in the entryway of the area as he watched a few people stand out from the crowd. In particular, a blue twi'lek and a... well, something with four arms the Zabrak had never seen before were hounding and berating some merchant. The Zabrak gave a smile and shook his head as he sauntered up to the bar proper, setting his blaster rifle on the counter directly in front of him as he took a seat and waved his right hand towards the bartender.

The woman looked over towards the Zabrak and gave a slight sigh, walking over and raising an eyebrow. "Whadda ya want?"

Ralto looked towards the other patrons of the small bar, and settled on a cup held in the grip of a rather sizable Wookie. He recognized the liquor well, as it was one of the only things Valerian let him drink if he did his job well. "I'll have what the Wookie's havin'."

The bartender turned, looked in the direction of Liakurra, and let out a short and exasperated sigh as she was reminded of the ordeal. Luckily, the memory was burned into her short-term memory and she slowly poured out the drink to where the Wookie had requested, before setting the bottle down. "Anythin' else?"

The Zabrak tapped his fingers on the bar top for a second before finally nodding."Well... I was actually wonderin' where... well..." He turned his gaze down towards the blaster rifle, before turning his gaze back up to the unimpressed gaze of the bartender. "Someone like me could find some work around these parts."

The bartender narrowed her eyes for a moment in disbelief, before turning to look at the rest of the bar and motioning towards the rest of the ship as a whole. "Well, the only work 'round these parts, sir, is moving some crates or cleaning. Ya know, the kind of work you might expect on a transport ship. I'm sure if you stop any of the crew I'm sure they would love to pay for a drink or two if ya want to ease the load."

Ralto opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Not like it mattered, as the bartender had turned her back to the Zabrak and was already working to refill the drink of a Sullustan in the corner. This left Ralto alone with his drink as he simply tightened his jaw and starred up at the ceiling for a moment. This was not turning out as he had hoped.

Star Wars: The New Guard

14 for Ralto

EDIT: 10 Roll off if needed

Star Wars: The New Guard

Ralto Zarin

---

Ralto Zarin wasn't destined to be much when he was born. He was born to two spiced-up moisture farmers on Tatooine that he has nearly forgotten by now. His childhood, by the time he was 8, was spent maintaining the various droids and machines his parents had purchased. Of course, their addiction only made the child's job more difficult than it already was at the age of 14. In order to fuel their habits, Ralto's parents took out a loan from a Whiphid that they knew they couldn't pay back. Ralto wasn't particularly surprised when the thugs came and battered his father. What did surprise the single child was the offer that they made: Valarian could take the child to serve off their sizable debt (with interest, of course).

From that point forward, Ralto Zarin became Valarian's slave. To his benefit, however, Ralto tested and grew under these ten years. He started by doing much the same he had done before: work on droids. However, this was not enough for the slave. Valarian had seen potential in the slave boy. He had the boy beaten consistently by the other slaves his age. The beatings persisted, day by day, until Ralto had finally broken. He let his anger out, and finally struck back against the others. He managed to fight them all off, knocking them all unconscious while still standing to the Whiphid's delight.

It was from that point that Ralto was asked to do more than just work on droids. Valarian had one of her enforcers, a Wookie slave called Gorworr, train up the boy to serve as another one of her thugs. Ralto was not particularly noteworthy among Valarian's ranks, but he was effective at getting done what needed to be done. Valarian had a particular racket that she usually ran: whenever someone would make a loan with her, they would sign away all their rights if they met an untimely demise and their loan was not paid off. So, when these individuals tried to skip out on paying Valarian, Ralto would be sent to get them to cough up the money or an "accident" would befall them. Ralto was effective at his job, even if he wasn't fond of the work.

You see, Ralto didn't enjoy this life. While he found he enjoyed the heat of blaster-fire, he didn't like fighting for a crime lord on some backwater outer rim planet. He wanted to see the stars and fight to earn his own credits. That being said, he has always had a code: do the job you are getting paid to do and try to earn a bonus. If his employer asks Ralto to jump, he asks how high to get more credits.

Ralto was surprised when Valarian, after he had succeeded in planting a bomb on the cargo ship of a smuggler who tried to skip town, brought the Zabrak aside and informed him that his parent's debt had been cleared. They had been dead for three years prior, but Ralto could care less. He was finally free of Valarian's bonds, and the crime lord had even thrown her enforcer slave an offer: The Zabrak could have a forged weapon license and a ride aboard the next transport to his best chance at finding work in this climate: The Falling Star.

Of course, who knew if she would need a favor down the line?

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Ralto Zarin's Sheet