Vic was born as the son of Silas Stone, a genius inventor, but a terrible father. Vic's mother died during childbirth, and without her, Silas' obsession with the advancement of human kind through technology could run rampant. He began testing on Vic from as young as a year into his life. By the age of 5 Vic's body was for the most part cybernetic. It was around this time that the Junkers came back for their parts.
Silas had managed to get his hands on some alien tech through the black market. Whether he knew or didn't know about the Junkers or even what the tech did is anyone's guess. All he knew was the Junkers had arrived and they wanted it back. Silas, being the cold man he was, offered to surgically remove all of the tech he'd implanted in Vic in exchange for his own life. Cerrone, the head of the Junkers, disgusted with Silas' treatment of his own child took Vic for his own. Silas was just happy to be alive, if a bit annoyed his little 'pet project' had been stolen from him.
Vic was raised onboard the Junkers main ship. The majority of the crew welcomed him with open arms. Openly teaching him about technology and helping him to upgrade his parts. For years Vic was led to believe that this was a normal life, he was happy enough, got a bunch of new toys whenever Junkers came back from missions and was taught to shoot from a young age! What more could any cybernetic orphan ask for!?
However as he grew older, Vic began to see the harsh reality of things. He saw the Junkers go on missions and come back bloody and beaten. He caught glimpses of rooms Cerrone never let him into, where people were having parts torn from them and left limbless or brain dead.
By the age of 14 he knew he had to escape. He had an innate sense of good within him and he knew this wasn't it. He managed to store himself onto a dropship headed for a slum world. After it landed he ran for his life, ending up sleeping in the gutter overnight as he nervously waited for the Junkers to get off world.
He was awoken by a resident of the planet about his age. Vultavious Yud. Yud was a resident of the local orphanage, and managed to get Vic a place in said orphanage through some sweet talking and a few favors here or there. Yud and Vic were fast friends, they had many of the same interests and both aspired to be pilots when they grew up.
It only took a few months for Vic to realize he'd never achieve that dream if he stayed in that hellhole of a planet. It took a bit of convincing to sway Yud, but eventually they were both set for their plan. They were going to pull of the biggest heist this world had ever seen and then enter the 1999th Asteroid Sprint, a race taking place in a highly dangerous asteroid belt which could earn the winner a lifetime in cash.
The heist was simple in concept, hard in execution. They were going to somehow break into the upper half of the planet, where the rich lived, and steal a new prototype race ship being displayed for all the big wigs to gawk at and eventually buy. They managed to sneak into a cargo container heading upwards and break free when on the surface, just narrowly escaping the ensuing workers, mad that two teenagers had eaten some of the produce in the containers.
On the surface the plan really kicked into action. They waited around the showroom late at night, and using a few tricks Lando had learned during his time with the Junkers, managed to pickpocket a security key from a worker who was leaving. They snuck in, hid in a closet for a few hours, and then left when the guards were suitably sleepy. Now it was as simple as not triggering any alarms and not being caught by any guards. They achieved neither of these things.
They managed to find where the keys to the ship were being kept, but after attempting to lock pick it the alarms got set off. Vic was forced to use his finger lasers and they had to make a mad dash towards the ship. Their youthful agility and stamina allowed them to run rings around the guards. But the law would be here soon and they had to get off planet ASAP.
They were about to make their escape, sitting comfy in the
small, streamlined ship when they realized, neither of them knew how to properly fly something this fast. Sure they'd been on joyrides before, but they were in old hunks of junk, this was a top of the line speeder. With bated breath, they turned the engine on and put the pedal to the metal. They smashed through the glass of the showroom and zipped out into the city before pulling up just in time to shoot off towards the sky and break through the atmosphere.
From here on, they just had to evade capture for a week until the Sprint. They spent their time doing odd jobs for a diner, Vic would clean dishes while Yud would flip burgers. Earning pennies and being kept full only on the spare burgers the owner was kind enough to let them have.
Vic can remember the day of the sprint like it was yesterday. The excitement, the fear, the blood pumping through his veins almost in time with the cheers of the crowd or the purring of the engine. Nothing could prepare him for the luck he'd face in the race.
Vic attests that the race was over in the space of 5 minutes. Truth be told, it took over half an hour to finish. It was a thrillride of turns and scrapes. In the end, they came third place. Not bad for their first go some would say. They refused to be shown on TV, taking their prize money and leaving before they could be caught with the ship.
The first thing they did was sell the ship and buy a less conspicuous one. They then began spending as much as they liked. Yud was partial to the odd weapon here or there, while Vic had bigger plans. The parts attached to him at this time were all external, it was obvious he was a cyborg, something he was quite self conscious about. He spent a large sum of money upgrading his parts, having procedures done to make him look completely human and most importantly, educating himself on computing and mechanics. Through his studies he upgraded himself further than any other mechanic could.
After this he took to a life of gambling and smuggling. He was a natural at gambling from the start and smuggling just came with the territory. Smuggling, however, got him into more trouble than it seemed to be worth.
The first time he'd smuggled some illegal narcotics and stumbled across a slaver ship. He managed to apprehend the ship single-handedly, stunning or deafening the slavers and freeing the slaves. However, what this meant was that he now had a ship full of destitute slaves eating his food and getting his nice pristine ship dirty. The troubles of doing the right thing it seemed.
Another time he ended up seducing the daughter of a crime lord. Much less noble, but a story he likes to tell nonetheless. Escaping nude with his wrist pistol did make the crime lord make a rather brush assumption as to where he pulled it out of, something Vic finds hilarious.
Little did Vic know that a higher presence had been monitoring him on the low since his early days of smuggling. The Green Lantern Corps. He was small time to them, but they began to take notice of his increasing good deeds and adventures and decided to intervene. They told gave him an ultimatum, settle on Earth and use his abilities and skills for good, or be turned into the proper authority. Vic knew he could escape most any jail he was turned into, and promptly declined.
Then they offered him a paycheck and an apartment.
He accepted, albeit without reading the fine print. He'd have to spend most of his time on Earth unless he had proper reason to leave and he'd have to give up any smuggling operations he was conducting. They do let him leave every now and then, after all, Earth might be his home planet, but it's not where he grew up. He liquidated his less than reputable enterprises and began investing in more innocent companies. Firstly, his old friend Yud's restaurant, and from then on anything that took his fancy.
It's been a hard time adjusting to Earth. But he does enjoy being a hero. He might be relatively small-time right now, but he secretly yearns for the day someone asks for his autograph. And the feeling of doing something right ain't so bad either.
Half Pint
Geese
