Zane Corvus

'Floating' (Star Wars 2 BBY)

Swing and a miss.

That always seemed to be the theme of Zane's life story. He'd gather up his courage, settle into position to bear down on his target, take a crack at it...and swing wide, somehow. It never failed. The most recent example of his supreme luck happened less than six hours ago. Parlo - his late mother and father's oldest friend in this swirling hellhole - got him added onto the salvage crew for the old Lucrechulk wreck at the last minute. It was supposed to be a total cakewalk gig, and it would have netted him and his brother their rations for the next month solid; if only he'd never seen the sign. The one that read "CAUTION: RADIOACTIVE" with about ten different symbols denoting which types of death rays the old wreck was likely to be spewing out at the time. It didn't matter that their rad-sensors were reading negligible - once the scrap of metal plate was removed to give them access to the area and the sign came into view, Zane was startled. And that was not the reaction that was needed when you were the one holding the counterbalance cable for the pry-beam.

The long and short of it was: he kriffed up. Cable was let go, beam slapped against the hard deck, and one of his crew had their shoulder caved in as it fell. An ornery Duros named Loz Dorbek. And, as it just so happened, Loz had four brothers who were just as disagreeable as he was. Which was why Zane - after being fired from yet another salvaging job - was hiding near the outskirts of Junktown, waiting for things to cool down. Well, either that, or for sunset, so he could make his way back into town under the cover of night and hopefully avoid the retribution of the entire Dorbek clan.

Junktown - or "Derrivan's Point", if you cared to call it by its original founding name - was like many of the other scrapper settlements scattered over the surface of Lotho Minor. A smattering of ramshackle dwellings nestled in between the massive hills made of both naturally-occurring geological hill formations and enormous piles of refuse, junk, and even shipwrecks. The whole place was made of one and two-story "buildings" - anything taller would risk what little structural integrity they could afford, as well as invite disaster when any number of calamities that the planet was known for occurred. The town itself had very few facilities; mainly storehouses for whatever equipment the residents held among the community, a clearing which served as a small starport, what passed for a cantina, and a "clinic" that an old sawbones doctor worked out of, which was little more than a place someone could lay up while they recovered from whatever ailed them. Loz was there now, which was why Zane was not in town.

Rather, the gangly youth was up on the eastern ridge, somewhere with a half-decent view of the valley in case someone came looking for him. He sat on a pile of stacked-up junk that served as a makeshift chair with his head in his gloved hands. His hair was oily and matted, his skin caked with grease and dirt which made him itch all over. He wore a dark, hooded jacket and pants which served as part of his protective gear that shielded him from some of the harsher elements that Lotho Minor was known to produce. His environment-scrubber mask hung around his neck, draping over the top of his chest. A satchel was slung over his shoulder which held the remainder of his gear. He was just staring into the acrid air with sunken eyes, an indicator of just how poorly-nourished he was. He couldn't really say what he was looking for - some sort of sign, he supposed. He doubted he would find it amongst the wreckage of Junktown, or even the temporary Imperial barracks that were just north of there, not far from the dry-docked ImpStar that now sat in the northern valley. The ship itself was beginning to look more and more like the rest of Lotho Minor. Being marooned here for a few months would do that, though.

Zane kicked a rut into the ground near his feet, trying to figure out in his head how things could have gone so terribly wrong, again. He was so terribly fixated on his predicament, not knowing what he was going to do with regards to taking care of his own little brother, that he never heard the soft steps of several individuals coming up the hill.

"There you are, Skid! I thought for sure you would have tried to skip town already..."

It was Wibb, Loz's older brother. And he'd brought friends.

Yup...just like always...swing and a miss.

'Floating' (Star Wars 2 BBY)

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Zane Corvus

Name: Zane Corvus

Alias: "Skid" (A negative moniker); usually just goes by "Zane" to the people he calls friends.

Faction: Junkers (Estranged)

Rank: Scab

Species: Human

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Eyes: Dark Brown

Hair: Black

Height: 188cm (~6')

Physique: Wiry/Malnourished

Skin: Pale

Force Sensitive: Negative

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Observant. Zane has spent a good portion of his life having to always keep his eyes open, keenly-aware of whatever was going on. Life on Lotho Minor only exacerbated this characteristic, since ignorance could literally cost someone their life on that hell of a junk planet. Between the torrential winds and acid rain of the planet itself, along with the unsavory inhabitants like rabid Junkers and massive fire-breathing droids that consumed heaps and mountains of refuse (often confusing anything and everything for its prey, including living beings), this place had Zane in a near-constant state of anxiety. And yet, through that anxiety rose a state of awareness and an attention for detail that allowed him to keep his edge.

Scavenger. For most of his childhood, Zane has had to live in an environment that even the most seasoned survivalists wouldn't dare to encroach upon. This meant that every day was a race to see what -if anything - he could find that would help he and his family live to see the next cycle. His ability to scavenge materials and tools from the junk heaps has often worked in his favor, if only barely.

Survivor. Zane has had to give away a lot of his humanity in the pursuit of survival, for both himself and his brother. He has had to make a lot of incredibly terrible choices that a boy of his age should not have had to make, steeping his hands in filth and - in the worst cases - blood just to keep his sibling's hands clean. He is - at his heart - a good-natured person, but he isn't above using less-savory methods to achieve his goals if the situation calls for it.

Uneducated. This isn't necessarily saying that Zane has a low IQ; rather, that he hasn't been able to prioritize learning over other previously-stated concerns. He has a very basic knowledge of the galaxy around him; he can read Galactic Basic and can comprehend several languages, knows how to write (although spelling is a bit of an issue), and can carry his weight with basic mathematics and such. However, without access to the proper knowledge, he remains ignorant of some of the larger concepts in the galaxy as a whole. Etiquette and things of that nature will often elude him. You shouldn't expect him to be the one carrying out high-profile negotiations, at least not for the time being.

Brow-beaten. To say that Zane has "had it rough" would barely scratch the surface; and surely, there are others out there who have been through the wringer as much as he has, if not more. But the losses in his life have certainly taken their toll on him. Although he's only 18, he has the look of a man several years his senior. His luck and his circumstances have all been rather poor, and none of that has been uplifting. This has lead to him second-guessing a lot of his choices, and that says nothing of the effect it has had on his self-esteem and determination. It may take him some time to overcome such a disadvantage.

Unskilled. Zane hasn't had a lot of opportunities to take on or practice a range of skills like others around him. His default mode has been set to "survival" for the better part of his life. The few things he has managed to pick up over the years are limited to things like scrapping and ingenuity (building useful tools with the junk he has had on hand, etc.). For the most part, he's a dry sponge - primed to soak up as much as possible, yet currently devoid of "water".

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Appearance: Stands just barely over six feet tall, with a wiry frame and pale skin due to being malnourished and generally unable to maintain a proper, healthy body due to his circumstances and lack of access to proper housing and sanitation. His lack of resources has led to poor hygiene as well, and he is often covered in the grime and soot of Lotho Minor's harsh environment. He is most often found wearing the same clothes from day to day, and owns some protective gear that helps him survive the planet's many hazards. That, itself, is worth its weight in aurodium.

The few possessions that he does have are some basic tools for salvaging and tinkering, and some improvised weapons that he has both made and found that he uses for defense: a makeshift short club, a vibro-knife, a miniature plasma torch, and a electro-stunner that he has pieced together from various scraps of salvage.

Biography: Zane was born on a tramp freighter somewhere in the Mid-Rim to parents of low means. As much as they tried to do right by him, the galaxy was a poor provider in terms of opportunity and circumstances. The small Corvus family drifted from planet to planet for most of Zane's childhood, his father and mother both working odd jobs to keep their family fed. Once Zane's younger brother, Marcus, was born, the family had reached Lotho Minor (as well as the "bottom of their barrel"). His parents tried desperately to eke out a living for them all, and it ended up costing them their lives. A salvaging accident claimed both mother and father in one fell swoop, leaving Zane to care for his younger brother at the staggering age of fifteen. He had a small sliver of grace in the form of a family friend that helped Zane take care of Marcus - who was just barely six years old when their parents died. For the past three years, Zane has done whatever he could to help provide for himself and his brother. But, time and again, Zane's inexperience and youth had shone through. He continually failed in just about every job he attempted. He either wasn't skilled enough, or wasn't strong enough to truly make a difference. Over time, the small amount of latitude that his parents' death had afforded him had all but evaporated, like ice in the midday sun.

Add to that the accident that befell his younger brother, and it made his life prospects start to look terribly-bleak.

The harsh and unforgiving climate of Lotho Minor was never something to sneer at. You didn't have time to sneer - if you did, then you'd soon regret it. Torrential winds, acidic rain, acrid air, toxic chemical pools and tainted water were only some of the hazards that the planet provided. Zane's younger brother was out playing with a few of the other children. The group had gone out a little far from the settlement, and Marcus had forgotten to wear some of his protective gear that he would have normally worn. A sudden northern wind carried down an acrid storm of acid rain on that fateful day, and Marcus was forced to run home in the downpour. He covered himself as best he could, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep him from suffering several severe burns to his body. His face was also scarred from the accident, but he was able to keep his eyes shielded, and most of his head covered. Zane spent several days by his brother's bedside, taking care of him, changing his bandages and helping him apply what little medicine he and the community could scrape together. It was barely enough to make a difference, but Marcus survived, and that was all that mattered.

Fast-forwarding a couple of years (to the present), Zane has managed to lose yet another salvaging job. Accidents have continued to occur (as only they can on Lotho Minor) with Zane at the center of them. If the galaxy could just stop spiraling out of control for one simple moment, if only something could finally give...maybe then, he could gain some sort of foothold to start climbing back up from rock-bottom.

'Floating' (Star Wars 2 BBY)

Hello and good day to you all! I go by "Zane", and I am interested in writing with you guys.

To give a little background, I used to write with DeeGee over on the website JediVsSith. I've had many years of experience on and off writing with a multitude of incredibly-talented people (of which, DeeGee is very much included). I've seen what you guys have written so far, and I'd like to throw my lot in, if at all possible. So, without further ado, I'll get into the "meat and potatoes" of what sort of character I'm keen on writing.

Since you guys are traveling to Lotho Minor in order to pull off this job and are likely to be touching down on the planet proper, I was hoping I could write a character who was an orphaned individual with a younger brother that he had been forced to care for after his parents died in a salvaging accident here. This character has been on his own, caring for his brother as best as he could by trying to take over his mother and father's workload as a Junker for the better part of three years. The Junker society had pity on him starting out, and that gave him a bit of grace with them for a while, but with him being so young and inexperienced (he began working for them when he was just barely fifteen), he often failed and could never quite grasp the subtle intricacies of junking and salvaging. This has led to him being more of a nuisance in the eyes of a lot of the Junker society, and slowly but surely over these past three years, he has lost yet another job in the line of many. At the point that you all would see him, he will be very nearly destitute, panicking over how exactly he's supposed to take care of himself and his younger brother now that he's without a job yet again.

What I would like to do is have him observe your crew coming into Lotho Minor's spaceport (or rather, whatever passes for a "spaceport" on this junkyard of a planet) - that, or, wherever you guys are going to be looking to touch down. Despite his poor luck at being a Junker, this kid is still somewhat resourceful and observant, and for the most part he'd be invisible as a street urchin there in Junktown (or whatever y'all would want to call this particular settlement). As such, he could possibly see you guys getting off the ship in your Stormtrooper getups, or overhear you still talking about trying to pull off the job, or possibly seeing Aellyn being the only one without a Stormtrooper getup. This would lead to him starting to put the small pieces of what's being said and done together, and eventually he'd have enough to go on that he might be able to put you guys in a bit of a vice should things not go his way. His hair-brained scheme is going to be to blackmail some creds out of you. This can start to play out however you would like. But, if it slips out that you guys still don't have an officer's uniform for Aellyn, I could make it his shoddy play that he could get such a uniform for you from the local Imperial barracks without a lot of attention.

Any which way, the character type I'm going for is a kid that's green as far as the lifestyle of being a smuggler. If he's able to convince you guys that he can be useful, you'd take him on and show him the ropes. I had this notion of him looking kind of tall and gangly, like Jay Baruchel, and being otherwise un-noteworthy. His skillset is definitely going to be limited, but that also leaves him wide open to being molded into the type of character that would be useful on a smuggling crew.

If this seems like something that you guys might be interested in allowing, I can start to write up his character sheet as soon as @DeeGee gives the word. Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to hearing your input!