Ahoy at the Silverstorm - Part 1

By Ron Wilcoxen & Dana Terry


Captain Sebastian Ali Roark, alias "The White Beard", sat in a darkly 
lit corner of the Silverstorm with his first mate, Ikara Javan. Captain and 
first mate were an interesting contrast to one another. Her raven hair fell 
down below her waist, lean and fit as any fighter in the known galaxy. Any 
man with wits about him would think twice before crossing her path. Even 
with the scar that traversed across her otherwise beautiful face, her jade 
eyes would captivate any man to betray his own sense of what was wise for 
himself. The scar was the mark left behind by a minor skirmish with a Jedi's 
lightsaber. Her heels rested on the tabletop as the black leather of her 
boots curved the smooth length all the way to her hips. The snarled sneer on 
her face gave way to the deeply buried feelings that she held within. Ikara 
had spent what seemed a lifetime scrapping from one situation to another to 
get her away from the bleak posturing of her mother's politics on her 
homeworld of Gallinore. Many a man had paid with his own scars or his life 
for ignorance of her strong handed, self-assured style. 

Even Captain Roark gave her leave in that category, it was that fiery 
and fierce determination he saw in her eyes that gained his respect alone of 
all women he had met. Captain Roark was a womanizer from one end of the 
galaxy to the next. Ikara didn't agree with his ways, but as long as the 
money flowed, he was assured her loyalty. Unbeknownst to the crowd of locals 
and students of the Ohtori Academy, this pair shared a twisted and bloody 
history. They had met back when Roark was smuggling for the Hutts. His 
beard was white as a cloud even then, so was the rest of his hair. The rest 
of his body was weather hardened under a taskmaster's whip and a cruel 
unrelenting sun that had both beaten him when he was a slave. 

Since the New Republic's Alliance had come to power and new, trade 
routes were being re-established, they had found the smuggling trade had 
become too risky. Especially since the likes of Han Solo had begun serving 
the side of the law once he married Leia Organa. Logic led to the realization 
that since there were more trade routes there must be more goods and money 
being transferred from place to place. Henceforth they had become pirates. 
Replacing dead crewmembers was always a pain, yet the term remained the 
same. They were in search of naive young academy members with little or no 
family ties to "Shang Hai" for service aboard their ship the "Calico Star." 

The modified Corellian Corvette had served them well in the little game 
of piracy for the past several years. However, as the body count had 
increased with boarding ships, they had looted from one end of Coruscant to 
the Spice Mines of Kessel; their greed and avarice grew more rapid than did 
loyal crewmembers. This pair of cutthroats had no ordinary thirst; it ran 
deeper than the Imperial pockets. They had been busy discussing the future 
of their shared ventures over many a tankard of Corellian rum. 

"Come on,Captain, think big here!" Ikara stared at the ceiling, 
wondering about their next raid. 

"Excuse me, lass, but the rum is making me talk through a gibbet." 
Roark's white beard was soaked with the dripping of his drink as his voice 
staggered to speak. 

"If you don't cut the wax out of your ears I'll cut your supply of rum 
off!" Her eyes burned with a scorn not intended for the captain, but his rum. 
"Lassie, thems fighting words." Roark laid his drunken hand to his 
blaster as he shifted from his relaxed position. 

"Okay, Okay." She slyly looked to the bar, thinking of a way to water 
down the captain's drink as motions to Roark to stand down. Ikara was 
worried how long the help wanted poster would take to find any likely 
candidates for crewmembers. The drink and food in the meantime seemed good 
enough to hold for the moment. She noticed a contest of handiness had broken 
out in a corner of the bar. Wagers were being made as daggers flew through 
the air to bullseye a holo-vid of Emperor Palpatine. She rubbed her chin as 
she argued with herself which diversion would be more fun, joining the dagger 
contest or sneaking past Haruka Silverstorm to water down her captain's rum. 


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