Difference between revisions of "Darven"

"Think of yourselves as a hand. Each of you is a finger, and without the others you're useless. Alone, a finger can't grasp, or control, or form a fist. You are nothing on your own, and everything together."

―Kal Skirata

RC-1197 on Geonosis

RC-1197 was one of the commandos trained by Kal Skirata, who gave him the name Dar'vencuyot or simply Darven, which is Mando'a for One who has no Future. He was a member of Sarang Squad, a squad engaged mainly in TIOPS (traffic interdiction operations). Relatively early on during the Clone Wars, his squad members died, making him the sole survivor. After a brief period of being chilled-down, RC-1197 found himself as one of the spec-ops "troopers" fighting with the 501st - and totally alienated from his former brothers.

"What I remember about the rise of the Empire is… is how quiet it was. During the waning hours of the Clone Wars, the 501st Legion was discreetly transferred back to Coruscant. It was a silent trip; we all knew what was about to happen, what we were about to do. Did we have any doubts? Any private traitorous thoughts? Perhaps, but no one said a word. Not on the flight back to Coruscant, not when Order 66 came down, and not when we marched into the Jedi Temple. Not a word."

―RC-1197

Operation: Knightfall

What happened then is history. RC-1197's file reports him as part of the group of the 501st who was with Darth Vader in Operation: Knightfall when they took the Jedi temple; he was one of the eight commandos of Decoy Squad Five, who infiltrated the temple dressed in Jedi robes.

"She made a point of seeing us off personally, calling us the bravest soldiers she had ever seen. It's a good thing we were wearing helmets, because none of us could bear to look her in the eye."

―Darven, talking about Aayla Secura

When the clones were re-commissioned as Stormtroopers, RC-1197's file was not amongst the files evaluated for use. In fact, RC-1197 did no longer exist - he had been reported fallen in Operation: Knightfall. And true to this, RC-1197 did not exist anymore: but in his stead there survived Dar'vencuyot, a man with a deeply-rooted, ever-present sense of grief and loss, all overshadowed by regret about something no one's ever managed to get him to talk about - and something he himself has tried not to think about.

"Although bred to be an unfeeling, unthinking clone by a race equally apathetic to emotions, I rose above that because of the man who raised me. Kal Skirata, we found out later, had left his own family behind to become our everything. To the outside world he was of the Cuy'val Dar - Those who do no longer exist. And now, because of all I have done, I am following in his footsteps - I myself have become cuy'val dar, to those who are my family. Tell me, how does one who was only a part of many survive being only one?"

―Darven

Olek Farsynn

A few years after the Clone Wars Darven showed up on Mandalore under an assumed name, calling himself Olek Farsynn and claiming to be a trained Mandalorian warrior. He spoke fluent Mando'a with a gruffness that made any underlying accent impossible to hear, had armor made of beskar which seemed cobbled together from two differently colored sets, and an impressive range of skills. No one doubted he was genuine.

Although he was accepted by the community of Mandalorian farmers and warriors he made his home with, he shunned the company of others. Olek Farsynn kept to himself and did not socialise. He was never seen without full armor and helmet outside his house, and on the rare occasion someone came to visit, he would not greet them bareheaded. This odd behavior led to various rumours that he was either a wanted criminal, or possibly had gotten a terrible injury at some point in his life that he preferred to keep to himself. Either way, it was no cause for concern amongst his community - if anything, it earned him the respect of the pragmatic Mandalorians who were used to hiring themselves out to fight the wars of others and accepted pain and death like a friend.

"Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la."

―Mandalorian Proverb

When called upon to fight by the Mandalore, he joined the ranks of the Mandalorian warriors readily, but did not take open contracts by any other organisations. And yet, every now and then he mysteriously disappeared without a word, for varying lengths of time; and whenever he returned, his neighbors soon found out it was better to leave him alone. For these absences, as mysterious as they might be, caused the man to go through alternating periods of grief and rage that could almost be felt in the air around him, which greatly increased the mystery shrouding him.

For years, life continued like this, and his neighbors accepted the clanless man for what he was, not asking any questions where it was apparent they would get no answer. They were Mandalorians, and his way the Mando way as much as any other.