| abstract | - One year after the Battle of Yavin on the Imperial Center planet of Coruscant, a young human woman named Rara Towani gave birth to the son of Korin Jusk, a Kiffar Rebel soldier. Infant Kyram (given the birth name Torin Jusk) was brought into existence in the middle of a chaotic time for the galaxy. Rara and Korin were spy operatives working for the Rebel Alliance stationed in a shady part of Coruscant called The Works, where the two fell in love and conceived a child. Korin was a proud member of the Kiffar clan Jusk and promised to bring Rara and his son to his home planet and integrate them into his culture, away from the violence of the Galactic Civil War, as soon as they were discharged from duty. They never got the chance to fulfill their plans, as just two years later Korin and Rara were killed in an Imperial raid after their position was compromised. Alone and frightened, the small human toddler stood little chance for survival without protection within The Works. Torin was eventually found by a spice dealer and taken to Nar Kreeta where he was sold to Jerrok the Hutt as a slave. Due to his being so young, he was raised by female Lethan Twi'lek slave Loola. Loola quickly became a caring and nourishing mother to Torin and did what she could to protect him from the dangers of life within the Hutt crime lord's palace. From the time Torin was able to pull his own weight he was put to work within the palace and was treated harshly by Jerrok and his Trandoshan bodyguard Sleessk. Despite Loola's best efforts to protect her foster son from harm, Sleessk would often go out of his way to torment and punish the young human without provocation, much to the delight of his Hutt master. One day while cleaning the throne room the morning after one of Jerrok's extravagant parties, six year Torin accidentally knocked over his bucket of cleaning water and splashed at the feet of Sleessk. Enraged, the Trandoshan knocked the boy to the ground and pulled his shockstaff to teach the boy a lesson when Loola stepped up to defend him. Becoming even more angered, Sleessk lost control of his temper and landed deadly blow to the Twi'lek's throat with his razor sharp reptilian claws. Loola bled to death as the young boy sobbed and cradled her head in his lap. Three months later, as the boy was cleaning the gunk from a server droid's tracks, a guest of Jerrok's had made him particularly angry. Not wanting to cause trouble for his business, the Hutt took out his rage on the young slave and sent his Toydarian underling, Scabbs, to inflict a beating on him for Jerrok's amusement. The young boy defended himself with his sharp cleaning tool and put out one of Scabb's eyes. Jerrok roared in anger and ordered Sleessk to deal with the defiant slave boy. One of the men doing business with the Hutt, a mysterious warrior clad in silver and orange armor and hidden behind a helmet with a "T" shaped visor, stopped the Trandoshan. The man identified himself as Burk Do'ruun and offered Jerrok a generous sum for the young slave. The Hutt reluctantly accepted, still angry at the boy for injuring one of his minions. On their way back to Burk's homeworld of Ordo, the man removed his helmet revealing the battle scarred yet kind face of a human male of about 50 standard years of age. Burk explained to the still nervous and shy six year old that he admired his bravery and resolve in the face of danger. The man was going to bring him to his homeworld and raise him as his son and train him in the way of the Mandalorians. Given his natural deadly talents in combat, the young boy was renamed "Kyram" after the Mando'a word for "death" and was accepted into the Do'ruun clan, just as Burk had been when he was adopted as a child.
|
