Merillion Skurrow



=Introduction=

A baby-faced, newbie to the Paragon. Skurrow was promoted to Paladin from his position in the Guard, following the destruction of The Honour. Lacking confidence in himself, he is often overwhelmed by the authority and responsibiity that comes with his new rank.

=Basic Information= Name: Merillion Skurrow. Normally just Skurrow.

Class: Trooper - Vanguard

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Height: 5'8", medium build, toned

Hair: Medium length, black; center-parting

Eyes: Dark Brown

Distinguishing Features: None

Phsychology: Skurrow is a very quiet person. He lacks self-belief, so is slow to voice his opinion, if at all. He is similarly emcumbered on the battlefield, relying on orders from his superiors to guide his actions. He can be introverted and naive at times, whilst believing in the inherent goodness of people. He trusts too easily and becomes overwhelmed in positions of responsibility. However, he is very self-sacrificing and will go out of his way to help others whenever he can. He believes his life is forfeit and has a habit of cleaning equipment, normally his gun, when he gets nervous, which is quite often.

Additional Notes: Skurrow originally accepted the position of Paladin out of loyalty to his injured sister and mentally-unstable mother, who were forced to abandon their home planet when the Sith invaded. With his support, they were able to rent a small room and pay for the operation which cured his sister of her paralysis. Skurrow now continues to serve as a Paladin for his own reward, having found friendship and comaradary within their ranks.

Possessions: Skurrow is always in possession of: a rag, for cleaning; a credit chit as a sombre reminder of his family back home; and an old, battered data pad, which he uses as a Journal.

=History=

Part 1: Innocence Lost

She scampered through the opulent halls trying to check every room, but her mind was elsewhere. News had reached the remote Outer-Rim colony of another planet falling to the Empire. Even five years after the Mandalorian Blockade was broken, still they advanced. She was just a servant in the Governor's Household, but even she could see where this was going. Why couldn't he? Such a fool to dismiss the reports as media hype and propoganda. He should be preparing for evacuation, when his stubborn refusal to see the truth would be the death of them all! And here she was wasting her life, looking for his child!

“Master Skurrow?” She called again for the umpteenth time. Still no response. Where could that boy be? “Master Skurrow, where are you? Your tutor is waiting!”

Always the same. They say every person has a story to tell, well his would be: “The boy that never stayed still!” Well, that wasn't exactly true. He always stayed still, just in all the wrong places. Here was a child that had everything, was waited on hand and foot and instead of abusing that, he spent his time...day-dreaming?

Isn't he a gem? The head maid had told her. ''From the tiniest bug to the biggest tree. It's all so fascinating to him! Oh, to be young and innocent again.''

“Wonderful?” She snorted, “I think its bizarre.”

She stopped in front of a door. Here? She was here? Had she really come so far already? That wasn't a good sign. This was the last place she wanted to be! She turned to leave, but resisted the urge. The boy might be inside. However unlikely, she had to look. It would be just her luck for him to be in the one room she didn't check. Slowly she raised her hand.



''Tap. Tap. Tap''

Laying sprawled across her luxurious bed, Leanna played with the latest game imported from Coruscant. She heard the tapping but chose to ignore it.

''Tap. Tap. Tap''

The noise was irritating. She couldn't focus on her game.

''Tap. Tap. Tap''

“Go away! I'm busy!” She shouted back.

There was a brief pause. Whoever was at the door, was mustering their courage, then they spoke:

“S..sorry Mistress Skurrow. Please. Please may I have a moment of your time?”

“What? You want to disturb me more than you already have? Argh fine then, but my Dad will hear of this.” Pause. “Well are you coming in, or do I have to talk to a door all day?”

The door opened slowly and a woman looked in. She was young and meek. Leanna recognised her as one of the newer maids, but hadn't learnt her name. That would be a waste of time.

“Miss Leanna..” The woman started.

“You will use my proper title when speaking to me!”

“Uh, yes Mistress Skurrow. Please accept my apologies for the indiscretion and for disturbing you.”

“Disturbing me is an indiscretion!”

“Um...yes, of course. I'm sorry.”

“Look I don't care whether you're sorry or not! Just tell me what you want then get out.”

“I, yes of course. Um, is your brother in here?”

Leanna scoffed. “My brother? Here? Why would I let that little twerp in here?”

I...I see. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Mistress.” The woman bowed quickly and backed out of the room, closing the door as she left.

Leanna sighed. She hated to be disturbed and loved scaring servants, but perhaps she had been too harsh this time? “Oh, Maid,” she called out just before the door fully closed.

Pause.

“Y...yes Mistress?”

“Merl is outside, on the grass, staring into the sky.”

“Oh, I, I see. Thank you. Thank you very much Mistress.” The surprise in the maid's voice was a little too obvious for Leanna.

“Whatever. Now go away and don't bother me again for at least a week!”

“Y..yes. Of, of course Mistress.”



Click. She shut the door, sighed with relief and marched off towards the gardens. What was the damned boy doing now? Outside? He better not have messed up his clothes after she spent so long dressing him!



He stood barefoot on one of the Estate's many fine lawns. The cold, soft grass felt funny between his toes. It tickled! But his attention was now directed elsewhere. Trance-like, he gazed at the sky in awe. Such strange clouds. He hadn't seen anything like them bef...

There was a sudden crushing pain in his left hand. He yelped and looked up it its source with sad face and wet eyes.

“Master Skurrow! What are you doing out here? This is no way for a Governor's son to behave!” The woman demanded, whilst holding him in her vice-like grip.

“Miss Jinnie, you're hurting me,” Skurrow whined.

“I'll do more than that if you don't hurry up! You're tutor is wai...” her eyes dropped to the floor. “WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES AND SOCKS?” She screamed.

Skurrow pointed meekly to the path with his right hand. There standing side by side, with his socks carefully rolled up inside, where his finest shoes. The maid dragged him unceremoniously over to his foot-ware, picked them up and seeing that there wasn't a spot of dirt on them, relaxed a little.

“At least you take good care of your things. You can put them on inside, there's no time now.”

She started pulling Skurrow towards the mansion.

“Mmmiss J..Jinnnie. Are tho-ose things c...clouds?” The 5 year old boy asked as he was buffetted along. His minder stopped. She knew the boy well enough to understand that he would not focus on his schooling unless she answered him. She looked up.

“What is it now? Another, fly? A bird may be, or perhaps you thi...” She never finished her sentence. Instead she screamed, loud and long. Dropping Skurrow's hand, she ran inside.

Skurrow, confused, tried to follow her but once inside found no trace of where she may have gone.

Then: chaos. Servants started running in all directions, some shouting, some crying, all grabbing things not pinned down. It was very strange behaviour but, as he always found the servants' a little odd, he turned his gaze back to the sky. Countless shapes filled it up. Some big, some much smaller, all hovering hiiiiiigh in the air. He hadn't seen anything like it before.

A little time passed, perhaps a lot - he didn't know how long, he was young - when someone picked him up and carried him further into the mansion. It was the head maid. She looked scared. That was strange too - nothing scared her, not even his father. As he bounced along In her arms, he pointed back at the mysterious objects.

"Oh, Miss Hensin? What are those things?”

“Don't worry, child. They're not going to hurt you.” If I ever see that girl again I'll beat her so hard for abandoning this child.

Hurt him? Why would anyone want to hurt someone else? It didn't make any sense. It was true that Jinnie hurt him earlier, but he was sure she was just being clumsy. Leanna hurt him too, sometimes, but that was just what big sisters did. But why would the clouds?

The head maid carried him outside, to his father's Limosine-Class Speeder, where he was dumped face-down onto the back seat. “Go. Go and be safe!” she said, her voice worried and a tad too loud. The door was then slammed shut and everything became silent.

“Drive on, Ando,” Skurrow heard a strong masculine voice command and, with a jolt, they were off.

The boy looked up and saw three familiar people: his mother sat tensely next to him; beside her was his father, emotionless and stern; and furthest away sat Leanna, playing blankly with a computer game. She saw Skurrow and stuck her tongue out at him. He quickly averted his eyes and sat down on the seat.

“Mother. Did you see the clouds too?”

“Hush, Merillion.”

Skurrow held his tongue and quickly looked down at his feet. They just managed to hang over the edge of the seat. He wiggled his toes. He'd never been in the Speeder barefoot before. It felt peculiar.

Suddenly the vehicle was bathed in a golden light. Realising it meant they were no longer in the mansion's shadow, Skurrow jumped up and pressed his nose against the back window. The strange clouds were still in the sky. Some of the smaller ones were moving now. They fell quickly behind the horizon, there was a red flash, then they swooped back up again. It was like a dance. He became transfixed by their hypnotic movements.

Skurrow, as he always did when distracted, lost complete track of time. He had no idea how long or how far they travelled, only that the things in the sky never seemed to get further away. If anything they got closer. As the Speeder came to a halt, he was ushered out of the car and thrust into a world of noise, people and bright lights. Bright lights? He realised then how dark it was and how the strange clouds were still visible as 'holes' in the star-filled sky. They must have driven for hours! His stomach rumbled. His bladder groaned.

Once they were gathered, a man in uniform came running up. He put his hand to his head. Skurrow, wasn't sure what it meant, but his father nodded curtly and they were then led through the crowd, ushered towards a huge metal building, hundreds of times bigger than the estate. There another person in uniform, this time a woman, met them. She too put her hand to her head before guiding them further into the building. Skurrow decided the action must mean 'follow me.'

A long walk later, after a quick pit stop and just as Skurrow's legs were beginning to ache, they reached a door which was apparently the end of the journey. As the uniformed woman opened it, there was a loud bang and the whole building shuddered. A high pitched whining noise sounded from outside. It didn't stop. Looking apologetic, the woman bowed sharply to Skurrow's father and dashed off. As he tried to watch her leave, Skurrow was pushed past the now open door and into the room beyond. It was small to his eyes, perhaps no bigger than three of the Estate's guest bedrooms, but it looked expensive all the same. His father tutted, turned around and left.

Is Daddy never pleased? Skurrow thought to himself.

The boy glanced around and saw that his sister, having settled in already, was back to playing her game. He had no idea how she could remain so uninterested in everything. His mother sat on a chair with hands clenched tightly, stared into space.

There was another bang and the building shook again. Then a blackish-grey blur shot past the window. Intrigued, Skurrow ran over for a better look. On the ground far below, people (that looked like tiny bugs) were pushing and shoving, trying to get inside. There were a lot more then he remembered. Another group, wearing uniforms, held them back. Then the blur returned. It moved so fast it was hard to see, but he was sure it was one of the clouds from the sky, only it wasn't a cloud it was a small spaceship. Some people noticed it and ran away. Those that didn't stayed. The blur launched two red lights, which shot towards the group. They impacted on the surface and the ground erupted. The building shook.

Skurrow fell down, screaming. The visions of broken and burning people scored onto his mind.



Skurrow's screams startled Leanna. Her brother was not one to make much noise over anything. With no reaction from her mother, she threw down her game and ran over to her brother. She grabbed him roughly, but not unkindly and looked into his terrified, watery eyes.

“Merl?” She quested. Skurrow hated that abbreviation and would always react to it. Not this time. It didn't even seem to register. Leanna, now thoroughly worried, dropped him and looked out of the window. She gasped at the sight and stepped back involuntarily. Regaining a modicum of composure, she ran to the window's controls and closed the shutters, breathing heavily.



The explosions became more and more frequent. And with each, the building shuddered. And with each Skurrow whimpered. Leanna returned to his side and held him tightly in her arms. He grabbed her shirt and clung on tightly before bursting into tears.

The shudders merged into a single, constant, rumble, then grew into a high pitched hum. Skurrow didn't notice. He was retreating within himself, trying to hide from the world, but then, suddenly and unkindly, he was thrust back to reality as the building lurched and lurched hard. Leanna was thrown away from him and he crashed into the floor, or rather the floor crashed into him. And it didn't stop there. It kept pushing and pushing as though it was trying to move right through him. He thought he would be flattened. With half his face squashed against the floor and unable to move, he looked around with his one good eye. he saw Leanna in the same position. She managed to grasp his hand in hers and gave him a look that said its okay, everything will be alright.

Though explosions continued to rain down on the building, which wasn't a building at all but a massive ship, nothing could halt its inexorable ascent. Despite the tremendous damage it suffered, the transport was able to break through the blockade and escape into Republic territory.



Skurrow later learnt that many decent, loyal people sacrificed themselves that day. They gave their lives in the hope that a handful of politicians and their families could live. Perhaps, if their lives had been spared instead, the disastrous events that followed may have been averted. The only thing he knew for sure wwas that he wasn't worthy of that sacrifice.