It was there he pissed away the last of his coin, drowning his sorrows and heartbreak in whisky and rum.

Yearning for his aunty and the surprising comfort he found when thinking back to the cheap streets.

'Barmansh…. One moresh…" he slurred out to the barman.

Looking somewhat concerned the bar man answered.

"Laddie you'll drink yourself to death if ye have another drop you know."

"Shhshh I don cares…." He wailed back, flopping his head up and down as his motor skills continued to fail him.

The barman sighed.

"Alright but ye better ave the coin."

Lucius delved into his pockets finding nothing but the cloth lining. Searching his entire coat and pants he came up empty.

'Tinkle tinkle' he heard as he rummaged through his apparel.

Father… His drunken subconscious threw the word out, reminding him of why he was out here, so far away from home in the first place.

He stared at the compass, a strange feeling tingling through him as he sat there.

"Aye! Where's yer coin boy?!" The barman spurred impatiently as he held the bottle of whiskey in his hand.

Lucius stared at the compass for another moment, the cogs in his brain ticking as best they could in their over lubricated state.

"Aye boy! Ye got the coin or not!"

Suddenly with a jolt of unexpected energy he yanked the bottle from the barmans hands and skulled the entirety of it, hiccuping and smiling as he slammed the empty bottle down on the counter.

He was then promptly thrown out into a grease puddle outside, but that didn't matter.

His spirits were renewed, and with tremendous willpower, he got his legs to a somewhat functional state and made his way to the shipyards, the compass tinkling about in his pockets as he stumbled forward.

After a very difficult while of meandering and stumbling about, Lucius had made his way to the docks.

As he clambered up the last of the stairs and made it to the shipyards he was eclipsed by a gigantic shadow.

The S.S Rackerman. One of the largest military ships sailing through the void, thousands of guns along the five interconnected hulls that made up its body. Taking hundreds to crew as well as thousands of automated bots.

Its dark, thick wooden hull shimmering in the light of the artificial sun as its fresh white solar sails lay flat along its sides.

It had just been freshly serviced and was about to disembark.

He could see a recruiting line near the ship's main tether and made his way to the back of the line.

After shouldering his way through drink filled, merry men he made his way to the recruiting officer.

“Where's this ship going?” He asked.

“Going deep into the inner clusters boy, there are pirates making a mess of the place.” the officer replied.

Lucius grabbed the quill and wrote his name on the ledger without any further question.

The officer gave a laugh.

“Well you’re a keen lad aren’t you? Go on then, all aboard!”

Lucius made his way aboard where he was swiftly funnelled into the new recruits line onto the ship in which his name was signed yet again, his hair was cut and his uniform given to him before being shown to the rookies quarters.

A life of begrudging discipline and routine awaited him as they set sail for the centre of the galaxy.

His days are now filled with training drills, weapons maintenance and canteen duty. Although at first he enjoyed how the routine focused his mind, but after years of wandering the cosmos with space faring ruffians and rapscallions he found he was not the type to take orders very well.

After a brief period of begrudging acquiescence, little stirs began that boiled into bumps and brawls that landed Lucius in his commanders office.

"You unruly scoundrel!" Is what Officer Straddus called him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing on my ship! Throwing fists every chance you get! Causing chaos! We're trying to protect the galaxy here boy, this is serious business!” Under the old veterans' scarred and steely facade he held a soft spot for Lucius.

He saw the wit and grit of the boy behind the attitude and delinquency, and so he did not disbar him, but thought to whip the boy into a man.

Lucius nodded and mumbled pillowy insults under his ale stenched breath.

“Boy that’s it! You are now my personal steward, you hear? You clean my boots, Mop my floors and wipe my arse if I tell you too, understood?” The commanding officer stated hardly.

Lucius without being left much choice, acquiesced.

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Although he did not do well with authority, he liked the old man, he found something respectable within his stride and the way that he held his chin high and kept order on the vessel.

Over the next few weeks of the voyage Straddus had Lucius educated in the practical usefulness of discipline.

He also taught him to fight and scrap like only a veteran would know.

He also had him read up on Galactic history and society. He was no longer a raw uncouth Cosmic ruffian, but now a gentleman of the stars, capable of hoisting heavy sail, hustling a sticky fingered Groatian at cards but also dining with finest and reciting epics of old at any high table.

At first he hated the books and lectures Straddus forced into his brain whilst he cleaned boots or maintained the officers battle gear, but after a while he began to appreciate the time the older man took in training him and bettering him.

His mind was now sharp and focused, his body turned from a raw mass of muscle into a refined, precise killing machine.

All the while he kept his mind on his goal, every time he heard the tinkle tinkle his resolve grew stronger.

“Father, I will find you!” He reminded himself every time he looked out into the dense cluster of stars that was the centre of the galaxy.

It was a month of travel and training before he had his first taste of battle.

A star miner was being raided by a pirate frigate and the Rackerman was the nearest defence ship.

Lucius froze in his step when the battle bells rang.

In a minute he was rushed towards battle stations by a sea of shouting soldiers.

A rush of excitement filled him as he armed himself, he had never been in battle before!

Drunken brawls and the occasional hands up in a dark alley, yes, but never in an actual battle.

He had been training as a soldier but as a private he drew the short straw, they were the first to board and lead the charge.

He had been funnelled to the surface hull of the ship and above him he could see the frigate circling the mining vessel like a shark, its black sun-sails thrusting it through space with the ease, speed and agility characteristic of a barracuda.

It pummelled the star miner with crippling blows of plasma from its fusion generator that glowed through the cannons like the belly of a hungry raging dragon.

The Rackerman, although superior in firepower, could not risk destroying the miner and so could not use any of its cannons. Much to Straddus’ dismay, he would just as well liked to have blasted the nuisance out of the cosmic skies.

It was he who stood at the crows nest above the borders.

“The time is nigh laddies! Turn your mincey little minerals to steel and wipe those snivels off your faces boys! Into the devils belly we go! Ready… Charge!” He yelled as the Rackerman chased down the frigate, the much larger military ship just near the pirate vessel.

Now was the time, Lucius sucked in his angst, gripped his hand cannon and kicked his ejector chain.

The device shot out a grappling arm to the frigate's deck and stuck, a second later his waist clip began to whir and the second after he was on the enemy deck, panting frantically as chaos reigned all around him.

He locked eyes with a pirate, the mad eyed marauder cried out and laughed maniacally before he charged at Lucius.

His heart quickened as he fumbled for his hand cannon and shot the man in the chest.

No luck, the brute wore a las guard vest and the shot barely moved him as he charged.

Swinging his sword in a wide arc, the pirate aimed for Lucius' collar bone.

He instinctively ducked to the side and in a panic he swung his own laser cutlass around behind him.

Feeling the blade slow in its arc as it sliced through his opponents legs, Lucius knew he had hit his mark.

He turned to see the now half man screaming agony in front of him.

The blood curdling scream, the crimson red eyes and the smell of burnt flesh made Lucius' stomach twist into nauseating knots.

He gagged as he struggled to hold down his breakfast. While the other man's breakfast began to spill out of his entrails.

Before he could recollect himself another pirate screamed towards him in a blood crazed rage.

Barely holding it together Lucius ducked and weaved clumsily but adequately enough to evade his attacker.

Except he was begining to run out of room, he tripped back onto the railing of the ship, the pirate poised and ready to strike the life from Lucius.

Miraculously, the tip of a sword appeared through his would be murderers chest as blood began to pour from his rotten toothed mouth before the pirate collapsed on top of Lucius.

He heaved the bloody mass off of him to see Straddus standing in front of him, stoic in stature and expression as he wiped his blade on his battlecloth.

"Up you get boy, the fight has only begun." He abruptly helped Lucius to his feet before swirling around and cleanly decapitating another pirate, her head rolled to Lucius' feet sporting the same vile expression she held when she was whole.

"Move! Remember your training!" Straddus yelled at the boy, urging him to action.

Lucius sprung into action.

With flashing laser fire, the sounds of swords clashing and the smell of burnt atmosphere surrounding him.

A hectic storm of violence and chaos swept around him.

With a deep breathe and a clench of his bottom he dived into the closest battle, yelling an unintelligible war cry as he swung his sword at a bearded madman

They clashed for a few moments before the man was blown apart by a shot from the S.S. Rackermans smaller las cannons, dried blood painted over his grimacing face.

He was beginning to acclimate to the carnage of battle and instead of being shaken by the gore he moved to the next target.

He used his training well and survived the rest of the battle only acquiring a shallow slash to the chest and a scar over his right eyebrow.

In the end the pirates surrendered and their ship was blown to oblivion as the crew was locked in the Rackermans expansive brigg.

"You've done well boy, I've never seen a lad fight like you the first time, you've the devil in you and his majesty and his navy are glad for it." Straddus clasped the battle worn, traumafied and bloodied Lucius around the shoulders.

Lucius never forgot that day, his first encounter with death, a reminder of his own fragile mortality.

It took a few more skirmishes to blunt Lucius' sensitivities but within a few months and after a few more scars, he was a battle hardened soldier.

As tough as he was cunning, as fast as he was brutal, Lucius had developed into one of the galactic navy's best with a sword in his right hand and few could rival his left arm's trigger finger.