Bairloch, Decheeran Engineer (first draft)
Uprooted itself at approximately 30 years old, in the year 901 AE. Despite its young age, its outer skin looks like driftwood drying on the shore of a restless sea. Its “face” is a rectangular slab, with a slash near the bottom for a mouth, a rhomboid gash in the center to allow the scent organs to sample the atmosphere, and pitch-black, iris-less orbs peering out from deep sockets. The smooth torso and limbs have openings where the actual “joints” are largely concealed behind the weather-beaten-looking outer layer. The long, dexterous hands have greater strength than is immediately apparent, after years of working with its hands. The legs flare at the bottom before the wide, splayed feet and thick, rootlike toes emerge from underneath.
It spent its first few years learning to manipulate and repair the organic-laced machinery common on Sabiak. Once joining the Song military for the mandatory 2-year term, it learned to work alien machinery as well. After receiving basic combat training, it spent its entire time in the military working in a repair shop in the bowels of a battleship, mending weapons, vehicles and equipment. It never saw active combat. Quaeos rose to power during its time in the military, but it was uninterested in politics and didn’t bother to vote.
Once its military time was up, it yearned to spend time among growing things. Shore leave in the artificial city on Song was nice, the grounds well-tended and trying hard to please, but it can never be the same as a real planet. And its many trips down to the surface only created a greater urge to feel healthy, growing things around it. Returning to Sabiak, it spent the next few years refining its abilities working toward the title of engineer, before setting out into the galaxy to further its pursuits.
Spending what marks it had on a beat-up runabout, it took up trading as a way to see more of the universe, learn more of the many mechanical marvels it contains, and earn a living. It gained a minor reputation as a trader in limited circles. The going was harder than it had anticipated, and the already beat-up ship fell into further disrepair, despite all its mechanical knowledge, and much to its chagrin.
The runabout’s final trading run ended in a crash on a backwater planet, leaving the Decheeran to its own devices.
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