Gvarokh

Private Storyline

Background:
During her first year of independence, Shiraamer noted that she was spending too much time flying the ship and not enough time working on business. She decided to hand over the responsibilities to someone else and advertised the open position. She got several applicants, but most of them weren't as good as she was. That was, until she met Gvarokh.

Gvarokh was born in 1082 on Angvoz (Lishun 2509). The planet was run by Sternmetal Horizons and his parents were both employees. There was a good mix of humans and vargr on the world and relations between the species was good. When he got older, the vargr in him said that it was time to find a new pack. Although Sternmetal Horizons was a good company, it wasn't enough. He yearned to roam among the stars. Gvarokh enlisted in the Imperial Navy and signed up for flight school. He was a natural. He made his family proud.

In the navy, Gvarokh found it odd that he was mostly getting assignments with vargr crews. When he did serve with humans, he was quite comfortable with them, though he began to suspect that they weren't so comfortable with him. His best friend, Joseph Stumplitz, explained to him that Imperial humans didn't always see the difference between Imperial vargr and those out in the Extents. To some, they were one and the same. Fortunately, his loyalty to the Imperium was never questioned. Not until the war at least.

When word got out that vargr corsairs and state navies had invaded Lishun and other coreward sectors, things changed. Fights broke out between humans and vargr over loyalty. There were accusations of spying. One day he returned to his quarters to find that they'd been ransacked and "traitor" and "go home dog" were scrawled on the walls in paint. A couple of weeks later an anonymous source sent word to his superiors that he was a spy. Although cleared of any wrongdoing, Gvarokh realized that it was time to find a new pack.

Despite Joseph's pleading, Gvarokh resigned. After 16 years, it was time to go home and see his family. There was a war going on now and he needed to be with them. Unfortunately, he never made it.

Gvarokh got as far as Zugrora (Lishun 1914) when he was informed that he couldn't travel any further. Dzo the Ruthless had overtaken everything coreward of Zugrora. When he persisted in his attempts he was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. Despite his credentials and ID, Gvarokh languished in prison for two months without so much as a trial. He was finally released when a small Imperial squadron showed up to defend Zugrora as it was evacuated of key personnel. Joseph was 1st officer on one of the ships and learned of Gvarokh's imprisonment. He got Gvarokh released immediately.

Gvarokh was forced to reside at Lishun (Lishun 1511). He managed to bribe a vargr captain into getting a message to his family on Angvoz. He waited months for a reply but finally got one. Angvoz had indeed been taken over by Dzo's forces but the family was ok, though their human friends had met a terrible fate. Gvarokh was advised to stay away for fear that he would be accused of being an Imperial lap dog and a traitor to his race.

Unable to go back to the Navy or home to his family, Gvarokh was packless, and near penniless. He took what odd jobs he could but he never lasted long. Ship captains would praise his piloting skills but had to let him go because he made the crew uneasy. And vargr crewed ships were rare. They were constantly being hounded by Imperial ships looking for corsairs and spies.

Then one day, he answered an ad for the position of pilot on the ship Miishakaal. He showed up at the docking port and was greeted by a young woman. She acted like she was in charge. "Who is this girl?" he wondered. "She's too young to be the captain. Best to play along." Over the course of the interview Gvarokh learned that this young woman was indeed the captain, and that she was older than she looked. Her bloodline was strong in Vilani. Later, during the piloting test, he discovered that she was a very good pilot too. Almost as good as him.

He got the job. Best of all, the captain trusted him. She refused to let his race be a handicap. If other crew members had a problem with him, she told them to look elsewhere for work. She wouldn't tolerate racism on her ship. At last, Gvarokh felt like he'd found a new pack. He rewarded Shiraamer's trust with loyalty.

It's been 7 years now. Gvarokh has seen plenty of crew members, both human and vargr, come and go. He's even had to step in and defend Shiraamer from other vargr of ill repute. Gvarokh eventually became 1st Officer as Shiraamer not only trusts his piloting skills but his advice as well.