The escape pod landed with a crash. Slowly crawling out of the pod, Julius clung to the dirt beneath him as if his life depended on it. This was the first time he felt soil in over a week.

The last time, he was known simply as Julius Vernon. But he has a new name now. A much darker name.

Black Raven.

The title of Black Raven first belonged to a man a thousand years ago, a man so evil schools don't even teach about him until college. Nobody knew him by his real name, so people simply referred to him by his call sign, the simple drawing of a black raven. 

The man claimed a small gang originally grounded on Earth. But, with time, more crimes are committed, and with more crimes, the word spread about The Black Raven Gang. As word spread, envy in the crime world grew. At one point a space-bound criminal organization aimed to take them out and conquer the Earth's criminal underground.

They lost.

The Black Raven and his gang became famous, not just on Earth, not just in the Milky Way Galaxy, but across the universe. Hijacking one of their attacker's ships, The Black Raven Gang was about to infect the rest of space.

At this point Black Raven had grown older. With age comes wisdom, with wisdom comes understanding. With a criminal background comes a tainted understanding. He thought up new ideas on crime, new plots, new strategies. By the time he passed, he gave his title to a successor who spent his whole life finishing the original Black Raven's ultimate plan.

Over time, new people claimed the title of Black Raven. The gang seemed to have already hit its heyday under the leadership of the original Black Raven, but all of that was about to change. By the fifth generation, the resources had finally been gathered to continue with the most heinous plan known to man.

The plan to bring down The Great Galactic Palace.

The plan consisted of infiltrating the center of all politics in the universe, and then tearing it down from the inside out. Well, to put it simply, the plan worked. For hundreds of years, the universe was plunged into mass chaos.

Eventually, a force was able to gain enough traction and defeat the crime. The Great Galactic Palace was rebuilt and reestablished as a safer region than at any other point. However, even to this day, the residue from those centuries of anarchy still holds true. Some worlds are open about crime and get away with it. Gangs are everywhere. Pirates, slave traders, mercenaries, are all everywhere.

This is where Julius comes in.

He grew up with no family, he was raised by the street. Eventually, he got his way into what was left of The Black Raven Gang. He claimed he would bring it back to its former glory, but, with time, he matured, and after being given a life sentence at the age of seventeen. He had a new influence in his life.

The police were still kind to him, since he was minor. Eventually, he managed to prove his rehabilitation and he eventually entered the world of politics. He worked as a private mercenary working for the police force. 

A few years ago, he was captured. Once he returned years later, he claimed it was The Black Raven Gang who took him. It was only a few days after his return that that very same gang attacked The Great Galactic Palace. They managed to almost completely tear it down, only being stopped right in the nick of time. 

Of course, due to his past connections and his recent run in with them, Julius was instantly framed as the reason. Word spread like wildfire of his involvement, and, despite his best efforts to prove his innocence, he became public enemy number one.

He became Black Raven.

Now here he is. On a strange planet somewhere on the edge of the universe. Just narrowly escaping a failing slave ship that had captured him, he was now on his own. The planet was unknown to him. Its people, its fauna, all alien to him. 

Civilization seemed scarce. By noon he was able to find a small village, the first structure he had seen since the airship. The location near a port initially worried him, but he got over it.

Julius wandered around in his black and yellow outfit that stood out like a sore thumb. Walking through the crowded market, Julius managed to pick up on a few things. For one, the local populace seemed to use a barter system over regular currency. Everyone wore long drapes and ropes. Worst of all, however, they all spoke some weird language that was unfamiliar to Julius in every possible way.

His standard tongue, English, was clearly unusable. People shouted at him in this unknown tongue, and it only caused him to walk faster. He soon found his way into an abandoned home made out of clay and mud. The cold, barren one-room house sent a bad vibe down Julius's spine. 

A man in dark robes came walking into the home and looked at Julius directly in the eyes. His eyes were farther apart than normal humans, but every other feature seemed to be the same. 

"Yes?" Julius looked at the man with manufactured fear in his eyes to hopefully prompt the man to leave.

The man crouched in front of Julius and put his finger on Julius's forehead. Closing his eyes, the man nodded and sighed.

"Hello, friend. I am a native on this planet. I see you are not."

"You can speak English?"

"No, but our species can learn languages from physically tapping into your mind."

"Is that what that was?"

"Yes. Now we can communicate effectively."

"Good." Julius stood up with the man.

"So, what brings you to our home?"

"I was on a ship, and it crashed. I managed to get in an escape pod and, now, here I am."

"Crashed? Where?" The man grew a look of concern.

"I have no idea. I got out of there before she actually went down. But I know it's down, somewhere on the other side of that forest." Julius pointed towards the trees where he came from. "Uh, what is your name, sir?"

"I guess an accurate translation of my name in your language would be Potter, for I am a maker of pottery."

"Ah. My name's Julius." They shook hands. "I, uh, I need to get out of here."

"I understand. If you want, I could accompany you."

"What?"

"I know where we can find a way out of here, and, well, my business has been ruined. A few days ago some criminals came in and burned the place down."

"Sorry. I know how that feels." Julius and the man started to walk out of the home and towards a small, concealed pathway to a large building up on a hill. "So where are we going?"

"A place you would call our capital. It is where all of our public relations are controlled and where we can buy two ship tickets to an island far from here that, in turn, sells air ship tickets."

"Wow. You seem to have this planned out."

"Yes, I have been planning this escape for a while." The two carried on to the capital, where they were greeted by two heavily armed guards. Potter talked with them in their native tongue and the two were allowed entrance. 

Inside there were more armed men who seemed to be guarding this one man who was sitting on a large, golden throne. Again, Julius stood there in confusion as Potter talked to the man in their native tongue. He exchanged a few pieces of gold for two pieces of paper. Handing one of the pieces of paper to Julius, Potter bowed and motioned for his friend to join him.

The two bowed before the man in the throne and then continued out of the building. They traveled to the docks, tickets in hand, and simply walked onto the boat.

"You are fearful, I can tell." Potter put his hand on Julius's shoulder.

"This was too easy. Far too easy. I've been alive long enough to know that nothing is this painless in life."

"You would be surprised, my friend. You would be surprised what happens when you live in someone else's shoes."