Darak
- Darak is an Agorrian from the Energon Universe portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Darak is a top Agorrian pilot. A pragmatic survivor with a knack for thinking outside of the box, he'll do whatever it takes to get out of a tight situation—even break his civilization's longest-standing traditions by daring to work with their hated enemies, the Zertonians.
Fiction
Energon Universe
When Darak was younger, he worked as an "edgewalker" as a means of inarticulate rebellion against his distant father, Minister Dulin.
Many years later, Darak had become a pilot for the Agorrians. When a comet containing four thousand tons of ice passed by the Sacred Ring, Director Elander ordered Darak to retrieve the comet and tow it into Agorrian space; not only would this bolster Agorra's own water supplies, but doing so would also keep the comet out of the hands of the Zertonians, who were currently experiencing a water shortage. However, when Darak's ship cleared the orbit of the Sacred Ring, the vessel's autonomous systems failed to revive its pilot. While unconscious, Darak had a mysterious vision explaining the distant origins of his people—how the two races had come together once before to build the Sacred Ring, and would have to come together again once more—before he awoke, moments before a Zertonian starship intercepted his craft. Void Rivals #2
In the ensuing dogfight, both ships missed the comet, wound up in a distant quadrant, and crash-landed on a barren planet. Darak's handroid was able to revive its wearer; moments after regaining consciousness, however, Darak discovered that the Zertonian pilot, Solila, had also survived the crash. After a brief struggle, the Zertonian convinced him that, despite their long history of conflict, it would be better to work together to repair her mostly-intact vessel. The pair set to work repairing the ship, but when Solila attached a cable the wrong way, the power surge overloaded the ship's energy core and caused a devastating explosion. All was not lost, however, as Solila returned moments later, with news that she'd found an abandoned but mostly intact starship in a nearby valley. The pair attempted to jumpstart the ship's power cells—when they did so, however, the ship revealed itself to be the Cybertronian Jetfire, who promptly transformed and flew away.
Despite this latest setback, seeing Jetfire transform gave Darak the idea of stripping their armor for parts and using them to repair the ship, ignoring their race's shared taboos against removing their helmets in the presence of an enemy. The pair did so, and realized that Agorrians and Zertonians were members of the same species. Void Rivals #1
After returning to Darak's wrecked vessel, the pair spent weeks cobbling together whatever they could find into a ramshackle, semi-pressurized spacecraft—enough to get them off the planet and broadcast a long-distance distress signal. While floating through an asteroid field, their ship drifted into the path of a massive starship built into the hull of a hollowed-out meteor; when the vessel pulled them in, the two ran afoul of its owner, a fearsome Skuxxoid. Void Rivals #2
The pair engaged in combat with the Skuxxoid, with Darak becoming stunned by a shot to the chest. Solila helped him escape the skirmish as they journeyed deep into the Rockeroid. Darak remarked upon her battle prowess, which suited a warrior more than a pilot. He had no time to absorb this knowledge, as they were besieged by a Quintesson Scorpia. Solila distracted the creature long enough for Darak to shut a door on it from overhead, destroying a claw and damaging it beyond repair. They immediately came across another Quintesson-this time a Prosecutor, who proposed an alliance to dispose of the Skuxxoid and escape the Rockeroid. However, the Skuxxoid realized Darak and Solila had no bounties and were thus worthless to him, and offered them a Nebulos spacecraft in exchange for the metals on their ramshackle craft. Darak was intrigued and they took the deal, leaving the Prosecutor furious.
Aboard the Nebulan ship and en route to the Sacred Ring, Solila expressed concern about what would happen when they returned home. Darak was more relaxed and optimistic, hoping to appeal to his father, and expecting that the Agorrians and Zertonians alike would detest being set against each other by the conspiracy they uncovered. He suggested that they part ways via escape pods to their respective worlds upon arrival, and she agreed. Solila thanked him for suggesting that they work together, and he let his guard down-and Solila knocked him unconscious with her spear. Void Rivals #3
Even while Darak was unconscious, Handroid attempted to prevent Solila from taking the craft to Zertonia, but she reached the upper hand and forced it to surrender. On Zertonia, Darak was disappointed in himself for believing that they were friends. Solila rebuked him, saying that they were at best rivals, which he found wryly amusing. Even after she apologized for her attack, he still managed to display optimism towards her. He glibly assessed their situation thus far, but again Solila was upon him, suggesting that if he wanted to survive, he would keep quiet about removing their helmets, and everything else they discussed about their worlds in private. He was marched out in front of Zertonian society, and his masked appearance was revolting to the populace as he was led away to a detention cell. While he tried to escape the cell, he was surprised when later, Solila was tossed inside with him. He learned that she had inadvertently admitted to caring for him and was incarcerated as a result. He grimly noted how she was locked up despite her double-cross, laughing both at her and at their grim situation. Void Rivals #4
Darak tried to understand what would happen next, and Solila told him that the situation had changed: since Zalilak had already been aware of their secret, they would not only both be killed, but Darak himself would be tortured for more information. Right on cue, Zertonian guards entered the cell, sedated him, and dragged him away for interrogation. He managed to be flippant in the face of torture for three days, never revealing more than his name and that he was a pilot. When his interrogator took a reprieve, he asked Handroid to find a flaw in his restraints only to realize Handroid had been removed. All alone, he laughed in deep despair.
From within the darkness, a mysterious Zertonian child named Ultum approached him and freed him. Through a tortuous path, Ultum led Darak away from the interrogation chamber and they snuck around just out of sight until they arrived at a secret meeting place of Unifiers, a group of Zertonian underground resistance members. The Unifier Kanela wanted Darak's help in reuniting the Agorrians and Zertonians, but Darak refused to even listen to her proposal unless they also agreed to rescue Solila. Void Rivals #5
