Down the rabbit hole

[Torment]

Freeport 9

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Lucian let out a small chuckle, this pretty much solidified what he already expected; this person had no idea about the true state the Insurgency had been in when the Torment began its exodus. "News really does reach this area of space slowly it seems, doesn't it ma'am? Nah, if it did you wouldn't be so quick to consider House space 'tame', not when the full brunt of a House military is banging on your doorstep anyway." he joked, before continueing: "You're right, we're not exactly the logical choice for an evacuation, that's because we didn't intend to. We were part of the last defense, "the last hurrah" if you will. We were able to fight back Liberty while the evacuations were underway."

Lucians somewhat joking demeanor soured a he continued, the experience having been a particularly painful one. "My ship was damaged in the battle, though not as badly as most. Due to that we were a higher priority for the shipyard, we'd be fast and easy to patch up and field again. Thanks to that, we were able to get back into the fray fairly quickly." The captain took another sip of his drink, a moment to gather his thoughts, before adding; "Long story short, by the time it became obvious we couldn't hold the line anymore, roughly a month and a half after the major battle, we decided to get out and bring as many civilians with us as we could. We made it clear anyone on board would have to contribute and that training would be provided. Frankly, most were extatic at the opportunity. Evacuations had started to slow, reports of Liberty intercepting and destroying departing ships scared away all but the most dedicated shuttle captains."

With a deep sigh Lucian looked out into space, placing his hand on the right side of his coat after a while. "We left with a thousand crewmembers, including the evacuees. 856 survived the journey, In total 303 civilians disembarked on some of the few stations we passed by along the way, Freeport-5 being the most popular one. Currently the crew counts 553 members, only 124 are part of the original crew." Lucian opened the right side of his coat, showing a massive amount of lines crudely scratched into the inside.
"Of the thousand people that placed their fate in me, 144 did not survive the journey. I made a scratch for each soul lost so I can carry them with me still."

A pause filled the air as Lucian closed his coat and slowly buttoned it up once more before finally adding: "As for plans of the future, the remaining crew stayed for different reasons, some feel like they have a debt to repay, others want to carve out a life together, some might, in their dillusion, even consider me a hero. At any rate I am responsible for them, so our only goal is to carve out a place in the region for us to survive and to give them something to direct their frustration at, a goal to fight for."

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