Lucendez holstered his pistol as he watched the stranger walk out. 'Good enough' he thought, though he was going to watch whoever he was.
Alonso watched Juan pull up a seat at the bar.
"Tough time, amigo? I've never seen you pull a weapon before... This civil war thing is really getting close, huh?"
Juan looked hurt. It was true, there was never a time he needed to pull any kind of weapon on Crete. But he was on edge.
"Don't worry Alonso. The Brotherhood is working on that, and it will be settled peaceably, I can guarantee it. Despite the idiots, or the people calling for blood." Juan trailed off. Alonso had other costumers, so the Elder just meditated on his glass of water. 'Cretian upper class, huh? Well... at least he got half of it right...' he thought to himself. His thoughts were broken by weapon fire on the landing pads. A man was yelling after the fight and he recognized it as Ares.
Juan refocused on the glass .... 'conflict', he thought.
'I flew so long not knowing exactly where I belong. Now I find my brothers and they're trying to rip themselves apart...' His thoughts lingered there. He needed someone to talk to, but decided anger might get the best of him. There was a mound of paperwork that needed to be done, but he felt as though he were retreating. Lucendez didn't spend much time in space anymore and it hurt to be away for so long. Life kept getting in the way of raiding and flying and all the things that he learned to survive in Omicron Gamma.
He was the hermit elder, and it annoyed him to no end.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
Miguel Sephardi walked into the bar, times had been quite hard lately and he found himself very angry about what was happening. It seemed enemies were almost everywhere, and where there were not enemies, true Friends weren't found. It seemed more and more the only ones The Brotherhood could count on were themselves. Miguel saw Lucendez sitting alone at the bar. He seemed to be much in the dark state as Miguel found himself in. Sliding up to the bar next to Lucendez, he raised his hand to signal the bartender.
"A whiskey neat, and a Milkshake for the troubled Elder here." he said taking a seat. As the drinks arrived, Miguel slowly took a sip.
"Juan, I must say, things were so much more simple on Yaren, it was us versus the Nomad, none of this deceit and treachery. You know... You were there. There was a portal on level 2 corridor B, I used to sit there for hours when I was not flying, just looking out into space, you could see all the way to the Freeport from there. I would sit and take stock of my life, what, and who I was fighting for, sitting there, all alone, everything seemed so clear, so....simple. I'm not sure I even knew what it meant to be Corsair until then, alone, no one telling me what it meant to be Corsair, That's when it became clear, when I decided for myself, free of others ideas...that's when I knew, in my heart and soul, what it meant to be Corsair, what it was I was fighting for all these years. Solitude sometimes...gives you more clarity then you would ever find here amongst the people well love so."
Miguel took another sip from the drink.
"And thats how were are now, the whole Brotherhood, alone in space, no one to lean on but each other...but it will temper steel into our blood, our enemies will find out the mistake they've made. This will make us stronger then they could ever imagine, The Brotherhood, begins today to rise like a Phoenix, out of the confusing and division that have become what we know. In our solitude, we shall find our greatest strength. It will remind us of what it is to be Corsair, to be Brotherhood."
Miguel finished his drink and looked at Juan, a man he had respected and admired for some time, even going to Omicron Delta after the Elders appointment, to continue his work.
Custo' materialised from a shadow near Sephardi's shoulder. He looked bitter, almost resentful.
'hermano, I heard the gun-fire from the landing pad. I have called medics to pick them up. I also happened to catch the tail-end of your speech there as well. You talk about discovering what it is to be a Corsair. To be a Corsair is to fight 'till you can fight no more. To be a Corsair is to take what you need and give nothing back. To be a Corsair is to have unshakeable faith in your hermanos. You talk about the Brotherhood alone in space, but have you not brought that upon yourself? You have belittled and isolated your allies. Fractured the great Corsair empire. You have talked about solitude and si, you will find solitude, but it will not reveal your strenghts- you have found a great weakness. Our strenghhs are with a united nation. Yes you are like a Phoneix in the way your kin has been consumed in flames, but once those flames have hold, you will not rise. You will burn. I plead before it is too late, see the light.'
Custo' threw a credit chip on the bar surface for both mens drinks and walked out.
Sephardi turned back to Lucendez after the interuption, "See this is part of the problem, Juan, We put proposal after proposal to the Benitez, and one by one, they are rejected, and yet they accuse us of sowing the seeds of division, it is they who bring about the very disunity they blame on us. Elder, I ask again, what does your heart tell you."
Juan smiled at the two Corsairs, Benitez and Brotherhood. He took his milkshake and sipped it while the two men spoke to him. 'Hmmm' he thought, 'I've missed you tequila.'
Lucendez put his hand on Sephardi's shoulder. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Miguel. I feel both of us are right, to an extent. I would much rather play politics with my fellow brothers than shoot them. We must be patient with our hermanos, lest we fall into fractured anarchy, giving our enemies the chance to finally conquer us. I've said it once I think, if anyone will conquer us it will be our own fault."
"Yet, we also atrophy in our defense of both country and honor. Miguel, I remember Delta. I remember patrolling there as a Brother. I remember sending you there in my place. Times were simpler, yet the Nomad variable has not changed. I met the Zoner by the name of "Jinx" in space today. Apparently the Keepers are making a daily appearance in Omicron Delta. We swore to defend that system in conjuncture with the Zoners against enemies of humanity."
Juan turned to sip the milkshake.
"Centurion Sephardi, I am ineffectual here on Crete. I'm not going to send you to Yaren by yourself, this time I'm coming with you. I'll set up a secondary command center on Yaren and the Freeport to facilitate our defense of the system." Lucendez hopped off the barstool, gulped down the rest of his shake, and left a tip for Alonso, remembering the credit slip left by Custo'.
"I'm done being bogged down by politics here. Even though we now have the SCRA knocking on our door, I feel a secured Delta would bring in supplies more easily. Well? What do you say?"
Juan was standing now, feeling rejuvenated and ready.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
Miguel threw back his drink and stood, "Elder I stand with you to the death. It is time to lay the politics aside and fight for whats really important, I will returnt o my quarters to start makeing preperations, I guess it's a good thing I left my quarters at Yaren in good shape when I left."
"Bring me something expensive!" he called out to the barman. Sitting himself down in the darkened corner he underwent his usual ritual of dropping his holster belt onto the table. This time though, he didn't seem to be scowling.
The barman approached the table and handed him a clear bottle. "What is it?" Ben Laowai asked, "I don't know" said the barman, "I can't read the label, no one here knows what language it's in but we get it in from some traders every few months" he paused as Ben looked the bottle over. "I do know, ....it's expensive".
"Ha!" Laowai chuckled, " No matter, I'll drink it!" he unscrewed the lid, and took a deep swig from the bottle.
His face screwed up... he looked at the bottle again, "expensive eh? well, it tastes like Hessian engine cleaner, but it's strong, haha! excellent!" He tipped the bottle again, drinking down another swig and then plonked it on the table.
"You're looking particularly pleased" the barman said.. "why? whats the occasion"
Laowai unclasped his data recorder from it's pouch and activated it. When its screen had illuminated he handed it to the barman, "that's the occasion" he smiled.
The barman took the recorder and looked on it's screen, "That's a Praefect Cruiser" he said, "whats so special about it?"
"that's no ordinary Praefect cruiser" Ben said, "That, is the Xibanya Nuren, and you my good man, are looking at her captain!" He picked up the bottle again and took another deep swig, screwing his face up once more he wiped his mouth and waited for the barman's response.
"You? the captain of a Praefect?" The barman shook his head, "how on earth did you afford that, you can't even pay your bar tab!"
Ben shook his finger at him and said "true, but i'll be paying you what i owe tomorrow, the Nuren..." he took the data recorder and looked at it, looking all the part of a proud father... "she was less a case of affording and more finishing"
"what do you mean" asked the barman " i know you've had some pet project you've always been coy about.. are you saying that..."
"yes" Ben interrupted, "the Xibanya Nuren was the... pet project you speak of. But not just mine, she was also my fathers"
Putting the data pad on the table he took another mouthful of the strange alchohol. Indeed the Cruiser was older than he was. His father had bought the initial frames and superstructure before he was born. He along with several of his friends had intended to finance, and build the vessel to crew together. For years they had given of thier free time, welding, fitting, scrounging new parts.
But then, his father had been killed in the raid in Malta, and since then his friends had either been been posted to far away Corsair outposts, or been killed or died. After his father's funeral however, one of his father's friends had taken him in a shuttle out to Tripoli shipyard.
He took the young Ben Laowai to a storage hanger and inside, were the skeletal, half constructed remains of a Praefect Cruiser. "This is your's" his father's friend had told him. "Your father wanted you to finish building it"
For many years, the vessel had been in parts, in storage, until an adult Ben had slowly but steadily scraped together the money, the parts and the expertise to build it. It had taken him more than 12 years.
"She launched today" he smiled proudly, "her pre-flight checks were all fine and her trial flights went off without a hitch."
The barman looked impressed. "Well .. you just never know", he looked down at the picture of the vessel again. "still... avionics, weapons, system components.. these are all pretty expensive, and you can pay your bar tab. how can you affo..."
Ben's smile lowered somewhat and he shook his head.." I had some money owed from my idiot brother in law.. i called it in"
"aahhhh the brother in law"... the barman smiled. He knew who Laowai's brother in law was, and in fact, he had been in the bar not more than a few hours before Laowai himself had walked in. He also knew, that the brother in law was a sensitive topic, best left alone.
"so combat trials?" he asked. Laowai smiled again, "already done" he said, leaning back against the bench with an air of satisfaction, "and two wings of bounty hunter fighters will not be bothering us anymore".
He took the data recorder and stowed it back in it's pouch. "the only thing is the crew" he said, "mostly local lads from my neighborhood, none of them with the connections, or money, to get themselves a ship and so most of them are... green"....
The barman nodded and said "well, they all have to start somewhere... " pausing he then went on "Whats the ship's name about?"
Ben nodded... "hmmm, yes, my father named her. It was something he used to call my mother"
The barman cocked an eyebrow, "it's kusari right" and Ben nodded, "it's not standard Kusari, it's from my mother's dialect, Xibanya Nuren translated means "Spanish Lady"
"but your mother was Kusari?" the barman said
Ben smiled, "yes she was, though, i was told, that my father believed she had the same beauty, and the same temper, as any Corsair woman, i think it was his private joke, he would call her his Spanish lady... but in her tongue.." Ben stared ahead, seemingly at nothing, remembering his parents.. long gone....
"haha, well well" the barman said, "I would have never pegged you as a romantic"..
Laowai sat up, "pffft" he snorted, "romantic my brettonian wolf hounds balls, you know enough Corsair woman pilots who come in here to know how they fight!"
Laughing, the barman turned and went back to the bar. Ben sat back again, taking another swig of the unidentifiable liquor. With all the troubles right now, he thought to himself, she is going to need to fight.
As Eduardo Marquez entered the bar, he felt the eyes of all those inside upon him.
He's always been the quiet type... Spent most of his nights at home taking care of his madrezita and the days working at the shipyard in Tripoli and flying around in his Titan.
That was until a week ago, when he joined the Brotherhood.
Now that he was part of a group he had to change his ways... Become more sociable and start meeting people.
That's why he went to that place.
He sat down and signaled the bartender.
- Bring me something non alcoholic, please - Eduardo asked
- Non alcoholic? What are you, a priest?
- No, amigo... I'm just not used to drinking... Besides, I'm heading back to space soon... Don't want to fly around drunk.
- Alright, newbie... you're the boss...
As the bartender fetched his drink, Eduardo looked around...
Everyone had a heavy look... as if they were carrying the world's weight on their shoulders. He sighed and looked back at the bartender.
- Here ya go, newbie... This is what my gramma likes to drink. Enjoy.
- I will... Gracias.
- So, what do you make of all this mess that's going on lately?
- Well, things don't look good for our side, really. First the conflict with the Benitez, now the war with the Coalition... And it seems the Nomads are getting closer to our doorstep every day.
- What do you think the Brotherhood should do, newbie?
- Me? - Eduardo let out a smile - I'm just a newbie... What do I know?
The Corner was suitably dark, the bar, suitably quiet.
"The usual" he muttered...
The Xibanya Nuren had exceeding all expectations, her final bugs were being ironed out, her crew... well, her crew, were learning which buttons not to press. Indeed, she had survived against two blueskin battleships, even claiming one as her own.
"things go well for your Laowai" the barman said? Ben took his drink, "yes, well enough" he mumbled. The barman raised an eyebrow. One of those days, he thought, and went back to his chores.
Ben sat in silence, not sure how to think of the last few hours, and his strange conversation with Zavier Benitez.
So he decided not to think.
"bring me another Baijiu" he called out, "Not a glass, two whole bottles, i want to fly with a headache tomorrow, I'll want to talk less, and shoot more"
The barman laughed, "comin' up" he called out.
Ben Laowai took out his data recorder... switching it on he selected a number, it was the comm frequency he had last used to contact his sister, a frequency used by his brother in law's vessel - the same brother in law who irritated him to death.
For the first time in a long time, he needed to talk to his sister.
Miguel strode into the bar and took a seat at a quite table in the back. He slowly pulled a flask out of his boot. He normally wouldnt come to the bar to drink his own booze, but he was in a fowl mood today. He took a swig...It burned something feirce going down, bu t slowly the throbbing in his knee begain to diminish. He took another swing.....