The Cayman System. A wonderful place that we used to call home. A place that we have been told to defend, and a place that he had fallen in love with. A place in space where he could forget about anything else that was happening. And this very place was going to be taken away from him, without him even understanding what was going to happen..
"What in the world is happening?!" He asked, stunned by all the red lights blinking up on board of the Argonauta. He just woke up, and was merely wearing Jeans and a Shirt. Both Socks and Shoes were missing, and it was easily seen that he was still tired. The man walked up to one of his subordinates, desperate to hear an answer. "They.. have found us out, we have to evacuate"The subordinate replied shortly after, and proceeded to take a deep breath in afterwards. "Gonzalez, you have to run, we will have to depart from the Cayman System shortly"He was told, still barely able to realize what was going on in that very moment. He looked around the bridge of the Argonauta, glancing at every single one of people that were working. He turned back, and as he turned back he shouted "Ready the Estancimento for me, Amigos. Walker and Cordoba will make sure the Argonauta get's away safely."He was still not entierly sure what was happening, but it would later turn out to be a misscalculation by the Apostatas. They have played with fire, and they got burnt.
Gonzalez walked back into his cabin, calmly, and thought about what would be happening from this point onward. "They are more than capable of taking care of the Argonauta, and after all I am just a mere subordinate of them"He thought as he walked back. "Our time here was short, but I liked Cayman. Maybe we can come back one day, it's like a magical system."This was the last thought that he had before he entered his Cabin. He took the things he needed the most, and left the Argonauta. The Apostatas were ordered to control the Cayman System by the Council of the Elderty, so the Estancimento was parked in a different bay of the Antikythera Shipyard.
As he arrived at his personal fighter, it got very clear that this was a very serious Situation. They were all evacuating, taking only the most important things with them. He looked around for a second, and it was almost as if he know that this was going to be happening. The order was clear.
'Set Course for Sigma-17, we will regroup there.'
Lucas departed in the Estancimento, his beloved Titan-Class Fighter. This was surely going to be one of the last ships that the Apostatas would get from the Corsairs, and with that thought in his head he tried to avoid conflicts at all cost. He stood behind and departed as one of the last, because despite him being a Teniente, he thought that it is his duty to stay behind. As soon as the Argonauta departed, he decided that it was time to leave aswell.
'From now on, we are seen as traitors by the Council. Avoid contact with any Corsair Vessel that does not belong to the Apostatas'
He shivered as he heard this sentence in the fighter. "Traitors? Us?! They have lost their minds"He punched his seat in anger. This was devastating for the Apostatas, how would they recover from this ?
On a patrol in the Sigma-17 System, Lucas experienced various problems onboard of the Estancimento. The engines were malfunctioning, as well as the communication systems. Basically, he was drifting within foreign Space, being unable to either steer or talk to his allies. Luckily, he ended up near a Hogosha Base within the Sigma-17 system, and they took care of him for 2 months. It was a rough time for him, as he had to work hard for anything that he needed. Naturally, this was not something that he wanted to do for the rest of his live, and he also thought that he should regroup with the Apostatas. The Hogosha took some time to repair his ship with him, but eventually it worked out. After 2 months of being MIA, he was finally able to go back to his Comrades. He would later realize that many things have changed ever since then.
Apparently, the Apostatas now reside within another System, as Sigma-17 had proven to be problematic. The Gas Miner Guild was not happy about the installation that the Apostatas had built there without registration, and so they had to move once more. He had seen that coming, as he has already had a talk with them before he went MIA. It was hard to track them down, but eventually he found his former Comrades.
"Corsair Ship, Identify yourself"he was asked when he got close to the new HQ of the Apostatas. "This is Teniente Lucas Gonzalez, requesting permission to dock," "That is impossible, Gonzalez is MIA for 2 Months already, after he was sent to patrol in Sigma-17." "I stand here, before you. Let me dock and get someone to tell you if it is me or not." He was granted Permission to dock, and someone would come and check upon the man.
Last words are for fools who have not yet said enough.
The familiar sound of the ship board VI announcing the arrival of a docked ship. But this time, nothing was ever so familiar.
"Bio Scan commencing...........Bio-Scan completed, no trace of harmful substances"
The Ensign standing beside me breathes a sigh of relief "The ID checked out sir, it's him"
said the Ensign as he tried to control his surprise.
He called for security regardless."We can never be too sure. This could be another surprise from the Guild or even our enemies, The Brotherhood. Never leave your guard down Ensign!"
he scoffed. "Ready your weapons , open fire on my command."
The airlock slowly opens to reveal the missing Teniente, Lucas Gonzalez.
The soldiers take aim only to see the long lost pilot walk through the doors.
"Stand down my amigos, it seems today does indeed hold a few surprises of it's own, escort the Teniente to a briefing room, two months is a long time and I need the to know every second of it!"
The General, Lanzo Walker turns away and walks towards the hanger doors as the Apostatas soldiers escort Lucas Gonzalez close behind. Unknown to the others around the General, he was only too glad to see another patriot return, hopeful he wasn't a deserter or worse, a traitor.
Lucas Gonzalez takes a seat, however the General remains standing. The silence is broken by the sound of falling ashes from the cigar on this mouth.
As he turns to the Teniente, trying his best to hide the frustration over a prior event, he begins with a simple question.
"Pilot, it has been two months since our Exodus from the cayman star system, Where the Hell have you been?! Do not spare any detail, you will give me all the information I ask for." The General now awaited an answer from the returned pilot, may he be a deserter, a traitor or a survivor.
Lucas sat down, looking at the General for a while. It has been two months since they had last talked, and a lot has happened since then. But now here he was, not even 5 meters away from him, being asked to give all information that he had gathered, which made it sound as if the General was suspicious of him. The General was smoking a cigar, as usual, he had been doing that since the two have met. Lucas was not a fan of cigarres, cigarrets and the likes, but in his time with Lanzo he got used to it.
Still smoking, aren't we? He looked up to the General, who was still standing, and grinned. He was happy that he was finally home, and tried to make the situation that the two of them found themselves in less tense. Lanzo was a tall man, and one would think that he has a pretty dominant presence when he stands like that, a dead serious look, a cigarre, looking at you. And that was usually the case, but not this time. The relief that came from Lucas finally getting back was so great that he did not care at all about how the General looked at him.
Well, I am not sure if I got what you are looking for. The Estancimento was damaged during our Exodus apparently, and on the last patrol that I was sent to I experienced severe malfunctions, Amigo. Don't blame me on this one, blame the engineers! Anyways, I had been found by some Hogosha Pilots within the Sigma-17 System and told them what happened, so I was brought back to one of their bases. As you can imagine, they are not too experienced with Hispanic Tech, so it was rather difficult for them and for me to fix the ship. While I was on the base, I had to work to pay for my expenses. Not an experience I'd want to make again, but I suppose it definetly helped to see things with different eyes. He grinned at the General. After a few seconds, he stood up and walked up to the General, which resulted in him poking the General. He walked towards a wall, and leaned on it, seemingly exhausted from the flight to the new Apostatas Base.
Say, General, what has happened within Apostatas ever since I got lost? Where are our supportive Cretans, and what happened to everyone else? I know that they are not all on this base, that would just be insane. He asked, still leaning at the wall, looking at the General, with crossed arms. Thoughts and worries about their supporters came up in his mind, how would they be treated if the Apostatas themselves alredy got banned from the Empire?
Last words are for fools who have not yet said enough.