Helios Eparchos had been checking the computer systems of his gunboat, the Achilles, ever since he joined the Custodi. A technician was passing nearby. He asked him, "Kalimera, are the systems up to date?" The technician, who hailed from the city of Heraklion, replied, "Nai, everything is all right. One more thing though, how is your day in the Custodi?". Helios, as clumsy as he was, almost dropped his datapad. "Sorry, I don't pay attention sometimes." as the technician laughed. A thought came to him when he saw the technician's pet. He pondered for a while, before deciding. "I think I should get my own pet cat. You know, I am not a fan of boredom." Shortly after, he sprinted in the direction of the technician, who turned his eyes on him before Helios went to him. "Listen, I have something to tell you." In a somewhat surprising manner, the technician said, "Ah, I know you want a pet cat like me. But my cat is a room away. Want to come?" Mildly shocked, Helios replied, "Of course. Why not?"
The two looked over the technician's residence, situated near the drydocks of Skiros. From there, the star's red glow was visible from the outside window. Helios and the technician sat down in the levitating chairs. Near them is a cat, six years of age, playing around with a holographic rendition of another cat. "Isn't this lovely, Helios?" said the technician. Helios stood up and went to touch the holographic cat. Somehow, his hand passed through it as if it was thin air, though he did notice a slight blurring. The technician laughed, "Clumsy one! I bet that's your reputation, Helios?" to which Helios responded, "Clearly it is. I always have that ever since I was born. Now what I need is a real cat. What's your name?"
"Archos Papadiou. You are looking for a pet cat, no? Here, you can have that kitten hiding under the bed." Archos tucks away the bed, revealing a sleeping kitten. He offers it to Helios, which he gladly accepts before he bid farewell to the technician. "Efharisto! See you later!" He went back to the Achilles alongside his new pet, setting course for Planet Crete. He took a single drink of Heraklian wine on his way, which caused him to take a short nap, only to be awoken by the touch of his pet. "I shall name you Methu, after the popular Heraklian wine brand."
The Achiles arrived near the landing pads at one of the high-rise buildings in the city of Heraklion an hour after midnight. Carrying Methu with his hands, he began to walk the nearly-transparent floor on his way home. Suddenly, his datapad beeped just as he entered his room. When he checked what was happening, the datapad showed something worth concerning. The news read: "Core Ships Spotted in the North Aegean Nebula." Immediately, he opened the page and began to skim the information. "Well, that was not unexpected. The Core has been more aggressive over the past months. But as usual, the spirit of the Custodi will never wane against its enemies!" After reading all the essential information, he felt he needed to sleep. He silently uttered, "Here, kitty, come with me." Methu made a soft purr before sleeping together with Helios.
The next day, he was feeling somewhat groggy from his wine ten hours earlier. He could only barely open his eyes, looking at the warmth of the red dwarf's light shining through the window. He did not notice that the cat had moved away from him and had slept nearby in the corner of his room. Confused, it took him two minutes to find his cat. "Let's go. Have some breakfast." Several minutes later, he had finished his breakfast of Kyushu rice, Cretan cheese and a glass of milk. He only had a little amount of time to check the news only to find nothing related to the headlines he had read yesterday. Angry, he drove his personal speeder to where the Icarus was docked.
The Icarus made its way to the Omicron Xi system towards Battleship Delos. Nearby was a fleet of Core ships. "This is a serious thing. Crew, man up the primary batteries! For Heraklion!" He met up with the other Corsairs as plasma rained down on both sides. However, the Icarus was focused first by the Core and suffered critical damage to its engines. A series of cascading explosions began which rendered the Icarus a pile of hot scrap. Everything faded to black as one of the supporting columns fell right on his head.
Fortunately for him, it was only a dream. He woke up to find Methu sleeping on his side. Now feeling sober, he looked at his own photograph in the datapad, taken a day ago, "Is everything okay?", he said.