Improvise, adapt, overcome.

[Torment]

Improvise, adapt, overcome.

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When the Torment and her crew had formally joined the Order many on both sides had their reservations; the actual integration into the clandestine organization had proven to be even more difficult than anticipated. The reputation of the Insurgency didn’t help; the Order consisted of many walks of life and while that did result in most being openminded, some former members of the Liberty Navy or LSF were visibly on edge whenever someone of the crew entered the same room.

Similarly, the crew of the Torment had similar reservations, particularly with previously mentioned former Liberty personnel. The officers within the Order, for their part, tried to set a good example and made the crew go through thorough training session and courses to improve things but it wasn’t until captain Perez was finally convinced to split the crew over different assignments that they slowly started to feel more accepted.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, integrating a large group like the crew of a battleship was no easy matter, add that most of the new crew barely had a year of military experience and you had yourself quite the proverbial powderkeg. Still, with large portions of the crew being assigned to different locations and ships, the Torment eventually found itself understaffed once more. To compensate for this Order personnel was allocated to assist the remaining crew to the best of their ability, but in a bit of a sore note they did not report to Lucian Perez.
Captain Perez saw little choice but to play along for now but instructed what crew remained to keep a close eye on the Order crew. If anything, he took solace in the occasional messages he received from those who were assigned to other stations. Most had been assigned to civilian roles on Akabat, while others supported the Orders logistical department, all in all they’d be better off there far from potential violence.

About a month or two later and the crew was starting to get antsy. Constant training drills and information sessions without any real action was starting to cause the remnants of the original crew to feel underestimated and undervalued. However, just as morale was starting to noticeably dip, new orders came in: After all the training the Orders High Command was sufficiently satisfied with the current state of the Torment and her crew. The combined crew, while still far from an oiled machine, had developed some degree of cooperation and it was finally time for captain Perez to prove what the Torment could do.

Their assignment was to head into Omicron Zeta and provide support to Cairo Station, long range scanners had picked up a group of Nomads on their way to the northern part of the Pohnpei Asteroid Field and while intelligence was convinced they didn’t know the location of Cairo, they were quite eager to keep it that way. Cairo Station would deploy a fighter wing to provide additional support should it come to an engagement. Lucian Perez, eager to prove the worth of his command and the Torment, gave the command to set a course and depart for Cairo Station.

The moment the Torment entered the system it immediately picked up multiple contacts on scanner; a quick glance indicated the Nomads had already got too close to Cairo and the fighter wing had engaged them to lure them away from the station. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one’s point of view, they had brought them to the Jump Hole in the process. Not one to waste time, the order was given to open fire on the Nomad targets immediately. The Torments heavy mortars whirled into action and launched a devastating volley, ripping one of the surprised Nomads to shreds. The remaining Nomads turned away from the fighter wing, instead focusing their firepower almost exclusively on the Torment.
In the end, the Order had been victorious. The Torment was damaged, but nothing compared to what it had been through on its long journey from Vespucci, and the location of Cairo Station was still the well kept secret that it always had been.

Over the next few months the Torment was dispatched on several more missions, generally acting as heavy support or as a mobile base for its fighter and bomber wing to go out on assignments. The entire crew now reported to Lucian, who in turn reported to the Orders High Command. Lucian often found himself thinking back to the fallen in the Vespucci system as he looked out over Akabat from his Captains quarters but such moments were always fleeting. It all felt so long ago, a distant past he refused to forget about in honor of those who didn’t make it out. With a small smile he raised a glass to Akabat and thought: Now what was it those Crayterians always said? Ah right... "For those we left behind."

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