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Corsair Benitez Family
- This is a player faction. For the affiliated NPC faction, see Corsairs
| Benitez Family | |
 | |
| Origin |  Corsairs
|
| Affiliation | Corsairs |
| Alignment | Unlawful |
| Profile | |
| Date of founding | unknown |
| Founder(s) | unknown |
| Current leader(s) | Carlos Benitez |
| Base of operations | Planet Crete, Omicron Gamma |
| Primary role | |
| Defence of territory and the Corsair people. | |
| Secondary role | |
| Advancement of the Corsair Empire and promotion of prosperity for it's people. | |
The Benitez are a Corsair faction that plays a significant role in the politics, defence and management of the Corsair nation.
An adoptive crime-family, the Benitez are ruled by a "Don" normally descended from the original Benitez bloodline.
Often concerned with special operations, smuggling, espionage and diplomacy, the Benitez have a smaller but no less significant role in the defence of Corsair territory and front-line warfare.
The History of the Familia
The Hispania
The Story of the Benitez began on the Sleeper ship, the Hispania. Sabotaged by one of the passengers, 4 out of the ship's 6 engines where almost completely destroyed.
Automatically, the Sleeper Ship's inhabitants where woken from their stasis. Panic took over. Arguments arose, and suspicion between the passengers was rife. The identity of the saboteur remained a mystery. Managing to obtain order, our ancestor, Santigo Miguel Alvarez (the first) managed to obtain order persuaded the rest of the passengers that it would be best to return to stasis and wait for the Ship to find its way to some kind of suitable planet.
A shudder, and the passengers awoke. The ship had detected planets. Looking out of the windows, 3 where visible. One, an ice moon, the other lacking any real atmosphere was instantly rejected by the ship's computer due to high radiation levels. One remained, a desolate world of Mountain peaks and fields of ash. The ship did it's scans. The people waited. Then the report came;
"Atmosphere can support life." The passengers breathed a sigh of relief as the computer continued it's report. "Planet lacks enough arable land to support a population this size. Hazards include dust storms and volcanic activity."......they waited. "Planet deemed unsuitable for colonisation." Mayhem broke out once again. Should they land and try to begin a settlement there, or should they move on? Some argued that they may not come across another inhabitable planet, others argued that they would starve if they landed on the one they had found. Unable to calm the passengers, Santigo-Miguel Alvarez engaged the engines of the Hispania. The engines shuddered, and the computer cut in, stopping the ship. "Warning, fuel level critical. Current fuel reserves will only be enough to provide 1 short burn". The news caused many arguing passengers to change their views on landing. No consensus was reached, and eventually around half of the group made for the escape pods. The rest remained on the ship. Many of the Alvarez family chose to leave. Santigo-Miguel stayed with his vessel. The pods fell towards the planet, through its atmosphere, crash-landing on an ash field on the planet's southern hemisphere. Those who remained on the ship decided that they would burn the remaining fuel, and use the momentum to drift to another system. In the dark sky of the planet, a bright light sped through the heavens, before fading, and going out, as a faint outline of a huge object drifted out of sight.
Planet Crete
Over the next fifty years, the settlers battled with famine, and over half died out. Their children continued to farm the little arable land on the planet they had named "Crete" but marooned on such a desolate and bleak planet, the suffering continued for many generations. The settlers became resentful and jealous of those who had remained on the ship. They began to believe that perhaps even death in empty space would be preferable to the purgatory of Planet Crete. This attitude caused many changes within the settlers. As the family of the "drifters" leader Santigo-Miguel Alvarez, the Alvarez "settlers" where persecuted, even accused of being the ones who sabotaged the Hispania in the first place. The Alvarez settlers changed their name, and became the honourable family Benitez.
Lacking the resources to build ships, the settlers became resigned to the fact they might be stranded on the hell of Crete forever, but eventually, after 400 years, something came that changed their fate forever.
Franz Schulman
Financed by the Rheinland Government and Daumann, the explorer Franz Schulman was dispatched to the great unexplored expanse of the Walker Nebula. His exploration ship eventually stumbled across a bleak planet of ash and mountains. To his surprise, his scanner picked up life.
His landing party was met by a group of apparently savage humans. All of them where killed, except for Schulman himself. The settlers had, sensing an opportunity to break out of their ashen prison, attacked the party and taken Schulman hostage.
Bargaining took place over Schulman's communicator, and a the settlers negotiated their way on board the exploration vessel. Using hidden weapons, they took the remainder of the exploration team by surprise, and took over the ship. They left no survivors, and after Schulman was tortured and revealed the details of how to fly the ship, he was also killed. The Benitez were among the team that hijacked Schulman's ship, and among the first Corsairs to step back out into space.
The settlers used the ship to explore the surrounding systems, and to bring back supplies to the people trapped on Crete. Eventually, enough metal was obtained to build more ships, in a similar style, and they began to mine fields of resources in the system, bringing back their loot and taking it to Crete.
Eventually, they stumbled across a mysterious jump hole in their system. The ship was attacked by strange creatures, but the settlers managed to fight them off. They obtained strange objects...alien objects.
It was around this time they discovered a space station in a neighbouring system, belonging to a group of traders calling themselves "Zoners". The relationship between the Zoners and Settlers of Crete thrived, and trade lead to living conditions on Crete improving dramatically.
The Zoners had food to trade, and soon the Settlers had enough food to sustain a larger population.
The Outcasts and Corsairs
The settler ships explored further, and eventually came across another group of humans...speaking in Spanish accents. The settlers destroyed the ships they found, resentful of the drifters for leaving them to suffer for 400 years. The drifters had a new name now though, they called themselves "The Outcasts".
The Settler's expanded further, eventually constructing a space station of their own, Tripoli. Exploration teams came back with more alien artefacts, and it became a right of passage for young pilots to venture towards the mysterious alien jump hole and bring back Artefacts.
The Settlers then stumbled across something else...a huge civilisation, with hundreds of ships, settled planetary paradises (in comparison to Crete) and lanes linking all their many outposts. Their noisy comm chat revealed they were the people of the sleeper ship Bretonia.
The settlers began hostile actions against these Bretonians, raiding their ships and taking their cargo for the benefit of the people of Crete and Tripoli. 50 years after Schulman's hijack, the settlers had earned a new identity; the Corsairs.
The Empire
Inspired by the wonders they had seen, the Corsairs became determined to live like the Bretonians, and the Rheinlanders that where discovered soon after. Not just like them, they wanted more.
The Corsairs ploughed their resources into ship research and manufacture, as well as constructing more stations across the desolate Omega systems. Their ships became the scourge of all traders in Bretonia and Rheinland alike, and soon Hunters from Liberty found their way into Corsair space, after pirate blood. They were no match for Corsair technology, and never provided more than a minor nuisance to the growing Corsair civilisation. An Empire of Crime began to form.
As the Benitez developed into one of the most significant crime families within the Corsair Empire, a democratic leadership was formed. Separate from the Senate of representatives that ruled Crete, the Benitez set up their own assembly to co-ordinate the efforts of the family of crime, ruled democratically by representatives of the highest level of respect within the familia, and presided over by the respected leader of the familia; a patriarchal Commandante sworn to serve the welfare and interests of his familia above all else. Thus, the Benitez Council of Elders was formed.
The Creatures of the jump hole infiltrated the house systems, but it mattered not to the Corsairs. The Houses nearly destroyed each other, but the Corsairs didn't care, after all, did they ever go to find the lost people of Hispania? Did they send out search parties to rescue the people of Crete from the suffering and torment? No. After 100 years living by the Alien jump hole, the Corsairs knew how to deal with the creatures. They would simply wait for the Houses to be destroyed, then move in and create a Corsair Empire. It was not to be.
The Order
A group of men and women from Liberty arrived on Crete with a proposition for the Corsairs. They where a secret group formed to fight the alien infiltrators. They offered Liberty Battleship technology. The Corsairs had never built anything bigger than a gunboat before then. In exchange, the group who called themselves The Order wanted the Corsairs to design a Battleship with the finesse and skill only Corsair ship builders had, and use it to hold back the nomad infiltration of Sirius.
After many months of work at Tripoli, Osiris class battleships rolled out of the space docks of Tripoli. The Order, satisfied with the effort, returned through the nomad jump hole and were not heard from again for some time. Meanwhile, Corsair engineers, thanks to the technology given by the Order, designed new classes of ships inspired by Corsair art and engineering.
News came from the colonies a year later that the aliens had been driven out. The Corsairs didn't care, they where content to continue their piracy and perhaps one day move against the Outcasts traitors, Liberty and Bretonian deserters and Rheinland scum, and build the Corsair empire across the stars.
An envoy from the Order returned years later, this time with a proposal for an alliance. The Council of Elders agreed, and pledged the power of new Corsair fleets to assist the Order in holding back the Nomad scourge and preventing further incursion.
Years on, the Benitez continue to be a significant part of the nation, with seats on the Council of Elders, and administrative powers over the Corsair territory and bases in the newly developed Omicron-94 system.
Timeline
Records before 640 A.S. have been lost or are unreliable.
Late 7th century
| Year (A.S.) | Event |
|---|---|
| 642 | Esteban born. |
| 668 | Esteban becomes Don. |
| 690 | Olympian SHF prototype developed. Talos A comissioned. |
| 695 | Corporate Wars end. |
| 698 | Quixote born. |
8th Century
| Year (A.S.) | Event |
|---|---|
| 701 | Artefact smugglers plunder the Graveyard of Innocents. The Artefact War begins. |
| 702 | Talos A destroyed. Talos B commissioned. |
| 722 | Don Esteban retires. Quixote becomes Don. |
| 730 | Santigo born. |
| 739 | M26 Gunboat developed. Talos B is decomissioned, Talos C (an M26) is produced. |
| 740 | Hessian-Corsair war begins. |
| 756 | Omicron-94 discovered. |
| 758 | Benitez granted control of Omicron-94. |
| 758 | Don Quixote goes missing while exploring the edges of Omicron-94. Santigo becomes Don. |
| 770 | Carlos born. |
| 779 | Don Santigo dies. Rivas becomes Don. |
| 794 | Carlos departs Crete for the first time, with Enrico Benitez. |
| 795 | Alandra and Helena are born. Carlos is betrayed, arrested and incarcerated in BPA Newgate. |
| 796 | The Order give blueprints of a basic version of the Osiris to the Corsairs. The Order-Corsair alliance is formed. |
| 797 | Talos D (Osiris Class) flies maiden voyage. The old Talos gunboat is renamed "The Tartarus". |
9th Century
| Year (A.S.) | Event |
|---|---|
| 800 | Carlos escapes Newgate. Rivas is deposed and killed. Carlos becomes Don. |
| 801 | Praefect and Legate developed. |
| 802 | Carlos meets his daughters Alandra and Helena. They move to Crete. |
| 805 | Supernova cannon given to the Corsairs by the Order. Corsairs begin work on the Praetorian Bomber. |
| 806 | Praetorian developed. |
| 817 | Many new ships developed thanks to acquisition of new technology. |
| 818 | Carlos retires. Jose becomes Commandante, Carlos remains Don. |
Benitez Diplomacy
Family Structure
The Benitez family is an adoptive crime family made up of both descendants of the original Benitez bloodline, and agents of the organisation who after initiation are considered members of the family. Use of the term "Benitez family" is therefore ambiguous, and can refer to either the core Benitez bloodline, the Benitez organisation or the extended Benitez family which includes the relatives of adopted employees. Adopted members of the Benitez familia organisation receive the surname "Benitez" in addition to their existing titles and designations after initiation.
Therefore, after adoption and initiation, "John Doe" would become "John Doe Benitez" typically using "John Benitez" as a call-sign.
The Benitez familia organisation has a number of ranks used primarily for distribution of tasks and duties. The current Council favours a style of leadership by mutual understanding and agreement. For this reason, the Benitez familia organisation should not be considered subject to military style command, orders or discipline.
Recruit
Recruits are the lowest rank within the familia organisation. Upon enrolment, recruits are dispatched on smuggler transports to Liberty, where they gain an intimate understanding of the Artifact distribution network in place there. After orientation on a Liberty planet, they are given scrapyard ships and instructed to demonstrate their skill by travelling safely to Trafalgar Base where they are given Legionnaires. Recruits are introduced to contacts on Trafalgar offering work, and spend a number of days proving themselves on the Bretonian front-line. After completion of this task, recruits return triumphantly to Crete where they are awarded full Benitez Soldati status.
Soldati
Soldati make up the bulk of the Benitez force, all having proven themselves fierce and cunning warriors during their time as recruits. Soldati have the fewest duties within the familia, and focus on patrols, piracy, defence, and participation in larger operations organised by "superiors". Each soldato is expected to have a properly equipped Titan or Gladiator fighter vessel paid for by Benitez funds, and may in addition possess a Praetorian bomber if desired, or under recommendation from the Benitez leadership. Gunboats are rarely captained by Soldati except in special cases, though the Gunboat Aegis, based out of Myrtos Villa is available for Soldati to command in emergencies.
Capitan
A sub-rank above Soldati, Capitans are individuals who have shown particular prowess in military operations and have been requested to command Benitez gunboat-class warships on behalf of the organisation. Capitans should be particularly concerned with defence of territory, and guidance of recruits and newer soldati if no other figure of authority is present. Capitans are expected to take the helm of familia gunboats, and are allocated funds to allow this. Unlike many other ranks, the role of Capitan is exclusively militarily centred, rather than political, and is assigned only to war heros who have shown significant skill and cunning in battle.
Benitez Elder
Benitez Elders sit on the Benitez Leadership Council, but should not be confused with High Elders of the Corsair Council. Normally individuals who have devoted much of their lives to service to the familia, and are given this position of high honour to act as advisers to the Don. The current leadership favours a democratic system of leadership, and the popular vote of the Benitez Elders normally decides all major issues of Benitez policy. For this reason, Benitez Elders have a significant role in the leadership of the familia organisation, contributing to decisions ranging from policies to the approval of applications.
Praetor
One of the positions of highest honour within the familia, the Praetor is responsible for overseeing maintenance of the fleet, training of pilots, and co-ordination of military operations. The Praetor has a seat on the Benitez Leadership Council, and is often considered to be the Don's right hand. Though often considered "second in command", the Praetor is of equal status to the Consul, and has a militarily-focused role, rather than a political one. In the past, the role of Praetor has been granted to the most skilled and cunning war-heroes within the familia.
Consul
A position of high honour in the familia, the role of Consul holds equally high esteem to that of Praetor. The Consul acts as primary advisor to the Don, and his deputy in affairs of politics and diplomacy. He is responsible for representing the familia in diplomatic talks with other factions and organisations, and traditionally also occupies a seat on the Corsair Council of High Elders. The Consul is also responsible for moderating discussion within the Council of Benitez Leadership, with powers to reprimand even the Don in matters of inappropriately heated disagreement. The Consul holds equal status with the Praetor, but has a role centred around politics and diplomacy rather than the art of war. In the past, the role of Consul has been granted to the most skilled public speakers and diplomats.
Don/Commandante
Historically a combined role, the Don/Commandante was responsible for chairing the Benitez Leadership Council, representing the familia's interests in negotiations and politics, and running the organisation. As of 819 A.S. these roles were divided, with these offices held by separate individuals.
The Commandante is responsible for overseeing all activities, decisions and operations the Benitez are involved in. Traditionally holding a seat on the Council of Corsair High Elders, the Commandante also chairs the Benitez Leadership Council and ultimately has the power to overrule any clan decision. This power has not been exercised in living memory. The Commandante is the operational leader of the organisation.
The Don is the ceremonial leader of the familia, with permanent residence at Benitez HQ at Myrtos Villa on Crete, and responsibility for representing the familia at official ceremonies and the signing of treaties. This position has traditionally been occupied by members of the core Benitez bloodline, but this is not essential, and the position has been held by non-bloodline members in the past. The current leader of the familia; Don Carlos Benitez, assumed the position in 800 A.S, but retired as Commandante in 818 A.S. retaining the ceremonial role of Don. The current Commandante, Jose Benitez was elected to succeed Carlos, and remains the incumbent Commandante of the familia.
Core Bloodline
The Core Benitez Bloodline descends from the original Alvarez settlers that abandoned the Hispania to settle on Crete. Eventually declining along with it's significance in the organisation, only a small fraction of Benitez forces are descended from the bloodline. Originally an essential trait of the organisation's patriarch, genealogy is now no longer considered important with respect to assignment of important leadership roles.
Fleet
The Benitez fleet is comprised of a wide range of ships provided for and maintained by the familia's considerable financial assets. Young Benitez utilise Legionnaire class Light Fighters for patrols and front-line work in Bretonia.
Titan Class Very Heavy Fighters are used by almost all Benitez for day-to-day activities, and monopolise Benitez flight hours. A small number of Benitez agents have traded in their Titans for Gladiator Heavy Fighters which serve a similar purpose. Operations involving stealth or interception occasionally require deployment of one of the familia's handful of state-of-the-art Decurion class Light Fighters.
Most Benitez agents have access to Praetorian Class Bomber support vessels, which are ideally suited to combat against large targets such as gunboats, cruisers and battleships. Praetorians are also ideal for piracy and marauding operations, with their torpedoes making quick work of the hulls of trade vessels, and provision for mounting a Cruise Disruptor preventing escape.
The Benitez fleet also includes a number of heavily armed M42 "Imperator Class" Corsair Gunboats which are captained by Benitez agents and crewed by highly skilled non-member employees. Benitez Gunboats are each named after elements of the history or mythology of the Corsair people.
Talos
The Benitez fleet is lead by the mighty Battleship Talos. Latest in a long line of vessels to bear the name, the Talos was one of the first Corsair-built Osiris Class Battleships to launch from Tripoli. Built with the purpose to defend Crete against all invaders, and named after a mythical metal giant that defended the Planet's namesake from enemy ships, the Talos remains stationed in Crete's orbit ready to fend off attackers.
Equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and ultra-long-range sensor technology, the Talos is crewed by highly trained Benitez employees, and in times of conflict, captained by one of the Benitez Elders, most commonly the Don or Praetor.
Normally positioned above Crete's planetary docking ring, the Talos keeps a watchful eye on incoming vessels while remaining largely invisible through use of an experimental Adaptive Camouflage Generator.
Penelope
In 817 A.S the Benitez fleet's capabilities would be significantly enhanced with the addition of a research ship. It was Capitana Valeria Benitez who recognised the need for such a vessel and who petitioned the Benitez Elders that they should sanction the craft.
Eventually the Benitez Elders saw the benefits of such a vessel and Valeria was tasked with arranging for the ship to be built and commissioned. The entire familia was involved in obtaining a number of the specialist components that were required for it’s construction, and upon completion Valeria was placed in command.
Whilst the vessel is usually to be found under the command of Valeria there are occasions when duty requires her to be elsewhere at which point it is not uncommon for another Benitez to take temporary command.
To ensure adequate defence against both the natural and unnatural threats of the edge worlds, the hull of a Praefect cruiser was chosen as the base from which the research ship would be built. Its cargo bays were turned into research laboratories.
Although the cruiser has a strong hull and powerful shielding it still retains a high degree of manoeuvrability. The Penelope is able to position itself wherever it might be required with relative ease and escape dangerous situations should the need arise.
In more recent times it is more often stationed in Omicron-94 where it is usually found carrying out research into the nebulae that can be found in that system but sometimes operates elsewhere within Corsair zone of influence.
Elegancia
In early 819 A.S, by request of Don Carlos himself, a strike-force led by Elder Ronaldo Benitez ambushed and captured the luxury yacht "Orinoco" belonging to a subsidiary company of Orbital Spa and Cruise. This vessel was repaired, and rechristened the "Elegancia".
The Don's purpose for the vessel was to have it converted to become a stealthy strategic platform, and vehicle for comfortable travel to summits and treaty-signings with allied factions. Now equipped with state-of-the-art engines and a unique missile defence system, the Elegancia is capable of outrunning most heavy combat craft, and is able to escape from most assailants with relative ease. Heavily armoured yet highly manoeuvrable, the Elegancia has been adapted perfectly to provide the security the familia requires for it's patriarch. On most operations, the Elegancia is equipped with a large compliment of highly trained Corsair marines tasked with the Don's protection.
Territory
Like most Corsairs, the Benitez consider the entirety of the Corsair Empire as theirs to patrol and profit from. This includes contested regions such as Omicron Eta and Omega 5, Sigma and Omega space, and sections of Rheinland and Bretonia.
In addition to this, the Benitez currently hold administrative rights over the territory of Omicron-94 on behalf of the Council of Elders, with the Don also holding responsibility is prime overseer of the region. The territory was put under oversight and control of the Benitez familia by the Corsair Council of Elders in an agreement struck in 798 A.S. and renewed in 817 A.S. following the re-stabilisation of the jump hole. The Agreement of 817 A.S. granted the Benitez familia administrative control of the region for the foreseeable future.
The Benitez family continue to be based out of Myrtos Villa, a large complex of luxury apartments and hangars situated around Benitez HQ and the Don's mansion, on the outskirts of Europa; Crete's main settlement.
Recruitment
Unlike many other factions, the Benitez do not actively recruit, and do not accept applications through the Applications Dept. (66) of the Neural net.
To join the Benitez familia, an application must be made through the Benitez Private Comm Network relayed through Planet Crete. Applicants do not have to be of hispanic origin, but must be Corsairs at heart and have sufficient credentials to be deemed trustworthy by the Benitez leadership.
Once the application has been processed and accepted by a Benitez Elder, new Benitez are dispatched to Liberty (normally to New York or Pennsylvania) to gain knowledge of the Artefact distribution network, before they are provided scrapyard ships and sent to Trafalgar Base. At Trafalgar in New London they are provided M3 class Legionnaire Light Fighters and intoduced to contacts on the base who provide missions.
New Benitez are tasked with completing enough missions out of Trafalgar and Islay Base on behalf of the Gaians, Corsair operatives and Junkers to prove themselves both capable and worthy of additional status in the familia. After completion of their work proving themselves on the front-line in Bretonia, recruits are requested to head to Planet Crete at which point they are awarded with full Benitez satus, Soldato Medallions and fully equipped Gladiator or Titan class vessels funded by the familia.
