The great Castillo family is famous throughout Sirius both for their longevity (they arrived on the first ship) and, at this point, their connections. There is virtually no faction in Sirius that does not include at least one member of the sprawling familly. Rumor has it that even a nomad faction includes Juan "Mad Dog" Juarez, a distant cousin of the Tauros branch.
There are more famous Castillos than can be counted, but outstanding notables in the family's history are Fleet Admiral Georges Tauros of the Liberty Navy, who, again rumored, was responsible for beginning the Zone 23 research program. Master Pirate Terique Castillo of the Outcasts, who amassed a 30 billion credit fortune in just 15 years of piracy. Pilot Tomas Vasquez, who took down two nomad battleships in a light fighter, then spent over two months in his escape pod after the rest of his squadron had been destroyed. Carlos Mendina, a Senior Counsel to the Corsairs for more than 40 years, who negotiated the Order alliance. And on and on and on. Admiral Kishiro Mendez of the Kusari Navy was the man mainly responsible for successfully wargaming and executing the invasion and occupation of half of Leeds in the ongoing Kusari-Bretonia war. Ironically, Admiral Michael Winston, a cousin of Admiral Mendez, was the Bretonian admiral who turned back the Kusari invasion at the halfway point.
And each of those mentioned were graduates of the Castillo Academy of Spaceflight and Piracy.
Virtually every Castillo family that can afford it sends their 13-year-old children to Cassini, where, for four years, they become students at the Castillo Academy of Spaceflight and Piracy. Under Headmaster Ramon "Uncle Ray" Castillo, a retired Rheinland Navy Captain and, later, a Master Pirate of the Liberty Rogues, the students learn the intricacies of spaceflight, combat, and the protocols of piracy. Located in the Destroyer Quietly Confident, the Academy is run along military lines, and hence the students are known as Cadets.
Most graduates of the Academy go directly out into the fleets of various factions, where they become entry-level pilots or administrators. But the top three graduates of each class are granted the honor of the callsign Castillo Cadet and have a unique graduation exercise.
These three graduates are loaned 6 million credits and allowed to choose a vhf to go code hunting. The most popular ship for the cadets is the Raven's Talon, although some prefer Eagles or Stingers. They are outfitted with the VHF, enhanced thruster, a Discover scanner, class 10 Champion shields, a Freelancer ID, and two Vassago class 7 guns. All other equipment MUST BE LOOTED from wrecks. Armor, missiles, turret guns, cruise disruptors and higher class guns must all come from looted wrecks. Any cadet caught violated the Looting rule is dismissed in disgrace. The story goes that Juan "Mad Dog" Juarez was caught buying weapons, was dismissed, and in anger, joined the Keepers.
This often results in the Cadets mounting guns that are not always in keeping with their Freelancer ID. But, as long as the guns all come from looted wrecks, that is allowed by Academy policy. The Cadets are warned that possible sanctions (including spending time in an escape pod) can result from mounting "illegal" guns if caught by the appropriate faction, and then it is left to their discretion.
The Cadets are then told the location of the Cerberus code weapon. After that, they are on their own. Each graduate must successfully retrieve 20 of the 30 code weapons in Sirius. They may sell the code weapons at their discretion, repaying the 6 million credit loan usually with the first sale. Or, they may sell the guns back to the Academy at their face value. Quite often, proceeds from the code weapon sales are returned to the Cadets' families to repay the high cost of education at the Academy. (Although the Academy is generous with scholarships, the regular tuition runs amost 3 million credits per year.)
Technically, the Cadets are told the location of only one code weapon, the Cerberus, but the actual locations of the guns has leaked down into the lore of the student body. Spreadsheets containing the name of the wrecks and their systems and coordinates are fairly easy come by. The going rate for such info is one month of kitchen duty.
During code hunting, combat is not encouraged, but the Cadets are allowed to act at their own discretion in such matters.
Once the 20-gun requirement has been met, the Cadets are gruaduated and sent out to the fleets. Factions recruit these top Cadets vigorously, and it is very rare for a Castillo Cadet to start at entry-level anything.
