The End of Francisco Palencia

[Thor22]

This was it, the end.

He called himself a leader; he always tried his best to set an example.

But now this, what had seemed a simple disagreement with one of his subordinates had now turned into something much worsesomething darker and malicious.

No time for self-pity though. Sitting at his dinner table he lifted his head off of his hands, above his shoulders. He looked out of his cabin window towards the minefield, a huge presence that made him feel very small and unimportant every time he looked on it. Now though, it seemed to be a huge wall, a wall that had no ladder or footholds on the other side with which to return if it was passed over.

Sighing deeply he pulled himself out of his chair, and headed to where his trusted Falcata was docked. He knew this route well of course not that it was a long one he had made sure that he was stationed close to his ship, if ever he was needed in a hurry. That walk now seemed very long, almost as if it was his final and most meaning one. He greeted the engineers and crew as he always had done, stopping for a moment to look up at his ship as he always had done. For what seemed to be the last time, he gave the crew his usual thumbs-up and left the hanger.

Some leader I was he thought, looking back at Palermo then forward toward the mines. Taking his usual over the top route, there was no sign of Corsair patrols. Not that he often bothered with the fighters, he let his wingmen take care of those unless it was truly necessary, he had his sights set on bigger things.

Maybe Im no leader, but I know that Im a damn good pilotand a damned good Outcast he muttered to himself, preparing to jump into Theta. A tear rolled down his cheek as he looked around at the space he had fought so hard to defend for so long. He quickly wiped it away, he was not altogether emotionless, but he was proud, even in solitude.

He knew where he was heading. Being alone, no ships paid any attention to him, not one Zoner hailed him, not even the Bounty Hunters took the opportunity of an easy fight.

Into Gamma now, he encountered what he was looking for quicker than he had anticipated, almost too quickly even for himself. Two gunboats flashed gunfire across the nose of the Falcata. These scum never could hit to save themselves he grumbled, a wide grin creeping across his face as he turned towards what he hoped would be his most glorious but perhaps his final encounter with his life-long enemies.

Taking one of the gunboats out quickly, he found the other a tougher challenge. He had taken minimal damage, but the accuracy of the gunners had shaken him enough to the point where he acquired newfound respect for some of these scumbags. Weaving around the enemy, he found himself to be gradually wearing away at the gunboats hull, stripping off hull plating with his guns on each pass of the ship. Just as he was lining up for the final shot that would end the miserable existence of these admittedly skilled pilots, warning lights lit up all over his cockpit. His shields had been dropped quickly and suddenly, from where he had not yet discovered. His onboard scanners had been taken out in this sudden attack and he had no clue where this new threat was coming from. Typical he thought, Trust these fools to send everything they have to deal with one ship. Frantically, he looked all around him, searching, until he spotted what had hit him four Titans were turning to make another sweep at him, he doubted his chances of survival if they reached him and were able to unload their guns on him a second time. Remembering the gunboat, he looked back towards it, seeing that it too was now heading for him, ready to unleash all of its turrets on him. Weighing up his options, he took into account his ineffectiveness against any fighter, never mind four as well as the heavily damaged gunboat to the other side of his ship. It was a simple choice: he would finish off the gunboat and be out of there before the fighters knew what had happened.

Turning towards the gunboat, he saw it veer off to one side, anticipating his attack. Taking careful aim, he let fly a supernova torpedo, which hit the ship bang in the middle, literally tearing it in two. He had left Palermo full of sorrow and regret, but now he felt alive as he ever had, ready to head home once again triumphant in battle to greet his Brothers as he always had done, full of new purpose and meaning.

After making a sharp turn to avoid the incoming fire from the pursuing Titans, he felt a sharp jolt and a sudden loss of control in his ship. Come on you, hold together! he screamed at the control panel in front of him, it just blinked back at him urgently, red lights going off all over until suddenlythere were no more lights.

No more was ever heard of the pilot named Francisco Palenica.

This was the end.

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