Skyelius entered the room, and did not lose time in looking at either Montoya or Ares.
He grabbed a seat and placed it next to Juan and Adrian's, completing a triangular shape. A quick nod showing respect from all 3 gentleman and the conversation begun..
"It is a cold universe until you know God as your Father, and then it becomes a home. Even the next life simply becomes the Father's house, home."
—David Pawson
Julio steps in the chamber with weary eyes, staring around and looking for someone to talk to about an issue that he is hesitant to consult.
Observing the unique wall designation of the chamber, he obviously seems to be uneasy for a moment with the recent events between the Brotherhood and Coalition. Soon the brief contemplatation drags him inside as he can't stand just sitting by and doing nothing at all.
After taking some steps he attempts waving to a brother talking next to him about a rumour that a vital conversation is already going on in the meeting room.
Shortly after he happens to hear some hasty footsteps near the entrance though unable to select the talking figures exactly but the shadows of three men out of the chamber.
With mettle and anxiety blended, Julio sneaks slowly through recognizing the exact identities of the participants from the gap and puts his ear next to the door sipping the rum that bartender had just brought.
Despite anxiety growing to be higher on the scale, overhearing some parts of a flurried and desirous conversation going on between brothers Juan, Ares and Skyelius provokes further avocation in Julio and he decides to stay.
After a patient pause it doesnt take quite long for Julio to understand that the three have already agreed on a raid plan against their enemies, and seem to be solving the matter at hand. Julio backs off from the door and feels relieved that everything seems to be falling in order.
On the uncharted lagoons of anguish, I sail with a canoe made of my sins.
~A guard bearing the livery of Farquar enters the chambers, carrying with him a single letter. As per the instructions from his master, Atilla, the guard places the letter in the middle of the table and leaves wordlessly. The letter reads thus:
"Fellow Elders and Brothers,
I send my apologies that I will not be attending the emergency meeting. The events of the last few days have left me quite drained emotionally. I write this communique whilst sitting on a hill on my estate... the red sun is sinking below the horizon...
My heart breaks at three recent events. Uno, Brother Maniaco is dead or nearly so. One of the greatest among us is lost. Dos, Brother Alexander is dying. My oldest and greatest friend is not long for this world. And yet I was not even aware he was ill.
Tres, the SCRA. Brothers, this whole thing with the Coalition is a bloody mess. Brother Montoya I wish you has consulted the rest of us before your giving the SCRA go-ahead to defend themselves. But I sided with your decision, because I came to feel it was the best course of action. But mostly because I felt it best to present a united front. But then your flip-flop over that decision has made all of us look foolish and weak. (I understand it was done in a heated moment, but Juan I have never known you for rashness and that troubles me as well.)
Now what we have basically told the SCRA is this: "Our people may shoot and kill you as we wish, but you may not do squat about it. And if you don't like it, bugger off." I cannot accept this policy and sleep at night. I know they are not our kind -- except Brother Ares of course -- but they are our friends and allies. No more than that: they have defended our homes, they shed their blood with our blood, and given their lives with our lives. In my book that makes them as much our brothers as anyone born of Corsair.
But worse still is our treatment of Brother Ares. We have called him no less than murderer and traitor. Then we demand him choose between us and his comrades. We put him between a rock and a hard place; and to his infinite credit, he chose us, his blood ancestors. Little though we deserve one as honourable as him. But mark my words, our lack of faith has sown a seed of doubt and resentment in Ares' heart, and the day shall come when we reap it.
Everyone talks of unity and singular purpose... but how united can we be, when our people are allowed to shoot our allies without chastisement? What message is that sending our young pilots and guerreros?
Brothers please forgive my insolence and negativity. I need time to think. And to mourn. Know that I shall side with whatever course of action you take, for the good of the Corsair nation.
Sincerely,
Atilla Farquar
Elder of The Brotherhood
Hours and hours went by, Sephardi was imune to the impaience that plauged some of his brothers. He liked to take the long view, he was a student of history, it might be what made him so good at what he did. He could fly well enough, and his titan had the scas of battle on it, but thats not what he loved. Miguel Sephardi, was if nothing else, a sponge of information. Many people would call it spying, but thats not what it was, really, he was able to look at a scene or hear a conversation, and without even trying, he would extrapolate the important information in an instance, and ignore irrelevent information. Spies DID things, Sephardi just let everything happen. This is what he was doing at the moment, sitting outside the Council Chambers, whatching everything. Waiting for some information from inside. Momentus things were happening. This was one of these moments Sephardi knew, moments that at the momemnt may seem fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but that none the less, set off a chain reaction of events that could ripple through Sirius, changing the diplomatic dynamix for years to come. 12 Hours had past since Ares had entered, then several more elders, and finaly a gaurd he recognized as the personal aid to elder Farquar. It was intresting that Farquar had not made the trip from his estate himself. That has 8 hours ago, and then nothing, Sephardi waited, and he would countine to wait untill the Elders meeting dismissed.
Juan Montoya set back and noticed a blinking light on the desk. There was a transmission coming in.
Comm ID: Juan Lucendez
To: The Council of Elders
ID Trace: Crete medical facilities
Displaying...
Lucendez appeared on the central comm station with his arm in a sling and his left eye heavily bandaged
"Hello, my Elders. If this Council has a spare minute ..."
"By now you should have received my combat report. Lying here completely useless has given me some time to think about my recent actions. I realized it was wrong of me to turn down Pedro's request of Eldership. I ran from authority because I thought I wasn't up to the task. Now I see that my opportunity to serve the people of Crete and indeed the entire Corsair nation at large was almost taken away from me by a completely unexpected enemy."
"If the Council is in agreement, I would like to rescind my statement and take up the Eldership with honor, dignity, and pride. Thank you."
"Lucendez out."
//Transmission End.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
Lucendez walked down that dreary hallway leading to the Council chambers. He had to stay on Crete for a while now, so didn't have to have his flight suit on 24/7. He didn't necessarily like the robes of the Elders either, so he wore civilian cloths, plain, simple and comfortable. Unlike the last time he was walking down these halls, he didn't have the hot attitude of his heritage, nor the black case. Instead he carried a rectangular piece draped in a white cloth slung under his left arm. The guards didn't stop him, only pushed open the (now reinforced) ornate door revealing the comfortable-looking chamber.
Lucendez looked around, incredibly nervous at being in the famed meeting room of the Corsairs. The door closed behind him and he jump a little, realizing it was only the door he leaned the white piece against the table and set about making a fire in the nearby hearth.
All the portraits of the former Elders looked down on him, and Juan felt like the accused in a court of law. He had taken the Eldership up after not only the dead Maniaco but the now retired Farquar had suggested him, Lucendez wouldn't resist the Elder's wisdom, but he did hope he was capable enough now to serve his people and bring the Corsairs to their destiny in this world.
The fire was started and provided warmth to the chambers. Lucendez took the covered frame and revealed the portrait of Elder Alexander. He thought twice and leaned the portrait against the table again, turned and sat in one of the plush chairs next to the fireplace, and stared into Alexander's eyes. Alexander had been before Juan's time, but only by a couple of months. He knew that Alexander was one of the most revered Elders in recent memory and had been personal friends of both Montoya and Maniaco. Juan, however, did not know him. And felt a bit estranged because of it. Far too many Elders had died in the last month, and even though other brothers rose to take their places, Juan felt they were fighting unfinished battles. That "one slip-up and these Elders would die for nothing" cycled through Juan's brain over and over as he stared at Alexander's face, the visage completely alien to the (relatively) young Corsair sitting in the chair.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
As Elder Lucendez sat looking at the face of Alexander, he noticed out of the corner of his eye a flashing light. It was on the comm panel, it seems no one had checked the message so he went to check it.
To: Corsair Elders
From: Ambassador Ze'ev Barak Artisan Farmers Alliance
Elders, I Am Ze'ev Barak, chief diplomatic officer of the Artisan Farmers Alliance. We are a recently established group of Kusari farmers, fighting your enemies the Birtonians and the Outcasts, We also fight against the Blood Dragons and GC's. These groups pollute the Kusari people with thier products and drugs. I wish to meet with the Elders in regard to establishing diplomatic relations with the Brotherhood. I am currently making a tour around sirius meeting with potential allies, and I hope to add you to my itinerary. Please respond via nueral net at the following adress. http://discoverygc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8915.
Thank you for your time Elders, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Teresa and Julio approached the Council Chamber in a hurry. There was no time to waste as the recent issues escalated every minute and although Teresa used to make rush and unpremeditated decisions, this time she had to be the sound of reason and reconciliation.
They stopped at the main door. The guards were called off, because there were no planned events in the Chamber and the entrance was locked by security coding. However, when she looked at the retinal scanner she scratched her head. She had the access codes from her father, but she complete forgot about the scanner.
Julio looked unsurely at the inactive plasma guns and said: "Teresa, are you sure about this. I mean you might have the codes, but what about the eye scans?"
For a moment she almost gave it up, but then she replied: "If he gave me the codes, he must have thought over this before.", and she entered the codes and held the face near the scanner. The plasma guns awoke from stand-by mode and pointed at them.
But after a few seconds they became inactive again and they heard a robotic voice saying: "Welcome, Teresa Maniaco, you are cleared to enter."
She looked at Julio (who seemed really scared at that moment) and said: "Heh, you see? And it seems father never accepted my usage of my mother's maiden name."
And they entered the Chamber. The atmosphere was almost sacred and they all watched the pictures of former Elders of Corsair nation. Their sights ended in the place where there were portraits of the Brotherhood Elders and Teresa quickly located her father's one. It was next to Elders Alexander and Farquar.
"OK, let's do this, Julio!" and she logged on the Chamber Terminal, opened the Elder secure channel and started to type a message. Julio was looking over her shoulder...
Quote:Message to: All Corsair Elders
Priority: TOP
Comm ID: Teresa Maniaco, Council Chamber Mainframe
Elders and Dons!
It's time to calm down the emotions and start looking for ways how to co-exist peacefully and cooperate as Corsairs!
STOP your pointless squabbles and mutual incriminations and start thinking reasonable. Is a civil war among Corsairs really your primary objective? Is your personal pride and the name of your family/brotherhood/organisation really more important than the Unity of our nation? Are you really prepared to be blamed for breaking it by future generations?
Corsairs are only strong when united. Look at the Brotherhood's lonely and failed attempt to invade Frankfurt! Do you really think it would end that way if Corsairs attacked with full strength counting united forces of several brotherhoods and families? No! And the consequences may be far more critical this time. Right now we are showing the rest of Sirius that we are weak...
I urge you, let alone your grudge and send your leaders to the Corsair Council Chamber.
I feel you all need to talk face to face.
Message ends.
Julio nodded after he read the message and Teresa pushed the send button.
And they awaited the arrival of the Elders in a silent conversation.
If I die, I forgive you, father. If I live we shall see.....Teresa Chavez
A few minutes later, Raul received the message coming from Teresa. *Corsair Council Chamber? How did she get in there?* He thought.
Raul rushed to the Council Chamber, where he went through the routine identity scans and entered the Council Chamber right after the scans. He immediately spotted Teresa and Julio sitting at the table talking. The two were quiet and looked over to Raul as he entered the room. "You requested my presence, Teresa? I see you took Julio with you" Raul said. Without waiting for an answer, he quickly took a seat next to Teresa.
Ares' neck-hairs rose as going through the newly-installed identification verification system in front of the plasma-turrets. What if Juan had removed his data from the list?
The turrets swivelled towards him and he instinctively dropped into a crouch, not that it would help. Fortunately for him, no shots were fired.
Ares stood up straight, straightened himself up and shrugged before entering. That was a hairy one.
As expected, he found Teresa in the Elders' chambers. He nodded politely, but didn't smile as he normally would, Montoya's recent treachery having a large efect on his sense of humour.
"Hola, Miss Maniaco...
Don't think me rude, since you are most certainly the person that deserves promotion to the rank of Elder right now, partially because the council needs a feminine touch, but mostly due to your recent demonstrations of aptitude but...
...I wasn't aware that the title was hereditary. I'm willing to let this slide, since I'd be the first to propose that you take your f-... your own seat here.
I would like to be assured that positions here were gained thanks to merit as opposed to blood though... Could that assurance be given?"
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