Brotherhood Bar-Talks

[Lucend]

Juan smiled at the two Corsairs, Benitez and Brotherhood. He took his milkshake and sipped it while the two men spoke to him. 'Hmmm' he thought, 'I've missed you tequila.'

Lucendez put his hand on Sephardi's shoulder. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Miguel. I feel both of us are right, to an extent. I would much rather play politics with my fellow brothers than shoot them. We must be patient with our hermanos, lest we fall into fractured anarchy, giving our enemies the chance to finally conquer us. I've said it once I think, if anyone will conquer us it will be our own fault."

"Yet, we also atrophy in our defense of both country and honor. Miguel, I remember Delta. I remember patrolling there as a Brother. I remember sending you there in my place. Times were simpler, yet the Nomad variable has not changed. I met the Zoner by the name of "Jinx" in space today. Apparently the Keepers are making a daily appearance in Omicron Delta. We swore to defend that system in conjuncture with the Zoners against enemies of humanity."

Juan turned to sip the milkshake.

"Centurion Sephardi, I am ineffectual here on Crete. I'm not going to send you to Yaren by yourself, this time I'm coming with you. I'll set up a secondary command center on Yaren and the Freeport to facilitate our defense of the system." Lucendez hopped off the barstool, gulped down the rest of his shake, and left a tip for Alonso, remembering the credit slip left by Custo'.

"I'm done being bogged down by politics here. Even though we now have the SCRA knocking on our door, I feel a secured Delta would bring in supplies more easily. Well? What do you say?"

Juan was standing now, feeling rejuvenated and ready.

---

"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."

Osaika Moto, the Fall and Rise of a Kusari Farmer

Juan Lucendez, √ Corsair