Pennybrooke stories

[Karst]

The following will be a collection of stories from the perspectives of my three main characters, the Pennybrooke siblings: The twins Katherine and Edwin (born 788 A.S.) and their younger sister Elise (born 799 A.S.).
All three were born on a small island in Planet Cambridge's northern hemisphere, where their family owns a sizable estate. However, none have kept particularly close ties to their home and family, and spend most of their time in space.
It'll probably mostly be introspection, but I'll try to incorporate ingame events whenever possible.

CHAPTER ONE - ELISE

Elise was sitting in the Ainu bar, staring at the purple and orange puffs of the Shiden cloud drifting by lazily.
Something was off today, something didn't feel quite right, she thought as she slowly sipped her breakfast sake.
It had been some time since she had last felt this way, and she had always considered it a sure sign that she needed something to do.
In truth, the recent days and weeks had been rather busy. After a memorable meeting in Coronado with a man named Geodin Daemon, she had joined an organization called the Onyx Syndicate.
Geodin was someone she had a lot in common with – a happy-go-lucky attitude, a love of drinking and risky activities, and a rather lax attitude toward the law.
She had always enjoyed his company, and she enjoyed working for the Syndicate as well.
There had always been a distinct fear of commitment in the back of her mind, but the Syndicate's activities so closely matched what she enjoyed anyway, it never felt like an obligation to her – at least so far.

And then there was Nevaeh – a Liberty girl that had decided to join the Golden Chrysanthemums.
They had become close friends, haunting Kusari together.
And as Nevaeh was rather timid, Elise had acquired a kind of protective instinct, feeling the need to shield her from the cruel reality of Sirius. Or perhaps she just convinced herself of that?

She chuckled to herself, recalling a recent night in the bar on Ames. Nevaeh had the alcohol tolerance of a twelve year old, and Elise had to drag her back to Ainu kicking and screaming.
Her face grew serious as she pondered how close she had actually come to losing Nevaeh in the dark matter clouds in Kepler.
Those Xenos from the bar would likely have found her.....she shuddered and tried not to imagine what they might have done to her.

As she thought about all those recent events, Elise couldn't help but wonder why she was feeling down. It had been exciting times, entirely to her taste. So her usual diagnosis of her apathy didn't fit.

Perhaps it was one of those times when she needed to travel. It seemed she had spent an increasing percentage of time in Kusari these days, and Ainu in particular.
Not that she could complain – the Chrysanthemums were the friendliest and most welcoming people she had encountered. If there was any place she felt she could always go, it was here.
But maybe it was time for a little variety, she mused.

Liberty.....there had been fun times in Liberty, for sure. Flying with like-minded ruffians, hanging out in the grimy bars of Rochester and Beaumont.....
She liked grimy bars, always had. Laughter, reckless consumption, fighting, all things she enjoyed.
But somehow, she hadn't felt that Liberty magic recently. No, not Liberty.


Rheinland, well- she didn't have many good memories of Rheinland. Most people seemed very serious and grumpy. No wonder Kathy liked it so much there.
There were great times to be had flying with Rorry's Renegades, but that seemed like a lifetime ago.
Whatever had happened to that jolly bunch?

And then, Bretonia. Elise wondered why she had been avoiding her home in so long.
The waves crashing on the craggy rocks of Benazir island, the storms, the countless birds filling the sky with their cacophony....
The more she thought of it, the more she realized she actually missed her home.
But her last visit had been so awkward. How should she explain to her well-to-do family that she had chosen a life of crime and revelry?
She laughed bitterly to herself at the thought. It was such an uncomfortable situation; she had tried to steer the conversations away from her own life when possible, but relatives are annoyingly inquisitive.

A quick swim in the icy water though, that would be marvelous. There were plenty of secluded parts of the island, but how was she to get there unnoticed?
She stared at the last slug of sake in her cup, mulling the idea.
Yes, it was time to visit Bretonia, one way or another.
Her Spatial and Moldy Crow were both parked on Ainu, but she felt like the Marauder, her first ship. The classic Bluefin.

With a shudder, she downed the rest of her drink. Nobody believed her when she said sake tasted like mushrooms, but she knew her taste buds weren't lying.

She gave a quick bow to the girls in the bar, and made her way to the docking bay.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

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