The Passage of Time

[Torment]

The Passage of Time.

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When he had first received word that the Insurgency had officially been ‘exterminated’ by Liberty the captain couldn’t help but feel like a rock had been dropped in his gut. Lucian had served in the Insurgency many years and even though he knew the end was approaching, hell it was why he evacuated his crew and as many civilians as he could at the time, it still felt like a sucker punch to find out it had actually happened.

It had been over half a decade since Lucian had first become the captain of the Torment, a strange realization that had crossed his mind while walking towards to his quarters. They had fought off Liberty and Bounty Hunters, snuck through Rheinland space, met up with Corsairs and stayed with them for some time (and lived to talk about it!) before finally ending up with the Order and fighting Nomads and the Core. The original crew had shrunk each step of the way as they sought their fortunes elsewhere, or died. Some of the Civilians that had been evacuated from Veracruz had decided to formally join the crew, others had settled on either the Freeport 5 or on Planet Akabat. Curiously enough none of them were too comfortable with the idea of staying on Planet Crete, who knew why. Lucian couldn’t help but chuckle as he entered his retreat.

The lights on the captain’s quarters flickered on as he entered the room, a quick glance at the mirror betraying the cost of the years of command. His once black beard had started turning grey, wrinkles on his brow from the many moments of frowning, pondering over what to do next and the consequences of his actions. With a small grin Lucian turned his gaze towards the table and sat down, a few months ago a small party marked the third year since the Torment had aligned itself with the Order, he had to admit, he didn’t remember a dull day since. Not that the trials and tribulations he and the Torments crew had gone through were dull mind you, but it was reassuring they had a home to return to, a safe haven to recharge and make repairs at.
Today had been no different, speaking of which he’d had to report their findings. Lucian reached into a drawer beneath the table, retrieving a small data pad before pouring himself a drink.
"Right then, no time like the present." he muttered to himself as he started writing.

Lucian took several gulps of his drink before pressing the send button, submitting the report for the Overwatch to examine.

These days the Order was steadily working on improving their relations with Liberty, a notion that had initially filled Lucian with fury and disgust. However, now having spent years on the far reaches of the Omicrons, fighting the Nomads to protect Humanity, he had grown to have a begrudging understanding of the need to face them together with others. Unfortunately, that also meant that the Torments presence would have to be explained in a justifiable way.
The fabricated story that was designed was that the Hellfire Legion, prior to the forming of the Insurgency, had provided the Order with a single Arbiter battleship to help fight the Nomads after having encountered them in Inverness, a vessel which would have never seen combat against Liberty or the other Houses.

As the Torment was known to have been present during the defense of Veracruz and Vespucci, this also meant the name of the vessel, as well as any indications of its original name would have to be changed, hidden to never be revealed as if it was some mark of shame.
Still, he didn’t take it personally. Lucian was well aware much of what the Order did was covert, even after all these years he only knew the actual names of a few operatives, most contact went by codenames to prevent information falling in enemy hands should communications be intercepted. An important safeguard, considering most of the Orders material and personnel would be vulnerable if their ties in the Houses became known.

Fort Carthage would be responsible for making the adjustments regarding the vessels name as well, but at least as the captain he still had the fortune of being allowed to pick the new name of the Torment: The Calamity.
It’d fit the fabricated backstory, having its origin in a supposed Inverness incident, while also being synonymous with death, an aspect often associated with the Omicrons and to an extent the Order.

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