LPI Karl Agathon

[MB52]

Karl looked around frantically for options, the fallen guard's weapons were too far, but if he moved fast enough... wait too late

The outcast stepped forward and squeezed the trigger. His pistol let out a single bark, and pain flooded Karl's body as a round hit him square in his chest. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, as everything around him went dark. The last thing he saw was the Outcast standing over him, pointing the pistol at him, then darkness.

Hours, no Days? Weeks? pass. He had woken up in a dark prison cell. It was hard to tell how much time was passing. Far as he could tell his flak vest mostly protected him, but now he was their prisoner. They had come and tortured him many times, of course he told them nothing. He would die here before giving them any information, but at least he had gotten his brother out, and would take a bunch of these Outcast bastards to hell with him. He closed his eyes, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed to his wounds, time to let go.

"Nice place you got here kid"

He opened his eyes slowly, though his vision slightly blured he could make out the figure of a man, wearing the Uniform of an LPI Seargent and a flight helmet.

"You know I think I like the subtle shades of grey you got going here"

"Who are you?" Karl asked?

"Oh don't you know? the name is Vince, Vince Price." He extended a hand, but Karl jumped back. The hand was all bones, with traces of flesh hanging off.

"Oh I'm sorry, what else were you expecting?" He opened his visor, revealing the toothy grin of a skull with a worm hanging out one of the eye sockets

" Oh gods, I've gone nuts...." Karl spoke softly

"Maybe, maybe not, we are all crazy in some ways" The apparition spoke as he waved his hand in the air "Fact is you've given up"

"There is nothing left to do, its over"

"You really think so?" the apparition reached out and grabbed Karl by the neck, forcing him to sit up "Any good officer's duty is to fight until he cannot fight no more, are you telling me you have nothing left?, that you've let the scourge of this galaxy defeat you? maybe you are weak"

"They didn't defeat me"

"No if you give up now they have, stand up, fight them" The apparition stepped back as Karl forced himself to stand, as an explosion shook the building, followed by several others.

"Whats going on"

"Fight them Karl and we won't meet again for a long time, but I'll be here waiting" Vince disappeared into the darkness as weapons fire grew more intense.

Karl heard some fire nearby, then a clank and the door to his cell scraped open. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light that flooded in and he seen his brother Mike, and Isabella.

"You came back..."

"Of course, we made it back to the ship, where we intercepted a transmission from the Don, bragging bout his capture of one of the LPI's finest " Mike said as he helped Karl out of the cell "Lets say we get out of here?"

"Thank you both, but how? this place should have been locked up tighter then ever after we freed you"

Isabella spoke up "I took your advice and freed the slaves, seems they were pretty disgruntled, something about poor wages and working hours" she cracked a smile

The three moved out, leaving the bunker where they were joined by a dozen slaves, now well armed. They had swept through the compound killing many outcast guards, but the battle still raged on. Suddenly the compound lit up as Isabella's ship exploded, showering the area with shrapnel.

"Damn, they found our ride Now what?" Mike looked around

"Over there" Karl pointed at a ship parked in the corner of the plantation.

Isabella remarked " That must be the Don's private ship, its a gunboat"

"Its ours now" They rushed across the open fields and headed towards the ship, signaling the slaves to fall back and join them.

They reached the ship, but just as they started entering, Isabella let out a scream as a round hit her in the shoulder

"Everyone in!" Karl shouted as a couple of slaves helped carry Isabella in, Mike stayed at her side, as Karl moved forward to the cockpit.

"Hey, thanks bud do you know how to fly this thing?"

"The controls are similar to a destroyer we captured recently... I think I got it"

The ship lifted off as soon as everyone climbed on board. The ship rocked violently at first, but settled as Karl figured out the controls. They headed for the docking ring. Thankfully they were cleared to leave orbit as the comm station at the plantation had been destroyed early in the battle, but they needed to move fast. Once clear, he charged its cruise engines immediately and headed for Tau37. Isabella's wounds stabilized, so they had no need to stop at the Freeport, instead opting to fly directly to Liberty, staying on the smugglers route that he'd found in the ship's computer.

He'd have alot to explain when he got home...

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I’ll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it’s flag that I love
And a flag that I trust