An Ol' Man's Memory: Katarn Dragonbourne RP

[Mr.Fabulous]

At this time the Salvager and the Prison Liner had just finished mooring on the Bretonian Battleship stationed near the Dublin Sun. The salvager, now out of fuel, had its reactor drained of power, while it looked as if it went through a failed full-on frontal assault, with some of its blown-out parts and components still barely-clinging for dear life. Its crew now walked towards salvation on the other side of the Mooring Blast Door, patting themselves on the back for a job "well done".


Kiln had already engaged his ship to dock on the Essex, its red docking lights flashing brightly, and as the Collector approached the Battleship he made a very satisfied sigh of relief.


"HAHAAAH! That be a great adventure we be havin, eh lads? HAAAAHAHAHAHAH!!!"


Kiln's eyes widen in shock, [color=#FF0000]"Oh man... I'm just a scrapper. Remind me not to go adventuring with you again!" He laughs nervously to himself.


Katarn only laughs boisterously in return, "HAHAAAH! Too much fer ye, eh? HAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAH!!"


Katarn was beside the junkers Charles and Amanda Breeches in the Orocin's Medical Bay; the former was floating in a medical tank breathing through a gas-mask half-naked, the strong medicinal suspension liquid slowly treating his horrid burn marks. His chest area was scarred so deep from the flames that it would still need special skin-grafting to fully treat, but at least the liquid treating him for now would be able to stop the wound from getting worse.


"Ah... Almost safe. Now let me get off this ship until it is spaceworthy again!" Isaac laughs wryly as he steps out his ship and walks towards the Battleship Mooring Doors.


"I'll send in the reports to the Junker Congress, Isaac... You'll meet up with the rest of them when they get here, which will be a few days, since they're still preoccupied at the moment..." Amanda responds to Isaac's PDA in a formal tone.


"Will do. Thank you for your assistance."


"And NO THANKS to YOU for initiating the engines while Charles was still in the hell-hole! Frakker!" She scowls at the Junker captain's voice rudely, who smiles sheepishly to himself.


Charles suddenly jerks awake and looks slowly around him, "Oooooh... the burn.... it still hurts..." He gazes at his own burn marks, the upper body's skin now permanently scarred and wrinkled, possibly a reminder to just how close he was to doing the ultimate sacrifice.


Kiln's voice is heard from the Orocin's nearby intercom, "Oh yeah. How... How is Charles...? He gonna make it?"

~~~SCANS INDICATE CHARLES IS SUFFERING 3RD DEGREE BURNS ON CHEST, ARMS AND NECK AREAS. CHANCES OF SURVIVAL ARE 75%. PERMANENT SCARRING IS VERY LIKELY. ESTIMATED RECOVERY TIME TO BE 2 DAYS OF MEDICAL TANK SUSPENSION, AND 3 MONTHS OF HOSPITALIZATION~~~

"Oh, thank junk..." Amanda sighs to herself, "He's gonna live..."


"You... you're giving pity on me?" Charles looks surprised at her reaction, "I thought---"


"Oh, don't get me wrong! I did want to punish you for your stupidity, Charles... Getting caught in the Tau Wars needlessly... hahahah... what a fool" She tapped the glass tank with her fingernail, "... But a brave fool you are, Charles... You did what few people would even consider doing, heh... and you saved all of us in the process, so I'll let you slide... for now.


"And besides... We're family, Charles... No matter how deep in a trouble you'll ever get into, you'll still be my brother, and so it won't give reason for me to kill my own flesh and blood... well, unless you do something REALLY stupid, however, HAHAH!"


"Hahah... ahhhhh..." As he smiles to the Junkess and the old veteran he falls back to sleep almost immediately.


"As for you... Katarn Dragonbourne..." Amanda paces about for a moment before looking at him again, "... You're reward. You did a fine job helping us Junkers around, where most would turn a blind-eye to people like us... heheh... although I won't blame 'em for being such...


"I guess I can tell you what I know of your friend, Clare Campeche... I'll meet you over at the Essex bar later, after I finish filing the report on... all of this... frak." She rubs her forehead with her index finger and thumb in a frustrated and tired manner.

.....An Hour later.....

The old veteran passed the time on the Essex bar drinking the local beer known in these parts as "Molly's Blood" due in part to its common use with Bretonian Patrols drinking it after a long day's job of slaying Molly ships, ... A decent tasting drink this be, heheheh... Not as strong as me ol' faithful, but it be just as sweet, HAHAAAH...


"You seem to be enjoying yourself, old man. Care if I join ya?" Amanda sits to the opposite end of the table Katarn was using, "I guess you'll still be here for the next couple of days to take care of my foolish brother, eh?"


"Aye, that be true, HAHAHAH!" The old veteran grins humorously at the Junkess, "... Ye satisfied with me bringin in yer brother into these circumstances, lassy?"


"HAH! Actually, I wouldn't have it any other way! The punishment of having the Power Rerouter frying half of him up should be sufficient enough to remind him that he shouldn't be such a stupid fool, HAHAHAH! And he managed to show himself as a hero in the end too! Fine job, fine job..." Amanda grabs a swig of the Molly's Blood and gulps it down instantly.


"Now then... About your friend... you seem to be in luck, cause I met the old hag in her Decurion the Rio Dela Maria just recently, while I was coming here to Dublin---"


"She be alive?!" Katarn's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes twinkled in delight, "... This... THIS BE GOOD NEWS, HAHAHAHAH!!!"


"And... actually, she's not that much different from you, old man. She's also crazy in her own right, and boy she sure did have a short fuse, phew! Almost involved myself in a firefight when we met just for asking too many questions!"


"HAHAAAH! That be like her, alright! Always full o' fire an' on the move, that lass, HAHAHAH! Ah, me mind now be laid te rest an' be worrying 'bout her less, this be grand news, Amanda."


"She didn't want to be stopped for long, saying she was in a hurry heading off to the Tau systems in search of a 'gung-ho link to the past' or something, I'm not entirely sure... muttering jibberish the whole time, as if she'd gone mad already..."


"Did she say anythin about what she be lookin fer, exactly?" The old veteran's voice became anxious.


Amanda thought heavily to herself, sometimes scratching her head and turning away until she came up with an answer that chilled Katarn to the very bone...





"... Neophytes... She kept saying these 'Neophytes' were an important link to the past... She said it was 'imperative' or something to go look for these things, or people, or whatever, I didn't care at the time... "


The old veteran's eyes gazed in wonderment at what he just heard, and for a moment it seemed he was paralyzed in fear, "... N... Neophytes...? What... why she be... does that mean..."





... I be not understandin all this... Elizabeth be sayin the Orocin's mission be te search fer these 'Neophytes', but... There be not a single clue as te what they be... The vessel's databanks be corrupted about the topic, so I be left with nothin te work with, an' Elizabeth be seemin reluctant te cough up the info... She be only sayin she 'knows' a Neophyte when she be seein one...


... Now I be hearin that ol' Clare be searchin fer these people... but fer what real reason? Is she lookin fer me as well? Is she lookin fer me past? Has she found somethin out as I searched the span o' the galaxy with nothin te show fer it all?


... And that be not helpin at all when Elizabeth be sayin I be o' Neophyte 'origin' as well... I be not knowin what me own childhood be, let alone be able te explain her accusation o' me bein linked te these people... I also be havin these weird dreams an' visions o' sorts... does this mean I really be a...?


... this only be servin te dig the trench deeper... pfah... what a mess...


"Hey, old man! Seems the word Neophyte scared the living hell outta ya... You alright?"


The old veteran snaps out of his soliloquey and looks back again at Amanda's curious face, "Eh...? Ah... No... it be fine... It be just... confusin, that's all."


"Ah well, not my business to ask about it, I guess. I'll leave it to that. Amanda stands up from her chair and walks up to the old veteran's side, "That's all the info I have for you, Katarn. I hope it's useful to you in any way...


"Farewell, old man." Amanda soon walks away, leaving Katarn to contemplate deeply to himself and vainly try to make sense of it all...





After Charles' initial recovery aboard the Orocin was done, the Junkers and Katarn parted ways as the Prison Liner dislodged from the mooring ports of the Essex, and the ancient capital ship cruised its way towards the Tau Systems in continuing search of Clare Campeche... and the Neophytes...


As the Orocin reached the Dublin -> New London Jumpgate Katarn stood in the middle of the front part of the Bridge, his arms behind his back and his eyes dead straight, staring at seemingly nothing in front of it...





... Clare... I be keepin me promise, lass... I be comin fer ye...


... and I hope... when I be findin ye...


... Ye have the answers I seek...





... The Orocin soon entered the Jump Conduit, the ship now being propelled through the energy tunnel that led towards the system of New London on the other side...

.....END OF CHAPTER 2.....

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