Ares walks out halfway through Skyelius' taunting of the Benitez familia and his obvious brown-nosing of those that still hold some manner of respect on the Brotherhood.
He isn't impressed, and this facade is wasting his time. The Corsair people need Elders that act... not this bullsh*t.
Even though Praetor Zavier had silenced himself during the entire meeting, it was time for him to act. He stood up, and drew in a deep breath.
"Right then, after Skyelius's little outburst there, it seems this is a complete waste of time. The Espana, Talos, and Atlas will be moved out of Crete's orbit and back to Yaren." Zavier turns to Yanez and Lucendez.
"Hermanos, the Atlas will be available for defense if, and ONLY if either of you two ask for its presence."
He turns towards the great doorway and begins to stride away towards the hanger. As he walks towards the door, throws a comment over his shoulder; "Come, Commandante Carlos, this is a complete waste of time and I do not see why we should be here any longer." Zavier exits.
"Freelancer Alpha dash niner, this is Freeport 7 control, You are cleared for departure. Good luck out there."
Soldato Zavier Benitez, Benitez flight instructor.
She hoped she created the necessary ground for reconciliation. But it just served for escalating the emotions she expected to calm down and then it triggered even more accusations and fighting for power. One Elder was about to leave, because of her effort and she felt she couldn't continue any longer. Her recent lack of sleep wasn't helping her either. If only her father, Pedro Maniaco, was there...
The holograms of Benitez members began fading and Zavier Benitez walked away leaving Carlos the only representative in the Council.
She looked at him and said: "I hoped for a different end of this meeting. I hoped that as Corsairs we are all still able to share the same point of view and focus on our common goals but this Council has now turned into the fight for power of control over the Corsair Nation and it saddens me greatly."
She took a breath and continued:
"All sides will most probably continue blaming each other, some brothers already left before the council was even ended, totally disrespecting the meaning of this place. And I can't watch this any more. I must ask you all to leave and stop dishonoring the Council Chamber, which is sacred to most of the Corsairs. Me and Julio will leave as the last onces and seal the room again."
She stood up and waited for everybody to leave the Council Chamber.
'Father, forgive me, I failed you, but I didn't know what else to do.', were the thoughts in her mind...
If I die, I forgive you, father. If I live we shall see.....Teresa Chavez
"Skyelius. Today you have brought shame to this council. Not only have you manipulated and twisted the words of it's members, you have reduced these hallowed halls to a den of petty insults.
Not I, Zavier, or any member of my family agreed to your restructuring. It is an insult to us, as an organisation, to be treated as so inferior to the Brotherhood.
The Benitez bloodline is a small one. Our organisation, created in the memory of Juan-Santigo Alvarez became powerful and offered not friendship but unbreakable brotherhood with our members. You'll be hard pressed to find a Benitez member who was, or who's ancestors where adopted into this family. The word "recruitment" became replaced by "adoption". Our desire to embrace all Corsairs who join our cause as family, is now being used by the Brotherhood to ensure our submissiveness to them.
With Skyelius' actions, he might-as well have taken a match and burned this hall to the ground. This chamber once stood for honour and mutual respect, but now stands for little more than Brotherhood autocracy.
I leave this meeting with little hope that you will ever reach a resolution. Your arrogance has cast us away, and will be your undoing. You accuse us of dishonor and then allow this sort of slander to take place in these chambers? The Brotherhood have lost the respect of our organisation, and our extended families that shall today receive the word that they will not be returning to Crete. "
And, as they he had entered, Carlos left the chamber with Zavier at his side. The holographic image flickered, and then disappeared. Short buzzing was heard from the emitter, which fused.
Lucendez watched the Benitez leave, shouting words of blasphemy and noise before finally departing.
"The man hides behind his subordinates. He takes no responsibility for his own actions. To reference and old Earth phrase, the buck certainly doesn't stop at his desk."
"However, I can't help be feel betrayed by the rest of the Benitez. They fought with us countless times, I don't see why they follow that 'Don' into a potential conflict. It's apparent he serves no interest but his own."
Lucendez got up and motioned to the door. He was leaving, but the Brotherhood would leave together, but not united. The Benitez walked out, and that was enough to bring concern to their faces.
"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."
As Montoya made to follow Juan out of the chambers, he responded to Teresa's words, which seemed laced with bitterness.
"It is not a power-game Hermana. They will always be welcome in Omicron Gamma, to their homes, to the rights any other Corsair has. The issue is that they wish power, in exchange for the services of their fleet.
Did you not notice, they didn't even try to combat any of the points made, only to blame Skyelius for his point of view. Of course, they used this as a cover for their departure, which is what I expected.
This meeting was not about 'reconciliation' as you put it, Teresa, but it was about showing the Benitez; all of them, not just Carlos, that power is out of a single family's reach.
Whether they choose to adopt or breed within their own bloodlines is not a concern of mine. Their 'adopted' members took the decision of forsaking their birth name and become on of the Benitez.
They cloud the issues with feeble points to justify their lust for power. Unity will never be a problem; the Benitez will be welcomed with open arms in to Gamma when or if they chose to return. But they will never be welcome to Control the greater population of Corsairs. Their military power is of no consequence, they cannot use it as a bargaining chip for power unless they use it against us.
The aim of these talks was not to share power. I never had that intention.
Maybe you think my mind is clouded as well, but I assure you, its crystal clear. Even despite my fall, I see what must be done."
Montoya turned to Juan Lucendez as he approaced the doors out of the Elder chambers, and responded to his comments about the Benitez.
"I agree with you hermano, in every way. Carlos is weak, Zavier is the real power. But, we are the only ones who can stop Carlos. He may use a brick wall to hide behind, or his legions of brothers, but I assure you he will never find what he seeks as long as I am alive."
Juan Montoya waited for Juan Lucendez at the door of the chambers.
"Lets get going then! We got Outcasts to kill you know!"
Raul had no idea what to do. He knew the facts, but he had no clue what use they have for him. However there was something he couldn't bring out of his mind.
*Juan-Santiago Alvarez... Alvarez... Who is he? Were the Benitez formerly known as Alvarez? If so, why did they change their name?* He kept thinking that for a long time. Raul could actually try to search for that name, but that would take ages...
But he needed to leave. Teresa and Julio stated they were going to leave as the last, so Raul didn't want to make them wait for him.
"Sister, Brother, I am leaving now so you can seal the chamber. Teresa, you don't need to worry. I don't want to repeat Juan's words again, since I'm sure you still know these well. And Julio, please take care of Teresa, will you? *He winks at Julio* [b]Anyway, I will depart now from the chamber. Be on your guard, you two."
With these words Raul left the Chamber, thinking that the Benitez (Or rather Alvarez) are not going to leave the issue so easily.
Teresa watched the last Elder's departure and then looked at Julio who was sitting at the round table, holding his head with both hands.
"I feel like I need that drink you had before we came here from the Boozer's Lounge. I know it's late, but would you join me? I wouldn't sleep anyway, the fear of that nightmare I told you about as well as the result of this meeting wouldn't let me."
If I die, I forgive you, father. If I live we shall see.....Teresa Chavez
Julio casted a last bitter look at Juan as he was leaving the chamber with Lucendez. He knew that coming to a point of complete reconciliation would not be easy, but did not expect such a shattering at all either. He then buried his head in his hands as Raul took his departure from the grand hall, leaving Teresa and Julio alone.
Teresa slowly reached the round table, clear from her face that she was puzzled as Julio. She took a seat as Julio looked her in the eyes to respond..
"You know what dear.. I am glad that Father Pedro didn't see this day. He would be very amused to see this shattering and breaking away of Brothers. We simply failed to stay in a single grasp and Benitez strayed off leaving us alone in Gamma. Most unfortunately Joe has left us, which I still can't believe. I really hate these diplomatic stuff.."
Julio was obviously annoyed, as he went on after a slight pause..
"I hope Hermano Mendez has still some of Tinto de Verano in reserve. I told him to keep some for me before coming here. We could share some if you want.."
On the uncharted lagoons of anguish, I sail with a canoe made of my sins.
She looked back at Julio and said: "Joe... His last messages in our dump seemed bitter to me. As if using diplomacy was wrong. I know one of Brotherhood's guideline says otherwise, but I always thought that one was valid between us and our enemies, not among Corsairs as well. Shooting at our brothers is wrong. Not talking to our brothers is wrong as well. I know some of their demands were out of the line and smelled like a fight for more power, but yet they had the right to express such demands and discuss about them. That's why this Council Chamber has been built for. To discuss the future and the unity of the Corsair Nation."
She sat down to the Chamber mainframe console, one more thing must have been done. The rest of the Elders were probably too occupied by what happened so she had to do it herself.
Quote:>login: teresa.maniaco
>pwd: ******************
...
- opening link to the Corsair Central Mainframe, DUV (Deep Underground Vault)
- authorising...
- Elder Access granted! Welcome Teresa Maniaco...
- awaiting commands...
...
>access elder database
- connecting to database...
- database opened
...
>list elders
- Active Elders: Montoya;Costello;Yanez;Lucendez;Carlos;Ares
- Inactive Elders: Maniaco;Alexander;Farquar
...
>open file Costello
- file opened, displaying data
...
> revoke elder rights for Costello
- progress...
- deleting Council Chamber access...
- deleting Elder Shared Ships access...
- deleting Corsair Central Mainframe access...
- deleting DUV mainframes access...
- deleting Tethys Locator Console access...
- deleting Corsair ZoI Elder status...
- deleting Elder Command rights...
- elder rights revoked
...
> close file
- file closed
...
There was another thing Teresa was curious about...
Quote:>open file Ares
- file opened, displaying data
...
>show rights, positive only
- Council Chamber: access granted
...
>close file
- file closed
...
>logout
- Teresa Maniaco logged out...
- entering Stand By mode
...
"Why did you look at those files, dear?" Julio asked.
"I was just curious about Ares' Elder right's. See, his eldership is more or less a honorary one. He was a father's friend from the old days, and I know that Pedro granted him a medal for the defense of Crete. But father never told me why did he make him an Elder. And I am kind of glad Ares just has access to the Council Chamber, he doesn't believe in the corsair ideals any more, because he joined the Coalition."
After they passed through the door, Teresa closed the Chamber, and sealed it, using the highest security level.
This means that only 3 Elders at a time would be able to open it next time.
All Corsairs worshiped this Chamber as well as the decisions made there. It must never be dishonored again...
If I die, I forgive you, father. If I live we shall see.....Teresa Chavez
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