Breaking the Spirit

[Heresy]

Timothy grew up as almost a peasant living on Leeds. With his impoverished parents struggling to support himself, his sister and his two brothers, life was hard. As any good parents would, they worked hard to send all of their children to the best school they could afford. Even on their meagre wages, they somehow made ends meat with money to spare for education.

As the surname suggests, Timothy came from a line of settlers that moved from Rheinland into Bretonia. The Illushyn family were always miners, once for Kruger, now for BMM. Instead of joining the Hessians in the miners revolts in Rheinland, the family decided to try to live lawfully.

Since their exodus from Rheinland, the Illushyn family has been stuck at the bottom rung of society. From miners in the dangerous Omega regions to miners on the heavily polluted planet Leeds, the fortunes of the Illushyn family have stayed almost rock bottom.

This new generation was set, however, to finally change that. All the siblings of Gordon Illushyn and his wife Hannah Jackson Illushyn, were gifted with intelligence, filling the top spaces of achievement in their respective classes. The eldest sibling, Francesca Illushyn, had become an exceptional technician, repairing and operating complex machinery used in many tasks from ship construction to cargo offloading.

Timothy was the youngest of the four offspring, and as such looked up to his two brothers, Conner and Kevin Illushyn, as well as his sister. Conner looked set to move up from mining sergeant in his designated mine shaft to area manager of the entire mine. Kevin would’ve moved into the vacancy left by Conner’s ascension to his projected managerial position. Both would have moved higher than their parents, whom had stayed as bottom-feeders their entire lives in the same mine.

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[Heresy]

Mining Settlement 483, once was a thriving mining community exploiting the riches that planet Leeds had to offer. Four of the six members of the Illushyn family worked in the mine there and Timothy went to secondary school there. Only Francesca had left for greener pastures, elsewhere in Sirius.



During the drilling of a new mineshaft at night in the hollowed out grounds under mining settlement 483, the hydraulic rams holding up the ceiling failed, contributing to the deaths of 192 people. The collapse of the ceiling snowballed into the collapse of the entire level, one of the higher ones of the mine, and subsequent collapse of all but two of the levels below. Loss of structural integrity underneath the settlement caused a collapse of civic buildings in the area, as well as a rather large section of the residential area.

Conventional news choppers were circling like carrion birds overhead the scene while hovercraft of all shapes and sizes converged on the area to see the decimation before them. Floodlights were hastily erected by the emergency services to rescue as many people as possible during the night. Remnants of buildings could be seen next to crushed hydrolics, fluids of the machinery mixing with blood and pulverised bodies. The horrid scene stretching out as across the settement detered no-one, as they made their way to see first hand, the devastation caused by corporate greed.

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[Heresy]

Among the casualties were all of Timothy’s family, minus Francesca. All of the four, Gordon, Hannah, Conner and Kevin were on the night shift at the time of the collapse, overseeing and participating in the new drilling. His two brother’s remains were never found; half of his father was found, his upper torso severed from his missing legs. His head was crushed under a large rock and greyish red liquid oozed from where his cranium would have been; what was left of his brain. His mother had been one of the initial survivors, but the toxins in the Leeds atmosphere had pushed her body to the limits before the incident, and managed to claim her life after it.

Timothy was simply speechless when he saw the consequences of the strip mining of Leeds in the morning. His life had been turned upside down, and his mother’s last words to him burned into his mind like a hot iron.

“Find yourself...”

What did that mean? What was he supposed to do? What could he do? It sounded more like a cliche than a serious comment...

Luckily, his residential bloc had been left largely unscathed by the massive gash in the earth that was now the landmark of where mine 483 had been. Timothy was left only with what his family had left behind and his elder sister. He’d have to begin again. How? He didn’t know that part.

Timothy lived off of what he could find in the house for nine days, and used his savings to purchase extra food while pawning off the possessions of his family, in order of their importance. He waited until his sister arrived the day before the funeral, and had a small sense of relief when she finally did. Being 24, Francesca was exactly ten years older than Timothy and had really no choice but to take care of him, being the only living relative to him. She dutifully took up her responsibility and tried to retain some sense of normality in both his life and her own.

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[Heresy]

Francesca rarely let her emotions overtake her, and continued to acquire more prestigious jobs as a technician. Her pay steadily increased, until one day when she received a letter from Deep Space Engineering. This is what it said:

She put her hand over her mouth in amazement as she read the elaborate letter again and again.

There had been quiet rumours about such a project from DSE for some time, even a small article cropping up on the Colonial News Service. Francesca had never actually expected a letter at all; she just kept up the daily grind in the hope that she would continue to climb the ranks.

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[Heresy]

The project was well underway, and construction was proceeding on schedule. Francesca had been assigned construction tasks that her and her team were to complete by set dates, and she busied herself with the work. The job was hard and the hours were long, but the pay was excellent. Her salary had just broken the 1,000,000 credits-a-year barrier as a senior engineer.

For weeks, work proceeded on schedule. Outcast activity had been low due to BMM increasing their patrols in Tau 23, and the necessary paperwork had been delivered to both the Bretonian and Kusari governments, allowing both to deploy small garrisons nearby to deal with any other threat that manifested itself.

However, tensions had been rising in the whole of Sirius. Admiral Otto Schultzky had been assassinated on Liberty’s front porch by the Order, and Rheinland began tightening it security in the entirety of its territory.

This caused a buzz in the mess hall of the Tau 31 – Tau 23 temporary construction station, but nothing more. After all, it was on the other side of Sirius. What was the worst that could happen? Its not like there was going to be a war or anything....

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[Heresy]

As Rheinland had tightened security measures, parts to the Omega systems construction sites had slowed from a stream to a trickle. Progress was incredibly slow in the area. However, parts to the Tau sites were still easily available and construction was proceeding on schedule.

Even so, now the CNS was reporting news thick and fast, providing plenty of material to talk about in the mess hall. Among the news items was Liberty deploying its fleet for the first time in the Badlands for unknown reasons, and the record bounty of 1,000,000 credits on a Freelancer named Edison Trent and his accomplice, former LSF agent Jun’ko Zane. The list of accusations was long and tedious, including high treason, theft, murder, assault with intent to kill, aiding criminal organisations, evading custody and the like. Quite a record it was, for two individuals to rack up in what was assumed to be quite a short time.

Francesca’s many conversations with her team while off duty always included the latest developments reported by the CNS. Even though it was still on the other side of Sirius, the tension was palpable. Some had relatives in Liberty or in Rheinland. Others were concerned that it would spread all over Sirius.

She was always adamant that it would just breeze over. After all, the Boorman treaty should see to that, after the fairly recent 80-year war between the GMG and the Rheinland Military. What would be so important that Rheinland would break it?

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[Heresy]

The crowds had gathered quickly on the observation decks of the construction site modules. Packing together tightly, the engineers clambered for the best position to watch the situation infront of them unfold.

A Rheinland battlegroup had miraculously appeared around the IMG station Holman. They appeared to be engaged with a small group of fighters, undistinguishable at that distance. At the sight of the Rheinland battleship, the fighters had begun to flee. Two small explosions could be seen, presumably of some of the fighters falling prey to the Rheinland vessels.

The crowd stood in silence as it became apparent that an armoured transport, a freighter and three fighters headed towards the station. Suddenly, in plain view of the station, a squadron of fighters and a group of gunboats “appeared” in front of the fleeing ships.

Some had their mouths open in shock. Others blinked.

“Did you see that?!”

“How the hell…?!”

The plasma again began to fly, but this time the craft were visible. The three fighters, a civilian Hawk, a BPA Cavalier and a rare LSF Avenger were successfully duking it out with the Rheinlanders. After a time, the Rheinlanders were somehow overpowered by the shocking manoeuvres of the rogue fighters and their precision gunnery. The victors proceeded off scanner range and into the distance…

“…”

The action had ended, but the crowds had stayed glued to their positions to view a new event.

The Rheinland battleship, unable to catch the fleeing group, was slowly making its way to the construction site. At first, the crowd was mute. Then, those with more presence of mind started to shout a call to arms. Immediately, the crowds dispersed, some panicking, others heading to their craft. Shortly after, the loudspeakers all around the station sounded general quarters and caution status. Hails to the Rheinland craft resulted in static being returned. It felt like a lifetime as the behemoth approached the site.

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[Heresy]

“WHAT THE F….*static*” – the words spoken by blue wing leader as the Rheinland battleship opened fire on his craft.

Fighters scrambled around the battleship, some trying to escape, others trying desperately to inflict some kind of damage to the hostile vessel. Station turrets worked furiously, ejecting plasma into the hull of the enemy. Captains of the moored transports activated their automated turrets and those too fired. Chaos and anarchy would have ensued had it not been for the professionalism of the management team, trained in both construction and defense.

All in vain, though. By the end of it, the Rheinland battleship was hardly scratched. Wrecks of civilian craft and transports created a thick surrounding of scrap, tainted with frozen body parts of those pilots not vapourised by the explosion of their ship. The station turrets had been disabled and it was completely at the mercy of the military megalith infront of it.

The Battleship moored itself to the station. At first, there was a silence. Adrenaline filled the bodies of those still alive, each individual arming themselves with whatever they could. A few approached the mooring points, prepared to give themselves as prisoners to the Rheinlanders.

There was no hope. Everyone knew that. Francesca knew that too. Her team, full of headstrong men, was ready to fight for their right to survive. So was she.

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[Heresy]

The doors slid open. Everyone waited to see if they were going to be confronted by gunfire, those willing to give themselves up most of all.

There was no one on the other side. Confusion gripped the men and women of the station. Some stood, exposing themselves from cover, with curious expressions on their faces. Others merely stared blankly to where the opposing soldiers should have been.

As the men and women guarding the entrances chattered about this frankly weird turn of events, heavy buckles were heard unclasping. The more intelligent realised what was happening, while the denser stood still trying to identify the sound. However, they were all caught. The Rheinland battleship slid away, decompressing the deck. Emergency doors slammed shut. People tried desperately to hang on as the vacuum sucked them out into the empty void, to no avail. Those that couldn’t were pulled into oblivion. Those that did froze instantly as the temperature plummeted.

The battleship manoeuvred and force docked in different positions, wasting no time in offloading its complement of commandos onto the station. Furious fighting ensued, the soldiers easily outclassing the civilians as they moved inwards on the station. Brief exchanges of plasma and laser were heard all over the station, as the civilians fought for every breath of life against the invasion.

These were the perfect conditions for heroes to be born. Sacrificing their life so others could have a few more moments became common in the few minutes that the slaughter lasted.

Francesca and her team were among the last to fall. When they did, each fell with a gun in their hand, and a hole in their chest.

“This wasn’t written in the fine print…” Francesca said as she lost consciousness, blood pouring from her torso.

“The area is secure, commodore. What are you orders sir?”

“Hmm... First, can this one be saved?”

“They can all be saved if it was needed, but why would you want to save this trash... sir?”

“Just do it. I need a test subject, and this one will do nicely.”

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[Heresy]

Since Francesca had started her new job, Timothy had resumed his secondary education with his sister taking a more motherly role. Even away from each other, they maintained communication regularly. Some kind of normality in his life had been restored, despite everything that had happened.

The bank accounts grew too, his sisters lavish salary the cause.

But the communication stopped. The same day that the border station to Tau 31 had been sieged by a Rheinland Cruiser. The same day Timothy saw two Rheinlanders in the equipment dealer close by.

A few days passed without word, and then a small letter arrived to the house that his sister had rented for him. Almost without opening it, he knew what it was.

He read through the death notice, silent tears streaming down his face. At this point, he’d had enough. Everything lost, it was too much. His mother, his father, his sister, his two brothers, all dead. He was barely 16.

Timothy decided to withdraw all the savings and went to the equipment and ship dealer. Richard Winston Tobias was his name.

He saw the broken boy in front of him. He saw the tears, the sodden sleeves from wiping away the tears and the snot, and the intense fury in his eyes. Tobias tried to convince the boy not to purchase a new craft, but to no avail. As much as he didn’t want to send the boy to his death, it was obvious that he had his own score to settle with fate. So recently back from losing some close friends of his own, Tobias sympathised with the boy.

So, Tim purchased a hawk, fully kitted out and ready to go. He received a crash course in flight, the bare minimum to fly, and he took off into the deep black.

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