Point of no return
Fel System - Tempestas Rim
The Tempestas Rim was a collections of some of the harshest and dangerous systems in the known galaxy. An area of deep hued nebulas prone to static discharges, vast treacherous asteroid belts with unusual gravity fields and chemically caustic environments.
Not many chose to come this far from the galactic core unless they were running from something. It was a haven for smugglers and other brigands. And of course it had been the hunting grounds for The Armada since times immemorial.
Running away from an ancient conflict that no one could recall, the five Elders vessels had made their way into the Rim and from here built their society over countless millennia. No one left alive recalled those days, except for Councilwoman Twilight who was rumoured to have been one of the original founding members of The Armada.
Delta Cade could not believe he was back. There weren't many souls alive that could claim that they had escaped the harsh life of the pirate flotilla and not paid for it in blood.
Delta Cade was one of those. He glided his vessel across the dangerous asteroid fields of the Fel System with astonishing ease. He had been away for a long time but muscle memory had taken over.
~It's like riding a bike...~ he thought.
It was as if he had never been away. This had been the only home he had ever known. Here in the asteroid belts of Fel he had received his flight training before joining the ranks of the Archangels. It was here that him, Nomad, Wolf and Envoy would come to when they were barely into their teens, to shoot rocks and have mock dog fights. Where they would come to imagine the glorious battles they would have in the name of the Armada.
He rolled his ship to the left to avoid colliding with a hollowed rust coloured boulder, and grinned as he skimmed the sleek belly of his ship past the surface of thing, pulling along a tail of dust and ice crystals.
Fifteen years since he had deserted their way of life. Fifteen years since he had left the Archangels behind and the Armada. Fifteen years with a bounty on his head place on it by the Bloodborn Elders. Up ahead he saw the gas giant Amborial. Up in its clouds the floating port-city of Phin awaited him. And he had to face his old comrade.
Delta Cade had managed to evade the Armada forces and the bounty hunters for more than a decade. He had watched in horror as his fears came to pass during the Bloodshed Uprising. When the mad schemes of the Bloodborn Elders, that he had long suspected had started to unravel and the pirate forces moved on a path of destruction towards the galactic core to eventually defeat the High Council and the Atlas.
What he had feared before he deserted, had come to pass and the largest conflict in galactic recorded history took place over a decade with the death of countless billions.
And now he was back. A few weeks ago he noticed that the bounty on his head was lifted. The Armada it seemed no longer wanted him dead. He had suspected a trap, although he had heard stories that the Bloodborn Elders had been murdered by their own forces. An impossible coup.
But not long after he received a message from Nomad. A simple encrypted messages via channels he had not used in almost twenty years.
#Come to Fel. I will be waiting at Phin.#
At no point had he considered ignoring the request. He could not ignore his old comrade. The metallic grey world grew on his viewport. He grinded his teeth. He could runway any longer. He needed to face his past.
Delta Cade pushed down on the pulse jets with determination. He was well past the point of no return.