Fate comes calling
Port-City of Phin - Amborial Gas Giant - Fel System
Delta Cade drank deeply from the metal cup in front of him. They were down to the second bottle of Frostwort grog. The frothy cold icy crystals clung to his lips for a few seconds numbing his mouth and tongue, before the coolness of the deep blue liquid spread across his body. It was quite a potent drink and popular around the Fel System. Delta already knew he was going to be severely hungover tomorrow.
For the first few hours he had not been able to relax at all. It seemed everyone in the shadowy waterhole, had their eyes on them. Several had even attempted to approach their corner boot only to stop in their tracks by a single warning glance from Nomad. Delta Cade soon realise his fears were unfounded. No one was paying much attention to him. The looks were mainly directed at Nomad. A mixture of awe and fear was palpable, across the den. As they had walked across the twisting metal pathways of Phin towards this place in the lower levels of the city, many people had shouted Nomad's name after the man, as if in greeting or salutation. The Reaver had ignored most of them as if uncomfortable with the attention he was now getting.
Delta listened to his old comrade in rapture. Nomad had never been the most talkative of men but hearing him talk about the events of the last 10 years was an incredible experience. He had of course heard rumours about the deeds of The Armada, especially when the reached the Atlas Station at the galactic core, but this was different. He listened closely as Nomad told him in hushed tones he had killed Envoy and Wolf, two of their oldest friends when it become clear that the leaders of the Armada needed to be destroyed before their way of life was destroyed in their mad quest for the power of the Atlas. How old man Adamastor had died in his place in one of the last battles with the GDF troops so that both the Bloodborn Elders and High Council were unware of Nomad's presence at their final parley before he killed all of them with the help of an Ether Fox named Lilith.
Delta took the cup to his lips once again. So much had happened while he was away. The Armada and his comrade had been through the largest and bloodiest war in the last millennia. It was bound to have a profound effect on all of those involved.
"I heard rumours of course. Of what happened to the Elders and the High Council before the Atlas exploded, but never imagined what had truly transpired." Delta said. "I remember hearing about your invasion and liberation of Omega Purgatory. And of course the Battle of the Silence system." Cade did not tell Nomad he had visited the site of what was the biggest Armadan victory over the GDF fleets, eager to see his brothers and sisters handiwork. An infamous victory that would live on, in the annals of history for ages to come. The battle that had changed the course of the Bloodshed Uprising.
Nomad grunted and called for a third bottle. Delta sighed. His trials and tribulations pale in comparison. Almost two decades away and he had spent almost all his adult life away from the pirate flotilla and its brutal way of life.
"Why am I here Nomad? Why remove the bounty on my head? Why call me back after all this time?" he asked knowing that Nomad was not the sentimental kind wanting to reminisce with an old acquaintance.
A scantily clad purple skinned Azurian, approached the table with another bottle of grog and two fresh glasses. She locked eyes with Delta almost daring him to look at her impressive cleavage.
"On the house, Void Reaver. May your blades never go thirsty." she said with a smile using the old Armadan saying and left swaying her hips knowing both men's gazes followed her enticing figure.
"You are here because it's time to come home, mate. The bounty no longer makes sense and those that placed it are dead by my hand." Nomad started pouring two more measures of the cold drink. "There are only a few handful souls left that will truly remember who you are, Cade."
Delta took a long sip. He felt the weight of the words. The other man was building up to something that would change his life, he could feel it in his bones.
"You evade the bounty for almost 15 years. The longest anyone did. You paid the price. You wanted no part in their mad plans and left while your brothers and sisters went to face bloody war and ruin." Nomad said without malice but his words cut Delta Cade to the core. Often he had felt like he had abandoned his family. That if he had stayed behind he could have at least tried to influence the events that lead to the madness of the last decade and help his brothers and sisters. He could have stayed and fought like many others did. He locked eyes with Nomad. He could tell the other man knew what he was thinking.
For a brute he had always been a sharp fucker.
"And you are back because I need your help." Nomad told him bringing him back from any self criticism Delta Cade could dwell on.
"Help with what?" he managed to whisper.
"Rebuilding the Archangels..." came the blunt answer.