Defender of the Faith

Swift Truth banked hard right as the pirate guns came to bear, the Executioner class frigate was just to fast for the bigger guns of the pirate cruiser, it's shots going wide. As Edward sweeped around the pirate Saragael drove straight at it in his assault frigate Hammer. His lasers blasted as the shields of the cruiser began to fail.

Saragael pulled up at the last second, his ship skimming the surface, all the while his pulse lasers pelted into the cruisers hull. As Edward orbited the cruiser, his guns adding to the destructive force he note that his sensors showed an energy spike, suddenly the shields of the cruiser where back at 20%. Edward frown for a second, trying to recall his recent training, finally it came to him and he activated the vampire module on his Executioner. Instantly the power levels of the pirate began to fall.

The battle lasted about another 90 seconds before the pirate cruiser exploded. Saragael drifted through the wreckage, his scanners searching for any salvageable items. As he searched he opened his comm systems; "Edward you did well, the Executioner is really beginning to respond nicely to your skills. Plus the timing on the vamp module was perfect."

Edward sighed, :I wish it where so old friend but I hesitated when I should have hit it instantly. My frustration has no bounds right now. I KNOW how to pilot a ship. I remember piloting much more advanced ships and yet the fact my skills must be relearned makes me feel like a child all over again."

The last month had been hard on Edward. The retraining was progressing quickly but Edward was growing inpatient. Saragael understood why, it was the memory of doing more that was driving him. Forcing Edward to relearn these skills was like making a master painter do his work in water colors. Add to this Edward's drive to find the ones that killed his father and likely tried to kill him, he was beginning to feel the stress.

The return trip to base was uneventful and quiet. Arriving at the Sarum base in the Nakri system Edward had left the hanger immediately to report the destruction of the pirate harassing shipping for the area. Saragael however walked toward the hanger prep area. In the prep area he walked over to a comms console and punched in his code, a few seconds later a face appeared. "Is the ship ready yet?" Saragael asked. "Yes sir, as ordered, the final module fittings have just been completed and the identification emblem you requested has been put on."

Saragael smiled, "Excellent, put it in hanger bay 21. You will be rewarded for your efforts." With that Saragael dropped the comm linked and walked out to meet Edward in the pilots lounge.

Edward sat quietly in the corner brooding over the glass of water in front of him. Saragael smiled, most pilots enjoy a good stiff drink after a mission or a long day. For Edward the normal fare was chilled water and when he needed a stiffer drink he had fruit juice.

Edward looked up as Saragael took a seat at the table. "Old friend we have trained enough. I might not be back up to speed on my technical skills but my tactics and determination are as strong as ever." Edward looked Saragael straight in the eye as he spoke and steeled himself for the coming response. They had played out this conversation every few days for the last month and every time Saragael had cautioned Edward to patience. To take his time and rebuild slowly, Edward was prepared for more of the same.

Saragael looked at Edward and a frown crossed his lips, Edward began to build his arguments in his head. Saragael then bowed his head to Edward and spoke. "Lord Sarum I am your friend but I am also your faithful servant. I as your servant will follow whatever coruse of action you deem best and as your friend, " Saragael looked up and smiled. "I agree the time has come to stop with the toying."

Edward almost fell over in his chair, he was so prepared to argue and instead he was speechless.

Saragael continured, "The empire is at war, someone has tried to kill you and succeeded in killing your family. There is much that needs to be done. You have regained your base skills and the time has come to put them to use."

Edward nodded gravel as Saragael spoke, there was a slight smile on his face but also a look of longing. Saragel watched and Edward seemed to mull over whatever had capture his thoughts, sitting silently waiting for his friend to speak.

Edward  let out a sigh, "It will be good to get back to work but I miss Heirloom." Heirloom had been Edward's first ship, a Punisher class frigate that had been passed done through various members of the Sarum family. The ship had served him well and had gone unscathed throughout his career until that ambush in Faswiba.

Saragael nodded, taking a sip from the water he had brought to the table with him. "Come Edward", he said as he rose from the table, "there is something I have to show you.

The two friends walked together in silence to an observation bay, the doors where closed to the hanger area.  Lord Sarum the Executioner is a fine frigate and Swift Truth has served you well but the time has come for you to pilot a ship that will carry you farther in your task ahead. I present to you my friend a gift from your family, the Rebirth.

The observation doors swung open with a bit of grandeur and Edward looked out into the docking bay. At first glance he thought he was looking at an Execution class frigate until he noticed the lines, the slight up curve of the nose, the triple gun mounts. Before him in the bay was a Amarr Navy Issue Slicer, the pinnacle of Amarr frigate design.

Edward looked intently at the craft, it capture the speed and grace in it's appearance of the Executioner but the three medium beam turrets on the hull showed it also had teeth. As he looked over the lines he note the emblem painted on the nose of the craft, the circle of stars with the two crossed swords.

Edward Sarum turned and looked at Saragael, the smile on his face was brighter than a nova. "My friend it is time. Contact our close allies, begin to discreetly recruit pilots, this day the Sarum Guard is reborn.

The room was still as Edward sat in silence absorbing all he had just heard.

In the last few days before his "death" the doctors had come upon an idea to possible save Edward's life, well at least make a clone viable. They had used base genetic material from his mother and sister. This they had then tied to some of the sequences in Edward's own DNA, in effort they built him from scratch.

Next came the issues of his memories. The genetic infection had been implanted using the base memory skills of the clone to provided the needed entrance into the cloning process. In other words the memory themselves had been corrupted. While the basic memories where not infected the skill centers where, specifically the skills related to star ship piloting. This meant that some genetic brain surgery had to take place. The idea was to use the memory save system to edit out the infected skills and leave the base memories intact.

The procedure as near as they could tell had been successful. Scans showed no trace of the genetic disease and speaking with his Mother and Sarageal revealed only minor base memory lose, a few things from early childhood and a few more recent events.

Edward looked the doctor squarely in the face, "Does this mean I can pilot again once I have retrained?" "NO!", his mother cried. "I know you Edward and piloting is not all you have in mind. You got close to this once and it almost took you away from us, you will not go looking for it again." She turned to Saragael, the look on her face pleading, begging him to agree with her. Saragael looked at Edward and nodded, then and Lady Sarum and dropped his eyes to the floor.

Edward continued to stare down the doctor, "Well!?"

The doctor looked from Edward, to his mother and back to Edward, a sigh escaped his lips. "Yes, you can retrain the skills you have lost with no ill effect. However I would suggest a deeper retraining."

"What do you mean deeper retraining doctor?"

"Edward the methods we used where not limited to modification of just your brain but of your base genetic material. You will find for instance that based on our records you are 4% taller than before and have added an addition 8% body mass. Also you will notice if you look closely that your features while still very Sarum have taken on a bit more of the ______________ appearance, gained from your mothers genetic material.

In other words your body is not the one you are used to and even some of the more basic skills will need time to adjust."

Edward sat silently for a moment and then stood. "There is much I must consider and I am very tired, if you will all excuse me I will now retire for a time of prayer and meditation to see if I can fathom what Gods will for me is now."

Edward walked slowly down the hall, heading toward the chapel. As he walked a mirror on the wall caught his eye. He stared deeply into it, Looking back at him was Edward bit also not quite Edward. Before he had bore a stronger resemblance to his father, his features had been more Sarum. Now he could see the influence of the KorAzor line of his mother.  The face was a bit more elongated, the chin a bit narrower than before.

Suddenly Edward jumped as he looked in the mirror, with a shudder he turned and walked down the hall, past the chapel. Right now prayer was something that could wait. The process used to save his life had taken a bit of his father from him, just as someone  had done when he was murdered. Edward was sure in some way he would find that the lose of his father had also somehow been to save his life, a hunch, a hidden memory, he was not sure. What he was sure of was that God had chosen to given him another chance, another chance to find the killers of his father, another chance to bring God's justice to them, another chance for him to have the revenge he sought for them stealing his father from him. Yes a second chance he was not going to waste a moment of it.

The warm water washed over Edward, it was like the gentle caress of a lover. The ooze from the clone vat fell from his body, the warm water took away the chills he had felt early and the muscles in his body that had been screaming in protest now seemed to flex in ecstasy.

Edward was still reconciling himself with the fact he was alive. A little over a year ago while hunting down a clue about his father's death, Edwards ship had been jumped in the Faswiba system. The attack had been brutal, quick and oh so very deliberate. As his interceptor had disintegrated around him Edward had hit the pod ejection system, however his killers had been waiting for him. As the pod dropped from the debris it was instantly locked down in a scrambler field and was destroyed before Edward could even hit the warp drive activation.

When Edward awoke it was not in the clone facility on the Sarum station but instead in a hospital on Sarum Prime. Someone had tampered with the cloning material Edward had provided. Upon activation the clone had come online as it should but a genetic disease had been implanted into the material. The illness caused problems with the neural pathways and had made it impossible for the clone to be able to function using a pod system. As if that was not bad enough the disease was slowly eroding other neural pathways and would eventually kill him.

During the next year Edward had been confined to his family's estate on Sarum Prime. There he under went a batter of tests and examines, all looking for a way to reverse the process. It was during this time that he had met Saragael. The Khanid had been hired to serve as Edward's companion and body guard. There had obviously been an assassination attempt and the family was determined that there would be no more.

Edward had lived just long enough to see Jamyl return and turn the tide of the Minmatar attacks. A few days later the disease ran it course and Edward had died. There was no way for him to be cloned since all the clone material had been corrupted, or at least he had died believing that. Now here he stood, water rinsing his body clean and as near as he could tell he was intact.

A joy rose in Edward as he began to think about once more riding through the stars once more piloting his.....

Wait, his mind scrambled, it must be here, it had to be here. Sweat began to form on his brow, the water could not wash it away as fast as it formed. His head hurt as he tried to direct his thoughts, deep into the recesses of his mind and yet try as he might, he could not find it. A sob racked his body as he fell to his knees.

On his knees he buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shook from the pain that was wrestling deep within him. He could recall the joy of being in space, he could recall his battles, those he won and the few he had lost. Yet no matter how hard he tried, no matter how deep he looked the memory of how to pilot was gone.

A scream escaped his lips, he was dimly aware of Saragael rushing to his side, kneeling beside him as the water pounded over them. Why God, why such a cruel joke, the memory of the joy of being in space and yet all the knowledge of how to do it was gone.

Fire, lungs on fire, burning. A cough racked through his body as he sat up. Deep from the core of his being, or at least that was the way it felt, fluid came spewing forth. It felt like an eternity sitting there, each gasp for air brought another spasm and more fluid. After an eternity a breath finally came, cool, clean air filled his lungs.

With breathing finally not being an issue his body seemed to relax a bit and the brain finally kicked in, the senses began sending in information about his surrounding. His skin felt clammy, A sticky wet fluid covered his body, a shiver quacked across his body as a cool breeze drifted over him.

A voice began to become clear, "Lord Sarum, it is Saragael. Can you hear me?" A large cloth was draped over his back, it seemed to be heated as the warmth spread through his back, the most wonderful feeling he could recall.

Recall? Wait, memory, there was something, it flirted at the edge of his mind yet he could not focus, there was something not right here, something wrong.

Slowly he lifted his head, the muscles in his neck felt strong,the movement smooth and yet at the same time foreign.His eyes opened, the slim dripping from his eye lids. For a few moments the world was a haze, gradual it came into focus. He was sitting in a vat, an ooze covered his body and he sat deep in more of it.

Slowly he turned his head , the room was sterile, clean. Equipment lined the walls, medical equipment he realized. As he looked around another blanket was placed in front of him, wait not a blanket but a towel, not for warm but to dry off. Looking up Edward saw a smiling face looking at him, dark skin, slight slant to the eyes, wait he knew this face, his friend Saragael.

He continued to look around the room, to his other side stood a woman. Not a young  woman, well advanced in years and yet she bore a regal manner. The smile on her face was radiant and the tears running down her face where like stars dotting her skin. Her voice was like an angel as she spoke, "Edward my son it worked, you are alive."

Edward, yes that was his name Edward, Edward Sarum. A stretch worked through his body as this thought hit him, yes he was Edward Sarum and he was alive. ALIVE!? Wait he was not supposed to be alive!