A slightly smaller Mess

Charles: Turns out Laurence is one of the acolytes who's been chasing your parents. Hopefully I've been able to solve that problem.

Hera: "Oh shit. How long do you think before he checks my file? Its got my full name on it."

*Meanwhile laurence is going through the obvious options of why charles would be tetchy about it, reading jax and serah's files to try to find any mention of charle's involvement.*

Charles: Well, if he does come after them, he'll be in violation of an inquisitorial order, and the punishment for doing so is execution.

*nuffin*

*he moves on to trawling through recent crew additions, and stumbles across hera....*
Laurence: "Hera Delatine.... Immalia... By the throne... charles..."

Hera: "He helped you save my life charles!"

Jax: "Hera the man is ruthless, he'll kill us all."

Charles: I know, to both of those. I'm hoping the penalty will dissuade him from trying to pursue it.

Jax: "I hope to the throne you're right..."

Laurence: "Charles you stupid bastard!"

Charles: if not, he has to go through me. He knows better than to go through me.

Hera: "You're both... very powerful... im not sure i can tell who's more."

Charles: Well...I don't like to brag....*grin*

Hera: "Im saying that if you fight him it'll be devastating,"

Charles: probably. Don't worry, it'll be fine. He's got bigger things to worry about, and he knows it.

Caiber: *finds laurence* What's wrong now *eyeroll*

Laurence: "To put it bluntly. Charles is shacked up with the daughter of two heretics."

Caiber:...*shrugs*

Laurence: "Heretics who have killed hundreds of inquisitorial agents... caused the single most traumatic experience of my life, and got all of my friends killed."

Jax: "No... This runs deep charles..."

Caiber: my father was a purestrain genestealer who killed hundreds upon hundreds of imperial soldiers, including astartes first company veterans.

Charles: go on.

OOC: Dis gon be good *Gets popcorn*

Laurence: "Thats not the worst part... because of it i believe he's coerced another inquisitor into issuing a protection order on them, they're absolved of all crimes, and reopening the investigation carries a penalty of execution."

Jax: *Sighs, and sits down in a chair* "we... did some... questionable things. Things im not proud of, but we had to, it was the only way out."

Caiber:....oh well? All things considered.... this isn't worth your time. Unless you think its worth my time to hunt down the hive fleet that destroyed my home too. Which it isn't. Bad things shape who we are, get over it and move on.

Charles: We all have.

Semi-IC: That voice in Laurence's head: Communication within the imperium is spotty at best. It is not uncommon for orders and messages to be lost to the warp....

Laurence: *sighs* "Damn it.." *quieter* "Damn it...." *he walks over to his desk and sits down.*

Caiber:...I thought you stronger of mind than to let this get to you laurence.

Jax: "We were on a hive world... chasing up a group of chaos worshipers the eldar told us about... We were scouting the place, thinking how to stop a ritual... Then They turned up, an eight man group of acolytes. They attacked us, so we ran, the only way we could, into the cults territory."

Charles listens but doesn't interrupt

Laurence: "I lost everything to them. My friends, my inquisitor. It was a rough life but they treated me well..."

Jax: "They chased us... got us backed up to the church where we knew the ritual was going on. Serah was out of bolt shells, my lasgun was wrecked... We were desperate."

Caiber: you remember who you're talking to right? I lost my family, my friends, everyone I ever knew, the people I saved from a life of bondage, my home, all in a matter of minutes. YOU lost everything? You know better than to let that get to you. You're a damn stronger man than me.

Charles: what happened?

Laurence: "I lost it over agonizing weeks. I was born a pariah, caiber, left by my own parents, vilified by the people of my home, i killed my first man aged nine with a broken beer bottle. I was taken by the black ships at fourteen, tortured for god knows how long, time lost meaning in the darkness, then trained as a psyker and given to an inquisitor. He was strict, but fair. He cared about the people in his company, i was, for the first time in my life, surrounded by people who accepted me, even liked me. I struck up a romantic tryst with one of my fellow acolytes. Every day i didn't have to worry about someone finding me cowering in the gutter, or where my next meal would come from. I wasn't in pain constantly. For three, glorious years. Life was good. Then it was taken away from me. I was along again. I watched my friends, and my love be torn apart in front of me by creatures from beyond reality, i escaped with my life only to find the only father i'd ever known betrayed, poisoned and dying. I cared for him in our safe house for eight days before he died. All i had left was vengeance, caiber. I chased them for six years. Never giving up, i faced them over and over, but they always slipped away, without support from the inquisition, and without anyone to call my friend or confidant i chased them. Then the trail went cold. I had no leads. not even the tiniest scrap of a clue to where they had gone. What do you do when you devote your life to vengeance, and the target of your hunt dissapears without a trace? I went back to the inquisition, and was juggled across the sector. My powers making me useful only to kill huge numbers of heretics, i didn't care. It was catharsis, a distraction, when the blood flowed i could forget my failures. Then i meet an inquisitor, kind, thoughtful, a good man, i help him save people. To find that the man i respected is harboring the people who ruined my life. I have finally found them again, they're within my grasp but i cannot touch them. Do you understand now caiber?"

OOC: How is he a biomancer if he's a Pariah?

OOC: Pariah means hated, he was born on a world that despises psykers

Jax: "The ritual inside reached fever pitch... they tore a hole, through to the warp. Daemons, summoned deamons, khornate daemons. The one in my mind, the beast from karasov. I made a deal with it."

OOC: Ohhh that sort of Pariah. Got it!

Caiber:...revenge. A most worthless of causes. Who am I Laurence?You wanted them dead, they defended themselves, and killed people you cared about in the process. Heretics by your definition. By theirs, probably just two people, probably desperate beyond measure since the damn inquisiton is after them, who don't want to die. To Charles, people worthy of protection. Why is your perspective the right one, hm?

Charles:...go on.

Laurence: "They set daemons on us. khornate daemons." *his eyes are glazed, he's staring into space. A single tear rolls down his cheek and he whispers a name* "Trisha... i'm sorry."

Jax: "I promised it... I promised it blood, if it sent its kin at the accolytes chasing us and not us. It agreed, and i gave it control... It screamed... I... screamed at the daemons in... words that shouldn't be able to be spoken, and they ran past us. The daemon gave me back control, and we ran... ran as fast as we could."

Caiber puts a hand on laurence's shoulder.

Charles: you were desperate. don't blame yourself. Believe me...I've done things I'd rather not share out of desperation.

Jax: "Throne... I can remember the screams... We should have just laid down and accepted it. None of them were older than thirty."

Laurence: *jerks away.* "No... no. *half sigh, half sob* you don't understand."

Charles walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder

Caiber:...Laurence...Did I ever tell you about my children?

Laurence: *looks up at him* "no... you didn't... Me and trisha could have children..."

Jax: "He'll do anything to kill us. I can't say i blame him"

Hera: *Looking at her father in shock and horror* "By the throne... Dad..."

Caiber: I had three daughters, laurence. And...scoff if you want, I'm an abomination bred for war and infiltration...I loved every single one of them. I was created to be a military mastermind. Every one of them was smart enough to make me proud. They were kind to the people we saved, and fought harder than anyone I knew for the cause. They were the best daughters I could have ever hoped for. They were by my side when the betrayal came. I watched one of them eaten alive by fleshborer beetles. It was slow. The second was consumed by the acid spray of a tyrannofex. Again it was not fast. The third...the third escaped with me and Drogg. We ended up on a hive world before I ended up fleeing to where you found me. We tried to hide out...but she was found. I couldn't save her. They dragged her through the streets, naked and in chains, weighted hooks digging into her flesh. Then they nailed her to a cross and burned her alive. That's when we fled to where you found us.

Charles: it's alright jax. Really.

Laurence: "Caiber... I'm sorry... I... I know how you feel. The imperium's people are cruel to those who are different. I'm sorry your daughter fell victim to that."

Jax: "After that he chased us for six years. His psychic powers grew to the point we couldn't hope to fight him, we just had to keep running.... I.... I tried to kill him in his sleep once. i found the safehouse he was hiding out in, but, he woke up. he'd rigged alarms. I grabbed a book with a red cover... i thought it was a notebook, you know, take any evidence he might have written down, loose him some leads on us... it was a diary."

Caiber:...she was sixteen laurence.. *shakes his head* we've all got problems, lost people. It makes us who we are. Revenge consumes you. Takes who you were and devours it. If you don't move on, it will destroy you.

Charles:...you don't have to....

Laurence: "I don't remember who i was before anymore. Reading my own journal is like reading about someone else."

Jax: "Trisha... one of the other acolytes, he was in love with her." *its obvious that jax is somewhere else. not hearing charles's words*

Caiber:....Laurence if I'd let hatred and revenge consume me...I wouldn't be here. I'd have attacked you on sight, and been killed or worse. Would Trisha have wanted you to become so consumed? Or did she care enough about you that she'd have wanted you to be happy instead?

Charles: Look at me, Jax.

Laurence: "I don't remember what she looked like. What she sounded like. she had blue eyes, and brown hair... i know that from my journal... I don't know what she would want."

Jax: *looks up at charles with a 1000 yard stare*

Caiber: look at me laurence. If she cared about you like you care about her, she'd rather you move on. Rather you be happy. You really respect charles this much? Talk to him. There's probably another side to this. Don't give in to your bitterness. 

Charles: You didn't know. You were desperate, and faced death or worse. Do not blame yourself.

Laurence: "They're so close... i could end it all so easily. Finally kill them, after all this time."

Jax: "I did know... I'd fought daemons before. I knew what would happen."

Hera: "Dad...." *She covers her mouth, and backs away.*

OOC: Oh snap!

Caiber: and what would that cost you? You wouldn't feel content. You'd feel empty. You've let them become your driving force, and when they're gone you'll have nothing. Worse, you'll have had to fight and possibly kill a friend to do it.

Charles: that's not what I meant.

Laurence: "I've been empty for a long time caiber... Six years i chased them, then they disappeared like smoke to the wind."

Jax: "I saw my own friends die to them... I cradled bodies until they died in my arms... but i sent them at other people..."

Caiber: and killing them would do what? I told you before I give a shit about your well being, and I damn mean it. Let it go. For your own sake, let it go. I know you're better than this. Please. 

Charles: Jax, stop.

Laurence: "This is me, caiber. The cold ugly damned truth. I lost everything, so i work to keep my mind from the pain. I drink myself into oblivion between jobs to keep my mind away from the truth. I've gotten damn good at it."

Jax: "...Oh god..."