Baron Bob’s Bar
Saltwater Villa
Galatea
Federated Commonwealth
Second Quarter 3057

The metal bar slammed hard into the back of Sir Alec de Payens’ neck. Doubling over under the impact against his skull and spine, Alec tried to deflect the next blow with his left forearm. Unfortunately the attempt failed as the wooden board cracked his bone and pushed his arm back into his face. The enemy wasn’t letting up.

Only minutes ago Alec had been minding his own business, having drinks at the pub in his latest effort to drown some of his sorrows. It had been just one year since the passing of his wife and child, and Alec was still having a hard time setting things right within his soul. He had his goal in mind, a clear and effective way of combating that which had destroyed his own life. Living that new way of life, however, was an entirely different thing.

Alec still had those days, days when he was a different person altogether. It was those days when he wanted to kill himself or drink his life away. No matter what the future held, it would never bring back his family. That grim realization was exactly the thing that kept Alec from recovering from his loss. He could only hope that the future he might build by himself could somehow compare to that of his past.

As his enemies struck their final blow, an unforgiving kiss with the metal bar, Alec drifted into unconsciousness. His mind was active, but only filled with dreams of his past and never realizing the desperate situation that his physical body now lie in. The rowdy drunks who had first hurled bottles at him now plucked his body from the floor and slowly rose it over their heads. They felt no mercy when it came to the hired guns, the dirty mercenaries that they so often spoke of. Tonight’s example would be made by none other than Alec himself. Clumsily, wavering, the two thugs bonked into the emergency exit door. The latch held at first, but after some fumbling with it one of the two men was able to open it. Shortly outside the pub’s exit-way, the two dropped Alec into a pile of garbage. As they struggled with the alcohol that was coursing through their veins, they propped the door open again and disappeared inside.

Hillcrest Hospital
Saltwater Villa
2 days later

Alec woke to the rhythmic beat of a high pitched beep. His perception’s clarity increased as his drugged body slowly allowed him to focus on the sound. Moaning and twitching, as if in some sort of nightmare, he woke with a startled cough. His eyes betrayed him, permitting the intensely bright lights of the hospital room to instantly bring tears to his eyes.