The Malkalen Incident had reignited the war between the Caldari and the Federation. And for the first time in my life, I found my loyalty to the Federation called into question. At first, it was just some light hearted ribbing in the locker room, a drunk comment at a bar. I paid little attention to it. But as the weeks went by, I became sullen and aggressive. I started to get into fights and spent more than a few days in the brig. One afternoon, I got a call from my C.O to report to his office. I had expected this, my discipline has been lacking as of late and a reprimand was probably in order. But when I got there, I was met by a man dressed in a black uniform with three armed guards at his side. I was escorted to a transport and off world to a ship. I had seen this type of ship before, my company designed it. It belonged to the Black Eagles.
I won't go into details about my time there. Pain, thats really all you need to know. For all that talk of equality, having a Caldari Civire for a mother red flag me in their system. Never mind I hadn't seen or heard from her in years, or that I have shown nothing but loyalty to the Fleet and my homeworld. “Blood will tell” is what they said to me. Turns out mother was at one time a high ranking officer in the Caldari Navy. If not for my family’s influence, I'd still be there now.
When I arrived home, I was welcomed back by a dishonorable discharge from federal service. I was disgraced, my family shamed and shunned by our so-called friends. These were not Gallente traits, but that's what we were living with in the months I stayed there. When I couldn't take it anymore I left, leaving in the middle of the night so I wouldn’t have to face my father. I caught a ride to the nearest port and was off world within the hour. I didn't know where I was heading, I just knew I had to get as far away as I could.
After jumping around the cluster for six months I ran into a old friend from Caille, Jessica Baylor. Jess and I shared a few classes, so we hung out in the same circles. As we caught up, she told me about some work she had been doing for a weapons manufacturer in the Ney star system, Mannar Focused Warfare. I told her about my time in the navy, and the circumstances which led to my discharge. The next morning as I was leaving her station quarters, she said that she would put in good word for me at the corp if I was interested. Having nothing else and nowhere to go, she paid my fare on the next ship heading to Ney.