Leaving the Portside Embassy behind, curiously located on the starboard side of the station, Vorsitzende Freya Eistochter and the fresh Aktivist Lizzie McLowell make their way through the grey metal hallways of Bruchsal, the headquarters of the Bundschuh Partei. The Bundschuh are only a small group compared to others like the Unioners or the Red Hessians and the asteroid base, by far their most populated station, housed only slightly more than 500 people. Despite there being many stations with much larger populations and more facilities, the place still felt like a small spaceborne town.
"Come. First things first. Let's show you the dormitory and your room. Freya sounds sort of relaxed. "Did you leave whatever belongings and clothing you took with you at the docks? I'll make sure they'll be brought to your room." She takes out her phone and opens an internal communications channel with the civilian docks administration giving them their orders. As soon as she closes the channel and puts away her phone a man wearing an olive-green uniform similar to Freya's walks up to her. "Vorsitzende Eistochter, do you have a moment? The Widerstand is still waiting for approval of the new financia-.." "I'm busy." Freya is clearly annoyed. "I'll look into it tonight. Tell whoever send you to stop wasting my time." She gestures for Lizzie to continue walking again. During the following fifteen minutes of walking, similar events with various people demanding Freya's attention, occur six times and Freya becomes more annoyed every time.
Finally they arrive at a small space with four elevators. "Right, almost there. She presses the button next to the elevators and one of the doors immediately opens. The trip down only lasts about 30 seconds and when the leave the elevator they have arrived at the center of the dormitory-level. On their left and right side long metal corridors are seen with large double doors and several other hallways leading to the rest of the level. In front of them is a large space filled with five very long tables easily able to fit 30 people each. While not full, there were still quite some people around most of them having finished their meal that they got from the long counter on the right, but hanging around and chattering while having a drink, mostly coffee except the table second from the left where about fifteen beer-drinking Widerstand-pilots were seated. Those at the other tables were mostly civilian party members.
"As you can see this here is the mess hall. You can get a free breakfast, lunch and dinner. Drinks other than water and second servings do cost money, but it is still incredibly cheap. Unfortunately the quality of the food isn't as good as we'd like, but supplies are difficult to get by and apart from what the Landwirtrechtbewegung provides us, they tend to come from afar so they have to be preservable. " She points to the hallway on the far side of the room with a sign saying 'Frauen' above its entrance. "Let's go."
After walking a minute or two through the hallway and taking several turns Freya halts at a double door with the number 57 written above it. She waves a small card in front of a scanner next to the door and the doors automatically slide open revealing a room that looks surprisingly cozy compared to the rest of the station. Instead of the metal that can be found throughout most of Bruchsal there are white plaster walls and a laminated floor here. On the far side are a four doors with signs above them identifying them as rooms A, B, C and D. While the doors are metal they have been given a dark green color to fit in the interior. On the left is a small kitchen and on the far-left there's the door leading to the bathroom. The rest of the room functions as a living room with two couches and a single chair, all dark green a low white table between them and on the wall on the door's side a large tv screen build inside the wall.
"Hey, Freya, not going to pull an all-nighter today?" A brown-haired and brown-eyed 19-year old girl lies stretched out on one of the couches apparently watching some kind of celebrity gossip program on the tv. She wears the trousers of the Widerstands-uniform, with only a white t-shirt above it. Her boots, socks and jacket are spread around the room. "Whose that fancy girl you got there."
The doors close again as they step inside. "She's Aktivist McLowell, our new neighbor, Katrina. Would've been nice if you could've shown her a tidy common room to welcome her. Anyway, McLowell: Wilkommen. This is our common room. Over there, room C will be yours." Without even bothering to raise herself up the stretched out girl waves at Lizzie. "Oh really? Wilkommen! I'm Katrina Goldschmidt, nice to meet you!"
Lizzie didn't pay much attention to the people Freya would shove away, simply waving at them politely and apologetically. To most people they'd meet, she'd probably look like some kind of prisoner, perhaps? She ignores the few catcalls thrown at her as well, amused. "It'd be nice, I kinda forgot where the hangar is, and I didn't update my NeuralNet with the layout of the facility just yet. I hope they won't rummage -too much- through my belongings.", she replies to her question with an embarassed blush.
When they reach the mess hall, she seems slightly disenchented, holding her stomach as she observes what the leftovers are composed of. A bit of Synth paste here, and the rare rations of meat and fruit there. Rheinlander food tends to disagree with her stomach, and she couldn't bare the taste of Synth paste. Too late to be picky now. Her outfit attracted a few odd looks, which she entirely ignored, closely following Freya. As they approach the hallway, she reads the sign and frowns, confused. "You're taking me to the bathroom?", she wonders out loud before being escorted into what was more obviously some kind of dorm. She gives in an embarassed chuckle and winks to her host as Freya gives her a slightly annoyed glance.
The room was more cozy than what she'd expected, and the relaxed attitude of the girl already present already puts her slightly more at ease, not that she was normally that shy to begin with. Her intoxicated walk dizzied her slightly, but she still gives an appropriate reverence. "Lizzie McLowell of House McLowell, heiress to the county of Romsey. Not that it matters here, I'm just another Akquetiviste!", her tone is a playful one, not that of superiority. "A pleasure to meet you, Katrina... Gold... Goldsch... Katrina! And don't bother with the mess, it reminds me of home. Cozy and casual."
Coincidentally, the 'reporter' of the tabloid of the show was already talking about Bretonian nobility. Most likely, though, her mother wouldn't participate in such a display, as she was rather recluse within her station in Cambridge, spending all of her free time working on sensitive components for Stabiline. She then approaches the 'C' door, sliding her gloved hand along the white walls of the room curiously, renovation plans already coming to her mind. She hesitates before entering the room, knowing that there was someone here before her, and that for whatever reason, this person was not there anymore. Hopefully, the room would've been cleared of her possessions...
As the door slides open a small room with some basic furniture becomes visible. The walls and floor are the same as in the common room. In the far left corner there's a small bed. On the right of it is a plain looking grey metal wardrobe. There's also an empty desk put against the right wall and above the desk is a shelf with three framed pictures placed on it. All of them are photographs of women wearing uniforms. The first and second appear to be in their early twenties and both wear the same uniform. It's a uniform however that appears totally unfamiliar to anyone and isn't known to be used by any current organisations, though the green eagle of the Bundschuh is stitched onto it. The last photo features a woman in her late thirties and is wearing the uniform of the old Volksfront.
"Well... this is your room. It's not much and you might want to personalize it, but it's sufficient anyway. Ah, but first..." Freya enters the room and walks towards the shelf. She pulls out another framed picture from an inside pocket and places it next to the others. It's photo of a girl, probably around the age of 18, wearing the uniform of the Widerstand. "There. Now this room is all yours, McLowell."
DING! DONG!
"Oh. That's probably your stuff. Let's go get it. Please tell me you didn't take too much unnecessary things with you?" Freya quickly steps towards the door to open it and see the luggage that got delivered.
She glances away from the picture, sneakily shifting it away from her view as Freya glances away, not asking any questions. "Oh, this is good enough, even if I do think I'll have to do a few arrangements...", she says as she slips a gloved finger along the wall, surprised by how clean they were. She thought asteroids were dust's paradise. Wouldn't be the first time her perspective of the world would change today, she figures. She's then startled by the loud ring, springing up, hitting her head against the small ceiling.
"Uh, well, no, I think I only brought the strict minimum.", she says as she rubs the top of her head, wincing. At least, she wasn't bleeding. She rushes to the entrance of the communal room and opens the door, greeted by a female dock worker who pushes in a trolley full of luggages and personal possessions, including one or two antique furnitures, nothing too large.
"Just my clothes, my Neural Log, bunch of books to keep studying in my free time, and a few sentimental things.", she says as she grabs a small black leathery bag on top of the trolley, blushing fiercely as she storms into her room to apparently hide it. "They had me go through a checkpoint before I could enter the station. They didn't confiscate anything at least...", she mutters embarassedly under her breath as she reappears, apparently forgetting about the three people present in the room, which startles her once more when she remembers them.
"Oh, right, thank you for your dilligent work!", she approaches the dock worker and tips her generously, a few thousand credits if Freya were to catch a glance. Her ears then twitched as she heard the tabloid reporter mentioning her family name.
"...of House McLowell, which's assets are estimated at an incredible 3.7 billion credits, has recently gone missing in Rheinland. Only remaining heir of her dynasty, it is suspected that she was kidnapped by the Red Hessians as she was studying at the University of New Berlin. We are still waiting for news of a ransom...", Lizzie then reaches for the controller and immediatly switches channel, the new show revealing some kind of self-proclaimed Xenoarcheologist with a radical haircut claiming that the Dom'Kvosh engineered Humanity.
While Freya was distracted by the luggage, shaking her head at the antique furniture, Katrina quickly raised herself up and now sat on her knees on the couch. "Huh? That missing girl's got the same name as you? What a coincidence, isn't it?" Katrina wasn't known to be one of the brightest minds among the Bundschuh and apparently didn't realize they were in fact the same person. "HEY! I was watching that!"
"What's all the fuss about?" Freya gives an angry glance to both Kristina and Lizzie, the dockworker had left by now with the luggage placed inside the room. "I was watching some gossip news and then they mentioned some missing girl, very rich family or something, probably kidnapped by die Hessen, anyway that girl had the same name as Lizzie and then she suddenly switched channel and I don't und-... oooooh... was... was that you? But you aren't kidnapped.. right?" Katrina lies down again trying to overcome her confusion.
Freya smirks "Kidnapped huh? And a rich family! Would you look at that! So I'll soon be flying around with Lugers made out of gold!" She sits down on the couch that's still empty. "Or I'll be behind prison gold-plated prison walls soon because I kinda think that a person like you leaves a bit of an impression on those who see her. For example on a certain recruiter who is already in the hands of the police, who happened to be one of the last persons to see see you before you came here."
She leans back in looking almost relaxed, yet the cynicism is obvious to all, even Kristina. "So what now? I could just try and act like everything's normal till they figure out you're with us and then wait till an armada of Bretonian and Rheinlandic detectives and private investigators comes searching every inch of Frankfurt. Maybe I should just drop you off somewhere for the police to pick you up. Or do those gold Lugers sound attractive enough to just try and ask for a ransom? What do you think, McLowell?"
"Hey, what are you talking about now?! Weren't you the one telling me about solidarity and how it's important that we stand for each others not even half an hour ago?", says Lizzie as she jumps next of Katrina, sitting on the side of the couch. "Back me up here, Kat! In fact, what tells you that recruiter himself didn't make up that Hessian hit story himself or something to cover me, Freya?!"
With an annoyed sigh, she storms into her room before returning with the picture Freya herself put on her nightstand after a few long moments, nearly shoving it into her face. "This girl, right here, do you think she did what she did just so you could betray your own? Are you a pirate, Freya? Did I accidentally run into the Onioners? What happened to the Boundshoo, hero of the People, remover of the Canceller?" Lizzie then carefully pockets the picture, taking a moment to calm down. Her eyes glance at Katrina, hoping she would side with her.
"Everyone in Sirius knows better than that from the heroes of the Nomad war. If I wanted to be treated like an asset, I'd have stayed in Daumann's facilities. I want to make a difference, not be part of the problem, and I'm more than glad to be part of this legacy!", her amber-colored eyes are now gleaming, as a young girl who'd be standing in front of a hero, her golden hair now ruffled due to the light gravity on board the asteroid, hands held together as she smiles up at Freya like a drooling fangirl. "Right, Kat?"
Katrina gives a bewildered look the first time Lizzie calls her for support, while Freya merely chuckles. When Lizzie returns from her room with the picture she appears less amused however. Katrina quickly intervenes before Freya gets a chance to say anything however. She jumps from the couch and stands next to Lizzie. "You shouldn't just grab that picture, Lizzie! You should treat them with respect in the future, but since you are new around here we'll forgive you this time. Right, Freya?" She quickly smiles at Freya, but does not wait for a reply and turns back to Lizzie. "And I'm sure Freya won't take a ransom, Liz. I know she doesn't always seem like it." She starts to hesitates at the end, but then very quickly and slightly louder finish her sentence. "But she really cares about us!" She smiles at Lizzie.
Freya sighs. "Alright, I guess we'll have to stay poor as we are then. Still, I must repeat my question: What do you think, McLowell?" She pauses to let the question sink and return Lizzie's mind to the topic of the news report. "You caused quite a stir apparently and my people don't have a tendency to cover people by accusing our allies so I can assume fingers will point at us soon enough. That's bad for our reputation even if they'll probably fail to actually find us." She pauses again and stares into Lizzie's eyes like she's staring straight into her soul. "We've got to make sure the world stops worrying about you. So your part of the legacy starts there, by making sure your presence here doesn't damage us. So what do you think, McLowell? What are you going to do?"
Lizzie gives a resigned sigh and an apolegetic nod to Katrina as she seats down on the sofa, thoughtful. "Any publicity is good publicity, no?", she mentions as she keeps thinking. "This means that my mother knows about my disappearance by now. A bit earlier than I expected. Perhaps I should contact her, but they'd expect me to do that, no?", Lizzie shuts down the television so she can concentrate, to the dismay of Katrina that was simply trying to enjoy some time off.
"Well, I can't contact my own mother, but if someone would meet her, and tell her about my decision, perhaps that would be best for all, no? Or, mmh, maybe I should just announce my presence to everyone at once?", she doesn't exactly knows what to do at this point. She eyes Freya for a moment, before unleashing another sigh. "Well, I think that people needs to know that this is something I did on my own. Then, at least, the people will know this is not a kidnapping, and that'll do you a bit of a publicity stunt, for everyone to know that a minor Bretonian noble resigned on her rights to fight for the people of Rheinland, no?"
She then glances carefully and preciously at the picture Freya set in her room earlier for the first time, carefully examining the girl on it. "Who was she?"
Katrina sighs and curls up on the couch. Freya shakes her head. "a publicity stunt like that would do no good. It's not unheard of for hostages to be forced to say such things by their captors. Your mother, the media and the authorities will likely all interpret it like that."
She ponders for a bit and then turns her head towards Lizzie with mischievous smile that has been rarely (if ever before at all) seen on Freya face. "But your suggestion of sending someone to your mother sounds good and who else to send that our lovely Aktivist McLowell herself? All you have to do is convince her you were not abducted and are in fact with us by choice. Then she can tell the Bretonian media. The censored Rheinlandisch media will then pick up the story and probably come up with a headline like "Bretonian noble lady betray friends and family by joining terrorist organisation." I realize that still sounds kinda bad, but it'd be pretty good actually. The publicity would be: Unchanged in Rheinland, some interest in Bretonia, possibly supportive in Liberty and Kusarian press probably won't care at all. Seems like a perfect plan, you can go in a few days in fact. You don't have a personal ship yet, but the Arsenal is planned to make a trade run to the Mollies so I can get them to drop you off in Bretonia probably."
She jolts after listening to her, grumbling slightly. She seems rather shocked by her conclusion, but also offended about something else. "Eh? But you totally ignored my question!" Lizzie leans back, her head resting against Kristina's shoulder as she remain thoughtful, her hair now hiding most of her face. "Fine, I'll go to Bretonia, but I'm not going alone.", she replies with a weary sigh. "I don't want to break down in front of my mother, I know how she is. She'd get me to just change idea or something."
"The Mollies, though? I can understand working for the Workers' rights, but I don't understand seccessionists.", she chuckles to herself, glancing at the plain walls of the room. "Right, I'll do this on on two conditions. Number one, you come with me, Freya.", her smirk becomes wicked as she approaches the wall, setting her hands on her hips as she shakes her head. "Number two, you let me handle the decorations of this room. God knows it could use some life."