''It's good, no one has ever accused the Outcasts of being simple. Your explanation is more than sufficiant.'' He finished writing and relit his pipe before looking at her ''So this is where it gets a touch personal love. You mentioned Enma Loyola and that you've worked with her in the past, do you mind if I ask about that? do you want me to turn the recorder off?''
Oh, not at all. The girl wondered how deep his questions would dig into her relations with Loyola, but didn't want to look like she feels uncomfortable talking about Enma as that would've probably raised more curiosity in the subject. I think we first met around the first quarter of last year in Omicron Delta at that Freeport there. We became friends fast and have flown together both casually and in sticky situations. Eliza's face lit up with cheerfulness as she remembered something. Enma is older than me and has been involved in the service of Malta in the political and military fields for far longer than me which made her a serious person, but we still have our childish moments in our friendship. Though if Eliza had to be more truthful the childish things mostly came from her side, Loyola simply tolerated them.
''I see. Did she harbor any.....resentment regarding your appointment to the Legion? and you mentioned that you got out of ''some sticky situations'' with her, could you elaborate on that?''
Resentment? she answered with a surprise, Enma was the one that got me assigned in the Legion. I think she was also involved in the forming of the Legion as whole as well, along with Ezio Aquila. As for examples of sticky situations... Eliza looked to the sky and squinted while trying to remember a good example. Ever since Enma got more into the politics of Malta they've been flying together less and less and Valdez's memories of last year had began to meld together. We've both been of operations in Liberty as well as in the Omicrons, Delta and Gamma to be precise. Combat against enemies of the Maltese and such. Sometimes odds were against us but we pulled through. Those were the sticky situations.
He wrote it all down, along with more questions that were building up in his head.
''So the goals of the Legion are what exactly? As in, what do you plan on achieving aside from defending Maltese space. Or would you regard yourselves as the Outcast 'Home Guard'? so to speak.''
Our main goal is to shift the ruling focus on Malta and it's people rather than self-gain. When it all started we were planing to stray away from politics. Eliza sighed, she was young and optimistic so she was still not used to the fact that reality often differs from the ideals. Though in reality things don't always work out as you plan them to be.
He laughed at that ''No, they don't. Could you explain?''
When we first formed we focused on serving on the Maltese Nation's various front lines - Omicrons, Taus, Sigmas. We thought that if we do a good enough job there and show the Council what it could've been focusing on instead of fighting internally with other Maltese groups they'll realize their mistake. She paused to make a long exhale. But in reality they barely even acknowledged us so we felt forced to push into the political game on our own by pulling some of our forces on the borders back into Maltese core space. If we wanted to change things we had to show force. Eliza didn't like talking about all this and the fading cheerfulness from her expression showed it.
He had been taking note of her sighs and her slowly fading experssion, she wasn't happy. Any fool could see that. He paused the recorder and looked at her with a warm smiled for a few minutes before asking; ''Something is on your mind. Please tell me what is wrong''
The girl noticed Alfred pausing the recorder and realized the obvious nervousness written on her face. For a second she panicked because she was uncertain this pause meant he's giving her a break to gain composure or if he's gonna ask something that'll make her even more nervous. The interviewer's warm smile soon put that worry to rest. Eliza tried to return a smile, but hers was much more forced. Alfred Steiner's silence and warm expression only made her even more nervous, she did not know what he was thinking, but was certain he's silent for a reason and that slightly creeped her out but she didn't know what to say either to break the silence. ''Something is on your mind", he finally broke the silence. At that moment Eliza could have probably asked him the very same question but at the same time feared finding out what's really in Alfred's head. The Maltese gave out another sigh as her facial muscles relaxed. You know that saying: "join the army, see the world, meet new people"? she said while blankly staring at the table in order to not make eye contact.