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The Bishamom softly touched the bay's floor, exhaust fumes driving away the small particules of space dust and scattered bits of trash, common to busy bays. The entrance side door opened, and Kaze Dagon, still in her black flight suit entered, followed by twelve marines. Two guards quickly saluted and ran to the Bishamon. The marine unit circled it. Kaze leaned over a crate and lit up a cretan cigar and exhaled the sweet smoke, waiting for the Bishamon to open its doors.

"And you're sure you want me to stay here?" the red haired woman asked Ezrael as he stood up from the piloting chair of the Bishamon, just having swallowed and washed down a bunch of pills she gave him, just in case. It was Commander Sherry Aguilar from the Apahanta, who sat in the co-pilot chair. Placing a hand on her shoulder for a moment, Ezrael smiled at her. "I'm an adult and professional now. I even wear underwear today," he told her with a another pat on her shoulder before he put on his black leather jacket and moved towards the door to the corridor, which would lead him to the airlocks of the gunship. "Hey, if they torture me, blow the ship up, right?" he told her, joking, knowing that would be the stupidest move she could do.

A minute later, the airlocks would open and reveal Ezrael Vertiga, probably just the same way Kaze would remember him. He wore a black skin-tight overall that pronouced his athletic stature, and over the upper body he wore additional to that a jacket, simply because it had pockets where he had a PDA and some other stuff that he didn't want to carry around with his bare hands all the time. Looking around, he was less surprised than one would think, given he was surrounded by marines. Spotting the Commodore, he made a move towards her, with the airlocks closing behind him. "I took the liberty of not bringing any escorts or big bald muscle guys to intimidate your marines," he said with a cheeky smirk on his lips as he reached her, stopping about two meters infront of her. "Good evening, Commodore."

"Standard operational security procedure. Any non-bretonian non-military ship is searched, scanned and secured on landing, Mr. Vertiga." Her bionic hand, without the synthetic skin, removed the cigar from her lips and she extended her left hand, this one natural, to shake his hand. "Welcome to the York." Her face had a little oil smudge, her hair was just a tad unkempt and her flight suit somewhat dirty. Obviously, she had been flying, and probably fighting in the last hours. "Thanks for the invitation," he said, reaching out his gloved hand to greet her appropiately. "I take it then you want to scan and search me and my ship?" he asked her, keeping his usual decent smile on his lips, although he had the feeling she was rather not the type of woman that would fall for his charme.

She nodded towards one of the marines, who then issued his orders to his group. Hurrily they started scanning the outside of the ship and three of them entered the vessel. Dagon then turned her head towards Vertiga and her right eye almost catched a glint of cybernetic green with the lighting shift. "Follow me, Mr. Vertiga." She said, taking another intake of the cigar. Her footsteps aimed towards the side entrance, and she dropped the cigar in a small container near the door. Looking back at the Bishamon and how they accessed it, he slightly bit his lower lip. There was nothing worrisome on the ship. Sherry wouldn't have any problems with the marines. She knew how the formalities were from her time in the Core, as she was one of the defectee that joined Vertiga. Turning around to follow Kaze, Ezrael put up his rather unbothered expression, looking at Kaze to take the opportunity and check how she was shaped. "May I ask, what made it necessary for me to show up in person? Anything specific that we couldn't have talked about via comms?"

"All in due time Mr. Vertiga." They entered a small corridor that gave access to an elevator. It opened and both persons entered. Two automated turrets exited the elevator walls and trailed both persons. "Dagon. Fourth floor." With a ding, the doors closed, the turrets retracted and the elevator began to ascend. Dagon looked at Vertiga. She flexed her bionic fist, the metal slightly charred. No smile or signal that she had a heart or any social talents to display in her face were shown. "And the Admiral is too busy?" he asked her, trying to break the silence. A year ago, the behavior of Kaze would have unsettled him way more than it did now, as he was used to people of that kind. Back in the Core, he commanded them, and with the adventures after the defection, every now and then he had to deal with those people. They do what one expects from them, and nothing more. That was his opinion on her, from what he saw so far. "Gallia ante portas?"

The elevator halted and the doors opened. Dagon extended her arm, signaling Vertiga. He left the elevator and a corridor, bigger one, was shown. Dagon passed by him and kept on walking. "The Admiral is busy, yes. As am I." They kept walking until they reached the entrance of what it seemed the comanding officer. Two marines stood to the side and saluted. Dagon saluted back, and one of them opened the doors. Entering it, it was sparse, clean and above all simple. Two simple chairs, one metallic desk with several holo consoles and paperwork all around the desk. The walls were the normal battleship ones, heavy metal. The floor was wood however, warm. With a signal of her hand she signaled Vertiga to sit.

It looked a bit weirdly serious. No wonder Nancy didn't fit here, he thought. Taking a seat, he looked around, taking in all the beauty of the grey walls. Felt almost like his personal quarters on the Apahanta, just without a big bed and the holo windows all over the walls to keep track of the events of the ship. "I take it this is your personal office?"
"Yes. And my personal living space." She sat on her chair, confortable by the looks of it. Dagon activated a couple of holo-screens. "Maren von Westefeld. Infected. And according to a lot of sources, your 'squeeze' as it were." She laid back and waited.

He smirked at Kaze. "I see. You're still thinking my fiance is infected. Makes me wonder why you think so. What are the evidences about it? Who are the many sources?" he asked her, looking at the holos. "Sources." She leaned forward. "You see Mr. Vertiga, the Admiralty sees in grey. They have to be. Politics force them to be such. I am the black and white watcher of this army. I have to. My home is burning. Nomad attacks like the one in the Omegas are getting dangerously close. And I have to contend with certified sources stating that your fiance is or was infected." Clicking on another holo. "So here you are. Do you deny any involvement or contact of Ms. von Westefeld with nomadic influences?"

A short hum and exhale, then he answered. "I'm afraid your sources are pretty outdated. The rumors about Maren being infected are a simple product of Auxesia being generally incredibly paranoid. What started with Noah Xonnel accusing her of being a certain Agent Unschuld of Das Wilde lead to both Sapphire Raven and Joshua Hunt, or Endurance or now Leviathan, however you want to call him, thinking she was infected. So we danced around it for a while, trying to live a normal life, until I got aware of Auxesia having spread the rumors - and I say again, it was only rumors - about Maren being infected towards other people openly. The result of it is that the Lane Hackers are actively hunting both Maren and me, and I take it Bretonia denied my first request for harbourage because of the same rumors." While continuing, he opened the zipper of the right pocket of his leather jacket to retrieve a PDA. He activated it and searched for something. "A friend of mine provided me a little insight on what eventually made them believe the things they believe in their powermongering paranoia. You probably remember the last time we talked on my Bishamon. I told you I am certain that we actually can move nomads out of house space by simply talking with them. If you want, I can provide you the footage on how I was able to do that. In fact, I have a big amount of footage on the Apahanta regarding the attempts of cooperative or at least coexistential experiments with nomads." He raised his PDA, putting it on the table so she could take a look at it. "When I saw the necessity of proving Auxesia wrong, I took Maren with me and visited the Eidolon Wraith. I wanted that madness to stop. We talked, they screened us, they even sent their Osiris to send a team over to the Apahanta to search it. Whooops, surprise, they found nothing interesting because there was nothing interesting on the ship. My crew is clean, I am clean, and as you see right infront of you, Maren is clean as well. What you see is that her DNA is altered like the DNA of any Maltese, as Maren is a cardamine user since her late puberty."

The PDA would show diverse methods of scans that were used on both Maren and Ezrael, showing exactly what he said. Maren was cardamine addicted and a tiny bit chubby, Ezrael was a pretty healthy and athletic man with general symptoms of stress.

Kaze picked up the PDA and used it for a while, reading the data. After three silent minutes, she placed the PDA onto the table and leaned back, sighing and cracking her neck. "I have been in many places, Mr. Vertiga. I have seen many things. I have faced many more." Her bionic hand grabbed a cigar and lit it up. "Nomads, in all of my experiences either try to infect us, control us or to kill us if we are uncontrollable." Leaning forward, she turned one of holos around, the video replay of the fights in Omega 7. The battle against several nomad signatures. A huge one, ripping apart transports. "You may be able to understand or even talk to them, I do not care. What I care is that Bretonia has no such capability or even wanting to have such. We are probably the only house without any serious case of nomadic influence since the Nomad Wars. Why?" Dagon exhaled the cigar smoke. Heavy with the sweet aroma of Crete. "Because we know very well what happened to Rheinland. We know what happened in Liberty. And I know very well what exists a jumphole away from Chugoku."

She got up and unbuttoned the top part of her flight suit, showing off the countless scars in her skin, and the grizly connection of the biotic arm to her body. "I am not like the rest of my countrymen, Mr. Vertiga. While they have the luxury of hope, I have the weight and duty of culling any threats to my House and Queen." She turned around and sat again, slightly more relaxed. "Odds exist everyday in my life. I lost three good pilots forty five minutes ago. Odds were that I would lose many more. Odds are that scans can be forged. Evidences can be good and true. But when the Director of the Buro states that Maren von Westefeld is indeed infected, it creates a rift in the odds of you being truthful. And if there is 0.1% in one hundred of you not being truthful... I must take it as an absolute certainty." The smoke trailed a grey path, dancing upwards into the air. Her eyes were fixated in his. "And you did not answered my question, Mr. Vertiga. Did Ms. von Westefeld had any involvement or contact with nomadic influences?"

"The Buro? You mean the BDM?" he asked her, being actually surprised about it. "Wexler, I guess. Never met her in person, but I know she and Noah Xonnel are butt buddies, and she has a bad taste for hot pants," he said, refering to what both Maren and Sombra told him about their meeting with Xonnel and Inge Wexler on Canaria. "I'd double-check your sources. Ask Auxesia if their scanning methods are legit, ask the BDM how old their sources are. She is not infected and I won't allow that to become a thing again. Hunt managed to even make me having doubts about it and I was close to get rid of Maren. That won't happen again," he said, taking his PDA again to look up something. "God, I wonder to what level we need to strip for us to finally get over with this," he mumbled, opening up his transmissions with Joshua Hunt and Sapphire Raven.

"Maren and I were on the Eidolon Wraith in the night from September 26th to 27th, in Inverness. We talked about our different points of view, about their methods and how successful they were and my methods and how successful I was so far. Not gonna lie, I don't have a super solution, but the fact that I am still alive, not infected while being forced to live in the Edge World while Auxesia takes hits from all sides and has to hide itself in Inverness, while they have a nomad lair right next to them there, should tell you something. If you don't provoke them, they have no reason to attack you. Imagine the nomads as a sixth house. Mankind entered their space, ignored their laws and now has to face the results of it. They are intelligent enough to make differences between dangerous humans and those that are no threat. Given the fact that I am not very keen to see the Apahanta in shambles, I try to not be a threat to them - like I do the same with any other house or faction or group." He leaned back, taking a deep breath while looking at Kaze, putting the PDA into the pocket. "September 26th, Commodore. Rumors or evidences from before that are proven wrong, so check your sources."

Kaze sighed and leaned forward towards the desk. Typing in one of the holo consoles, the wall to the right started to recede into the back one, increasing dramatically the size of the office, and displaying the personal quarters of the Commodore. Spartan, clean and military. A big window showed the sight of the system, with Planet New London in view. She got up and walked towards the window, looking at the comings and goings in the trade lane and fixating her eyes in the planet. Her home. "Mr. Vertiga. The Director of the Buro is Geoff Enfield, thus nothing to do with the names you previously stated. And if the leader of a Rheinland Governmental organization states without a doubt that Ms. von Westefeld is infected or displayed infected behaviour, I will tend to do anything at my disposal to insure the safety of my House." Exhaling the cigar smoke, she looked at Vertiga. "And you still failed to answer my question. This is the third time now. That does not bode well, since it is a simple yes or no answer." She crossed her arms, the cold mettalic alloys touching her skin.

"Matter of factly, I did answer your question. She is not infected, I've shown you the proof. I've shown you the hard evidence that neither Maren nor I am infected. If you doubt that because some guy Maren last had to deal with more than a year ago, then I think we are done here, because I have no idea what else you want than putting up the same show Auxesia did. Or the Lane Hackers," he said, trying to remain calm as he said it while slowly standing up. "Nomadic influences, make me laugh. Everyone in the Omicrons could be accused of that, as they use telepathy in many ways to communicate with people. If I was you I'd rather ask the BDM about how often the Core had to fight their and other Rheinland assets. Leuchtfeuer, Wolf, Nestor, Heilige Eins," he said, sighing while zipping up the pocket of his jacket. "Ergh, what am I even wasting my time with you."

"Because you want to transverse with a capital vessel and crew, that are neither native or citizens, through Bretonia unscathed and without being treated like a criminal, both in Liberty as in Bretonia." Taking in the sweet smoke, she kept looking at the sight. "There is also the matter of Auxesia that are more able to destroy you than to give you reprieve. And also, there is also the matter of Ms. Nancy Sweetwater." She looked at the man, watching his eyes understanding the realization. "Lying or obscuring data is the worst choice you can do now, Mr. Vertiga."

Looking down for a moment, he sighed audibly before turning towards the door of the office. "Check your sources. Once you have done it, we can have another meeting. Preferably with the Admiral and a bit less stupidity." He was about to leave the room.

Looking at a small transport entering the lane, Kaze raised an eyebrow. "Lying it is then. Mr. Vertiga, you, your crew and any ships registered under your name and or associates will be hereby banned to enter Bretonian space, Joint Protectorates and controlled domains as per the Treaty of Curacao, Treaty of Bethlehem and Treaty of Port Jackson. Failure to do so will result in being classified as a criminal and enemy of Bretonia and thus dealt in accordance to said status. You can file for a formal complaint with the Admiralty within the next twenty four standard sirius hours."

She walked towards her console, and as she sat, her hand put out the cigar in the ashtray, and started writing in the console. After five seconds she rose her head. "Is there anything else, Mr. Vertiga?" As she threatened him with the consequences, he stopped for a moment, feeling the heat of the situation hugging him uncomfortably. "I offered intel and assistance, stripped entirely for Auxesia to finally have them see Maren and I are innocent. You have seen the hard evidence, Miss Dagon. I offered an additional high-tier battleship to help in the fight against Gallia. I allowed you to play around with your gun on my ship. And in return, you treat me like a criminal, coming up with claims you won't even show me so that I could defend myself. Is this bretonian justice? Where I come from, people are innocent until proven guilty, and I have proven you wrong." With that, he opened the door.

"Yet you are lying to me, Mr. Vertiga. Do not fool yourself, you are no saint and we are all sinners in one way or the other. I must protect what I hold dear, and I understand the same need in you." She continued typing. "But I cannot help you and treat you as an ally until I know the full extent of the danger that your associations and past pose to Bretonia. All I can promise you is that the contents of this meeting to be fully classified." Leaning back in her chair, her face with a risen eyebrow, looked directly at Vertiga. "As would be your participation in a long term classified operation alongside bretonian operatives."

Once more, he stopped, letting the door close again. "What are you talking about?" Straight faced, she turned one of the holo consoles toward Vertiga. It shown a spinning logo. "Bretonia needs knowledge. The past information services at our disposal were all but spent in Leeds. I find it truly distressing that until my arrival in the Admiralty, we were fighting blind. Rare to none reports of enemy movements in the Taus, the situation in Newcastle, the political juggle in the Omegas and of course, the situation in the Omicrons." Rising from the chair, she turned around to the front of the desk and sat. "I am well versed in the game of cloak and shadows, I was built for it, but Bretonia needs all of my fighting capability in the front. Bretonia needs me at the vanguard. And yet, I need eyes, ears and if need be striking power for surgical strikes behind enemy and ally lines." She moved her hand signaling Vertiga to sit.

He turned around to her as she spoke, yet he didn't follow the invitation. "So this is what this all is about? You know yourself Maren and I are not infected, but you'd tell the Admiralty the opposite if I wasn't to play along your rules?" he asked her while smiling slightly. "You're not only working for the BAF, right? Because such a move would fit for either Lane Hackers or operatives of intelligence agencies. You have no sense of justice, as that would stand in the way to achieve your goals. You want me to be an expandable pawn in your own little chess partie. Someone who if getting caught couldn't be traced back to Bretonia. And I take it Admiral McIntire knows about all this, as he conveniently didn't come here for this meeting. That is why you didn't want to my second-in-command. You wanted to talk to me, because you can only blackmail me and not her." He shook his head, laughing for a short moment. "This never was about the Apahanta, wasn't it?"

Dagon flexed her bionic hand, while Vertiga talked. When he laughed and stated about the Apahanta, she rose an eyebrow. "It is everything about the Aphanta and your crew, Mr. Vertiga. What do you think went through my head when the director of the Rheinland Intelligence stated that Ms. von Westefeld is indeed infected? Or that when I had confirmation that a Reaver is travelling with you? In a capital class vessel." She sighed. "What I do is for the safety of my people, my Queen and my House, Mr. Vertiga. And I will stop at nothing to insure such. But I am not a heartless shrewd that throws away people to the grinder just because it suits my objectives. I will be the first entering the grinder." Her bionic arm moved. "If i'm lucky, these bits will break it first." Rising from the desk, she walked again towards her seat. "No blackmail, nothing gets out of here. I just need to know the extent of the danger your association and the associations of your people pose to Bretonia, so I can prepare accordingly." Turning the holo console back to her, she started typing. "Now, are we going to talk without hiding facts? Because I can. It is the only way for you to trust me, and the only way for I to trust you."

Watching her with great care, he slightly smirked while kneading the flesh below the inner side of his lower lip. "I didn't lie. Maren is not infected. It's proven, and it was the biggest salvation I ever felt in my life. Apart from that, she isn't on the Apahanta, and she never will be, because I won't allow my future wife to be on a warship." His look moved away from her eyes to her desk with the shiny holos. "I'm also pretty sure none of the Apahanta's crew members are in any way related to the Reavers. Some of them are Core defectee like me, others are casual people and hirelings from freeports and other welcoming stations out there. My crew poses no threat to Bretonia. Neither do I. Same goes for Maren." There were two options. Either Dagon was a Reaver and knew about Nancy, or she was somehow else related to the Reavers. Only a handful of people knew about Nancy. Yet he didn't want to give her proof of anything. "But you know that perfectly well, so rather tell me what exactly you have in mind for me to do."

She nodded, and turned the leftmost holo console with the spinning logo. "SIS. Secret Intelligence Service. The newest iteration of our Military Intelligence service. I ushered the creation of it, and although I do not command it, nor could I given my status, I do support it in any capability possible. Recruiting being one of them. Front line duty is well and good, but it is a bloodbath, unsuited for what I think, your talents. You were on your own for a great deal of time, showing resourcefulness and capability to navigate in trecherous space." Kaze eyed Vertiga. "I am not keen on using you and the Apahanta like a tool, Mr. Vertiga. I am keen in giving you the chance to do more for Bretonia than you ever could in the front lines." She lit up another cigar, and exhaled. "Nevermind that your knowledge of the Omegas and the Omicrons will be most welcome, alongside the nomad experiences that will be key in the near future, I believe." The display in the holo-console opened and shown several encrypted files. "The SIS already has a standing number of operatives and assets. But the Apahanta capability of serving as FOB or SFT and getting to the destination undetected is what will be most likely the main mo for you."

Taking his sweet time to respond, he eyed her for a while, looking for any indications of a bluff. But there was nothing. If she even was a person, she was a dead person and able to live with that pretty well. It made him smirk again, thinking about it highly concentrated. "That would imply I was able to bring the Apahanta to other places without having people notice it. I don't know where you come from, but I think there is almost a kilometer of difference between a battleship and a stealth fighter." She laid back in the seat and rose an eyebrow. "Really?" She pressed a key in the console keyboard and a video started to play in the holo.

"A core defectee transmitted this during the whole Freeport 11 debacle. Weirdly, your ship was reported MIA/KIA not later after from the Core. Yet, here you are. Nevermind that your Coffin was also reported to have cloaking technology, witnessed in person." She nodded already replying to the question in Vertiga's head. "I have seen much, battled a great deal and in the process met a lot of people, Mr. Vertiga. As undoubtedly you have too." She leaned on the desk. "I was hoping you would stop lying, Mr. Vertiga."

"There is an interesting story behind that video," he said, smirking cheekily at the holo. "Do tell me though about what you think I am lying, as you constantly mention it."

"Hm. Very well. One, you tried to imply that the Aphanta has no cloaking technology. Two, I know about Ms. Sweetwater from an exceedingly reliable source. And I know Ms. Sweetwater past in the Armed Forces and after that.. Up until the last days of her very colourful past. Wether she is part of the Aphanta's crew or not, she is close by, no doubt. The need for the adrenaline cannot be removed. Once a Reaver, always a Reaver. I believe its the saying." Kaze looked at another console, and exhaled some smoke. "I never said the Apahanta isn't able to cloak, but you know yourself the most battleships can barely keep up a cloak working for longer than fifteen minutes," Ezrael reminded her, smiling at the chair. "While the power supply isn't really a problem, it simply would burn away the ships internal systems if we'd try to exceed that. Fifteen minutes. Not much in space." Still not sure what to think about this entire situation, he remained close to the door. "I can also assure you, there is no person on the Apahanta that is affiliated to the Reavers. I met a bunch of them in the past, and I wouldn't be surprised if you are one of them, looking at the way you behave. You're a soulless killer, enjoying your smokes without a care for your lungs, knowing you could die any day. Interesting enough, you seem to have found something else than money to fight for." The moment she called his ship a coffin, he was rather certain. "I wonder what your color would be."

Kaze looked at him with the same face while Vertiga talked. In the end, she inhaled some more smoke and savoured the taste. Exhaling it, she finally talked. "You tried to imply it was not the case, Mr. Vertiga. And fifteen minutes of not knowing its there its better than zero seconds, no? I do not need to tell you the advantages of such. And as for the technicality of Ms. Sweetwater being or not assigned to the Aphanta, well, I do trust implicity the source that pins her with you. After all, I have someone very precious to her that guarantees it." Putting the cigar away, she eyed Vertiga up and down. "Souless killer... No, I was never such. Alas, to add to my sins, I always carried a soul. After all, true monsters always do. Thus I would not have a color. But, I can surely say I would be in charge of something far worse." Her hand grabbed the cigar and flicked it, ash falling in the ashtray. "Like killing colors."

But what would it be that was of value to Kalliste, he asked himself in a thought. There was only one such individual he could think of, as Nancy told about the Witch's child. She had it? "You're right. I have met many people since the defection," he commented it, trying to not lose the charming smile while wondering about Kalliste. The kid was said to be in the hands of the SCRA. That would change things definitely. "So, tell me more about what you have in mind for me regarding the SIS job. And why I should play your pawn with this." The smoke danced upwards to the roof, as words were spoken. Kaze looked at Vertiga when he finished. "Same reason you wanted to throw your crew and your ship at the front line. And this way, you can also protect yourself, because less visible ties are non-abusable ties." She brought the cigar to her lips and inhaled. "How is Ms. Sweetwater? For what I have heard, a memory loss?"

"Massive memory loss," he said. "The only thing remaining from her past is the name. We did our background check on her. We even hired the IRG to fix her physical brain issues, but it didn't work. Whoever she was in the past, she isn't that person anymore. Apart from that, she isn't with us anymore," he told her, his smile vanishing for a moment. "A poor and restless soul." Looking up at her eyes again, he took in a little bit of the smelly air of her office. "If you can assure me three things, I take your bait," Ezrael said, moving to the chair to lean slightly onto the backrest.
"Do tell." Kaze pulled the console keyboard to herself.

"First of all, I want Maren to be safe. She is proven to be not infected, and I wish that everyone that claims the opposite is to be corrected. I showed you the proof. If that isn't enough, contact Auxesia, request the data and share it with the BDM and whatever other source you may have about her. She is innocent, and while she might have done weird stuff in the past, she is neither infected nor indoctrinated. All we want is a simple living together. I'll work for you, but keep her out of all that." Taking a silent breath, he continued. "Second condition. I need to be able to both reach Cortez and Magellan in case of an emergency. If they attack my homeworld, I need to be there and stop them. On the other hand, I need to be able to reach Livadia to repair and maintain the Apahanta there, as I can imagine people wouldn't like the view of a non-Core Mako at Southampton. So I need to be able to traverse through Bretonia. Even if only without the use of the public routes. I know your admirals aren't a fan of foreign capital ships close to the installations and planets they guard. So I don't mind moving the ship through less-visited places." A smirk formed up on his lips as he began with the third condition. "Third condition: I don't want your people on my ship. No tricks, no traps. If you want me to do stuff for you, you will trust on my set of skills to get what you want."

Typing it, Kaze nodded hearing the man's needs. When he finished she looked at the list and smoked for a couple of moments. "Hmm. I will do so in Ms. von Westefeld case. Second request, it is doable and sensible. Unfortunately, due to the war, we simply do not have a tucked away out of the way shipyard to fufill the requirements for the Apahanta. Thirdly, it will be slightly trickier, Mr. Vertiga." She exhaled some smoke, and pulled more files from another console. "Several operations may require our people to be in the Apahanta for deployment and/or support. No battle plan survives first contact, so for your safety, for the safety of our people and for the sucess of the operations, many times I must say that our operatives will be in need of docking with your ship, be it for a forward base of operations, a simple safe heaven in the middle of enemy territory or surgical strikes. Just because you will not be in the front line it does not mean you won't see battle." Putting the cigar away. "However, our operatives are trained and are mostly bretonians. So they do know how to behave, I can assure you." Kaze looked at Vertiga. "And I see you still do not trust us."

He chuckled, grinning at her. "If I could trust you, you wouldn't need to do all this shady backroom dealing with me." With the smile turning to his usual charming smile again, he continued. "I want a complete list of the people who enter my ship. Names, faces and professions. Your guys will need to know that the ship is under perfect surveilance. They will get their own rooms, but they won't get full access to the ship. No access to critical systems, no bridge access without my personal approval. The ship will remain under my command and if necessary, your people will carry out my commands as long as they are on my ship." He looked at the holo again. "You and your people will treat my crew as if they were their own flesh and blood. No illegal drugs on the ship, and most important, if there is only the slightest sign of an attempt to take over the Apahanta, you can be assured your guys will end in a giant blaze of glory." Taking a silent breath, he looked up at her again. "In other words, standard house rules and common sense. If you can agree with that, we have a deal."

Kaze nodded. "Standard biometric data, that's all. Information about the operatives can be compromising. The rest is standard operating procedure in all asset operation. However..." She eyed Vertiga. "You treat them as well as your flesh and blood, Mr. Vertiga." And those eyes became dead. "Or I will do what I would be forced to do... If I was a Reaver." Breathing ever so slightly she continued. "No denial of operations, full confidentiality, iron-clad agreements will be signed, and complete blackout in information regarding operations with the branch. If information is leaked out, if my people are hurt and you are the source, I will exact payment on you, Ms. von Westefeld and all that you hold dear. People that I will follow very closely. Since I do not trust you either." She held the cigar up. "And what was the saying?... Ah yes, Reavers always have what's due. Do we understand each other Mr. Vertiga?"

"The Apahanta will be at Livadia for a few more days. Once they are done with the renewal of the hull patterns, I'll notify you." He straigthened his back, his gloved hands still at the backrest of the chair he was leaning against. "As long as both sides play fair, there is nothing to worry about, then. Just don't make me regret this." Kaze's face became somber. "Mr. Vertiga... In this business, we always regret." She extended her bionic hand. "But I will do my utmost best so that you can call Bretonia home as well."

"Sounds good to me," he gave her back with a smirk at her bionic hand, moving closer to shake it, finishing the deal. "Anything else?"

"Ms. Sweetwater is the only unfinished business, really." The hands shook, the metal cold to the touch. "She is still wanted by Bretonia due to acts of terrorism. It would be best if she could stay away, or I will be forced to act." Picking up the cigar, she spoke again. "Apart from that, I will forward my positive evaluation to the admiralty, and place you and the Apahanta as a special war-time asset in the SIS closed database. Government wise, you are clear to travel. But do stick to the shadows, of course. You know how the officials get... restless when something like a Mako is not under their direct control."

"Agreed. People won't notice us. Also, as I said, Miss Sweetwater isn't with us anymore, so there is nothing to worry about." Letting go of her cold, dead hand, he made a move back. "No word shall be spoken about it to outsiders. I hope you'll handle it similar. Especially Auxesia is dislikes us for not sharing their views, and since they are allied with the Lane Hackers and probably have a few other shady deals running, I'd prefer if they don't become aware of this, apart from the permission to move through Bretonia," he told her, looking at her bionic arm, remembering a good amount of people from the Core using similar prosthetics. "Hm? Auxesia and Lane Hackers?" Kaze eyebrow rose. "Do tell."

That was interesting. She didn't know about it. "As I told you and the Admiral in Newcastle, we required something from the Lane Hackers to defect with the Apahanta, so I had a little contact with them. Many months later I wanted to use the same contact again to buy information on someone affiliated with the Core, but they refused, telling me their Auxesian friends told them I might be infected. You probably have heard of Goro Yoshida. He wanted me to come to Mactan if I wanted to prove that I'm neither infected nor indoctrinated by mania-interogating me. Something horrible, as you probably know. Instead, Maren and I went to the Eidolon Wraith and let Auxesia scan us, as they probably had the even better equipment for that, with both the technology from the Core and probably other factions of the Omicrons. We told Auxesia to share the clarification with the Lane Hackers. Given that Lane Hacker patrols still take a turn in my general direction when I move by with known assets registered to be piloted by me, I take it they still have me on their to-do list," he explained, smirking at her. "I can send you the related messages, if you need a proof of that."

"Do so. I have a feeling it will be of our common interest this knowledge. Especially regarding the latest events." She then sat, and pulled one of her consoles. "You will be contacted in the near future, Mr. Vertiga. One, regarding your safe-pass through Bretonia and a second, from our mutual friends." Starting to type, she looked up and nodded. "See, it didn't hurt that much, did it?" Looking back to the holo console, she smirked.
"I just hope it won't hurt in future either," he said quietly. "If we're done here, I'll return to my ship before the Commander starts to use your marines as punching bags." With that, he patiently looked at her, smiling rather satisfied now, intending to head for the door.

"They aren't marines." She replied, continuing to type. "Safe winds, Mr. Vertiga. The two marines stationed at the door will walk you back to the bay. Good night." Kaze replied, looking at the newest reports from the front lines. "Until next time," he said, leaving the room. A few minutes later, he was back at the Apotheosis, intending to launch as soon as possible. The gunship would leave the York a few moments later, heading towards New London, then to Cambridge...

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