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A dinky and slightly dented shuttle pulled into Ouray's hangars, followed by a battle-scarred Prosecutor. The size difference between craft was rather hilarious, but the Xenos knew better than any other upstart in Liberty that size wasn't everything, especially with what they'd just accomplished in New York standing as testimony.

The hangar crew were a little surprised by the extra ship, but they assumed that since it was accompanied by one of their own that it could be trusted and tolerated for now. For Kate this would be the start of a new chapter, a pact with the underworld and perhaps the devils themselves. But when the game of murder and greed is played by everyone from businessmen to delinquents, how would you know who the real bad guys were?

Damian waited outside his ship, this was a mere drop-off and from here Kate would be taken to one of the sites commonly used by the Phantom wing for their training and induction. They were overdue a chat in person however. Approaching Kate's ship slowly and with a twirl of the arm, he would knock on the canopy to prompt her to get out. Hopefully the hangar was sealed properly.

Katherine jumped slightly when the man knocked on her canopy. She had just realized that in the heat of the moment, the woman had ditched her police ship, but her flight suit screamed "donuts and coffee all day long". She hesitantly climbed out of her ship, tripped halfway and fell. As the thump echoed and faded in the far ends of the otherwise small hangar, it was replaced with eerie silence. Every man and woman in the immediate area pinned their eyes on the woman wearing a cop outfit. Katherine just shrugged, attempted to smile at them and barely uttered:

"H...hi..guys, I'm uh...I'm Kate!"

The next few dozen seconds were the longest of her life. Would they shoot her? Would they just proceed to ignore the clumsy cop woman? Would they give her some normal clothes? Would her knee stop hurting? She was interrupted by the guy whose name she didn't know, the same guy that brought her here. The same guy that didn't hesitate to put himself between Katherine and heavy capital ship fire in order to save her life, even though he should've done the exact opposite of saving.

To her surprise, the man that had just knocked on her canopy would help her up. While one of the pilots relaxing in the hangar called out. "She one of us now or do you just have a costume fetish, Commander?" It was a very snarky but casual jest from someone that clearly knew the person that had brought Kate here.

A moment would pass, Damian ensuring she was good on her feet before firing off a response. "Uniforms are hot, but her's might just be a little too hot. Go dig out a spare uniform, she's going to need one." There was no hesitation, that pilot simply pulled himself up from his seat and set off to go find a spare uniform. Despite what was commonly believed about the Xenos, they did indeed seem to have a hierarchy, organisation and perhaps even a strict code of conduct among themselves.

"Welcome to Ouray Kate. Soak it in, we'll be leaving soon." He was sure she had questions and if she did, now was the time to clear them up.

Kate swiftly took two steps away from the man, obviously trying to avoid physical contact. Ever since she got stabbed by a junkie behind a bar down on Manhattan, she started putting distance between her and everyone else. Literal distance, at least a meter, just in case they had a sharp object and a taste for her carotid artery. She zoned back in, realizing the gravity of the situation. She had assisted criminals right in front of Newark station, she had disobeyed her orders to engage the criminals and not only that, she had actually defected and joined the ranks of the Xenos. Not bad for a day's work, she thought. But facts were facts and she was still hellbent on making Liberty just a tad better, one dead scumbag at a time. While being a cop provided the means to do just that, her recent screw ups meant Katherine Holden would we've been kicked out of the force anyways. Kate's gaze awkwardly met the man's eyes and she realized he was waiting for her to focus on the matters at hand.

"-Right, right...sorry, it's been a long day. So, what happens now? How am I going to get a ship? I know a guy that can set me up. You know classic cop-criminal situation. I let him go, he owes be a favor now. Also, what's gonna happen to my shuttle? I kinda stole it, can we send it on autopilot back? Someone's probably missing it. And...uh...sorry...sorry, I'm talking too much. I get over exited after antimatter discharge and large explosions in space...I...thank you for saving my ass. I should've led with that...sorry.

She took a deep breath and tried to flush all the distracting thoughts out of her brain.

-Let's do this. Liberty ain't gonna clean itself. What's next, commander?

He took a moment to observe her mannerisms, she was cautious and clearly had a guard up despite the fact that no clear threat had presented itself in the moment. That was mostly a good thing, though it did show a historical influence might be at play at least in this particular circumstance and that she wasn't immune to mild paranoia.

Nonetheless, he'd keep a very neutral countenance and patiently wait for her to finish talking. "Right, let's start from the top. Since you'll be rolling with the Phantoms now, you're going to be shuttled to one of our sites. Where? Well that doesn't matter, but I'm sure the training we have to offer isn't anything you're not already used to. Though there are a few things only a Xeno can teach you, and in our line of work preparation and smarts are going to be the few things you can count on in the field, you mess up and you'll mostly like end up dead."

Unlike her, he took his time talking, his tone wasn't rapid nor was there anything about this situation that made him nervous since he was fairly certain he had the situation under control. If Ouray was still here a week from now, then he'd know bringing her here wasn't a potential mistake.

"No Kate, we can't send that ship back. The navigation console will lead right back to us. We'll strip it bare for parts that we can use and then force it back out the hangar and vaporize it with the defense turrets. Leave the ship procurement to us. Depending on what you like, we'll either bargain with the zoners, negotiate with the Legion or just.. steal something. Right now, just focus on the tasks at hand. Do you have any questions?"

She patiently listened to the man. She was still surprised by the fact he trusted a cop. Who knew the Xenos were actually really fighting to make Liberty better. Kate nodded slightly and took a more formal pose, as if she was about to salute the man.

"-Just one question, boss. When do I start?

She waited for the answer without any further distractions on her mind. Holden was ready to begin her training and hopefully survive. She was ready to finally make a difference in Liberty, no matter the cost.

He smiled, an inductee being eager was good, couple the conviction with her idealism and you had a well-motivated candidate. But the operations than operative of this wing often did wasn't ever so glorious or flattering in terms of public reception. There was a clear reason why only those with nothing left to hold onto turned to the Xenos.

"A week, a month. Depends how well you do during your first round, placement is determined after we evaluate your results. Some of these tests will require actual field work, with real stakes. This isn't going to be like your cute little flight academy where someone lets you play around in the simulator till you get things right, no, we'll break you down bit by bit until there's nothing left but your core components. Once we do that, we build you back up again, all the while ensuring you're capable of what we're entrusting you with."

There was no point sugar-coating what the process would be like and since there would be no opportunity for them to talk later and even during her actual orientation and training, he may as well clear everything up now. "You'll be cut off from the neural-net and left in complete isolation. We're going to vet you thoroughly just like everyone else we induct. And if you're still solid and in one piece both mentally and physically by the time the process is over. Well, then there'll be some cause for celebration."

Just as he finished his sentence, a Grizzly readied for take-off on the other side of the hangar. "That's your ride, I'd suggest you get on it. We'll talk again soon."

The woman smiled, barely holding in a laugh. Cutting her off from the neural net would only result in a cancellation of her subscriptions to "Space Guns Weekly".

"-Yeah well...no one's going to miss me, that's for sure. I got disowned by my folks long time ago. And about that whole breaking me down thing, there's some dark stuff I'm certain you ain't going like. But yeah, I'm yapping again, it's time to get moving. Seen you soon, bossman.

She smiled again, grabbed the uniform that was just delivered to the hangar and headed for the Grizzly.

Reeves

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Reeves

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Reeves

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Reeves

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