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Docking with Lentini was not an issue at all, even if someone would somehow see a person in Gallic uniform beneath Loyola's chair. There usually is enough of a place to move her legs around so they don't get tired, but now having Her Highness here just made it uncomfortable. Enma could not wait to finally get to walk and give her joints and muscles some action. She would likely make some cracking sounds as she's getting up. Loyola is hating those but what you can do?

The ladder was moved towards the ship and cargo hold is opened for them to grab Claire's bag. Enma was thinking if that one made it alright, maybe they should have taken it into the cockpit as well? There won't be an opportunity to deliver fitting things for Claire in a short period of time. Of crouse with gallic transports being raided, there is a lot of Gallic goods at the station... That's an option too, but it's kind of lame. Loyola still respects the girl's status to give her to use outright stolen stuff.

Claire would catch a lot of not too friendly looks from the local Outcasts. She is wearing a hostile uniform and people in those are usually being transferred via the prisoner section. Then mostly being sold as slaves, but it probably was the first time when such uniform was seen at the VIP docking point. There should be some of her people at the station now, some docked. Enma calls them to literally cover Claire with their bodies and move to the rented section of the station. There they should be no outsiders and they should have room to think and prepare further movement.

Claire sees rather generic, but quite giant apartments, with some professional communication equipment mounted in. The guest room has the most space and Group members mostly meet there during their second day of staying here. It has a number of comfortable sofas and armchairs. Large monitor screens, tables with drinks and snacks. This is not something to be imagined when you think of the Outcast hideout. Enma falls into a sofa at the central and the largest table, after gently placing Claire's bag next to it for now.

— Make yourself comfortable Your Highness. We will move away from here soon enough, but we will have to arrange some brainstorming before we act.

Gabriel wasn't sure what the nature of this emergency once, but he'd come equipped to allow for versatility regardless of the situation. As a member of Loyola's personal guard he was expected to be combat ready through practically every second of his shift. The eccentric nature of his employer meant that this was usually quite taxing, both physically and mentally. He was covered from head to toe in a rather masterfully crafted set of full body protection, though the suit was rather stripped down compared to the other pieces in his arsenal. It was a plain black and clung to the skin, the helmet contained a few sensors for assistance with long ranged shots and various forms of optical aids. His footsteps would go unheard, and neither of the current occupants would have noticed him if not for the fact that he wasn't trying to hide and was instead in clear view.

— You called?

Were the choice of words he'd lead with.

Claire sat down on one of the sofas near the central table, sore all over from the uncomfortable flight. She was like a black sheep on the station, turning heads everywhere as soon as they disembarked. Now inside what she once considered to be an enemy station, she caught more than a few hate-filled stares recognising her highly decorated royalist uniform. It would have been a pleasure for most to kill her, if not worse.

She managed to calm down, and clean herself up since the time they've launched on the ship. She was clearly tired - both from the lack of sleep and the uncomfortable flight to Lentini, but her emotional state was no longer as too evident. At least now she had a chance to rest, away from prying eyes.

The unknown voice from the background startled her a little bit, turning her head towards the man who spoke up. His full combat gear wasn't very encouraging, so she hoped it wasn't something that was intended to be used soon. Having not expected any new faces, she looked at Enma, hoping she would respond to the man and explain what was going on.

Emna is instantly recognizing Gab's voice, she's being sort of glad that he's around. Turning around, she breaths for air, trying to come up with a bossy order. That place is way too relaxing and she's way too tired to give the commands. Loyola is touching her forehead, still struggling.

— Glad to have you here, Gab. This is important and secret to a degree, we are having Her Highness Claire Sophie DeFrance, the duchess of Orleanais right over here. There are certain obligations I have before her family so she will be under my protection until the situation in Gallia will normalize. So many people from the Group will work on that, including you. Protect her as you would protect me, understood?

Loyola said something, hoping that Gab won't have any more questions. At some point, she was lazy to build a strict hierarchy and ranking structure. In practice this just means that she got to micromanage things here and there, maybe there will be some reform in time, but now not certainly.

Enma then turns to Claire, thinking of something. She types something at the keyboard, getting the last news feed on. Articles of various Sirius new agencies about the new state being established at the ruins of the Kingdom of Gallia. The Confederacy? Enma takes down the notes, it looks like the war is lost for the most part. Apparently, there are some fleets that keep fighting in Taus, though.

— Don't worry Your Highness, this so-called confederacy is composed of groups of influence that are hating each other and this is a living Frankenstein. I doubt that the situation in Gallia will stay stable for long. Especially considering the fact that there are apparently royalist fleets that keep on fighting in Taus. They are surrounded, and won't be able to advance, but the time will come.

Enma is loading up a blank document in the format of the royal letter, it's apparently been loaded from Claire console. Enma is displaying it at the monitors, looking down at her notes.

<LA DATE>
<EMPLACEMENT>

---

<SALUTATION>,

<TEXTE>

Sincèrement,
Duchesse Claire Sophie DeFrance d'Orléans

---

— I think it would make sense to warn the Sirian Houses and people in Gallia that it's an unwise and incredibly risky affair to invest anything into this so-called confederacy. The only way they will be able to get the situation stable is rapid economic growth. So scaring the foreign investors might be a good idea, we need to shout out that Kingdom is still here and is to come back any moment. And that all naive investments will burn down in flames.

Loyola pauses, sighs and leaning back at the sofa. Pouring a glass of wine, placing a bottle down at the floor as she cannot be bothered to reach the table. She resumes her speech not as cheerful, crossing her legs and trying to relax.

— Naturally, do not claim the throne for yourself. Your uncle is legitimate and only Roi, yes we are currently unaware of his location. But so are our enemies, so your speech or whatever can be assumed by the many that we are in fact aware and that everything is under control.

En covers her lips, nodding to herself before resuing speaking. It is not quite clear if she was thinking on the spot or just trying to remember things that she has planned in mind before that.

— And for sure, it will make sense to contact this "Royal Enclave". Reports indicate that it is basically a military government under high ranking officers. And from what I saw on the ship, they don't pay too much respect or obey to your highness. At some point, they even could see some risks to their own power. Those are to be approached carefully, with much caution. A lot is depending on them, and if that's is screwed, the situation will become even more complicated.

She nodded at the man as she was introduced, and turned her attention back to Enma who was now displaying information via the screen in front of them.

The noble looked at the screen, somewhat surprised to see her letter template. It did make her slightly nostalgic - she used this very template to write many letters to Charlotte when they were estranged. However, it was weird for the Outcast to have access to this template, prompting Claire to wonder what else she managed to steal from her computer before they departed.

— What is this "Confederacy"? Is this what the terrorists call themselves now?

She ended up leaning back as well, remembering Orleanais. That was supposedly under complete control of the Council if what Léon said was correct, naturally so was Orléans itself. It upset her that she didn't know what happened to her homeland.

— And what are the next steps before we move on from this station? I saw you've contacted the "Golden Chrysanthemums" about this before?

The woman felt terribly cold and fatigued after the journey and recent experience, she could fall asleep then and there if she closed her eyes. The sofa was surprisingly comfy, especially after having sat in the cramped cockpit of a Sabre for what felt like an entire day. Yet, she didn't want to admit this, and continued keeping up the impression that she was fully awake.

He appeared to be holding a small caliber submachine gun, and had a backup sidearm magnetically attached to his thigh. With the room secured in a manner he was confident with, he'd raise his primary weapon overhead and fasten it onto his back in similar fashion to the pistol. Seemingly at will, he had the visor of his helmet rendered transparent so that his face could be seen and the fact that he'd listened to those orders keenly was apparent.

— I understand. Her Highness can expect complete security.

Gabriel was an attentive man, young by Outcast standards. Attention to detail was something expected of an assassin, especially one sourced from Malta. It wouldn't be something that could be picked up on, but he found Claire's body language to be out of the norm. Was she ill? He performed a preliminary assessment by having an optical device zoom in on her eyes, but they seemed fine. Her makeup was ruined beyond repair, but what made things clear to him was when he swapped to thermal imaging. The solution to this was quite simple and he would walk into the guest room momentarily, returning with a blanket that he offered to the drowsy noble.

— Here. Try to get some rest, you seem tired. I'll be keeping watch, so there's not much to worry about.

A naive person would misinterpret his actions for kindness, he was just being a professional. An unsettled, ill or even uncooperative VIP would spell disaster for any attempt at ensuring security, let alone secrecy.

Claire took the blanket, somewhat surprised by how the man figured out her state. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to decline the offer. This was the first act of kindness she has actually received in the past few days. Everyone she met was stressed, frustrated or expected something from the noble, and never did something out of good will.

— Merci.

She wrapped the blanket around herself, leaning back on the sofa again. The fuzzy blanket was a very welcome addition to combat the temperature, and it gave her a sense of security, as minimal as it was. Now slightly more comfortable, she looked at Enma, expecting to hear more.

Enma is not paying much attention to what is happening and just holds her look at her glass. Just as Claire, she got really tired, but unlike the noble girl, she used to work in such conditions. Holding up her sleep for over 48 hours while still being productive. It backfires, of course, but in the end, it's worth it.

Being honestly surprised how gentle and nice Gab is behaving towards Claire, Enma would not try to hide her confusion. He wasn't anything like that with her. That was weird. While the girl said nothing about most of her suggestions. She turned at her bodyguard first, smiles widely before, wanting to say something, but then passing on that opportunity. Letting him to interpretative everything on his own. Trying to get back to business in her mind and decide at least upon something.

Not being hasty, Enma reads something before replying. Her voice is low and kind of scratchy with her movements being slower it may even be annoying. She's thinking far ahead, not quite concentrating on what Claire actually asked her.

— Confederacy? This appears to be a fragile political coalition of the Council, traitorous nobles and Union Corse syndicates. I have reasons to believe that this will have a lot of internal conflicts, which eventually should open an opportunity to strike back.

Taking a deep sigh, she takes a sip of wine, not really afraid of being drunk anymore, as she's at her own territory now. So a bit of alcohol would not harm at all. In the end, there needs to be a way to relax at least somehow.

— As I said I plan us to move to Kusari and then to Sigmas, to eventually, return to the Outcast space. That's quite a hook, but it shall be more secure than attempting to get back to 37. I have no idea what Council agents know by this point in time. But I have no intention risking you or my own life for the sake of taking a short route. As for GCs, if you don't know this is a radical feminist group that is fighting to establish a matriarchy in Kusari. Along with that they distribute Cardamine at the local market and being our key ally in Kusari.

She looks at displays, remembering that Claire got no clear reaction about the idea of the political campaign when it comes to sending messages.

— So what do you think of the idea of sending warnings and generally make your presence more apparent at the political board? I am personally indifferent, that's your decision, but I think that it would make a practical sense.

She noticed Enma's facial expressions as she had a silent exchange with the Outcast bodyguard, confused as to whether she was upset that the man gave her a blanket. Her train of thought was disrupted as Enma started speaking again.

— I think I agree, but I would need to figure out what's true and what's false about these news articles. Maybe it could be possible to figure out where the Roi is, and how this 'Enclave' would react. Doing that now wouldn't be the best idea. I still need to gather my thoughts about this. How long will it take for us to reach your destination?

Claire didn't even want to think; she was completely drained and empty as a result of her recent experience. Her only wish was to meet Charlotte, who could put her on the right track, as she usually did. Yet, that seemed so far away.

— And are these radicals trustworthy? I know a lot of less-than-reputable groups would turn their guns as soon as they heard who I might be. Especially after what happened at Leeds.

Loyola is leaning back, this was something she did not expect to hear, but nothing too bad either. Enma is closing her eyes for a couple of seconds, trying to make up her mind. Points Claire's rising is legit and maybe she was partly underestimating this girl until up now. It's hard to reconsider the point of view when she's that tired and alcohol does not help. Now thinking of it, Claire could even gain some temporary advantage. Loyola knows that she won't always be in shape to hold this spoiled princess under control and that some outbreaks will happen eventually. She will need to learn how to work with it in the least traumatic way for Claire herself.

— You are right, sending them rushed may be a mistake, but if it will take too long, it might lose the momentum. We can, of course, double-check the information, but those news agencies are serious and it's getting partially confirmed from various places. If it's a one big disinformation campaign, then I haven't seen anything like it. I don't know how long it will take and what problems we might encounter along the way. There's a war situation in Sigmas still.

Question about GC is also something that makes sense and Enma thought about it herself. There is a plan of hiding Claire's identity, but it will get suspicious really fast anyway.

— It is a possibility, I am putting my reputation and life on the risk to get you out of the trouble. What I was telling you on the ship is truth and this whole thing can put me on the fugitive run once more. It's funny that you are afraid to do that, considering you intended to assault an enemy-held system on a literal ghostship with a skeleton crew. The risks that we will have with GC are much less dangerous than the ones you were to face. I understand your feelings, but the amount of tears you cried is ridiculous. it's a matter of survival to calm down and focus on getting out of this alive. And we are having Gabriel and other folks here to make sure that we will make it out of any incidents.

Loyola looks back at the bodyguard.

— We will move out as soon as we are well-rested and ready. GC assured me of a more or less warm welcome, so at least that part is covered. Oh, and if you get blamed for Leeds..., incident, we may think up of something-something that you opposed it and stuff like that. They won't have any documental evidence that you were involved most likely. So they won't be a lot of options but to trust us on the word. Now... what would you prefer for dinner?