Blacker than the Ace of Spades

The past week were the easiest days of the mission. Pierre prepared for all sorts of scenario's that could happen once he replaced the poor mineworker. None of them happened. It was obviously a lonely man. Nobody came to visit, nobody tried to contact him. The little note that asked for a few days off from work was never replied, nor did anyone of his colleagues miss him. You could say that this man was better off in his own backyard. Under the ground. Pierre made a few trips to the village center, exploring a bit. During the daylight, 80% of the population was at work in the mines or somewhere else, and the other 20% were kids or their grandparents that looked after them. It was a sad sight, and it made Pierre even angrier at the Council. How could they let their population suffer like this? If their cause was 'that- good, why do the people that were forced to work for them pay the high price for the war?

The relative ease of the operation also showed that the council wasn't as alert was they used to be. The forces in space were not that well trained, and their numbers were not that high. The population was poor and lived under bad circumstances. If you see it now, it is a miracle they managed to push the Royalists out of the system in the first place. It was going to be over, soon. Very soon.

Then, after 6 days, it was time for the next phase of the plan. Just when he was all suited up and ready to leave for mademoiselle DeClairs location, someone knocked on the door. In an attempt to make the visitor leave, he ignored the knocking for a while, but the unknown visitor was determined, and kept on knocking.

Loudly coughing to conceal his voice, he yelled:

'Who's there?'

'Pierre? C'est moi, Jean. I thought I came by to check up on you. Everything alright?'

Still, with a groggy voice and heavy coughing in between

'Ah, bonjour Jean. I'm pretty sick, and I feel horrible'

'Oh, that's bad to hear. Can I come in, do something for you?'

'Non, that seems like a bad idea to me, I don't want to infect you. I know you can't afford to miss any more days at work. I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Au revoir'

'You sure?.... Pierre?.... Alright, get better soon, we need you at work! Au revoir'

A quick sigh of relief... That could have gone much worse. He waited 20 minutes to make sure Jean was gone, and left the house to meet up with Leroux and Declair.

Pierre was quite surprised to see the little girl, screaming and almost blowing the cover. The surprise turned into disbelief when she got assigned to him. A daughter, a little girl whose parents had been brutally shot less than a week ago. That'¦ would be a challenge, maybe even harder than infiltrating the council.

On the way to the council recruitment center, the girl was quiet, very quiet. Pierre observed her the entire time, trying to get a read on the girl. Something was wrong with her. She was too calm, but the type of calm he recognized from navy recruits. The type of calm that you force upon yourself to stay strong. The only problem with the recruits that show that behavior is that they always crack under the pressure. And when they crack, they crack hard. In the case of the little girl'¦ it was just a matter of time.

Once arrived at the council recruitment center, they were welcomed with open arms. It was rather obvious they needed more people in space, but they are almost asking for the GRN to infiltrate, judging by the time it took them to get to the launch platform. Within 30 minutes, they filled in some forms, shook some hands, and were guided to the launch platform where several ships were available.

Pierre told the recruiter he always wanted to fly a Basilisk. He prepared to elucidate his wish, but he the wish alone was enough for the ignorant recruiter. While he was obviously in a good mood, Pierre asked him if he could take his daughter up for a quick test flight, since she never flew in a space ship before. He looked doubtful, but after a quick look in the puppy eyes of Monique, he agreed. Declair and Leroux didn't have much trouble getting their wish either, because they were already waiting for him at the launch platform. While inspecting their ships, they didn't pay much attention to Monique, who stood silently by Pierres side whole the time.

Until that MP Patrol appeared around the corner. She noticed the three agents were not paying attention, so she tried to slip away without anyone noticing it. After 20 meters, she started running towards the MP's. Finally, free! She thought when looking backwards to see if they noticed her absence yet.

While checking the dirty engines, Pierre heard a thud, followed by a scream. His adrenaline levels rose instantly, while he scanned the area looking for trouble. He found Monique, lying 30 meters away on the launch pad on the ground. She was crying, loudly, and that got the attention from the MP Patrol, who quickly headed for her.

'Non non non non, Monique!'
he yelled while quickly running towards her, trying to be faster than the patrol. The expression on his face when he got to her was enough, because she immediately stopped crying, and her face returned to that forced calm. The 4 men from the patrol arrived shortly after.

'Everything okay monsieur?'

'Oui, oui, everything is fine. I'm sorry for the disturbance. That incoming transport must have scared her'

One of the men sighed heavily.
'And this is why this is not a place for children. I suggest you leave, and take her with you monsieur. We don't want these sorts of things around here, it's dangerous if someone loses his concentration around here'

'Again, excuse moi, it won't happen again. I was about to test out my new ship, I just signed up. My daughter wanted to come with me. She won't cause any more trouble, I promise.'

'Very well then, in that case, welcome to the council monsieur, I didn't realize you were a new recruit. Have a nice flight. '

Declair watched the whole thing happening from her own pad, a couple of dozen meters away. Right after Pierre walked back to his fighter, Declairs voice bellowed through his earpiece.

"Nord! What the hell was that?!"

"Small problem ma'am. This little witch thought she could escape to that patrol. I wasn't paying attention because I was checking the engines. Everything is fine, she didn't say a thing. Minor disturbance, won't happen again."

"You better make sure it doesn't. Now get your asses in space before she tries something else!"

"Yes ma'am, see you in space. Nord out"

To prevent anything else going wrong, Pierre hurried back to his ship, and quickly prepared to launch. Once he got the clear from the tower, he took off'¦ Into open space.

Mission Accomplished.