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The story begins when an Outcast who goes by the name Kyle Cross receives a message that his girlfriend Kiara Garlow was captured by a Gallic Brigand. Unable to sit and wait for Kiara's friends from the Forlorn Hope to deal with the Gaul, Kyle picks up his old ship and sets off to Gallia on his own, intent on doing something, even though the one-man search seems like a futile idea. However, fate decides otherwise, and one day Elena Voigt, the one who told Kyle about Kiara's predicament, receives a message from Gallia.

Quote:INCOMING TRANSMISSION...

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Comm ID: Kyle Cross
Encryption: Enabled
Message Type: Voice only, pre-recorded
Location: Monte Carlo Freeport, Provence

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You're probably surprised to hear from me again. My attempt to push you into telling me more, and your condescending attitude made it even less likely. Yet here I am, recording this message, mainly because you had the courtesy of letting me know about Kiara. That, and I have nobody else to go to.

Time to get to the point. I found Kiara. She was safe and sound, sharing drinks with some Gaul on Monte Carlo Freeport in Provence. I was drunk, so for a moment I thought it was a mirage, but she looked 'and' sounded like Kiara. The thing is, she wasn't as simple of a person as you may've thought: she acted as if she had never met me, and even called herself with a different name, Aurora Moreau.

What's worse, she had apparently married that Gaul a year ago and never mentioned him to me. Naturally, her 'husband', a certain Remy Moreau, didn't know about her affair with a Sirian either. Kiara must be a really good con artist if she had managed meeting with two people at once.

I was a bit pushy when I was exposing Kiara's... or Aurora's lies to her husband, so he hit me with a bottle. Once I woke up, I found myself in the same bar. Kiara insisted on talking to me for some reason, so I thought she had something she wanted to tell me in private. That's the only reason why I agreed to Moreau's offer to meet up on his l'Ane to discuss this whole mess.

Here's the thing: the guy looks dangerous enough and has taken an instant dislike to me, so I'll bring some protection. I'll go to his transport in the hangar B-2 on Monte Carlo. But if I don't make it back, then I'm rigging my Sabre to send this message to you in 3 days. Call it "returning the favour" for what you did when you informed me about Kiara's disappearance. That, and I just wanted you to know that there was more to the story than you told me. Unless you had known it already.

You sure are nosy and condescending, but maybe it was for good reason when it came to Kiara. Kyle Cross out.

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TRANSMISSION TERMINATED

Present day (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
Monte Carlo Freeport, Provence System, the Kingdom of Gallia

With the breach of the mine fields by the Council revolutionary movement 7 years ago, Gallia was getting more and more visitors from the rest of Sirius, so foreign speech and foreign ships became something one could hear and see more and more of. Even despite that, Monte Carlo Freeport remained one of the few places in Gallia where people from the rest of the Sirius Sector weren't an unusual sight.

There was a good reason for that: the Freeport was located far from Gallic Core worlds and trade lane network, and one jump away from Sirius. It meant that corporate and police pilots rarely ventured there. It also meant that the likes of Gallic Brigands (who had to avoid trade lanes anyway) would visit the station more often for their shady deals.

In turn, Sirians would visit the station to trade their own goods for commodities from Gallia. Those who didn't want to go through getting legal permission to enter Gallic space and use the trade lane network had to resort to dealing with the likes of Brigands and Unione Corse to get the supplies from the newly-discovered Kingdom. So, Sirian ships were a familiar sight on Monte Carlo, but they still drew some attention. Especially if they were just left behind. That is what happened to one custom Sabre fighter with engines running on MOX that; the ship remained in hangar SB-6 for a few days at least.

If you were to ask around, you'd learn that the ship belonged to some Sirian who showed up on Monte Carlo a couple of weeks ago. He paid for a month's stay up front and kept flying off the station, disappearing for days before returning briefly to catch a drink and disappear again. But approximately a week ago he stopped flying off and started spending more time in the multiple bars the Freeport had to offer.

The Sirian was nothing outstanding: moderately tall, with medium build, short brown hair, hazel eyes, clean shave, black jacket, orange T-shirt, and black jeans. That's pretty much all that the residents of Monte Carlo would remember about him. That, and the Sirian once got so drunk that he started harassing a couple who were having a drink in the bar. The Sirian got what was coming for him though, when the middle-aged man who was being annoyed by his taunts hit him with a bottle. The pesky outsider survived, went to check on his ship, but he hasn't been seen on the station ever since.

What will happen to the ship if the man doesn't show up? He paid for a month up front, so for a couple of more weeks it's non-negotiable. Then the administration would probably wait for a week more, just out of respect, before selling the ship to the highest bidder, scrapping it, or claiming it as their own. Probably scrapping though, because the ship is locked, and can only be accessed and controlled by its owner. Getting Sirian specialists to unlock the ship (the likes of Lane Hackers) would probably be too expensive.

That's pretty much all anyone would learn about the fate of Kyle Cross, if they were to ask around on Monte Carlo. And only if they knew it was Kyle Cross they had been talking about, because the Sirian called himself Brian Scott while he was here, and that's the name he was known by to the locals.

Unknown date in the future (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
Unknown transport ship traversing Gallic Border Worlds

- What you're planning is suicide! They've got guns.
- I've got one too. And a couple of surprises.
- I don't even have a weapon!
- Here, take this. Although, if you ever have to use it, it means we're done for.

With that, the man handed a heavy metallic object to the woman. On closer inspection, it was a telescopic stun baton with two buttons on the hilt. One button would extend the telescopic club with the stunning device at the end of it, and the other button would turn the baton on. The thing was quite heavy, because it was intended to be used as a club as well, so the woman almost dropped it at first, before she got used to the weight.

The man finished rigging the ship's power core, as the woman had instructed him to do, and stood up to face her. His hair were no longer short, and he had a stubble instead of clean shave, but that way Kiara recognized him even better. Other than a few bruises and scratches on his face, he was still Kyle Cross, the man she had met so long ago... in another life.

Kyle gave Kiara a warm encouraging smile and winked, taking a moment to look at her. She hadn't changed at all, apart from a medical patch on her neck; her blonde shoulder-length hair and green eyes could still turn the experienced mercenary into the youngster from West Point academy that he had once been. She approached him for a quick peck on his lips. "For luck."

Kyle nodded, then quickly got towards the exit from the dimly-lit room where the transport's power core was located. With a quick glance he checked a relatively wide corridor for potential trouble, but found none. "The coast is clear, just like you told me. Let's go." Kyle rushed down the corridor, expecting Kiara to follow him, which she obviously did.

So far the plan was working flawlessly. Secretly send a transmission to the Forlorn Hope, informing them that an escape pod would need a pickup? Check. Damage the comms afterwards? Check. Disable weapons, tractor beam, and rig the transport to explode, so that it wouldn't be able to do anything about two people escaping in a pod? Check. It's so good that Kiara had the chance to learn the ship's routines through and through during her days as 'Aurora Moreau'.

There was only one part of the plan that was hard to execute: get through the guarded cargo bay of the transport to one of the escape pods. The softhearted Kiara wanted to wait until it was time for a guard change, but Kyle insisted on rushing it. After all, there was no way to know how soon the transport would explode, and the element of surprise played in their favour.

Kyle hid behind a cargo container, quietly instructing Kiara to do the same. He then peeked at two Brigands standing in a narrow passage between two containers. No way could he hope to gun them down: even with his reflexes enhanced by Cardamine, it'd be too risky. Instead Kyle checked his belt, looking at two similar green metallic cylinders, as if deciding which one to pick. After a few moments, he made his pick and took the grenade off his belt, putting it on the floor. He then took black ballistic glasses out of his pocket and put them on.

Pressing a small button on the right temple, Kyle turned on the combat visor built in his glasses. The two grenades and a visor took a lot of effort to procure, but at least he'd put them to good use now. "Cover your ears and open your mouth. When I take your hand, you close your eyes and run after me, never releasing my hand, ok?" he whispered to Kiara. As she nodded with a frightened, yet also somewhat curious expression on her face, and complied, Kyle started to act.

He peeked at the two guards again, this time them being marked on his visor. He could see the blast radius of the grenade that he had prepared, so he knew exactly when to remove the ring, how long to wait, and how to roll the grenade so that it'd end up close to the Brigands without giving them enough time to react. Once he did that, he followed Kiara's example by opening his mouth and covering his ears.

The explosion didn't catch him off guard, but the Brigands were not so prepared. After the shock wave passed, Kyle grabbed Kiara's hand and jumped up as he unholstered his Stinger laser pistol, courtesy of Ageira Technologies and Kiara Garlow, who had slipped one pistol from from a batch intended for Bretonian resistance in Leeds.

As Kyle rushed through the smoke and debris caused by the explosion, gun at the ready, pulling Kiara with him, he hoped that she wouldn't open her eyes to see all this mess. At least the visor was working, and Kyle's reflexes weren't failing him. Only the last part of the plan remained: rush through any remaining Brigands (gunning them down, if necessary) who stand between them and the escape pod. Kyle and Kiara were almost out of here.

Unknown date in the future (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
A doomed transport ship stranded in Gallic Border Worlds

- Kiara, get down! On my signal, run to the escape pods and prep one, I'll cover you.
- But what about you?!
- I'll catch up once those guys stop shooting at us.

With that, Kyle peeked from behind a cargo container. The two Brigands had been giving them chase since that stunt with the grenade, and they weren't going to quit. The good part was that Kyle and Kiara almost reached the escape pods. The bad part was there too: leading the Brigands to the escape pods wasn't an option—it would mean getting cornered and killed.

"Now, Kiara!" Kyle leapt out of cover, gun at the ready. His pistol emitted a barrage of laser bolts heading randomly in different directions, as the visor kept drawing the optimal trajectories for suppressive fire. Kyle remained out of cover way longer than he normally would, hoping that Kiara would use that time to slip through unharmed. As Kiara was safe and out of the reach of the pursuers, he ducked behind the container on the opposite side of the passage and sighed with relief.

According to the visor, at least one of the two pursuers got hit by a random laser bolt and was out of the fight. Now Kyle only had to take care about one Brigand. Easy enough. Now, just outmaneuver or distract the other Brigand somehow, and... The train of thought got interrupted by a sudden scream coming from the escape pod compartment. A sudden female scream. Something just went out of Kyle when he heard it.

A part of him wanted to rush off towards the escape pod compartment, ignoring the remaining Brigand, not caring about what might follow. But his rational part insisted on getting rid of the pursuit, even if it meant Kiara had to wait a few moments longer. However, Kyle did change his plan and showed up out of cover for a longer time again, hoping it would draw his opponent out as well. The things he did for his beloved...

The risk was justified: the Brigand thought that a quick shot from the hip could put an end to the pesky intruder who had to show up in the narrow passage between two containers. Kyle's opponent showed up for a couple of moments, but it was enough for the visor to secure the target and offer a firing solution that Kyle instantly took. A burning pain in his shoulder was a fair tradeoff for a Brigand gunned down.

Once Kyle ended up with his back against the opposite container again, he looked at the injury. A laser bolt grazed his shoulder, but Kyle could still move his arm, albeit with pain and difficulty. Realizing that there wasn't much time to waste, Kyle headed towards the escape pod compartment. His heart told him to hurry, and his mind told him to step quietly, so Kyle picked something inbetween.

As he approached the compartment, he could hear muffled voices of a man and a woman. He couldn't say yet if it was Kiara, and the voices subsided as he approached the door from the side. Then Kyle heard the man speak again... The man whose voice Kyle has learned to hate. "Show yourself, Sirian. No funny business, or my blaster will blow the head of your petit oiseau clean off!" Kyle uttered a curse, but a sinister smirk found its way on his face. You want to play that sort of game? Fine, I'm prepared for it too.

Kyle gave himself a mental pat on the back for the idea to bring two grenades with him. He pressed a button on the temple of his glasses, changing the mode of the visor; he then took his gun by the barrel with one hand and detached his last remaining grenade off his belt. Removing the safety pin, he held the striker lever of the grenade so that it wouldn't go off until he wanted it too.

Putting his hands in the air—the fresh blaster wound was hurting, but Kyle made a face and carried on like that—he slowly walked into the room, making sure that people inside would see the grenade without a safety pin and realize the implications. Kyle's only hope was that the Brigand inside knew the simple truth: "Don't shoot the grenadier, or his stuff might explode."

Unknown date in the future (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
A doomed transport ship stranded in Gallic Border Worlds

- I said "No funny business", Cross!
- Kyle, what are you doing?!
- I'm saving you. Don't worry, we'll get through it.

Kyle stood in a small compartment with entrances to a few escape pods, his hands still in the air. The grenade was in his left hand, while the right hand still held his pistol by the barrel. In front of him, a few meters away was Kiara, held by a Brigand who was also aiming a pistol at Kyle. The stun baton that Kyle had given to Kiara a couple dozens of minutes ago was lying on the floor not so far from where Kiara was standing. Apparently, she never had a chance to use it.

Kyle looked at Kiara's captor again. In his early fourties, with a light beard and short dark hair, he probably wouldn't seem that old, if it weren't for a woman whom he was holding hostage. Kiara seemed twice as young as him, and that made Kyle feel... disgust? But then again, only that Brigand stood between him and a happy escape with Kiara, so Kyle continued to play his part, speaking calmly.

"The ship is rigged to explode. Let Kiara go, and you can take another escape pod. We'll part ways, and nobody will have to die." Kyle was reluctant to say that, as he wanted the 'old geezer' dead, but he could make concessions this time. "What's there to stop me from killing your girlfriend now or taking her with me instead?" The Brigand seemed pretty confident, and Kiara's eyes moved to try and take a glance at his face, as if to find out if he was bluffing.

"The fact that I won't let you. I'm here to save Kiara from you, and I'll do it." Kyle continued after a pause. "Even if it means we all die here and now." Until that moment Kiara looked surprised more than frightened. But now her eyes were wide with fear. She had seen—or rather, felt—first-hand what Kyle's grenades could do. And Kyle had never told her that he'd try this sort of gambit.

"Kyle... that's not you!" Kiara was the first to break the silence after a pause that lasted for a dozen of seconds. "Don't do it!" She pleaded, and Kyle could only shake his head. He didn't want to scare her, but he had to, if his bluff were to be successful. "She no longer calls herself 'Aurora Moreau'. Even if you take her with you, you'll probably kill her. And if I disarm the grenade, you'll kill me, only to kill her later. So, we don't have that many options." As Kyle spoke, the visor was calculating the explosion radius. Everything in the room would be hit. Not good, but he had to work with that. At least there was no place for the Brigand to hide quickly enough. That's something.

"Guess it's a stalemate then? We wait for one of the explosions to kill us off." The Brigand tilted his head, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the Sirian who had caused him so much trouble. The Sirian smirked in turn. "I hate waiting. Let's see how much you actually care about 'Aurora'. Catch!" With that he threw the grenade to the far corner of the room. In the end, it was all or nothing. Kyle only had one out of three chances to stay alive anyway.

The Brigand eyed the grenade as it flew away, promising swift and sudden death to everyone in the room. With a curse in French he pushed Kiara towards Kyle as he jumped towards the grenade, falling on the floor and dropping his gun in the process. He did his best to prevent the explosion, but Kyle only smirked sadly: once the grenade was armed, there was no stopping it.

All that Kyle could do was hug Kiara as she ended up in his arms after being pushed away by the Brigand. She hid her face on Kyle's shoulder, and he put his hand on the back of her head as he stared at the grenade. Then it went off.

Unknown date in the future (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
A hulk of metal floating in Gallic Border Worlds

The entire ship went dark for a couple of moments when the primary power core went out. The secondary core kicked in shortly, and the much more dim red lighting illuminated the escape pod compartment. Kyle shook his head as he tried to get rid of the ringing noise in his head. He wiped his eyes below the glasses and blinked quickly a few times as he attempted to stand up from the floor where he ended up lying after the explosion.

He found Kiara lying next to him, confused, as she tried to figure out where she was, why she didn't hear anything, and probably whether she was alive. Kyle helped her up and tried to tell her something, but realized that she couldn't hear him for now, just like he couldn't hear himself. Kyle then remembered that the Brigand was still nearby, and this wasn't over, so he just nodded to Kiara, giving her a warm smile, as he turned away and headed to the place where he had last seen his adversary.

The Brigand was lying on the floor, immobile for a few moments, until he tried to get up on his fours at least. Kyle only tilted his head, feeling some twisted sympathy towards the man who just had a flashbang explode in his face. And unlike Kyle, the 'old geezer' didn't have the visor to shield his eyes. For a few moments Kyle just stood there, his gun in his hand, deciding if he should put an end to the man who had almost taken so much from him, or just leave it up to fate. But then...

Kyle felt a dumb burst of pain in his back. The pain immobilized him, made him release his hold on the gun and drop it on the floor. In a moment, Kyle himself ended up on the floor, gathering only enough energy to turn around as he fell. As his head hit the floor, the visor fell off his face. Everything in front of him seemed blurry, like through dirty lenses of some old spectacles. He tried to blink, but even blinking was hard. As his eyesight cleared, he saw a silhouette of a person standing over him, holding his own stun baton. A person with white shoulder-length hair and green eyes. It was Kiara.

She was standing over him, stunned, with the same confused expression, as if unsure whether she should've done what she just did. But her remorse and deep sadness were evident as well. "He... He is my husband, Kyle... I couldn't let you kill him." She mumbled on the verge of tears, still holding the stun baton in the same position as when she had shocked Kyle.

"Nothing is as simple as you think it is, Cross." Kyle saw the Brigand limping towards Kiara. His expression was pretty sour, and his eyes were narrowed after the explosion, but he still made something akin of a smile as he approached Kiara and kissed her on her forehead. The woman was too dumbfounded by her own actions to respond in any way. She simply turned her head a little towards her husband, Remy Moreau, as he took the stun baton from her hand.

"You know, she always was Aurora Moreau. It's 'Kiara Garlow' who is a fake. You think we'd let you run around our ship unchecked? Neither of us would let you rig the power core to explode." As if to confirm his words, the lights turned on; the primary power core was back online. Remy looked at the stun baton that he still held in his hand. "Curious toy."

The Brigand aimed the stun baton at Kyle and made a quick move to prod him. The last thing Kyle saw was Kiara reaching for Remy's arm with a pleading motion, as if not willing any more harm to come to her unlucky rescuer. But then it all went black.

Three days before Kyle's message was received
Monte Carlo Freeport, Provence System, the Kingdom of Gallia

It wasn't the prettiest or most elaborate of bars, but Freeports usually had good drinks at least. Some effort had been put into the decoration on the station, with pictures of different ship designs, Sirian and Gallic alike, hanging on the wall. Simple tables and chairs made of metal and wood were spread through the main room, alongside a generous amount of bar stools around the bar. A window on one side was showing the blue nebula covering a good part of the system.

A grumpy-looking Gaul was manning the bar, not paying any attention to the people of various origins around. His only concern was one of the patrons who was sitting on a stool by the bar counter. There were 3 empty glasses in front of him already, and he was finishing the 4th one. There was nothing outstanding about the man: short brown hair, hazel eyes, and clean shave. His facial features didn't give away his origins: he could easily be from Gallia, Liberty, or Bretonia. The man was wearing a pitch-black leather jacket together with not-so-black jeans and boots; that made an orange T-shirt under the jacket the most outstanding element of his clothes.

"You sure you need more?" The grumpy bartender looked suspiciously at the Sirian who has just ordered a 5th glass of Sidewinder Fang. "That stuff is pretty strong, and I don't want to have to drag you out of here."

"I'm sure... Oui." Kyle grumbled in return, looking down at an empty glass. The bartender shrugged, but took the empty glasses off the counter and put another full glass in front of him. With a nod, the patron took up the glass and downed it in one go, shaking his head afterwards. Here he was, drinking himself into oblivion in the middle of nowhere. And he had assumed he could've made a difference.

Ever since Kyle's girlfriend had stopped responding to his calls, he feared the worst. When he received the message that Kiara was alive, just kidnapped by some Gallic Brigand, his heart sang: he could still do something to save her. But soon after following his heart into Gallia he realised how wrong he had been. The whole thing was like facing an endless wall going in all 4 directions.

Firstly, Kyle barely knew Gallia; he had to make use of all his contacts to try and get to people who actually went there regularly and knew their way around. Secondly, even with knowledge of some Brigand bases, there were just too many of them to check, let alone the planet of Marne. And the worst part was that he couldn't even mention his or Kiara's name. Who knows what she could've told her captors about him? That's why Kyle changed his name, ship, and appearance, albeit slightly.

With all these things considered, a search for a person across a dozen of densely populated systems was a fool's errand. But what else could he do? Wait for Kiara's friends from Forlorn Hope mercenary company to pay the ransom or go in guns blazing and mess it up? No, Kyle didn't want to sit this one out. If only those Forlorn mercs had told him more... A name, a place, whatever clue. They were clearly onto something, but they saw fit not to share their knowledge with a supposed criminal. Yeah, right, as if living in Omicron Alpha automatically makes you guilty of all the crimes in the sector.

Kyle caught himself staring down his empty glass and shook his head again. He then made some manipulations with the PDA, and the bartender nodded, confirming that the payment was received. The Sirian stood up, and at first he seemed mostly unaffected by the amount of alcohol he had. Yet as he started walking, it was evident that the last couple of glasses were a bit too much: he staggered slightly as he walked, barely avoiding collisions with some of the other patrons who were heading towards the counter.

He had to quickly step aside to make way, and that's when his eyes fell on a distant table by the window, and the man stopped still, as if hit by a lightning. The effects of at least two glasses of alcohol just vanished instantly, as he stared at the table, unsure if what he saw was real. Shaking his head didn't make the vision go away, so the Sirian decisively headed towards it, still in a doddery manner, yet not nearly as much drunk as he had been just a few moments ago.

Three days before Kyle's message was received
A random bar on Monte Carlo Freeport, Provence System

As Kyle was approaching the table, the vision didn't fade away: a blonde girl with shoulder-length hair, wearing a gray sweater, blue jeans and small white shoes. She looked pale, tired, and there was a large brown medical patch was on one side of her neck. Yet she was smiling nonetheless, and Kyle would recognize that smile anywhere, even when drunk.

It was her, Kiara Garlow, a freighter pilot presumably captured by a criminal from Gallia. Kyle's missing girlfriend... For a moment he thought that his drunken mind was playing games with him, so he didn't head straight for the table, as if afraid that the vision would fade away. That, and Kyle didn't know what to say to the man that the vision was sharing a table and two bottles of beer with.

Clearly in his late-thirties or early-forties, the man had a tired look on his face, and it seemed as if he hadn't shaved his beard for a few days. The two people were talking, and apparently were enjoying the conversation: the vision smiled to the Gaul at least once, and the Gaul seemed caring; at least he replied softly, but Kyle couldn't hear their conversation from the distance.

Pulling himself together, Kyle tried to approach the couple in a way that wouldn't make it evident that he wanted something from the them until he'd stop right by the table. "K... Kiara?" He asked with a pause, unsure if it was actually her. "What are you doing here?" The woman turned her head to look at Kyle curiously, a bottle of beer still in her hand. But it was the Gaul who replied to Kyle's question. "Pardon moi? You must have us confused with someone else. La mademoiselle s'appelle Aurora." Kiara's companion tried to shoo the apparent drunkard away with his hand. "Now, if you don't mind, we were talking about something." The woman joined the conversation a moment later, making a gesture with her bottle towards the Gaul. "Yeah, what he said. You must confuse me with someone. Maybe you had a drink too much?" She definitely had Kiara's voice, and she kept eyeing the newcomer somewhat curiously.

Kyle looked at the couple with disbelief, questioning either what he heard or what he saw. His drunken mind was trying to put it together, yet failed. But once the vision spoke to him in Kiara's voice, he was certain that it was Kiara, and not some random and very Kiara-looking Gallic girl.

"I may be drunk, but I recognize that voice, and the looks. I could question myself until she spoke, but not now. This is definitely Kiara Garlow, in the flesh." He replied to the Gaul's comment, but disregarded his shooing gesture, turning his attention to Kiara instead. "So, 'confuse you with someone', huh? You mean you don't recognize me? The tones in Kyle's voice went from surprised to suspicious, with a hint of jealousy. Or are you pretending not to? First I hear about your shuttle ending up in Tau-37 damaged, so I start searching and assuming the worst, only to find you here, safe and sound, enjoying yourself, and pretending not to recognize me?" Kyle was repeating himself, maybe to try and actually voice his thoughts to make sense of this sudden meeting.

The woman listened to what Kyle said and tilted her head, acting surprised and yet curious. "Kiara?", she asked and looked at the Gaul confusedly for a second, before turning her head towards the stranger again. "No, I'm Aurora. I really don't recognize you. Remy, do you know this guy?" The Gaul looked over to Kiara and shook his head. "Non, petit oiseau. I don't know him. He has probably just had one too many beers." He turned back to Kyle. "I told you, la mademoiselle's name is Aurora, and she says she doesn't know you. Why don't you go back to your table? I'll even buy you a drink, if that makes you stop bothering us."

However, Kyle was already too confused and even angered by the whole situation to give the Gaul any attention. How could Kiara do this to him? Disappear like that without a word, only to show up in Gallia and play all innocent with that old geezer who looked twice her age! No, he wasn't going to make it easy for her. "So, you're going to keep denying it... I see where this is going." He said that with a somewhat sinister smirk, but then he turned his head to the Gaul. "For how long have you known that woman? Whatever she's told you, it's probably a lie. Her real name is Kiara Garlow, and until recently she wouldn't even come near Gallia. I don't know what she's up to, but it can't be anything good, apparently." Triumphant, Kyle turned his face to Kiara again, to see what sort of devastating effect this revelation would make.

The result didn't disappoint him: Kiara's eyes widened in surprise as she heard him, but as soon as she got a hold of herself that turned into a frown. "I don't know who you are, but I suggest you stop making baseless accusations. I've been married to Remy for a year now, and we're happy", she explained sharply and put her beer down with a thump. "What is this, a prank? It's not funny", she continued and shook her head.

As the woman spoke, her companion nodded to affirm her words, still eyeing the man suspiciously. "I'd prefer if you didn't call my wife a liar. Like she said, we've been together for a year and, obviously, she doesn't have a problem with Gallia." He added, clearly getting upset. "Alors, move along. I think I'm not wrong if I say you are troubling both of us."

For a while Kyle just stood there astounded, trying to put together his previous experiences with Kiara and what he learned from the couple. He then turned his face to the woman: "It sure isn't a funny prank, Kiara. Married for a year, huh? So, does your 'husband' know of your trips to Sirius? Saving refugees from Leeds my rear. You must be a really good con artist if you kept meeting with me, staring at the nebula in Magellan, then spending time at Barrier Gate, all the while being married to some old geezer in Gallia."

He then quickly turned to the Gaul, replying in a manner that some people would consider sarcastic. "Sorry man, no offense meant, I'm just really riled up here. It appears both of us have been played. She kept dating me, pretending to be a simple freighter pilot from Rheinland, while she was also married to you. How she managed to combine long stays at Trenton, meeting up with me, and all that is simply beyond me."

Kyle raised his hands, as if giving up, continuing with his preaching and sarcastic "I know, I know, you don't want to trust a drunken stranger. I've got proof. Just go to that Freeport in Tau-29 and ask whoever gives rooms for rent there. We used to go there and have some wiiiiild times. Apparently the girl really loves the view there... You know, the 'staaaars'..." He looked at Kiara with a wide smirk that had a mixture of pain, regret, disillusion, and a bit of contempt on top. At least he had the pleasure of ruining Kiara's alternate life in Gallia to repay for what she's done to him.

Three days before Kyle's message was received
A random bar on Monte Carlo Freeport, Provence System

As Kyle exposed Kiara's lies to her 'husband', the woman just froze there for a few seconds. She looked shocked, moving her hand up to covering her mouth with it in the end. "N-No! That can't be. This must be some kind of misunderstanding! I wouldn't do that. I'm not like that!", she yelled after he was done and covered her face with both hands, leaning down. She started to sob quietly, and then sniveled once, mumbling something else that Kyle didn't hear.

The Gaul started to get angry, apparently annoyed with Kyle's persistence, his tone, or the way the truth was revealed to him. "I told you to stop calling her a liar and spouting out nonsense." He pointed at the door, trying to make the drunkard leave again. "I've asked you to leave us more then once. Do it and hurry up. I'm getting sick of this." He was on the verge of yelling now.

Despite what Kyle had just learned, Kiara's reaction made him feel guilty to some degree. He looked at Kiara with a sadness, as if remorseful of what he's done to her. Yet he was also somewhat enjoying the effect he had made on the Gaul. That's why Kyle kept at it, if only to get some twisted satisfaction for being left behind by Kiara like that.

He turned his attention to the man who apparently had taken Kiara from him, faking compassion as he spoke: "I know how you feel, man. I want to yell at someone too, finding out that your loved one isn't what you thought she was." He leaned forward a litte towards Remy. "At least she's still with you... for now. She even married you, and hasn't just disappeared without a trace and faked her own capture yet."

Kyle then stood up again, turning around and walking from side to side, as he thought what to say next. He then turned to his adversary again: "You're probably in the stage of denial right now. That's ok, that's what I felt until I ended up here and figured everything out. You won't believe me still, huh?" Kyle leaned in again to face Remy, his right hand on the table, while pointing at Kiara with his left hand. "Well, that two-faced woman sitting next to you is also quite ticklish and is into roleplay. Probably that's why she's such a good con artist. Ohhhhh, she seemed to love that outfit from Malta, pretending to be a criminal while I was a Liberty Navy officer..."

"Shut up! Shut up!", Kiara yelled at him and stood up violently. "You're lying!" Some tears were running down her face. "Please, stop it! It's a lie! I don't know who you are, but you're lying! I'm Aurora Moreau. Stop messing with me! I've had enough ***** happening to me lately!", she yelled senselessly while more tears ran from her eyes, in a mixture of anger and frustration over his words. Seeing the woman standing up in tears, the Gaul got up as well. "I told you to leave. Stop getting on our nerves. She isn't this Kiara person." He turned to the woman. "Aurora, do you want to go back to your ship? I don't think ce bete plans on going away."

"So much faith in your beloved," Kyle continued his gloating, albeit confused that the Gaul hadn't done anything by then. "Say what you want, you'll find out the truth sooner or later. Frankly, I'm surprised you aren't affected by the news about your wife too much. A couple of months ago I'd be raging like a dozen of Corsairs if I found out something like that about Kiara." Kyle stared at Remy in disbelief, unsure why the husband wouldn't protect his wife or get angry with her. Then a weird thought made its way into his drunken mind: "Let's see if you actually care, both of you."

Having said that, he made a swift move towards Kiara and embraced her waist with one arm, while putting the other on the back of her head. He went for a quick kiss on the lips, hoping for whatever reaction from her, her husband, or whomever else. The woman was so shocked that she did not evade him. At first she didn't react, but then she softened into the kiss quickly, returning Kyle's kiss for a brief moment. But after that she regained control and tried to push the drunkard away with both of her arms, despite being much weaker than him.

Kyle didn't resist. As Kiara turned her head to the side, breaking the kiss, she seemed too confused to do anything but continue sobbing quietly, sinking back down onto her chair. Kyle took a step backwards and just looked at her, not paying any attention to the world around him. He was unsure what to think of the sudden change in Kiara. She didn't seem to be angry, and for a moment he felt like she actually cared. If anything, the word he could use to describe Kiara's state would be "lost". Not in a "lost to him" sense though, and that made him feel... hopeful? That was something he hasn't experienced for a while, so he just stood there, pondering on it.

Kyle's train of thought ran into a sudden end of the line when a beer bottle landed on the back of his head. A half of the bottle immediately turned into shards of glass that flew into different directions along with the drops of the remaining beer. He did think that the old geezer would finally snap at some point, but he was too drunk and too distracted by his emotions to notice or dodge the bottle. As Kyle felt the sudden pain in the back of his head, he could only utter a curse directed at the backstabbing Gaul before collapsing on the floor and zoning out.

Three days before Kyle's message was received
A random bar on Monte Carlo Freeport, Provence System

- You didn't have to do that! ...
- ...I sent a message to Bernard, aboard the L'Ane. I told him to come here with someone else, as well...
- ...This is the first person that seems to know me apart from you, of course that is important. Maybe he can explain to me what I did in Sirius, while I wasn't working for you.

As Kyle opened his eyes, he saw Kiara sitting back on her chair again, facing him. Kyle himself was still lying on the floor, albeit on his side, and not the way he had fallen. As he looked around, he found himself in the same bar. "I thought I already was explaining it..." Kyle heard the last part and decided to interfere. "Until that bottle hit my head." He grumbled with a pained expression on his face and blinked a couple of times. If he were to see himself in a mirror, he'd notice that his expression that was so full of different emotions that it seemed blank and hard to read. Kyle felt sarcastic, happy, and bitter, all at once.

While Kyle was still on the floor, the Gaul stood up and looked away from Kyle briefly, with some resentment. He reached for Kiara's arm and took a few steps back, getting a little distance from the man. The young woman stood up and followed. As the Gaul started talking silently, glancing at Kyle, the woman shook her head defiantly. "No, Remy! I have to talk to him. I promise, he's lying about me cheating on you. I wouldn't do that. I promise! Just let me find out how he knows so much about me..." She crossed her arms on her chest and looked at the Sirian. "Please, I can't just let this chance pass..."

In the meantime Kyle turned on his belly again, getting on his fours with a grunt. He tried to get up from the floor slowly, still shaky. His hand reached for the back of his head where the bottle hit him. "That's gonna leave a mark" He mumbled to himself. Kyle wasn't in his best shape now, but at least he was standing again. He then looked at the couple.

The Gaul and Kiara kept arguing about something. Kyle didn't hear much of it, except for one moment Kiara replied somewhat loudly and sternly: "I can't just let this pass!" She then continued in a more calm manner: "Of course he can barely stand now, you smashed a bottle on his head... Please, I need to talk to him, what could go wrong?" The woman's voice changed, as if she was on the verge of crying, but repressed it.

As Kyle looked around to pass some time, he noticed a slight change: two men arrived and stopped by the door. Suspicious, when you think of it: why come to the bar if you plan on standing there and not going for a drink? Tired of waiting, Kyle stood up and walked closer to Kiara and the Gaul, with a wide smirk on his face: "If you two are going to discuss me, have the decency of doing it face to face, not behind my back like you did, bottle guy. I'm still not sure what the eff is going on here." He then looked both of them questioningly, more so at Kiara. Kyle sounded more sober now, although the hit on the head didn't go unnoticed: his voice sounded pained: "I'll play your game alright. You pretend you want a talk after you kept denying that you had ever known me, fine, I'll play along with that too. As long as you explain what this is all about."

The Gaul just acted as if he didn't hear Kyle's remark, continuing his talk with the woman. "Please, Aurora, for the love of all that is holy, I'm asking you to leave him behind. If you..." He paused for less then two seconds, thinking if he should say the next part. "If you keep pushing this, I'll take away your 'sleeping medicine'. I know it's cruel and I don't want to do it, but please, I can't handle this. Don't force me to do it."

Kiara pretty much ignored Kyle too, especially after the Gaul's latest remark. "Why would you do that? I'm not ******* forcing you to handle anything!", she yelled at the man, angry at his persistence. "Just go on, give me an hour, I'll meet you on the ship when I'm done, you don't need to listen to any of this. Just please, Remy, understand that I just need to find those memories, and I know he can help me with that!"

Kyle sighed as his remark was ignored, but he figured out he'd probably learn by listening than by asking. With that, he walked and took a seat by the same table that Kiara sat by minutes earlier. Luckily, both Kiara and her companion seemed to have gotten somewhat more angry, so he could hear the conversation without having to stay too close.

The more Kyle listened, the stranger the relationship between Kiara and that Gaul became. They kept bickering about the same thing over and over: Kiara wanted to talk to Kyle whatever reason, and the Gaul seemed keen on preventing it. But what was that 'sleeping medicine' the Gaul mentioned? Why would Kiara keep pretending as if her memories were lost? How had she met that man, and why was she even free, contrary to what Kyle had been told? Why was the husband not concerned with the apparent cheating of his wife, let alone doing the best he can to avoid the whole confrontation? All those questions piled up in Kyle's mind and demanded an answer.

"Fine, merde. You can talk to the imbecile. Let's just do it inside the ship. We've already caused enough of a mess of this place." The Gaul sighed, tired from the argument and giving in to Kiara's demands. "At least let me talk with him first when we get to the ship. Then you can have your hour with him. I just want to ask him a few things, alone, if that isn't too much to ask..."

The young woman sighed in relief and nodded. "Yes, of course, that's fine. You talk to him, I talk to him. Thanks, Remy, I won't forget that. I'll make it up to you, okay?", she said and smiled, then put her eyes on Kyle again. "Is that okay with you? We both have some questions."

Kyle shrugged, lowering his head a little. He tried to hide how upset he was with Kiara promising to make it up to that old geezer. A part of him wanted to do something rash, but he'd probably lose his shot at figuring out what happened to Kiara. That's why Kyle only allowed a slight share of rebelliousness. "I think I'd rather talk here. You know, that last bottle we shared with your 'husband' didn't add any trust. Public places are the safest places. Besides, you never know what sort of thugs you run into when you walk around an unfamiliar station." Kyle pointed at two guys by the entrance. "I'm not in the mood for causing more mess anyway."

"So..." He turned his face to the Gaul. "First you didn't want to talk at all, and now you do. That's quite a change. If you want, we could ask Kiara stay away while we talk... although normally I'd have no secrets from her." As Kyle looked at Remy, he noticed how annoyed the Gaul was with his comments. "Quiet, damn it! I don't care about your little problems and suspicions." He sighed. "If I wanted to kill you, I'd have hit you again with the other bottle or have those two do it. What difference would it make having them hurt you in front of her or if you 'mysteriously' got injured inside my ship? If you're worried that I might try to kill you, I'd have done it already." After spouting that out, he looked briefly at the bartender, preocupied that he might have startled him or any of the workers.

Having ensured that none of the people paid attention to his words (or at least showed that they had paid attention), the Gaul continued: "Now, can we go to the god-forsaken ship? I've already agreed to let you two talk in peace, I just asked for this one condition. We've made enough noise here for the day..." Kiara muttered in agreement: "It's probably better, yeah... we should move somewhere else, this place has seen and heard enough of us. I don't want to know what they think of me now". She shook her head and turned to Kyle: "My name is Aurora, I told you. That's one of the few things I remembered!"

Kyle made what could be called an anti-smirk at the Gaul's remark about killing him, ignoring Kiara's words for a moment. "Intimidating. However, I ain't that gullible not to know the difference between a public place and a dark alley. But fine, we'll play by your rules. I'll just stop by my ship to get some cardamine first, if that's ok with you. Otherwise I'd be in no shape by the time I get to actually talk to... 'Aurora'." He sighed, having to pronounce that name instead of 'Kiara'.

Remy shrugged. "Alors, you can go get it, just don't use it anywhere near us. I don't want to get addicted to that. Just don't take too long." The young woman stepped closer to Remy, then turned to Kyle. "Please don't run away, okay?", she asked in a hopeful way and sighed. "Let's go back to your ship then, Remy. Just tell him where to find it. I could need another drink, but I'd rather not stay here, you still have some wine, right?"

Kyle nodded firmly. "I don't intend to... 'Aurora'. I want to find out what it's all about." He turned his attention to Remy. "Let me know where your ship is, and I'll be there in 20 minutes." With that he'd stand up, waiting only for Remy's instructions before heading off. "Oui, just go and hurry up. When you're done go to hangar B-2 and I'll have one of those two wait for you there." Kyle simply nodded and headed out of the bar without looking back.