A ship appeared through Champagne's jump hole linking to Burgundy. It was of Sirian design - a Series Z "Sabre" Border Worlds Fighter. The Council were patrolling all the entry points into the system and soon the patrol wing assigned to Burgundy jump hole spotted the unexpected guest. "This is Council patrol Delta Seven, identify yourself!" the wing leader quickly transmitted over the short range comms. The invading ship continued to drift for a few more seconds before a reply was send "Renee Thorpe, I'm a freelancer and I wish to visit planet Marne." People wishing to leave this nearly forgotten place were a common sight, but ones wishing the opposite were quite unusual. The patrol leader finished the full scan of the foreign vessel - it was armed with Sirian weapons and had a full cargo hold of H-Fuel. Obviously the pilot had came a long way to get to Marne and probably planned to fly all the way back once their business here was done. "Everything seems in order, don't cause trouble and we won't have problems, all right?" a final transmission before the patrol powered up their cruise engines and continued the patrol.
Renee leaned back on the seat and gave out a long sigh. After all the trouble getting here - avoiding Royalist patrols and locating the old jump holes by memory and hoping they even still existed, being stopped by the locals would have been a cruel joke made by fate. Gallia wasn't the same as she remembered it two years ago. Many things were just the same - the planets, asteroid fields, clouds and such, but the atmosphere was different. It was no longer the glorious days of Council revolution and open borders as Renee remembered them. Now the Gallic Royalists had taken back the lost space - Languedoc was under their control and the last bastion of Council presence was Champagne - a system that barricaded itself from the start of the Second Gallic War and was deemed impossible to take back without high losses, something which the Gallic Royal Navy didn't want to have right before their invasion on Sirius.
Renee flicked a switch and the Sabre's engines started powering up into cruise mode. Soon the ship exited the asteroid field and planet Marne was finally visible in the distance along with the rest of the system. Things here had changed as well, stations were moved, the few battleships the Council had were either repositioned or completely missing. Traffic was also a lot less, as if the whole place had fallen into slumber with the loss of the Languedoc front. This caught her off guard - she knew it had been two years since her departure, but in her mind she always thought home would always be the same. If the space managed to change so much in the time she was gone, how much would the planet side where she spent most of her life have changed? Were two years too much, has she become a foreigner in her own home? These thoughts ran through her head as she kept closing on the planet...
...There it was, a giant blue sphere right in front of her. Renee's ship entered through the docking ring and began decelerating into the atmosphere of the planet. From above the big cities glowed in contrast to the dark countryside. Her ship did a wide turn and began descending, her destination was Sainte-Menehould, another industrial city that survived the revolution.
The city had started as a mining town like many others. The local area was rich in oil and that attracted the corporate giant EFL. Renee was born here, right at the start of the famous "Marne Uprising" that marked the beginning of the Second Gallic War. Her parents were both tied to the industry - her father was a miner and her mother was a business woman working for the local EFL branch. Renee's childhood was filled with watching the revolution activities - the desperate attempt for the workers to earn themselves a better life as the Council had promised. She though had the luck that Sainte-Menehould wasn't a major strategic point and as such the "liberation" was swift and without many casualties.
Steered by her parents' views and lured by the promises of the more radical revolutionaries she became connected with the Maquis. They had promised action that would finally secure the much needed change, contrary to the more diplomatical approach of the Council. It didn't take long before they decided to use her for a bigger job - she was to travel to Planet Nevers in the yet unliberated Burgundy, aboard a stolen freighter and pose as a tourist from the Core Worlds. Once planet side Renee was supposed to be part of a Maquis sabotage team that was going to plant explosive charges in one of the hotels in order to blow the place up along with any Royalists which were assumed to be resting there. Upon arrival though she realized that most of the visitors weren't fanatic Royalists, but rather citizens who didn't want to be part of the whole conflict. It was too late, though, as the operation was in motion and refusing to continue following it only risked her comrades' lives as well. The job was deemed "successful" even though all it did was prove the Maquis were terrorists rather than revolutionaries. Renee returned home a few days after, though things were no longer the same. Instead of joy she felt a different emotion - regret and guilt. She no longer wanted to be part of this war and she saw only one solution - the jump hole located in Languedoc that led to a different world, one that had nothing to do with Gallia and offered a fresh start...
Yet here she was, returning home once again after being missing for over two years. With all the pain and ill memories this place brought her it was still beaconing her to return yet again...
The Sabre gently landed. The roar of the engines began to fade as the power from them was cut off. Renee did a few more system checks before taking off her flight helmet and leaning back on the pilot's seat to relax her body. From the cockpit what was visible of the city wasn't different from what she remembered from memories - the compact flats that were the promised "luxury" for the settlers as well as the warehouses near the space port that were build in order to store all the imports and exports of the city. The thought that perhaps not everything has changed filled her with the much needed hope to continue this endeavour. The cockpit's hatch slowly opened, allowing the natural air to creep into the cockpit. Renee closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, she always preferred planetary air to the artificial mixture that space stations used to support life.
Without losing much more time she made her way out of the ship. With the self proclaimed independence from the royalists the crime on the planet in general had risen drastically over the years. That same space port she was standing on was probably used by Brigands as well as others to load and unload contraband into their ships. And such people never liked prying eyes or people loitering for no reason. Roughly a kilometre or two away from the port was the central district, a relatively short walk on foot Renee aimed to take. While making her way between the small flats that made up most of the city her eyes kept rushing from building to building, alley to alley. Instead of the celebrating spirit the "Reunion" and the freedom from the grasp of the king had given it two years ago, the place now had a gloomy look. Some of the buildings were left unattended or even abandoned as a good bit of the populace were making their way into space to seek a better place and way to live. That of course left ground to be used by other less reputable people that Renee wasn't much fond of. Thinking of this made her feel uneasy and she quickened up her pace.
As she got closer to the heart of the city things began to look brighter and more lively. While the outskirts had shriveled up, what was the heart of Sainte-Menehould was very much still the same. Soon she stood in front of a small cafе with a sign above the door "Le Rêveur". It was a place she used to frequent often both for it's relaxing atmosphere as well as the usual company that was found there. This time thought instead of comfort the place emitted uncertainty. Her body froze in front of the entrance as another negative thought ran through her head. Was he waiting for her inside or was this whole trip across many stars all in vain? She had send him a message about her arrival, though she had no way to know if he was going to show up or if he even received it. Angry at her uncertainty Renee frowned for a second while trying to banish the negative thoughts. The door made a distinct sound as it cracked open...
The door startled Renee and her wide opened eyes met the face of a local man that was leaving the cafe. He smiled with the words "Excusez-moi." as he passed by her on his way out. She let out a slight chuckle under her nose when she realized the reason the man apologized was her frightened expression and then went inside, closing the door behind her. The uncomfortable situation with the stranger helped her lighten up a bit from her thoughts of doubt.
On the inside the cafe looked like it was from a different time and place - the interior was purposely made out of wood to contrast the grey and monotone mix of metal alloys and concrete the city's streets had. A relaxing melody was barely audible, one to not disturb conversations, but to fill the place with a pleasant background noise. The aroma of different deserts also contributed to the relaxing mood. Most of the tables were already filled with people enjoying their afternoon with a cup of coffee and perhaps desert. The place was relatively small so being nearly full wasn't surprising. Renee's eyes quickly jumped from table to table trying to identify the familiar face she was hoping to meet here as per her request in the message she send him.
![[Image: nvLh5yk.png]](https://i.imgur.com/nvLh5yk.png)