Stupid self entitled girl. This was not right. Nonchalant Unioner ‘princess’ did not came here to discuss terms on behalf of the Union, that was plain enough for him to see. It was either crude practical joke and evidence of disdain towards the Watch or worse, an ambush. They were still one step ahead, it was safe to assume Haupt was not located or identified among the crowd. His experience from Naval Intelligence and in accordance to various defensive contingencies he insisted on preparing beforehand would come in handy.
He backed off, seemingly losing his apparent interest in Ravensberg. On his way back to the bartender, he noted arrival of a new patron that immediately proceeded to order a drink yet refused to mingle with any of the locals engaging in political and ideological debates relevant to the Bundschuh. He handed his card to the bartender casually as one would do to pay off his tonight’s bill. That was clear sign to the one Wolf wanted to protect… contingency number 3 where they would cut the affair short due to real or imagined threat of compromising the meeting. It was assumed that it fell on Michael’s Wolf’s responsibility to lose the tail as obvious target, while Haupt would alike follow the procedure for safety reasons and temporarily split off.
Rules are now null and void, Micheal noted to himself as he recovered a laser pistol from his designated cache outside. Making sure that Ravensberg or some of her gorillas were not in his immediate tracks, he continued in seemingly chaotic yet carefully chosen waypoints across busy areas minimizing likelihood of him being intercepted himself without station’s guard intervening. If anything, Junker’s hired muscle would swarm the place if any side determined to go out in glory… His Wraith was also prepared to take him out of the Berlin back to allied space.
"Operative, I don't like this. You might have been set up. Call your bodyguard in."Gunn rasped into Alise's earpiece.
She lensed in on Haupt, edging her way towards the pre-loosened panel, that, if shifted, would send her crashing in through the ceiling, fist still raised. Try me. Go on. Double-cross us. Do it. Submit to those disgusting Bundschuh instincts. Lift the mask.
THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
(A co-operative of Rheinland's Shipping Unions, retired from a life of piracy.)
Annika smirked. As much as she had to admit that Wolf's paranoia was justified - she was dead certain that there were at least three guns pointed at her right now, if not more, she stood up, adjusting the simple coat she was wearing.
It was definitely foolish of the Unioners if they had thought sending a person as biased against the Bundschuh - her reactions, at least, painted her as such - as she was just to get a reaction out of her. If she had to take a guess, this was probably Jansen's doing.
She didn't intend for the problem to escalate, though. This possibility was way too important to miss, and more importantly, it had given her a chance to both show strength and extend a hand. While she slowly walked over to the exit of the bar, she stopped at the table where von Ravensberg was sitting, just for a moment, as if she had to adjust her shoelaces. Her head directly behind the one of the Unioner, she whispered, hopefully in such a tone that it would be audible to her but not trigger the wire she was probably wearing. Not that it really mattered if it still did, of course. “Follow me. Too many white rose spies here. He'll cover our retreat.” Her head slowly tilted toward Wolf, indicating that she had meant him. Sure, this wasn't exactly the plan she had agreed on with him, but sometimes one had to adjust to the troubles of a situation. And she wasn't about risking a firefight with someone that could potentially be useful.
While walking out of the room, she showed a slight smile on her face, looking nowhere specific. Sure, she had no clue where the Unioners that were aiming at her sat, but she was sure they were there. All she offered was this smile.
She passed her second-hand man on the way out, just mumbling "Cover my back”, while she slowly paced in the direction of the hangar bay. The choice was with the Unioner now - did she trust a woman she knew not much about enough to follow her, with no backup for them both, or did she prefer to risk a possible relationship between the two factions by insisting on her grudge?
Annika could not tell. And that was what made it exciting.
Alise closed her eyes for a moment, in her head she thought of what would be the most likely scenarios to happen. The opportunity to full fill her assigned mission clashed with the distrust and it was distrust not a true grudge against the Bundschuh. In the past there were only rumours linking the murderers of her parents to the Bundschuh organisation and even if it would be glass clear if they did… There was no certainty if the one which spoke to her right now belonged to the same group within the Bundschuh as it was further divided into smaller groups similar to the Unioners with their different cells. She opened her eyes again, her pupils adjusting for a moment as the light flooded her vision. Alise had made up her mind, she would go for the sake of the Unioners. Laying down her hands on the table, she pushed herself up from the bench. Turning around and slowly following Haupt. Alise had her arms laying on her back and her left hand fingers wrapped around one her right wrist. Her emerald coloured eyes analytically scanning Wolf, assessing if he would disobey her orders. He did see immediately why Haupt has chosen him as a bodyguard. As she passed him, she only nodded once before continuing towards the hangar bay. Her eyes looking in Haupt´s general direction as there was not really anywhere else to look. She did not say a single word the entire time she followed, she was cautious still not sure if this would mean her doom or not.
Travelling through the corridors to the hangar wasn't hard, surprisingly. The station wasn't empty, sure, but it seemed that the months spent navigating the cramped corridors stuffed full with people aboard her chosen home hadn't been for nothing. She made sure to keep a reasonable pace, always just barely at the edge of the person coming with her - another ploy to make sure that she didn't notice that they were taking a pretty long way to the target. Even if she did notice however, she would likely attribute it to the Bundschuh woman not being used to the station, so the risks of her noticing the double-contingency were very, very small.
She checked the clock in her HUD, nodding to herself. By now, Michael should be in position again. She vanished into a space between two cargo containers, gesturing the Unioner to follow her. The only way out was the one that she had just entered, so she had just cornered herself. Every attempt to leave would have to be past the Unioner.
Calmly, she leaned against the familiar metal of the freighter behind her, waiting for the other woman to catch a breath. When she finally had, she began speaking, this time much easier to understand - even though she still wasn't loud. "Sorry about that. You know, with as many enemies as mine, you can't always stay in one place." She touched the elbow of her left arm to quell the phantom pain rising in the prosthetic before she continued, much more relaxedly."So, I assume you're here to evaluate how you could use us to destabilize the White Rose. How we can be useful for the Unioner cause. Don't worry, I don't expect an answer. We're both here for a reason, after all."Her tone shifted slightly, moving from dry statement to an almost regretting undertone."But honestly, I still think that these talks could be a little more... fruitful. After all, despite our ideological differences, we do share a few similar goals. One in particular. And I am pretty damn certain you know what I mean, otherwise you wouldn't be here. So... To break with my tradition, to cut to the chase without flowery words, I offer you an armistice. No official documents, no open peace talks. But we stop shooting each other. How's that sound?"Years ago, she would have extended her hand. But then again, in that time she wouldn't even have considered cutting a deal with people like the Unioners. Times certainly had changed, hadn't they?
While they walked through the corridors Alise started to think a bit for herself. This meeting so far had not went as she would have imagined it to be, she was relieved. Finally a meeting that was not simply sitting at a table and discussing each others intentions and finding some way to get both factions interest into one agreement. This was something more… exciting, she had already counted with this getting out of hands and down the streams within minutes. She was happy it did not, it is better for her health. Blinking twice Alise followed Haupt into the space between the containers. She rose her eye brows at what was said, suddenly this straight forward? It made her feel surprise but the thing she offered, an armistice, was certainly in the interest of the Unioneres. The Rose had become more and more of a problem and personally Alise despises them.
Indeed we both have our idealogical differences but it is also true…
She paused for a moment closing her eyes for merely a second and they quickly opened again and locked back on Haupt. Alise still had her arms locked behind her back and she turns a bit to the left leaving a larger gap between her and the container walls than before.
…that to this time of the year the roses bloom like a plague. Your offer of an armistice is in our common interest and I will accept it on behalf of the Union, may it be of advantage for us both. It is time that our people pick some flowers of the ground. They are threat to our interests so they have to be annihilated without mercy.
Her voice remained calm and calculated, fully aware of the significance her “Yes” to this had. If it backfired, she probably would face some consequences. She backed off a few steps opening a path for Haupt to escape, there was no need for such a thing as cornering her in Alises thoughts.
In the compartment, Gunda was sufficiently stewed that her organs might slake off her frenzied skeleton that, in dying act, would loose an errant round."What the Fra.. They're on the move...."Gunn muttered, just as the feed died. The station was filled with distortion barriers to prevent subspace data bursts from compartment to compartment. Junkers knew their clientele - for all of the station's makeshift nature, the compartments were crawling with eldritch means of preventing a man from murdering another man. She swore. Crap. Bursting out of the crawlspace wouldn't help anyone. She eyeballed Alise's position data. Towards the hangar. If she was being kidnapped, that would add to three.
Gunn linebacked into the marine blocking her exit between her and the above service hatch, knocking all foot-and-a-half advantage of him spine first into a extremely tetanus-inducing cooling conduit. "Didn't you hear me crackup, "Move!"A Neural terminal. Gun's prise fish was in the net. Perhaps she could save its flesh before she was cooked. There wasn't betting odds.
THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
(A co-operative of Rheinland's Shipping Unions, retired from a life of piracy.)
Annika nodded contently. So far, this meeting had gone much better than she'd anticipated. The contingency behind her wasn't even needed, but she still kept leaning against the freighter that she knew to be manned by Michael at this point. A light 'ping' in her neural net told her that he was in position and the hatch behind her ready to open, should she need to, but this was far from done. Instead, she raised her voice slightly, authority coloring it just as much as the slight danger everything she said carried.. "We don't care if you fancy yourselves to be gardeners, but don't expect us to join you in a conflict like this. Whatever quarrel you have with them is between them and you only." She didn't mention that she was glad about how convinced the Unioners were about the Rose's weakness. Destabilizing the movement while robbing them of the other sect's support was a major part of her plan by now, and the truce with the people she was talking to right now was a step in the right direction. Sure, a deal with the devil, but at this point Annika was way too far down the rabbit hole to care. It did the job, and that was what mattered. "There's one more thing. We all know how... Disunified your movement is. It's no better than my own party in this. That will mean that there will probably be tensions between others that don't like this agreement on both sides. We should avoid a conflict like that escalating into a breakdown of this agreement we reached." She produced a datastick from... somewhere, the light grey metal standing out in the black carbon palm of her left hand like a sore thumb. "The frequency to a neural net code directly to my office. Don't even try to crack it. Ancient tradition from earth, if you still remember your history. A hot line. I'm sure if you don't, your leaders will understand."
Alise was slightly surprised by how this datastick appeared but it was non of her concern to question it, it had nothing to do with this meeting and her purpose here. The thing she, Haupt, said about the Union was true and Alise knew it very well. There were even certain groups within her own organisation she despised, they had nothing to with her own interests and may even hinder her in reaching her goal. When she began to speak again her voice was a bit more friendly than before.
We will make sure to take care of any potential threats to this agreement coming from within the Union, we trust in you that your people will do the same. If you so desire I will forward this to my superiors, I personally know enough about our old home world to know what this is but I guess you will prefer talking to someone higher up the ladder for important matters?
She took the datastick and stored it within one of her coat´s pockets. This really has gone better than expected, no one died, no shots fired and no one was wounded. Better than any of the meetings she so regularly observed in Freeport 2´s bar. Home sweet home, she should return to it soonish, the crew of the "Silber Fuchs" was waiting for her.
She offered a simple, plain nod, before she smirked slightly. This had gone as smooth as butter, and even the datastick hadn't fussed her much. For once, she had not lined it with surveillance devices - the hot line to the Unioner leadership was more important here.
She felt like making an impression was still important. She stood up from her leaning position, in the process almost accidentally kicking the freighter behind her. "Higher up sounds fair. I trust you will agree that this is confidential. No one knows of our agreement aside from us, and it should stay that way. Oh and... Give Riehl a greeting from me. I'm sure she wanted this to go south. Tell her I'm sorry, but sometimes people aren't as short sighted as she'd like to believe."
Her smirk widened as she heard the hiss of venting exhaust gases, the fog of the hatch opening behind her obscuring her figure. It would force anyone within ten meters to close their eyes if they wouldn't wear a helmet or have augmetics like she had, and even if they did the fog would obscure her figure. When it had settled, the howling engines of the ship behind her had already carried her to the airlock doors. She slowly walked over to the cockpit as space appeared in front of her, and lay her right hand on Wolf's shoulder. "It's a start, Michael. We have to start somewhere, after all."
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