Frankfurt was a place Amelia had barely been before Nika managed to get her out of her shell and actually out into space. Now it was an ordinary stop for Amelia, long had she abandoned the concept of a life confined to the atmosphere of Hamburg, smiling to herself at the same time that she was dreading what she was going to have to face going into the Bundschuh environment. As inside as she had been before with Annika and even her contacts, she had not yet been to a Bundshuh installation, so the dread of even being granted docking permission aboard Bruchsal would only lead to the next step in fear. She pulled her thrusters down to a halt as she idled less than a kilometer outside of the base, switching on her voice comms and taking a deep breath.
"Bruchsal base, this is Serenity class transport 'Tageslicht', hauling toiletries and supplies for the base, requesting permission to moor"
After a brief pause, which only induced horrifying anxiety for Amelia, the operator chattered back her assigned mooring point. Amelia was glad she could at least get through to find some answers in the time she had on the base, and as she exited her transport immediately began pacing through the hallways of the station, looking for a face Nika had taught her to recognize. She quickly remembered the writing of her former friend, and took a turn towards the bar, sure to find a source there without seeming too direct.
The bar on Bruchsal certainly wasn't anything impressive by the standards she and Nika had managed to set during their schooling years. Smiling to herself as she recalled fond memories, she approached the bartender with a shy face
"Right eh, 'll take whatever is easy for you, and I'm uh, also a pretty big fan of Annika Haupt's educational writings... Is there perhaps anybody you could point me to that would have more information connected to her?"
After a brief conversation with the aging bartender, she finally got a name... Hermann Jensen... and luckily enough, even on Bruchsal. Amelia set about crawling the stations residential quarters to find whoever Hermann Jenson was, eventually dropping by a room that had H. Jensen printed next to the room number. She figured this was actually him, surprisingly easy... but likely a road ahead.
Amelia stepped forward, lightly touching the capacitive button that activated the rooms notification system.
She was committing now, whether or not this turned out well, Amelia was finding Annika Haupt again
Hermann Jensen was frustrated.
The day-to-day life aboard a space station wasn't exactly the most captivating experience for an actor. Sure, there was the occasional opportunity to participate in a play - after all the Bundschuh didn't ignore the arts like a lot of the barbarians at home did, but the last time he had been able to use that expertise of his was about a year back. The day he had almost succeeded.
This 'almost' was also why he was so frustrated. Even if he'd not been able to use his expertise much, he had still been managing. Especially since it had looked like he'd succeeded in his goal... Only to find out a few days back that in fact he had not. About a year he'd spent on this godforsaken rock, he'd thrown his life away, but yet again, she had manged to slip through his fingers. And by now, he had just about had it. By now, he was on his third can of beer. Or was it the fifth? Didn't matter, did it?
And then the chirping noise of the door alarm caught his ear. Wasn't often that somebody came down here, especially not since the Adler had begun to meet on this floor again two days ago. "I swear to god, if this is gonna be another recruiter I'm gonna lose it...", he mumbled to himself, walking over to the door. Stumbling more than actually walking, he felt a sharp pain in his right foot and almost managed to fall, landing his hand on the door opener. An angry look to the offending bottle that was just rolling innocently under his cupboard now, and then one up, to muster whoever dared to disturb him in his self-pity. Frak, his faced itched all of a sudden. Why did she have to be so goddamn pretty. "Think you've got the wrong address, girl. Nobody important down here."
Amelia was dreading the door opening, expecting some foreboding character. What she received instead was the sound of clattering glass, and a scruffy man on all fours before her in the door. Amelia was, taken aback to say the least. She had certainly met interesting figures in her time in space and working with Nika, but this was the person that was fluent in Nika's educational works? She decided to suck it up, she had to be in the right place, it was just up to getting the information out now.
"I uh... would've probably said that if I didn't know why I was here, but nah buddy, this is the right place for me"
Amelia smirked almost too assuredly, not overconfident but sure that she at least wasn't going to die to some drunk like this. Nevertheless she was still perplexed by the value this man connected to the educational works of her best friend. Amelia was more puzzled now than she had been the first time trying to navigate through the sigmas by herself, it wasn't often that a chance like this was thrown in front of her... literally. She creeped nervously into the mans room so the door could automatically close
"I'm here looking for the writings of a certain revolutionary, goes by Haupt, and I was looking for more info into her due to her uh... past writings."
The only thing Amelia could hope for at this point that this man was either a calm drunk or the surveillance systems on board were up to standard
Getting up was a little harder than he'd expected, especially because for some reason the ground suddenly seemed very eager to keep him close. He still managed, even though he realized that it probably didn't exactly look very elegant. He sighed as the realization hit that that particular ship had probably sailed the moment he'd opened the door trying to hug the carpet, but well... Impressing girls had once been a staple of his. Not that there were many interesting ones on this hunk of... "Come in.", he mumbled without properly realizing what she had said until he had closed the door behind her. Then the words suddenly took shape in front of his inner eye. Frak's sake. Fate really didn't exactly want to let him just sulk in peace, did it. No, it had to rub it in, had to show him one middle finger after another. Another sigh exited his chest, this time a defeated one. "I guess you are speaking to the only person left on here that knows more about that, yeah. Who did you have to bribe to find out? Also..."He moved a little closer, grabbing one of the cans from the floor - one of the ones that were still cold, he noted in his mind - "Beer? If we're talking about Miss Lazarus, we might as well, don't you think?"
Amelia inched closer, slightly relieved that she wasn't immediately kicked out of the room. She took a seat opposite the gruff man, extending her hand for an offer she couldn't refuse: alcohol. Amelia knew immediately she had found the right person, and had a bit more reassurance that she wasn't going to die trying to get reconnected with Nika. She sat opposite Jensen, sighing in relief that he was also acting calm
"Well, I can definitely agree on a second to sit down and talk about all of this, since I'd hope you aren't as brash as you appear being on your knees to a lady at the door. I've been looking for a while to... get a bit more information on the writer herself, its very important for me to uh... know about this"
Amelia wasn't exactly sure how to phrase everything without giving herself away too much, insinuating how she wanted to find Nika.
"Well... I don't have many other ways to say it, but I need to connect with miss Haupt, for very important reasons. I was told you could help with that, simple as that."
She slumped on the couch sighing in defeat, she needed to find Nika, and pouring herself out to a drunk was how she was going to do it I guess.
He had to admit that her figure did look quite pitiful. Whatever had happened to her was likely a pretty traumatic event, that much she could tell. Sadly, he'd never been very good at these sorts of talks. It'd taken him five years to even find a contact to the Bundschuh because of this, and sure enough, his people skills would fail him now too. Getting women to sleep with him? No problem. Most of the time. But being there for them when they were down? Not really.
He took a longer swig before responding, rummaging through the pile of datapads on the sofa next to him with the other hand. "She's a little harder to find these days than she used to be. Might be 'cause I ratted her out, a year ago or something. Not that it really matters, cause she survived. She fraking survived an MND hitsquad, and now she's probably coming for my arse. So... Before you kill me with that glare of yours, why don't you at least tell me why you are looking for her?" His tone was dry, and had he not been that drunk and frustrated, he'd likely not been that loose-lipped. At the same time, however, what did it matter? This chick was either a pretty good hitwoman (hah!) or just a scared kid unfamiliar with the stabbing-related nature of Bundschuh politics. So he was either dead now, or in a few days. He'd seen what had happened to the HVEB, after all, and those were only believed to be responsible for the 'treason'.
Amelia now realized that this man wasn't exactly the perfect source of information that she needed for getting in contact with Nika, but at this point it seemed like the only shot she had at getting remotely close to finding Nika. She straightened her figure and made direct eye contact with Jensen, intent on what she wanted
"That girls very important to me, to say the least, whatever blood you guys have... and as much as I wouldn't mind putting a bullet in the head of someone who wants to kill her, I still think you're helpful for helping me find her. Whatever you can do, whatever you need."
Amelia knew she probably shouldnt have said something along those lines, passive aggressive as she was, and giving in to a man like this was not a smart decision, but for Nika, anything is possible
"Oh, don't worry, girl. I'm going to help you. I'm a dead man anyway, by this point. People that cross your friend's path... They don't exactly stay around the place for long. If you get what I mean." He emptied his can and got up after he realized that he'd had to get to the fridge to get a new one, but kept talking nevertheless. "Annika Haupt, Nika, if you're close with her, although I dunno who that description fits these days. Used to lead the Bundschuh, even won the election last year. Killed somewhere between ten to thirty kay people in November '22, when she blew up half of Harburg City." His mumbling continued while he strolled through the small habitat, finally sitting down on a stack of laundry. He honestly wasn't sure if it was dirty or clean. Probably safe to just wash it again. "Spent the better part of the past ten years trying to show her the consequences of her doings. Seems some people can just kill your dad, not to mention thousands of poor uninvolved frakkers, and nobody manages to make'em pay for it."Another pause, this time caused by him throwing a datapad in the rough direction of the woman in front of him. Wasn't easy, because she insisted on splitting into two identical clones of herself. Damn. "I honestly don't know where she is. Found out she's still alive yesterday, 'pparently she sent a transmission to the rest of the Bundschuh trying to cause an uprising against the Rose or something. No wonder I couldn't get it on Bruchsal. Neverthe... Neferrr.... Whatever. Someone said she's now leading some sort of radical group. Down in the Omegas. If I were you, I'd try it on Bautzen. Not many people down there, one or two must have heard if she is actually doing things down there. Just... if you do end up finding her, do me a favor and give her this. I could never crack the password, but apparently it's for her."He pointed towards the datapad with his beercan-holding hand, bursting into a flurry of curses when he realized that he'd spilled half of the beverage in the process, before he sat down again. Why was the air so stale all of a sudden?
Amelia was surprisingly taken aback by just how much information she had been given by someone who wanted to kill her best friend in the past. She was honestly alarmed at the sudden change in atmosphere, scooting back a bit when she had a datapad land roughly 4 feet to her right at the edge of the couch... was that supposed to come towards her? She shook her head and ignored it for now, perking herself up to speak to the man
"Well while I won't exactly say i'm grateful for everything you've done with Nika, I will say that I'm gracious for the lead, and your... hospitality in helping me trace Annika.."
Amelia noticed a sudden shift in the atmosphere of the mood, literally the air had gone stale like the man said. She could sense this wasn't particularly a regular disruption, even on a base like the Bundshuh
"Thank you, very much for your help, I'll uh, start my search at Bautzen like you suggested, hopefully the search won't take too long eh? And i'll uh, make sure to take that datapad for you as well, as long as it doesn't explode on my ship, and uh, thank you again for your help mr. Jensen."
Amelia chuckled, trying not to sound awkward, and grabbed the datapad off the other side of the couch. She then worked her way towards the door, the stale air growing ripe with an electric intensity. She knew something was going on, and whatever was happening, it certainly wasn't going to help being in this mans room. The man remained silent as she worked her way out the door, nodding her off. And as the door closed behind Amelia, she took off in a sprint... this really was an unconventional trip up ahead
![[Image: 220?cb=20160613025118]](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/freelancer/images/0/00/Bruchsal_Base.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/220?cb=20160613025118)
