Voyage II: Ibiza

[Loyola]

— Alright, contact Enclave and clarify things. If the situation will require clarification from the Outcast side of things, I will provide it. Other than that, dealings with Enclave is none of my business.

Enma stands up, calming drown from quite a stressful comm review. Her clothes and hair got a little messy, not really suitable for any communication record. Fixing her makeup was only part of the problem. It's not like she really wants to recond something right now, but Claire had a point. They now seemed to be switched roles. Enma is the lazy one and Claire is the one to push for things to be done.

— I will set up the camera and lighting then, I am usually quite fluent when it comes to recording comms and it not takes a long time. It's usually being done from the first attempt, I hope it won't take long on your side either.

Loyola walks to Claire with the case of face powder opened. Without asking she would start making Claire up, it felt like a few layers at least. This was somewhat casual and caring, though it was obvious that Enma is by no means a makeup master. Turning back to her purse and pulling out a mascara, then working on Gauls' eyelashes and eyebrows. Moving a little away, and turning her head to the side to see if everything is done well.

— There you go, this will do.

Enma then brushes her own hair and switching an outfit to the Gallic one with a beret that she got few years back. Hoping that it's not falling far behind in fashion. Maybe catching Claire's look on it would give her an indication, but she didn't manage to.

She then turns up the lights and installing the camera, recording her message to Joseph DeFrance first.

— Alright, if it works, it works.

She says as her finger hits the button for the record to stop.

---

[Ramke]

Claire was surprised as Enma came up with makeup - she had intended to simply send a text-based message, like the one she had sent to Joseph. She didn't have the courage to tell her to stop, knowing what would typically happen if that were the case. The noble begrudgingly waited until Loyola was finished before speaking.

— I will send it to them in a little bit. I would like to investigate something before I send the message to them - it's a wild idea, but it might work.

She left it at that as she picked up the pocket computer again, trying to use it to find further information. She started reading news articles of all types regarding Gallia, checking to see if there were any news about Belisama. It didn't seem so.

— I need to learn what happened to Renaud's ship. I can't let it go unattended. Are you sure you don't have anyone nearby?

---

[Shiki]

— We... can delay it further. But with every day passing, the enemy is stabilizing the situation and becoming stronger.

Enma is feeling like they losing momentum and everything might not work out at all. She drills Claire with a demanding look, being visibly concerned.

— When is the time, then? I need to know for sure what we can hope for. So I can prepare and launch raids against enemy logistics to support the Royal Navy campaign. My guard can do nothing on its own, not against Gallia, not in the offensive.

Loyola is picking up yet another slice of cheese, while Claire is ignoring food entirely. Outcast then starting slowly move dishes to the edge of the table and throwing them into the trash can. With a dramatic expression on her face, Enma seems to relieve stress with damaging dishes, instead of damaging Claire. But then, Claire might be next.

— Looks like you are not hungry. Now... Belisama? I can gather another recon group from the locals there to check if there's a wreck next to the gate or along the way. If nothing, then I guess they have surrendered and sided with the enemy. Ybanes is moving to Kusari too, she's our hacker IT girl, she can try and hack something Gallic and probably get more information.

Outcast smiles, but her smile is somewhat bitter.

— Even after them being proved to be idiotic or outright enemy you will still blame me for killing that idiot and getting you out of there. They just wanted to keep you at the ship so they can trade you off to save their own skin. Otherwise, there was no reason not to accept my help and redirect the ship.

---

[Petitioner]

At that moment, Sarita sneezed loudly in Ibiza's public lobby. She attracted a lot of stares from the people there, but after wiping her nose, unabashedly strode up to the front desk and leaned forward onto it, resting her weight on one hand.

— Buenas tardes. Looking to have my Rapier refueled and radometrics recalibrated, and to get a room for the night.

A few minutes later, and she's in a carpeted, greyscale, art deco-inspired hallway, head held high and eyes scanning corners. Sarita's black boots hardly make a sound on the fuzzy carpeted floor, but she can almost hear her heart stop when she turns a corner and sees the muscle outside the door down the hall. Still, she keeps her pace and swallows those extra beats per minute until she recognizes el signo de Loyola tucked quietly, almost out of the way on their otherwise plain uniforms.

At this point, she slows down a little and nods to the guards. Obviously, they don't know her, so they just kind of glare a little. Sarita decides to look down at her holowatch and send out a text rather than go through the whole social struggle of glaring assertively-but-not-too-aggressively that such a situation would otherwise demand. As she presses send, she rounds the other corner of the hallway, and leans up against a wall to await a response from Enma.

[Shiki]

As Claire seems to be ignoring her input, Enma decides to react to the ping sound just made by her PDA. She's surprised as she reads it, then fast-typing back the reply. She then uploads something to the apartment system, which made the apartment computer make an acknowledgment beep. Then fixing her position at the chair and browsing the NeuralNet.

---

[Petitioner]

Obviously, it would be awkward to just walk back up to the guards immediately, so Sarita continues to lean against the wall for a few minutes. At first she looks around, scanning the hallway, but once she's satisfied, she closes her eyes and takes a moment to relax. After the flight all the way from Mactan, she's happy to have a bit to sit and relax. A couple minutes elapse, and she straightens up and walks right back around the corner. With the new ID permissions, not even the guards can argue, and she closes the door soundly behind her.

— Buenas tardes, jefa. Thanks for having me. Who is your guest?

Sarita nods politely towards Claire, but all the traditional decorum in the world can't mask the fact that she is exhausted. Sarita is prone to fly for three or four days straight when on a long solo voyage, to save on time, fuel, and detection risk, and Enma knows it. Claire, spoiled princess that she is, might be a little horrified by the dark bags under Sarita's eyes, and how pale her skin is, but every paramilitary member in Sirius knows someone who runs themselves ragged like this.

[Shiki]

Loyola takes her attention away from the communicator, as doors opened and her employee has arrived. It's been only like what... a couple of minutes? And the girl looks like she's worrying as well. Something is wrong here. Enma now is trying to concentrate, there's no way Sarita can pull her gun and shoot faster than she could and she seems to be alone, so there's nothing to be afraid of. Maybe a bomb? No, not at this close range. Making long enough pause considering the worst options, Enma ends her tactical analytics of a possible fight and finally nods.

— Hey, Sarita. It's our guest, Claire DeFrance, the duchess of Orléanais. My potential future family member, she got troubles at home as you know.

Enma then cuts her speech, to not say too much. Sarita is suspicious and she won't leave this station without a check. Enma then looks onto the trashcan, thinking about dishes with cheese and grapes that she just threw there. It could be a nice offering to Sarita, but there's too little to be done about it.

— No food, for now, take a seat though, this is important.

Loyola gestures Sarita. to have a seat next to her.

— We thought you could help us locate a ship... Gallic destroyer in Tau-53. We know it's a more or less recent location. I think we could collect data from our sensors in the system and filter it. There's no way they could keep everything to encrypted channels since a lot of noise and chatter were to be expected once it approached the gates... if it did. Maybe Claire could help with some codes too, once data is filtered. Will you be able to do it?

---

[Petitioner]

Sarita smiles politely and takes the seat Enma indicated. As the boss talks, Sarita leans forward and rests her arms on the table, fidgeting with a strand of her hair idly.

— I can see what I can do, but I'm not used to such broad-spectrum ops. Lentini is an interesting place to work out of, that's for sure... When would we start our search? Who do we have working on setting up our data filters, how much do we trust them, how good are they? And, of course... any technical specs about Gallic comm devices that...

She tips her head towards Claire, who has thus far been quiet, and pulls both hands down to the table, suddenly more serious.

— ...that la duquesa can provide us with would be beyond helpful.

With that, Sarita gave Enma a knowing look, a "you see where I'm going with this" sort of not-quite-a-nod, before turning back to look at Claire.

[Shiki]

Loyola catches weird Sarita's look, which did nothing but increased her level of suspicion towards the girl. She never stared at Enma like this, and probably due to no professionalism at betraying, she couldn't hide her emotions and things. Can Sarita really be a traitor, she tracked her down, appeared in room 2 minutes after, now this stare. She, of course, will deal with this after the conversation is done, whenever she's a traitor or not, doing anything right now without ten men behind her back is not the best idea.

What Sarita said is making sense, as was expected from one of her technical specialists when it comes to uh... computers and stuff. Her facial expressions are mostly positive, until that stare. That was bad and evil. She has inserted one phrase, not knowing if it would be relevant or not, it likely will, so she did it anyway. Her voice is sounding not so firm right now, as she's stepping into the sphere of the competence of other people, it usually makes her uncomfortable.

— What I know is ship's callsign that is... RNS? Belisama. It was located at sector Alpha-Five of Tau-53, with the mission to move to Lorraine gates. The problem is when we left I shot the ship captain and orders could change. There was supposed to be a fight or a lot of noise expected as it potentially approached the gates. If it didn't then it potentially changed course.

Enma is then pausing, giving Claire an annoyed look, as her tone changed to be much more irritated.

— La duquesa is the only reason I care about any of this, as in ship full of people who hate me. But I now feel like it's Enclave sabotage to waste my time.

---

[Ramke]

Claire wasn't sure how to feel about the unexpected intrusion in the room, but she saw Enma react relatively positively and refer to the guest by name, so she assumed it was yet another one of her lackeys. If only these Sirians would have the decency to even introduce themselves...

— The Belisama was on its way to Lorraine before a certain event happened that led to a lot of bloodshed. I want to know whether it went to the jump gate after I left the ship, or did something else happen to it. Hopefully with Joseph's help, we can get the ship back to operational condition along with personnel to man it.

She returned the glare at Enma, staring daggers as she implied she doesn't care at all. If that ship was still in a recoverable condition, it would be of massive use provided the crew agreed to follow her. If only this had occurred to her mind sooner, maybe none of this would have happened. She just had to gamble that the ship didn't end up in Council hands. Regardless, the noble turned her gaze back to Sarita to continue explaining the situation.

— It doesn't need sensors if someone is physically there. I remember what the course was, and I can roughly estimate it if I had access to a navmap. If the ship isn't anywhere along that route, or in the edge of the nearby asteroid field, it's probably lost forever. If it is there, they'll most likely uncover themselves to shoot you if you happen to cross close enough. I would imagine Outcasts aren't particularly popular after their display of peaceful negotiations.

The jab at Enma's actions on Belisama was satisfying. The Gaul didn't even look at Enma's direction to see her response, intending to pass it off as an unintended remark.

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