Mikhail left the office, his heart was still beating fast, like he would run a marathon. He sat down on one of the chairs in the corridor. There were some other people waiting to be let in. Some of them were nervously looking around, some of them looked absolutely calm.
Mikhail inhaled deeply and tried to calm down to think about what the commissar told him. Corsairs. He wasnt spending much time around them, mostly because they were trigger happy bunch, usually not far from shooting Zoners, even. Not being good at history, he tried to remember some of the bar talks and rumours he heard on his travels.
Finally he remembered something. He wasnt sure if it was the right answer, which made him nervous again. Calm down. He thought to himself. Its the most logical explanation.
Minutes passed before he was let in. Those minutes seemed like ages.
He entered the office again, and again saluted the comissar. Now he was noticeably more confident of himself.
"Sir... Comissar, I think I found the answer.", he cleaned his throat and began,"On my travels, I heard there were some conflicts between the Coalition and the Corsair nation. I believe it was because of different methods. The Coalition is now at state of war with them."
There was a moment of silence, the Comissar looked at him expectantly. His look was demanding more than that.
"Well... Knowing the Corsairs, they are arrogant lot, which probably led to conflicts with Coalition. Their methods are also unacceptable. Coalition wouldnt ever degrade to piracy such as they do. Also, they might frown upon Coalition's stance towards the Hessians, which are opressed by Rheinland government and deserve help in their cause as much as Corsairs do. Corsair people might need help, but with their arrogant pride, selfishness and disrespect they wont get any.", Mikhail cleaned his throat once more and added,"Thats what I thought up from my lack of information. It seems like the most logical outcome to me. Also, I knew I will have to leave my past behind when I entered this place. I already got over that, I understand why it is important."
Mikhail was quite amused by his own choosing of words. He hoped it will be enough to satisfy the comissar while awaiting his reply.
When he had finished filling in the (not insignificant) questionaire, Donovan walked back into the office and placed the pile of papers on the Commissar's desk. He stepped back, and said that he would be waiting outside for a reply. With that, he turned and and returned to the waiting room, where several other applicants were now desperately filling in forms as if their lives depended on the answers that they gave.
"Well," he thought, "if the Coalition is as good at fighting as it is at generating paperwork, the revolution will be over successful very soon."
Sergei stood up and started heading to the office again, after few steps two marines blocked his way.
Excuse me... i am ready to speak with the your Officer now. The marines said nothing and one of them went inside the office, Sergei just stood there and waited for response or permission to enter the room.
A young Corsair woman entered the recruitment office.
Sensing that she had better speak very very quickly, she declared "I'm unarmed," and displayed her hands prominently where the commissar could see them. "My name is Vicenta Gonzalez. I am by birth a Corsair, however, I have seen the lies and hypocrisy of the Corsair nation, and have arranged things so I may never return."
She took a deep breath. "Ever since I was born, I was told how the people of Crete were noble, and just, and had been forced into hardship by the other nations in the Alliance. I was told of the atrocities committed by the Outcasts, how they spread their filthy poison throughout the galaxy, how they would cheerfully slaughter children without a second thought. I was told of the corruption and greed of the Four Houses, I was told that the Red Hessians were common pirates threatening the... glory... of the Corsair Empire, and that the Coalition..." She swallowed nervously. "...were a pack of psychopathic madmen who had betrayed humanity and would destroy our entire planet if they had the chance." These last words came out in a rush.
She swallowed again. "But... three months ago... I was on a patrol, in Omega-7. A raiding party. We shot out the trade lane between Freistadt and the Omega-3 jump gate, and before long a Gull transport dropped out. Miguel, our squadron leader, demanded two million credits. But the transport radioed us back, saying they did not have that much, that they were refugees, that the ship was not armed, that there were women and children on board. And Miguel..."
Her face darkened. "Miguel said one word. He said, Fire."
She unconsciously clenched a fist. "Before I knew what was happening, the transport had exploded. No match for a Praetorian and two Titans... I flew into a rage. I said to Miguel, 'Why did you do that? They were unarmed, they were children!' And Miguel laughed and said, 'They refused to pay.' I... snapped, at that point. I killed them all. My Titan against two others and a Praetorian, and I shot them all down. Then I ran, before the backup my ex-hermanos called could arrive..."
She took another deep breath. "At Freeport 1, I sold my ship and weapons. I had seen the lies the Corsair nation told its children, and I did not want to be a part of them any more. I learned from people at the station of the things my people had done. Trading artifacts with common criminals, perpetuating the oppression of women in Kusari. And... the atomic bombing of planet Cork. My eyes were opened to the hypocrisy that we... that they indulged in, that the whole sector indulged in! Those who called themselves noble, all of them, were deluding themselves. The Golden Chrysanthemums were nothing more than Outcast puppets. The Order had sold its soul to the Corsairs. The Houses were greedy and corrupt, the Gaians had lost their goals. But then... I learned of the Revolution. I learned of the Coalition's true intentions. And I realised that you were the only way forward, for me."
She looked at the commissar. "So if there is a word of my story that you do not believe to be true, then kill me where I stand. At least I will die betraying the filth that I once called my people."
She wiped the cold sweat from her brow and awaited the commissar's response.
A man walked in, a worn and torn grey coat on, withan engineers jumpsuit underneath
The Commisar looked at him with an almost bored expression
'Commisar...' he said, with a gravelly voice, that appeared to be from the large scar on his neck.
'I..I need to talk with you..'
'Yes, comrade?' the commisar said.
'Those pigs...they killed everyone..the SCRA is my last hope.'
'Tell us about yourself, then.'
'OK, my name is Kari Izhao. I was born on Sevastopol Depot,mother dying in my birth, and myDad the head Shipwright in the Ship Repair wing. He was extremely dedicated to is work, almost overly so, and always wanted me to work with him in the repair yards. I really wanted to, as well. That and my hobby of finding wrecks of old SCRA Wrecks and repairing them. Most I simply gave back to the SCRA, but a Partisan I found abandoned in Omega 47. I loved that ship, treated it like it was my dog. I cleaned it, tuned it, restored its old coloring, updated the operating software for the CPU, everything I could with what my dad taught me. I flew it to salvage parts and even stunt flying on occasion.'
'Everything was fine, My dad retiring soon after I finished academy. I took his place as Head Shipwright, still doing stunt flying in my spare time. I even fell in love with another Shipwright, a good-hearted young woman named Suka Jei-Lan who loved to watch me when I was doing stunt flying. She never missed a show. Showing up at shows turned into meeting me afterwards, and we fell into a relationship.'
'One day, that all ended. While me, Suka, and several who worked withus were on break, a man came into the room and locked the door, followed by several other men in similar attire. He was not firmiliar, so I asked him who he was and his business in the private staff room. He remained silent, and drew a stun gun. The others followed suite, and came at us. They stunned us, rendering us unconcious, and giving me this scar'
'The next thing I remember is waking up in a large holding cell, with the rest of the crew. The man who had attacked us walked in. 'You now work for for the Liberty Navy' he said 'you will manufacture our ships with the same asthetic principles, but replacing the inner workings of them with Coalition technology, or be faced with death.' We were dumfounded.
'So we hatched a plan. We would not give them our technology. Instead, we secretely manufactured parts while everyone else was asleep. These parts had traces of a compound of uranium that we called U3H9. This compound was capable of going undetected for years, yet could slowly corrode and deteriorate anything it touched. We put them into the ships, which became crippled within months. But, they were soon suspicious.'
'After 2 years, they knew that we were the cause. They tookus in for questioning, one by one. And one by one, we disappeared. Even Suka, who was my only source of happiness in the gloom we had fallen into, was killed. Finally, they brought me in. 'Why are the ships YOU manufacture breaking down?' I smiled. The others had not told the, their last defiance. 'Kill me like the rest, and you will never find out. Let me live, and you will never find out.' He laughed, and went for his pistol.'
I punched him and took his gun, shooting the two guards at the door before they could shoot, and then him. An alert was sounded, and I was pursued through the corridors. I eventually came upon the staff hangar. A starflier had been left open with its engines on standby, to my relief, allowing me to escape. That is when I fled back here, and I will not let the crimes of Liberty-no the barbarism that the whole of Sirius has fallen in to-go unpunished.'
He ended
'Well' the commisar said, as he finished taking his notes
'That was an interesting story'
'Thank you, comrade' the man said
We will look into you, Mr. Izhao. Now go on your way.
'Yes, commisar' He said, and walked out with a sigh of relief
Emil kept at the stack of papers on his desk until he heard the door open back up and saw Alexandra walking back into the room. He sat up and waited for her response.
' Wrote:I'm sorry for my misunderstanding. I was very nervous, Commissar.
What I would give up sir? I don't have many things to give up. I'm young and young people doesn't have many things to give up. Especially when they are poor.
I would give up I won't see my mother again to stay in secret. I would give up to never land at Leeds and never see my home only if we *ehh* you succeed with Revolution. I would give up my previous life.
I'm here to start new life in Coalition. If you want new life you must give up all things from old one.
Watching the girl for a moment more, Emil weighed her words. "While you do not necessarily have to give up all from your previous life, the Revolution demands that you put it second. There have been many instances where pilots have visited their loved ones in the past. Commendante o'Jovem of the Fighter Corps rescued his own mother from Crete when the Corsairs abandoned reason, and Captain Karchov, also of the Fighter Corps, routinely visits his family on Pittsburgh."
"But, you are here for the Coalition." Emil reached into his desk and pulled out yet another recruitment packet. "Fill out these forms and have them routed to the correct individuals, and you will hear from us one way or the other. Dismissed."
Mark Donovan
Emil marked off on his tally as Volkova exited the room, and glanced again at the man standing in the corner of the room. He glanced back to find the recruit named Donovan standing in front of him with his packet filled out. Emil took the paperwork from Donovan and placed it on the Prospective Recruits stack.
Mikhail Petrov
Emil sighed and looked at the bar, the bottle of Mykolaiv's best staring him in the face again. Why not, it's been quite the day here. One more small glass won't hurt. Lots of ice. He made his way over and poured his third glass of vodka today. I'll start acting like Weise if I'm not careful with this stuff Emil thought as he walked back to the desk.
"*static* Commissar Andreyev, Mr. Petrov would like to see you again*static*." Emil had to think for a moment, Oh yes, the skittish boy, he thought as he leaned to the intercom and pressed the button "Send him in then".
Emil noted the small change in carriage as Petrov saluted more confidently this time around. He nodded his head toward Petrov, an invitation to begin.
' Wrote:Sir... Commissar, I think I found the answer.", he cleaned his throat and began,"On my travels, I heard there were some conflicts between the Coalition and the Corsair nation. I believe it was because of different methods. The Coalition is now at state of war with them.
I expected more from this lad thought Emil as he continued to watch Petrov. The boy must have gotten the hint as he continued his answer to the Commissar.
' Wrote:Well... Knowing the Corsairs, they are arrogant lot, which probably led to conflicts with Coalition. Their methods are also unacceptable. Coalition wouldn't ever degrade to piracy such as they do. Also, they might frown upon Coalition's stance towards the Hessians, which are oppressed by Rheinland government and deserve help in their cause as much as Corsairs do. Corsair people might need help, but with their arrogant pride, selfishness and disrespect they wont get any. That's what I thought up from my lack of information. It seems like the most logical outcome to me. Also, I knew I will have to leave my past behind when I entered this place. I already got over that, I understand why it is important.
Now Emil was impressed. They boy certainly did know more than most. "Very good Comrade Petrov. You seem to know the heart of our enemy even without fighting them. It is close to the true story, close enough for me at least. The precipitous event that lead to the split forced Commendante Ares out of the Elder Council on Crete, and by a harrowing escape through Corsair space. Corsairs were firing on their ally and savior in many a conflict, and the Revolution does not stand for such treachery."
"But as for you Comrade Petrov, that is not a concern at present. Let us see how you do on your aptitude test shall we?" Emil handed Petrov the standard recruit form. "Dismissed boy."
Petrov turned smartly and walked out the door. Emil turned to the intercom again and keyed the mic. "Anyone else out there?"
"*static* Oh yes Comrade Commissar. Several are waiting for you still. Should I send one in?*static*".
Andreyev rocked back in his chair a moment with a mighty sigh, then keyed the mic again "Yes, send one in".
Vicenta Gonzalez
A Corsair woman walked into the office, and immediately the Marines had weapons trained, and even Emil was out of his chair, pistol in hand. The woman immediately put her hands in the air and exclaimed
' Wrote:I'm unarmed. My name is Vicenta Gonzalez. I am by birth a Corsair, however, I have seen the lies and hypocrisy of the Corsair Nation, and have arranged things so I may never return.
Emil quickly nodded at the two Marines, who lowereds their weapons slightly, but still kept a wary eye on the woman. Emil himself put down his pistol and sat, motioning the woman to go on.
As he listened to the story of the Corsair woman's discovery of human nature, he heard truth in her story and in her tone. She finished with
' Wrote:So if there is a word of my story that you do not believe to be true, then kill me where I stand. At least I will die betraying the filth that I once called my people.
Emil held a hand up as a slight chuckle escaped him. "Now now, senora, there's no need for dramatic gestures. That is quite the story; I've seen myself this lack of honor in some Corsairs. Some, like yourself Ms. Gonzalez, have the honor and intelligence to see through the facade, and the strength to accept the truth."
Emil paused here to let his words sink in, and then thought of something to ask. "I'd like you to contemplate something. You will go out and think about the answer to my query, and when you are ready, my staff outside will let you back in." Emil made sure that he had Vicenta's full attention.
"You seem to have inherited the Corsair's fiery demeanor and I wonder if you can control your impulses. As a Coalition pilot, you will be faced with many scenarios that could challenge your thoughts and preconceptions. We never really give up completely who we are when we join the Coalition, and some part of our previous lives still remain with us. The Red Hessians are our allies, but bitter enemies of the Corsairs. There is a possibility of former Outcasts, Bounty Hunters, and others who have joined the Coalition. Will you be able to handle taking orders from someone who may have been, or still are, enemies of your people? Go outside and think about all this means before you answer. Dismissed."
Sergei Gohel
The young woman walked outside as Emil looked at the man in the corner. By Lenin, he looks like he's almost got something to say. Perhaps I won't have to have anyone else killed today thought Emil as he motioned the man forward. But before the man could walk forward, the door to the office barged open and a dusty, shabbily clothed man walked in.
Kari Izhao
Emil could hardly control himself. Indeed, words not of his own making seemed to spill forth from his lips before and after the man finished his story of work for the Coalition, then his kidnapping and forced labor for the Liberty Navy, and then the of course subsequent escape. Amazingly, Emil heard himself say
' Wrote:Thank you, comrade. We will look into you, Mr. Izhao. Now go on your way.
As the man walked back out of the room, Emil shook himself fully awake this time. What in the Red Dawn just happened. I believe... Emil was fully alert now, and all he could think of was SPY! He quickly leaned over the intercom as he motioned the Marines out of the room after Izhao.
"Alert, I believe we have a spy. He used some sort of mind-control on me in my office. I want the man apprehended. Kari Izhao is his name. Don't kill him, just apprehend. He will need to be studied at Mykolaiv".
"*static* Suspect has been apprehended Comrade Commissar. He killed one Marine, but the rest brought him down alive. He is headed for a transport to Mykolaiv.*static*"
Emil knew what would happen to the spy. First, to find out if he had used some sort of mind control device, he would be stripped and his clothes and body searched. If nothing was found, every inch of the body would be skinned, looking for a device just below the surface. If nothing was found then, the skull would be cut away from the still living body and the brain dissected with slow, exacting precision; all the while keeping the body alive to preserve whatever evidence that could be found. Emil also knew that the rest of Mr. Kari Izhao's pitiful life would be filled with nothing but pain and an urge to die that no one would grant.
Alvin Katz
A look of disgust crossed Emil's face as he thought of the spy again, and the Marine that had been killed in service to the Revolution. He keyed the intercom. "Tell that Marine's family they have the condolences of the Commissar's office. He died a hero to the Revolution." Emil sighed as he raised his glass to the strange man in the corner. "To Life, and to death in service to the People" and drained the glass. He keyed the intercom again. "Send in whoever's left".
A young Libertonian man walked into the office and stood in front of the desk. And waited. And waited. Oh by Lenin, I've got another one thought Emil as he continued to stare at the man.
"Tell you both something," Emil said as he pointed to the man in the corner to come to his desk. "You both had better start talking or there's going to be trouble. I've had a long day already and if you two don't start saying something soon, I'm going to let my Marines start talking. They've also had a rough day, and are looking for blood. So get on with it boys, you don't have all day."
As Sergei found himself at the office he felt that weak feeling in his knees, he was sure that he was nervous about all the surrounding and happenings lately...
after a deep breath he started speaking
Sir, i am ready do speak up now and as you asked who am i?
well sir, i am son of the Ivan Gohel, grandson of the Fedja Gohel they served coalition by supporting with their wealth and treasury, but none of them were a soldiers. They were more like business mans and gave their best to help home faction The Coalition with all their marketing skills, but sir, i am diffrent i aint no business man, i knew that since i were 16. I felt something is calling inside me to the Red Dawn, and as soon as i found out of the SCRA and the Revolution i knew i want to be part of it, and no one cant stop me of wanting that.
my parents dident want me to join the forces... they said i have to do other kind of things, i have to go to collage... but **** them, i dont belong there!
Let me be part of the Revolution! let me be in the Red Dawn! let me prove to you that i am loyal, i am good soldier and i swear for my life, when i do not satisfy you kill me, because this is all i have, all i care and all i want!
After a short speech Sergei felt adrenaline raising while waiting for response of the officer looking at him...
Vicenta re-entered the office. "I'm ready to answer your question," she said, and took a deep breath. "Senor, the only thing that would prevent me from following orders is if I were ordered to do something immoral or dishonourable. If ordered to kill a child, senor, or unarmed civilians, I could not do it. Aside from that, I would have no trouble following an order, even if it came from an ex-Outcast." She stood nervously, hoping that was the correct answer.
Mikhail left the office, with a light smile on his face. When he looked at the questionnare he received, the smile disappeared. Many questions, some of them were easy, some of them were harder. The carefully sat down and filled it out, hoping his answers will be enough.
After double-checking whole document, he was waiting again until the other applicants will be finished. One of the applicants walked out of the office, looking around, then walking away quite fast. Just a few seconds after, two marines were after him. The man saw them and ran behind a corner, with marines behind him. Suddenly, gunshots were heard from behind of the corner, trough the whole corridor. The applicants waiting nearly jumped off their chairs. Soon all went quiet. One marine was returning back. Then another group of soldiers appeared from the opposite side of the corridor, one of them obviously a medic, with a red cross on his helm. The one marine which was returning pointed at the corner. The group headed there, and disappeared behind the corner.
Seems like this is nearly a routine here, thought Mikhail for himself. Soon he was permitted to enter the office again, to hand over the questionnare.
As he entered the room, he saluted the commissar again.
"I have filled it out as you asked...erm... Comrade Commissar."
He gave him the paper, and the comissar started reading it.
Youri entered again the recruitment office, and after presenting himself to the officer at the entry, go to the room designated by him. The message that he received was clearly saying that come here for the respond at his application. He knocked two times and wait that the commisar say him to enter.
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