Our Reward Is Our Future

[Luminium]

CRUISER SCHWARZWALD, COLOGNE SYSTEM, HOUSE OF RHEINLAND

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"Brothers and sisters of the farmers' rights movement. Our cause never truly died. Not with the creeping takeover of our home by the hated synth paste peddlers. Not with the false promises of the Imperial government that continued pandering to these Libertonian cockroaches. And not with the betrayal of the Kusari-led Farmers' Alliance who wanted to make an example of one of our own. We thought to join forces with these pretenders to fight as a united front, but they saw us only as lowly foreigners to be subverted to the cause of their own corporate masters. But on this day, our purpose is renewed!

Today, we cracked open a Farmers' Alliance prison frigate, and from its holds, we liberated Sabine Schroder. We spared her from becoming a martyr for her defiance, and showed everyone that we will not abandon our comrades in a time of need. But in that moment, we also liberated ourselves. No longer do we need to fear the whispers from the distant Kyushu. No longer do we need to suffer the ignominy of vassalage. We are the people of Rheinland, and our fate is in our hands!

But make no mistake. This is only the beginning. Reports are coming in from all over of crews declaring for our cause. Together, we will reforge our movement into a mighty spear and drive it into the heart of our true enemy: the Synth Foods. Without our resources disappearing into the black hole that is Kusari, without Alliance stooges holding us back from what needs to be done, these parasites will finally know our retribution. Stuttgart will be free! Our reward is our future!"

The sick bay door slid shut, muffling the sound of applause following the captain's speech. Arthur watched as the ship's chief medical officer and her assistant carted away Schroder, who was weakly protesting their care. Evidently, her stay aboard the Kiritsu was not a painless ordeal. If Arthur closed his eyes, he could still see the frigate breaking apart, sending debris and lifepods in all directions. It took him only a moment to scan the wreckage, find the holding cell with a single life within and pull it into the hold of his Sichel. "Schroder is safe! She is with me!" he heard himself shouting to his comrades. Four LWB fighters led him away from combat while the rest pinned the Alliance escorts to cover their retreat back to the Schwarzwald.

"Reaper Actual?" someone addressed Arthur, and he looked up to see the executive officer of the Schwarzwald. He rose to give a salute, but the officer shook his head and motioned for him to stay seated.

"I am now, yeah." Arthur answered. At the XO's quizzical look, he clarified. "Reaper One is dead. Collided with an enemy fighter. Reaper Two fled, probably joined the other side. I was next in the chain."

"What's your name?"

"Saebel. Arthur Saebel, sir."

The XO nodded. "Your father served in the Imperial Military, correct?"

"Yeah. He did. Joined up after Synth destroyed the family farm. Ended up regretting it after the Civil War, when the government went back on their word to kick Synth out. Said we killed a bunch of our fellow Rheinlanders for nothing. Now... now I'm here."

"This was your first combat mission?"

"It was. I was mostly doing recon and search-and-rescue before."

The XO's expression softened. "You did good. It's a thing to be proud of."

"Thank you. But.. it's not over, is it? There's still pockets of Alliance loyalists to take care of, and it'll take a while to heal our movement..." He trailed off, fatigue catching up to him. Now that the rush of combat has passed, he did not feel the joy of victory. He did not feel much of anything.

"Yes, our work is far from over. I'm going to discuss putting you in as new Reaper One, but I believe it will only be a formality. In the meantime, get some rest. You've earned it."

Arthur left the sick bay and marched back to his bunk. As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts lingered not on the praise he got, but on the ones whose sacrifice made today's extraction possible.

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