// The below was conducted on Skype with Rogue (Kudos!), so some of tenses are a little off. My apologies.
Sarah might see behind her vessel a Sabre with odd tattoos over it was following her vessel, the most noticeable thing about it would be that it had a wolves head on the front.
The girl glanced behind her, the red glow of the Greyhounds engines obscuring her view. She shivered. She didn't like asteroid fields. The Sabre would keep up behind her as things start to go a bit funny in her ship as his AI hacks into her communications. "And you alas leave the safety of a CSV to join... the Rogues, Sarah."
Sarah had been meditating on the fate of a Bounty Hunter she'd shot down. She'd left his escape pod out near the California Jumpgate. The girl hoped someone had picked him up. She was interrupted by a burst of pixels across her nav-display. As was her habit, the Engineer stared at it for a moment, hoping it would correct. No such luck. Then she heard the voice. "Wha- What are you doing to my ship? Who are you?" Her voice quivered a little.
"Me... you remember the Sabre that followed you to the Rogues base don't you lass?" he paused a moment. "I wanna have a little meeting with you.... and the Names... Rouge." he took a moment the vid screen heavily pixelated. "I will meet you at Rochester."
Sarah reeled a little, she remembered bits and pieces from that time. It still came and went now and then. She had no great desire to return to those moments. The girl recalled something about a ship. She'd discarded it as wishful thinking. Surely there couldn't have been anyone there. "Rochester? Oh...Okay..." She sighed. This man knew something about her, and she needed to know what it was. Buffalo would have to wait for its loot. Sarah slid her Greyhound into formation behind the Wolf's Head Sabre.
He would go to Rochester docking on the station after some deliberation with the docking guards he would be from head to two in full black clothing his back turned as she comes in her side as he talks with the commodity dealer.
Sarah watched the man cautiously. Who did he think he was? She shivered, suddenly feeling very exposed in the old flight suit. Sarah brushed her brown hair out of her eyes. Close inspection would reveal she still sported minor burns on her neck, as well as the hair on her left side being at least half an inch shorter then its right-hand counterpart. "You still haven't answered me you know, who are you?"
In truth, she was slightly worried as to what the response would be.
He would turn around and look no older then her but he would look like a person who would have seen allot. He would look at her burns firstly as if inspecting them being silent for the moment. He wore an insignia on his left chest of the Bretonian armed forces, seventh fleet of the Battleship Derby in Leeds. "Salve." he looked over her. "Still healing I see."
She shrugged. "It's no big deal." The burns hadn't hurt her since the incident on the CSV, and at that point she hadn't really been in any state to notice or care. They did; however, serve as an admirable reminder of the dangers of loose cables.
Sarah noted the patch on his uniform. The term just seemed to fit his clothing; there was something military about the man. "You're in the military?" Sarah's hand instinctively went to her waist, the typical haunt of her weapon. Once it got there she remembered she'd left in maintenance. The girl murmured a series of most unladylike words.
He would look at her shaking his head. "Yes I am part of the Military but I was raised into the conflict." He then takes moment. "You know Taking the Rogues." he defiantly had weapons with him, two on each thigh easily accessible to him and they would seem to have a finger print scanner on them meaning they only fired from his hand.
Sarah raised an eyebrow. The man was a walking armoury, and an expensive one at that. Those pistols would have cost more then her ship. They were probably better cared for too. "Raised into the conflict? What are you doing in Liberty, then? Isn't there a war on...."
He nods. "Name a place where there's not.... and I was in Liberty because of." He'd motion to all of her. "I want to know who exactly you are and why you put the code name Rouge in the transmission, Is your father one of my friends... or mother for that matter?"
Sarah frowned, her hair once again obscuring her blue eyes. "You've been following me?" The engineer looked surprised. "I... I don't think I know you. Dad knows lots of people though, perhaps..." The girl sighed as she remembered. "No, it was an accident... I was scared." She laughed, the sound bouncing off the metallic walls, giving it an almost ghostly quality. "At least I think it was..."
Christopher nodded. "Well being a Rogue and a probably reported one at that, I believe your time in Liberty will be less then pleasant." he thinks for a moment. "It will be on your personal record... now." he took a seat down where he was.
The girl groaned, sliding down a wall. The flight suit slid up at least two inches. "Don't remind me." She didn't regret it. Life on the run might have been dangerous, but it certainly beat the tedium of Manhattan. Anyway, her father wouldn't let anything too bad happen to her. "At least I haven't killed anyone. Not sure the same can be said of you." She eyed the man's attire cautiously.
"I've ended lives in the tens of thousands so far, that was just the Omicrons." he says in a matter of fact tone. "And its only a matter of time until your had is forced and you kill some one.. And change that ten to hundreds."
Sarah's eyes widened. Who talked about death so casually? She refused to believe that you could be forced to kill someone. There was always a choice. Still she guessed it wouldn't be a smart move to argue with him. Sarah set about diverting the conversation to calmer waters. "Why the interest in me though? I'm not really anyone." She grinned. "Just a pirate."
He nods. "And I've killed for allot less then that lass." he took a moment. "As I said on your distress signal you listed it with Rouge.... That is one of my old code names when I was in the Orders black squadron, which I don't believe any of your family have been in the Black Squadron?" he raises a eyebrow. "Since I am one of the only surviving members of it." Sarah glanced around, eyeing the commodities dealer suspiciously.
"Are you sure this is right place to be talking about this?" In her house the Order was mentioned in the same breath as Rheinland, suffice to say, it wasn't exactly a positive term. If she was in the mood to believe in them at all which, often, she wasn't. Yet here she was talking to an agent. "Dad was in the Navy once.... I don't think you would have seen him." Another idea seemed to hit her. "Wait, was? What happened to them?" "Being the top dogs of the Order at the time, we were hunted down... I was a commander back then, before Suis Malacos was taken by the nomads and the Admiral Fleet was... decimated." He looked off for a moment. "I have infiltrated the Liberty Security forces in the past and you have still yet to answer, why did you use the Code name Rouge." he would step forward as if trying to get across to her it was important.
The girl slumped forward, head in her hands. This was too much. Nomads? She'd heard whispers and rumours. They were stories to frighten small children, nothing more. It finally began to dawn on her that she'd got herself into a situation that she mightn't be able to talk her way out of. "I don't know! I didn't know you existed. Why is it so important to you?"
"Why? Because it was my code name, should some one need me they use one of my call names, My Black Squadron code name was Rouge... Meaning red." he took a moment leaving forward. "I've spent a couple million on simply having tried to find you in that field, My reconnaissance cruiser was pushed to its limit." He took a deep breathe taking off his left glove showing her a tattoo of the Black Squadron. "Ever seen this before?"
Sarah recoiled from the tattoo. It triggered some fear in her that she hadn't known existed. She was afraid of it, and by extension, the man who wore it. Every instinct she possessed screamed at her to get away from it. To run. With great effort, she quashed them, though she couldn't keep the tremble from her limbs. "No...No, I've never seen it!" A segment of her registered the rest of the conversation. "A..a cruiser?" It was an effort just to get the words out. The tattoo....
He nods. "That is my... outpost ship as it were." he takes a moment gloving his hand again and moving his right hand forward in a hand shake. "I'm Chris." he would seem to lighten a bit. "So It was just a misspelling?"
The girl relaxed as he covered the mark. She still viewed the man cautiously though. The young Rouge struggled to put a name to her earlier fear, it wasn't normal and she knew it. She also intrinsically knew she was powerless to do anything about it.
She moved away a little as he extended his hand, a little of the terror resurfacing. Not enough to be paralysing, but enough to ensure her own hand was shaking long before she made contact. "Sarah." She made to curtsey before realising she was still sitting down. She didn't trust herself to stand at present. "Certainly, just a mistake."
It was still a struggle to look at him, but she forced herself to do so. Some part of her knew her life depended on his not knowing... Not seeing. Another part of her questioned this sudden knowledge, but it was too fleeting an uncertainty to draw any attention from her conscious mind.
What was she? The girl almost cried... even she didn't know.
Christopher nodded and shook her hand gently as he moved his shirt to hide the guns now. Assuming a more laid back look rather then a business one. "Nice to know that if things went wrong with the Rogues, such as if they shipped you off as a Slave." he took a moment. "I already had a route and ambush set up for that to be honest.' He then took a moment. "Believe me, its not me you should be scared of. Sarah McFarlen.... your fathers looking for you, you do know that don't you?" "Got a price out for your head as well."
Sarah nodded dumbly. He'd been looking out for her? It seemed it was a popular pastime, not that she was complaining. "Err... Thanks." The shake in her limbs was fading, and she managed to stumble to her feet. "I know, someone told me. Didn't mention the price though.... I can't believe Dad'd do that..."
He nods. "I'm not here for him though; He doesn't have the cash to hire me and well... I'm more of an assassination type of guy and if you think you've got it rough, I've even got the Phantoms gunning after me." he smiles, but his demeanour coming back slowly. "Why did you leave your parents?"
Sarah grinned slowly. "I think he might have the money, then again, I don't think he's ever needed an assassin." The girl shrugged. "I didn't want to spend my life filing papers. Dad was worried about someone coming after me, so I decided to team up with the people who were most likely to." She smiled proudly, only the barest hint of a quiver present on her lips. "It's a big universe. I couldn't sleep knowing I'd only seen such a small part of it."
He shakes his head. "Such a stupid move that was, and if you find out you don't wanna be in the Rogues no more... the Rogues are basically like a gang. Your respectability goes to Zero, your job opportunities dwindle to nothing and you might get stuck with some drunken husband and pregnant at a early age.... Rogues pirate and profit off others suffering and if you ever take Cardamine, I'll tell your father." he leans forward and narrows his eyes. "You made a stupid decision not a good one."
Some of Sarah's earlier fear returned, coupled with an anger that was and wasn't part of her. She made a visible effort not to hit him. "Sure, because you're one to talk about living a respectable life. Don't you dare comment on mine!" She took a deep breath, chest heaving. Her eyes seemed to flash a deeper blue then any human eyes should have been. "Look, it was the Rouges or nothing. What do you propose; I go and join the Navy? Get myself a nice little halo? I'd be back home before you could say 'I told you so.' The Rouges are the only way I can leave home for more then five minutes.... Would you be able to spend your existence in one place? Never leaving, living in fear?"
The girl seemed to calm herself, her eyes making the barely noticeable return to their natural colour. "I want to live my own life, is that a crime?"
He nods. "When it's a life of crime and there is something you should consider." he narrows his eyes his cold demeanour back. "My growing up, I wished I had a family I wish I had that boring life you just left behind to be a petty thug, you had a choice and picked a piss poor one." He looks away for a moment. "You have no idea how privileged you really were... how many friends have you had die, because I've lost count, hell most of my friends are high ranking military personal." he looks back to her now. "Just like a normal teenager you rushed into things, as I am sure this is your life ambition... you know what I wanna be, a crafter.. But for me, I have to be in the military to be protected."
Sarah sighed. "You're wrong there. I didn't want to be a Rouge. Not initially at least, I wanted to explore, see new worlds, places other people had never set foot on. You think I'm a criminal for that? The Rouges pulled me out of a wreck when no-one else would, that's a lot more then anyone did for me Manhattan." Sarah conveniently forgot any mentions of slavery. "I can't just leave that debt. You know what I took from that trader? Food, water and clothing." She gestured to the battered green flight suit. 'It barely fits." She explained.
He shakes his head. "Few seconds longer and I would have found you first." he rubs his chin. "Stay out of the Omicrons if you explore, and I know where your getting at with the debt.. I'm currently paying off one now to the Bretonians." he looks at the cloths. "I can fix that by the way... years alone kind of leave you with free time on your hands.... and as I said... don't touch cardamine, if you want I'll tell you about it."
The young Rouge nodded in response. "Sorry... I didn't mean to offend you. It's...I don't know." She still struggled to look at the man, but the fear had faded to a gently pressure at the back of her mind. Sarah knew she couldn't mention it, even if she wanted to. "I'm planning to stay away from Cardamine at least." The girl shivered, remembering Dervin's compulsive consumption of the drug.
"Don't give into peer pressure, I had a girl who was into it.... My first and now she's dead.... its a narcotic that alters your DNA make up, the symptoms well if you don't... Just hope you never see any one suffering from withdrawal.... once you're hooked your nothing but a slave." he took a moment. "Offending me? If you had to an extent that mattered I wouldn't be here now, would I?" he runs his hands through his hair. "You wanna see what my life was like growing up.. Just so you know what you had over others... you know the saying, you don't know what you've had till you don't have it any more."
