"You must be..." Erich's brow furrowed as the man unceremoniously entered the small room. "...Hans?"
Without any kind of surname to address the man by, Erich merely left his question at that. He shifted in his seat somewhat as he waited for the newcomer to make himself comfortable, and for Sachs to gather her thoughts.
"Ja, that's Hans Wolfwood, my chief security officer. He takes care of the safety on our assets, included safety drills on our bases."
Nelly said to Erich.
"Hallo Hans, gut you could make it. Ich believe you remember Erich, und the conversation we had at the Frankfurt jumpgate in Sigma-13?"
As she sighs, lighting another cigarette and offering Hans one, she continues.
"My apologies if Ich seem 'distant' from the plight of the people of Rheinland. As Ich said before Ich was largely unaware of the events described by the both of you at our 'meeting' in space. That doesn't remove the fact that Ich have been working towards some personal goals to ensure a safe und pleasant Rheinland for our offspring. My methods are considerately more slower und less 'violent', yet, should work in time."
"Ich would like to hear again about the events Hans und you, Erich, have witnessed during the Nomad war und after. Ich was distracted in space und wasn't able to memorize everything. Could you both enlighten this old broad once again, whereas now Ich can focus?"
Hans merely noded in acknowledgement before moving closer to the table. He had a seat and made himself comfortable, a firm handshake between him and Erich before he moved to help himself with a cigarette madam Sachs offered him "Danke." he said, drawing a small robust lighter from his jacket's chest pocket, coated in green, specific to the Rheinland Military, with the stamp 'Stein' on one side. After puffing out the first smoke he took a moment to recollect what he said back then.
"Nothing pritty ever came out of those types of missions, as I have already said. Since Mr. Erich here will probably have more to say than I do, I'll go first and be done with it quickly."
The man leaned back on his seat, puffing out another smoke, eyes fixed on the cloud of smoke slowly forming above him, as lifeless as the cold sensation the man's overall stance brought in most occasions.
"It was about two years ago, when we were summoned near Oder. A small contingent, no cruisers or anything big to attract attention, but we had enough firepower despite that. Orders came directly from the top, and we were all as surprised as anyone else when we were told to ..simply head forth and abuse, for lack of a better word.. a simple bunch of children...the oldest among them couldn't have been more than 22 of age. They were part of a larger group of political activists, well educated and armed with devotement towards the cause of establishing better leadership in Rheinland."
Hans tilted his head slightly both sides, a few cracking sounds coming from his neck before he once again puffed another smoke from his cigarette and resumed.
"Pardon. As I was saying, their goal seemed far fetched..but considering their way of doing things, they immediatly syphoned the public's admiration. The Chancelor didn't like this, and the activists' methods could simply not be stopped through conventional means. That's where we came in. Three gunboats to act as prison transports, each with a small fighter squad as escort. Our orders were to take them all in, and stomp any resistance under the weight of our guns. Simply put...placing children in prison or killing them if they refused to comply. We were a very organised bunch...but even we needed a few minutes to actually comprehend what we were asked to do. Eventualy, we managed to accomplish their capture without any casualties. The luck that we all carried that day was that a Bundschu contingent moved in on the convoy that day. Official records state the fighting was bloody, but in truth, those men did nothing more than reason with us. We figured we could cover it up, so we relinquished our objective to their safety and they accepted to take the blame in exchange for being given the prisoners. To my surprise, it all ended with minimal bloodshed, but the fact that it actually happened was enough to make most of our stomachs turn."
Throughout his story-telling, the man seemed as calm as ever, although from his sayings, the event was nothing short of despicable.
Erich remains quiet as he merely sips from his glass of scotch, listening to Hans' story. At its conclusion, he speaks:
"Thank you, Herr Hans... Stein? Thank you for not fulfilling the stereotypical... Well, nature of the Rheinswehr."
He rubs at his temples, seemingly thinking a moment. "The Nomad War left the Bundschuh nearly entirely... un-infested. That isn't to say that we did not shoulder great losses and sacrifices." He states somewhat vaguely: "There is a very good reason that Rheinland's citizen population is not allowed to enter within the Frankfurt Westerwald, because of what lay within it."
Erich exhales slowly. "I was only six years old at the time of the Nomad War, but we have a fairly detailed account of almost everything that happened, from the exact time when the Niemann regieme became desperately more aggressive... To our operation within the Westerwald. It is no exaggeration, President Sachs, that the Bundschuh ironically may have saved humanity in the course of that terrible day."
He looks somewhat nervously at Hans, frowning. "I do not know of whether Herr Hans would appreciate my... Divulgence of what lies in there, though I feel every Rheinlandic citizen deserves to know."
Hans listened intently to Erich's side of the story, quirking an eyebrow at some point but refraining from interrupting the man. After Erich paused from his words, Hans puffed out the last smoke from his cigarette.
"I am no longer in the Military. Don't expect me to apprehend you if you choose to divulge any state secret today."
The man spoke in a jestfull tone before tossing Erich yet another glance.
"Und nein. It's actually Wolfwood. Stein was the nickname I received during my years of service from one of my superiors. He had a sadistic satisfaction of treating me worse than the others, only to notice that in the end I didn't even blink. He eventualy came to his senses, but not before wasting valuable time with me, to his disadvantage, ofcourse."
The man leaned forth, putting out the cigarette in the recipient while talking. Beneath that solid stance, a trace of satisfaction was present in his tone as he recalled the good days in the Military.
Drawing a couple of shallow breaths Nelly let sink in what she heard. After a minute she regained her cool again and took a sip of her drink.
"Just call me Nelly, Erich. Titles und such are all nice und dandy, but Ich am just a simple farmers girl. Always was und always will be, no matter how much longer Ich have got to live."
"Ich am appalled by what Ich just heard from you, Hans. If this is true, und so far Ich do, as Ich trust you completely, then this information needs to get out to the public. Ich am sharing the opinion of you, Erich, that the current way Rheinland is led is just a path to destruction."
"What lays actually in the Frankfurt Westerwald then? It's not like an ordinary citizen such as myself have access to it."
Seemingly at Hans' behest, Erich nodded. "Danke, Herr Hans Wolfwood. Understand that as a Bundschuh rebel... There is a lot of bad blood between the Military and the Widerstand, as you no doubt learned very well. I do not have any animosity towards the defenders of the Federal Republic, but it does not change our goals of changing its fabric."
He turned the brunt of his attention to Nelly, seemingly keeping one eye upon Hans in case he were to 'say too much'. "The Westerwald is a nebula consistent primarily of fine dust, perhaps silicate. We obviously do not have the ability to scan more conclusively, as... Well. That's a quaternary objective in comparison to our others."
His expression becomes a tinge more grave. "Unauthorized access to the Westerwald is punished because it hides an emblem of national shame; A research complex by the name of 'Schatten'. We of course cannot know for certain what kinds of things go on in there, but... We have great reason to suspect that they involve the very same Nomads that had nearly brought humanity to its knees twenty years ago".
Erich continues. "Bundschuh operatives try their best to keep the facility under close watch, but all convoys headed in or out, rare as they are, are usually escorted by far too many military vessels to deal with. We would estimate that the facility holds close to at least a couple thousand individuals, at least by what little scanning we can do in the radioactive pocket where Schatten is located".
He sighs after a moment. "The inhuman minefield surrounding the complex should be reason enough to believe that the government is up to no good there, but the Bundschuh have a special history with that little nebula pocket."
"Twenty Years ago, as we all well know, the Niemann Regieme was under almost complete Nomadic Control. Rheinland had declared war on the other three Houses and rebuild a massive military; most of which we still have leftover. The Bundschuh's relative... obscurity at the time spared us of any infestation, and timely reports proved that the sudden shift in politics was due to a cause beyond all our imaginings."
Erich downs an entire glass of scotch, exhaling slowly, before continuing. "The Bundschuh was the only group both willing and able to do something about some terrifying intel it received; at the spot where Schatten is presently located, once resided berthing bays for... Well. The exact details are Bundschuh secrets due to our refusal to allow groups such as the Unioners from becoming wise to it, but I can assure you they were Nomadic to some degree."
"The Bundschuh mustered what few snubcraft it could, and launched a desperate attack on that facility. Barely anyone survived, and Claus Botzler, then-leader of the Bundschuh, died in that Nebula. But those brave paragons of humanism prevented the weapons from being used against the other Houses, and in doing so may have actually saved them from annihilation."
Erich's tone is dour and morose. "They sold their lives dearly, but for what...? Aside from being perhaps only slightly less militaristic, nothing changed for the bulk of Rheinland's uninfested populace between then and now. The Bundschuh petitioned for amnesty immediately at the conclusion of the Nomad War; those rag-tag members wanted to help rebuild Rheinland. Kanzler Steller refused and stated that it was still a capital crime to maintain membership or affiliation with the party."
He pauses for a brief while, letting both listeners digest his long monologue.
Hans rubbed his slightly unshaved chin in a wisely manner as he listened to Erich's insight on the matter at hand, knowing more or less a few details himself. As soon as Erich paused, Hans moved to light a fine cigar he had previously drawn from an inner chest pocket, puffing out the smoke, his gaze darting back and forth between Erich and Nelly.
"Setting aside the Nomadic influence in this little history lesson, there is one thing that drew my attention. Rheinland suffered tragic losses not only regarding manpower and arsenal, even more-so after the sudden shift in the balance of power, with the colony wings starting to fight back the aliens und infectees. What puzzles me was..why would Rheinland turn away any help it could get in rebuilding ? Sure, they would recurr to meskheine methods, but atleast they would have a helping hand in addition, even if just for a slight bit. The resources necessary for replacing und rebuilding that which was lost or destroyed during the war had far too vast requirements for Rheinland to muster on their own in such a short time, and especially after turning away any help, even from groups such as the Bundschuh."
The man pauses briefly, pondering uppon the matter himself before turning his attention to the other two, awaiting for the resuming of the conversation.