A few hours ago, everyone felt great relief about having left the Bering system. Now, tension was back when the Apahanta returned. The jump from Puerto Rico to Bering was successful, and while taking advantage of the cloaking device, the battleship moved to the edge of the system, not too far away from Marshall Station however. With slow speed the ship manouvered through the asteroid fields, dodging mines and wrecks. Not the best place for a battleship to be, especially after the local punks finding clear words for the sudden violation of their home system's security.
With the Apahanta not appearing on any sensors while cloaked and it having reached a decent distance from the center of the system, the crew slightly calmed down, even with stealth alert still in. Commander Sherry Aguilar, Ezrael's right hand, entered the room, just to spot the Captain in the bathroom. He stood infront of a mirrow, his Apahanta suit only covering his lower body in that moment. Moving to the door frame between his room and the bathroom, she watched him fiddling around at his face and smirked slightly, having her arms folded infront of her. "What exactly are you doing there?" she asked him, never having seen him like this peacocky, although she always guessed he was spending at least one hour a day in the bathroom to look perfect.
He didn't turn around but looked at her reflection in the mirror, returning her smirk. "I'm meeting an admiral. I want to look perfect for her to make the best impression. Like, I don't want to look like I'm the shady captain of a rogue battleship. Don't know how we can profit from Harmony yet, but they can relate to our situation when it comes to working with limited resources."
"I'm certain you would put up the same efforts if the admiral was male," she commented, eyeing his bare back and his side. "In all seriousness, though, are you sure you want to go there on your own?"
"Yes. If they are what they pretend to be, they will stick to Liberty's diplomatic etiquette, meaning I'll be under their full protection for the time I am there, with the priviledges of a diplomatic ambassador. Even for me. If they do, I want to return the full respect to their etiquette. That means no teams to back me up, no sidearms, no tricks. Sombra mentioned the admiral appreciates formality. Apparently she called her Madam Admiral every time."
He turned around to her and her eyes instantly moved up to look at his face. "What are you going to put on? Your suit?"
"We don't have a gala uniform, so the normal suit will suffice. I'll put my leather jacket over it, though." He turned towards the mirror again, taking his deodorant to spray it over his upper body. "You know, I think I'm going to ask HOT GEAR to create a new set of suits for us, including gala uniforms. I want the zippers at the front again and pockets would be nice."
The cloud of visible deodorant hit his body and moved from there in all directions. As usual, it was a rather fruity scent from Curacao. "Maybe a business man outfit would be more fitting for things like this? After all you're selling weapons to them."
"Technology, yes. But you won't ever see me in a smoking or business suits. The worst invention of mankind. Like,
why would I want to look like a lawyer or a banker. Hello Madam Admiral, do you want to withdraw some cash or buy a vacuum cleaner?" Being done with what he did, he pulled up the sleeves of his overall and put it back on. Sherry made a step forward to zip his back up.
"A shame. I can imagine you would look quite good in a smoking. Like a movie star on the red carpet. Any idea why Guildmistress Loyola was in Bering, by the way?"
"Whatever it is, it means nothing good." With him being dressed, he turned around to her, smirking slightly at her. "I don't know whether she was trying to protect us or whether she was trying to fuck us over. However it is better to avoid her at all cost next time. I don't like to play her games."
"Still mad at her for the Corinth video?" She made a step back and to the side, seeing he wanted to move out of the bathroom.
"That's not it," he began as he approached his cabinet, opening it. "She is unpredictable. She is unreliable. When she does things, then never in a clean way. I don't want her around us. The less she knows about us and our activities, the better it is for us. Good, she helped us getting cool with the Core again, allowing us to keep the ship without repercussions. But she mentioned she is unemployed now. So I don't know what that means for us and the Core." Sighing, he took his black leather jacket out of the cabinet and put it on. For a moment, Sherry smirked at him slightly amused. "What?"
"Do you maybe want to go to the gym quickly and lift some weights to pump your muscles?"
"Are you fucking with me right now?" He gave her a toothless smile, combined with a bit of surprise.
"You do look like a shady captain of a rogue battleship, you know? With your long black hair, the red accents, the scar and the club leather jacket. I wouldn't be surprised if the admiral think you're hitting on her."
"But it does look good, right?" he asked her, making his steps towards her, just to place his hands on her sides. It made her blush slightly.
"It is certainly what women like. The handsome rogue battleship captain." Avoiding his eyes, she placed her hands on his wrists and pushed him a bit back. "So, you will take a quickshuttle over there, greet them, show them the PDA and the presentation and then make the offer?"
"Right. I'll keep my PDA on recording, so we'll have a copy of what will be said, just for the archives. They will choose some items, maybe make a counter-offer for more items, then I'll return to the ship, prepare a data package for them, give it to them, return and then they receive the key to open the package once we have left Bering safe and sound." Placing his hands again on her sides, he came one more step closer. "If something happens, I trust you to continue our work. This ship will be yours then. It will be your job to make sure our crew is safe and happy. Alright?"
The sudden tension was back, and instead of removing his hands from her body again, she held his wrists first and then let her hands slide up to his shoulders to have them rest at his chest. "I promise."
"Good. But let's hope I come back unharmed. Make sure the Apahanta stays cloaked. If something happens, retreat to Puerto Rico. Vieques is our safe haven, and the neutron star can help you get rid of snubs and bombers. Or jump to Baffin or Omega-49 or Omicron Kappa. Don't risk anything."
"Understood." Her hands were slowly sliding down and off his chest, once more removing his grip on her hips. The blush was fading away, even with him still being intimidatingly close. "Good luck, Captain."
"Attractive Rover to Marshall Station, this is Ezrael Vertiga. Admiral Knight is expecting me for a meeting."
The tiny Hussar approached the big station in the debris field. Years ago, this was the location of a jump gate. Now the debris acts as shield for Battlegroup Harmony's fortress in Bering. Slightly twitching, Ezrael sat in the cockpit of the under normal circumstances remote-controlled ship. It was cold in there, at least to him. Curacao was a hot world, and he was used to it. Even the Apahanta had a rather high standard room temperature at all times, simply because Ezrael hated it when it was colder than on Curacao. Priviledge of the captain. Marshall Station gave him clearance, and one of the hangar bays opened its doors for the Attractive Rover.
Rubbing his gloved hands and moving his body in a quick pace, he tried to warm up. Even with the Apahanta suit and the leather jacket it felt like it was ten degrees colder than on the Apahanta. It probably was. Meanwhile he looked out of the cockpit window while the autopilot landed the ship inside. A few moments later, she little ship shook itself, signaling it had 'landed', hovering over the floor, held by antigrav-beams. Still shaking himself, Ezrael stood up. The PDA was in the pocket of his jacket, it was already recording all the audio with a hidden application in the background. Right now mostly muffled sounds of the device rubbing around in the pocket and the repeated "Fuck, I hate snubs" he used to mention every now and then while moving the Rover through the Bering asteroid field.
Leaving the Attractive Rover, he climbed down the ship's hull, just to find himself on Marshall Station. People have awaited him. They would find an athletic man with long black hair, some red strands, a scar on his left eye, an almost constant charming smirk on his face. He wore a skin-tight wetsuit-like overall like many people prefered to wear them on space ships, mostly black with blue accents, shape-revealing. His upper body was also covered in an open black leather jacket. No side-arms, no tricks. There was just a PDA and a communicator in his jacket's pockets. "I take it you'll escort me to the admiral after some checks?"
There was two marines and a navy officer waiting for Ezrael, indeed ready to escort and check the newcomer. "Mister Vertiga we have orders to check you for weapons." The officer explained while one marine stepped forward, checking the tall male for anything potentially dangerous. He found the PDA and communicator and let Ezrael keep them after confirming that was all they were. Once done the officer nodded and went ahead, leading Ezrael further into the station. Once through a security checkpoint there'd be considerably less people in the hallways. None of the people they met wore any sort of casual clothing either. This was purely a military area. Eventually they'd reach the entrance to a room with a few chairs and a small table inside. While the size of the room would remind of an interrogation room, the more comfortable seats and the window would quickly remind that it was merely the lack of space and construction materials that kept this room in check.
Admiral Victoria Knight was already seated, drinking a cup of tea and looking out of the window. Yet as the door opened she put it down and rose. The officer would salute, Knight would respond in kind and finally Ezrael would be left inside the room as the door closed.
Victoria smiled lightly, greeting him. "Good day Mister Vertiga. I hope this time your arrival was less... problematic." She greeted him, still standing. She wondered actually what kind of person this one was. He had a battleship at his disposal. An independent one at that. He wasn't anyone to ignore and yet he didn't appear like he demanded authority. There was no military discipline nor any demonstrations of power like well armed militias or criminals would present themselves.
The was no doubt that he was an interesting individual at least. At worst she'd merely get the trade they agreed to, at best this might actually be an interesting evening. Conversation that wasn't yet another report of combat or intel was rare and worth much to her.
To a certain degree, he was surprised about the security check - it wasn't like in a thriller where they would halfway torture him with all kinds of scans. But then again, the security checks on the Apahanta weren't like that either. The airlocks and decontamination chambers had all the scanners they needed to detect weapons, explosives or anomalies within a body - meaning each time Maren entered the Apahanta, he had to edit the scans to not blow her cover. Enjoying the sight - not that there was much exciting to see on this military installation - he didn't show any resistance or intention to cause complications.
Reaching the meeting room, he eyed the admiral. She was probably in his age, which was quite young for an admiral. Brown hair, a bit less saturated than Maren's or Sherry's hair color. Her appearance commanded a certain degree of respect, granted by her inferiors. He himself remained calm, not exactly knowing what was expected from him right now, however he knew what was definitely not expected from him. "No problems this time. We jumped here from Puerto Rico and moved to the edge of the system, out of sight. Thank you for welcoming me so kindly." He smirked at her, presenting her his typical charming smile for the first time in person. "A nice fortress you have here. I'm surprised to see how fast such installation can be build. When I was in Bering about a year or two ago, I remember there was a jump gate at this exact position." Waiting for her approval, he remained standing in place, looking around in the room, however keeping Admiral Knight in sight. A gesture to prevent signaling disrespect: Always face the person you are talking to.
She found his choice of clothing curious, had half expected he'd wear something more formal. But then again, he did show up with a rather small one man ship. His smirk made her smile again as well. She'd turn shortly after, showing him a counter in the wall. Again it'd be built like this to save space. Her can of tea was there and just a few bottles that'd be alcohol. This was certainly a relaxing spot for higher officers. Certainly not a place many outsiders would see. For Victoria it was a certain gesture of respect and also a basic trust. Though considering that this was only luxury in their situation that gesture might be lost on the adventuring Ezrael.
"I'm glad to hear that. Would you like something to drink? There's tea ready." She offered him and turned back to him right away. He was right to compliment their achievements rather than her. She was genuinely proud that her people managed to survive, no even build something that was worth being proud of. "Well they towed the jumpgate away and since then things went down hill for this system. Piracy is on the rise. Rheinland lost this system for good and Liberty is losing hold as well. Perfect for us but it didn't make it easy." She explained, not quite willing to show him her satisfaction yet. This was a business meeting after all.
Tea? When she mentioned it, he had to hide his surprise. Libertonians and tea. Even when not drinking their beloved Liberty Ale, he would have expected the admiral to be more of a coffee type of person. "Tea sounds good to me." Quite a cognitive dissonance, the can of tea next to the bottles. "Although please don't put yourself to any bother on my account. I wouldn't be surprised if you're on a tight schedule." With that being said, he remained in his place, looking at her. "I hope you don't have any troubles with the Unioners because of me?"
Coffee was indeed her go to drink during the day or at the morning. But she actually tried to relax, tried to enjoy tea. Tea had always felt more professional to her. It was a silly thing maybe but she liked to structure simple things in life like this. She poured a cup and placed it on the table, moving back to her seat.
"I have set time free for this so it is not a problem. Please take a seat." She said while sitting down herself, she was calm but despite being courteous to pour tea herself she wasn't revealing much emotion. "The Unioners shouldn't have touched you. Certainly not close to our installation and with the Harmony present." Again calm, no anger in her voice despite having been more than upset when she had to see the Unioners stepping out of line repeatedly.
"But luckily this is no problem here. No ships apart from ours may stay in the area. It's the only place where we can stay in comfort without constant fear." She explained and took her cup then. "But you didn't come here to listen to stories..." She said, herself a bit confused why she was talking so much that wasn't straight to the point. This was a business meeting, she reminded herself yet again.
Following her invitation, he did his steps to her desk and sat down on the chair she offered. "Quite on the contrary, Admiral," he began, leaning slightly back in the chair. It was definitely not as cold as in the Attractive Rover's cockpit, which was nice. Leaning slightly to the side, with an elbow on the armrest, he kept his fist at the end of his cheek, smirking at her. "I am quite interested in hearing your stories. I don't know much about your Battlegroup or how a woman of your young age managed to achieve the title of an admiral. The presentation won't run way, at least not on my end."
Nearly slouching in the seat didn't surprise her though, she'd expected him to not be as disciplined as a Navy officer would be. Yet she didn't feel insulted by his lack of it. After all he even just agree to chat, surely it was normal to have some small talk during negotiations but he seemed genuinely curious to Victoria.
"If we're being entirely accurate- I am not an Admiral. While I certainly did get far rather fast I only reached Rear Admiral by the time the Navy attack us." She explained to him. Her 'promotion' was more a convenience. There was no need for multiple admirals in a fleet the size of the Separatists.
She sighed lightly. "It actually shocked me even more that the Navy would so bluntly get rid of us, of me. I was planned to join the higher admiralty soon." After that she gave him a sad smile. "I guess that spared me to become some alien slave at worst and to live with terrifying corruption at best." There was no doubt to pretty much any Separatist that something was going terribly wrong with the Navy. Though doubts about Nomads being involved weren't rare at all there wasn't many explanations for the attack on them.
Alien slave. Those words echoed in his thoughts. he slightly shook his head at her. "They tried, but obviously you were better. One of the greatest satisfactions for you must be imagining their expressions when facing the fact they not only failed getting rid of you but causing Battlegroup Harmony to take over Bering, with enough resources to maintain a fleet and two heavily fortified installations." There was an amused smirk on his lips, followed by him exhaling audibly. "To a certain degree, our stories are quite similar. Yours is just on a way larger scale. I faced the truth about the Core, which is quite the opposite of what their propaganda tells people in house space. They fight the Nomads, but not to eliminate them but to harvest them for APM's products. That sort of makes them alien slaves as well. It forces the Core to ensure the Nomads won't disappear. When I realized that, I left, first missing-in-action, then later as identified defector. Now we have our own ways of doing what we think is right." Which did not involve fighting Nomads. It costed some willpower to not reveal his thoughts with his mimics, but willpower was his trait. Still, he was aware he that Maren and her incubus managed to restrain him in a way or another as well. It made him wonder who would have more success in future: Admiral Knight or he himself?
![[Image: XDNG6zM.png]](https://i.imgur.com/XDNG6zM.png)
![[Image: TBuqJ3R.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TBuqJ3R.png)
