With the Tau systems always being contested, Tia was actually surprised when she arrived on the Freeport and it felt so peaceful. She slowly parked her Falchion and went directly to the bar of the Freeport 6. The whole place was somewhat silent, but it did not bother her much. As soon as she entered the bar she went and found the first bar chair that was available, with another one beside it. She was expecting someone to sit with her.
The bar was dark and had a mixture of faint blue and white lights and it made everything just blend in perfectly. Whoever would enter there would feel like they are somewhere they belong.
With every step that she took, clanking from her weapons would be heard. She would never go anywhere unarmed. Her modified katana on one side of her back and her shotgun on the other. Her revolver was concealed. Her high boots and her long coat really made her look like a true mercenary. She sat on a chair and hailed the bartender, asking for a beer. There was nothing more to do, but to wait. She did come a bit early after all.
Two blossoms docked with the Freeport after having received clearance. After she got out of the fighters, Lady Yamada removed her helmet and het flowing black hair fell over her shoulders. She wore the standard issue flight suit in use by the Gen'an Chrysanthemum operatives, hiding her rank from others. She quickly tied up her hair before proceeding to the bar area of the station along with the other Chrysanthemum, Watanabe Chika.
It was not long before Yamada noticed Tia sitting at the bar. She gracefully walked towards the empty seat and sat down besides Tia, gesturing Chika to take the seat on the other side Tia. She ordered a glass of sake for herself and Chika after seeing Tia already had a beer.
"Konbanwa, Stormclaw-san. I am Lady Yamada, the one who received your transmission. The Sister next to you is Watanabe-san. She insisted of tagging along. I see you came well armed."
"Hajimemashite, Yamada-sama, Watanabe-san. Thank you for coming. Don't let my weaponry confuse you. I am just keeping myself save as much as possible." Tia looked at them both and straightened up. "My journey has be quite violent so I do have to look weird from time to time. But with that story aside, I believe you have questions for me before I can come back to the Sisterhood, so shoot." She took another sip of her beer and leaned back onto the table.
"It is mainly my own curiosity that drew me here. I am not the Matriarch so I have no final say in this affair. It will be her who shall judge what happens next. I am her shield that her enemies need to go through first. This is why I wanted to meet you here."
She took a sip of her sake
"What I wish to know is who your current allies and enemies are. Do you have a cardamine dependency? We know next to nothing about you. As I said our records about you are non existant. You could be a spy for all we know. Us here in Kusari live in complicated times where everyone can be an enemy. And even though you seek to be an affiliate, we can't afford to become careless."
Mariko looked at Chika if she has anything to add, but Chika replied by shaking her head
Tia rose her eyes in thought, thinking of who she should and should not mention. "I have worked with lots of people. My enemies would mainly include nomads and their puppets. For the rest of Sirius, I mainly stay neutral. I did some work with the Order and Core some time ago, and here and there I did some recon for Auxesians. Everyone that I worked with mainly remained neutral with me and anyone who I hunted down was either a nomad or on my kill list." She then again leaned on the back of the chair, being careful not to fall. "As for cardamine, I am clean. I don't use it because I don't like anything that might damage me inside my body. Clean mind, clean kill as some would say." She then took another sip of her beer waiting for the answer.
Mariko took another sip of her sake before speaking.
"You say cardamine is unclean and damages you from the inside? Does this mean you view the Sisterhood as a damaged entity? All of our sisters have ascended using cardamine. It is an essential part of being a Golden Chrysanthemum. Does that make us seem broken to you?
I see you are a mercenary for hire. However, it is not money that drives people to victory, it is conviction. One who picks no side is someone who can easily turn against you for the right price. Our Sisters have a vision to fight for. They will give their lives to achieve this dream. This is what makes us strong. This is what makes us trust eachother. We have a unifying goal. What do you fight for?"
Tia kept looking forward while talking. "Everyone ascends in their own way. You ascend through cardamine; I ascend through the hunt. That is how I was accepted. When I was supposed to be accepted into the Sisterhood, many higher-ups refused to let me in because they believed that a gaijin in the Sisterhood would taint the tradition and that I would simply die if I even tried to take in a small amount of cardamine. I got tired of their tradition speeches and other crap so I stood up to them. I requested a target to kill and it made them laugh..." She took another sip of her beer. "...I noticed that they wanted to get rid of me so they gave me a target that would be impossible to complete. That is where I ascended. Everyone has their own way of life and I am in no position to disrespect them for it, so no, I don't think you are broken or damaged. You chose your path by following tradition and I chose mine by being rejected from it. I was still accepted as a sister in the end of course."
"The Gen'an movement has very strict laws, with cardamine use being a very important one. One who seeks to be affiliated to us is required to be addicted to the substance. We are less concerned about you being an outsider than your unwillingness to use cardamine. It is one of my main security mechanisms to weed out infiltrators."
She leaned back on her seat
"Ascension through blood is only one of our trials. We pass multiple before we are part of the Sisterhood. This is our ways, our path as you may call it. It is sacred and forms our bond. So with this, we need to reject you."
Tia stood up from her chair. "Very well. We may cross paths again one day. Until then, goodbye." Tia slowly made her way out of the bar and to her ship. She did not feel sadness, nor anger. She simply felt neutral with an expected outcome. Maybe somewhere deep inside she believed that she did not belong anywhere, like a true outsider,a foreigner to everyone; a gaijin.
