Life is complicated. Politics are complicated. Being an outlaw is complicated. These are observations that few people would disagree with. It’s no wonder then that dedicating your life to an outlawed political movement can give you quite the headache sometimes. For Freya Eistochter, the infamous leader of the Bundschuh party, such a headache is felt today as she prepares for the trial of Nika Haupt.
Sitting in her office with several of her confidants, Freya looks through the documents on the screen of her datapad. “Dr. Annika Haupt, Kommandant der Vereinigte Widerstandsarmee. Accusations: Insubordination; murder of a fellow party member; conspiracy against party leadership.” It doesn’t even matter of which she is guilty and of which she is not. What matters is what verdict would benefit Freya and her followers the most.
The circumstances make things a lot more complicated than she would have liked. Normally Freya, as head of the Central Committee, would be one of the judges for the trial which would’ve made things easier. It hadn’t been possible to deny any involvement by herself however as Die Festung had betrayed her and revealed her to have at least some involvement. Thus she has already provided the committee with her story beforehand. She now has to rely on her allies in the committee, her own performance as a witness and a little bit of help from another sect with their own agenda.
She takes a deep breath. “Alright, Genossen, it’s almost time. Shadiya, is Nika fully informed of our strategy?” Shadiya, a young woman with olive skin, sitting at the side of Freya’s desk, replies. “Perhaps after all this is over you should consider introducing stricter regulations, Freya. Although, for now, the lack of a proper internal judicial system is favourable to us.” Freya nods. “Noted.” She turns to a man standing next to the seated Shadiya. “Lars, do you expect any trouble from Klugmann’s dogs?” The man grinned. “They will be all too happy to portray you as reckless and with Jannik as deputy leader heading the committee they will be a lot less suspicious.”
Freya smiled. It might not be easy, but success seems likely. The failure of the previous operation might now turn out to ultimately strengthen the party and avoid a devastating split.
Through her closed eyelids, Nika was only able to discern if the corridors she was led through were dark or bright - and she preferred it that way. Clearly dark, and clearly bright. Clear-cut sides, states of positive or negative. Not like reality, in which everything was full of shades, intermixing light and shadow. There was no clear side in this, especially not for her.
After her explosive escape from Planet Hamburg, she had been spending her days in one of the few prison cells on Bruchsal Base, being cut off from everything. Time to think, to recapitulate on her recent life-choices. Leaving her home, leaving the Hessians, joining Freya's camp instead of Klugmanns... And always, she had left a pile of bodies in her wake. Her recent escapade was the worst one - and it hadn't even been successful.
Did she regret it? Not really. At least not anymore. She'd spent months in that cell, and finally decided that if she would ever get a chance to get out, she would change her way of working, interacting with the world around her. And this chance had finally surfaced, a few weeks ago, when she received a visitor.
He had introduced himself as the one responsible for planning her defense in court. That came as a surprise to Nika - she hadn't been expecting to survive for long after she left the cell, as Freya was usually quick to dispose of assets that had become a problem rather than a boon.
As it turned out, Erich Klugmann, the leading figure of the VWA, had stepped down, and nobody really knew who was to replace him. And furthermore, the man who had been visiting her had a message, which he sneakily placed in her palm when they shook hands at the end of the meeting.
Small letters, a clear, almost printed look.
The Colonel is gone. The sparrows sing. The kettle is boiling, we just need the proper ingredients to finish the brew.
When she received this message, her eyes narrowed, filled with determination. For the past two years, she had been drifiting, going where fate brought her, always on the run. This changed in that instance.
Nika Haupt had a plan.
Although there are quite a few former judges, lawyers and law students amongst their ranks, the Bundschuh do not have any judges or a court themselves. Most cases of misconduct and the like are simply dealt with by the chain of command. In some cases the party leader herself decides on disciplinary action or forfeiting membership of the Bundschuh party. However, in some serious cases an official trial takes place with the members of the Central Committee as the judges. Such a trial is about to take place now as Freya enters the Committee’s meeting room.
In the room there is a large U-shaped table with at the open end some extra tables and chairs. Bruchsal’s station guards stand at the door and along the walls with submachine guns. Nika was brought to a table in the middle of the U-shape’s open end. Freya sat down right of her together with another witness. When the doors closed, deputy party leader Jannik Grunwald, at the head of the large table, stood up.
“Genossen, we are gathered here for the trial of Dr. Annika Haupt, Kommandant of the Vereinigte Widerstandsarmee, member of the Bundschuhpartei. Genossin Haupt, you stand accused of insubordination, murder of a fellow party member and conspiracy against party leadership…”
Politics is the art to direct the masses - not where it wants to go, but where it has to go.
A quote that she remembered from years of education, but until now hadn't really accepted as truth for herself. Now, she pretty much had to accept it. Was she certain that her plan would work? No, far from it actually. But it was her only chance to get out of this alive.
While Grunwald read out the accusations and began listing the actual cases in detail, Nika turned her head and mustered the people in the room.
There was Oberst Jana Achen, one of her accusers. The way she understood it, Oberst Achen had very recently switched alignments from the Eistochterist camp. A turncoat, a wildcard. Something to consider, should her plan succeed.
Professor Rorken. The Sparrow, the one that was responsible for all this mess. Nika shuddered thinking over all the hassle this man had caused, but after all, for him it had to look like he had to protect his people.
The deputy party leader, Grunwald. He had just finished his speech and given the word to the main accuser, seating himself and leaning back a bit. One of the few people that did not choose a side in the divide that was cutting clear through the united front of the Bundschuh, Grunwald had always appeared as a weasel to Nika. A politician, through and through.
And then, of course, the empty seat of Freya Eistochter, who for this trial sat behind her, on the witness bank. An enigma for her, driven by ambition and conviction. One of the few people in here who actually had Nika's respect. Even so... She was dangerous. Ambitious and ruthless, Freya would not hesitate to throw her under the bus. One more reason to go through with this.
She straightened her back, hid her fear and doubts and tried to look as calm as possible. The stage was set, the actors were in place. The play was about to begin, and her part was the one that would decide if it would become a tragedy or not.