There was little time, Ben clutched his bloody arm to his side as he navigated through the ship, betrayers all of them, apparently his services were no-longer required by the Katzists and attempted to murder him while he was in his quarters, thankfully his paranoia has saved him the fate of being stabbed as he managed to avoid death once more, still he should have expected this, but he was blinded by loyalty to Katz, to the cause and never seeing the Human Element that corrupts all causes.
As he slumped against a bulkhead, gaining his bearings he took several deep breaths, his glasses were had a large crack in one lense, Ben drew his TT-33 Combat Pistol and checked his ammunition, nodding to himself as he slid the nearly full clip back into the pistol, he pushed himself off from the bulkhead and continued to stumble down the corridor, Ben knew he could never return to the Coalition, either side would kill him, one for being betrayers, the other for being betrayed.
As he stumbled along he finally sighted the escape pods, Ben smirked to himself, patting his pockets which contained Data-Disks containing information on the new ship designs that he was privy to as well as intelligence on several Coalition secrets. Ben promised himself he would get out alive, he would disappear and hopefully they would think he was dead. Ben Warner was nolonger the Hero of the Coalition, Libertonian Terrorist, friend of Alvin Katz. He was now simply himself...He was....Free.
He approached the first Pod and opened it up, revealing a multi-person pod with enough food and water to last him until he could reach a base, Belfast...Nodding to himself as he agreed with his own choice. Belfast would be the best, the Mollys there were mostly trade-oriented and he was on good terms with most of them, he would be safe there for a short period of time before he could move on.
Climbing in and settling into the Pilot's seat he started the launch sequence, quickening his pace as he could hear boots running down the hall towards the area he was in, the door shut and he felt his pod being launched at a rapid rate away from the Lithuania and towards Belfast.
Sighing as the ship became smalling in the small view-port he finally relaxed, he was free, never again shall he join another cause, the Human Element was too much of an influence with greed and jealousy clouding the minds of men and women, as he sat there, exhausted from his ordeal he could not help but wonder.
As the pod approached Belfast it was placed in a tractor beam and brought to one of the docking bays automatically. Inside the pod Ben was trying to make himself more discrete and rugged looking, tussling his hair, throwing away his now broken glasses and taking off his Uniform and replacing it with a simple grey jumpsuit like Fighter Pilots wore.
As the pod was settled to the ground Ben tucked his pistol under his belt and opened the pod, revealing a busy station, Mollys and traders bustling about, buying and selling all manner of objects, from Gold mined in Dublin to Arms manufactured on Belfast. Ben got out of the pod and waded through the sea of ships and people going about their business.
Ben did not know where he would go next, but he was sure that it would be better than his previous predicament, he would need to acquire a ship or book passage out of the reach of the Coalition...Manhattan's lower levels sounded appealing to him right now. The irony of his choice was not lost on Ben, what started in Liberty ends in Liberty it seems. Checking his pockets again he made sure he had enough to book passage, grimacing at the few Credits he had, it would get him there but other than that he would be Creditless...With a sigh he started to look around for anything that looked like a freighter, they tended to be the ones who slipped into Liberty, the Navy normally went after Transports and Warships, Freighters tended to get ignored due to their smaller hauling capacity.
After hours of searching he finally found a Captain of a Rhino that would take him to Manhattan, unfortunately the greedy gnat's price drained him of his credits, as he boarded the ship he took one last look at the Belfast landing bay before the door into the Rhino shut, within minutes the ship lifted off and headed towards a Jumphole that would start them on the path to Liberty...
A lone Rhino Freighter lands on a old and rusting platform, above was towering sky-scrapers and catwalks that led between buildings, the ship was quite a ways down, in the lower sections of the massive planet-city.
The door of the Rhino opens and Ben steps out, exhausted from the long journey, it did not help that his pilot was a fan of old 'country' songs dating back to Sol...And his singing voice was comparable to a freight-train, noisy and rather unpleasant to listen to for hours.
Taking in the view around him he frowned, Manhattan had not changed much since he had left Liberty, same rusting infrastructure in the lower levels, same people trying to scratch out a meager living to get by another day and corrupt cops here and there beating a homeless man for 'vagrancy'. Nothing ever changes...Walking away from the platform and crossing one of the catwalks that led into the rusty innards of a building Ben checked his pistol as discretely as he could, he remembered what type of people dwelt down here, people with no hope and absolutely nothing left to lose...
As he approached a metal door that had signs of fungus and rust on it he scoffed, just like old times...Gripping the Manual Override as the Door Controls were smashed in, likely by one of the locals and with a grunt he slowly flipped the switch that unlocked the door, opening it up and revealing the gloomy darkness within he steeled his nerves and walked in. He could disappear from anyone down here, even if they looked for Fifty Years it was doubtful that the Coalition nor the Libertonian authorities would find him if he did not want to be found.
Digging into his pocket and pulling out his Data-Disk he smirked slightly to himself, the Coalition wanted an enemy...It would get an enemy...With that he tucked it back into his pocket and kept walking...
What a ride, Benitez, Unioners, Navy and Police...Warner after escaping with the Grizzly he had 'liberated' sighs as he sets the ship down on the base's deck, Safe for now...The former Coalition Lt.Colonel rubs his temples, stressed out from the close call with the Navy.
As he shuts down the ship and climbs out of the Cockpit and towards the side-door of the ship he brushes his clothes, still pumped up on adrenaline from the chase, before opening the door into the Unioner Base, as he climbed out of the ship he took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself, while he knew he was safe here the man couldn't shake the feelings of being watched and doom lurking close by. Shaking his head of such thoughts he looks around the Hanger for a familiar face, he was here to be transferred to a 'safer' vessel that'll take him to somewhere the Coalition couldn't touch him.
His right hand reaches into his pocket, making sure his Data-Disk that he had held in his possession was secure, it held valuable information that he was going to be using as his bargaining chip, however that was only part of his 'leverage' as he could remember much more about his 'former occupation', secrets most who hate the Coalition would kill for...Keeping his wits about him he kept searching...
