Wenzel Ranis, bartender on Darmstadt Depot and people person extraordinaire, knew a lot about members of the LWB. They were always telling him all about themselves and their troubles, as he was a bartender. It was his job to know, not because he was a bartender but because he was also in charge of LWB personnel records.
Because when you need to remember, go to the guy who deals with booze for a living.
At times he would recount what he knew for the benefit of the higher-ups.
"Eva you say?" Wenzel asked. "Oh, ja, know all about her. She's a frequent patron here. Good tipper, too. You could learn a lesson or two."
"She's originally from Planet Stuttgart, like most of our members. Not sure what part of it though, possibly the north. None of her close family were much into farming, though I think all her grandparents were. Maybe an uncle, too, can't quite recall. Both of her parents served in the RM though; her father even died fighting those damned aliens back at the turn of the century."
"Around '06 or so, she headed to the University on New Berlin, learning about International Relations and all manner of things. To tell you the truth, I've zoned out when she rambled on about that. She was in the military, too. That's where she learned how to fly a fighter craft even. Karl said once that she originally wanted to join the MND and was in some kind of program for that. Not sure what ever happened with that, though she did go to work for OSC after she retired from the military."
"Eva ended up back here on Darmstadt in around 815 or 816 or so. She's been working her way up the ranks ever since and doing a good job at it. Certainly saved a lot of our pilots once or twice, and she's pretty good at keeping the bar optronics running."
"Oh, Karl und Linda, you say?" Wenzel said, "Ja, of course I know them. Karl is one of my best friends around."
"I think Linda has been here practically her entire life. Her family were farmers in the WVS when the LWB formed and moved out here to the Ostnebel. She was born just after the birth of our organization. I think they decided to join up around 778 or so, so she's been here a long while. She works in the docking bay, giving people permission to land, and making sure Udo goes to the right place to avoid any further... incidents."
"Karl was a chef on Stuttgart before he joined the LWB. Even had his own restaurant! The rising cost of fresh food drove him under though. I actually convinced him to join up, one food man to another. Don't remember when it was, quite a few years ago though. He captains a lot of our trade missions."
"The two of them have been married for, hmmm, nearly a decade I think. They're a nice couple, as long as Karl stays out of any more Hawks. He's not much of a fighter pilot and got in all sorts of trouble when he crashed the time he tried to fly a Hawk. Stayed at my place a week and a half after that!"
"Annike you say?" Wenzel said. "I know her well, comes here quite often when she is on the base, lately she seems to be really busy though."
"She was born on Stuttgart, her parents had a farm close to the north pole, I think they were into that business with the blue jillies, you know these beautiful flowers? Yes, them!"
"I am sure that their farm was running really well, how else could she have afforded to go to the University of New Berlin? She studied a strange mix of Agricultural science, Biology and marketing. She once told me that she was working on a new concept that could have helped many of the smaller farms on Stuttgart, but before she finished they were forced to sell their own farm to an government backed investor that later sold it to Synth Foods."
"After they had lost the farm the enlisted into the Military, thats where she learned to fly a ship the way she does now, the other pilots always tell me how good she is, guess there must be some truth in that. However, she was dismissed three months after signing in because she refused to fire on one of our ships, thats how she got here in the first place. Guess thats why she also dislikes the Military that much, they just follow their orders mindlessly in her eyes."
"She had been dealing with our allies and most of the people that arrive here for the first time of her life, she really knows how to do that. Oh before I forget it, try to avoid her if she was in the bar for a while, dont ask why, just do it."
"Udo you say?" Wenzel said. "Ahh, the boy is the friendliest lad you'd ever meet. It's only sad fate has a sadistic grudge against him."
"He was first dropped on Darmstalt by a Freelancer, scared and naked. His farm was run out of business by Synth Foods bought it out, and he was going to work on New Berlin when his transport got ambushed it seemed."
"He's... a very bad pilot, but he's a good boy. Everybody loves him since he's so cheerful and carefree. So blissfully unaware of how dangerous the world is. But he has a way of surviving... somehow... Someone up there must be looking out for him!"
"The one thing I can say about him is he loves the Frauleins very much. Though it's gotten him into trouble on occasion. Hah! I remember when we had to rescue him from Vierlande. Actually I think twice. He kept flirting with Admiral Malexa before she locked him up."
"We even thought he was dead, he disappeared after he flew into the Ackermann Anomaly in Saar, but he seems to have beaten the odds. He keeps going on about 'Monsters' and 'Scary Robots' and some wierd fantasy world. Maybe that anomaly gave him some brain damage. Who knows."
Wenzel looks up from the glass he is cleaning “Werner? The rat man? O ja: I know Werner, and knew his poor sister Nadja before him.” he places the glass down sighing and pours two pints of Brauers finest 'Hopfensaft', sliding one over to you. “I think that poor boy is a little short upstairs since losing family. First his brother, then his sister. Don't get me wrong, he's a good man: just a bit strange, what with his rats and that look he gets sometimes.”
Wenzel savours a sip of the cool beer. “What's that? His parents? Ja his folks are good people, still on the move, supporting the movement. Oh and don't mention aliens to him, he gets crazy mad: got one of those messed up robot-arms last time he tangled with them too." Wenzel mimes briefly to signify a bulky, malformed arm. "He works a few jobs around the place, likes his Jillies, sometimes goes missing for days to take them for replanting.” Wenzel takes another contemplative sip. “Yeah he knows his way around a hoe, and he's not bad with a wrench either: not sure I would want him as my pilot though.” Wenzel chuckles.
Wenzel looks up from the bar he is cleaning, only to look back down. The stranger that walked in didn't seem that interesting to him and he simply continued with what he was doing until the stranger knocked on the bar.
"What can I do for you stranger?" he said in the usual accent.
"Do you know von Wanaben?" The stranger replied.
Wenzel laughed for a moment. Remember tales of the family the Stranger just mentioned. "Ja, I do. But the question is, which Von Wanaben do you mean? there are literally thousands of them all serving somewhere in our movement or the movements of our allies, all dedicated to a socialist cause." Wenzel explained.
"Specifically a man named Krinson." The stranger replied.
Wenzel nodded. "Oh jah, I know that guy." Wenzel steps back and bends down into the lower region of the bar to access a small handheld datapad and taps in a few commands before turning it over to the stranger. "Here Is a picture of him, quite a charming and good looking mann. Seems to be anyway since he seems to attract a lot of attention from the ladies. Good Bomber pilot too, not much of a farmer but decent with a wrench and he keeps his ship up to date, repaired and not to mention clean, both inside and outside. Very dedicated to the cause and a very imposing man to meet. But once you get to know him a great drinking buddy. Why are you looking for him anyway?"
The Stranger holds up a hand and grabs a small package from his jacket and slides it onto the bar. "Give this to him, its a gift for saving my life and pointing me in the right direction." turning around the stranger seems to have a Unioner logo on his back.
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