Any mistake you may find, please feel free to pm me.
Many many many thanks to Jose Benitez for helping with the language.
To Coachwhip for having RP perfectly since the very begining.
To the Adminstrators for understanding the RP proposal.
Planet Pittsburg. New York System. Three weeks ago.
It would have been just another day at the "Scratching Inn" bar. There, as happened each month, officer Jameson meet a rookie a boy no more than half his age. It was pay day for the Liberty officials and the Rogues happily paid as it meant they were able to keep their battleship parked in Manhattan's backyard. And Buffalo and the stories of its existence could remain as nothing more than a legend.
Payment transfered, officer Jameson tapped his cap twice and put it in his head. He walked towards the door that leads to the hangar, not saying a word. The bar was poorly lit, the main reason being that the main source of illumination was the communication screens which were showing The Colony News and were babbling on about the raise of cardamine use in Manhattan.
As he was about to leave the young pirate in the shadows, all of the screens displayed a huge amount of static, distorting the images and sound that were being shown. Gradually this was replaced by the image of a woman looking straight to camera to the accompaniment of some sombre music. It appeared that all of the chanels on all of the screens had been interupted and replaced with this one single broadcast. As the transmission stabilized, she started talking in a stern, but measured voice: "I am Jeanne. I'm here to tell you, Libertonians, the truth.".
Jeanne's face was beautiful, but also hard. Dark haired, and wearing old-fashioned glasses with red lenses, typical of fighter pilots from decades past , the image reflected in the lenses was that of the sun and planet Manhattan.
Officer Jameson stopped by the door, looking back over his shoulder into the dim bar. As he did so he caught a glimpse of the image that was now being displayed on the screens. What he saw caused him to pause and to pay attention to the image being displayed, and there was recognition in is eyes. He stood transfixed by the face of the young women on the screen, "Je...Good Lord...It can't be!". His cap fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Planet Houston. Texas System. Fourteen years ago.
It was a cold night.
"Jeanne, quit this for today. It's time to go to bed."
The young girl with big shiney greyish eyes and dark hair was fixing a newspod. Two more screws and it was done.
As she walked to her bed she gave her mother the pod. "It's Tom's pod. It's now fixed, mom.".
"Thank you my dear. Sleep well."
Some minutes passed by in silence.
"Mom? Will dad back from the Wall anyday?"
"Don't know, dear. They say when you are in there you start a new life. I want to hear you praying before sleep. Have nice dreams, my darling."
"But the voices told me he is dead. Is it true, mom?"
"No, darling. It's just your imagination. I've already told you. There are no such things as voices talking to you.There's only you and me. We are together and thats how its going to be. You have seen too much for a girl at your age. Now go bed and have a good rest, Jeanne."
Jeanne's mother walked to the door of the poor house to lock it for the night. When she put her finger to the lockpad someone knocked loudy the the door.
"Whos that?" She asked opening the door halfway and taking a look outside. It was very dark outside and she barely could see their figures in the shadows.
There were three men at the door. She could see one was holding a cap under his arm, which he tapped twice before asking "Good evening, madam, is this Ms. Jeanne's house?"
"No, sir." She lied, and started to push the door closed. But before she could close it the two other men forced it open, and revealed their grinning faces: "Ples, don clos da door yet, M'dm". She saw many of their teeth were covered by dirty steel caps.
Hearing the voices, the girl came from the room, dressed in her old flannel pyjamas.
Mom? Who's there?
Run, Jeanne! Run and hide!
Jeanne saw a flash of light from the door followed by a loud burst and a stomp sound. Her mother was now lying on the floor. For a moment she could see a young man, holding a cap under his arm and a pistol in his hand. He was wearing the Liberty Police uniform. The same uniform the men who took her father were wearing. He then pointed his weapon at her and fired at the shocked girl. Another flash of light.
Quick. Take them to the ship. I'll clean this mess up.
She fell uncounscious.
Rogue Destroyer. Somewhere in the New York System. Three weeks ago.
The fragrant smoke of the cigar had permeated through the entire room, whilst it’s ash had been carefully disposed of in an expensive ashtray.
The fat man sat with his back to the table. He was currently gazing through the window at the view of Manhattan, with his legs stretched out in front of him such that they rested comfortably on the wide window ledge.
News arrived at the destroyer with the same quality any house in Manhattan had.
He sat quietly listening to the Colony News broadcast that had just begun on the vidscreen behind him. It seemed that the use of Cardamine was on the increase throughout Liberty. “Those hispanions have made their way here”, he thought out loud.
He drew deeply on his cigar, and as he did so, the sound of the Colony News broadcast began to distort. It was gradually replaced by the sound of sombre music, over which a woman’s voice began to speak. “ I am Jeanne. I’m here to tell you Libertonians the truth”
The man blew the smoke away that was enveloping him and turned toward the screen. His eyes wide with shock.
“…What the hell…?”
He put the still lit cigar into the ashtray, all of his attention focused on the small screen. Whilst the sometimes distorted broadcast continued he did not make a single move, his cigar laying forgotten in the ashtray. All of the mans attention was now focused on the screen and the words that the women shown on it was saying.
When the woman had finished, her face faded with static into the background, the music died out and the Colony News resumed it’s broadcast.
He reached out and touched the comms panel on his desk.
"Was tha local?"
The voice on the other side answered: "No sir, as far as we know all Manhattan has suffered the broadcast. It was a hacking invasion, it has isolated all comm..." The voice was cut off abruptly as the mans finger punched down on the comms panel keypad.
The fat man pressed a short combination of buttons on the comms panel, and looked at its screen. An image appeared "Yo said she was dead! What in hell is going on???" he shouted.
"Who...I've told you not to make contact. Why are you calling me?"
"She is alive... and free! Do yo know what it means? Do yo remember who she is??"
"We are making every effort we can to recapture her. But we can't make too much noise."
"Noise?? She has broadcast to the whole damn system! How much noisier can things be?! "
"It seems someone had other plans for her. We didn't know she was still alive."
With that, he hit the cancel button closing the channel, his forgotten cigar rolled into the ashtray where it lay amongst the discarded ash. "Liars!"
With that he turned his back to the table and resumed gazing out of the window toward Manhattan. This time however, it was not Manhattan that he was looking at, but the dark space all around the planet.
Alcatraz Base. California System. Thirteen years ago.
"Mike, that's the girl?" said Thom.
"It's 'Boss', Thom. Yo have to get used to it or the others wont respect me. And, yes , that's the girl they sent" said Mike.
"Yeah. SO... 'Boss', don't ya think she's too young t'be out there? She can barely reach the yoke."
"That’s the deal. Ah'll do as they say and they say she has to have her spirit broken."
"Mik...err, Boss, the guards say she hasn't said a word, she hasn't cried a single drop since she arrived. For her age, she's a rock."
"That's why she's out there... taking water from rocks. Maybe she can learn something from this."
"Did ya discovered why they want her so much?"
No... but its making me curious... Maybe ah should..."
"What?"
"Nothing Lieutenant Thomas. Yo're asking too much."
Some seconds of silence pass before Thom answers. "Aye sir."
The two men remain seated watching the monotony of a ship mining in an asteroid rock field.
Mike took a communicator tied in his belt:
"Rookie One, can't yo see she's too close to the security perimeter. Are yo sleeping?!"
A nervous voice came from the communicator: "N-No.. No sir, I mean.. Aye sir. Will do."
One of the guard ships moved quickly and fired a single blast at Jeanne's ship which removed the protective shield. She moved back to the center of the circle formed by the other three rogue ships, and started all over again to shoot the rocks and tractor the water.
"How long will it last, 'Boss'?" Thom asked as he stood up to leave.
"As long as it is needed, Lieutenant. As long as it is needed."
For about a year, Jeanne shot rocks and tractored water. Every day, as she was forced to do the mining job, she tried to remember her Mothers prayers, and she repeated them over and over again as she shot the asteroids.
Following orders, they guards made every effort to prevent her from being touched by any of the guards or others prisoners.
In her last week on the base she was led to the Mike’s office where she found him smoking a cheap cigar. The room was full of smoke which smelt terrible. He had some papers resting on his pot belly and his feet were resting on the table. The room was untidy and dark. Jeanne sat on a chair by his table with her head down.
"Lady, your time here is about to end. Do yo want to say something?"
She remembered the hunger, thirst, and the hard work, and said in a low voice:
"Why?"
![[Image: PxZbQ9b.png]](https://i.imgur.com/PxZbQ9b.png)