Friedrich Riese entered the crowded bar at Kreutzwald Depot in the New Berlin sector. Even on Christmas Eve the bar was fairly full, and people were drinking and talking to each other. More than a few deals were probably being conducted as well. He had paid a Junker for the passge over, and walked over to the bartender located in the middle of the bar.
"What's it gonna be?" the bartender said nonchalantly.
"A Rheinbier works," Riese said in a soft voice, his eyes still searching for something.
A few minutes later Riese apparently found what he was looking for. Paying for the bier he made his way to a man in a paramilitary outfit with a red hammer-and-pickaxe logo on the chest sitting alone at one of the prefab metallic tables. The man was reading something off a datapad.
Riese sat down across the man and waited for him to stop reading. After a moment or so, the man looked up. "What?" he asked curtly
"Are you with the Hessians?" Riese asked in the same soft voice he used earlier
"Yes," the man's eyes hardened, and he glanced around. No one else seemed to be paying the pair any mind. "Are you going to kill me? Here, in Kreutzwald?" The man smiled an incredulous smile. "You'd be dead within 10 seconds."
"I'm not going to kill you. All I want is for you to take this datapad -" Riese placed it on the table " - to an officer in your movement. As a show of good faith, here's a reward for doing this for me."
Riese put a small bag on the table and pushed it over to the other man. The man opened it and saw the distinct red tint and sparkle of blood diamonds. The man grinned. "I'll do it, under one condition."
"What's that?" Riese asked.
"I get to read the message. It would be...embarrassing...if I brought a death threat or something trivial to the officers at Vogtland."
"That's fair," Riese quickly replied as the other man pocketed the small bag of diamonds.
The Hessian opened the datapad and started reading.
"To the officers of the Red Hessian Army,
"My name is Friedrich Riese and I would like to defect from the corrupt and impotent Rheinland Navy and join the Red Hessian Army.
"My story is, depressingly, the story of a great many Rheinlanders. I joined the Navy after university and spent several years flying light fighters as part of a wing. It was there I saw the true damages the corporations and their lapdog Kanzler did to my homeland.
"Have you ever seen a man die of radiation sickness from working like a dog in Omega-11 for those Daumann crooks, only for them to not pay his grieving widow and children any settlement because of bureaucratic nonsense? I have. Have you ever seen the government give preferential treatment to the rich, while the people - the ones who made and will make Rheinland strong - languish in poverty and starvation, lurching from one day to the next? Have you seen people spend their entire lives saving and working, only for unscrupulous bankers to defraud them of their money, while the government does nothing? I have, and I will not stand for it any longer!
"Here's one I know you have seen: Those barbarian Corsairs setting up shop in my homeland, while the inept and cowardly leaders of this nation and military either can't or won't stop them.
"I am tired of a weak Rheinland and I am tired of fighting for the status quo. I want the same things you want - a strong and free Rheinland, strong enough to resist oppression from both within and without. I want the people to truly be free, and the only way that can happen is if the Red Hessians and their allies succeed at casting aside this current system.
"I have extensive flight experience. I spent years flying light fighters in Rheinland and the neighboring systems, and feel at home in such craft. As someone who has engaged Hessians in the past, I know full well what a Loki can do in the hands of a skilled pilot.
"In closing, I humbly submit my application to the Red Hessian Army, and eagerly await your response. I can receive written or electronic messages at P.O. Box 1812 at the general post office in the Treptow District on Planet New Berlin.
Sincerely,
Friedrich Riese"
//No SKYPE yet. I'm writing this at my office and can/will install Skype when I get home later tonight. If need be I can P.M whoever accepts this application with my new Skype usename info later this week. (EDIT: Skype is gatsaves159)
//American Central Time. GMT - 6
The Hessian finished reading and stood to leave, offering Riese his hand, which Riese shook. "It is not my place to say one way or the other, but I promise you I will get it to my officers. Merry Christmas, Mr. Riese." The Hessian disappeared in the crowd. Riese made his way to the docking bay and prepared himself for the trip back to Planet New Berlin.
