A Rising Tide on Amiens

[Thyrzul]

Docking Terminal 2B
Saint-Quentin Space Colony, Picardie

16:15 SMT
2 Aôut, 824 AS / 740 AGS

[Didn't you say you were not being followed?] - Le Soldat was quite displeased by their newest finding.
[What are you talking about?]
[I've just heard police radios a few meters from us. They are looking for two people who fled from Salouël, who do you think they mean?] - they were traversing the crowd, and while Le Soldat didn't talk loundly, he wasn't calm either.

Leaving Amiens wasn't difficult, the duo hopped on a passenger transport towards Saint-Quentin and reached their destination in just a few hours. The problems started once they arrived: Bernard's fake credentials apparently weren't fake enough and the mischief was revealed by the time they were still in transit. Through public cameras they were tracked until the ferry, and thus the manhunt began once local police forces were alerted and informed. To their fortune they were already past the regular checks when the GRP relayed the information to the Saint-Quentin garrison. To their misfortune the entire garrison was deployed. The entire station was crowdy as usual, thus the lawfuls done their job discreetly as not to draw attention and cause panic. Staying low profile may help Bernard and Le Soldat as well.

[So what now?] - Bernard asked while on their way to the elevators.
[We need to get down to the private docks. I have a ship at 3A5, if we can get away unnoticed, we are safe.] - he explained the plan. - [But the way there is challenging, which means you keep doing what I say if you want to live.] - Bernard is slowly getting used to the direness of the situation, the wording did not surprise him by this point. For a brief minute they got out of the crowd to approach a tiny shop booth.
Trés bien, [what are we doing here?]
[Buying an energy drink for me. I need to think and this thing helps at it more than you do.] - the snarky remark hurt Bernard's ego, yet he knew he wasn't in a position, nor were they in a situation, to argue. - [We need an info terminal.]
[Would you explain your plan to me,] s'il vous plaît. [You don't like leaving loose ends behind, well I don't like getting left in the dark either.]

D'accord. - when they approached the nearby terminal Le Soldat took a small datacard out of his pocket and insterted it into one of the free slots. He began hacking the station's network system to get the full detailed map of the space colony, an information sensitive enough to be kept away from the public. In the meanwhile he quitely explained: - [We need to get from the commercial section into the housing section, because the private docks are attached on top of that, but we are being sought by the police, so we need to avoid them. I need a thorough map to know which shortcuts we can use to avoid patrols. Ah, there we go.] - they got what they wanted, the map has shown less frequently used alleys, service passages, private areas, the most of what they needed and could acquire with the options available. Le Soldat downloaded the information to the data card, took it out and inserted it into his wrist-mounted PDA, then the duo moved on.

Getting through the commercial section wasn't too difficult, public areas were spacious enough to spread policemen apart far from eachother. The plazas in the center also drawn the crowd to dilute lawful presence quite well. According to the map the private section is similarly traversible, what posed the real difficulty was the junction between the two: a few corridors running parallel, eventually ending up in a great hall in the middle, spanning through the entire width of the narrow connection, a true bottleneck most of the people on the station usually has to pass at least once a day. They knew it, the police knew it. A frequented place as usual, now with extra protection. Le Soldat tried to figure out how to pass this seemingly unpassable obstacle on the way, but couldn't find a good solution by the time they got there.

[I need more time to think, but not here, we are too much out in the open.] - he looked around quickly. - Ah, la. Allons y. - he chose the nearby toilet to hide form unwanted attention for now. Once they were in he checked the booths to see if anyone else is in there, then began inspecting the map on his PDA again once they were surely alone.
[Is there anything I can help?]
[Stay silent?] - another slight snark while he tried to concentrate.
[I feel useless doing nothing but just trying to keep after you.]
[Still better than being harmful. Although if you don't shut your mouth, then ...]
[Then what?] - Bernard has apparently had enough of being looked down, although justifiably, perhaps Le Soldat is not the right guy to talk back to. He looked back up from his PDA, at the servant, then pushed him to the wall with his lower arm and gave the answer not everybody would like to hear.
[Then I shoot you down like I promised back on Amiens. Look around where we are now. Hiding from police because you couldn't cover your tracks properly.] - he released Bernard but continued his rant. - [The place has been crawling with GRP officers ever since the last time I had to work with an rookie like yourself. The imbecile drawn attention to our operations and Council's increased presence within the system, and now the station is crawling of royal lapdogs. I will not take the same risk, so you better shut up already.]

Tout est d'accord, messieurs? [We've heard some dispute in here.] - just as Le Soldat finished his rant two police officers entered the toilet. - Great, good job. - he thought. He had to assess the situation as quickly as possible: they have sidearms, good, might need, should get, let's cause chaos. He also had to conceal their previous discussion so he quickly punched Bernard in the face and began shouting:
[The next time I see you with my wife you'll get way more than this.]
One of the officers moved forward to detain him while the other loosely prepared his handgun and handcuffs, both smiling at the apparent dispute over a woman, not taking the situation any more serious than that. That's exactly what Le Soldat needed. With a swift move he twisted out the hand of the approaching officer, turned him around, and held in front of his body as a meat shield to protect himself and Bernard behind him. The few seconds it took was enough for the other officer to realize and assess the situation, take out his handgun and fire a few shots before his colleague was thrown onto him. Both of them fell and Le Soldat took the dropped handgun to shoot both in the head.

Eh bein, c'etait intense. Oh et excusez-moi pour votre figure. - he looked back at Bernard, only to see him sitting on the floor with his back to the wall.
[I'm afraid I have bigger issues right now than my face.] - and indeed a palm-sized bleeding gunshot wound on his side was sure worse than a broken nose.
Je suis trés désolée. - Le Soldat said and lifted his hand holding the gun.

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Palace de Renancourt, Saveuse
Amiens, Picardie

16:45 SMT
2 Aôut, 824 AS / 740 AGS

Bonjour, Duchesse, et oui, [it indeed has been a long time, although your beauty did not diminish ever since at all, if I can say so.] - he leaned forward to greet her with a handkiss, then escorted her to the carriage. The personal guards reunited as well, and got in the other two cars. The convoy slowly began pacing towards the palace.

[I was unsure about the time of your arrival and the duration of your stay, so my servants have prepared a suite for you already.] - he explained. - [How was your flight, by the way?]

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