Rheinland's Starquake I

[Backo]

Eliza doubted that things were as bad as agent Laurenz made them out to be. The truce between the Rheinwehr and the Maltese pilots was indeed rather fresh, but from what she observed the assistance was well appreciated throughout the ranks that were present in Sigma-21 on the Rheinland Military's side. Malta was more than willing to cooperate and there were plenty of enemies on the list before the Maltese were the last ones standing in the Sigmas. It was inevitable that Rheinland would break the truce should they defeat the Kusari Navy, the Gas Miners Guild and the Corsairs, but come on, how likely was that really? Maybe this was an exaggeration to instill a sense of urgency in Eliza and force her into cooperation. Kat did sound genuinely worried so Valdez had no way to know for sure.

The second part did worry her more genuinely though. The Maltese girl was aware of the Hessian movement. She did attempt negotiations with them an year and something back to gain access to Rheinland and was met with a fair amount of distrust. The Hessians were ready to work with Maltese pilots against the Corsair Empire, but they were wary of the dangers of the orange grass and as such opposed entry of cardamine convoys or any serious Maltese raiding parties into their territory. They, much like the Rheinland Military, found use in cooperation with Malta, but only because in their current state they were not capable of defeating their enemies decisively. But if their revolution in Rheinland succeeded? There was no telling how their diplomacy would change. And even if it did not, this sudden shift could likely cause such an economic crisis and power gap that perhaps the Corsairs would take the crumbling house by surprise. So many scenarios and Eliza did not like either of them. Status quo was the best solution, she needed all the major players in a stalemate, because a stalemate was good for Malta's safety while the planet was far enough to be out of sight and out of mind.

All this was a big bite to chew through and Eliza sank into her own thoughts, oblivious to her hostess and the surroundings. Well - oblivious until a huge blue glowing serpent made it's appearance in Eliza's peripheral vision. In the redhead's line of work big blue glowing things were more often than not quite hostile and held the firm intention of ending her. This sort of consistency quickly forced her subconsciousness to instinctively kick any other thoughts out and put all the focus on the serpent heading straight for them. Her heartbeat nearly doubled and she could feel the goose bumps crawling down her spine. Katharina assurance that they were in fact safe was thankfully just on time to prevent the Maltese for make a run for her own life. Scratch that, the sea life here was definitely more frightening than the space squids. With a still pale face she turned to the Bureau agent, but not without keeping the lindworm in her peripheral vision, just to be safe.

"I didn't expect such, such a close encounter! Those things are bigger than I imagined they would be... It's actually rather majestic now that I know it won't try and eat me."

Eliza ended her recovery attempt with a short and slightly anxious chuckle. It was funny how the imminent could throw all future worries away in a mere blink of an eye. All that was left was the sole hope that this display of cowardice did not ruin her fearless reputation in the eyes of her blonde hostess. Nevertheless she had to attempt to salvage the situation as best as she could.

"I understand we're just useful at the moment, but would the Military really consider breaking the truce before they've dealt with the Corsair Empire? To my humble understanding the Corsairs were the original reason negotiations began, not the Sigma war. A revolution back home sounds like a more imminent concern, if Rheinland collapses there's no telling how the powers surrounding it will shift and expand to fill the gap. Is the Rheinwehr really that oblivious to what lies waiting in the Omegas?"

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Republic of the Sword and Sun