meeting of colleagues

[Dusk]

Invergordon Salvage Yards, Inverness
June 1st, 835 AS
Somewhere in the hangars

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Over the past year, Invergordon, although still home to Freud, was visited less and less. Too many worries and tasks, taking him further and further, sometimes forcing him to stay in other places for many days. The incessant fight with Liberty, skirmishes with all sorts of pirates and cardamine smugglers, helping the allies... All of this left a mark, slowly washing away Roland's past habits and desires.

Still, he was glad to drop in here every now and then. He felt comfortable knowing that he could hide in the narrow, rusty tunnels of the station. Somewhere in those tunnels was his little room, where he and his sister huddled together. It wasn't bad at all; in fact, they felt a lot safer here than they did wandering around Pittsburgh. Especially after Roland reinforced the doors.

As he approached the station, Freud made contact with Invergordon, hoping that someone he knew would be on post. The others would obviously have questions about the Defender that'd take too long to answer for his liking.

"This is Locksmith. Requesting permission to land."

A familiar voice of a middle-aged woman answered him:

"Well, well. Look who got caught in the garbage truck. I thought you were getting too clean for us, boy. Come into the second hangar, there's a nice cozy spot for you there."

Freud couldn't help but grin.

"Thanks, 'mom'. I'll drop by you a bit later."

With that, he came in to land. The hangar was actually relatively empty. Which was a bit surprising. Usually there were more people here.

Having landed his fighter, Locksmith climbed out of the cockpit and looked around, taking a deep breath without removing his helmet. No one paid much attention to him, somewhere in the distance there was a sound of metallic grinding...

Maybe it was just a habit, but... He felt comfortable here in his own way.

Hopefully Sunny will be here soon as well.

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