An Offering of Friendship

[Erythnul]

**Freeport 2, Bering System**

Metzger reclined his elephantine bulk in one of the Freeport's conference room's plush, well-upholstered rotating chairs and idly shuffled through some notes he'd retrieved from his gleaming suitcase under the oak-panelled conference table. A faint smirk tugged at his lips as his definitive response to Steinlaufer's initial proposal - made on Kreuzberg prior to the Junker's Union's disintegration and subsequent loss of local security - crystallized in his mind.

Straightening himself, he stared at Steinlaufer with a confident, aware look in his eyes and launched into his proposal.

"Herr Steinlaufer. How ironic that we should be discussing independence from Zoners here, eh?

Undoubtedly, we have the professional capacity to repair your ships, up to and including the Erste Ernte - a fine ship with an honorable tradition of combat. However, to be entirely frank, our primary base - the scenic and beautiful Pacifica - lacks mooring clamps as well as a berth sufficiently large to harbor anything larger than a gunboat for extended periods of time. We wouldn't be able to effectively overhaul your flagship.

However, never fear - we do, in fact, have a location that could in all likelihood securely keep the Erste Ernte during repairs. We have a base that, despite.. lacking.. Unioner solidarity in recent years, has always been kept secret from the prying eyes of the puppet Rheinwehr - Heilbronn. We'd be willing to grant you entry into Mackenzie - our most well-guarded system - for the purpose of such repairs. Jokes aside, this is quite a serious concession; I hope you understand what we're offering you.

In return, we gratefully accept your offer of economic independence from the Zoners. Frankly, just this has been a millstone about the Unioner neck for decades now. However, we require slightly more assistance than mere economic support; we'd like a little more overt assistance, as well.

You see, Herr Steinlaufer - due to the recent Rheinland/Liberty trade embargo, our previous method of sustaining ourselves, aside from Diamond smuggling - hijacking traders in Hudson and Bering - has been crippled. Traders no longer pass through the systems from which we base ourselves, and activity at Pacifica, aesthetically appealing though it may be, has reached an all-time low. To counter this, Unioners have begun to displace themselves from our erstwhile home in the Border Worlds and have spread throughout Rheinland proper to a greater degree than before for the purposes of piracy and profit. As having to exit Rheinland merely to repair and resupply after piracy and battles is an odious and dull task, and as we'd like to maintain a more.. flexible.. presence in the House itself, we'd hereby like to formally request docking rights on your Stuttgart base - Darmstadt, correct? - and permission to restock there, as well as permission to consolidate there should our men be beaten back at some point."

Stefan clasped his hands under his chin and studied his counterpart as he finished speaking.

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Troy Bellarosa

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anime.... its about as bad as hentai.