Almost 3 hours after the send message, a grizzly class shuttle docked at Bay 4 of Freeport 2.
The ship looked as damaged as every ship, after flying through Berings asteroid belt. And a little more.
Duct tape patches everywhere gave it the special look, just a Xeno ship could look like.
While the Freeport Crew started to refuel the ship, a few Xenos jumped out of the cabin, guarding the ship.
"You there!" one of them shouted to crew member. "We're looking for a Kraut. Female. First Name Emma.. or Erna?.. Last name is Flegel. All we know is, that she's here. You have a register of all the people on this station, don't you? Well, we'd like to meet said person. Hurry! I won't stay longer as needed."
That being said, the crew member started to ran as if he was being hunted by a three headed monkey.
The Freeport was supposed to be a haven of peace for everyone. The fact that an entire platoon of Xeno marines just left a shuttle that looked like a giant bomb, caused a huge suspiciousness between the Zoners.
One of the Zoner of the station, Krauser, long time friend of Erna, arrives in her quarters in a hurry. ''Frau Erna, they're here, and it looks like they know you're not exactly who you claim to be...!'' Erna, laying on her bed and cleaning her handgun, simply nods at him. ''I know, I had to make myself more obvious for them to understand me. Now, I should go, before they get impatient and kill everyone onboard.'' She stands up and places her handgun back in it's holster. Krauser, panicked and worried, wishes her good luck and returns to his duties with a final goodbye. ''Disguised'' as a civilian, she directly heads to the landing bay. Though, as she walks past the bar, she notices a Zoner yelling at a couple of heavily armed Xenos. She walks to them and pats the Zoner on his back. ''Don't worry, this will be over in 5 minutes or so, they're my ride out of here.'' Obviously annoyed, the Zoner walks away and swears at them. Ignoring the angried man, she faces the group of Xenos, her hand on her holster, a chilly sweat running down her forehead. ''You're finally here. Now, I know you were expecting a trap, but did you really have to disturb those peaceful Zoners by bringing in an entire army? Now, I'm not here to give you troubles, I just need to get out of here, far away from any of my former collegues. I figured you were my best choice, since we could be... mutually beneficial to each others.'' She chuckled slightly but still was on her guard, ready to draw her gun.
"Beneficial, ya ya, but of course. That's why ya havin' ya hands on dat tiny gun eh?" one of the marines shouted out loud as if he wanted the entire station to know, that they weren't the only ones who were wearing weapons.
"She's wearing a gun?" Suddenly a half dozen firearms were pointed at the woman.
"Now now boys.. slowly slowly! We won't kill anybody. Yet. Hope y'all understand." A female voice said,
as a green haired young woman jumps out of the shuttle's cockpit, pointing her firearm directly at her opponents face.
"Ya have two choices, little one. Move that finger an inch into the wrong direction and there'll be some ugly stains on the wall behind ya." Coral begins to smile as if she was waiting for that kind of reaction.
"Oh and believe me. These guns are old but they still work." The marines behind her began to snicker.
"Oh but ya won't cause a mess, right?. So here's what's going to happen. Ya will drop that gun, raise y'all's hands up in the air so we can see 'em. Spread your legs and.. while i'm still pointing this gun at you, one of my boys will tie your arms and legs together with our beautiful, brown duct tape here."
A moment of thrilling silence followed.
"Then, and if you're still alive... and i hope i didn't make my way down to Bering just to kill a Kraut girl.. Then you will enter our beautiful ship right behind me and we'll leave to Hudson.
Oh and PLEASE don't try something stupid, we have doubled our patrols and one of our Eagle wings is waiting 10klicks away from here.
Hope i made it as clear as possible for ya Kraut to understand."
She draws her gun and puts it down to her feet, then kicks it away, before slowly taking her hands behind her head and spreading her legs. ''You don't have to worry about me. You may have to worry about the possible locals that may try to get me back so they can kill me themselves, though.'' A sly grin went across her face as she observed the guards getting closer to her. In a somewhat defying tone, she growls. ''If you try anything funny, I swear I'll snap your neck.'' She was cooperative, and even though she tried to look as 'friendly' as possible, she tried to impose herself so she wouldn't be intimadated. It was obvious that she was at least impressed by this cortege.
"Ah, still tough acting? Ya are in no position to act tough!" Coral scratched her neck with the gun while smiling.
"But i like that. Welcome to the Xenos. The last place you will see in your life. How long? Depends on you!" With an evil grin in her face she climbed up the steps to the cockpit.
"Get her in! We're moving out!
Splitjaw, Cobra this is Snakebite, we're leaving! I wanna have a nice and clean view outside. Make sure no will disturb our jurney home!
Freeport-2 mission control, we're undocking. Credits for the fuel have been transferred, thanks for the hospitality, and blah blah yadda yadda. Xenos out!"
With a risky maneuver the snakebite turned around 180° and engaged cruise engine while still in the bay.
The engine's blast must've left quite a mess in that hangar.
"This is Coral, i'm your Captain for today. Please fasten your seatbelts and start smoking if you have to, we're leaving Bering at best speed and will arrive at Barrow within 15minutes." Laughter is heard as the internal comm cutts of and the ship accelerates to max speed.
Fourty-seven minutes later the ship docked and the Marines made sure the "package" won't hurt itself while leaving the Ship.
"Welcome to Ouray. And i'm sorry that I lied. I normally don't." she said with that evil grin and continued, "We're in the core of Liberty. Colorado. Just so.. if you try to leave, you're as good as dead. Just wanted to say that, in case you already had that in your mind."
They were walking down a long rusty corridor, where even the doors seemed to be fixed with duct tape. The light was bright and blinding. The floor was a simple steel grid. Several supply pipes were lying below.
At a crossing they stopped.
"Take her right to the Boss' office. He isn't there so he wouldn't care anyways. I need a shower first." That being said, Coral turned right, making a few steps, then turned around.
"If she runs, kill her. The docks are sealed so she could not leave, even if she tried." she said with no emotions in her face.
About fourteen minutes later, Coral appeared in the Boss' office. Erna was forced to take a sit down on a steel chair, next to an old wooden desk, while 3 firearms were still directly pointed at her.
"At ease guys. I've prepared some drinks for you at the Inn. They're on me." While the Guards left the office and the door closed with a loud squeaking noise, Coral sat down at the Office chair, behind the desk, putting her feet on the desk and looking as if she couldn't care less.
"A Kraut at Ouray. And i didn't even need to be old to see that. Talk!"
''I may be a 'Kraut', but anywhere outside Rheinland feels like home to me right now. As you have guessed, I do not have a family in Liberty. In fact, I am a pure blooded Rheinlander, and a former high ranking member of the Unioners, so there are thousands of reasons why you could kill me on the spot. I shall be honest with you, I hate Rheinland with a fiery passion. I do not wish to fight for it's freedom, or the freedom of it's people. I want to see it burn. Burn to ashes. I want it to become lawless. Chaotic. I want it to suffer like it made me suffer when my parents lost their lives due to the inhuman work conditions Republican shipping offered, like it made me suffer when my foster parents were killed by Corsairs and the Police did nothing but watch, when my friends were all arrested for treason and executed on the spot, though they simply were miners who had seen too much for their own good and became a menace to the government. yes, it removed from me everyone I have ever loved.''' Her eyes became teary as she spoke these words, but she quickly got over her emotions, cleared her throat and kept on.
''My superior did not like my views and got me imprisoned for suspected treason. I gave them a real reason to execute me though, when I sabotaged the engines of the Konfliktdiamant, one of the Unioners' flagship, which I was second-in-command of. Of course, when you break a child's toy, the child will start crying and try to hit you. I barely managed to escape from the Konfliktdiamant, only to be shoot down by a patrol near the Freeport 2. I managed to get to the escape pod and landed on the station, where I immediatly contacted you. Because I know that you share my hatrance for Rheinland. Maybe you do not wish to see it burn as I do, but I know how to cut all liaisons between the Rheinlander underworld and the Libertonian one, which I do know is one of your goals. I know the positions of all Unioner outposts in the independent worlds. I know all the smuggling routes and dropping points of the Unioners and Rogues of the sector. I know everything that has to be known.'' When she finishes her speech, she sinks herself into the chair and lays her head back, the trip had tired her deeply. Her hair were messy due to lack of care for it in the last days. Her mouth felt as dry as sandpaper. She locks eyes with the girl with green hair before asking. ''May I have a glass of water, please?''
"Water? Do we look like a Hotel for Krauts? Don't act that girl-ish! People die! Alot of them do. You can't help everyone, just a few of them. I saw people starving to death on Texas and Pittsburgh where we try to run our soup kitchens as best as we can. But we can't save them all."
Coral sighed. That whole story was way to familiar. She actually felt the pain, that women went through.
"How far would you go, to become one of us?" Coral stood up, walked to a fridge and fetched a bottle of water.
"I'm not going to feed you like a child, so I will open your handcuffs now. One sudden move and you die right here and no one will care who you are." she said. While bowing down to the women's handcuffs, she pulled a knife to slice through the tape.
"Liberty duct tape.. the best there is." she smiled.
"So.. How far?" Coral still kneeled on the floor, looking straight into the women's eyes.
''As far as your requests may go. I am ready for anything. Anything. I have nothing to lose anymore, and as I can read on your face, neither do you.'' She eagerly chugs the water, thirsty as hell. ''I'm sure you've heard my story thousands of times, though, simply you replace the word Rheinland by Liberty, Corsairs by Outcasts, Republican shipping by Ageira, and some other words... we're not so different, you and I, after all. We fight the same hell. All for our different reasons and goals, though.''
"You're right. But i still don't trust you. And the Xenos won't aswell. Ya.. i guess they'll use their first chance so slaughter you like a pig." For the first time since they met, Coral looked caring.
"You will need a new identity. We can do that. There's no choice. Erna died the second, you entered my ship." Coral stood up and stretched her back.
"Alright. What i can offer you, is a new Identity. You won't get a ship though. For now.. I want to know who you are. And i want to make sure that i'm wrong, when i think of you, betraying all of us one day." All of the sudden she rammed her knife into the wooden table.
"Get rid of the duct tape around your feet. Any other questions?" she smiled.
She grabs the knife and cuts the duct tape off her feet. ''Easier said than done, my accent will betray me as soon as I'll speak, unless you wish me to be a mute who only communicates through a chalkboard...'' She gives a slight chuckle. ''But your conditions are fair. I understand your reasoning behind them.'' She places the knife back on the table and gets up, stretching herself to awake some. ''And I thought I was the one being interrogated here... no, it should be all for now, question wise. Because I know that your story is the same as mine.'' She smiled comprehensively at her then simply nodded.
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