Eirik noted the surprised look of the commander as his door was swung open by Eirik. "What is the meaning of this intrusion!" he demanded. Looking over Eirik, he didn't need to ask why his guards had not stopped him. But the man was obviously not here with violent intent. If he was, the guards outside would have been crushed.

"I come to offer my respects, and to seek information from you, commander," Eirik said in a neutral tone.

"And who are you, to think you are above the law in this place?" The commander sneered.

"I am the Emperor of Libertalia. I am here on private business I was hoping you could help me with." Eirik enjoyed the effect his new title had on people. They suddenly perked up and became very aware of how they carried themselves and talked to him.

"I heard about you. The defector!" The disgust was almost physical in the commander's voice when he found out who Eirik was.

"I see you heard of me. But I do not like your tone commander. It implies I betrayed Terra." Eirik knew this would happen sooner or later. He had just not expected it to come from a station commander. They were usually more even-tempered and diplomatic.

"I don't care if you like my tone or not. We are bordering the frontlines of the war YOU started, and I have lost many good people to assaults on this station!" The commander had jumped to a standing position and was quickly losing his temper.

"You would do well to remember that it was the Kloxna who declared war on Terra. Not me declaring war on the Kloxna in Terra's name. In fact, I seem to recall me stating specifically that Terra was not part of what was going to happen. The Kloxna escalated this to war. Not me!" Eirik's voice was rising in volume as he defended himself. "In any case, I did not come here to discuss politics, you can contact my diplomatic representative for that. I came to ask a few questions, drop off some reward if I get useful answers, and then get the fuck away from here as fast as I possibly can!"

"At least we can agree on you leaving as fast as possible!" The commander replied. "Ask your questions and be happy I don't have the power to send you away without incurring extreme diplomatic ramifications."

"Dalle. He was here. I wish to know what he did and where he went! Tell me this, and I shall not only vacate your station as first chance. I will also throw a pretty sum of credits your way and write a glowing letter of thanks to the Terran council, highlighting your extreme competence and hospitality." Eirik laid his offer out on the table and waited for a response.

The commander had gone silent at the proposition. It was no secret that positions such as his were more of a punishment than anything. A way to get rid of troublesome people with leadership skills, in a manner that they could not complain about. But a letter to the Terran Council, highlighting his abilities could change that. It could get him a position that mattered. Somewhere he didn't have to wait for his pension to make something meaningful of his life.

"Alright. Here's what I know..." He began as Eirik perked up.

____________________

Several hours later, Eirik was making his way back to his ship when he had an idea. He felt he had been neglecting Freja these last few weeks and he wanted to make it up to her. He changed direction and headed towards the market area. Debating on whether or not to inform his command staff, he decided to at least let Jesper know. and send him a message.

___________________-

Jesper was not happy. Together with Knud, he had learned that a lot of people on this station bore ill will towards Libertalia and, in particular, Eirik. For some reason, they all seemed to suffer the delusion that Eirik was the sole cause of the war between the Kloxna and Terran people. Suddenly, his datapad pinged with a message. He opened it and felt his blood run cold. He just hoped Eirik was still wearing his helmet. At least that would prevent people from recognizing him right away. And no one here was familiar enough with Eirik to know his mannerisms.

He immediately pinged the 4 soldiers that had also been wearing the PESSA suits and activated the beacon on the datapad. It was easier to let them track that down than try to guide them while he was searching for Eirik himself.

He also sent a message to Eirik, telling him to activate the beacon function so Jesper could find him as fast as possible. to his great relief, Eirik's datapad beacon activated seconds later, showing him almost at the marketplace already and Jesper started sprinting as fast as the suit would allow him. Beings of all races had to jump for their lives as he came barreling down the street, the bulk of his suit making each footstep sound like a large hammer hitting an anvil.

He soon came up on the market area and easily spotted Eirik, still in his armor. Jesper was happy to see Eirik wearing his helmet, calming down as it did not look like people had recognized Eirik yet, despite the attention he was drawing on account of the armor. Or maybe the armor was just working as a deterrent.

He reached Eirik who was currently studying the selection of exotic knives on the table in front of him, asking questions about the different alloys used in their making.

When Jesper reached him, he tapped a button so he could communicate with Eirik through their helmets, without anyone else hearing their conversation. "Captain, we need to get back to the ship! People around here seem to be under the impression that the war is your fault and your fault alone. And most of the people on this station will not care about your diplomatic status. I don't need to tell you how bad a massacre of bloodthirsty civilians would be to your reputation, do I?"

"Relax Jesper. With the helmet on, there is no chance they will recognize me." Eirik replied before turning his speaker back on and picking out a Damascus steel, Tanto knife. "This." He said to the vendor. "How much?"

The vendor rattled off the price without lifting his eyes from the article he was reading on his datapad. Eirik transferred the credits and stored the knife on his person. Then he turned towards Jesper and gestured back towards the ship.

Jesper sighed and started walking, staying 2 steps behind Eirik. Far enough away to allow freedom of movement, close enough to react if something happened. He noticed the stares they were attracting and most of them were hostile. How did Eirik not see that?

Eirik did indeed see it. But he also knew, that if he let on that he was aware, there was a good chance people would react instead of just emanating hostility. He was not scared, His armor was too powerful and he had enough soldiers to present a serious threat to the station, now that he was on board. But he did not want that. He had been given valuable information by the station commander.

Information that would help him narrow down where Dalle had found Narvik. Once he found that planet, there was a rather good chance that Either Dalle would already be there, or he would have left people or equipment there. Either would help Eirik locate him. As Eirik and Jesper entered the dock area where the ship was parked, a group of dock workers approached them.

"We know who you are, traitors!" The front man said as they blocked the way for Eirik and Jesper.

Jesper stepped forward, in front of Eirik, raising his shield, positioning it between himself and the dock workers. "You don't want this fight!" He declared loudly.

"And why not? Even in those suits, you are still unarmed. We are many and with the right tools, your suits are nothing more than a minor nuisance. I imagine the war coming to a quick end if you hand you over to the Kloxna, and then we can all go back to the way things used to be!" The front man responded mockingly.

"And how do you think Terra will react to a bunch of loser dock workers causing a military ally to not only withdraw support, but join the Kloxna in opposition to the people that killed their empeor? My people are happy and will defend to the death their place in my Empire. They have low taxes, a very high degree of personal freedom and there is no military draft or mandatory service. All soldiers in my army are voulenteers But most importantly..." Eirik raised his left arm, still holding the shield and fired a round into the walls behind the men, the Internal firing mechanism of his PESSA suit working perfectly.

The loud noise echoed through the dock area and several of the workers blocking his way frantically looked over themselves, expecting to find wounds.

"We are never unarmed!" Eirik finished his sentence. Lowering his arm again, he fixed the front man with a stare, as much as you can when wearing a full face helmet. "Next shot wont miss! Do you still want this fight?"

The dock workers shuffled in place, uncertain how to proceed. Then a voice rang out from behind them, "IF YOU COCKSUCKERS AS MUCH AS THINK OF HURTING THE CAPTAIN, YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF FILLED WITH MORE HOLES THAN A FUCKING COLANDER!!"

The dock workers whirled around and stared at a kneeling firing line of soldiers, all wearing the black uniform with the golden embroidery on the chest, rifles raised and aimed at the dock workers. In front of them stood Trasti, his tail slowly swinging from side to side in the same lazy manner it did when he was pulling off one of his pranks and was waiting for some poor soul to fall into the trap.

"KLOXNA SCUM!" The front man of the dock workers yelled at Trasti, who raised a pistol and aimed it at the man.

Moments later a small army of station deputies came running into the dock area, screaming, yelling, and pointing their sidearms at everyone in sight. "On the ground! Put down your weapons!" The voice of the station commander rang out as he turned the corner as the last person

"Emperor or not, no weapons allowed on the station!" He spat at Eirik as he approached him.

"I see no weapons on the station, commander. I see weapons on my ship, but not outside of it. Except in the hands of YOUR officers, that is." Eirik said in a calm voice.

"Don't turn this into a debate about semantics! A shot was registered on board the station and I demand you show me the weapon that fired it!" The commander sneered, his fury plain as day.

Eirik just held out his left arm, shield still magnetically locked to his arm. "Here, commander. Here is the weapon." He said with a big smile.

The commander approached and looked over his arm. "internal firing mechanism?" He asked,

"Correct. And I will not remove my armor when I enter a Terran station. The actions of your dockworkers tell me it was a wise choice. You could have been stuck with my dead body, a full flagship of my soldiers and 9 people wearing PESSA suits with attached heavy weapons." Eirik could not hide his smugness as the commander quickly ran through some mental calculations and arrived at the same conclusion as Eirik. These dockworkers had been very close to ensuring a station-wide massacre, and he started shaking uncontrollably.

"I see you have arrived at the correct conclusion, commander. Spread the word, that if anyone attacks me, my ship, or my people, I will not hesitate to kill 150 people for every 1 of mine." Tuning his voice from smug to menacing was effortless for Eirik, as he meant every word.

"Tha... That is psychotic!" The commander stammered.

"Agreed. Remember that!" Eirik turned around after these words and walked towards his ship.

"EAT SHIT, TRAITOR!" A voice rang out and one of the dockworkers threw himself towards Eirik, holding a large blade aimed at the neck joint of Eirik's armor.