Well, I guess it went better than it could have. - LaFlamme thought to himself once Richard was done speaking, paired with a sigh and a concerned look. While this meeting is happening between allies, internal affairs like the temporary schism of Crayter is still not something every one of the participants has to be made aware of. Might cause more harm than good.
In the meanwhile he began tapping his tablet to alter the list of subjects of discussion, firstly to include the new topic at start, the events of last year regarding the participant factions, secondly to include another subject he earlier failed to remember to add, lastly to emphasize the actual topic being discussed by fading out the rest. The new list looked like this:
● Significant events of the last year ●Diplomacy clarification
●Common enemies, potential threats ●Common allies other than the participants of the meeting, potential business partners
●Military cooperation
●Available combat assets for synchronized combat operations ●Potential targets inside and outside the Tau Region, maximum range of operations ●Exchange of military intelligence between allies, terms, scope, extent
●Logistical cooperation
●Combat logistics synchronization, produced or accessible wartime supplies ●Commerce, produced or accessible commodities
●Technological cooperation
●Possibilities et obstacles of technology exchange, compatibility of foreign technologies ●Terms and conditions of technology exchange
While he had nothing to add to Richard's summary of their success at Tau-44 because the admiral detailed the events well enough in LaFlamme's opinion, the last comment of Yukiyama however hit him as a bit of a surprise. He responded to her directly - Kaigun Taisho, with all due respect, I have to say we have no knowledge about the Satsuma. While we heard of stories of a royal yacht leading the attacks on Bretonia before the Gallic Conquest, after the attack of the GRN, the change of regime in Kusari et the remnants of the Imperial Navy turning back towards their own house the only major ships traversing Roussillon were the Nagasaki, advancing swiftly, et the Yamaguchi, damaged she could follow the other at a slower pace, being repaired on the way through the system, as well as a handful of destroyers, gunboats et smaller craft. Should you present the Satsuma however, I am willing to discuss the details of her repairs.
He then turned to the rest of the participants - However I'd prefer if we could discuss the outlined topics one by one detailed thoroughly instead of skimming through them in a single rush. Should none of you wish to add more to the current topic at hand or propose another one to discuss, I would like to move onto the next one et discuss diplomacy among ourselves, among our factions. - he looked around, waiting for a response from the people present in the room, especially from those who did not speak up on the current topic yet.
Sarah O'Riley was not keen on taking a front row seat or any leading position in this meeting, so she and the Frumentarii delegation were quiet most of the time while the other members were already spreading huge plans, and also somewhat deviated from the speaker's layout of the agenda, but for Sarah it did not matter. What they presented was interesting intel, and she was very well aware that this was a privilege to be here.
When it was time to comment for the IMG delegation, she stood up to have more of a presence because of her rather small build, she cleared her throat and then started on the first topic on her agenda.
"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, let me start out by saying that it is a privilege to be here at this historical meeting. So, according to our change in agenda, I will postpone my comments on point 2 and fall in line with the edited agenda." she states.
"Significant events of the last year... that have not been touched yet..." she pauses for a short time... "The Independent Miners Guild successfully launched project New Life, which is a medical facility in Tau 37 at Falkland station in which Cardamine addiction can be 'cured' with the help of Stabiline. The Guild managed to strike the necessary deals with Cryer Pharmaceuticals, and we are currently in the process of not only fighting the Outcast in space, not only intercepting their smugglers, but also chipping at their economic backbone." she ends this topic, and then looks around the room:
"If there is any need for your groups to receive quality medical treatment not only for Cardamine addiction but also for combat-inflicted trauma, Tau 37 Falkland New Life Hospital is open to MedEvac ships." she nods again and then turns to the speaker: "That would be all from the IMG's side, as all other relevant developments are located in the Omegas... so I return the word to the speaker."
Mademoiselle, I have to say it's refreshing to hear that at least one of us successfully avances against our foes in peaceful ways. - LaFlamme turned to the woman and chuckled with a hint of self-irony. - This New Life Hospital sounds interesting, so does the possibility to cure Cardamine addiction, I hope I can ask about more details later. Now however, according to the schedule of this meeting, there are other things to discuss next. - he said while looking down on his tablet and tapping the screen a few times in order to advance on the list of topics:
●Significant events of the last year ● Diplomacy clarification
●Common enemies, potential threats ●Common allies other than the participants of the meeting, potential business partners
●Military cooperation
●Available combat assets for synchronized combat operations ●Potential targets inside and outside the Tau Region, maximum range of operations ●Exchange of military intelligence between allies, terms, scope, extent
●Logistical cooperation
●Combat logistics synchronization, produced or accessible wartime supplies ●Commerce, produced or accessible commodities
●Technological cooperation
●Possibilities et obstacles of technology exchange, compatibility of foreign technologies ●Terms and conditions of technology exchange
For a brief pause he looked around at all the participants, then began with the new subject: - Mesdames et Messieurs, I'm sure we need no debate to agree that one of the commonalities connecting us is that we all have had to suffer the merciless warth of the Gallic Royal Navy et the mindless conquest pushed by the Crown. As a result of the new republican government of Kusari couping the old imperial one et allying with the Gallic Kingdom most of us ended up at the less pleasant side of law in both houses eventually. Aside these the Maltese has been plaguing the Tau Region ever since I along my own set foot in Sirius, their aggression lessening not for a single moment. These are the forces I consider as major sources of threat, if not for all of us, then at least for The Council.
However there seem to be other, unexpected threats as well.- his concerned and serious look heavily suggested the severity of the subject. - Almost two years ago we had an unique et sadly unfortunate encounter in Roussillon. Random people flying by et accidentally discovering the system isn't that uncommon, - he derailed with a light, descriptive tone. - they are usually escorted out of the system free of any cargo or flight data, in smaller pieces of debris if they refuse to comply. - he then returned to his story. - This time however our fellow managed to escape with all the survey data he collected during his flight. It was already late when we found out that the Lane Hackers were who discovered Roussillon. They tried to blackmail us, which we tried to counter with some counter-espionnage. While no communications have happened between us ever since the blackmail attempt, even to this day I cannot be sure about we were not sold out to anyone who should not know about Roussillon for the safety of its residents. - he looked around again briefly, into the eyes of each representative. - I urge you all to stay cautions when dealing with their kind. The Council used to have trade deals with the Lane Hackers about four or five years ago, et this backstab is a lesson we had to learn the hard way. I do not wish anyone such, especially not our allies.
As he was done with detailing Council's stance regarding potential opponents another pause commenced, on one hand to let the information sink in, on the other to allow LaFlamme some time to gather his following thoughts. Before anyone could interrupt him he continued in a lighter tone to set a different mood: - Thankfully when it comes to allies in our struggles I have a longer list to be grateful of. Besides you, mes amis, both houses of Liberty et Bretonia have been decent assistance against the Gallic Royal Navy, however less so against the Maltese. - here he frowned for a moment. - While Liberty treats the outcast scum as they deserve so, Bretonia seem to be, I dare say, overly tolerant of their presence.
Oh, et before I forget, - Pierre quickly remembered. - various groups of Gallic Brigands et Maquis cells appearing from time to time are usually aiding us in our fight against the Gallic Crown by their own means et methods. Should they not for some reason, The Council is ready to mediate between them et our allies at any time without hesitation. - he indirectly reflected on the recent, though brief appearance of a Maquis cell harassing Crayter and IMG assets not so long ago.
To end his monologue - which was probably getting boring at this point - he turned towards the others: - Well, Mesdames et Messieurs, I may know a lot of answers, but I sure don't know all of them. For example The Council have not had much contact with foreign house corporations to determine which could be trustworthy or useful, any information regarding that I welcome. In addition we have heard a few words of a group calling themselves The Core, what do you know about them? Are there any other groups operating within or around the Tau Region which could be a source of threat, or perhaps a decent partner at business? - Pierre asked, followed by him waiting for response. Finally.
Richard listened LaFlamme's monologue carefully to not skipping any important detail. After his speech that went rather long ended, Richard grabbed his tablet from the table it was sitting and opened a news video record that is almost 1 year old. Which was showing hordes of Core fighting with various parties such as Order, Corsairs and more importantly Zoners. As well as IMG, Crayter and Zoner ships carrying humanitarian aid packages dubbed D.R.O.P. Later it started to show tragedic moments of IMG transports and Crayter corvette getting shot by Core Battleships. Richard let some anger go out... and started to speak while the news reporter came along with IMG vessels interviewing with Crayter Captain, now a defector, Tobias Wayne in the video. "Honorless bastards...They killed many innocent traders and miners. People who were living at Freeport 11, people who tried to protect them. Many casualties happened. Many ships lost as well... Then we, as well as IMG, declared war on them. This day we still avenge our brothers and sisters. They cannot be trusted. They only stab you from your back and bring destruction with them to weaker ones." Richard stopped for a second, took a deep breath and closed the video record. He later opened a picture showing a base near Planet Curacao. "This is the Oceana Shipping Platform. A Modular Installation with Mark V Power Core which acts as HQ for Gateway Shipping. Why i am showing this base to you? Because Gateway Shipping is a valuable ally, not to mention they do not bring that much of 'House influcence' with them." Then he closed the tablet and while Oceana fading from screen he took some notes for next topic.
Date: 05/06/824 A.S. While Richard described the situation, Yukiyama made herself some little notes about the Core, they hadn't seen them yet in Kusari and therefore the information was most likely very viable. "The Core... hm... I must say, we never had contact with them before, all we know is that they are alllied with the moust houses, therefore also with the current government, which makes me mistrustful. Hearing how they treated the Crayterians doesn't make it better, we will stay on alert about them." She nodded in direction of Richard to signal she understood how horrible the deeds of the Core were. "About what you said, Misuta LaFlamme, if the sight of unannounced visitors in Roussillon is a thron in your eye, you might want to enforce harder punishments on trespassers, if the word about the Council being strict makes its round, some people might stay careful. I agree with what you said on the Bretonians, the way they treat the Maltese." She shook her head. "That definitely is a part of the problem, however, it is nothing we can change now, especially in our position, sumimasen." She leaned back a little again, from her side, there wasn't much to say.
Rackham lit a cigar and reflectively puffed a plume of blue smoke towards the ceiling, took a sip of black coffee, then sat forward to speak:
"For the TAZ, In terms of the past year, it has been one of consolidation, we have an aggressive Gallic front almost within touching distance of Baffin, unfortunately, we do not have a military power capable of withstanding invasion, it makes us nervous, but we are confident that we have enough allies a friends throughout Sirius, with sufficient firepower and self interest in protecting Baffin from invaders. Also.. of course, and our friends gathered here today.
The TAZ ... thank Eris... have few other enemies other than the seemingly ubiquitous Nomads. We also have a continuing dispute with the Order, harking back to when they decided to try to steal the Persephone, our flagship, under some trumped up charge about it being infected by Nomads. I can confirm that the Persephone is in service and has no indication of any infection, as we always knew. We will be contacting the Order and attempt to reconcile their issues and to let them know we are willing to trade with them, Jeez, there was a time when they would sell us Gunboats.
In terms of Business, the TAZ has contacts throughout Sirius .... IMG in the Tau's will be problem, with their Gallic affiliation.
We can deal with almost any other Sirius based organisation."
Similar to her boss O'Riley, Sophie Chamberlain had chosen a rather remote seat for herself, a bit distant from the clash of words she had expected to come up between the various parties attending the meeting. It had been attempt of hers to stake out the position of a mere listener, a watcher of sorts, concentrating on listening and drawing conclusions silently while her companion would take on most the talking. As the first debates arose, Sophie turned inwards, while creating a seemingly random, silent rhythm with her fingers tapping on the side of the table. However it was a mere product of her mind absorbing the information, sorting, categorizing them and connecting bits of thoughts that rushed through her brain synapses.
Then however, as the conversation's topic swapped over to the diplomacy department, Sophie pricked up her ears even more, changing her body position from a inwardly-turned, pensive to a much more attentive one, looking into the round with her sharp blue eyes as she kept following the conversation's directions, hearing out every of the other delegations first before piping up. It was somehow fitting, she thought, and a good position as well, having the opportunity to voice the last words.
After she had cleared her throat, indicating the others to be silent, she began speaking. Different to O'Riley, she didn't stand up, however still attempting a not less resolute posture, folding her fingers on the table beneath the few pages of notes she had prepared prior. "Alright, ladies and gents", she begun, establishing eye contact with each and every one of her listeners. "Mister LaFlamme, you have already made a reference to it, however I'd like to elaborate on the cells that have emerged out of nothing and those that will soon follow. What I am talking about in detail is the so called 'Front de Libération', a Maquis cell that has indeed ailed a few of us and caused truly unnecessary problems. No problems that couldn't be dealt with, but as I stated, they probably could have been prevented. These people wish to fight the crown just as we do, and we should appreciate this. What shouldn't be appreciated are creating trouble that merely hinders us achieving our big, main goal." She stopped for a second, letting her words unfold their effect before presuming. "Possibly, better coordination between the inevitably emerging cells would be of high benefit. We can use their will to fight our enemy, just don't let them fight us as well."
Another pause appeared before she turned to the next point on her list. "As for other diplomatic relations to build up, there's not much left to contribute." At that point, she eyed the TAZ delegation, her eyes turning to slits for a mere second before returning to the neutral expressions she had managed to keep. "There is however one point I'd like to stress, one we, the Frumentarii, had already stressed towards the mentioned Maquis splinter cell, and one I have to stress again now it seems. You surely know that our organization stays in close contact with the Independent Miner's Guild. By that, we can reassure everyone of you that the Guild is by no means the problem we should worry about, as you have tried to point out." At that point, she looked at the TAZ member once again. "It can't be denied their hands are currently tied, that however doesn't necessarilly suggest they are affiliated to the Gauls. Yes, they operate out of the Taus legally, which is by now under the control of the GRN, yet their actions are clearly not speaking of motives different to ours. May I say that they are by far one of our most important supply partners, and an end of such relations would cripple our efforts quite drastically, put simply. I want you to think again, and in fact, I believe this to be the phenomenon I'd like to see terminated. The IMG isn't our enemy in this game, GRN is, hence I wish you to recalculate whether beginning fighting an organization that has helped us a lot in our struggle is truly a wise decision." With that, she would nod briefly. "Thanks for your attention."
And then, she would wait for any response, if there was any coming her way.
LaFlamme was making notes while the others were speaking, but when Chamberlain finished her speech he quickly rose to speak, intending his next words for mainly her and Rackham: - I'm quite sure that by now everyone in this room is well aware of IMG's allegiance et their assistance against GRN is not to be a subject of debate any further. The amount of help they've provided for both the Crayter Republic et us, Le Conseil, in the past five-six years against the Royal Navy should dissolve any doubt about their intentions. - he gave a few moments of pause to let the words sink in before addressing all of them and the other points of the discussion.
I remember the Core's attack on the freeport et the humanitarian aid operation, while it was a distant affair we still sent a ship with supplies to Freeport 11. Even that single ship was pirated on the way, therefor I can confirm the malignous et selfish intents of the Core.
I also remember the conflict between the TAZ et the Order, where the Council stayed neutral because of good partnership with both organisations in the past. When it comes to the K'Hara the Order is an expert ally against them, et while the Nomads have been silent within the Tau region in the past year I'd still prefer if the Order et our Discordian friends would dissolve their disagreements until the alien menace returns - in case it will - so we can focus on the real enemy instead of eachother.
For the duration of a sigh he let the rest digest the last thoughts before continuing. - Sadly about the Gallic underworld I cannot do much. The lack of unification makes the Brigand society unstable, et due to their extreme ways of achieving their goals there is a high rate of attrition among the operatives of the various Maquis cells, fluctuation in both groups is quite high, which allows little influence for us on the long run. We can still offer our services as mediators between them et our allies, but that's basically all we can do at the moment.
Mesdames et Messieurs, I appreciate the information you've provided so far. - he continued. - Although I'm still curious about whether Admiral Richard will share more information about Gateway Shipping with us, or perhaps Ambassador Rackham about all the Sirius-wide allies et contacts of the Temporarily Autonomous Zoners. Mes amis, do you have anything to add or ask before we move onto the next main subject of discussion? - he asked, awaiting for any response from the rest of the participants.
Sarah O'Riley gave a short nod of agreement when her colleague had spoken and when the speaker takes over again to direct the meeting towards the assigned agenda, she again nods and waits for him to finish before she just gives a short statement on something she finds essential as well.
"Mr. Speaker, I strongly agree with your judgement on the Order as a valuable ally in the Taus. Even if the Order do not directly engage in actions against the Gallics, their operations against the Nomads and Wilde are very useful. That's why the IMG keeps in contact with the Order and assists where we can in the Taus." she says with a short glimpse towards the TAZ delegation. "Furthermore, it is good news if our TAZ friends and the Order would mend their past difficulties... no one profits from that conflict. In case you are looking for a neutral third party in negotiations, please do not hesitate to contact the Guild." she gives a short nod of agreement to the TAZ delegation.
"As the speaker mentioned access to markets and goods, I will keep this short: the IMG can almost go everywhere and get nearly everything, as long as it is not Outcast and Corsair space. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I yield the rest of my time." she ends her short comment.
Rackham felt the need to respond to a couple of valid points raised by Sarah O'Riley,...."Yes, the TAZ have every intention of resolving past and long outdated issues with the Order, it's not sensible to continue to be hostile due to an historical misunderstanding regarding our flagship, the Persephone, all of which proved to b somewhat of a non event. There are greater issues at stake in Sirius as a whole. We would sincerely welcome the Order as an ally once more, and will be prepared to go to some lengths to achieve it. Ms. O'Riley, we take your offer to help repair and facilitate our relations with the Order seriously, and thank you for your offer. As you say... no one is winning from the current stand off."