Battleship Chant Du Cygne, Lyonnais System.
In the cavernous interiors of the Royal Navy's warships, a beast of the mind hibernated.
Ansel Xavier was reclining in his chair, taking long drags from a Cigarette. He smirked at his own hypocrisy, for he had always dismissed such drugs as weaknesses of the human mind, and yet he'd ended up in their grasp. This one was not for survival though, but it helped him think. And it seemed to quiet
Adversary, somehow.
He was as much at peace as he had been in a long time. The Royal Navy Flagship was headed towards Rheinland, where representatives were awaiting their arrival to mediate in a dispute between their Government and the IMG. That was the stated agenda, but there were certainly more pressing issues to discuss and more to be gained from this. It was why he had decided to handle this himself.
Oddly enough, General LeBlanc had insisted to come along. After some thought, Xavier had relented. Her Belligerence and Noble background would provide a nice counterpoint to the Icy logic and military bearing that he was bringing. He didn't particularly care for his fellow Commanding Officer, finding her petty and absorbed in irrelevance. But he had learned long ago that the Great Work could not be carried by him alone.
But for now, he was content to take the few minutes of rest and calm that he had.
Right on cue, the door was hauled open, and the diminutive figure of Lucie LeBlanc strode imperiously into the Grand Maréchal's office, carrying a pink, wrapped box under one arm.
"Bonjour, Ansel," she declared, slamming the door shut behind her and making her way over to his desk. Without asking, she pulled a chair out and sat down, placing the box on the table.
"Happy New Year," Lucie announced, sounding unenthusiastic. She pushed the mystery gift towards him. "It actually updates in real-time, you know. The Oubli sends a live feed."
Leaving him to unwrap it, she pulled a cigar from her pocket and began lighting up.
Xavier looked up, mildly annoyed by the intrusion. He was ready to have a sharp word with the intruder, but had to suppress that feeling when he saw it was the General. Annoyance shifted towards surprise and curiosity as she sat down, pushing a gift box towards him with apparent disinterest.
"General. Best wishes for the New Year to you as well..."
He leaned forward, carefully unwrapping the package. It was a holographic image of Planet Leeds, swirling and changing as the Planet made it's way around the system. Xavier felt confusion, unable to place the actions of the normally taciturn and vapid General.
"My regards....It wasn't necessary, though."
"Unnecessary, maybe, but I at least hoped you'd see the use in it," she replied coldly, raising an eyebrow. "The planet is yours personally now, after all. Once the ground war finishes, a satellite can take over the update feed, and you can use it as a remote viewing tool for your personal world, non? I have one each for Mayenne and Le Mans."
Lucie shrugged, taking a drag on her cigar.
"Or you can just use it as a simple decoration, for all I care. Now -" she continued, leaning back in her chair - "these Rheinlanders, oui? Who exactly are we meeting? I assume we are not dispatching the Chant itself to rendezvous with someone of actual import, not just some jumped-up beaureaucrat."
Xavier put the hologram on a desk behind him. The General's actions still perturbed him, for it was not in her character to indulge in pettiness. He could respect her for that, and her dedication to the cause. If her mind were not closed...
She was speaking, and Xavier retreated from his thoughts. Tapping his Cigaratte on an ashtray nearby, he listened carefully. This was more like the person he'd expected. Cool and withdrawn.
"A delegation from the Rheinland Government, presumably. There will be military personnel involved, and that is the real reason we are going there," Xavier said, taking another drag from his Cigarette. He did not elaborate, surmising that she could figure the rest out on her own. As a test of sorts to see if her head was in the game.
She nodded once, slowly, looking pensive as the smoke drifted up towards the ceiling lights. It had been obvious from the beginning that there was an alternative reason behind the trip, but hearing it said helped confirm her beliefs. "I see. I surmised as much. We would hardly drag the Chant across half the sector simply to mediate over a few miners."
As she spoke, Lucie pointed her cigar at Xavier, almost accusingly.
"That said, we have well-equipped Taureaus for this sort of thing, oui? The Chant should have stayed with the bulk of the fleet, Ansel, and not been dispatched on a mere exchange of pleasantries." she lectured. "If it is a show of force you wanted, perhaps the Acre or - heaven forbid, the Villefranche - would have sufficed as a flagship."
She kept her face stony, but inside she was already enjoying herself. Needling Ansel was one of the perks of the job. In truth, she almost approved of sending the Chant - it was exactly the kind of garish, arrogant gesture she felt was appropriate, and it would put these Rheinlanders in their place.
Xavier continued to puff at his cigarette nonchalantly. Quiet indifference was how he'd chosen to deal with the General, and it worked well for both parties. Xavier maintained his calm and decorum, and Lucie...got whatever satisfaction she derived for being an irritating snob. Idly, he wondered if she was one of those whose personality would actually benefit from enlightenment. A vast swath of humanity was in that category, but Lucie was not actually a fool.
"Consider the Chant as a very elaborate set piece I'm setting up for a charade. The Rheinland Government needs to behave in a certain way, and this is the best option," He said shortly.
"I'm sure you know best, Ansel," replied Lucie, allowing the issue to drop. She had more important things to grill the Grand Maréchal on, anyway.
Leaning forwards in her chair, she continued speaking.
"I wanted to speak to you about something," she announced. "About a few things concerning both Magellan - and, in particular, Edinburgh." She laid an unusual amount of stress on the last word, fixing Xavier with a severe stare.
"I'm sure you catch my meaning."
Xavier focused on the diminutive General with a quiet state of his own. That was his preferred method of dealing with a potential argument, and through multiple occurrences to many pilots since he took charge, it'd come to be known as the Xavier treatment. There was nothing particularly harsh or accusing about his stare, just a glint reflective of a heightened perception, that he could see through you and the layers of what you tried to be...to what you really were.
He kept it up for what seemed like an eternity.
"What about it? They've seen it fit to send a representative to our Navy...I cannot guess as to their purposes, however."
"I don't care about 'their purposes', Ansel," snapped Lucie, her infamously limited patience already wearing thin. "They are already helping us, after a fashion - there are documented instances of appearances in the Taus and Magellan. We owe a significant amount of Naval material to their intervention. Valors and the like that would have been wiped out by enemy forces."
Reining in her temper, she took a deep draught of smoke to calm herself down. Sometimes, the Grand Maréchal's attitude really needled her. The Royal Navy needed decisive, active, clear-cut leadership, not enigmatic glares and vague, mysterious directions. Still, he was at least more competent than Philippe. At least Ansel had the decency to lead his fleets from time to time. Maréchal Charbonneau, on the other hand, seemed to spend more time plotting than actually doing anything.
"Can we use them, Ansel? she demanded. "Failing that, can we keep them doing what they've already been doing for the time being - and deal with them afterwards if it proves necessary?"