Battleship Discovery, Bering system...
Battleship Discovery had repositioned between the Texas jumpgate and the jump hole, near a wrecked Rheinland fighter, alongside an escort cruiser, awaiting the arrival of the Hacker envoy. Captain Linford was more than nervous. Politics wasn't her game, field command and combat was. She could only do the best she could, dispel the lies being fed to their crucial and most trusted ally. Pacing on the bridge, Linford eyed the space, waiting for the envoy to arrive.
"I really wish the Harmony was available for this, this thing isn't suited to accommodate guests like the Hackers. I mean, it's not like the Harmony is a luxury liner but it's probably in better shape than this warship." She spoke to another officer on the bridge, unable to calm her nerves.
"I'm not some politician or embassador, I'm a soldier.. ugh it's like showing up for a performance examination all over again.." She continued.
"Just sit down ma'am.. All you've gotta do is tell it how it is, you do it to the enemy all the time. It'll be easier with our allies who will listen rather than just shoot at us." One officer said, trying to calm her down.
"Yea.. just alert me as soon as the Hacker envoy arrives, direct them to the officer's lounge.. or atleast what little of it is left after our reconstruction, once they're here." She said, standing up and departing the bridge. Her officer's merely saluted her, as she left to prepare for the meeting.
'I hope I don't jumble up my words..'
The recent events weren't hinting at calm times anytime soon, something not only the Admiral but all of her Separatist fleet was yearning for. Just a few days of peace and quiet. A guarantee to relax without fearing for your life. And yet with a dangerous operation ending new troubles seemed to be waiting at the horizon. The apologies of the Hellfire Legion felt too good to be true and it seemed like their assistance and break would cause new conflicts. Was it jealousy? Fear? What drove the Unioners to not go straight to her but to the Hackers? How else could they have known. The Royal Navy was hardly a 'common friend'. And no one else would have been bothered by their operations.
And now right after going a step further they'd ask to meet in person. She actually realised then, that she hadn't seen a lot of Hackers in person. Sure there was Graves, a member of her Battlegroup. And she'd had many conversations with them, in space or via the Net but they rarely would come by if only for a chat. This time it'd be on the Discovery. She didn't like the ship that much. It represented the negative sides of their struggle, where her flagship did the opposite. It reminded her that this ship had a long way in front of it until it'd recover to the state it deserved. But all in due time. Today the ship was not important but the meeting, with the Hackers in a Liberty warships officers lounge. She shook her head and got on her way.
-
Knight would have been waiting, arriving five minutes earlier as was her habit. Her dress uniform, unlike that of some of the crew, was spotless and she had a tablet in front of herself, checking the recent events with the Lane Hackers. Her rather neutral, if not a little stressed, expression didn't change a hint when the Lane Hacker was lead into the room. Though her slightly tense posture changed when the Hacker showed a rather soldier like attitude and her conditioning nearly made her salute in return.
She decided though that even if he'd appear the part of the soldier, that she'd not treat him as such. "Good day Hacker, please take a seat." she said, her open hand showing him a seat close yet not next to her. "Or should I say Professor?" She asked him, not familiar with who she actually met here. She was just rather sure of that there was no need to harm her and with her officers nearby she felt suitably protected too.
Jade was merely quietly reading a book when Adrian had entered the room. Opposite of Knight, Jade was rather proud of her ship, but felt a bit embarrassed to have such a meeting aboard it. It surely wasn't a place meant for such a meeting. Crewmen and soldiers moving around, making what tinkerings they can to improve the ships performance. The ship was visually beaten and battered but standing, a testament to Harmony's will to survive.
After Adrian had introduced himself, Jade set her book aside, leaning up from her position. She wasn't particularly thrilled to be doing this meeting, especially under the pretext that it is. She was confident in her own abilities, but this was not one of them. She was no smooth talker or one to beat around the bush, she didn't much are for small talk, being a reclusive person, never had much to say in the first place. "Glad to see you made it safely." She said, greeting the man. She wasn't uncomfortable, but this while situation felt strange to her.
Jade herself wasn't wearing anything particularly nice, seeing as she didn't bring anything when she left the Navy. She was in her comparatively bad looking officer uniform, worn, but still nicer than that of long-time Separatists. Jade herself seemed to not be the happiest person in the room, given why this meeting had to take place, and while she wanted answers, she still had the respect to show her ally courtesy. After he had shown the playback, she was not particularly pleased.
"Utilizing what looked like a NEMP strike against the Legion fleet. While I can appreciate a show of power, that seems like a waste of a powerful weapon, since it seems half their fleet remains intact, kindof." Her displeasure with the act was clear, especially with what she hoped to achieve later on. "I do wish to ask, what context are you showing this to us for?"
Victoria was listening to what her subordinate had to say and then the following presentation of the Hacker. They sure had prepared it well, not even put aback by the fact that this meeting was not on the primary ship. She was still not quite understanding them. And she felt like she was far from ever doing so. What was their goal in this, the way they split up Liberty.
"The way you split that map up and present your case you seem to already plan taking these areas over." she said and looked at the Hacker, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Something felt wrong to her at least, a slight feeling that he did not quite belong. Yet nothing she could put her finger on it. "Even when we actively fought the Legion we did not consider their territories a priority target."
She considered the situation for a moment, thought about the question of the Hacker, about their situation with the Legion and the Unioners.
"The current 'Lord Commander'," She said the word with a hint of sarcasm and amusement. The Legion's rework of their ranking system had always made them seem less serious. Ridiculous even. "put quite the effort in. They sent out arrest orders for our attackers and their commander back then. Their commander escaped though. The Lord Commander assured me that she was dead. Something I don't believe really. It feels just too convenient." She said, shifting lightly in her seat.
"But I cannot deny that they've been exceptionally helpful. Two times we've been in a pinch already and the Legion sent in ships, annihilating the Navy attackers."
Again she listened to information she mostly knew yet the way the earlier information was presented she'd wondered if the the Lane Hackers would try to reach for something greater. She was glad they did not.
"The reason we last here so well is because there's only one entry we currently leave intact. And the Navy is busy. But this is not really the topic of this meeting." She said, taking a controlled breath then.
"We intend to use the current lack of fighting to further build up our position. It makes keeping the Navy at bay a lot easier. As for your example situation- as it stands we'd break up the fight or- in case of denying this on the Legion's base- we'd probably push them back, destroy them if need be. They put a great deal of effort into apologizing to us but apart from combat support in a few situations there's not been yet anything my people would trust." She explained and looked at the Hacker with a bit of a wondering look.
"Is this a problem now? We've not been betrayed by them in similar ways you hinted at. We fought them before, they kept fighting us. That's a rather different relationship than what they had with you or even the Unioners."
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