Emiko nodded with a stern face. "Bretonia's actions were that of a coward indeed. They say desperation to survive, many of us feel otherwise since it didn't stop there when they took a shipyard from the Independent Miners in Omega 3. I have grown to dislike them."
As the woman spoke, she raised the kiseru to her lips and prepared to light it but stopped and just gazed at her when she introduced herself.
She then lowered the kiseru, having noticed the tattoo. She had heard of them but not seen one. She also knew enough about the organization to know that cardamine was involved.
"I have heard of the Golden Chrysanthemums. I know of their lore. I heard it from several places in pieces of info although I'm not sure that we used the same tattoo artist." She shrugged, "I don't wear flowers upon my body but....." She smiled, "I do like what I have."
With that, she picked up the kiseru, put it between her lips and lit it, taking a puff."
She then looked at the three ladies and nodded with respect. "It is good to meet you all."
She let her hair fall back into place, obstructing the tattoo from view.
"It is just a small relic that obscures a distant past and most of us don't have such markings. We all started out as something else, born into a society who wishes to push us into a fate that is not meant to be ours.
Great change will always leave bloody footprints. We are villains to some and saviours to others. It depends on which side you are on. The side that pulls your strings or the one who has cut them. The problem is that many do not realise they are puppets until they are freed of their strings. The fight between freedom and shackles, it gets decided by the key. And it is we, who are that key."
Rin reaches into her bag and takes out a book.
"Here, this is a copy of Golden Chrysanthemum in bloom, written by the great Yuyu Matsuda. She is the one who inspired our movement. Don't worry, we have an endless supply of those. It is a gift."
She took the kiseru from her mouth, still smoking, and placed it on the table as she picked up the pamphlet and read it. She was silent as she read it.
It did bring to light what she knew of Kusari culture. She always remembered that women were placed second to men with the expectation of them being around for the sole purpose of child bearing but not "slaves." She herself wanted to one day have children like her mother did....but not now...so that part didn't bother her so much.
"But an empress," she said aloud to herself, "there is something to be said for that." She smiled at the thought and continued with her soft but out loud thinking, "Dad always did say that I can be anything."
She then asked of the ladies. "I know there are more of you but still, you are a small group. I'm curious as to the plan to make that happen."
Picking up the kiseru, she took a puff, awaiting for the response.
The masked woman sat back and Rin observed the room.
"Is this really the place to discuss such subjects? Look around you, each one of these could be a corporate spy, even you. All that I will say now is this: It is not the people that are the threat. It is the idea. Ideas are dangerous. They control the masses. People get herded like sheep to ideas. And most ideas can be destroyed using a well placed bullet.
Like the idea of the male dominate Kusarian society, it can easily be shattered once they start to realise we can do more damage to them than they to us. Once their idea starts to crumble that they are untouchable, that is when we will achieve victory."
She looked around. Besides the lady at the table and a patron far on the backside of the room who probably couldn't hear them oh yes, and the waiter, she responded, "I don't see any spies here." She looks at the waiter who is tending to his business elsewhere, "And I could deal with him if I had to but......he's too naive to be a problem."
She toked her kiseru and blew the smoke out away from the ladies. "Ideas are also how good things get started. Not all of them are terrible just like not all men are bad. Agreed though, it seems that men hold the power positions in Kusari."
Rin also looked around.
"Only issue with that is that Interspace Commerce tollerates our presence here. But I would think that tollerance would diminish if we would turn this station into a warzone to protect our cover." She took a small metal vial out of her pocket and inhaled from its mouthpiece.
"Obscurity is a powerful weapon. You can't defeat that which you do not understand or can see. That the matriarch keeps her face hidden is a tactical advantage, not one born out of fear."
Misaki walked away to the bar to get another drink and to recon the room at the same time.
The matriarch didn't even look when she walked away.
"Ofcourse." she said. "But when you free yourself of the the ideas of others. When you have cut yourself free of the influence of the puppeteers, what will you do with such power? With the Ideas? Will you become a puppeteer yourself? Or will you free others?
Make no mistake, most ideas are just implanted into the minds of people by those who control society. We call this tradition and culture. It is a system of control which forces people into roles. People accept this because they do not know any better. They are the reason why women have been subject to male dominance for many generations."
Her eyes noticed the metal vial. Between the book, the talk and from what she had been taught as a young girl when she took interest in her father's work, she knew what it was but said nothing. Sure, she loved her tobacco but she believed cardamine to be evil.
"I must be doing well for myself then," she replied, "I am finding my own way through Sirius. I don't rely on anyone and haven't been really subjected to the ideas of others. I am what you describe as......Free. I can got to any Freelancer base I desire, any Junker base. Really, I can safely go where I wish without repercussions from others. It isn't power that I seek."
She then paused, taking a toke from her kiseru, holding it in while she thought. She then exhaled and finished, "In fact, I'm not sure what it is that I seek just yet. I think for now I'm just enjoying being free."
The matriarch looked at her attentively, carefully observing her composure.
"If you are truly free, then how come your homeworld is now under enemy occupation? Everyone seeks power. But power comes in many forms, even if you do not seek to control others. Having power also means being able to defend what is your own. And behind your own confidence lies something else. They still smoulder, no? The embers of vengeance. What you would give to take back what has been taken from you."
Misaki returned to sit next to the matriarch, who continued talking.
"Is it truly freedom when you have been forcedly pushed away from Gran Canaria? Or are you just exiled into a life you do not want? Perhaps both. But I feel you simply took the breadcrumbs that were abandonned after someone else stole your lunch. You see, The only one who can decide your fate is yourself, but do not ignore all the doors that others have shut. They do not have the right to close off the paths you wish to take. And sometimes you need to go back and break open an old door when you resent the doorways that remain open."
The Matriarch hit a nerve and boy did she. But it wouldn't be the first reaction that showed it. Holding the kiseru away from her mouth, she just said to her, "I thought you said earlier that your problem wasn't Bretonia?" Then she became irate, standing up while her hands leaned on the table.
"Well, my problem IS Bretonia! Kusari was never a problem for me and right now, still isn't! Do you know what those Royalist bastards have cost my family? Everything! During their war with Kusari, it took the life of my uncle, Kentaro. With both my mother and her brother deceased, my grandmother has only her daughter's children to see. Thank you, Bretonia!"
Rage set in as it reflected in her heavy breathing. Her eyes welled up. "And then they take the only place I ever called home, disrespect my father and put a warrant on his head for something he didn't do." Tears began to fall. "I hate them! I truly hate them! Yes, Matriarch, I have been forced into a life not so much that I don't want but wasn't ready for. Unlike you, my issues aren't here in Kusari space yet I'm supposed to make them my issues. If you can't help me with that then we have little to discuss." She finished by slamming her fists on the table and walking away with a napkin by a window to collect herself.
The matriarch looked at her attentively, carefully observing her composure.
"Indeed, we care little for Bretonia." She paused briefly. "But we do care about the plight of our Kusarian sisters. Your birthplace might be Gran Canaria, but you are still also Kusarian by blood. Perhaps you could see this moment as an opportunity. We can offer the tools you could use for your vengeance."
Rin interjected. "Girl, the time of running is over. Turn around and face them. Else they will catch up to you eventually and by then, you will be too tired to fight back."