Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Gah! "I'm Late." Thought LeRoux, I should have closed out that deal with the second hand Conference way before now...... d'Autoine will be expecting me...
Striding purposefully through Mal's docking bay, he quickly traversed the corridors to find the Amphitheatre...
Entering from the back and top of the wide sweeping arc of the arena, he surveyed the crowd below, most of whom were facing the distant stage, looking for his man... "That'll be him......" Even from a distance and behind, he spotted the smartly dressed character, light beard, topped off with a jaunty top hat, just as described. Looking quickly around, Lucky grabbed a large glass of red from the nearest table and swiftly approached...
"M. d'Autoine?" He asked, "I believe we have some business concerning the future of Freeport 10? A proposition of mutual advantage for ourselves and in particular, The Commonwealth? If that's still so, my pleasure to meet you at last!" LeRoux extended his hand....
And with a grin.... "The name's Lucky."
![[Image: anthonyhopkinswallpaper.jpg]](http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/1236/anthonyhopkinswallpaper.jpg)
Thomas shook Voncloud's paw and said whit a friendly smile: “Its good to see you friend come please sit down and join us.”
He looked at Mojo and Voncloud: “You think they are ready for this?” he smiled to both of them “well only one way to find out i guess. If you will be so kind to excuse me for a moment my good friends i think the time has come.”
Thomas got up and started his way to the podium, as he nodded to the various people along the way. He stopped at the podium and took his briefcase out, while he said “no panic folks it's not a bomb”, he started to laugh and looked down at them with a smile. “There are probably not many of you who know me and know what I Represent. I must do it the right way”, and a little more formally he said with a smile. “Good evening ladies and gentleman, I'm Thomas Henrikson head doctor and researcher in ZHR and administrator of Free Port 9 and Corfu base, which is located in Omicron Theta.
I would like to start by thanking, a good friend of mine Dr. Mojo for hosting this meeting, it is truly an honor to know a good man like him, and also it is an honor and privilege to stand here today before you.
He took a sip of his water and looked around to see if he had everyone's attention. “I stand before you today to talk about several things and I hope that it will open anyone's eyes to see what is happening around us. My honorable brothers and sisters. We live in a world where people threaten us, they steal our technology and use it against us, as CEO Voncloude has pointed out in his speech.
[b]He nods to Dir Voncloude
Not only that, but they use our bases as a staging point to conduct wars. To give an example: not long ago, an Outcast fleet of ships used Freeport 9 as a starting point, for their endless war against the Corsairs. And how do you think the corsairs will stop it, they will then remove their staging point of these attacks, which is the Freeport.
He looks down whit sad eyes ad Miss Kane and Commander Matok
And the sad part of it, is not the only place this it happens, I think that Miss Kane and the good Commander Matok knows about the problem, if I'm not mistaken, it was among other things, what happened at Freeport 1.He looks sadly down at them all. So many lives wasted in others' wars, and unfortunately for us, it is us who pay the price, our way of life are threatened our existence, my esteemed friends we are paying the price for there simple minded way.
He look up whit reneved focus
My dear friends.
Our world has become much more dangerous to live in, the increasing activity from Nomads and Outcasts in Omicrons is just one more example of what is happening around us.
Gallia forces invade Taus and shoot peaceful trade convoyes down and why they do it, well why not do it, we are defenseless and have nothing they need.
I know you will say we can use our deplomatic abilities, and I believe fully and squarely in that it is the right way forward, and the right way to solve things, but we can not use our deplomatic abilities when they do not bother to listen to us.
I ask you, my dear friends, what should we do ......
He spread his arms out in a gesture allmost asking for people to make a desesion right there
Should we continue to discuss among ourselves, and let them control our freedom,
or find an overall goal, so we can get our real freedom back, is it in your interest that we think together and help each other, forget old enmities and focused on the future, for our children and for our families, for our friends, for those who paid the ultimate price.
I have many suggestions and ideas, and I hope you have the same,but think the first decision should be whether we shouldre-establish a Council, or live with our limited freedom.the choice is ours, let's take a short pouse to think, and enjoy the wonderful garden, who knows if this is the last time that we will be here, with these words I will stop, thanks for listening.
Thomas goes down from the podium and begins to go back where he came from, and sits down. he looks first at Mojo and so on Voncloud,smiles at both and say. "There was so much to say and I was so nervous"He takes a sip of water and eat a little fruit, and sits back to see people's reaction.
[/b]
The doctor helped Thomas to his seat.
Great speech cabbage! You did very well. You forgot about the warships tho! People love to hear warships will be ready for them at any time.
Doc smiled a bit as John Rackham entered, giving a firm hand shake and handing him a drink. He was always happy to be around his right hand.
"You haven't missed much," Doc explained, "Matok gave the first speech of the guests and it wasn't bad, really. Sarah Kane of Freeport 1 gave a good speech." He pointed down a ways, showing where her and Matok were sitting together.
Looks like no one's resorted to slingin' the buns around yet.. always a good sign
"Give it time," Doc snickered, "Matok mentioned the Confederation. No doubt it will get around to the ZA, CoF and how we did nothing in Theta with the Corsair conflict."
Doc nodded when John mentioned the new acolyte. "I may have one too," he explained, "he's on MF1 now in the hands of cybernetics." Doc snickered, "I'll tell you more about him later."
He then pointed towards the stage as the next speaker got ready.
Mr Bloggs was inside his a rather comfortable Corvo class ship, the interior was designed by himself so it naturally looked fabulous, that was the one good thing as of late. so far...not so good as it would turn out.
Mr Bloggs thought to himself, who could have known that house authorities consider me a threat in this ship..."Bah, I hate travelling through house space"
"What's that sir?" asked one of Mr Bloggs's assistants, Bloggs hadn't realised he had been mumbling to himself. "Huh what, oh nothing" replied Mr Bloggs.
As well as having to pay a rather large fine to the authorities he was also somewhat late. he liked to think he was fashionably late, but in reality he was rather unfashionably late.
Well things could only get better he thought to himself, and so far it seemed he would be right for once.
The Corvo had just finished landing at malcalypse, the doors opened and Bloggs jumped down to the floor, It wasn't long before he came to the Zenarch, and what a wonderful place it was, so many plants and the amphitheatre looked amazing. Bloggs was admiring a plant of some kind then he glanced to see what everyone was doing... damn they where starting without him. This was not good, oh well nothing to be done about that now, thankful no one noticed him at the back, he slipped into a seat at the back as if he was there the whole time.
This was going to be a very important summit he could just tell, he also knew that everyone likely had some agenda of their own here, his was to hopefully have Freeport 101 registered under the Confederation of Freeport's as well as open up many trade routes and provide safety for his people. offcourse to be able to achieve this goal as quickly as possible he would have to likely get in some of these people's good books. so there Mr Bloggs sat at the back hoping to find out what everyone wanted to gain from this summit and how he could win people's favour.
"Something important to say? Reform the Zoner council? The people of The Nine most of all were affected by the decisions in the Theta conflict with Corsairs." Parkes thought, having a slight chuckle at what was rehashed propaganda rubbish that targeted sympathy at the wars the Freeports had faced in order to concede more power to the people who washed their blood-soaked hands off it in the first place.
He had a slight laugh as he addressed Quiron Lacroix,
"Well, doesn't look like there's any new points to join the confederation Mr Lacroix. Same old, same old. Let's try to actually be productive by ourselves then. He's said what I've heard all around about Gallia not listening or negotiating. What do you think of Gallia and their position?"
Robert was looking at the crowd, waiting for someone to step on the podium when he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.
When he turned behind he was astonished to see the Administrator of Freeport 10
" Bonjour. Indeed, monsieur Robert d'Autoine, at your service. He said shaking his hands with Lucky
" It's a most cherished surprise to have your presence here. I assure you, the pleasure is mine as well.
It's extraordinary to see that my ideas shook interest in you, monsieur. And yes, my proposition still stands and I would appreciate if you would want me to share it with you "
He took a brief pause to look at the podium, he noticed a somewhat old man appearing on it preparing for his speech. Looks like Robert can't pay attention to this one.
" Achille will fill me up " he thought.
Afterwards, he looked back in Lucky's eyes, he wasn't sure if the Freeport 10 administrator will arrive at the summit or not. In fact, the administrator is the main reason Robert was here, since it was one of the most convenient places to meet him in person.
" As you know, the Commonwealth currently bases itself in the Taus, and, since you are the Administrator of Freeport 10, I was wondering what kind of price do I need to pay to annex the Freeport 10 under the Commonwealth's influence. " He took a brief pause, checking if Lucky is paying attention to him
" My proposition is simple. I want you to join the Commonwealth, together with your station. Your station will be under the ownership of the Commonwealth, but, we would still need to appoint an overseer to administrate it. That overseer would be you. What do you think? "
His proposal is at high stakes though, and he knew that, an administrator wouldn't simply accept this. He had to present him the advantages of this proposition.
" I believe this proposition would be very profitable for both of us, you will keep your administrator rights and power, with the bonus being part, and having your loyalty to the Commonwealth. In return, the Commonwealth could take care of the Freeport's best interests. I dare say, I already have so much in mind with that exquisite station of yours " He added.
"One of these ideas consist of the Commonwealth joining the Confederation of Freeports, and if you accept the proposition, the Freeport 10 as well. " He said with a faint grin
"This proposition, if accepted, would provide both me and you, the backbone and influence required to properly deal with the parties in the Taus. Mainly the Outcasts and Gallia.
I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions before going any further, monsieur. I understand this would be a complicated decisions. I feel needed to remind once again that you won't lose anything, your administrator privileges or your influence. In fact I do believe that this proposition would boast only advantages for both of us "
He then took a pause, longer than the others, he was carefully examining the administrator, waiting patiently for his response.
In the meantime, the person which was on the podium just finished his speech. Robert didn't even pay attention to that sadly.
Even though his ideas were brought into discussion before, those discussions were faint and vague, one could say they were non-existent. But, he was now presented the chance of speaking with Lucky face to face. He didn't want to hesitate any moment, and to him, it seemed like Lucky had the same thoughts. That brought a level of optimism regarding the fate of this deal in his eyes.
![[Image: F2_2a.png]](http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af285/viragons/freelancer%20disco%20usa/F2_2a.png)
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, representatives of Freeport, Zoner organizations, and others.
I'm Isaac Porter, and here I am in front of people from the base Freeport 2,
Maybe one of the oldest Zoner base, located in the Bering system, many years between the two warring parties, Liberty and Rheinland.
I do not think to talking about the history of the base and the many conflicts that some of you here were witnesses.
Current security situation at Freeport 2, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Doc, and many commanders of capital ships Zoner Federation, who are docked at Freeport 2, is now on a positive scale.It appears a few isolated incidents, but they are not worth paying attention to.
The reason for my coming here is:
- This is the first major summit of zoners
- Lately, I listen to a lot of CoF, ie Confederation of Freports, and it is my intention in these days find out more about that organization, as well as about what directly base Freeport 2 has from that, what is lost and what gets.For the isolated base, time is always difficult, so that the appearance of an organization that would connect all Freeports, sounds nice for now.
- Bettlehem Treaty-document that is outdated, which was signed by hand no legitimate representative,that it combines three Zoner bases, which do not have any contact in between.In my view, a document that is an eyesore.My wish is to create a new document, which would rule out Bettlehem Treaty, which would be accepted by both governments Rheinland and Liberty, and in many ways helped Zoner Federation for free passage and also the protection of trade agreements and times.Normally, in fact, need and expect political assistance to all of you here.
-Last reason for my coming, Commander Matok on his IKS_Vor'cha, has the best wine in Sirius.
Its all from me and Freeport 2,now. I will wait and listen other.
God bless you all
“Good to hear that Freeport 11 is back in life. I am sure, that we can arrange something for a possible cooperation.” said quietly.
After a little pause he continued. “To be honest, I don’t really care about the Gauls until their warships appear in the Omicrons and I can hardly imagine that. However, the TAZ will probably have some sleepless nights as the positioning of Baffin could be a very good strategic point to the Royalists. No wonder the Erisians seek for a possible Zoner reunion.” he looked down to his empty glass. “But the Phoenix doesn’t need a conflict. We have enough and much more serious problems.”
“I will bring here a bottle.” he quickly stood up between two speakers and came back with the wine. “At least we should take the advantage of having such good drinks.” smiled and offered the bottle to Parkes.
Doc excused himself momentarily from his Ambassador and swallowed the liquid in his mouth at the mention of Gauls in the Omicrons.
"Excuse me, Mr. Quiron," he said, "Excuse me all of you but I have seen Prince Joseph DeFrance right next to Freeport 11 with my own eyes. I was delivering food, going in to pick up iridium when a small group of Zoner transport jumped to the base with yes, Prince Joseph DeFrance hitching along. I had a lot of questions at that point. If nothing else, they know where it is."
He stepped back, resuming his chat with his Ambassador. "I suppose that'll get dismissed, eh John?"
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17