An older, passibly disheviled man is on the screen. Corin Frei, elected arbeitsdirektor of the Unioners, leans over the functional roundtable. He seems to be discussing the subject of the transmission with unseen others out of the camera's field of view. You suspect that they're deliberately kept out of the eyes of strangers. Corin turns, then snaps off a Unioner salute - fist to breastbone. He flattens his hand and gives the standard international naval salute, forhead high, smiling to himself. It's a show of respect from a civilian who doesn't consider himself to have the slightest of martial pretensions.

"Mister Weisen, or anybody else who is on the line."

"This will interest you."


"The Auxesians have a Hel cruiser - or, rather, they did. It's now scattered over the Tanner belt being used to rebuild other hel cruisers. I'm sure you've already heard about the recent strike. We don't know if they have any more, but since the primary attribute of the Hel is ease-of-maintainence, we can assume they're aware of the scalar nature of fleet logistics."

"Fortunately, our force mobilisation towards Kansas happened simultaneously with the Auxesian attack, so we had the resources in place to rapidly respond. They appear to be co-coordinating with the Liberty Navy, possibly also the LSF, as they engaged in a simultaneous attack with several Liberty Navy dreadnaughts at Freeport Two and Pacifica at the same time. Unluckily for them, they ran into a cruiser, bomber, and gunboat pack bound for Kansas. We knew the territory - they didn't. "
"There are only three ways to get a Hel. One is through us. Obviously you can write that theory off. The other way is through the Hessians. The third is to dredge one from the middle Omegas with Hessian approval, from a Hessian naval reserve. They'd still need maintenance documentation, which would also require Hessian consent."



"We believe this is compelling evidence that the Auxesians are working with the Hessians, on Hessian payroll. It would explain why they attacked us. It's up to the Hackers what you choose to do with this intel."

An older, passibly disheviled man is on the screen. Corin Frei, elected arbeitsdirektor of the Unioners, leans over the functional roundtable. He seems to be discussing the subject of the transmission with unseen others out of the camera's field of view. You suspect that they're deliberately kept out of the eyes of strangers. Corin turns, then snaps off a Unioner salute - fist to breastbone. He flattens his hand and gives the standard international naval salute, forhead high, smiling to himself. It's a show of respect from a civilian who doesn't consider himself to have the slightest of martial pretensions.

"Certainly. Logs are spread out between multiple men in multiple different squadrons. We're collating the intel as we speak."

He chews his moustache.

"Tempting. I thought you might have been the catalyst for this sea-change."

"It's shocking until it isn't. The Xenos are opportunistic - they have to be - they have many enemies and few resources. The Legion was a source of resources - politically they've drifted away from them. And if there's one thing that a Xeno is prepared to die for, it's politics. Whilst the Legion remains brick-tight enough to fit with their views, the Commonwealth is not, and it is very much the case that the Legion is subordinate to the civilian population in recent years. "


"The Xenos will turn on us as soon as we have completed our shared objectives. No matter what we mutually agree, the Xenos will want to push us out whilst our feet are still barely rooted in the silt of Wichita. They will turn on us rapidly. The world order of the Libertonian underworld will rapidly evolve, and both the Unioners and the Xenos - who both trade in arms and artifacts, will be occupying the same functional space. There will be violence."

"Instead of betting on the Xenos - who will want to kill us, and still likely do - I would be betting upon who you would prefer to work with in this hypothetical new world. You're fond of the Unioners. You're certainly not fond of me, there's been enough skeletons buried in our mutual suspicion. An honest drunk, and the teetotal deceiver. We make for quite the buddy comedy. "


"We'll see. It will be useful if the Xenos stay out of the same fields of engagement. Xenos detest us and Unioners are conditioned to shoot at them. Functionally it would be better to keep our forces stratified - inform only those who need to know about the arrangement. The Unioners are encouraged to disobey commands if they disagree with them enough, without sanction. "

"Sometime, you and I should talk about the shape of Kansas after this conflict. The shape of Texas, too. There is a long, power vacuum between Kansas and the Tanner belt. It would become our throat. Throats are vulnerable, but they are familiar."

"I have some information for you."


"Dwitty's Rogues are moving key overbosses down to Beringia. We're planning to accomodate them aboard Pacifica actual. There's certainly the space for them. Hudson is becoming increasingly lucrative and tempting to squeeze. The eastern independents worlds are becoming a front. A united one."


"I hope that reality colour your thinking in regards to Kansas, and the struggles of the now."

"Proust."