This time Ezrael didn't lean forward but kept his eyes on James, ignoring the battlefield. "I believe that's one of the hardest goals to achieve. Even if you should happen to stumble across a planet that isn't charted yet, you can expect it to be at some point. And then people will fight for it. Wouldn't investing into an already colonized world be better? I mean, you don't need an entire planet, right?" His questioning countenance then turned into a smirk. "Bishop E3. Thresher takes Donau."
"This is so true, it hurts. And I know it all too well. I mean we've been trying to find a place suitable for 80 years. I mean yes, setteling on a planet that is already colonized would be easier, but that comes with laws and politics and all of that stuff. I mean the AI is not the only one who likes to do experiments that would conflict with some laws."
James smiled lightly at that part.
"Pawn E3. Wraith takes Thresher... however that works."
This was interesting. It looked like Ezrael had a real chance to take on James' fleet. "And if you get some sort of colony ship instead? Something like the Nephilim-class mobile freeports. I mean, Canaan isn't that big, right? Those ships are pretty big. And if the space doesn't suffice, you can still build little temporary outposts on some planets in places where people don't look for it. Queen A3, Apahanta takes Oder-class Gunboat." Grinning, Ezrael leaned back again. "But then again, a man of your intellect probably thought about that as well, so I guess there is nothing I can suggest you didn't think about already. But then again, you mentioned you are incredibly old. I take it your nanites can keep you alive for a few hundred years?"
James gave Ezrael a charming smile as a reply for the comment on his age.
"The nanites keep me alive vor a very long time, yes. I don't know, it just seems like most inhabitable planets are either too far colonized, or some mining facilities with suboptimal protection from external influence. Right now you could probably fit all of Canaan in one of those colony ships, but since our departure from there have been many people who wanted to join us in our endavour for one reason or another. Just imagine a fleet of two or even three of these sips lurking around the Omicrons. Besides, those ships are so obvious - draw way too much attention. That's just not really my style. I'll think of something though. Right now we're got a lot of ships. Most of them operational, what makes them kind of resource-intensive. We might just go ahead and build a station out of part of them."
He started biting his fingernail again. He was wondering for how long he could keep the game going.
There was no way James could win this anymore, Ezrael thought. It made him wonder whether he let him win on purpose or not. "You think a space station is less obvious? People will tax it, siege it in the worst case. It will attract more attention than a fleet of colony ships in some nebula or somewhere else. The only thing you need to worry about would be the Nomads, as they can detect anything that has a human mind." Looking up at the Rheinland fleet, he smirked. "You'd be nomads in the literal sense. Just like me and the Apahanta. A shame the term was devalued by an alien race. Bishop G4, check. You can't castle anymore."
"Building a base would certainly bring a certain risk with it. Same as all the other options. As I said it's only a thought. Could always go for a different solution. So how do ya like being a Nomad? You've been one for some time now."
He tilted his head and looked at Ezrael, waiting for an answer.
This was it. "Being a nomad," he repeated his words, smirking at him, leaning forward to look at the chess board. "I hope you don't take this conversation out of context somehow." Ezrael chuckled, picking up the holographic Apahanta figure. "If we take away all the troubles that I went through in the last two years, I have to admit this kind of living is not bad. The Zoners are very nice people when they aren't taking the bait and get dragged into one or another conflict. Thanks to them, the Apahanta can be out here for a very long time. We have all the luxuries of the house space only a jump away, get frequent deliveries and the crew is nice. I have a nice girlfriend, meet a lot of cool people, it is never getting boring and every now and then I happen to be a lucky guy." Grinning cheerfully, he placed the Apahanta next to his king, at B2. "Checkmate. I won."
With the Apahanta right next to the king, the Elbe, James was unable to survive the next turn. Even if the Elbe managed to take out the Apahanta, the Pleco would jump in and finish the Elbe. If the Elbe tried to escape, the Thresher would take care of it. No further move was possible - the Core won. The game ended at this point, not even allowing James to make a final move. All Rheinland ships were breaking apart in explosions above their heads. "Dolor transit, gloria aeterna est at its best." Ezrael said, lowering his view from the spectacular explosions down to James. "Good game. We should do that more often, don't you think?"
James threw up his hands in defeat, the Rheinland fleet on the board exploding between him and Ezrael. It was a good game. Not only the game itself, but also the conversation they had.
"We should do that more often, yes. Given we're both in the same area, which could be hard sometimes."
Tapping his fingers on the armrest James took a more comfortable position. For the first time since the game started he accessed the Canaan network again to check if he either missed anything or if there were some other urgent matters to attend to. None to speak of as of then.
"Congratulations on winning the game, despite being 'horrible' at it. It was a good one."
Ezrael smirked as usual. "You let me win, I'm pretty sure. It was fun, though." Slowly, Ezrael stood up, the Rheinland debris still floating around above them while the Core fleet was forming up on the Megalodon.
After a little walk through the ship, they had reached the airlocks again, with the long glass pipe corridor leading to Livadia. Ezrael stood at the opened lock, looking over at James who was one step outside of the ship. "Keep me informed about Canaan. There might be some things we can help out each other. And more chess games."
There wasn't much more talk after that. James returned to Livadia, then entered the Kauket again. As the airlocks closed and Ezrael turned around, he was surprised by the sudden presence of Sherry. Obviously being slightly in shock as he didn't expect her to be around, he took a deep breath first to regain his countenance. "The fuck is wrong with you?"
She gave him an expressionless look, standing there, two meters away from her at the wall. "I didn't intent to frighten you, Captain."
"Boy. You really walk around without any sound." He shook his head. "What is it?"
"I would like to play chess with you, however without half of the crew watching it." What she said made him smirk as usual. It was something he was expecting, knowing his crew. They were incredibly curious about new people on the ship and probably all of them sat in the security office and watched the game and listened to their talks from there.
"In my room, then." For a very short moment, he could have sworn to have seen a smirk on her face.
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