Battleship Harmony, Ontario - Meeting the Cobra

[Victoria Knight]

Victoria and her command were well ready to give the Xenos some sort of support. And supplying their Hudson installation wouldn't be the most difficult task. But they had to be careful. The Rheinland originated support they received was a big part of the Separatist's supply line. She'd have to encourage the Xenos to focus on the north more than the south in regards to general operations.

"That is possible. Though we would encourage you to expand that installation. A proper division in the area would be an actual deterrent for pirates. And it will be a clear symbol for your and Liberty's people." She stated and already considered which division to move. One they could spare if it was an actual gain. And it could operate even without the Xenos. But using their installation as a forward supply depot would make things a lot easier.

"Though the logistics of that should be sorted out later. I wanted to suggest something else. Of course we know of the Liberty Free Republic. After much debate on where to place our support, we realised the necessity of such a movement." She nearly mentioned her views on the Commonwealth again here but caught herself. "Proper representation will show our intent for the future of Liberty. Will prove what kind of Liberty we intend to shape along with her people. Are the Xenos willing and ready to form the Free Republic with our support?"

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[Reeves]

Morreti shook his head from side to side, not in the same way as saying no but more so showing indifference or contemplation. It was always a little unsettling to not know what he was thinking or how he'd react to what was proposed. Volatility was a distinctly Xeno characteristic. "Have your people begin the construction of temporary supply depots near the station perimeter, it would be preferable if your division included something to accommodate them, residential space on our station in the area is minimal. This will be contingent on your agreement to never hinder Xeno operations in the system of Hudson and acting in the defense of Liberty corporations excluding DSE and Ageira. Those two can rot in hell." His advisors seem to whisper among themselves and one of them seemed to be getting ready to speak up, Morreti rather than cutting them off was happy to give them the opportunity if they so desired.

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[Karst]

The man to Morreti's right, having listened idly so far, leaned forward in his seat to speak up.
With his clean look, glasses, and beige jacket, the middle-aged man looked more like a geography teacher than a typical member of the terrorist organization.
Henry Stracke, codename 'Milk', was one of the Alliance's luminaries and their resident economics expert.

My name is Henry Stracke, or as I'm known in the Alliance, Milk.

Now, on an axis of pragmatism versus idealism, I normally consider myself to lean more towards the latter. But I'm glad we didn't get bogged down by the finer disagreements about how we've handled various issues in the past, and can have a productive discussion about the now and the future.

With some of the basics out of the way, we can look into the practical implementation of our plans.

He sighed lightly, looking around at the other attendants before continuing.

I think it would be wise to temper our expectations in regards to what will be possible in Hudson. With house control over Bering already effectively curtailed, efforts to control the Hudson corridor would threaten the remainder of inter-house trade.

Now, this is of course the ultimate goal of our isolationist policy but by the same merit, something that's unlikely to be tolerated by the houses. We would be well-advised to focus on political influence in the fledgling colony, rather than anything too overt.

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[Victoria Knight]

She considered the offer for a moment. All in all it wouldn't violate their present MO or agreements with Rheinland. Having the Xenos protect a supply line to deploy in Hudson would be very good.

"My people already protect Liberty's civilian transports besides Ageira. So that will work well. And we do have minor trades with Rheinland and while that might not align with your preferred policies, we negotiate those favourly." She decided to play with some open cards. She decided it necessary if they wanted to go further with their current plans. To go anywhere.

"We will deploy our division and send the required supplies as well as some for your people. We do have a fair amount of control over Bering and the route to Hudson, so that shouldn't cause any issues." She took a deep breath considering the political topic the Xeno had mentioned. "While I agree that we should enforce our position there first we should not neglect to plan for the future."

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[Reeves]

The admission regarding trade with Rheinland seemed to come as a surprise, but once more Morreti no visible response and instead just seemed to be thinking. "Your benefactors from across the border are your business, keep them out of Liberty and use your connections with them to ensure that such a thing remains the case. The typical response to this sort of thing would be radical and necessitate the use of guns. But where another would see a breach of ideology I see the potential for control of foreign traffic." He then promptly turned to look at Stracke as if silently requesting a second opinion on a matter as controversial as this. The perception of this could very well make or break any attempts at cooperation, and they had still not reached a verdict on what to do regarding the proposition regarding the Free Republic. Though it seemed as if consensus would soon take shape.

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[Karst]

Stracke was clearly in deep thought listening to the other two, brow furrowed and his chin in his hand.

I'm not seeing any conflict of interest with Rheinland supplies going to Harmony. Our opposition to Rheinland trade is due to the influence of inter-house commerce on the domestic economy, which isn't affected by trade of that nature.

He rubbed his forehead, evidently trying to collect his thoughts.

Now, if I end up ranting for too long on only tangentially related matters, feel free to stop me. But I want to at least touch on the general philosophical perspective here, in relation to our political, military and economic capabilities in the southern Liberty border, and ultimately, overall.

In the most basic terms, we want isolationist policy to prevent inter-house financial speculation and outsourcing of labor. But this is ultimately a goal we want for Liberty, not a ground-up society to be created in opposition to it. As a practical matter though, it's difficult to say how effectively we can hope to achieve those goals politically over the whole house. Popular political support like we're trying to achieve with the Liberty Free Republic has explosive potential, but we will have trouble basing plans on unpredictable variables.

The political objective of a new colony, an ideological carte blanche, is intriguing, but we would need to take special care to ensure we export ideology and do not isolate it.
Economic isolation, ideological networking.
New colonists are statistically more likely to be open to new ideas as well, and could form a solid anti-corporate, cooperative-minded colony that would act in our favor.
To have a politically connected border would be a great aid to our goals, but we must be cautious that we still mesh with the house, if we ever find ourselves progressing so successfully.
The worst that could happen is being accused of forming some sort of southern Liberty anti-elite that can't resonate with the common people we are supposed to be making gains for.
Any potential we have for political dominance on the border, while purely speculative at this point, should only ever be considered a springboard for initiatives elsewhere in the house. We don't want to create our own little slice of paradise - generously speaking - we want to convert Liberty into that.

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[Victoria Knight]

"Until what we end up with is the stable paradise we would all like to achieve, we will need the supplies to produce and maintain the size of fleet and industry we managed to deploy. Though I agree with you that it is our people, Liberty's people that should be the benficiaries of the houses actions. At some points it appears like that would go to the corporations, and not always to the ones at home." For a moment she pondered on the thought of the 'new colony' and exporting ideology.

"There would be a great amount of details to be ironed out. But that is only expected. It is not our intention to be a mere political party or we would have laid down our weapons. I know that your organisation has been struggling and planning with your goals in mind. Goals that in part align with our own." She took a look at her staff, seeing if there were any urgent comments needed to be made. Finding none that couldn't wait until later she continued.

"Thank you for this meeting, a proper agreement on how to proceed together should be made. Though that is a more complicated matter likely to go to and forth for a while. I know these matters take their time. For now I will send the division I promised to Hudson and a construction team to your installation if you share the exact location with us."

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[Reeves]

Morreti nodded every so often in an attempt to display to Knight that he was listening, and he truly was for the most part at least. He felt remarkably more confident about his political abilities, feeling he was more capable of manipulating such a facet than his peer, the leader of the separatists. "Send the division and have them supply my men in Barrow with the necessary resources and tools. We don't need a team from the outside handling construction or extension of our installations. My men can handle that themselves, they just lack the items necessary. The exact location will be communicated to your division once they make contact in Hudson." He neglected to mention a few other things but that was for him to know and for them to find out if they truly were that curious. The Widow probably had a distinct opinion on this but she wasn't around to provide it, he'd need to consult her before allowing the Luminaries to begin formulating a formal agreement.

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