War: The Meat Grinder

[Gypsie]

Chapter III

As I said Captain Eustache, Liberty is a much better place for these people to start over than whatever hole you pretend to dump them in around the Taus. Remember, all the patch of space between 23 and 31 is Gallia's war frontline, so removing these families from war zone to place them on another is just making them go all over the pain and the stress again.

Jean was fed up of having to deal with shady characters, and this freelancer, who had jumped in at Salbris Brigand Base in Orleanais was not a better person than that Naville banker from Ile de France. He was supposed to arrange accommodation for all refugees on board of La Soiree within Liberty, but Jean had his own doubts about this idea. Something inside him urged him to take them all to Tolouse anyways.

The trip had started almost one week ago, after the little incident with the Corse was cleared out, and they had made a quick stop at that Brigand station to refuel and let this businessman and his light fighter in.

Now, there's two ways of doing this. I can arrange your people to be taken in by the Liberty Rogues, but of course this means they will live a life among the bandits and criminals. There is also Planet Pittsburgh to pick, which already recieved many refugees from the Bretonnian battlefront at Leeds, and is ready to let them in without much hassle. Here they would all become proper Liberty citizens after some time, but they would probably end up working in the planet industries and mines.

The Captain of La Soiree listened carefully to every word. Orders from high command were to try to accommodate the refugees somewhere in Sirius were they would be safe after all, so it was better to pay attention to every detail before making a choice.

Captain Eustache, the only other option I can think of is asking all Zoner communities around Liberty to see if they would be able to take these civilians in, but I doubt it will be possible, and even if it is, it would mean that they would all end up at distant locations from each other. Families splitting, friends who won't see each other again, and all those things which would make a mother cry.

Jean did not appreciate cynism, and the tone of the freelancer was starting to sound that way. Nevertheless, he was right about handing the refugees to the Zoners. And a life among pirates wasn't at all what he had in mind for them, so he made his choice.

Alright sir. I made my mind already. We'll take them to Planet Pittsburgh in the New York system. Life there as pictured by you sounds hard, but at least it's honest and distant from trouble. It will be heaven to all these gentlefolk after what they have been through.

The freelancer smiled in a way that made Jean feel uneasy. Just as if he had closed a very good deal. All philanthropic looks seemed lost now, and sparks of greed could be read in his eyes. Of course, The Council was paying him handsomely for the help, so Jean disregarded his suspicions and decided to let go of him as soon as possible, to let him reach Liberty in time for the preparations.

We have a deal. I'll meet you in orbit of Planet Pittsburgh in four weeks.

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Malaclypse Freeport