Brettonias gave a simple nod as he reached into his robe, and pulled out a datapad. He looked at it a moment, and then tossed it towards Dirk and Quiron.
The Gauls have fully knowledge of virtually ever vessel at our command and control. They know our strengths and weaknesses. And I will be damned if I have to send forward a single Nephilim Colony ship into a fight. I simply will not. Naoko.. Come forward.
As he reached back for his arm, he began to lower his head, taking a deep breath before he turned and watched his personal hover droid "Naoko" near his company.
I... Pope Brettonias the First of TAZ... Am requesting the full schematics.....of the Leviathan Class Warship "Persephone"... I will not stand by and wait for a conflict that will happen, and not have an ace up my sleeve...
The moment he finished his words, multiple images of known sightings of the vessel spoken began to show upon Naoko's screen.
-"If we do not learn at least one thing a day....Our minds turn to stupor"- Kyle Sparrgrove -2005
Quiron looked at the datapad the Pope had shown them, but he didn’t care about the images on it. Instead, this few seconds were proven as the perfect opportunity to put his thoughts together. What should we say for such a request… He took a deep breath and scratched his head.
“Pope Brettonias, this is a very sensitive case, I think both of our parties are aware of it.” he looked straight to their host. “I completely understand your point, however I can’t hide my doubts and concerns. The named vessel is the source of our treasured technology. She was kept in secret for a long time now. How can you and your group guarantee that it will stay like this? Hiding Her in the Omicrons are fairly easy due to the huge spaces and the desolate environment, while on the contrary, we can call Baffin as one of the crossroads of Sirius. What if she falls in the wrong hands? What will you do if some of the Houses get any information about Her existence? Liberty or even worse, Gallia? How can you stop them if they want to acquire Her?” he made a little pause as taking another deep breath then continued. “Don’t get me wrong, please. I just want to make it sure that you are thinking with cool head. The despair is a fairly bad advisor, Pope Brettonias."
With a bit of a wincing in his face, his arm was fully reattached, and with a moment of testing his fingers, reached over and displayed a projection of the Baffin system.
As you so well put it. Baffin is the crossroads of this part of the sector. And if you can see, one of the only barriers between Tau space and Western Liberty Space. Cause of this, the odds of Liberty, as you stated, attempting to take something from us is astronomically low. To our North we have our allies of the Council. And on our rear flank, the Colonials. Both their presence is an asset and a liability should they be found out.
As he finished speaking, the holomap faded off, Brettonias looking slightly stressed as he began to speak again.
I am fully aware of the Leviathan being a treasured secret of ours, and I wouldn't put such at risk unless we needed a reason for such. I will not lie to you gentlemen. I have been looking for other replacements into TAZ's first warship. The closest with the least amount of backlash was from the Hellfire Legion. Unfortunately.. Such didn't come to fruition. And with time not on our side.. You get the picture. If I wasn't thinking clearly upon this matter I wouldn't have bothered asking about such in the first place.
-"If we do not learn at least one thing a day....Our minds turn to stupor"- Kyle Sparrgrove -2005
As Bolevara left, Jeremy tur ed to Sarah.
"I was refering to the madre when I said pregnant. Uh. Sorry if you think I meant you. I think he did to."
He smiled sheepishly, letting go of Sarah's arm. "So, uh, sorry about that. Didnt expect anyone else to be here." He looked at her apologetically. "Please don't hit me?"
Dirk exchanged a glance with Quiron and proceeded. "So let me get this straight, you want us to hand over our most treasured piece of technology so you can take your daughter on a day trip into enemy space?" Dirk let that sink in for a moment, cutting back in before Brettonias could respond. "I don't even see why you really need it. You talk about the 'need' for a primary Battleship, yet the Nephilim accually boasts more firepower and a larger powercore than our Persephone." To his left Quiron nodded his agreement, and Dirk pressed further on. " And you have not made any mention to any benefit this would have to our group. Especially due to the guarantee, not just a risk, of this ships existence becoming known to several groups who would try and use that technology for their own gains. Furthermore, what evidence can you show that the Colonial Military or the Council won't try to steal this technology?" Dirk looked directly into the Pontiffs eyes, "With all due respect the more I think about this, the more dangerous the outcomes become..., in light of this, I move we take a short recess, so that we may contact our leadership back in Zeta and so that you can come up with some answers to our concerns."
Brettonias stood there for a moment as Dirk finished, his hands digging into the table until a wave of anger hit him. Without pausing, he grabbed the end of the table, and with unseen strength, lifted and swung it towards the garden window, causing it to smash through to the ground.
If I did not think that we would not need such a request, I would simply have not suggested to Pope Theo to invite you here. I have been the main figure to lead this notion into protecting this part of Sirius for virtually a year. I know the differences between the Leviathan and the Nephilim. But if you think I will place Colonists lives on the front lines as a shield, you have thought wrong.
After several moments, his breath began to still again, returning to his previous stance as he looked at Dirk and Quiron, raising his hand to his face. As he let out a sigh from his stressed pose, he turned towards the broken window, walking forward and placed his hands onto the jagged glass.
Mister Dirk. I understand your position upon this matter. If I could, I would ask for as many to be built to replace each Nephilim that exists out there. But the point is in such, while you worry about such being stolen by others, each day we waste means less of a chance for us to properly defend ourselves. The Leviathan is a warship. The Nephilim is not. And whether we like it or not, a war will reach this part of our world. And we will need an actual warship.
Brettonias paused for a moment as he saw several trickles of his blood seeping onto the floor, slowly bringing his hand up only to see the gashes that streaked across his palm.
Strange... For every action I take to protect lives, I seem to bleed each step of the way....I apologize gentlemen. I did not mean to show such anger... I can't offer you anything in return for such a request... Except for the knowledge that you may be saving unknown numbers of lives... Those existing and not yet borne..
-"If we do not learn at least one thing a day....Our minds turn to stupor"- Kyle Sparrgrove -2005
The two Outcast Corvos had been dealt with by joint Colonial and TAZ forces, so he rushed back to the conference room to resume his presence in the meeting. As he walks up the stairs, a loud noise is heard of glass being broken. He runs to the door and when he opens it he sees both Phoenix and Pope Bretonnias standing, the first two totally surprised, the third one still talking his mind out. He waited there, standing by the door, for the other Pope to finish.
Quiron tried to remain calm and leave his emotions out of the subject. We must act as professionals in major case like this, so you do, Mr. Brettonias. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a long breath.
“Pope Brettonias, I’m sure that this kind of behavior is not we are looking for right now. Anger never breeds responsible decisions.” he looked over to the broken glass. “If I approach this question by the emotional side, I would agree with you, but the situation is more complex and we shouldn’t act hasty.” he stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts. “You mentioned you would need a warship. Actually, some ago we had a common project with the Order’s primary fleet. Due to some cooperation with them we were able to construct a modified Nephilim class vessel which is… well, serves more the Order way than the Zoner’s. Personally, I wasn’t involved in this project but I may also consider this possibility.”
He looked to Dirk, gave him a nod and stood up from the table. “Now, if you don’t mind, we should contact with Phoenix Spaceport and inform Mr. Burton about your request. This matter has to be discussed within our family.”
“Thank you for your understanding.” they bowed politely, turned around and left the room. At the doorway they spotted Mr. Sturgeon, Quiron stopped near to him and said quietly, “Pope Brettonias may need some peace right now to ease his mind, please take care of him. We will inform you after we reached Zeta via our communication systems.” They bowed once again and left.
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