Lachina chuckled. Silver-style. Now that this bullshat has been closed. She paced up and put her number in Izzy's pocket before disappearing in the crowd that seemed to have no clue what just happened.
[font=Courier New]Baird steps out of the shadows, hand still near the trigger of his assault rifle.
[font=Palatino Linotype] "Now i don't know what the h**l just happened, but that Reaver chick made some good points. I dont like the sh*t IMG tried to pull, but the possibility of house involvement makes what IMG did look like sh*t all."
[font=Courier New] Baird pulls out his flask and takes a swig. He lowers the assault rifle a bit.
[font=Palatino Linotype] "The houses will learn the hard way if they try and take these sectors for themselves. I think most of us can agree on that. They may outgun us, but we can make their lives h**l if they try."
[font=Courier New] Baird takes another swig from his flask and lets the assault rifle hang on its sling.
[font=Palatino Linotype] "though this mob doesnt exactly show any unity."
[font=Courier New] Baird keys his comm and orders his 2IC to get the Spirit ready.
[font=Palatino Linotype] "When you guys get something sorted, i'll be here"
[font=Courier New] Baird walks out the nearest door and returns to the Vengeful Spirit
Tobi laughed at Silver "Oh that was good just because you didn't have anything better to say decided to resort to that crap. Well then next time we see each other say something a little better instead of putting holes in everyone you meet, your gonna be a very lonely girl someday." Tobi walks to the exist in the oppsite direction as Silver.
' Wrote:As much as I hate having to agree with Tobi, I agree with everything he said. Get off Newark and get out there ingame doing stuff. Seriously, I should charge you for parking
Jack has always admired Silver for her political skill. She was no politician at all, but she knew where she wanted to get and she she had a gut feeling for how to get there. Combined with who she was, her reputation and her being at home here practically did the job already. The fighting robots did help, too, he had to admit.
He listened to what Silver said and when she started to link the ominious Ms. Foster to Liberty, he can't hide a wolfish smile.
She practically said what he would have asked her, if she had dared to approach the lectern. Just that Silver never asked a question but stated something that automatically became a truth, simply because she said it in here and because it was plausible. It likely also was the truth. A lot of what he assumed also was true.
"This is over. Let's get out before they all realize there is no money to be made... and turmoil starts again." he instructs his comrades... "... we make a silent retreat while the Merc Queen is all they focus on. Let's go..."
Silver was finishing her speech and when she practically sentenced Foster to death - if she was still on the base and not running for her life already - the small group was already making its way through the station's supply and cargo distribution corridors, using paths that were only known to people who knew the station well. It helped that substantial parts of the public sections had been built by the Guild.
Some hours later, after it could be assumed that most of the emotions had worn off, the unmarked shuttle that Jack came in with, leaves Barrier without anybody on board. Scans would show 5 passengers and a pilot, while in reality there was no one inside. The crew rented heavy and light fighters for the transit from Barrier and took off 10 minutes after the shuttle.
"Veronica, I want you to burn the envelope I gave you. And... expect me in my office in an hour. And you could do me a favour and call the clinic... I'd like to see Anna." he tells his assistant.
He also types a message to Daniel Sagara while Jason is flying the ship:
Quote:Thank you. Transmit a bank code for payment. And stay safe. If you need a job, or anything else: Tell me. Jack
He ponders for a moment whether to write some lines to Silver. She was an enigma and he knew she would remain one. So it was kind of hard to know whether she expected a thank you, or payment or whether she would be annoyed... or already was annoyed... she was too unpredictable for him, but when he remembers her speaking to the crowd, he nods to himself and decides to send a small line that pretty much summed it up for him.
Quote:All hail the Merc Queen. Jack
"Damn you..." he mutters to himself, smiling and shaking his head when he sends the message after thinking about the incredible show of power that Silver had managed to pull off during the last few days and what role he had to play in her game of showing everybody in Coronado how powerful she was.
Leo van Pelt walked out of the room to his firefly, muttering under his breath. Why anyone would hire those goddamn mercs to do anything other than destroy a previously functional, maintained and neutral base was beyond him, but he had more important matters to attend to than the dick waving that had been taking place.
Some of the crowd had dispersed after Silver's display, others seemed dumfounded by her statement that this was a Liberty ploy.
Evan simply stayed leaning against the wall, looking down at his wrist-comm as it continued to record a video-feed of everyone who was still in the room. Unfortunately, Xares piped up a few minutes later to say that the one Evan was hoping to spot, had already left.
"Well, despite the few plans I had set up, I can still partly resume what I had in store. Less fun without the credits to influence the scenario, of course, but still."
With one last swig from his flask, Evan stepped away from the wall, switched off the wrist-comm's data-recorder, and started towards the hangar bay. Perhaps I'll just pay a visit to both parties involved in this fiasco... Heheheh.
Casual Flier: Returning Player. Forum-PM me if you require my attention
Evelyn watched all the ridiculous chest-puffing and gun toting of the various persons and groups in the room, from her position near the front of the room.
"I'm sure the bravado and arm flexing makes you look nice and strong, but I'm still here, and no I won't be running. You talk about conspiracy and ulterior motives, and yet have nothing than vague accusations. I've been completely open about my past employers and my involvement with Detroit Munitions. The only crap being spewed here Ms. Silver is from yourself. How could any action Bretonia or Liberty make cause the IMG to make a stupid decision such as trying to pass regulation over all of Coronado? The first response when you're threatened is to defend yourself, find allies, and avoid gaining more enemies. So why, then, would the IMG try to make an enemy of all Freelancers? Your conspiracy theories might gain you some ground with the paranoid, but anyone with an inkling of how things work in Sirius sees those accusations for what they are; Attempts to distract people."
"The IMG are a corporation. Their purpose in existence is to make money. How can they make money in Coronado? By making mining and base construction require licenses that they control and get the money from. Deuterium may be nice, but it's of very little use to Liberty or Bretonia. Deuterium is used in the creation of H-fuel, but is only done so in Kusari by Samura and the GMG, combining it with their Helium. Deuterium outside of Kusari is only useful to those groups that ship it to Kusari for profit."
"As I said before, I might be a Libertonian, I might work for Liberty, but I'm a mercenary first and foremost, and always have been. All of us came from somewhere, and not all of us despise our origins. That doesn't mean everything we do is for their favor. Especially when they have no benefit out of these silly accusations."
"Try to put more than two neurons into your thoughts on this. A big collection of mercenaries and freelancers take the IMG out back and beat the living hell out of it. What then, do the houses think? 'If we try the same, we'll get the same treatment.' Houses can't defend against us mercenaries, they've tried it before. They don't know which mercenaries are friend or foe until we start shooting them. That makes their supply ships and corporate traders very vulnerable to us, and they aren't going to risk taking us all on while they are all in the midst of war."
"Now flip that around. We do nothing but fight amongst each other. The IMG are still entrenched and now know they can do whatever they damn well please. Add to that every other faction who might look at Coronado with hungry eyes know we won't put up a resistance. And last but certainly not least, the Colonials, who already live here, will see the same and know that they, with probably the greatest ease, can take over the system as they damn well please. Hardly the most desirable outcome for us. Taking out the IMG is as much of a check on the Colonials as it is punishment."
"As for the money, like I've already said, I'll be covering it. I've already got a billion credits set aside for the first two weeks of operation. If there is enough involvement that this method of attack against the IMG works, than another billion will be added bi-weekly until the IMG give up and leave."
"Ms. Silver, if this doesn't appeal to you, you can quite simply leave. The fact that you're still here, and throwing conspiracy theories out, tells me you are the one with ulterior motives here."
Evelyn smiled,
"Oh, and your little security detachment, you might want to have them back down, I'm not stupid enough to invite a bunch of Freelancers and Mercenaries into a room without my own security. Frankly, I'm a bit insulted you thought otherwise. Now if you want to cause problems, you can do so outside my room."
Zod shook himself awake to see the some silly woman acting like she was supposed to stand for something. He yawned and looked at the person who couldn't hurt a fly with a stare.
What makes us want to shoot for you? Sure, you got flashy flashy booze money, but I make tons of that else were. You think you can win me over with just money? Please, Silvah taught me better than that.
I don't care about no Guilds or colonials. I want you to offer something. Not a pat on the back and a check there, I'd like a bit more than that. Our other contractors give more than just money now, and you can't win people over with just that. You clamin' to be a merc, but you don't know the basics of being one.
Interest me. Stop with your wars and your hate of these old lolly pop guild folk. No one cares about that.
Also, you seem to want us to unite undah a flag. Why would we want that and who would lead us, you? Please, you can't even run a'h propah meeting as you can see.
"On another, you say your interest has nothing to do with Liberty."
Sagara looked back and forth. "Prove it."
He shook his head. "But you can't, can you? Your deep pockets with billions, not a startling figure from a corporation owner, and then what? Your little army of auxiliaries forces IMG out, perhaps makes war on the Colonials too...and then? And then your backers move in?"
He took in a breath through his nose, and let it out. Let contempt play on his face.
"Houses's have nothing to fear from mercenary armies except dips in profit. For a house such as Liberty or Bretonia, their bottom line is the only thing that would suffer - expenses they can cover, from whatever harm we would cause them. Yet you would say that the force a mere handful of pilots of a mercenary company would cause them real damage, and real fear."
He shook his head again. "I don't think so."
"For offering billions of your own money for such a cause - every credit you would spend has the Liberty Star on each one."
"No, I don't want to unite us under one flag, I want the exact opposite. We're all shooting the same group, and we're all getting paid, but that is as far as the connection between everyone would go.
And No, Mr. Sagara, I have no plans to put a bounty on the Colonials unless they do something to threaten Barrier Gate, or myself of course. The Colonials can be put in place simply by our taking out the IMG for attempting to take over.
And the Libertonians coming in and taking over? Apparently you don't have a very firm grasp of logistics. There would be no way for them to supply a fort on Pecos, let alone export the Deuterium, if all the Freelancers, Mercenaries, and Barrier Gate are against them on it. Liberty might be powerful, but they can't just send a fleet of ships off to protect some trade path from Pecos to New York. Not only do they not have the ships free to do so, but it'd completely obliterate any potential benefit of having Pecos in the losses of fuel, supplies, and personnel.
Any accusation that Liberty has anything to do with this is nothing but an attempt to derail this effort on completely unfounded allegations that are proven false with just a miniscule amount of thought put into them.
You're also vastly underestimating the power Mercenaries and Freelancers wield in Sirius. Are you so quick to forget the time Liberty tried to put a law into effect that made any Mercenary inside Liberty space illegal? Why do you think that was attempted? Because Mercenaries could pretend to be all nice and friendly until their target shows up, then kill it and run off before the police or Navy could do a thing about it. We might not be the raw strength of a navy, but we've got anonymity, no borders, and the ability to strike specific targets wherever we wish to. None of the Sirian governments have taken this ability lightly, and they won't so long as we continue to exist."