Xavier smiled faintly, and absentmindedly ruffled the General's hair, as if dealing with a small child. He recovered his composure quickly however, his visage returning to its usual implacable mask.
"Preferably, we want to maintain the status quo, General. Kusari of it's own volition has decided to strangle Liberty economically, and that's the biggest help they can provide us."
He turned towards her, cold blue eyes calmly staring at her with an incredible intensity. He'd had his moment of weakness, and passed it.
"We preferably do not want them to escalate matters any further. Attacking Liberty militarily will be disaster for them, and for us. I do not doubt the Naval Force's combat acumen, but they're outmatched and would be routed. Kogen could easily take the chance to return to power and close this House to us once more..."
He reverted his gaze from her, focusing instead on something in the distance.
"Tying them to us economically and militarily is what we're looking for. An economic stranglehold is a tyranny far stronger than that of kings. That's not our department however...all we need to do is to ensure that Liberty does not strike first. To let them know that we're watching, and we will act."
Lucie glared angrily at the Grand Maréchal, looking extremely put out. She hadn't even listened to his speech, having been too busy formulating a pithy response. "I don't care how 'worn out' you feel, Ansel; I shan't have you treating me with such condescension," she lectured, fixing her hair with one hand while marching away to the room's central table, leaving Xavier to stare out the window. "It's unprofessional to the extreme."
There was a brief pause, and then a pen impacted lightly on the back of Xavier's head.
"I don't appreciate it at all," came the thrower's narration, as Lucie returned to the console and began sifting through files. "Behaviour like that reflects badly on the Navy as a whole, if anyone were to have seen it." She tried to sound severe, but there was an undertone of begrudging amusement barely discernable beneath her glacial tone.
Xavier turned his head and raised an eyebrow, looking amused.
"Perhaps it's a good thing we're not leading armies right now. For the moment at least, we're not wielding power and can pretend to be normal people."
He walked over to his table and pressed a few buttons, making a call to the current CO of the ship, Theresa Mignard. Her face appeared immediately, looking vaguely bored.
"Capitane, status update."
Theresa snapped to attention quickly, raising her cybernetic hand in a salute. "We're moving through to Tau-29 momentarily, Sire. ETA for arrival at RV point with the Kusari delegation is three hours. We're clear, nothing to report."
Xavier waved her down, to be at ease. "Very well, could you get some refreshments sent up? The General and I need to finalize our line of action."
Mignard looked surprised, but recovered quickly. "I'll get some Wine sent. Anything else?"
Xavier shook his head, disconnecting the call. He sat down once more, facing the General who still seemed vaguely upset.
"I suppose we can let it go for a couple of hours, since our discussion plan is already made. I trust you have no objection?"
"None," came Lucie's brusque reply as she manipulated the touch screen, deleting unimportant files with derisive flicks of her hand. "I suppose the Chant is where all those fine wines went when they mysteriously disappeared then, Ansel?"
She briefly glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised accusingly. "Those that I hadn't already had moved to the Mont Blanc and Toulouse, of course."
The Général leant back in her chair, idly swinging her feet back and forth. "A couple of hours of light recreation won't hurt, I suppose," she reaffirmed quietly.
There was quiet in the room for a few minutes. At least, on the outside. Xavier's voice cackled at him, and went on a mad tirade about hypocrisy and the nature of deception. Xavier tuned it out, but he longed for it to go away. When he was doing something, the voice could be dealt with. Moments of idleness was where the danger lay.
So he was glad when an aide showed up, carrying two bottles of chilled wine, with condensation dripping off them. He waited until the aide placed everything on the table and hurriedly walked out before pouring himself and the General glasses.
"Light recreation is not something I'd expected to hear from you, General", Ansel said, swirling wine in his cup gently.
"Likewise," quipped Lucie, taking a large gulp of her wine. "You're always far too serious, Ansel," she admonished, either unaware or willfully ignorant of the hypocrisy in that statement. "The stress will do your health harm if you don't mitigate it; although having said that, I suppose this break was your idea," she mused. "Normally I don't advocate laziness, but the opposite extreme is just as undesirable."
The Général drained her glass, and set about refilling it as she searched for something else to say. Small talk was not her forté, and for once she was sick of talking business.
Xavier smiled faintly, amused at the General's blatant hypocrisy. He chose not to say anything for a few minutes, contemplating on a way to gainfully use this time. He needed the General on his side, and this was a new challenge. Trusting others with his own work was not something he indulged in, and as a result he'd never bothered with learning the necessary social cues to get someone's support.
He hoped that his conviction would somehow carry over.
"So, General...why are you here?"
He paused, realizing that this was an incomplete question.
"In the Navy, I mean. All people have their own reasons, what's yours?"
There. It was a comparatively poor attempt, but it would have to do.
"It was what I wanted and what my father wanted, albeit for differing reasons," she replied, sounding disinterested. "I wasn't expected to amount to much. Secondary Fleet business and a quiet positioning in core Gallic space, and at the end of it all the LeBlanc name would have another string to its bow."
Lucie downed her second glass.
"Obviously, things didn't work out how Papa planned. Not that he minds now, of course. I don't think he believed I was capable of rising to such heights."
She glanced over at Xavier, trying to gauge his reaction, before launching an inquiry of her own.
"It's always a good thing to defy expectation," Xavier said with some feeling.
Lucie's question had sent his mind hurtling back into the past, as he charted his journey. Born on Marne, a Planet that would later be the spark for a revolution, and his initial mindless search for an answer as he smuggled and flaunted the law as a Brigand. A chance meeting and liaison with Doc Jameson, and an introduction to Cardamine.
He had not found any answers then, and borrowing a Zoner ship from Doc Holiday, he'd set out on a long pilgrimage, looking for answers. In the end, he'd found some but they had horrified him. He could still feel the intensity of those moments, the memories etched in his brain.
So close, and yet so far.
He realized he had yet to answer the General. "I was born on Marne, General. Had the usual events taken place, I might have been on the other side of the fence. I was, for a little while. Looking for an answer to a question I had asked when I was fourteen."
He fixed his eyes on her, evaluating.
"But in the end, I'd always wanted to make a difference. I'm an idealist in some ways, General. I believe a single man can move a Mountain."
"Mm," mumbled Lucie, her lack of interest apparent. Vague as usual, I see.
She fumbled in her pocket for another cigar, producing one after a brief search. She lit up and spun idly around in her chair, blowing smoke up at the ceiling in apparent boredom.
"Well, Ansel, at least you are making a difference," she ventured at last. "More so than any other man in Gallia could, I believe, save the King himself."