La Gemme d'Istres Restaurant and Pub
Monte Carlo Station, Provence
08:50 SMT
24 Juin, 825 AS / 741 AGS
Alors, [that doesn't sound too much.] - pondered Pierre, looking into the distance. - [Something relatively easy for a small group of five gunboats and accompanying fighter and bomber support...] - took a short pause, emphasizing his next word. - [... if the ship is there.] - he looked back at Alice. - [If not, we will have to find it first, and likely figure out a new plan. We can't do much more about it right now.]
[What we can discuss, however, is what happens once we took control over the RNS Vaqueline Royale.] - Pierre changed his posture with the change of subject.
[My offer is the following: The Council gains ownership over the warship, you and a mixed crew of partially your choice gains priority rights over commanding it. At least sixty percent of the crew are to be already in the service of The Council, the rest is up to you. Should you or any other crew member wish to leave anytime after the acquisition of the ship, your or them are free to do so, the warship stays. Should any of you try to take it with themselves, they will be arrested and executed for treason, if the theft is successful, bountied, hunted down, and the ship reclaimed.]
He looked at her in a brief moment of silence, waiting for a response. - Qu'est-ce que vous pensez, Mademoiselle?
La Gemme d'Istres Restaurant and Pub, Monte Carlo Station, Provence
06/24/741 A.G.S, 08:52
Deal, I guess it's time I stopped running and saw this through to the end anyways.
There was no turning back now, the war would either end with her on the new right side of history - or she would die in the process. For some reason she didn't feel nervous though, more at ease. The re-direction gave the vibe of a much more welcoming set of colleagues as opposed to Royal Navy. Alice wouldn't be the same miserable Marechale drinking away her issues and gripping her rank, she would have what she wanted so long as she stood until the end.
La Gemme d'Istres Restaurant and Pub
Monte Carlo Station, Provence
08:53 SMT
24 Juin, 825 AS / 741 AGS
Pierre was slightly surprised about how smooth the last bit went, which didn't let go all of his suspicion either, but overall he was glad they could get done with this talk. After a few second he stood up.
Trés bien. [Now that we will work together, there is a place I need to show you.] - he turned around and went to the entrance door of the VIP section while Alice stood up. Pierre knocked twice, then it opened up just enough for a familiar face to peek in.
Oui? On parti. Entendu. - the agent came in, closing the door behind himself, and headed to one of the booths to collect a small bag. Then the two of them returned to Alice.
[We leave that way.] - he pointed towards the service entrance, from where Gerard brought the sandwiches previously. They went through to a small corridor with a junction, one way leading to the kitchen, the other to the storage. Pierre went ahead, Alice following him, Arnaud closing the door behind the trio. Pierre went for the kitchen first, bidding farewell to Gerard and thanking him the opportunity of the meeting, then led the other two to the backdoor entrance through the storage room.
Through some of the secret passages of Monte Carlo Freeport they eventually reached a junction, splitting up towards two different hangars, only to meet up once again in space just about fifteen minutes later, Alice in her Lynx, accompanied by the Vache, Pierre in a modified Aurochs and Arnaud escorting him in an agile Sunbeam. With the Agent's lead they set course to the Tau-44 gateway in Mer Mediterrainée, passed through the volatile Sumatra Cloud on the way to Tau-37, traversed the Malvinas Cloud before entering Tau-23, then took a wide circle far away around the RNS Guillestre before reaching Orkney, where Arnaud led them deep into the Stronsay Ateroid Field. They reached and entered Roussillon by the evening, eventually landed on Toulouse two hours later. After all the initial checking procedures and all the utmost necessary protocols immediately required when officers of the Royal Navy defect to The Council, it was around midnight by the time they could finally rest. The actual process of complete integration into the revolutionary paramilitary began the next day.
Over three months passed since then. Alice and the crew of the Vache she brought with herself have successfully earned their full membership and found their place within The Council. After a recent scouting operation revealing the relocation of the RNS Vauqueline Royale to Issoudun Drydock they've began extending the plans of an already scheduled attack on the brand new royalist installation to include the capture of the warship. If the circumstances favor The Council, the RNS Vauqueline Royal could change colors even as soon as the next few weeks.
Whether they succeed or not, we will find out soon.