John was not all that offended by the refusal of his offer of scotch, more for him! He joked to himself. "I will do you one better. Give me a comprehensive list of all your former comrades, and I will provide you with their whereabouts, if I know it, of course." John let this offer sink in with Alice, for a few seconds. "But, what do I get in return for all this kindness?" John paused again.
"Will you let us in on all that is the craziness that was once the Gallic Royal Navy? How about those lovely weapon platforms that turned an entire fleet to cinder? Are you honestly willing, as a potential citizen of this Kingdom, to give us advantages over our rivals? You need to consider what you are about, love. The benefits of citizenship will elude you otherwise." John spoke plainly, straight to the point. Alice was not getting something for nothing, the gates of Babylon would not open out of charity, for the denizens of that city are deeply troubled by the losses they have borne, and continue to bear. Oh, how sad indeed this is.
Meeting Center H.M.S-Essex, New London
1/6/743 A.G.S, 10:12 AM
Maurice Cornett, Mathis Launcelot, Minori Shikizumi, Katsuko Komatsu, and Ambre Lachance. Here's the list.
The alcohol was clearly getting to him if he forgot the list already. Alice pondered at the next question for a second though, on one end she put her country above everything else. She had to sell them something though.
I can actually. There are few things I could tell you. There's actually something that would benefit us both. Something you would probably take pride in. Alice fixed her eyes on the guilt-drowned admiral. A bit more serious than before.
But first I need to know how many of those names are either gone or in custody. Or, well, with the enemy.
John looked bemused by the list provided by Alice for the second time. "Just those five you already mentioned? I was expecting a more comprehensive list, and figured you were just giving those five as examples. No capital ships? No crew?"
John pondered for a moment, taking a healthy swig from his whiskey in the process. "It is quite funny actually. One of those names crossed my desk just recently, Ambre Lachance. She is alive and well, and singing free, in Bretonia and a guest of it. I can provide you with a meeting potentially. The other four I will have to look into."
John had handed Alice a gift in good faith, and assumed this would open up discussions greatly.
Meeting Center H.M.S-Essex, New London
1/6/743 A.G.S, 10:12 AM
Ambre's the last I'd expect to be alive, I'd like to see her if at all possible.
Well at least they all weren't unaccounted for. When he elaborated on what the list could entail, Alice had a few flashbacks to the Vauquelin Royale. That was the end goal though, something about that ship, that flying hunk of metal. The memories and feeling of loss could still, even after so many years - drive her to take it back.
Only this time it would workout, for good.
After taking a deep breath, and eyeing around the room. Alice's focused returned back to the admiral.
There's... There's one ship. This is where my knowledge of the Royalists would come in. I've been meaning to take it back for over a year, but I've not had the resources nor the people motivated to do it. I believe you'll be more than motivated though.
John stood up, moved over to the window overseeing the debris of the battle. "If this ship of yours is out there, we can locate it easily enough. Any further afield will require some leg work, but not impossible. Give me the name and specifications and we can add it to the to-do list."
Moving back to the table, John rested his hand on the back of the seat which Alice sat "But I think we have talked all we can for now, go to the room I have prepared and I will call your friend to meet us." John moved back to his desk to prepare to make a call to Lukas Keller, the party to which he released Ambre.
Being more or less summoned to the Essex with his recruit warranted some degree of suspicion. But Keller had little in the way of power, Field Marshal in title only and in command of a bare-bones militia likely to be knocked down by a stray sneeze. The flight took a few hours, and he'd do his best to explain the situation to Ambre before arriving.
"Did you know each other well?" He asked as they pulled in for a landing, the shuttle shuddering mildly as it clamped down on the deck.
Ambre was understandably concerned with the prospect of being summoned to meet a Conseillard. She had known Alice from times before - and even fought in the same battles - but then she heard the news of her betrayal and switch to the Council. That was just before her inevitable capture, however, so she's not heard anything since.
"Non. We met in combat a few times - she was overseeing our operations." the woman replied.
The Gaul looked at the hangar, busy Bretonians in military uniforms working on the ships there. She shriveled up with anxiety on the inside, having never wanted to appear on a Bretonian warship again.
Keller was by all means a stereotypical representation of being a hard nosed and no nonsense soldier by this point in his life. He had seen and done enough to be turned cynical and disgruntled several times over. The biggest failures that he simply could not forget often fuelled his allegedly volatile temper. Nonetheless he seemed quite patient with her if not outright compassionate. He took a moment to stare daggers into the crowd before turning around to meet her with what seemed like his default stoic countenance. He was close enough to her to more or less block out the view of the hangar and uniformed people behind them.
"I'll confess. I technically don't have much choice in the matter. But you are still under my protection, and I will intervene, violently, if necessary to uphold that responsibility. If you truly want to leave, I'll respect that. And I'll take you straight back to Exeter and endure whatever consequence occurs thereafter." Initially he seemed apprehensive of making physical contact given the potential for onlookers. Yet he would still take hold of one of her hands and make decisive eye contact to try and show solidarity.
"Ich stehe hinter dir - I have your back, if you choose to go through with this nothing will happen to you." He seemed confident in saying that, but in truth he had little faith in his abilities to protect anyone, he had failed in every instance of trying to do so. It was what made him try so hard, but it was also likely the foundation of his grief and trauma, carefully locked behind his expressionless green eyes, but there nonetheless.
Ambre didn't expect Keller's reaction, she unconsciously said it just as a passing joke, only afterwards did she realise how much like a whiner she sounded. Keller unexpectedly holding her hand made her self-conscious all of a sudden - they already looked out of place in the hangar and were drawing quite a few heads towards them.
"Non, I'm not going to leave just to avoid this." she replied quietly, as to not draw even more attention. "Let's go."
John was in his office, the very same one used for the meeting with Alice. He has scarcely left his chair, his responsibilities kept him glued to it. He was naturally an active sort, and did not like sitting on a throne waiting for his subjects to come beckoning, not one for that kind of relationship, but with power came the usual trappings. He was made aware of the arrival of Keller and company, another former Gallic Navy girl, he had begun to wonder if Gallic women were more likely to see the errors of a male King hooked on power than Gallic men.
Alice had arrived first as per Johns instructions, and the new arrivals would soon enter. "She is your former subordinate, I will let you speak and do as you wish. Help yourself to the drink selection." John was not intending to get too involved, all Alice had asked was to know of the whereabouts of the individuals, there was no request beyond that.