Tomoe kept her eyes peeled on the station as they drew closer in the shuttle, alongside the Matriarch. Though she's usually a 'balls to the wall' kind of person, the large amount of unlawful individuals gathering at one place never bodes well. Feeling a bit off kilter, she decides to draw in a big huff of cardamine through her custom inhaler. She takes a big gasp of air as if somebody splashed her with a bucket of ice cold water. "Woo, hell yeah~! Back in the game... Let's go."
After the freighter docked, Tomoe was still aboard guarding the Matriarch while the other operatives left to secure the perimeter. She wore the standard Gen'an combat outfit with a few extra protection bits added. She's also brought her signature dual laser pistol combo, as well as her tachyon powered shotgun holstered on her back. One might question how she manages to carry so many guns, but asking that might just put you on the receiving end of one if you aren't Gen'an. She joined the Matriarch in departing the freighter, and when she spoke, Tomoe replied concerningly. "Got a bad feelin' bout this, boss. We better keep tight. I dunno about you, but I'm preppin' for a Maltese standoff. Any one o' these peeps could fly off the handle at one wrong move! Still excitin', though, I'm itchin' for a good fight."
Aya spotted the Sisterhood of Light delegation in another section of the docks and she turned to Tomoe.
"Your gut feeling was on the mark. See those GC over there? That is the Sisterhood of Light. Last time we were in the same room as them, they drew guns on me and tried to arrest and exile me for not following their twisted delusions. If they make any attempts to do something as stupid as that again, I want you to kill them all."
With the participants finally arriving, Alexandra decided to meet up with the remaining Hispania Imperial representatives to check if everything is order before the rest of the guests arrive.
As she was arriving at the landing bay, she noticed that not all of the representatives arrived yet, though she was impressed by the fact that so many esteemed allies showed up.
A rather well behaved, and well mannered individual despite her origins, Alexandra wasn't new to the field of diplomacy, though she only has respect for individuals that she deems worthy of it.
Seeing a rising tension between the different GC cell representatives, she moved towards the guests that have already arrived.
"Dear allies, representatives, allow me to introduce myself proper, I am Marshal Alexandra Amelia, and I'm one of the individuals who's going to represent Hispania Imperial during our time here. Although we're still waiting for others to arrive, I believe there's no need to do so at the landing bay. We've prepared a bar for this occassion, before the talks would start, and of course between them. Alternatively, everyone's quarters have been prepared in advance.
I'd like to personally greet most of you, if you're not in a hurry, otherwise, you know where to find me."
With the formal introductory done, Alexandra decided to greet the representatives one by one, starting with the GC representatives, to prevent any kind of 'incident' before the conference would even start.
"Konnichiwa, señoritas of the Golden Chrysanthemum, it's an honour to finally meet you 'face-to-face'. I couldn't help but notice that your cells don't seem to be fond of one another. I'd really appreciate if you could 'refrain' from making a scene. The station is full of armed escorts from all parties, and we really don't need a 'Mexican' stand-off on a Zoner station. "
Eliza Valdez's Series Z Sabre approached Ames from the direction of the Galileo Jump Hole. Eliza didn't care much about displaying might and grandeur as she didn't like to pose as someone in power. Her time with Loyola had taught her that sometimes it is much better to simply steer things in the correct direction from the shadows than to pretend to be the one in charge. Though this meeting didn't strike her as one that needed nudging into the right path, Valdez was here to simply observe and to likely catch up to whatever internal politics of Malta that she had missed. Usually she would attend with some company, likely the old and venerable, but still quite capable, Arturo "Muerte" Sforza. Alas the last time she had talked to him he expressed that he was getting too tired for these things. The man was way past the age of hundred and in all honesty Eliza couldn't blame him for this decision. Ames was much less hospitable to Outcasts than their home planet and last time that they attended a grand meeting similar to this it resulted into two cells of the Golden Chrysanthemums deciding to start a violent conflict in the middle of a strange Kusari festival.
Upon approaching the warships in the research station's vicinity, Eliza issued a local range comm hail. It never hurt to be polite, especially when there were plenty of big guns and equally plenty of people on edge. Ames wasn't the perfect place for a meeting such as this, but perhaps it was the most convenient for all parties involved and also the most neutral. The Zoners would have likely complained if they weren't paid quite handsomely to keep their mouths shut and to be good and gracious hosts to this rather colorful delegation. "Acknowledged, proceed to dock 2." the Ames dock control messaged her on direct channels as the pair of hangar doors began to slowly open and depressurize the outer dock. From there on it was as simple as to let the onboard computer's electronics to handle the docking sequence and gently lay the fighter to rest in the inside of the hangar.
Eliza's choice of attire was her black flight suit. This wasn't a celebration or a victory parade and she didn't expect to do a public speech to warrant looking in any way more distinct than the rest of the security detail from all of the various factions that were present. Though if one would bother to inspect her they would easily enough read the small patch on her shoulder, right under the orange Maltese cross - Legionario Eliza Valdez. Arriving at the landing bay she quickly came to realize that the Outcasts outnumbered the other guests in this meeting. It was likely to be a much bigger insight into Maltese internal politics than to what their allies in the Rogues, Hackers and Chrysanthemums think about the current state of affairs of the Orange Alliance. And that suited her just fine. The hope that the Chrysanthemums don't mess it up prematurely was also there, but the fact that one of the Hispania delegates was already trying to ease the situation was somewhat reassuring and both concerning.
Julio was checking the temperature of the room. He had not seen such a gathering since the preparation of the operation Orange Hammer. As impressed and ecstatic as he was, he kept a straight face. He saw the Maltese allies enter one by one.
The Rogues seemed rather intrigued by what was going to be said, whereas it seemed that the Golden Chrysanthemums were eager to kill each other.
He leaned his back on the wall, and put his hands in his suit's pockets, assessing the situation: which one was going to fire first? Apparently none, since Alexandra approached them. He was too far away to hear what was said, but he could easily guess. After all, he had spent enough time by the side of the Marshal of the Husares to know that she would not let this meeting go south for some local quarrels. He smiled at the thought of Amelia going mental if anything happenned.
The tension was obvious, but the interests were shared. What was going to be said would influence the whole organisation, whether it was Maltese or Sirius-wide.
He checked his holster: the safety was off. Good. You always need to be ahead if things go wrong.
He put his right hand in his hair, and while taking the direction to his room, started whistling. At an intersection he stopped.
"The meeting is not going to start right away. While our friends are settling down, let's chill for a bit."
He took the direction of the docking bay, and jumped in his Sabre. He went to check if everything was all good around Ames Station. Nothing had to prevent this reunion of the Orange Alliance from going great, and he'll personally seek to it.
He sent a communication to Alexandra: "The area is clear, and everything will be under control if need be. The ships are where they should be and nothing will interrupt us, jefa!"
While she did not come here to resolve or advance some petty squabbles with anyone present here, her bodyguard mimicked a hand signal. Issued in their own specific battle sign language, Hitomi was notified of the altercation in advance. In fact, she could hear and see them staring right at her. Sighing with a disappointment, she waved her party to carry on as they were. Even as two Kusarian parties kept respectful distance from one another, Hitomi was concerned that the tension could still be sensed even by their charitable host. Seeing Marshall Alexandra talk with each of them in turn, she had opted to speak her mind open once a reasonable separation was acquired and privacy could be ensured between Maltese and Sisterhood of Light only.
“Name’s Hitomi Suzuki, an Advisor to the Sisterhood. I am glad to make your acquaintance.'' She extended her hand to shake it with Maltese counterpart. Her manners were a far cry from traditional protocol of Kusari etiquette. She did not purposely ignored the programming in rebellion, she was already born out of the system. “I understand your concerns very well, Miss Alexandra. However the sad truth is, I would personally prefer and recommend disarming each and every party once the conference begins... by force if you have to. Light arms, blades, everything. Both Gen’an, my own Sisterhood and Liberty Rogues have near-obsession with weaponry of any sort. Everyone who is not a spokesperson for their faction should be dispersed into separate sectors to maintain distance between each party and be seconded under command of one of your own men - There are still Xenos to consider.”
Almost as if for comedic punctuation for her commentary on their precarious position on Ames from both tensions inside and outside, both of them could see a bunch of Liberty men in rugged overalls pass not too far from the cordon reserved for invitees of Alexandra Amelia. The looks and whispered backtalk just beyond their reach were a clear signal - Xeno sympathizers if not Xenos militants themselves. Besides this little incident and chat with their host, the Sisterhood of Light ignored everyone else and went straight to the accommodations prepared for them. An intuition told her to not trust the bartender and the local foul liquor. At best it brought unpleasant memories of the Liberty underworld, at worst it had more than just alcohol in it.
Hemlocke watched the arrivals, holstering his revolver, walking towards Amelia after the announcement, keeping his crimson eye directly on her as he approached. Lady Ashwood followed behind, motioning for the 4 brutes to move the cargo container over to Amelia.
"So you are Alexandra Amelia, you seem less mindlessly bloodthirsty than I, fitting for a ruler of Malta. Means I have less mentally deficient outcast raiders on my ass every tuesday. Jokes aside, I decided to give you a gift, goods pirated directly bound for Los Angeles, as you know it's the luxury capital of Liberty, so their quality is without question. Furs, probably illegal somewhere, wine from vintage Erie orchards and from Gallia. Gold we caught from inbound BMM transports, and an assortment of other items, I didn't keep track of the whole list, naturally."
The rogue fell silent for a moment, before motioning to the revolver on his hip and the four brutes that moved the container. Ashwood remaining silent on his left flank.
"Up until golden glory over here suggested we disarm ourselves, only I and Ashwood would've entered the meeting armed. Now I'm more concerned I should've brought heavier assets. I'm not one to disrespect the host, but I do believe a woman of your intelligence understands that it would destabilize the peace of the talks should you forcibly confiscate weaponry from every individual present. It'll feel less like a discussion and more like an interrogation."
"Miss Amelia, I thank you for the invitation and I hope the meeting will be fruitful for all of us. I understand if you can feel tensions. Do not worry. The weapons are here for our own protection. We had some incident in the past that made us be more on guard. 2 years ago we hosted a festival on Morioka and a group known as the Sisterhood of Light decided to draw weapons against me during the festivities. In their eyes we are too 'radical' for having Malta's interests at heart. They even ordered for the execution of our transport captain for bringing fresh labor forces to Planet Malta. Both the Rogues and the Legion Maltesa can confirm their hostile action against us during the festival. Miss Valdez who seemed to have arrived here just yet was one of our honored guests. So yes, there are tensions, for good reasons. Do you blame us?"
She padded the weapon holstered on her hip
"We have proven to be friends of Malta time and time again, and I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I will never be caught unarmed in the same room with traitors ever again."
The Ortega brothers would be accompanying the Hispania Imperial entourage. Garcia seems to take exception to the various smells and weapons on display by the Rogues who've stepped forward, not being close enough to hear the full conversation, although knew better than to make too big a scene of it. Instead he would reveal his own firearm holstered by his side. To those more intimate with such weapons it seems to be a high-end Detroit Munitions pistol.
"Careful with those sidearms hombre..." Garcia expressed with a slight irked smile.
Carlos would be standing off to one side of Amelia. With his hands comfortably clasped in front of him as his brother would seem to size up the Rogues. He decides to make a few calculated and graceful strides over to Ameila to offer a suggestion.
"Perhaps we should allow these people to keep ahold of their weapons. It is within our interests that they feel safe at this meeting." Carlos would then pause for a brief moment. "I doubt there is reason to fear any harm will come to us."
Carlos quickly surveys those gathered, although he seemed diplomatic at first his gaze betrayed his demeanor. A sense of disgust begins to crack through his veil as he began to eye up those who have approached.