28th of November, 829 AS, Lewes Shipping Platform, Tau Border Worlds
The day was coming to a close. Far in the distance, patrols set off once more towards Leeds to continue their noble duty. From the very same region came convoys, bristling with supplies, be they food stuffs or military-grade armaments and materials. Though it was relatively quiet, the people on-board have gotten all too familiar with this environment.
However, this day brought with it not only the frequent visit of military convoys, but also a guest from the Ministry of Defence itself. Dressed in the elegant, but nonetheless very much functional military suit of the Armed Forces, Mr. Vernon Mortimer, flanked by several other representatives of other departments, had finally arrived on the shipping installations.
Although the visit was an important milestone for Bretonia in relations with groups based in Kusari, neither the Kingdom nor their guests prepared the station much, intending to, at the very least, keep a lower profile. With it came security issues, but, different to other meetings just as much, the Armed Forces displaced only a token contingent to maintain a defensive posture around the station. In the same manner, the hosts were expecting only a small amount of fighters to be sent by the group they had invited, at that, one which also highly respected the desire to not attract much attention from either present organizations.
Once Vernon had set foot on the station, he wasted little time and departed off to a portion of the station that had been leased for this meeting; his staff following close behind. Once they arrived, intense discussions began about possible deals to be signed with their counterparts, and, after, awaited their arrival. There was to be little sleep to catch that "night".
In line with the potential security concerns and explicitly expressed wish for utmost discretion by themselves, the small Hogosha detachment arrived at Lewes in unmarked civilian vessels - secretly provided to them by a Samura contact.
Majima, Oyabun of a sizable yet undeniably unorthodox family and wannabe politician, had little hopes of any success for this meeting. If it had not been for pressure from within the Alliance and a distinct third-party, he would have agreed to the meeting but would have never actually showed up as way of mocking the Bretonians. In reality and best left unspoken during this meeting, Majima considers Bretonian territory as hunting grounds for new family members to prove themselves and sees little value in hearing them out.. so far.
Upon disembarking, Majima alongside Yamaguchi Hisashi - the infamous Dragon of Nikkyo, a notorious and high-profile assassin within the Alliance - made haste towards the portion of the station they were told about. If anything, he hated the possibility of wasting more time than needed.
They arrived within minutes, being permitted past the small contingent of guards in the hallway without many questions, and finally they opened the door to the meeting room...
With the Hogosha representatives arriving, Mortimer ordered most of his staff to leave the office, further increasing the confidentiality of the meeting. Only two other members of the Ministry of Defence, alongside a representative from the Armed Forces, and the ever-present guards remained. As Majima was being welcomed in, Vernon moved to welcome him, although it did not take much thought to understand that neither side was fond of each other, instead desiring to profit off of the work of their counterpart.
In addition, Vernon was very much a different man from years prior. What had once been a person keen on peace and very strict government control now turned into a mere puppet of the Armed Forces, used by the hardliners present there to represent their interests in the higher echelons of the government. Though nominally acting under orders from the Crown itself, the military was adamant to ensure that the meeting would go smoothly and end in a similar note. Whilst he did not wish to further plunge Bretonia into Kusari's expanding influence, the little choices available also caused great concern, and more importantly, fear. Fear that, one day, they might be replaced by someone who does the job better and far more efficiently. This pushed the already-weak personality to go to depth priorly unforeseen and prepare to offer much more lenient terms for the sake of a guarantee that the negotiations would not be in vain.
"We welcome you and your esteemed colleagues to Lewes, Mr. Majima, and Mr. Hisashi." begun the Defence Secretary. Several seconds after, and reinvigorated with a wide smile on his face, he continued: "We have been awaiting your arrival, with many hopes of establishing peace between the groups we represent and with it, further continue on a path of collaboration."
Though the Crown's finest present diplomats were indeed expecting to formalize a loose alliance with the Hogosha, Vernon, being more experienced in such meetings, decided to initialize the talks in a calmer, and much more laid-back manner. Of interest was, in general, the Hogosha itself just as much, owning at large to the fact that Bretonia had maintained hostile relations with the group since the outbreak of war with Kusari, almost two decades prior.
Thus, after exchanging greetings, he looked back at Majima and asked: "How did the trip here fared? We have been keeping a close eye on the nearby trade lanes, but the unusual Maquis or Outcast may well still slip through."
Now, the ball was in the Hogosha's court, with Vernon well-aware of their prowess in diplomacy, be it done directly or through unconventional ways.
Majima represented the complete opposite of Mortimer's former self, understanding himself as a man of actions, not diplomacy. While disobeying any strict guidelines, he threw his hat into the political arena and fared surprisingly well, having caught the attention of both radical poles within Kusari's society in the last elections. Beyond this, however, success was limited. His party was ruled out of playing a crucial role in current days politics and the influence of his family in the Sigmas faded due to the Nikkyo's interference and attempts to keep all factions of the Alliance in balance. He was determined to grasp all he could and carve his path and memorial into Sirian history, if need be by blood.
The man standing in front of the Bretonian delegation remained hard to read, while he returned their friendly greeting in a respectful way, his expression left much to guess about. Only when he reacted to Mortimer's first question, it became clear that he was disinterested in lengthy small talk. "The trip went as expected. Calm, with the exception of two Outcasts who perished. I suspect using trade lanes would have made this a much rougher trip."
He made a brief pause, eyeing his bodyguard. Hisashi remained quiet, as usual. Next to him, Majima appeared like the most talk active person on Kyushu. "So you want to talk. Then talk but stop hiding behind fancy words."
