Lucendez offered him the drink.
Whiskey was not his choice of beveridge, however he nodded im consent and took the glass offered him. Turning the drink in his hand he took a small sip and watched silently as the various council members filtered in.
The make up was somewhat different to the last time he had been here, he was sure that would be discussed in time, he was equally sure that he would be thought of as no less a thorn in their collective sides after that discussion.
But all in good time.
He flipped on his data pad in front of him and began perusing the latest intel coming in from the various Corsair units from all over their space, mingled within were a few of his own, from sources unknown to anyone else assembled. Much that shouldn't have been had been stalled since this body had last met..
Juan walked slowly into the chambers, trying not to attract attention. The buzzing of chitchat in the background was enough to let Juan slip by without being noticed as more than a fly from within, though obviously the guards outside knew he had arrived.
He sat at the closest seat to the door and observed the new arrivals to the chambers. Representatives of the Omega Pirates Guild filled the room as well as the Brotherhood's own. Of note was an angry-looking woman sitting on the other side of the chambers, obviously quite annoyed that she had to be here.
Many thoughts flooded into his head at that point, such as;
Why is a woman in the council chambers?!
Is she an Elder?
This is unprescedented!
Why is she so annoyed...??
From the stress of the last few weeks, it was good to be able to think about something other than the Benitez crisis. Still, this made Juan uncomfortable. Though it seems, it was his generation that was breaking all the records within Corsair society... so why not one more?
The hybrid alloy feet and legs of the old pirate clomped down the hallway. Gentle clamped his hand over the mouth of the guard. "SSSHHHHHHH dont even attempt to remove my weapons amigo or ill remove your head" Gentle barged his way into the hall. "AMEEEEEEEEGOS HOLA hey Asno you dirty rat infested cheese block dont you dare drink all that whisky to yourself." Gentle seated himself next to the angry woman and grinned ferociously at her. "Hola senorita Heartbreak. Welcome to the council..... hahaha chill out and drink this i want you here for your opinion not your body"
Gentle relaxed into the chair and sipped deeply from the drink offered by Asno.
As the assembled sat around the room gathering their various drinks and data pads Laowai stood.
"My fellow Corsairs" he said "Events have transpired recently that i believe require a firm and resolute course of action"
The other Elders in the room now gave him their attention and he continued. "Last week, you will recall there was a raid on Omicron gamma by elements of the Outcasts 101st and SOB groups". Murmurs of acknowledgment circled the room and several Elders nodded quietly. "You will recall also, that we had intelligence from various sources that a Nomad vessel accompanied the Outcast forces; and while we could not verify that it took part in the fighting, it was nevertheless here, and it wasn't shooting at them".
Gesturing to Gentle Laowai went on; "This evening, several Nomad vessels were lingering in Omicron Delta, midway between our base at Yaren and the Freeport - they seemed to be observing, however, one of our pilots, the captain of the... " he looked down at the data pad before him....."Independencia", i believe, reported that the Nomads had communicated with him - their manner of communication is, as some of you may already know, abstract and disjointed by our standards, but he was able to glean several things - the image most relevant to our discussion here this evening is that their communication alluded to Outcasts"
Several people mumbled, a few whispers cirlced the room, however Laowai had their attention. "I called in reinforcements, Gentle was already enroute with the Torquemada and seeing our forces so massed the Nomads withdrew, however, We led a foray into their space, with the purpose of delivering them a message and a stark, unmistakable display of our resolve - we were bloodied, but they saw no fear in our eyes, they know, that to come to us, will bring them only death".
There were a few chuckles and nods of agreement; He waited till they subsided then went on "However, one of the Blueskins communicated with us, while attempting to shift the weight of their collusion onto the outcasts, it nevertheless confirmed our suspicions: The Outcasts are now in collusion with the Nomads."
"There can be no mistake my friends, They have sold out the Human race. They have no honour, no pride, no dignity - these things we have always known, and now? in a last final display of their wretchedness and their treachery, they ally themselves with the blueskins."
"This demands a firm response from us, for if it falls on our shoulders, to be the ones on the front line of our race, then we must do so with no looking back. The Zoners will do nothing without hard proof of Outcast collusion, which we will provide them - i urge all of you to call in your contacts - keep your ears to the ground. We must expand our intelligence networks now more than ever.....
Our Military response should be firm and aggressive, there should be no mercy for those with no loyalty to their own flesh and blood"
The room was quiet and Ben leaned over the broad table " Our response to this, requires all of our wits, our skills... ... however.." and he nodded to Gentle, "This is now a time for blood, let treachery be answered as it should be, with the head of every captured outcast pilot nailed to the front of a corsair vessel, so that they and their Nomad masters know, WE ARE CORSAIRS!"
He slammed his hand down and there were nods and calls of approval, sitting himself down he handed the floor over to the next speaker.
Silence engulfed the room. Juan was taken aback slightly by the display of Old Ben.
Juan took a slab of meat and attempted to slap in on his heavily damaged artificial eye, but the wet steak only aggravated the delicate equipment and more sparks flew from his right socket. Abandoning the steak and cursing his stupid move, Juan got lost in thought.
Again, silence fill the room until Juan broke it gently, saying...
"If it's a military response you want, Yaren is well supplied, as you know. My own recently acquired gunboat, Santo de la Muertre is currently in suspended animation surrounded by one of the dusty nebulas in that system. Upon entering the system, I can have her up to full combat readiness within the hour.
Intellegence-wise, I highly doubt the Nomads would want some of their fighters controlled by humans. If this is truly what you say it is, then the Nomads have actively taken sides in the war."
Lucendez paused, frowning.
"If you gentlemen ... and lady (bowing to Ms. Heartbreak) would excuse me, I must send a transmission at once."
Juan got up and walked over to the terminal.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
As Juan moved to one of the consoles at the far end of the wall, Laowai, from his seat interjected;
"Indeed, a strengthening of our defences in Omicron Delta is a necessary first step - an increase in patrol activity and the positioning of a response wing on standby should be enacted as soon as we are able"
He leaned forward and went on "but i am not just advocating a military response to this, indeed, i believe we need a holistic response...."
"Indeed it is doubtful that the Outcasts will excersize any form of control over the Nomad forces we might encounter, Cardamine or no, the filth are still vageuly Human and as such a true "alliance", as we know it.. may not be whats happening.
However, if they are cooperating, then who exerts control is irrelevant, we need to view them as a whole, from a tactical and strategic perspective"
"What is this holistic response? As i said, we step up our intelligence efforts, but we need to mobilise all our assets in this task"
Ben flipped a switch on front of him and a holographic three dimensional map of Sirius appeared in the middle of the chamber.
"As such.... we insist that the Order step up their intelligence and military options here, in the omicrons, and here in Liberty, Moving along, we hit the Outcasts where it will hurt; their cardamine trade - its high time our overtures to the Colonial remnant become more aggressive - they need to choke this trade where its at its most vulnerable; in their space between Tau 37 and Liberty....... As an addendum to this, we know that the Order Black Squadron has recently concluded a deal of sorts with the Xenos in Liberty, i would suggest gentlemen, that the order should make moves to coordinate interception of Cardamine shipments in Liberty space - The Xenos are poor, they will take any form of aid we choose to channel to them."
The map rotated and centered on Brettonia; "We give them no room to move, We instruct the Gaians to move aggressively into the Tau's, and if they cant, or wont - then we extend the operational range of our forces from their bases and we do it ourselves, the Gaians cannot and will not refuse, for they are dependent on our aid."
The map moved again, now centering on what was known as outcast space, and some of the more disputed zones - "we take a much more aggressive stance in these areas - With Nomad aid, the Outcasts now have us in a Pincer, They come through Eta, Nomads in Delta, and Hessians here - " He pointed at the lower reaches of Rhienland and Omega 41.
"This is completly unacceptable, we need to think out of the box my friends, this is not just a military threat to us, it is a threat to the Human race as a species - we all know that the Outcasts will be nothing more than pawns in some kind of alien scheme.... I would suggest we foster contacts here..."
He pointed at Rhienland
"and here"
his pointer now moved over Liberty
"and here"
The small indicator dot now sat in Kusari.
Murmurs filled the room, a few of those assembled creased their brows but Laowai continued unflinching - The map moved over to Omicron Delta and the regions now known as Nomad space.
"furthermore, While Juan's proposal of bolstering our defences in Delta is prudent, i suggest we take this further - so i am proposing we organise and train a force of select pilots and captains, who will make these systems..." he pointed at Nomad space - "their forward area of operations"
He waited for the effect to settle then said firmly "WE DO NOT LET THEM REST "
"We have been complacent now for too long - far too caught up in our own petty squabbles and politics, whilst our enemies have aligned themselves with the greatest threat to the existence of our race - this cannot stand - It's time for ALL...." he let the words linger, noting the conspicuous absence of some Corsairs from the chamber... ".....Corsairs to mobilize behind the banner of our people and draw a line in the sand...."
Gentle boiled. His anger spilled out like a flowing lava from the depths of his remaining humanity. His hands crushes the ancient table and chunks of the table came away as he stood. Fury beamed out of his eyes and he surveyed the assembled Elders. Real men. Corsairs. Pirates. Honourable or not. Human.
"So its out at last. The final treachery of the outcasts is to betray the human cause and abandon what remains of their dwindled humanity. I SWEAR NOW NO ROCK WILL REMAIN UNTURNED." Gentles voice boomed around the chamber and a couple of Elders jumped at the outburst coming from the so far silent Elder.
"You are right Laowai. Corsairs are not enough. Order are not enough. When I was in exile for a brief time I had dealings with the xenos. I trust no one in liberty to be free of the Nomad infestation. Except those. Their fear of anything harmful to humanity is so great that I cannot believe any of them would not wish to assist us. Liberty feels the plague of both the outcasts and the Nomads and deep at its core is the evil and corrupted core of liberty forces and navy. I will make it my business to speak to them and advise them of the plight against liberty and all of humanity. We need to earn their trust. I tell you now amigos this will not be easy and even finding them may be an achievement. I suggest each of the corsair elders makes contact with Human pirate forces that we can believe are untouched by the Nomad infestation and free of the influence of the outcasts."
Gentle surveyed the shocked faces of the Elders before him. A proposal to even talk to other pirates of Sirius was a serious matter and he wondered how his hermano's would take it. Desperate times called for extreme measures.
Gentle sat down. "I'm sorry about the table amigos." Gentle tried a smile and lost it. Worry for the whole of mankind was not usually a concern for the ruthless pirate who was happy to prune a few of the less useful humans who sought to disrupt his life. Protecting them now seemed strange and wonderful. Bitter and sweet. Hypocrisy and determination.
An aide walked into the chamber looking flustered.
"My lords I apologise for this interruption but we have a signal breaching all of our protocols and firewalls, whatever this is it's sourced from Liberty. We suspect Lane Hacker technologies to be the root of the problem. Request permission to lock down the system and re-boot. We'll not eb able to communicate outside of this building for five..."
At that moment the chambers emergency lighting came on. A sterile computerized voice came over the speakers.
"WARNING! Firewalls have been breached, incoming communication: Source; Sylpheed, Crime Boss of the Liberty Rogues. This signal is attached to technology sourced from allies of the Outcasts, isolating it from the main system. Do you wish to see the transmission?"
It was unclear which of the Elders pressed yes, but it was clear one of them did.
The centre of the room lit-up with a holographic projection of a man standing in the center of a projection room smoking a cigar. The man looked to be in his mid 50's, hair greying at the temples, well built and tall. He exuded a charisma even through this simple projection.
"Sorry about the drama folks, but your system wouldn't let me send a message the traditional way. Seems it has an issue with them Outcasts. So I borrowed something from our friends on Mactan, I say borrowed if that prid Moriarty ever finds out it'll turn nasty quite quickly, but that's neither here nor there considering what I want to say.
"Let's say I'm a little tired of the nothing me and my boys get from the Outcasts, and I'm looking to open up other avenues of business. After all we're pirates and all that jazz. Now it seems to me that you boys and gals are hurting a bit in Liberty what with it being such a bastion of the Outcasts, but what if I said I had a proposition that could even out the balance. Give you hispanics a bit of a foothold there. Now I ain't talking full alliance, just a little something that could give you a slice of the Liberty pie."
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
Miguel walked into the Chambers through the hidden passage in the security office. Quietly he walked up to the table, not surprisingly, the only one who noticed his approach was his old friend Gentle, who gave Miguel a silent nod. The newest Elder of the Council had made his entrance in the most fitting way he could think of... silently. Sephardi approached the council table and cleared his throat. "Senor, just so we all have our cards on the table..." Sephardi tapped the console on the table, and looked down at it for a moment. "You are standing on San Quentin Base in the Cassini system.. I have the coordinates if you care to hear them?" Sephardi then took a step away from the table, and walked toward the bar on the side of the room, he continued to talk as he walked slowly. "I love that Lane Hacker tech you got, but it is nothing compared to our Order tech, but that is neither here nor there, nor is it relevant to the situation at hand.. Sylpheed, I tell that we know where you are as a reminder to you, that we are an honorable people, well maybe with the exception of Gentle here, but we do not forgive, nor do we forget betrayal. If we make a deal, and you fail to live up to it, I can guarantee you, you will fail to live.. period."
Miguel reached the bar and picked up two glasses and a bottle of brown liqueur. Pouring the two glasses full of the liquid, he walked back to the table, handing one of the glasses to Gentle as he passed. " Senor, that being said, your communication comes at a most appropriate time, as there is an urgent threat to all of humanity that we should discuss, but that will come later, Senor, you have peaked my curiosity... please what is it you have in mind?" Miguel reached his seat and sat down, flopping his leg over the high arm of the Council chamber chair, waiting for a response.
Gentle drank the whisky and laughed his hearty booming laugh. "Welcome here rogue. I see you finally managed to get in touch with us all. HAHAHA! Amigos I have taken it upon myself to request this audience with this most auspicious amigo. I have spoken with him once already on private channels and am inclined to trust him. he is my kind of pirate. Ruthless and fearless and just what we need to get our foothold in liberty."
The warmth of the whisky passed into Gentles core.
"I salute you senor and hope this is a start of a fruitful friendship"
Gentle stood.
"I am dispatching my diplomatic vehicle amigos. Don't laugh I do bloody own one. I will send comms on secure channels. I would like to continue to broker this deal with the rogues and Id prefer to do this in person. I will keep secured Open comms running via the OTC ships that have been stationed as relay units."
The pirate grabbed a swig of Whisky. Then on second thoughts took the bottle. "You have an appointment with our new amigo at cassini my little lovely".
The old pirate left the chambers with a couple of jaws open and eyebrows raised.
"Alexa will you close your mouth when your gawping....."
![[Image: Del1.png]](http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/Spiderjerusalem1979/Del1.png)
![[Image: 13121_s.gif]](http://signavatar.com/13121_s.gif)