The mention of refugees seemed to peak a sort of interest in Ward. "If the Insurgency took in these refugees but can't see to their needs or their way off-planet, the Republic may be interested in adopting these people. The Insurgency's deteriorating relationship with the Technocracy is reassuring, though may make any relocation of these refugees difficult.."
Ward thought for a moment, then continued. "Crayter is, of course, interested in seeing this divide crossed; I apologize if I haven't made that fact clear enough. Crayter is very interested in ensuring that any refugees are given an opportunity to restart their lives after the war, and I don't think you would have brought them up without reason. Do you know how many the Insurgency has on Planet Veracruz?"
"If I had to guess, anywhere between fifty to seventy five thousand. A significant portion of our populace. It's stretched our resources to the limit, trying to provide for all of them, and supply convoys cannot keep up with the demand. We can provide them safe transit out of our space, but we cannot provide them with much more."
She looked over the two, it was the honest truth. Despite wanting to provide them a home and hopefully bolster their recruitable population, they just didn't have the resources to care for so many people.
"Gallia can provide some space on Planet Quillan for your migrants and Gallic residentship. Their movement, however, will be difficult but I believe the Unione Corse would not mind to provide assistance on this blockade run matter." added Antonin, carefully listening to both delegations and making his mind.
"Being Bretonian refugees, many of them may be opposed to being brought to Gallia, even if the environment has changed considerably. I know many of our own refugees on Yuma are still reeling from the Glassing, even after so long."
Ward looked to both as she spoke, knowing full well both the value of refugees and the opinion for providing for such a large amount. "Perhaps using Coronado as a transfer point would be prudent; Barrier Gate station is a neutral location the Republic can watch over, and any that don't wish to make the trek to Gallia will be welcome to settle on Yuma. The Republic can provide experienced blockade runners as well; Ares Logistics provided supplies to the resistance on Leeds for a good portion of the war. However, this can only happen if there is peace."
Simmons seemed to tap a bit on her datapad, while Ward sat up, eyeing Linford. "Admiral, formally, if the Insurgency is willing to keep past events behind them, as you've made clear, I see no reason why Crayter cannot do the same. A state of non-violence will be reinforced between us of which I hope will continue indefinitely."
Simmons tapped her datapad a few more times, and Ward continued. "Furthermore, if the Insurgency is willing to extend protection to any refugee runners within Vespucci, we will be willing to do the same within Coronado."
"We can do our best to ensure that refugees are safely transported from our space into neutral areas, and provide protection for any Crayterian and Gallic refugee transports within areas of our control. Our priority is to ensure they can make the journey unscathed.
She turned to face the Crayterian minister.
"I can assure you, past events are in the past. I, alongside the rest of my officers, look forward to there being peace between us, not only to end the fighting but in hopes of being able to finally open a permanent corridor to purchase our much needed supplies, like medicine. I myself find it hard to come by pain medication to help deal with the.. admitted less than professional spine surgery I had to have performed."
She admittedly used the last of her pain meds to endure the peace conference here without noticeable signs of weakness, when the truth was she was in desperate need of proper medical procedures.
"I feel it prudent to ask, given our situation and status within Liberty, it goes without saying we have a number of casualties who do not receive proper medical aid. What would the Republic, or Union, need in exchange for safe evacuation of heavily injured veterans? These are men and women who are no longer capable of fighting, and struggling to receive even basic healthcare."
"Their agree to join the ranks of the Gallic military." sounded such an impertinent and insolent condition from Lusignan. "We will cure what our medicine is capable of curing. We will replace lost or severely damaged limbs and organs with Gallic augmentations - better and more durable than their Sirius counterpart, please note. In return, we wish to see these soldiers in the service of our armed forces."
"They will be able to go to your aid in the fight against Liberty Navy and their masters from the Congress, and will not act as soldiers of the Union but of the Insurgency. I hope you understand and agree to such terms regarding curing your soldiers of their injuries. If so, we will bear the costs, since legally they will be considered Union soldiers."
"Crayter would only need their documentation, as they would be considered refugees under the law. As with all of our Bretonian refugees, they would be allowed to transfer into the Crayter Military for those with prior military service, where they could find non-combat or instructional roles to fill, or they could file for immigrant status and be welcomed into Yuma's booming workforce. I can't speak for recovery of any lost or disabled body parts, as Yuma Robotics has only just started investing into bionics research, but Crayter does offer universal healthcare to all citizens and active government employees. It doesn't put them back into the fight, but for those that have done their share we can offer a sort of relaxed life that still offers a way to support the fight passively."
Ward sat back again as she finished, letting Simmons catch up on her recording.
"I'll see about who to send where and figure out the logistics of doing so. It may take some time, but we'll reach out as necessary as to how many casualties which to go where. I can say for sure that a smaller portion of these casualties will never be able to fight again. Their injuries are just too severe and have gone without proper treatment for too long. In the meantime though, we'll take a count and get the numbers to each respective representative."
She took some time to clear her throat, thinking up anything else that came to mind, but couldn't find any pressing issues.
"Is there anything of importance either of you wish to bring to our attention?"
"I don't see anything we could discuss further as the most important matters were already discussed, unless you want to have a talk about preventing Liberty's stepping down to Taus, using their puppet house of Bretonia." Said Lusignan, looking at Insurgency delegation. "If so, then be my guest."
Linford looked to her aid who shook her head. There wasn't anything left that the Insurgency felt needed to be addressed in this meeting.
"Under current circumstances we don't have the means to intervene beyond the borders, but that would be a topic for the future. Is there anything else the Crayterian delegation would need settled before this meeting ends?"
