Eavesdroppers, Part III Steel bends before it breaks
Hours after Administrator Tomoe's address echoed across the deckplates of Bethlehem, the fire of ideological change dims - but does not die. In the forgotten corners of the station, the radicals gather once more. Not in anger. In calculation.
In a sealed maintenance bulkhead turned makeshift bunker, a group of hardened Zoners meets in quiet resolve. This time, they are not empty-handed.
Earlier, a crate was delivered sealed beneath Subdeck 12 - military-grade gear, unregistered, marked only with a message: “The Paper Pusher of Freeport 10.” No trail. No logs. Just hardware. Hours later, sympathizer Raguel slips off the station in a gunboat, with his ship's internal cargo manifest suffering a last minute change.
The radicals are no longer just angry at the current administration. They’re armed better than most militaries.
Administrator Tomoe receives a secured video call - local routing, masked ID. The image resolves into five seated figures flanked by crates and silent rifles. At the front sits Rell, Ryzek's captain.
He speaks calmly, but with weight behind each syllable.
“
You made your case, Administrator. Some of us respect it. But you’ve asked us to trust you while we stand unarmed in the dark. That’s no longer the case.
”
He leans forward, as if staring down Tomoe from across the communications link.
“
These are our terms for peace aboard Bethlehem. Not forever - just for now.
”
With a clear voice, he lists:
Administrator Tomoe, and the other members of the immediate administration, will cease all and any attempts to contact the Liberty Government, directly or by proxies.
Administrator Tomoe will initiate diplomatic and commercial dialogue with at least one of the following factions: Bristol, Liberty Junkers, The Xenos or The Technocracy.
Administrator Tomoe will publicly denounce Liberty war crimes and atrocities through a system-wide broadcast.
An observer, appointed by us, will have veto power across Tomoe's diplomatic actions, given our interest.
Rell places a hand atop a sealed weapons crate.
“
I hope I've made myself crystal clear, Tomoe.
”
The transmission cuts off.
The militants threaten an escalation of violence if their demands are not met.
Meeting the militants' demands will make Tomoe be tolerated by the militants and end all protests.
*Tomoe is visibly not currently onboard Bethlehem station, the stars moving behind her make that clear. The fruit trees and grass all around her, and the lattice of the greenhouse dome, give scale to the enormity of the vessel she must be on*
Well, believe it or not we agree more than we disagree.
But we do disagree on some things.
For your first demand, cutting attempts at diplomacy with liberty:
No.
There are too many civilians on Bethlehem, and the best weapon in my arsenal to keep them safe is to try to communicate and let Liberty ignore me.
It makes them feel safer, and keeps the people on Bethlehem safer.
Doing whatever might help to keep our civilians out of harms way has to come first.
And in the unlikely event they respond, don't worry I know far better than to trust them.
David Hale may not be in command of their Navy anymore, but it is still his best of vipers.
Furthermore, to preface your next point, diplomatic talks with outside parties will be made much easier if we can show a good faith effort had been made repeatedly for some time.
Now, onto your second point:
And good news, this one was already in progress.
I have allready started putting feelers out getting to know Bristol, I have just been going slow because I do not trust corporations.
However, I also suspect they see a Zoner Pennsylvania as a more permissive environment to do business, which is not inaccurate, especially if they are our friends, and indeed Bristol has helped in the past with many of Bethlehems upgrades from before I returned.
I intend to continue this contact and expand upon it, and while their influence may be limited compared to that of a house corporation, the fact that they operate on the borders of multiple houses means if we can get them to start talking, Liberty could start facing pressure from other houses eager for an excuse to give them grief.
Fear of such backlash is a big part of what has kept Bethlehem safe so far.
I do not currently have comms with junkers in Liberty, nor am I current in their politics, is the junkers Congress still a thing even ?
Either way, if you can put me in contact with them it would be appreciated.
Just do it quietly, we want Liberty to have as little forewarning as possible we are gathering allies...
I do not know of the technocracy except that it exists, they were not a thing when I left on my last survey mission, and what little I have heard has been at best mixed.
Better to hold on this one until more can be learned, that said if you allready have friends amongst their number who can provide you aid don't let me dissuade you.
And as for the Xenos, they have actually reached out to me recently, and I was weighing how to respond, so I am glad you contacted me.
Since your forces seem to be more suited to handle the military side of things currently, it might be better if you were to contact them instead of Bethlehem.
Plus this way of LSF did notice the cooperation, it would give Bethlehem plausible deniability, which gives Liberty less reason to go after making Bethlehem a scapegoat.
At the very least, see if they'll grant you docking rights
I would also suggest you try reaching out to Phoenix in a friendly manner on occasion and see if you can recruit any of their pilots or personnel, and stay friendly even if they say no, eventually your bound to get some of them to come help .
Now your third point;
I'm not going to publicly antagonize Liberty.
I want to.... ohhhhh do I want to.
But if I do that, I paint a target on Bethlehem station.
No, I shall hold off doing that.
Instead, I shall continue to plan ways to evacuate the stations population and get it to safety if the worst happens.
As for your fourth point:
No.
I am more than happy to collaborate with you on ideas to free Erie, but I will not cave in to threats.
Look up the old Zoner Alliance and ZDF archives for how well that worked out for the Bretonian Armed Forces in Omega 3 back in 818 *Tomoe whispers* 'It didn't '
Now if you wish to station a go-between on board, that would be best, because even if we dislike one another we still want the same thing.
LPI has just recently started harassing random vessels leaving Bethlehem since we last spoke.
This may be a good time to thin the herd, just avoid Bethlehem during whatever you do about this, it's not that we don't support you, but Bethlehem needs plausible deniability.
It also needs a plan to evacuate the population should an attack occur, but that is also being worked on.
Now, logistics, I can always task one of my ships to make a bulk shipment to that hidden base you have in the rocks, my exploration flotilla does include multiple logistics vessels after all if you get me a list of what you need, Akbat produces some mighty fine equipment.
The good news is I have secured a border worlds staging ground, and once it gets developed further, its use as a staging ground should do much for keeping you supplied.
Oh, and one last note, publicly we need to remain fueding, just tone down the rhetoric, we want Liberty to see us as fragmented enough to ignore Bethlehem for as long there more active threats to deal with, but not incite someone to do something stupid that gets a bunch of people killed or vents a section of the station.
Posts: 8,732
Threads: 744
Joined: Aug 2008
Staff roles: Moderator
From A Low Frequency Channel Somewhere on Erie
Well, Miss Tomoe, I hear from militants a lot here on Erie. To say that they are not a happy lot is an understatement and I have about had enough of the government as well.
Erie is a Zoner planet. It always was. The only reason why Liberty was asked for help were the Rogues and even that situation got worse.
As much as I hate to say it, Miss Tomoe, we may well have to pick sides and I will be damned if I give up another home to a corrupt government.
In the lower deck of Bethlehem - forgotten by most and avoided by the rest - the militants gather in tense silence. Tomoe’s voice echoes again through a battered speaker, looping from an old portable comm unit perched on a supply crate.
Some sit with heads bowed, their weapons laid beside them. Conviction cracked, they argue for caution - for patience. Others, fists clenched, hiss through gritted teeth at every word of diplomacy and delay. Betrayal, they call it. Cowardice, some say.
The stale air buzzes with frustration and the weight of a fractured cause. Ryzek stands apart, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the slowly rotating fan above. He listens. Watches. Waits. Then, without a word, he turns to the comms console tucked behind a half-burned ration locker.
A scrambled signal pings outbound from a local relay node, riding shadows through the station’s comm net. Its destination: the Administrator’s office.
“
Administrator.
Your message stirred the nest. Some of us accept your plan to play the long game. Others... don’t.
I’ll make this clear: you’ve avoided a full fracture - barely. Your gestures toward Bristol and the Xenos? Promising. Your refusal to publicly condemn Liberty? Understandable, but disappointing. Your offer of collaboration without surrender? Acceptable.
So here’s how we proceed:
We are entering the "Watchdog" phase. No brawl. No fists up in the air. Not yet.
One of ours will serve aboard Bethlehem, not as a spy, but as a shadow - a sentinel. Their presence will be quiet, their eyes open. Consider them a litmus test for your sincerity. Any sign of betrayal - any whisper of compromise with Liberty’s snakes beyond the thin line you’ve drawn - and this truce ends.
In return, we will hold the line outside the station. Quietly. Effectively. You’ll have support if you earn it.
We bleed for Erie. You should expect no less from us.
Lastly... don't take us for clowns. We ain't part of your play.
”
Eavesdroppers
▬ Event Concluded ▬
The Militants will watch Tomoe's administration closely
Outcomes:
Tomoe's decisions have forced the radicals into a fragile indecision.
Militant rallies across the station decrease.
The most fervorous militants will riot if they lose trust in Tomoe's administration. People will be injured.
![[Image: UCznvPO.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UCznvPO.png)
![[Image: 7Md2x4D.png]](https://i.imgur.com/7Md2x4D.png)
![[Image: XbbNpmi.png]](https://i.imgur.com/XbbNpmi.png)