Infiltrating the annexation - stage I - planning.

[Lanakov]

Chanteloup observed Belmond's datapad with curiosity, her fingers joined together and pressed again her lips. Her brow furrowed at the mention of inviting a Zoneur aboard her ship, but she said nothing - yet - as the enseigne went on. By the end of it, the amiral sat back, evaluating, considering possibilities, formulating a plan of action. She remained silent as her mind raced around this issue and the many ways in which it might develop. Then she stood up, and silently walked up to the painting that adorned the back of the conference room - another Vernet, at her request.

She faced it in silence, her hands joined behind her back. Then, at last, she spoke.
"Have you heard of the legend of the Stinger, I wonder, lieutenant ?" Not expecting a reply, she went on. "It's an Old Earth myth. Ancestors of the Libertonians were, at one point in history, eager to fight off the invasion of a neutral House by the Coalition. They wanted to accomplish this without committing their own forces and thus chose to arm the local peasantry with sophisticated weaponry, chief among which the Stinger missile. The tale describes it as a legendary weapon, strong enough to defeat the most advanced armaments employed by the Coalition at the time. The results were beyond the Libertonians' wildest dreams : the peasants added unexpected bravery and valour to their fearsome armaments, and thus retained their freedom."

She paused, reflecting with some melancholy on the first time she'd been told this tale.

"Not being vastly different from their contemporary cousins, the Libertonians eventually succumbed to greed and decided to plunder this small nation they had so graciously helped in the past. A rural, uneducated yet rich population would be a trifle to defeat with their uncomparable might, they thought, blinded as they were by the lure of easy coin. So much so that they failed to heed the Coalition's example, made the same mistakes and suffered the same defeats... At the hands of that very Stinger missile they had given the peasants for free only a few years before."

She turned to face Belmond. "As any good tale, this one has a moral. I've often thought about it, from the very day I heard it first, until even now. One of the things I've drawn from it is this : friendship can turn into a very dangerous thing indeed." She barked one of her sinister laughters. As if on cue, her aide de camp entered with two coffees. He left a cup with Belmond and the other one next to her, ahead of the empty seat, and scurried away. "Think on this tale, Belmond. Draw from it. I know it doesn't exactly mirror our present situation, but I find a great deal of... interesting parallels that should be taken into consideration, particularly in how committed we choose to be towards the Zoneur tribes" Chanteloup said, as she walked back to the table and sat down, lured by the dark and strong-smelling coffee.

She brought the cup to her lips then fixated her gaze on the enseigne. "Your plan is a good one. It's a good match for what the situation needs, and what we can spare. Congratulations ! You're now at the head of Task Force Tamaran. I am giving you carte blanche to accomplish its stated goal, which is, like you said, to hinder and repulse Bretonian influence on Gran Canaria wherever possible. You will stay within the perimeter of our mandate, which excludes direct action in this system. You will locate and coordinate any willing associate, Gallic, Corsair, Zoneur, anyone that can be used to carry out this operation. And you will report directly to me. It's one putain de task, especially for one so green as you, but you've not failed me so far. It would be in poor taste to start now."

As if it only now returned to her mind, she added briskly : "Oh, and get this Voncloud character on board this ship if you really think he can serve some purpose. If he starts pissing on my carpets, as I heard Zoneurs do to mark their territory, it'll come out of your pay."

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Feedback, insults, marriage proposals and declarations of fealty

If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.