Kane smiled and took a sip of his drink. "That Mariko seems like a formidable person to have on your side... and dangerous to oppose," he observed aloud. "Shame he's dead already. Eventually he could have been a good source of information, though frankly, I've never been good at those kinds of extractions. I would have needed to bring along someone from the Commission, maybe with some sharp and pointy objects."
He blinked and realized that lack of context was probably making him sound like a psychopath.
"A few of our people were in an engagement with the Naval Forces yesterday. Not intentionally -- one of their cruiser wings engaged a Crayterian warship in the Taus and one of our gunboats had to defend itself. Neither ship was in good shape when they made it back to their respective repair docks. We lost a few crew members. I... would have liked to have known if the Kusari government was planning to make moves against us more directly." Kane finished his drink and sighed. "I've got over a hundred thousand civilians to take care of, most of whom are in Tau-44. If the Crayter military starts to buckle against the KNF... we're doomed. And I don't think we can just strap cruise engines to Canberra Star City and jump our way down the Barrier to somewhere a little further away from the government's onslaught."
He stared at the bottom of the empty glass in his hands and smiled sadly. "If all that's left of the Natio is the Fleet, then, well... I might as well pin that Overlord's flash back on my jacket and pull the Vagrant Raiders flag back out of storage. And then I can't even pretend to be a reformed pirate and former terrorist."
