The Fontana Summit

[Omicron]

“It appears I am not the last one.” He noted the two empty seats next to each other, one of which would be his. On his way to his appointed seat, noting that he would be separated from Rogues a great deal he expected it was no coincidence. In no particular order, he would study everyone who has arrived before him.

• Zoner 'Testament' looked destitute and horrible on first impression. He would expect those frontiersmen to send someone more presentable. In other circumstances he might have offered him money to get a clean uniform at least. On second thought, he expected it either to be a symbol, either of desperation and destitution as the Erie campaign fared poorly. Another idea is that he represented the humble working man to score some political points in his presentation. Still given how he was ravenously devouring food presented, his mind was settled on the first guess.
  
  
• Caliban. Perhaps being more machine than human which brought his mind to unchecked debauchery of Technocracy which he found deeply disgusting. Despite his presence, Golanski kept his cool and would not show any sign of discomfort either because he felt confident and commanding the situation or perhaps being that good of an actor. Having had time to prepare mentally and given enough rest, he was quite capable of compartmentalising his emotions.
  
  
• Senator. Couldn’t read much of him beyond analysing everyone present and hiding everything behind an obvious mask. He wondered if he and Caliban would cause any issues. Personally, he knew better than to start altercations and not because of his current health, time would tell what kind of quality thus spook of Eight would show.
  
  
• Warlord Hemlocke. He wouldn’t find him intimidating personally - He saw such displays as nothing but pointless vanity - but nonetheless respected him as someone capable of extreme violence as a matter of fact. Even though he would still internally question why he had to come in a bloodstained outfit but much like Zoner’s own appearance he kept this to himself. Second Rogue was an unknown quality. Clark was young, Admiral supposed not too dissimilar to himself starting his career with The Order initially. He had not made up any opinion about him yet.
  
  
• Drake. The Admiral only heard about him, never met in person. He seemed like usual and borderline stereotypical for a Lane Hacker. Hedonist with taste for cardamine, alcohol and other luxuries, as well as a professional who kept his chosen lifestyle going with his particular set of skills. He recalled at the back of his mind that Drake functioned as the muscle of the operation.
  
  
• Adjutant Hester much like Clarke was another one he knew absolutely nothing about. Nonetheless she was with Xenos Alliance and it was good enough for him. Men and women who follow ideology seemed to be behaving in more predictable patterns which eased his mind, whereas more credit oriented mantras would often see affinities shift as fluidly as credit transfers.

It was everyone for the time being. Even when the topic would undoubtedly touch upon Erie, a subject far removed from The Order’s prime interests, he would use the opportunity to gain as much information for The Order as well be the first person to know concerning motives and future actions of everyone present. He bypassed all other drinks, beelining straight to red wine which he poured to appropriate glass. This bottle and him would become good friends by the end of the day. Glad to be finally seated, it seems most folks around here preferred the gin. He’d have settled for vodka or rum but considering food was at stake, red wine suited his taste the most right now. Before talk of Sudbury anomaly began, he swapped his provided utensils around. Fork in right hand and knife in the left which at least may indicate he will at least use them for eating later. Right now, his full attention was grabbed by projection of this alien site. He had been briefed about it, from the first Order reconnaissance in-system since the incident.

“Kepler was long scheduled to be hit by a dark matter storm. Mister Drake’s predecessors were forced underground for merely getting the timing wrong. You are very much correct about Texas however. Corporates have little interest in safety.” He’d correct Hemlocke, though this man’s words weren’t entirely unwarranted. “Personally I believe it is the Daam K’Vosh facility. Nomads had no hand in its activation, nor were they actively monitoring the site prior. They’re caught metaphorically pants down as much as Liberty is, scrambling upon each other to just reach the site.”

He had some time to consult and process the information he was already in possession of, able to make some insight. “Those shields are typically powered by separate power units. Considering it's partially buried within the planet’s crust, those will be located deep underground assuming they’re accessible from our side at all. Further assuming LSF even gains orbital supremacy, they will need to maintain it for months if not years with no interruption just to excavate it. I am not even mentioning accessing the facility itself.”

“Intuition tells me Ontario will remain a battlefield for many years to come and this is in the very best case scenario that generously assumes Sudbury doesn’t have any further surprises in stock for us.”

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