Chenzo nods, waves and mirrors the brief exchange of formalities
He was taken by surprise by Harabero's tone. Not once had he seen the man lose his temper, nor had he ever heard any rumours of him losing it. Chenzo respected this more than words could describe. But a few hours ago one of Harabero's men had tried to insinuate his murder. Quite the contrast in persona.
"One of the reasons I respect you senor, your ability to get straight to the point.
As you know, I have lead countless raids on enemy territory as well as defended Malta form attack more times than some have had hot dinners. Most recently, from rumours off a Freeport I tracked the corsair's cruiser Penitence from Rheinland rallying their forces to attack and slow down their movement, which enabled us to hit the cruiser extremely hard in the Sigma's ultimately retiring the ship from service. If it's one thing I have senor, it's experience in reading & leading the battlefield.
I will not pretend to be some lord and master of knowledge regarding the Nomads, no form of spirit whisperer, however experience alone tells me that was no invasion force. Contrary to what you may wish to believe or interpret, they are not stupid. They are not mindless drones and on more occasions in my life they have saved Maltese lives from certain death against our enemy's, such as the Corsairs and the Order.
That small force senor, was in my opinion a test. A test to see exactly how the Maltese would react. Would we openly communicate under the fair assessment that they could do no real damage to the planet or would we mindlessly shoot potentially causing loss of life to our own."
He pauses, trying to find the right words
"I can appreciate times have changed, senor. It's why very few like myself left from the age before yours hold oh so tightly to the basic rules of respect and conduct. There are many, many guns pointed toward any and every Maltese movement, these creatures live on our doorstep and they really wish for no battle with us. They have an intricate network of memories which means any and every single one of them shares the sights and actions of everything which has ever happened for the millennia's each of them have lived. If you were to place Maltese existence in their time frame and compress it into a lunar year; ours is but a millisecond before new years eve. Does that put it into perspective at all?"
Almost showing emoticon, something he'd rarely show, he continues
"Once upon a time our ancestors arrived on this planet which was entirely their back yard, just like the rest of Sirius. They allowed our ancestors to be here without challenge. The Maltese are truly different than the rest of Sirius, senor. Our genetics from the gift of the Orange Dream separate us further from the rest of Sirius. It's why they have no desire to actually attack, no ability to mess with our minds. We are not the same as the rest of Sirius, so we are not the same instant kill target to them.
I believe there is a communication and interpretation barrier which went wrong soon after the 101st's disbandment, a decade ago.
I'm not asking you to worship them, *he sniggers at the stupidity of the notion to worship the Nomads* but shooting them on sight is also by far an overstep in my opinion. We may indeed one day surpass them, inherit their lands just as we have done so with Malta and Omicron Alpha, Beta. I'd like this conversation to be the start of something positive. I'd also prefer to not have your lieutenant try and shoot me, refrain from encouraging others to do so also
