Eavesdroppers: Tomoe

[Fab]

Eavesdroppers, Part III
Steel bends before it breaks

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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.

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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.

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