Colin began to speak. "I suppose I'll say my bit."
"The Coalition is supposedly workin' for the people, right? The oppressed masses and those trodden into the dust by those in power. I suppose we might fit that category. Their enemies are the Bretonian Government and the Corsairs, as are ours. Those, at least, are similarities we share. Aye, we sure have plenty o' differences, but I see no reason that we should not enjoy a more peaceful relationship with them... fer now, at least."
Colin paused and the continued with another thought. "Now, I ain't no lover of the Kusarians," he explained. "They're attackin' Bretonia, and I'd sooner side with the crown than the dragon. Per'aps the first time I went out on a flight by myself, I cut a Kusarian fighter off in the tradelanes in New London, 'cause I guessed where he was goin' after hearin' some communications across the system. A battleship, of all things, was chasin' this fighter. And without a word we worked to corner and destroy the Kusarian. Both of us knew we had more in common with each other than we did the Kusarian."
"This 'ole Kusari situation is a interesting opportunity. Now Bretonia 'as something worry about other than us and the Corsairs. They're strained, fightin' this many wars, and this gives us an opportunity, it does. And maybe Bretonia thinks that we'll side with the Kusarians - anything to defeat the crown, eh? I imagine they're quite worried about the prospect of fighting on many different fronts."
"I say we relieve them of that worry. In this time of war, Bretonia is weak, spread out, and eager for any advantage it can gain over the Kusarians or the Corsairs, to a lesser extent. I think we can play on this to achieve part of what we want, if not all of it!" Colin paused again, letting his words fall. "If we pursue a new, diplomatic path with Bretonia, and we attempt to secure peace with them rather than war, I think our best bargaining chip at the moment is the idea that we can 'elp the Bretonians on three fronts. One, we clear Dublin of any war - that will give them more ships to move out to Leeds. Two, the Corsairs are our enemies, and we're in positions to defend Bretonia from them - which we're doing right now, just with our fights and skirmishes and whatnot. Three, I think we can 'old the Corsairs from our borders easily enough - we can send men up to Leeds and help the Bretonians oust those yellow fiends from our 'ome."
"Now, I know that we 'ate the BAF. But what better way to pursue diplomatic relations than to do the impossible task of letting bygones by bygones and look the the future and assist them. Mollies, if anything, don't forget. But if we could manage this, and if we could use our position as a bargaining chip with Bretonia, I think we could get much further in the fight for Dublin than we have in recent years. The BAF and us could get further in the fight against Tokyo than we have in recent months."
"The benefits are twofold. Oust the Kusarians, and open Bretonia to diplomacy."
