Don't you dare speak to me like I am your underling. Don't forget who it was that helped you up each time you fell.
You are not above me. I am not above you.
We have been equals in this endeavor from the very beginning. Equals in the decisions that led to the path we've walked. Equals in each choice we've made. That cannot change.
But this situation is not equal.
The path you have dictated is flawed. There are too many risks and too little to gain from taking them. The 'vow' of your commander is as meaningless as the promises of their entire Empire to cease bloodshed with neighboring groups of the past. This is no different. It will never be different than that. There is little cause to using a lesser people for a purpose that can be accomplished through better, more strategically sound means. Means I am offering to show you in detail, but you have to be open to other paths just as much as you're demanding I be open to interpreting the Corsairs as anything more than a waste of time.
Your way emboldens them. Mine does not.
Your way gives them the benefit of doubt. Mine does not.
Your way grants them free liberty to harass the AI's people, which they have done more than once. They are oppressors. They oppress things.
The opportunity you've created is a double-edged sword. While true there are many like this, it doesn't diminish the fact that you're walking them into allied territory and just hoping they'll honor your agreement and not take over the place. You're smarter than that. I know you're smarter than that.
Why are you giving the enemy a chance? What - specifically what, not just broad terms and bullshit mysticism - do they have that you're so fixated on acquiring that can't be obtained through literally any other channel?
You've become so far disconnected from what's going on that you're assuming absurd notions of open war and marching like we're soldiers. Again - I can't stress it enough - that's not what's at play here. It never was. You think I'm being obtuse? Self-righteous and stubborn?
Listen to yourself. Listen to who you're defending right now.
Why do I have to keep repeating myself?!?! Always! Time and time again! Hey, Liberty, look! Nomads! Oh - you don't believe me? Ohhh, look at that. Civilians guttered and abducted! Oh, look, another unstable anomaly causing interference, best avoid it! Oh no, they flew right into it!
Bah!
We are /not/ defending them! If anything, I am defending myself here.
I do not believe you when you say you know of their culture. You only know of the Brotherhood and their degenerate ways. I am not empowering them.
Is that how you would have viewed me? To never give an opportunity to that one Core figure? The Gammu gave me opportunity. But by the way you are acting, I do not believe you ever want to do anything but your own way.
And I am giving this Commander opportunity. That is why I have given him a crucial exam.
Oh my Eirene! I will /scream/ to the stars. We are /not/ giving them opportunity. That's why we have been building up forces. They were going to come by REGARDLESS of my deals! Everything we are doing here is a colossal risk. I'm doing what I can to ensure we do not take as much losses. I
If they attack, so be it. If they do not. Then we have means to make leeway for us in the future. That is why the pact concludes there.
How can you not see this?
'Bullshit mysticism' - Is that how you view Sirius, Leviathan? All of this progress to studying the alien? It is all a joke to you? Why give /anyone/ a chance, Leviathan? Why not just kill everyone? That's right -- because it is hypocrisy. Most of us stemmed and thrived off of the odd odds.
I don't have time to humor this right now. I'll keep it plain and simple for you.
Don't go picking fights in the Omicrons. We need our strength conserved for Gammu.
I have stood with you through everything. I took a chance to follow you into hell, even when all odds said I shouldn't. When my gut tells me it's a bad idea. When all levels of instinct indicate this is wrong. I've delved into nightmare after nightmare just to ensure you'd come out of it in one piece. At the cost of much of myself. You brought me back because you needed someone you can trust, but how is this trusting me if you're going to brush me off and speak down to me?
My views of the Sector haven't changed. I've been on the side of many conflicts in my time. Seen the pointlessness of it all. Here we're actually building something meaningful. Creating a future worth believing in. Making choices that don't jeopardize the integrity of that future. It's true, I don't have a high opinion of people outside of our society anymore. Can you blame me? They're all ignorant fools who can't even heed the warnings you've been giving them for a decade. You've told me many times - we can't save everyone, and we shouldn't.
I am giving you this counsel not as a means of control, but as your friend and partner - but you think I'm being egotistical. That I think 'my way' is the only way as I sit here and ask you once more to come see me so we can talk about these 'plans'.
That you'd think so little of me is unacceptable.
Yet I still stand by you! I've believed you every step of the way, just as I do now.
I know The Corsairs. I know The Brotherhood, the Suns, the Omegas raiders - I knew many of them. These aren't different. They're all of the same breed. They all want for power and legitimate control over the others in their proximity. They've stabbed many people in the back just to achieve minor victories. You've seen first-hand what the Corsairs do. How they live.
Yet listen to yourself. You still think they're deserving of cooperation? Are you defending yourself, or defending your belief in their ability?
It's not self-defense, as you continue to push the notion that because 'you' trust them, the rest of us should. I don't care about what trial you're making them jump through. I don't care if you're recruiting them for a circus. They're not worth the effort.
Nobody is doubting your ability. Nobody is doubting the legitimacy of your word.
Everyone is doubting theirs, and it's calling into question just what you see. Nobody else sees it because there is nothing to see. Everyone is doubting that they'd hold up any bargain they've made. Already one had asked me that I stop the AI from defending themselves, thinking we have some authority over them and their right to defend their space. One instance, sure. How many others will it take for you to see things through the same lens as I? As the rest of us?
The thing is - with you, I gave you a chance. That chance paid off, and continued to be one of the best choices I ever made. It shaped who I became today, and became the foundation of all the work I've done. It's a gamble that I am forever grateful for taking, but that was one chance. You proved yourself to me no problem, just as you've proven yourself to a lot of the people who follow you.
I gave The Corsairs a chance once. It ended in over a hundred of my people dying, leaving my flotilla scattered, and a serious morale and logistical problem that took years and a merging with your forces to rectify in the slightest. This isn't about giving them a chance. It's about not giving them another one when they've proven - time and time again - that they're not worth the trouble. That we'll lose more lives by allowing them to get closer to us and Gammu than we'd ever lose by pitting them against the Hessians and sidestepping their widespread engagements.
I am not marching our people into battle on the front lines.
Whatever leeway or benefits you're hoping to garner from them ultimately won't matter if they decide to turn on you. They'll attack, regardless of what deal you strike. They'll throw your arrangement under the bus, regardless of what you offer them in kind. There are very few people inside our walls who approve of this arrangement, and many who would like it to end. There is much more to gain in solidifying our stance in the Omegas network and relying on the powers that be in the region.
The opportunity you're giving them is less resistance in the acquisition of Gammu. It's a mutual trade, but only as long as they decide it's beneficial. We don't have anything to bargain with, or even a willingness to bargain with a people whose entire existence is antithetical to the preservation of scientific sites for study. No one can look at what you're doing at see it as anything but a willingness to roll over and let the Corsairs walk all over us.
I am fully aware of the adage 'offer one hand, arm the other'. I am aware that you're trying to use them to our advantage, but this is not a risk worth taking, Sapphire. It's going to cost us far more in the long run. There is nothing to gain from studying their kind or working with them at all. Nothing we can't gain ourselves, without the scrutiny of another major power breathing down our necks.
What happens when they decide to attack the Gammu, regardless of your pleas? When the AI see us not helping them against the Corsairs and their attacks, they'll see us as no different than the rest of Sirius, and we'll be back to square one with even less support than we had in the first place. I wasn't kidding when I said that working with the Corsairs in any capacity will cost us the Omicrons and Omegas. That risk is too great for an arrangement that you've yet to provide specifications as to why it's so crucial in your work.
There is nothing to gain from this.
I implore you to come and see me in person so I can go over the details of everything.
I will not speak of this again until I see you on my ship.
Listen to myself? Hah! How about you listen to me. Are you even listening to yourself speak?
The worst outcome, we have to shoot them at Gammu, or they kill me. The best outcome, we get some leeway. You speak of grave danger, but nothing critical is out there. The risk is not that major. And I have contigencies in lieu of this. What, do you really think the Corsairs will be the only forces out there to push towards Gammu? Pffsch. Please.
You don't need to believe them. You need to believe me.
And don't think you know all of their clans.
You'll see. Maybe. But I've seen enough. Enough for them to allow their pride to show me some of their inner workings.
There's mission critical information I'm not at liberty to share on any of the networks relating to this operation, and clearly some things we need to iron out on our approaches.
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