In the time since they'd last cooperated, the situation had changed drastically. So as much as Morreti might have desired to answer this completely, and as simply as possible. That wasn't going to be an option, he'd have to manage somehow. "They've constituted a Militia. Somebody with a background steeped in military service has been training them. It's still in its infancy, but it already numbers in the thousands. If you're wondering why I'm telling you this first, instead of addressing your question directly. It's because the timeline's moved forward. The movement's been doing well, we've been focused on our agenda and constantly biding our time with resource acquisitions to make progress. It's not been easy. It's not going to be easy. We're already maintaining one ship of that size. If this rate of expansion continues, there's no reason we can't maintain another."
Similar to how her admission of walking away was a potential admission of weakness, this revealed a little known fact. That the Xenos were being woefully underestimated by everyone. And that they had been concealing just how much they were actually capable of. It was an extremely smart thing to do, especially considering their circumstances. "The LFR is popular, and we do have a world in mind, hence the militia, but I'm sure you connected the two dots yourself. Atka, in Hudson. The goal is to force Planetform off and set down roots there. All I need to know is if you're in or out. Lots of connections to inform."
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Atka? That was a frozen rock. Terraformable, supposedly, certainly but still a ball of ice. And in direct grasp of Liberty through the trade lane network. On Rheinland's borders as well. This wasn't the same situation as Veracruz, a planet with a habitable belt far from infrastructure owned by the houses. Were they insane? Still, if pushing that forward would give them supplies and open ports, it might be a worthy endeavour. She'd have to make inquiries about the LFR's strengths elsewhere later. Also them maintaining another warship sounded almost too good to be true. Another battleship class warship if she understood that right.
"Atka is a world in the middle of a well used trade corridor, what is your plan on dealing with that? Even if you can hold the line against Liberty with us, I cannot imagine Rheinland sitting idly by. And I know from experience that you cannot hold the Independent Worlds against two foes that size." she stated, not outright disagreeing with the notion to fly for the Free Republic but she'd not do it without a clear plan.
There was a hint of disappointment on his face when she voiced her thoughts on the situation, questioning it the way she did. However, it wasn't that he was unhappy with her not seeing things his way, and he would express that much. "You're looking at this from the confines of purely military action. I don't blame you for being shortsighted like that, it's what you were trained to do. But there's a lot more going on here, politically speaking. Atka is a flashpoint waiting to happen, it always was. Do you think Rheinland likes the idea about a House like Liberty propping up a colony on the border?"
It was a rhetorical question, so he didn't wait for an answer. "Of course they don't. They never have and they never will. Liberty has trampled all over their national interests for generations and they've clearly had enough. That's what that Pilgrim in Pennsylvania's a symbol of." She'd likely have heard of it too, a liner that was packing a large number of weapons with clear origins. Their route into Kansas is what had initially tipped off the Navy that the Insurgency's strength wasn't coming from within, but rather political opposition from the outside. Hence their rapid threat reclassification and sudden change in strategy.
"Brute force is often foolish, and conquest isn't the goal. Preparation is, and when our opportunity presents itself, we move without hesitation. I don't expect any of the Independent Worlds to remain peaceful or under the rule of law for much longer." Despite how confident he might have sounded, these were still just predictions, and there was an abundant scope for him to be wrong about any number of things. But at least so far as the present was concerned, everything he'd said was true. Rheinland was willing to arm a local Insurgency for the sake of bloodying Liberty. And they'd successfully goaded them into throwing themselves at it, making the situation worse. The losses were mounting exponentially on both sides of the invasion, and this could only encourage further action. On the international stage, Rheinland was Liberty's most vocal critic, alleging human rights violations on a weekly basis now, most notably in regards to Houston.
Something was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be inconsequential.
She decided not to take the insult personally. It wasn't uncommon for civilians to care about other things that got them in trouble later. And it was the military personnel facing the consequences of those actions usually. Still it seemed like they were much further than she'd anticipated. If what he hinted at was true then this was no longer some naive idealistic group of dreamers. And of course she knew about Rheinland. She'd been the one to negotiate most of those supplies toward them. They'd always been eager to supply a disruptive force in Liberty. She hadn't known that to be the final cause for Liberty's sudden outburst. That he'd mention all of the Independent Worlds rebelling though seemed almost ominous. What was going on that her people never noticed? It was true they lost a lot of connection to many outside groups.
"You sound almost convinced that there will be widespread rebellion. And while I do see the merit in that, if it happens, forces of this size need much more stable supply lines than most rebellions can usually field. Something I've always been careful not to jeopardize." Though it turned out that one of those supply lines would be the end of their organisation at large now.
He smiled, because a lot of thought had gone into logistics moving forward. "Ontario. It's becoming increasingly isolated from any kind of law enforcement. The Navy maintains a solitary Interdictor to keep the lane junction safe, but it doesn't leave its post. Our activities in the system are untouched, and it's steadily becoming the industrial backbone to all this fighting. We make our own ships and weapons, rather than just bartering for supplies to hastily jury rig what we can get." Even if the rest of what he said could be subject to doubt, this much was true. The Xenos were now fielding their own equipment on a larger scale, almost organization-wide. Their activities were consistent and focused towards an agenda, all the makings of something that aspired to be more than just rebels.
With ambitions like that, the kind which were practically bottomless, it was clear that her people could fit in quite well. Especially since the LFR was absolutely decentralized, bordering on anarchy. How Knight would run her unit was up to her. "It may take a year or two to work out the quirks to the supply line. You'll have to deal with patchwork repair jobs and potential ammo shortages. But you'll be more than able to continue your fight." He wanted to ask her if she was in or out again, but didn't feel like doing this using words. Instead, he put his hand out, offering for her to shake it if she was truly willing to consider the idea and work with them.
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Hearing that Ontario had fallen this far out of Liberty control was surprising. And Xenos building their own weaponry? Even if that was just for parts of their movement, it was a massive step. It was less unreliable and certainly beat having to hope for the long supply lines to Rheinland to deliver. The last one had clearly done more damage than help.
"Still you were mentioning all of the Independent worlds. We've not been able to get as many scouts and informants out there as I would have liked. Clearly Liberty can't be losing its grip like that so quickly." The war with Rheinland and then Gallia surely had drained the Navy's forces but the war machine kept churning out more ships and more eager crews. Still there would be a limit to it and the damages her own forces had dealt them would be neglectable either. Was the end of Veracruz going to be the beginning of an even bigger rebellion? A nice dream certainly but she couldn't quite bet her people's lifes on dreams.
Still if this was what it was going to be, there seemed to be no obligations from their side and all of the support. They were just expected to do what they already did. And maybe the LFR did become true. It had been a thing they'd discussed before, something they failed at. So she shook his hand. "I'm behind this movement and we'll lend it support in exchange for port and supplies. But I do hope there's more in the background than a militia and counting on Liberty growing weaker."
For somebody championing their cause, his hands were remarkably soft and unblemished. If he'd endured scars, they were concealead beneath his clothes and not openly displayed. When she stressed the point that she hoped the agreement would be substantial and not just empty words, he squeezed softly. "Well there certainly is now." It was a compliment, one that attached a tangible scale of value to her and her people.
"How are you holding up by the way?" The change of subject was abrupt, shifting from purely business oriented to something more personal. Though obviously by this point he'd withdrawn his hand and instead used it to rest his chin on.
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She hoped that her forces weren't the backup they counted on to make this work. She was tired of eternally running from defensive to defensive on her own. She didn't quite expect him to ask a personal question after, especially after how he seemingly had felt about her just before. Was barely apologising once enough to change his opinion or had she just misjudged that badly?
She decided to keep it top level. "I'm fine despite the circumstances. There's a lot of change to come but I kept safe of my people who I could over all these years. So I'm a lot calmer with this situation than I'd personally expect. I believe one gets used to anything." She said fairly simple, not really willing to talk about what the constant running, loss of her people and never having a home really meant to her. "I'm not sure how much longer the planet would've been safe either way. There have been riots in recent weeks."
"You've had to run thrice now. Once from Liberty, once more from Bering and now again from Vespucci. You're as tired of being pushed around as we are now, so if you're wondering why I'm willing to work with you and even try to relate to your situation, it's because you finally get it. And you can help me stop this from happening to people who've seen nothing but centuries of being caged. So for as long as you're willing to try, I'll treat you with respect and never turn my back on you. That goes for all of us. It really was always that simple, Knight." It was only clear now how miserably tired he was. The static from long distance communication feeds made him look younger, hid the weight under his eyes and creases to his face. Having to organize all the things he did, across a front as wide as the boundaries of this House for years now had taken an irreversible toll on him.
"When'd your neck start hurting?" Again, he changed subject, for seemingly no reason and to something utterly inconsequential. But maybe that was the point. He didn't need to pay attention to every minor detail, but he was. The most likely explanation for it was because he had a vested interest in keeping her and her people alive. But maybe he was just concerned about the people he concerned part of his lot, and considered their continued wellbeing a paramount pursuit, even if at the absolute cost of everyone else.
A mixture of compassionate and cruel, an odd thing for a man to be.
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And that didn't even include the initial arrest or the struggles with Rheinland and the Unioners in between, always threatening another escape without the Navy's involvement. Rheinland's dislike for Liberty had been the only thing keeping them safe really. So it was surprisingly freeing that others had reached out for Veracruz and the power that came along with it. One she didn't want nor expected anyone would hold for much longer.
Then there was him who never had to run, with the reason one she hoped to never face. Having so many small, barely connected forces with minimal equipment sounded like an entirely different horror. Most of her people were still Navy personnel with overhauled and patched naval equipment. But it was still a solid, experienced and effective force.
Why did he keep trying to make conversation like that now? Was it really as simple as her being willing to fight on his side now? "I don't even remember. It's always on and off. I'm not going to take the time off for this." She hadn't really taken time off properly ever since the Navy had detained her forces near Zone 21 on that fateful day. Maybe she should but once again there was no time for it. "Once I can have my new recruits trained on West Point again, I guess, will be a good time."
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