Meeting on Fontana

[Bristol Constructions]

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Vascoguoncellos, Pantalião
Fontana Freeport, California System
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“If you’ve heard about our interests in Pennsylvania, then you know that it’s not entirely our purview to support such a…conspicuous vessel.”

There was that slow cock of the head, that seeming consideration from Pantalião as the Bristol man leaned back in his chair with arms crossed. Did this former Insurgent actually understand what he was offering? Was there an offer? He picked up his drink, pausing while looking into the glass before setting it back down. Looking back up, Pantalião crossed his arms again.

“Do you really think that there’s something a ship like that can offer Pennsylvania, other than blood and retribution? Do you think you will help those trapped on Erie, or Bethlehem itself? You don’t have the fire to push Liberty out, simple as that, and even if you did they would just return with more. Pelo amor de Deus, that sort of thing will just give Liberty more of a reason to hunt in the system.”

He paused again, still leaned back in his chair, still arms crossed. Looking up at the ceiling, Pantalião smiled, chuckling a bit and exhaling long, long, long. There was something quite…well, the man wasn’t sure quite what, but quite something about the whole thing.

“As to your efforts thus far in Pennsylvania, you haven’t cropped up as a name. Not your captain, not your ship, nada from Bethlehem or Milford or Pinnacle, simple as that. We did reach out to another, and they’d only heard of you as we had. So, with such a track record as that, what makes you think the investment would ever be worth it?”

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[Sally]

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He shakes his head as he stares down at his terminal briefly.

"Look, I'm not here to get lectured, I'm here to ask for your help. I understand that you might see us and reach the conclusion that all we want is to give the Navy some payback for what they did on Vespucci but that's not the reason most of us are still trying to get our ship back in the field... We have our people down there, many among our ranks have friends and family locked down in Erie, including many refugees from Leeds that have been victims of a war, twice now, thanks to the mistakes of the former Insurency, and the Zoners are facing barbarism from the Navy and LPI because of us, we owe them this fight, it's our responsibility to do something about it, and the best thing we can do is fighting..."

After a brief pause he tosses the terminal towards to him, the screen shows multiple pictures from the camps back in Erie.

"These people is why we're fighting, and we need to fight now, Houses do not care about people nor they have to, because nobody can ever hold them accountable, not unless you're willing to put everything on the line, the Xenos learned that lesson three hundred years ago... Bristol can help, you can help us, there's no way helping us can make the situation worse for these people than it already is, if we can at the very least push Liberty to consider negotiations that's a big win for us and the Zoners."

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[Bristol Constructions]

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Vascoguoncellos, Pantalião
Fontana Freeport, California System
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He took the little PDA, holding it up enough to watch the pictures slide past. There was nothing particularly new about them, not as far as the man could recall, save for just enough detail here, there for a new face, a different face. Some had been shots from the LPI themselves, attempts to get a good image to release to the press before someone realized they could never really get a good image and just stored all the files away before an activist hacker got into the systems, released the things out into the NeuralNet. Some of them were far-off shots some hiker had taken at a high enough vantage point, wide shots of whole installations. Others were from sympathetic LPI guards trying to get some guilt off their conscience, images stripped from brief videos of prisoners sending out requests for aid, legal or otherwise. Some of them…well, some of them Pantalião didn’t recognize at all who exactly they were from. Smuggled out images, he suspected, judging from the closeness and the poorer quality images. Things here and there that marked them out for who exactly was trying to get what.

The man sat it back down on the table, pushing it back towards Norman with his index finger. His eyes didn’t leave the man on the other side now, not at all.

“No way helping you can make the situation worse, eh?” Pantalião swallowed, tongue pressing out against one cheek briefly. “What can you do, then, other than fight the Navy, fight the LSF, fight LPI? And then, what can they do but send a message back? ‘Cease your attacks or we find however many once citizens of the Commonwealth guilty of treason’, and execute them immediately? Or send a battleship against you. Will blowing up a few Liberty Navy ships break chains on Erie?”

“I ask these things, senhor Norman, because I am a thoughtful man. I want real answers, you know. I want something that I can show to those who would actually make this decision, not us, not ah…” He motioned between them with an open hand, a hinging wrist, back-forth, back-forth, ticking away with his tongue, “not subordinates, you know. You come to us and say you can make a difference with these people, and really I want to know how except with your guns.”

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[Sally]

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He gives a tired sigh and shrugs.

"Mister... I don't believe you ever told me your name, so bare that in mind. "

He grabs his terminal again.

"I'm afraid that I can't build a deal on promises that what we'll do will have a cohesive and expected outcome, war is simply chaotic and difficult to predict in nature, so I can't promise that our goals will have the outcome you and our people expects... The Legion and the Insurgents already burned enough bridges built with lies, deceit and treason, it's about time we learn the lesson. There's always a risk to face in direct action no matter what you try, and we're not building some economical venture where Bristol can expect some profits off it, what we asked for is your help and see if your people is willing to indulge and we can reach a mutual agreement."

Taking hold of his helmet, he stands up offering his hand for a final shake.

"I apologize for wasting our time, I'm sure we both came here with hopes to do something productive with it, but we must simply agree to disagree... No hard feelings, though, I expected this could happen, we'll find another way to get the vessel serviced. All I can offer now is my gratitude for listening."

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[Bristol Constructions]

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Vascoguoncellos, Pantalião
Fontana Freeport, California System
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.

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“I’m sorry you don’t have answers, then.”

Pantalião considered the man’s hand, taking it to shake after just enough of a pause.

“Hasta luego, legionnaire.”

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