[D9MN] Home to Roost

[Bowze Coppa]

''Trust...is often a matter of choice'' he said to both Dredgen and Vaya ''No matter how much data you gather and how you compile it, the picture will never be perfectly clear.''

He folded his arms

''People like Yusandr and Dove did not distrust us because they had hard evidence, in truth they barely had half of a gut feeling...they actively choose to distrust us. They choose this because it was convenient to do so. The resistance has done and will do black things to survive and overthrow the Empire but they turn a blind eye to it because they want to have the moral high ground because that same moral high ground is part of the things that makes some people going when nothing else works.''

He paused a moment, oddly calm at the realisation

''When we started doing what we thougth was right, it was a peril to that sensibility. Better then to vilify us, try to make us crack and have their high ground confirmed and safe. It very nearly happened. I do not hate them for this...I am not sure they are aware themselves. I'd rather pity them and move forward.''

He took a breath

''What I mean to says is: I choose to trust Dredgen like I trust you, Vaya, to make your own judgement and call us to task if we err in our missions. I choose to trust you both because I want our CIS to be an hospitable place for those who wish to fight for the greater good but might not fit the mold the rest of the resistance wants to impose. I want the Coalition of Insurgent Systems...maker that is a petulant name now that I think about it...to be our place to belong.''

(ooc: leadership or we just roll with it?)

[Dapper Dog]

OOC: Fine with just RP.

[Vaya Mer'darrow]

Vaya listened, her face still but her antennapalps twitching. She wasn't sure whether, or how much, of the speech was directed her way, or Dredgen's, or both; how much was strategic, and how much-heart felt. She raised her hand to tap her cheek, her usual thoughtful tic, but found her arm was too tired to maintain the pose. She rubbed some of the omnipresent mud off of her face, instead, and frowned at a spot of dried blood. Nosebleed? Her head was pounding enough for one. She'd have to see the medics later.

"I'm not here because I want hospitality, Bowze," she said. "I'm here because you have your eyes on the prize." She pointed at the holotank, where the green wedge representing the Dictator, a mere quarter of a meter long, exchanged abstract lines with several smaller blobs. "Those star cruisers showed up to help us -- Bankor -- us all." She was tired, unsure of her words, talking in a monotone. She addressed Dredgen. "Okay, you didn't kill anyone who didn't have it coming," Oh, that's a phrase I've used now "and you fully intended to turn over your payday to the cause. You still couldn't have done it in a way more likely to drive a wedge between you -- us -- in a way to make it harder for our allies to trust us if you tried." Well, maybe if you blew the place five minutes earlier, before we had all got out. She looked back at Bowze. "If we win today, General, we've done something that a hundred V2's couldn't have."

She nodded her head at the holotank again. "What's that line you quoted at me? Amateurs study tactics, professionals study diplomacy?" She blinked. She was pretty sure she'd just mashed together two famous bits of strategic wisdom together, but it sounded about right. "If you're really in it to win it, you'll have to find a way to make this alliance work."

[Dapper Dog]

"I was under the impression we were leaving this rock," Dredgen responded.

[Vaya Mer'darrow]

She gave Dredgen a tired look. General exhaustion, or pointedly tired of something or someone, was difficult to tell.

"Unless you've got a couple of star cruisers of your own you haven't told us about," she jabbed a finger at the holotank again, "it doesn't matter where we're going. Anything worth doing, we're not going to do alone. Which means not pissing in our allies' blue milk." She rose, facing Bowze -- Nato -- again. "That's my analysis, General. I'm sure you'll want to get that full debriefing." Bowze will probably have an easier time talking to Huk if I'm not here.

Unless stopped, she gave Bowze a tired smile, and Huk a sloppier-than-usual salute, and then headed out of the tent.

[Bowze Coppa]

''Vaya'' Bowze said before she left ''Some in the resistance are hostile to us, true, but we have also people who are more considerate.'' he said standing up ''I have not forgot diplomacy, nor am I letting my pride dictacte my actions. I have an understanding with the Senator of Tion sharing information and coming to help when we are needed.''

He smiles

''Things are not as dire as they seem between our factins, I just think some of us need to cool off a bit.'' he then nods to Huk

''We are indeed going off planet. There are many places to explore and assets to find.''