Out from the shadows...

[Commissar Farzi]

'That is...suspiciously familiar.' A recent encounter several months ago came to mind, but it could wait. "Very well; whilst I may not care for the Conclave," He replied as the orb vanished, "The common people of the realm do not deserve to suffer needlessly due to whatever incompetence or infighting that their leaders may indulge in-unfortunately this will likely require myself to speak with the Archdukes directly." Which was something he'd been putting off for the last two years or so-lovely.

"If we can establish a proper rapport with them, the primary plan would call for a defense-in-depth in the event of war; figure out which planets were of strategic importance, and which could be abandoned." He explained, hoping that If'ni understood the concept, "The planets that would be slated to be abandoned would likely be in need of mass evacuation-the speed that your people can deploy and relocate would likely be the key to this; garrisons will likely be need to be left behind to give an impression of the planet being of some import." A holding action of some sort would likely have to be fought-likely resulting in the annihilation or capture of the assigned troops. "Until such a time, we will see to the training and outfitting of your troops-are we in agreement?"

 

[HarperMadi]

"We can agree to that. Unfortunately, we may not be able to appear to the Councils as we can to you. We will try. But we can only promise the cooperation of the Flotillas in your area. Turassiel and Sutrata, primarily. We will leave you with one gift to close our deal." If'Ni held out her hand, congealing threads of memory folding over themselves as she seemed to show a slight focus.

"Our star maps. Complete. With all known Legion movements, alongside our navigational beacons. Will you be able to take these maps into your computers, or shall I impart that on your coin to change its form to something your computers can read?"

 

[Commissar Farzi]

Steiner regarded the orb thoughtfully; likely the data would end up overloading what systems he had onboard. "Perhaps the latter option would be best; likely it would end up damaging whatever system we attempt to upload the memory directly. Though speaking of the legion...." He called up the report and projected the images of the Tech-thralls they had encountered.

"We may have encountered them already-we believed them initially to be the work of flesh-shapers in the first assessment but given what you have shown me I now believe that they may already be operating in the Conclave." He gestured to the image, "Though the scale at the moment is currently unknown."

 

[HarperMadi]

If'ni's eyes filled for a second with something, her body flickering for just the barest instant. Was that... Hate?

"Yes. That is the Legion. We cannot go there. But burning them is beyond our power at this time. We would annihilate them if we could." Considering for perhaps too long a moment, she raised her head. "Destroy them, and teach us to help you in that task, and you shall have far more than simple star maps."

 

[Commissar Farzi]

"Of that the Company would be more than happy to assist-we do not suffer the existence of such abominations." Stiener replied as he cut the feed, "Though the aforementioned training and outfitting would take time-though there will more likely be some grumbling in the ranks on both sides." Turning, he regarded her thoughtfully and sighed, "Not to mention the scouting for further signs of this Legion...building and outfitting the necessary vessels to conduct said reconnaissance and combat..." He trailed off, his mind working overtime trying to figure out how'd they be able to pull this off; the Senti would likely be able to help but the Company despite being extremely well organized it would put a strain on them to feed and house the new recruits...though with this another thought crossed his mind-a very, very unwelcome one.

"We are going to have pacify the Katamurans in order to train them, aren't we?" He asked, a rare drop in formality-this brought a snort from Dimitri . This would likely result in large amounts of blunt, heavy objects being applied with exceptional amounts of force to make them understand that piracy was wrong; to get the point across that taking things that don't belong to you is generally frowned upon.

This lesson would likely need applied repeatedly and thoroughly to ensure that these lessons remained firmly ingrained.

Lovely. "Dimitri; once we have finished here, prep civil pacification teams." They'd likely need them for both the aforementioned individuals and their own unruly bunch of misfits once everything was said and done.

 

[HarperMadi]

"The Katamurans are handling the Drhuvian quarantine," If'ni spoke softly. "We will send you Sutsura, Kherras, Sacusati, and Shurista. We will also send you the Skydasi, as they are with Shurista. Average population is 2.75 billion living Senti. Per Flotilla. Plus approximately 7.346*10 to the19th metric tons of burial steel. Per. Use their forces well. Your friend will have heard me. The Senti will go to war alongside you."

 

[Commissar Farzi]

"Thank you If'ni, we will ensure their lives are not spent frivolously." Steiner replied-the Valhallan way of waging war was brutal; attacks were carried out regardless of the time; foes had to be felled as quickly as possible before they decided to go 'You and what army?' or 'So what if you won?' and engaged in a campaign of wholesale destruction; targeting infrastructure, manufacturing facilities and other such things. Weapons of mass destruction often were among the first-round picks of such conflicts. This often meant that attacks had to be constantly carried out day and night relentlessly; this was hard on those involved with depleted units being folded in and mixed in with the remnants of several others and sent back into the fray.

Brutal, exhausting-but an absolute necessity to ensure that the enemy could not deal excessive damage.

Still two point seven five billion...hoo-boy; that was one hell of a manpower pool to draw upon; it'd be a bitch to outfit them, but they'd make it work. "Now, unfortunately whilst I would like to continue this conversation; I believe we both have considerable amount of work to do." He bowed to her, "Until next time, If'ni."

Despite his dislike of supernatural entities, he at least could respect her to a degree-she so far had not tried to hide her true nature and had so far been honest with him-for the moment. "So uh...boss?" Dimitri chimed in, his tone conversational, "Is this the part where we get into a badass training montage with em' or...?" And just like that Dimitri just had to chime in with some ridiculous comment or another. He resisted the urge to facepalm-as much as he'd like to do otherwise.

He really needed to put a muzzle on that man.