Radio; Foreigners Only [Forward-dated to the 14th]

[purered]

I have spoken with the Grand Justicar on the matter of removing the bodies. She has agreed to allow it. I will be contacting a mortician forthwith.

I speak now to all the foreigners here; Please do not act rashly. I understand your anger at the Justicar. It is justified. Risking your own lives and those of the people here, however, is not. The situation now is precarious at best.

We are guests in this city the same as the Justicar. I would hope we can show more consideration for Keeliai's denizens than her, however.

Comments

[purered]

I would prefer she not know what I've inferred from my visit however. Would you prefer to speak on things in private?

[insertdadjoke]

That's probably wise. The Hotel?

radio - action

[purered]

It sounds like our safest bet.

I will meet you in the lobby.

[And he'll be there, sitting with his hands in his lap and looking quite grim.]

action!;

[insertdadjoke]

[ Cain doesn't take long to show up, simply sits himself across from Klaus and takes in the other man's countenance. ]

So how exactly did we lose out on this bargain?

[purered]

[He looks up from his hands, his frown only deepening.]

If the Inquisitor truly does not mean to invade, my negotiations cost the Kedan technology that could have vastly improved their quality of life.

[He exhales and slumps back into the sofa.]

She was very eager to see just how urgent it was that the bodies be allowed to be removed. If she didn't know an incident was brewing over it, she certainly must now.

[insertdadjoke]

[ That gets a deep breath, then a measured sigh. There's no helping it now, and there's just too many cooks in the kitchen to make this an organized effort. Better that the bodies are taken care of instead of any foreigners or even kedan making asses of themselves over it, but on the other hand... ]

Which puts us in a bind if she becomes aware of how impulsive our people can be. This would only be the beginning. As for the technology, I can only hope none of the families were aware of this beforehand. That might simply have to be our secret.

[purered]

She is likely already aware of how impulsive our people can be, even if she doesn't have access to the radio network.

[He exhales, long and slow.]

I didn't reveal anything concrete, but considering my insistence they be removed, she can likely infer there was a reason. Regardless, she knows our buttons are easily pushed. I doubt I'll be able to negotiate if there is a second incident.

[He slumped, rubbing the bridge of his nose.]

She wants a fight. I'm almost certain of that. And we are not prepared.

[insertdadjoke]

Hard to miss that one, yeah. Worst part is that it's the vocal minority, yet we're all beholden to their actions — or threat of action, as the case may be — anyway. Not that there's anything we can do about that part.

[ It's either they work together in some, mishmashed capacity or completely fall apart and simply act as independent interests. Neither is really that great of an option. ]

That's why we're sharing information like this. Even if you wouldn't get anywhere with her, it isn't going to be hard to convince her we're all acting on our own in reaction to our own. It wouldn't work forever, but we probably still have a trick or two up our sleeves before we really start to get stonewalled.

[ Cain dips his head at the last part. ]

No, we're not. Even with that month of warning beforehand, I doubt there was enough time to bolster ourselves. She's on our home turf, but still has the advantage.

[purered]

I am not as worried about her retaliation against the foreigners as much as I am concerned that she will go after the citizens.

[Klaus stood now, pacing anxiously.]

You're right about the lot of it. We're divided. We need a plan of action. But before that, we need intel. We have many people here of various abilities - on an individual level the Justicar and her troops are both outnumbered and outclassed. Our problem is a lack of unity and that will cost us dearly if she chooses to strike.

[He stopped in his pacing, and began to vocalize his mental checklist.]

Where are her reinforcements? They have to be close by. She cannot hope to take Keeliai with a few dozen men without the element of surprise. What are they using to communicate? Have we the resources to locate the frequency and break into it? What is her actual goal?

[He made a low rumble of frustration, burying his hand in his hair. If Chain and Gilbert were here, the Justicar would have no secrets. If Steven were here, the negotiations wouldn't have been as costly. He knew there was nothing he could do about it, but Libra worked well because they were a team. On his own, Klaus was just a rather intelligent fighter.]

[insertdadjoke]

While that's a distinct possibility, the fact of the matter is that we've never claimed to be working with the citizens and they have every right to denounce us for their actions. If the Justicar is interested in a peaceful facade for any length of time, she won't be pursuing that for a while yet. She's safe where she is right now; hopefully whatever end she means to achieve can't be done all in one visit.

[ Cain watches Klaus, appearing rather calm for the situation. ]

This isn't as simple as all that. They've tried once and failed to take over and unless she's got a larger contingent hidden just beyond our sight, it's more likely that this is intended as a sort of reconnaissance or ground-laying. We should talk to the techs we have around to see if there's anything we can discern going on with another frequency, but it's entirely possible they're operating with more old fashioned communication if she's speaking with anyone she hasn't brought with her.

[purered]

You're right.

[He sagged a bit, and removed his spectacles to rub at the bridge of his nose.]

I apologize- I am assuming the worst. I cannot imagine why she'd leave the bodies out on display as anything but an act to provoke aggression, however. If only to see where we are weak.

[insertdadjoke]

[ He shakes his head. ]

Fear tactics can sometimes be so ingrained into a culture, especially military culture, that there is the possibility — however distant — that she was showing confidence in her own leadership rather than trying to provoke us. Something to cow us with how easily she found and dispatched people who tried crossing her. Now there's simply no way to tell if that was her original intent or not; she wouldn't claim anything that wouldn't make her appear in control from the start.

[purered]

That much is certain, yes.

My concern is that this is a lot of trouble to go through for some deserters. You would think that the Chihuelan Empire would try to negotiate the return of these soldiers before sending an envoy to collect.

What is she after? Do these deserters, perhaps, have information that poses them as a risk to the Empire that they must be apprehended like this?

[insertdadjoke]

Almost definitely. They have whatever orders they were originally issued that were presumably never met, and then they ran from their government rather than simply take the price of failure. There was a lot more going on for everything we missed during that year.

As for specifics... we don't really have a way of telling. Not as we currently stand. We do know she's willing to run us dry and not actually intent on keeping any of her promises if given a chance to watch how desperate we are on smaller matters.

[purered]

And I suspect she'd be keen on making us very desperate. I expect she will maneuver things in order to force our hand before we're ready.

I can't shake the feeling she's looking for a fight. She has... no respect for the people here.

[insertdadjoke]

No respect, yet they came to try and take over anyway. Deign to attempt peaceful communication first, even if it's more of an ultimatum than anything. They likely don't want to risk their own people, the ones who won't defect... or won't be given the chance.

[purered]

The Kedan are already doing a fair bit more than grumbling. If they are not careful, things could go very badly for all involved.

[insertdadjoke]

The kedan, at least, have the families to worry about if they act up. No one wants this to go poorly, but our occupiers aren't making it easy.

[purered]

It's a frightening thought to be sure. Even with my limited knowledge of this place, there has been more than enough bloodshed. I will continue to watch them, but endeavor not to overtly antagonize them.

[insertdadjoke]

Which is basically what we should all be doing. [ He runs a hand through his hair, and idle motion, before he settles once again. ]</small. It's not easy, but they've yet to do anything to the natives or even the foreigners, and I'd really like for us to not be the instigators of any sort of violent incident.

[purered]

No, and I don't feel it's our place to start a conflict that will, ultimately, effect the Kedan. They have agreed to allow the Justicar to conduct her business in their city. However, the moment she oversteps her bounds, we should be prepared.