Chapter Three (Closure)

[Aria Blackthorn]

Suki’s smile only grew as she listened to Adrian, “listen,” she said softly when it was her time to speak. “I know you don’t truly know Comstar. At least not like I do.” She paused a moment and thought about her words. “When Precentor Karimi and the rest of his Comstar Explore Corps came to my world, there was great suffering, there had been war between the colonies. The central government lacked the ability to end the suffering or conflicts. In one year, Precentor Karimi brought a lot of that suffering under control. Acting as a negotiator, he was able to do things that no one from any of our colonies could do. He brought about not just peace, but change. Real change!”

“I know he is not a God,” she said then paused. A smiled crossed her lips as a funny thought crossed her mind. “Despite what some more remote colonies thought of him. But he was a remarkable man. The kind of guy that you would…..well, for me, leave my homeworld and follow in to a wide open unknown galaxy.”

She fell silent for a moment then laughed a bit, “it’s funny. I remember the last time I was with him. We were in the mech bay of the Prince of Wales. He was talking to me about our journeys through my home system and how helpful I had been as a translator. He went on talking about the future of his unit. About my future. And how together we could accomplish so much. He never really talked about himself or things he did. It was always us, as a team. His accomplishments were always ours. He never asked for the spot light even though he more than deserved it. Instead he nudged us in to it. He would let us take center stage while he would cheer our successes.” A tear started to roll down her check as she thought of her lost friends and mentor. She brushed the tear away as she turned away from Adrian.

After a moment she continued, “And as we walked I felt like there was nowhere else I wanted to be. There I was, in the shadow of this great man. As he spoke, he had this way of making you feel like the entire Inner Sphere centered on you. Like you really mattered, not just to those around you, but to something much bigger. Like you mattered to the entire Inner Sphere. You couldn’t help but want to be part of his dreams for the future.”

She turned back towards Adrian, “No, you’re wrong. They are different. One man, leading his group changed my homeworld and its colonies for the better. He saved me from a life on the streets. I don’t know what Comstar is for you, but this is what Comstar is to me. They are the people that brought an end to suffering, peace and change to my people. Comstar is the man who rescued me when no one else would.”

Before anyone could mistake what she meant, Suki reached out and took hold of Adrian’s arm. Her aim was starting to get better or maybe she was just lucky. She managed to get his arm in only two attempts. “But I also grew up on the streets. I’m not blind……um….well….you know what I mean, I am not about to run around and betray you guys either. I just want you to know what they mean to me, and why.”

[aipsylon]

Erik Agreed. "I do agree with that. We need to find out who this third party is if nothing else. In the meantime though, Kimiko, We'll give her an hour or so longer to catch up on what she has missed before we try to make contact with her. When we do we have two things to convince her of. We are friends, and we can help her in these troubled times when even family is not trustworthy." He turned to Jake. "You are the one that made this possible, so you have to be the one to sell it."

[Ice Hellion]

Not knowing how to react after Suki's declarations and her holding his arm, Adrian tried to focus on the situation.

Suki, I don't think this is the right time to speak about whether or not I trust ComStar or believe in them. We need to find more intel about the other group.
I still think showing up and saying that we heard a sort of phantom conversation when working on our communicators could allow us to let the big guys do the job while not showing how much we know and what we can do.

[Akirapryde]

Alice stepped forward and set down next to Suki, "Suki, I know the feeling of loyalty to something larger than yourself." She said glancing at Eric, "trust me, I know how it feels. But Adrian is right. This is not the time nor the place for this conversation."

She turned to Adrian, "The legendary author of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote that 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' Regardless of impossible or not, the fact is without question. We are in the past, nothing else can be the truth. While I can't explain how this came to pass, it is the truth."

She then turned to Eric, "As this is true. And because of factors outside of our control, the past has already been affected. Then I must suggest that this be the last time any of us mention this fact. As Adrian has pointed, there is a unknown faction employing information gathering tactics. We do not know who effected the past, for what ends, and how they will take our sudden arrival."

She paused a moment before turning to Jack, "I agree with Eric, you are our single most valuable resource. As we saw, Kimiko has just become thrust in to the center of a power struggle on her homeworld. It is unlikely that she is prepared for this." As she continued she motioned to Eric, "as outsiders we can be the best to help, as Eric pointed out." She lowered her hand, "but be warned. It is clear that loyalties here run much deeper than the surface indicates. Take the conversation between this Kat person and the Sho Sho. There is something between them that is cause for strife, but they put that aside for a loyalty to something else."

She paused one last moment before speaking, "we are moving in to shifting sands. I think helping Kimiko at this time would be our best course of action, if only for the short term future. However, there is a warning to be respected. This world has become a hot bed of conflict between factions, both on world and off. The only people, I truly think we can trust are those within this room at this very moment."

After that statement she realized that the party's leader, Captain Thorchan Eraden was no where to be seen. She choose not to correct her statement considering his strange behavior since they awoke.

In a final statement she turned back to Eric, "these are my thoughts." Alice leaned back in her chair and waited for others to speak.

[Ice Hellion]

Still turning around in his chair.

And we can come with a new target for them to focus on.
Maybe Kimiko is the best point of entry.

[aipsylon]

Erik continued to wait for Jake's input before continuing on to make any kind of decision

[CarcerKango]

(OOC: Already gave my input )

[Akirapryde]

(OOC: Okay, so I got a feel for what everyone is doing. Eric, if you could give me the final orders of who will be doing what. I want to make sure we are on the same sheet of music)

[Ice Hellion]

(OOC: Okay, so I got a feel for what everyone is doing. Eric, if you could give me the final orders of who will be doing what. I want to make sure we are on the same sheet of music)

[OoC: Since when do we play music? ]

[aipsylon]

(OOC: Jake is going to go to Kimiko to try to convince her that she needs her own people around her and to sell us as those people due to our neutrality in that respect, the rest of us are going to go trough historical articles from the noteputer, and articles from this time to find out what is different.