Delos Dealings
(Ellera POV)
You woke up to the sound of crying again. "Always hungry…at least when she's older she can feed herself."
You groaned and turned over to see Eve trying to look around her crib, and you thanked god that the bars were titanium.
You knew it was cheaper then replacing the crib every time she broke it. Taking off your shirt and making sure your pants where actually on this time…you held her in your arms as she greedily began to drink from your breast.
"Ohh. enjoy that feeling…your probably going to get obsessed with it when your older." You said calmly.
It was nice to just lay in bed and wait…it wasn't like you were sleeping well anyway.
Your psionics were making the comforter float again and you had to deal with the cold…but you were lucky it was summer anyhow.
"Guess I'm really trying to keep an eye on you again aren't I?" You said as Eve continued to ignore you.
"At least I'm not going to send you to military school." You finished as you burped her and rocked her.
"Director-General!! DIRECTOR-GENERAL!" An Aide rushed in as Eve began to cry.
"And just like that…the moment is gone." You said.
"What?" You said.
"The Delos League…their demanding an audience." He said.
Great…politics. Now Delos had a new top bitch at the wheel this is great…now one of them can act insufferable.
"I'll deal with it…I was going to wake up early anyway." You said.
You were right about him being insufferable…so you decided to ignore decorum and just…be yourself.
You looked at the Fist Citizen of the Delos League and simply continued to breastfeed your child.
"Are you going to acknowledge me in a more proper way?" He said.
"No...Listen I was supposed to be on Maternity leave and you came here demanding my attention...I'm only acknowledging you here and letting you see me as a diplomatic courtesy." You said.
"Can you put a shirt on please?" He said.
"No.." You said.
"Well can you at least give the courtesy to at least humor what I am requesting?" He said.
You yipped a little bit as Eve kept drinking.
"Let me guess? Military and Trade access?" You guessed.
"Shipwright access actually...my Fleet is rather indisposed." He said.
Ahh, so he was fighting someone else's war for political favor...how dull. At least have some ambition with it.
"You know as well as I do that you need us. And now that Deimos is finally united, you can no longer refuse the deals you aren't interested in, and go another city state", He continued, " You will either trade with us on our terms, or not at all."
This was aggressive. Why was he being so aggressive when his own fleet was indisposed? Something was off about... all of this. You couldn't help but feel you were going to be ending up solving his problems for him, one way or the other.
You took a second and answered, "How is your Fleet doing against The Antarian Pirate League...its quite a handful that Grand Admiral Telos has to deal with." You said.
"I have full confidence in his abilities Lady Ellera." He said brashly.
"Then why the hell do you need my shipwright for the situation unless of course, your own Shipwrights are...feeling undercut...your economy can take the hit but that makes you look bad." You said.
"I don't think you understand our situation." He said.
You paused as you waited for him to continue. Obviously, he wouldn't be able to maintain this war effort as soon as it turned into a war of attrition, but you wanted to hear how he would pretty up his own circumstances..
and you wait for him to respond... wand waited.. until you realized he wasn't going to respond.. no, not quite that, he was responding, just with an insipid smirk that was already pissing you off.
"Well?", you could only ask in confusion. Was there something more to this?
"Well what? Lady Ellera? you will have to be more clear than that"
Was this really how he was getting his revenge? Such a petty man.
"What in the world is your situation, where you would rather hire my capacity rather than your own shipwrights"
"Well, which part do you want to hear, Lady Ellera, the piece of the puzzle that is causing me headaches?"
and then he paused, looked you right in the eye, and gave the biggest shit eating grin before continuing (The bastard!), "Or do you want to know about the section of this whole debacle that is about to become your problem?"
You paused as you waited for him to continue... until he didn't... no, he was responding, just with an insipid smirk that was already pissing you off.
"Well?"
"Well what? Lady Ellera? you will have to be more clear than that"
Was this really how he was getting his revenge? Such a petty man.
"What in the world is your situation, where you would rather hire me than your own shipwrights"
"Well, which part do you want to hear, Lady Ellera, the piece of the puzzle that is causing me headaches?"
and then he paused, looked you right in the eye, and gave the biggest shit eating grin before continuing (The bastard!), "Or do you want to know about the section of this whole debacle that is about to become your problem?"
"I hardly think that any part of this could become my problem"
"Well, I am going to have to seek for help from somewhere. And didn't you know, there is some chaos happening out in the border regions. Lots of pirates being pushed out. Lots-"
"Pirates. You are seriously considering inviting pirates to supplement your forces? Surely you can't be that foolish-"
and you see it in his eyes. No, he is not this foolish, but this is a political stratagem. Someone is forcing him to fight this war and that someone is severely going to regret forcing him to adopt these measures... but still.
"At best.. these pirates are wasted in your war... but more likely, they will lose some men, flee the field, and become a menace for both you and me. And surely you can't afford that, not with your silly war going on, can you?"
He just smiled ambiguously, before finally responding, "Of course not even you understand the changes in the Edge of the Perseus Arm do you...why should you, you've been dealing with your own problems for years, not thinking of the issues of the Barbarian's at the gate." He said.
Oh...Oh.
You never did do an outer Periphery Threat Assessment.
How careless of you.
And now you had someone who not only knew exactly what was out there... but also could potentially use forces from that region reliably.
This was not good.
You responded vaguely, "Well, I'm sure that whatever surprises-"
He cut in, "Lady Ellera, you and I both would rather not take this option. Such a... blunt instrument is really not worth taking out here; not when I am sure we can come to a fair deal on our own. I don't hate you... not yet. The Deimos league can still have a fruitful and positive relationship with your empire. "
At least the first citizen of Deimos wasn't a loose cannon.... but you couldn't help but suddenly feel as if he had the potential to pull out a navy rivaling the size of yours if he ever needed to...
No... that was downplaying things, wasn't it. It didn't need to just be naval forces.
He could be hiding anything from you about what was in the Periphery.
And that... the unknown... scared you.
As you looked back at Eve, you realized that, especially now, The Unknown Terrified you.
And the man across from you may have it on speed dial.
"Fuck..." You said. "I expect payment in full, follow all trade guidelines."
"But of course..." He said as he sent the E-Treaty to your screen and you signed it.
"Now can I go back to bed..." You said.
"Go fuck yourself Director-General." He said.
"Believe me I will...and you will never get this ass because you're a bottom." You said.
Reward: You have full knowledge of the Delos League's Troop and Fleet movements for Three Turns, and will gain a massive amount of AP, once the time is right.
However, the Delos League has access to your shipyards and technology for Three turns.
Dark things lurk in the Periphery...and they are hiding it from you.
AN: Thank you anon, and now I give you allies, people to looking to meet and...
Plot Threads! LOTS OF PLOT THREADS!