Jupiter listened solemnly, nodding along as if he shared Vulban's distress. The concepts of leadership and dictatorship and dystopia would have been entirely foreign to him a year ago, but now he understood some of them, to some extent. The prison had a chain of command, and he'd heard some of the guards griping about it. the especially-loud ones didn't last very long. He'd even had his own taste of war, since that was what his crimes had been described as: war crimes of killing civilians. He still found it curious that one could be tried under laws that he did not have a reference to understand, but the whole thing had been a sham, anyway: just a legal hurdle for those who wanted his homestead, which he was informed would be taken from him to help pay for his crimes.

Still, though, these things were largely over his head: translated into odd unintelligible explanations or left raw for him to try to understand in that way. Warfare was to him the fighting of many battles, surrender the flagging of old age. Much of what Vulban said made little sense, but Jupiter hoped that he had gleaned the main points. Better to be sure, though; for all he knew, those words changed the entire meaning of the story.

"Your loved one is dead, and you wish to avenge her. Your people are losing their things, and you wish to protect it." He brought his head down again; it was unfortunate that his comrade was attached to the wall where he was, as that was normally where Jupiter would place his neck if he were to sit in one position for a long time, and all of this uncomfortable movement was making him a bit sore. "This does not make sense to me, though. Is not your loved one dead? You should mourn her. Did not your people send you here? Then it seems folly to return to them to protect them." Not that he had a better suggestion, and he realized that maybe he was being obtuse and insensitive, but he also didn't want to see this fellow return here if he were to once escape, and that seemed the logical conclusion of his actions. What good was fighting for someone who was dead? "Or do they still have your loved one's body? Or can your race be resuscitated?" It made sense if that were true, because at least he would get something from his fighting. But if not, how would anyone benefit from avenging a dead person?

"Regardless, I shall do all in my power to buy your freedom. I hope you will not waste it. Surely my wife and child would like to meet you."