[b][I]William Windsor and his Crew - Flashback[/i][/b]

[hider=The Mothership Queen Elizabeth]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/LlPD7E1.jpg[/img]
[i]Imagine the Ship as Green and Gold[/i]
[/hider]

If the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet had a homeworld, it was not one dedicated to production or commerce. If the various trading flotillas flying under the Windsor Banner had a place to put down roots, it was not in a place where its glories or that of Humanity's were preached, but rather in the site of its greatest failure of judgement. For William Windsor, like his mother and grandfather before him, had chosen to set up shop in the orbit of Gill'home, the homeworld of the Gill species, now restored to its former glory after the Ascendancy's Xenocide.

As he walked the green-and-gold corridors of his mothership, Queen Elizabeth, William Windsor thought about how despite the reparations the Autonomous Fleet had given the Gill, the cycle of revenge was still turning - Maybe it would never be stopped by anything he can do, maybe the GIll would still hate him and other Humans as a species no matter how much they strove for atonement.

And as William Windsor pressed the button opening the observation deck, seeing Gill'home's perfect azure globe of blue waters, the Master Trader thought to himself that he didn't care a whit about whether his family's attempts to atone for the Ascendancy's crimes would stop the cycle of revenge or not. What mattered was that they followed their conscience instead of losing themselves in the quest for money and power like the rest of the Ascendancy's rich and powerful - They had chosen to be outcasts despite their wealth and defiantly flaunted their status as outsiders to those offended. Even the attire he wore, a green silken suit capped off by a flowing silver cape, was outlandish and anachronistic enough that the 'real' elites back in the Core Worlds would scoff in disgust.  

And he was fine with that, really. 

What he wasn't fine with, however, was facing the intelligent and intimidating Grand Admiral Alexander Kherol, a man not easily daunted or decived by the equivalent of cheap parlor tricks or displays of wealth. He knew he cannot defeat the man easily, if at all, yet a clash between their opposing visions was inescapable, inevitable. And Windsor knew his vision was worth fighting for, even if, he thought as he looked around the observation deck, he had to fight for it - 

"You are not alone," Elizabeth Windsor's voice cut through the silence, as the aging woman, Windsor's mother, entered the room. "William, none of the Autonomous Fleet's leaders ever acted alone or with only sycophants and blind minions - You don't need to start doing the former."

Dressed in a gown of Imperial Purple, a woolen pink shawl draped on her shoulders, Elizabeth Windsor seemed physically weak, but her son knew better to underestimate the wisdom she held or disaparge her kindness. Nevertheless as she placed her arm on his shoulder, William Windsor dared to doubt as he responded, "Mother - No, Mom - You're right. But how can I be sure that the people I do have are truly with me? I bind people to me using two things - One is money and another is the shared feeling of being cast out by the closed minds of the Ascendancy's elites. And in my darker days," [i]Such as now,[/i] he thought, "I think they're mostly with me for the former and the latter is easily cast aside once the Ascendancy offers to accept them back."

Her wrinkled, but still fair, face smiling, brusing her greying hair with her other hand, Elizabeth said, "William, when I met your father, he bound me to him not by promising me riches and power, but by shared commitments, by respecting my intelligence. As long as you give them a credible cause to fight for, and respect them as people, those whom you want to fight beside you will fight like [i]lions[/i]."

She then changed the subject, "Now tell me, the boy who came to you, the boy who was so earnest... Do you trust [i]him[/i]?"

Windsor nodded and said, "Yes, I do. It all sounds so outlandish, what he said, but it's not impossible. That, and I did some investigating - He does love his parents and they actually love him. Enough to risk the regime's wrath should certain revelations come to light. I've also sent a few agents to Masser Secundus and Academy City - They've found supporting evidence there as well." Looking at his mother, the dark-skinned-blond said, "If we can act on this evidence as quickly as possible, we might stand a chance of fixing the mess Humanity has been in since the end of the Commonwealth."

A pause as he steeled himself, "Weapons, ships, troops and logistics, all are nothing if not animated by a good enough reason to use them. We must make sure that even if the Ascendancy can match us in any other way, our vision will be the breath of fresh air they lack."

Elizabeth Windsor spoke, "The Return to Democracy, the balancing of Individual and Community, and the belief that the Strong must not harm the Weak, but the Weak should not be content with staying such. And finally, coexistence. Coexistence without loss, victory without war. We will fight for that vision, my son, and that rotteness the Ascendancy represents will be cut out with a hot knife..."