"You know, the worst thing is I don't even disagree with what she's doing?"

It should be impossible for a snake to pace, but Dyssia is managing it. Up and down the window, occasionally glancing out the window at the gleaming planet below them, and then back at her friends as if she expects to be scolded.

It's like, she's been lectured about this before, right, during her training in ? You're expected to be dignified, and stately, and have your thoughts composed, and roll with the punches, and not do that thing where your hands talk as much as your mouth without you telling them to do that?

It's nice to be with friends, whether or not that sentence ends with 'who don't care' or 'who don't know better.'

"It's like, the thought of your body just, you know, up and crapping out on you one day, for no other reason than because some virus disagreed with your liver and you wore out is, is, is horrifying, right? So Cash Money, bringing that to these people, good thing?

"But doing it the sneaky way is just. It's like, you could appear in whatever town square you like, say 'who wants to not die,' and have people lining up. She's doing it to people who'd sign up for it anyway, but wants to control, wants to force it on them. She's--what's the phrasing?--she's feeling good about herself instead of helping people, if that makes sense. She's not willing to give it out on their terms, because that would mean thinking of them as people, as equals. She's treating them like a project, as objects, as things that will be ever-so-grateful for her help and worship her feet as a demigod for her kindness and mercy."

The Argumentative Portuguese. She wishes she knew what they called themselves, if for no other reason than, you know, distinguishing herself mentally from the other Azura. Meaningless, except it isn't.

"The only reason to side with the Generous Knight over Cash Money is that it'd be [i]easy.[/i] I already have an in with her, I'm a friend of a friend, I could probably talk her over, get her to put in some supply requests for us, get us gone nice and simple. I don't [i]wanna,[/i] though, because she's an asshole. She's technically correct, in that uplifting the Portuguese will cause a lot of short-term problems in terms of, whoops, all our supply and medical issues just got solved and now whatever power structures the Azura like are going to calcify into a terrifying cancer-clump of abuse.

"But she's [i]also[/i] only doing it because she wants a fight that will be entertaining. She could sweep in and crush them right now without a thought, and that's not fun. Better to let them die by the millions if it means she doesn't have to wait to sweep in and crush them later on. Because let's be real, the Portuguese aren't winning this militarily--the only reason they haven't been subsumed already is because the Azure Skies aren't threatened by them enough to care. If they actually fought and [i]won[/i] against old Genny, they'd be a target for every aggrieved knight and minor noble looking to make a name for themselves."

Like us, she very carefully does not say.

"The Synnefo is a non-starter. Just, no. He'll be polite and obsequious and oh-so-willing to help, but of course madames will understand that he cannot help just one of us, and somehow in the conversation you'll be back in the ship, feeling grateful that he's here while also having been given homework out of it. He's going to be neutral. He might [i]care[/i] about whether Cash Money or the Generous Knight come out on top, but he's never going to let it show, and he's certainly never going to help us over them.

"The only lever he [i]has[/i]--thank you Brightberry, this information is incredibly helpful--is that pack of rogue Ceronians. It occurs to me that if we could incorporate them into ourselves--Ember, you're Ceronian liason duty, you'd know whether that works or not--we could simultaneously remove a threat to the Portuguese, ingratiate ourselves with the person in charge of supplies, and also bulk ourselves up slightly in case of any fighting we need to do.

"So, two options as I see it. Option one: bribe NBX-462 by taking care of his Ceronian problem. Option two: try to support Cash Money and, in so doing, make the process more aligned with the desires of the people on-planet. Option one is gonna cause less problems for us long-term, but I think I'm slightly leaning option two."