"One moment Lieutenant, I'd like to respond first"
he looks at Erica and holds his hands up in a placatory gesture
"I fully accept your tactical assessment of what will happen if our companies get into conflict. Doing so is in neither of our interests. I also acknowledge that, where possible, you have attempted to minimise wounds to troops and focus on equipment, and that there are forces outside of your direct control, such as some the local factions who have no such qualms. My comment about training was not meant to be accusatory, just a poorly worded attempt to try and define what we mean by no action between our units. I apologise."
he pauses
"It is true that I have been pro-active in my interpretation of a protection detail in a few cases. When it came to the pirates, I felt that an unstable Inchin would be putting the delegates in danger, particularly if there was a loss of power at the mansion. The SEMC could react quicker than the guard, and to be honest I had no confidence that the guard would actually be able to win. We took a unit of guard with us to provide legal credibility and let them save face that it was the SEMC that solved the issue not them, nothing more. As for tonight, I had two reasons. The first was to ensure that the opposition gained no additional weaponry to continue the assault on the mansion, which certainly puts the delegation in danger. The second reason was that I was sick of seeing the guard suffer for their officers continued incompetence. If the SEMC was meant to be a QRF for the guard then we wouldn't be having this conversation." he sighs "As for the accusation of training...the officers won't even heed the warnings I give them when they send their troops into an ambush, so there is certainly nothing they wish to learn from us. Major, you know what happened on Collace. You were at the Bartizan, you saw the run-in with Captain Smith. The SEMC is certainly no Imperial patsy, although we have imperial and non-imperial citizens amongst our troops and our current client is pro-imperial I will admit. I have simply been trying to make the best decisions I can to protect the delegation in a complicated and volatile situation. Perhaps trying the save the lives of the guard was a mistake, but I have seen enough pointless death recently. I have no doubt that the locals plan for regime change will be coming to fruition in the next few days. Depending on the form that change takes then it may, or may not, put the delegates at risk, and if it does then I am bound to defend them. I can see how my attempts at humanitarian aid for the guardsmen could be interpreted as supporting the current regime, and it won't happen again. Only a fool would send their troops out again, and I am tired of supporting fools, intentionally or not. If those in charge of the uprising do not place the delegation in danger then the SEMC will not get involved. But if they plan to assault the mansion, then they had better be very careful in how they do it."
He looks over towards Jakob
"I'm done, so say your piece Lieutenant"
