#16 by Carnifex

The Gunpowder Regret was, like most of the station after the initial mess had been cleaned up, almost unscathed by the change in administration of Deshima. Carnifex sat again at the bar nursing an untouched drink with an expression as though he were very seriously evaluating the existance of the grime on all the surfaces in the Regret.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were almost disappointed that Liberty didn't come charging up into Shikkoku to attack you when you refused to give them those names," said Charles, the bartender, as he ferried a number of empty glasses back and forward nearby. The Gunpowder Regret was almost empty at this hour.
"Hmm?" mumbled Carni as he came out of his reverie, "Well... there is still time," he said with a sly smile, "and even if they don't then at least Grayson ended up with a shiny new leash and I have managed to achieve something."
"You?!" said Charles, "The way I hear the story it was more like chance than anything you planned. It's not like you had anything to do with the bounties or Grayson accepting them," he said dismissively as he cleaned a particularly dirty glass with a cloth.
Carnifex, hunched over the bar, looked up at him and raised an eyebrow knowingly. Charles' cloth began to move slower and slower before coming to an eventual stop as he turned to look Carnifex full in the eyes, as though sizing him up. His expression slowly gained a surprised note to it.
"You... you offered to pay that Merc... the secret client..." his voice trailed off.
Carnifex simply shook his head slowly in response to the last part and smiled a rare broad smile that showed a missing tooth or two.
"The Empire of the Rising Sun has its roots in the Blood Dragons, the Blood Dragons have been partners in crime with the GC for all of living memory. There aren't many real internal threats to the Empire any more. Most of the Deshima League's contracts are now in the Border World systems; it wouldn't hurt to have some... fresh meat," said Carni.
The bartender seemed thoughtful. "You're playing a dangerous game with the station that my bar is on mate," he finally said with a chuckle, "You're lucky that Stuttgart started to go up in flames when it did."
"Perhaps. None the less my plan paid off in some small degree, and there's still time for more side effects as yet i think. As for Deshima; ideas about placing a few of our pilots at strategic locations elsewhere around Sirius have been on the table for a while. Furthering our practical reach of influence can only do us some good."
"Well Ames would be a start I'd say," Charles said.
"You have a talent for stating the obvious," Carnifex replied sourly, "and perhaps soon I will be going back there but for the moment the League needs more secluded locations, places that will be well out of sight for the most part. The Hawaii or Planet Harris..."
After a pause Carnifex continued, "Have you been to Ibaraki Station in Kanto before?"
"Me? No, I'm just a bartender remember."
Carnifex began to look more thoughtful again, "Me either."