Sic Semper Tyrannis

alternatively send ‘ + ‘ after the symbol for the roles to be reversed where possible !

"It's more .. like the things I do step in at.. have to reach a certain scale before I do so. I do directly intervene sometimes, but it's often at the much larger level. The structural level. Because that's where most of my responsibilities lie. That's where most of my focus needs to be dedicated to. Being in the midst of mortal squabbles .. isn't really where I need to be throwing my weight around. I do sympathize nevertheless with some of the struggles that are undertaken. I don't begrudge anyone for wanting to fight for a better version of existence for them and theirs."

As for his position, they aren't going to disagree with him - as for most within his lifespan, within his position, perhaps that is the better role to take.

"You have your role to play. If you catch yourself on the small details you would be missing the larger image."

It made sense. What they did was important, obviously it was. And societies of sapient beings were still but a small percentage of the universe as a whole. As much as he could get singularly focused on his own mission he wasn't foolish enough not to understand the importance of the structure of the very place they all lived in.

"I have seen that play out time and time again." It's something that has frustrated them so many times, but trying to force a different outcome - they had seen the impact of that too.

And that also doesn't work.

It's all kind of .. irritating if Atieno thinks about it for long enough.

"Never mind it. So you do see yourself as an outsider without much stake in things, but still you sympathize." He looked up, thinking. He was trying to get a read on their stance.

"That joke is quite dated. But I suppose you too enjoy reminiscing about your youth." Don't act like you weren't there too at the time, Bishop.

Despite not being one for small talk, he would have kept up the conversation for the sake of buying time. The truth was he had jumped headfirst into this without fully knowing what he was getting himself into and, despite his superior strength, they were at an impasse.

So it was time for Bishop to do what he did best and run from the problem. The considerable drop wasn't much of a concern, one of their jets was surely tailing the ship from way below them.

"I have no interest in leaving the atmosphere. Perhaps I should take my leave now." Or rather tailgate out of there. "I was looking to gauge your interest in keeping outside influences from meddling in this planet's affairs, but I may be better off inquiring others in this city about it."

He felt he didn't need to add more to that.

"You come to steal my ship and now you want help? You have quite a way of recruiting allies!"

He couldn't be blamed too much for not being in the mood for negotiating after this encounter. But maybe there was common ground to be had if some more conquest-motivated aliens decided to come around. As it stood, the influences just being from outside earth wasn't enough to sway him. He did marry an alien, after all.

Honestly, he'd be glad to have Bishop gone so why not speed his exit along a little?

Raisu held out a hand, palm facing forward.

"Let me see you out. Give your fighter pilot my regards."

He paused as he considered something.

"Despite not being much of a frequent flier myself, it's clear to me there are quite a few threats lurking out there. We already deal with the ones hiding around the globe and I can only do so much with our current technology."

It was a sentence he had been repeating quite a few time over the years. But even with all the technological breakthroughs, getting his hands on a functioning spaceship would have advanced their research more than any relict ever could.

Besides, it'd look amazing next to the rest of their equipment. But of course, he never had much luck with that before and he didn't seem any closer to subverting that trend now. Bishop had kinda bet everything on them staying at least within the atmosphere while climbing up there. This could complicate things.

In fairness though, their ship did originate from off-planet, so this was alien technology they were dealing with here. It was ironically also stolen, but that didn't mean they were going to let someone else steal it from them.

"You are so concerned about continuing our talk? I should be flattered! But I think we both are too busy to sit around and chat much longer."

Studying Bishop didn't give him much information in the way of tells for whether he was bluffing. He had that government agent brand poker face about him.

Atieno couldn't help but give a bit of a small chuckle at his statement.

"But if they actually considered the full consequences of their actions we wouldn't have the mess we have. Their self-absorption will be their downfall."

His problem was that he was hanging out there like an idiot. But being a part of the authority, albeit a rather uninterested one, it was no surprise they disagreed there.

But Bishop was certainly impressed as well. While his body could resist a while without oxygen, he hadn't expected Raisu to resist that long as well.

"Agent Bishop." he corrected, "I'm not looking to impress. I'm merely saving both of us some time."

Good manners got boring after a few hundred years, as his behavior suggested. At last, Bishop managed to lift his leg over the edge and carefully hauled himself up and over it, before shifting to sit so he could take a moment to rest.

"Perhaps I'm curious to see how long you can resist in these conditions before you agree to a diplomatic solution." More like a complete surrender. "And you might want to think twice about tossing me about like you did with my subordinates. The moment I am gone, we will shoot you off the sky and, I assure you, we have enough to keep trying for a good while."

He felt more like a sassy brat than a scary agent, but it was hard to look the part in his current position.

He wasn't even going to question what possible reasoning was behind the idea that stealing a ship from pirates was in the interest of the entire planet. As far as he was concerned, any reason Bishop could give would just be a bunch of meaningless malarkey.

"But you are saying we're at a standstill. If you are trying to wait this out you may be disappointed by how long you have to wait."

He didn't know the mechanics of whatever was causing Bishop to still be conscious right now, but he knew in his own case that he had the ability to survive in space.

"If that was the case, roughly a quarter of this country's population would be superpowered."

And, he would argue, that was a blessing. What, however, was most concerning was that Bishop seemed to appreciate the humor.

"Oh, it's quite simple if you sleep plenty and remember to take your vitamins."

Both things he was known not to care about, but they were there to speak nonsense anyway. Still, Bishop was trying to get himself up and over the edge. He wasn't expecting to be able to stand back up under that much pressure, but he'd take it over staying there with his ass hanging in the air like that.

"Nevertheless, that would be a man native to this planet. The name's Bishop. You can skip the introductions."

That's what would be a blessing, in his opinion. Swift and immediate karmic retribution for all those people against those who wanted them dead. And while he didn't know much about Bishop specifically, he had seen enough to get the impression he was not exempt from needing to be knocked down a peg.

And why did he get the impression that 'native to this planet' comment went beyond just being proud of one's home. Raisu would always be fond of earth as his home, but looking at his crew, he obviously didn't share Bishop's extreme distrust for people from outside it.

"I hope you don't think you are special for knowing my name, Mr. Bishop. Half the galaxy has probably heard it at this point."

Hmm. They had already reached an altitude where people shouldn't be able to breathe, and yet here Bishop was not only lucid, but engaging in physical activity. Honestly at this point Raisu was considering just yeeting him off the ship.

[x]

Indeed, Atieno had a way of coming and going as needed throughout the universe. Of course, there were moments where they tended to be more cautious with certain locations than others because of previous experiences. But as the kind of entity they were, they knew that they had a presence that could result in them manifesting likely anywhere possible.

The sight of a starship battle was a fairly ordinary sight as far as they were concerned. They didn't have enough immediate context as to the battling parties involved - which is partially why they wanted to speak with Raisu.

"I see. Did you have any notion as to why they had been fighting? Just curious..."

His lips curled upwards in a mischievous smile at the question. That insinuated a 'yes' before he even opened his mouth to speak.

"I may have had something to do with it. They are so paranoid, always wanting a scapegoat. It doesn't take a lot to have them at each other's throats. They forget or they were originally after."