YSS Eucharis - Bridge
There was a pleased feeling which Helen had upon being asked to carry out her primary duty, even though all she had to deliver was bad news. "Occhestians in proper are not to be confused with the New Tur'lista which are Occhestians which were loyal to the Matriarchy. If I recall properly, Shosho, you were there for the split which took place between the Occhestians and the Matriarchy, so some of this may be old hat, but it is still vital to present the whole picture." Helen started, as her synthetic mind worked quickly on just how to word her continued speech without offending the Shosho, it was a little difficult for the woman which took pleasure in speaking bluntly, without softening her point with tact.
"Shosho, I'm sure you know the superficial reasons behind the split. However, the internal politics were a bit more complex. While the Tur'lista cover-up regarding your actions with the Lorath queen were a flashpoint, it merely was an excuse." Helen explained. "Matriarchy information indicates that the Occhestians prepared for their move from nearly the very moment that their representative aboard their first exploration ship returned home dead after then-Taisa Rufus Sydney executed him prior to holding Lor at gunpoint." On the matter of the conquest, there was something of a smile on the corner of Helen's lips... it was a memory of old times, nostalgic ways which were ingrained into her.
"After the royals met with Emperor Uesu, while the ink was still drying upon the Matriarchy's agreement to be part of the Empire, the Occhestians began to buy out large quantities of ships, equipment, and weapons under the guise of the purchases being intended for reverse engineering for the benefit of the Matriarchy as a whole. Many of those purchases were carried out by the leader of the Occhestians, 'Truth'." Helen explained, she felt it was becoming a bit of a history lesson, but, the reason why she was going on was going to become apparent, eventually.
"Truth went about silently organizing his revolt, building mobile space-worthy colony structures, amassing a small armada of ships purchased from the Empire, and ships built by Occhestian assets funded by the Matriarchy. When the split took place, the Occhestians took enough with them to essentially put together an interstellar power, right out of the gate. Truth's intent, was to build a Republic which would have the exclusive purpose of functioning separate of the Matriarchy, and the Empire, which were one in the same at that time... mostly though, the intent was to escape Yamataian rule." Helen's history lesson was just getting to the juicy part... but also the murky part.
Helen continued, as she began to explain current events "I was beginning the extraction phase of my mission in Lorath space when the Matriarchy encountered the Occhestians. First sign of the Occhestians even surviving their escape came in the form of an assassin which took a shot at the Lorath queen. An expedition was sent north in a response, which uncovered the presence of the Occhestian settlements which we are aware of. Though, that was about all that was made available to the United Outer Colonies which trickled through to the Empire as common intelligence."
"Even under cover, the information about what happened after that was sketchy, and it was intentionally meant to be kept quiet by the Matriarchy. I do not have all the information, but, the Matriarchy discovered two distinctive Occhestian groups, a group of Matriarchy sympathetic Occhestians which had come into power in the Occhestian Republic, and a group of extremists which were heavily opposed to resuming contact with the Matriarchy, and were responsible for the attempted assassination of the Lorath queen. Last that I heard, Shosho, the Matriarchy sent out a task force to the area and established peaceful relations with the Occhestian Republic. Though, not a word about the extremists before I departed Matriarchy space." Helen concluded her history lesson with what she was aware of, before moving onto the next point of interest.
"As for equipment, from what I am aware of, the Occhestians were last seen using knock-offs of our ships, along with their own designs. Their weapons are mostly meson based. There is no reason to assume that they have not continued to refine their designs much as the Matriarchy has over the years. Also, they do have a tradition of functioning using covert methods and advanced tactics. That is an overview of what I know about the Occhestians at this time, Shosho." Helen concluded, as she felt like she may have given something of a long-winded report, but, it was relevant to the situation.
