I'm not sure spending who knows how long enlisted in hopes maybe they'll decide to trust you is the way to go. What happens if they send you to attack Thorne like what was done to Libertas since that's coming sooner rather than later, and that's how they decide you can prove yourself?

[ There was an attempt to mostly avoid sounding displeased before, but that resolve's failed a little since he's not about to agree this angle sounds reasonable. Never mind that so far the angle in question is entirely his own invention of where cooperating with the military could lead. It's not far of a leap, Claude thinks, and still entirely not worth it. ]

Neither of us have been here long enough to know what we're up against. They're clearly lying to us about a lot and have been all along, considering there's people who've been here much longer who still don't know the answers to any of those questions. [ Or, well - ] Or if they do, they aren't sharing them either.

[ That's too much negativity all at once and could only serve to push things further in the direction he doesn't want. Better to temper it, just a little. ]

There's other ways to accomplish the same thing without taking up the Free Cities' specific causes, even if it's a less direct route.