"To the first of many, friends!" Julen Madariaga exclaimed, clinking together with his fellow Basque nationalists a few bottles of cheep booze. "We have armed ourselves, the first step of any resistance movement - and, at the expense of the captors of our nation! We are well on our way to victory! But we need more than ammo and guns to overthrow the damn fascists - we need direction. We need allies."

Txabi Etxebarrieta nodded in agreement. "We all know the French ideal. Theirs is the path of liberty! Of course, there are still Basques in France, but at least they can talk freely in their home tongue. They can choose to move from one place to another; they are not ruled by warmongers. Hell, they're just about the only ones sensible enough to try and keep NATO together without starting fires like the Americans. That is why I suggest we go to France, and assemble together those of like minds - those who will willingly fight for Basque freedom from Franco, and Spain as a whole. We need to do this quickly - already, Franco has effectively walled off Portugal and Morocco. We must not let him isolate us from the world at large!"

One of the fellow ETA members spoke up. "But isn't France supplying Franco? After all, these are French weapons."

Julen shook his head. "They know not our plight. As Txabi said, France is trying to keep NATO together - and with good reason. They will be placed in a delicate position if a free Basque state pops up without any guarantees of NATO loyalty. They would not be supplying a fascist if the situation in Portugal was not so heated, and they certainly would support a democratic liberation movement. Nevertheless, I agree - France could choose the security of Spain over democratic values. Better to have a fascist you know will support you than a democracy that might have some ethnic claims on your lands. That's why I say we go to the French, meet up with our fellow Basques there, and adopt the Vasconia solution - compromise. Get some kind of assurance that people in the French Basque lands can still speak Basque, get assurance that they'll be treated to fair and equal democratic representation, and maybe work out something where when we eventually get our freedom, have some kind of dual-citizenship shtick for those in the Basque lands. Fuck, I'd even be open to a French protectorate while we make the transition to a democracy when all this gets over. Just so long as they don't go the American route of outlawing anything that they don't agree with."

"Amen to that." Someone from the small group speaks out, and another clink of glasses sounds in the basement. "Should still keep it pretty damn low-key though, unless they do like you said and value the Spanish stability. Don't wanna go all 'Hey, wanna help us out?' only to end up in jail or killed - or, worse, sent to Franco's police. Them fuckers will kill families out of spite, even if they don't know anything."

"Agreed." Txabi nods. "I'll go with a small, ehh, 'delegation' to the French. Julen, you'll be in charge of hosting the first ETA assembly - get everyone interested in a liberation movement together, even the expats. Get some good thinkers; Lord knows we need the direction and planning. We got the brawn." He hefted his MAT-49. "Now let's get some brain."

The ETA is hosting the first Assembly in the Basque town of Bayonne, in France. Txabi has been tasked with meeting with the French to discuss a possible compromise and relationship with the ETA over the French Basque lands, as the book Vasconia calls for. Julen has been tasked with meeting in a separate occasion with other Basque nationalists in Bayonne. This event will largely center around France, and how far they are willing to 'allow' certain events to happen (insofar as I am not breaking any rules).