Post by jadegreen on Jun 14, 2021 3:20:11 GMT
"Slow and steady always wins the race." Or, so the phrase went.
Unfortunately for a certain trio of zetyan 'diplomats', they were far too slow. Atleast, in the mind of a mr. F'ghan.
Roughly 20 minutes ago, their sloop had frac'd into the system of Tausangrool, as subtle and nuanced as a brick in it's arrival.
15 minutes ago, a flurry of intership communications between their sloop and the Gaussian ships finally discerned why they were an hour or so late to their scheduled meeting. Apparently, primitive tachyonic comm arrays tended to be a bitch when it came to arrival times.
10 minutes ago, they'd just been shuttled over to a Gaussian dreadnought stationed within the system, as everyone preparing to disembark finagled with uncomfortable neck-mounted translator modules meant for cockney backwater worlds.
5 minutes ago, the three diplomats were walking through the halls of the foreign dreadnought, the odd aesthetics and various alien species within providing a very odd melting pot of things to look at. He personally found the tuft-eared four-armed weirdos the oddest thing around.
And now, as they neared their lucky door, the captain-turned-diplomat's thoughts were racing through his head like there was a million dollar prize at the end.
The K'lvan guy, T'lajoa, even for someone of his clan he seemed rather on-edge. So much for an 'in-and-out deal', huh?
The O'vaukan chick, P'tala, they'd hardly even spoken a word since they got on. Then again, she hadn't said much at all since he met her beyond simple yes/no answers.
And himself, well, he probably-
...no, he absolutely had his heart plastered on his sleeve. He never was very good at that whole 'hiding your emotions' trick everyone had.
The meeting room's entrance, meanwhile, seemed to have dashed towards them. F'ghan couldn't help but wonder 'do i really think that hard?' as the trio prepared to enter.
The Prime minister was seated at the far end of the room conference room, reviewing the polls of the upcoming prime minister election. The room was typical of those aboard military vessels. Minimalist polished metal and ultraviolet lighting conduits designed to sterilize every surface. Only the furniture had merited some degree of aesthetic consideration, simple chrome and mesh chairs which could be folded into the floor.
"What do you mean the Socialist's leading candidate has cancelled all of her public events and went out at Marchland right before the election?"
"Madame-" The supreme galactic commander, Garo interrupted. She snapped around, letting out a snort.
"Oh... apologies..." The hoytachian began, finding her composure, rising from her seat and giving a breif bow. "I did not realize you were attending. I don't suppose your kind have the propensity for being what you would call... fashionably late. Regardless, allow me to introduce myself. I am Prime Minister Kroywen Nal Hoytachia, and this here is-"
The Cauldarion gave a bow "Supreme Galactic Commander Garo Tarongori at your service." Being an imposing individual, even by the standard of his species he was very soft spoken.
The trio, after a moment, each gave their own curt bow in return. Their host's titles didn't help their personal tension much; if anything, to them it was a twofold sign that they were in way over their heads, and that the Council really, really needed an update to their diplomat appointment policy.
At the very least, the spartan room design was a small comfort, if only because similar sparse design philosophies were present at home.
"Շ'ℓ-[T'lajoa Rt'as. Clan K'lve.]"
"ि-[F-F'ghan Y'hola. Clan Kho'thar.]"
"ค'Շ-[P'tala Wto'al, of Clan O'vauka.]"
Their translators were a bit scratchy, and with a slight delay, but they at least got the job done, overpowering their tongue with Galactic Common as they spoke.
After their own introductions, T'lajoa spoke first, mostly out of habit-those of his clan liked to be the leader when in a group.
The other two were content to watch for the moment, though one was certainly happier to wait than the other.
"ɭﻮร'๔ ภןץ-"
The prime minister took little issue with slow or slightly distorted translations, holding out enough confidence in their technology that there would be no miscommunications in this meeting.
"Indeed we are at war, and the road leading up to it has been long and complicated. I sense that you are not the types to obsess over details; so I shall summarize. The Furrelians are responsible for a major cyberattack... They ignored my demands for peace, even when I obliged to their demands. Tensions came to a head when they attempted to run the security blockade in our capital system and when their ship was shot down... they declared that an act of war and used it as precedent to invade the Luasu system.
As we speak the Galactic Admiral is preparing a retaliatory fleet. She is of... tumultuous character but she is a brilliant tactician. I only hope that after going a few rounds with her, the Furrelians rethink their decision to declare war.
But I would not ask for help unless I could be certain. The Furrelians have proven time and again their superiority in a number of aspects. Their forces are in many respects... superior to our own. They have also proven that they are more than willing to incite conflict and conquest. I am not asking of you to commit the lives of your people to defend mine, but I posit this question. Who would you rather be your neighbor on the galactic stage? The good commodore, who assists in the return of pirate striken vessels? Or an empire driven by conquest?"
"...mm. รเ ﻭ๒ค-[That is... pretty damning of them.]" He said, pushing the urge to say "nice" out of his head and pretending that they wouldn't do half the things the PM mentioned. Going along with his newfound farce, he continued.
"๒ ๔ﻮђ-[Clan K'lve can offer military support. If not with spaceships, then with weapons and soldiers.
Uh, O'vauka...?]" He turned to P'tala.
"ɭ Ŧย-[We can try and gather intelligence on these, er, 'furrelians's operations and plans, or otherwise attempt to hamper and damage their infrastructure and fighting capability.] She followed suit in the pretense of authority. She was mostly going off of clan stereotypes, but they were usually pretty accurate anyways.
"ภ-ภรђ-[A-and i believe Clan Kho'thar can build or h-help build important in-infrastructure, or otherwise provide m-manpower for whatever you need.]" He wasn't too sure how his clan could help, but that sounded about right. Atleast he didn't sound as unsure in voice than in thoughts.
T'lajoa then turned to Kroywen, after a moment's pondering of what the other two said and another moment to subtly clear his throat. "ﻭ๒-[Is that acceptable?]"
The supreme commander addressed each of them in turn.
"T'lajoa Rt'as of house K'live. If you are offering military support, we are humbled by your willingness to support our cause. I will get you in contact with a liaison such that we can coordinate a joint operations soon.
F'ghan Y'hola of house Kho'thar. We have been trying to garner extra resources to support the Free Furrelian republic, an opposition faction, and have laid plans to help them assemble their own fleet, and are in dire need of exactly the type of help you are offering. The Galiferius collective has already agreed to lend their support; but the more we can help our other allies, the better. You might also considering assisting house K'live in their operation.
P'tala Wto'al of house O'vauka. It sounds to me as though you seek to operate more independently. You are free to carry out raids as you see fit and I will see to it that you are briefed on the intel we have about their weaknesses and major trade routes.
What you and your clansmen will be doing is very brave and very selfless, I vow to repay your kindness. I understand the risk involved, as the methods of involvement in this conflict you have proposed are far more direct than our other allies. Since you have offered direct military support there is the very real possibility that the Furrelians will make a formal declaration of war against your clans. In such an eventuality, I am willing to see to it that your home territories will be placed under our protection. Should your homes come under attack by the Furrelians, you need only call us and reinforcements will be on their way. And should we be victorious, I vow to continue this defense pact... extending its influence to any other threat you may encounter... as long as good relations are kept between our people."
Kroywen nodded. "I agree with the Supreme Commander's proposal."
One of her aides had drafted the terms of the agreement on the holographic table, sliding it across to be signed.
And signed it was, each taking their own turn at signing a thing that probably would be better signed by someone with actual experience.
The good captain could only wonder if there was even anything else to suggest while signing over the agreement, while silently printing off potential damage control phrases in his head for his superiors.
The false leader, meanwhile, was just concerned about how much he was gonna get shouted at for this when he got home. Or how much he was gonna shout at his (former)captain.
And the quiet one silently vowed to convince those higher up to update their diplomat policies, as she quickly mulled over the document before signing it.
After their own signing, P'tala broke their own silence before T'lajoa could, to his slight surprise.
"ย-[We will inform our Council of the document's agreements. Results may not be immediate, but they will come.]" She adopted a slight, but false smile. That usually worked. Usually.
"...ยคﻉ-[What she said. I thank you for having us.]" He then bowed, mostly going off of stuff he remembered seeing on the telly once or twice, maybe thrice. The other two followed suit, participating an unannounced game of follow the leader.
Garo, Kroywen and the other officials in the room returned thankful bows. They could tell the Zets weren't fully familiar with their culture yet the fact that they made an effort to show respect meant everything to them.
The Go'shii who had ushered them in rose from his posting to lead them back through security to the hangar. Once they had left the room, Kroywen let out a stressed snort. She tapped the table, causing the signed conditions to slide back across before rereading them and passing them to be formalized. A gaping ring on the table which visually seemed to suck them away like a black hole; transmitting them to Kon Galon.
"You think this is a mistake?" Garo posited.
"This war was a mistake... Yet at least... I know our effort to build positive relations was not wholly in vein." She responded.
-+-
OOC:
So the TL;DR of the defense pact is in return for their help with the war, the Gaussians will help these clans with territory defense. If the Furrelians declare war and try to attack them on their home turf they will come to help. Basically they'll put a couple of ships or small monitoring or just some liasons at the Zeytan clans. If they come under attack the Liason will evaluate the attackers and call for a proportional response. So basically there won't be a big fleet there all the time but since the Zeytan clanholds are close by they can count on reinforcements being there quickly. So if the Furrelians just send like a 15 ships, the gaussians will send like 15 also. If the Furrelians send like a 500 ship doomstack to try and genocide the clans the gaussians will scramble their 500 ship doomstack to help fight it. If theres pirates they'll send some ships to sweep the area.
Obv this could have some interesting repercussions. I don't know how much infighting there is in the Zeytan clans but I could see the clans that signed on dragging gaussian forces into that. Or the clans that have it securing power because other clans wont fight them knowing gauss is a bananaphone away. Theres also probably some fine print about them not just casually pissing off some major ancerious nation then crying uncle for the GD to help.
Unfortunately for a certain trio of zetyan 'diplomats', they were far too slow. Atleast, in the mind of a mr. F'ghan.
Roughly 20 minutes ago, their sloop had frac'd into the system of Tausangrool, as subtle and nuanced as a brick in it's arrival.
15 minutes ago, a flurry of intership communications between their sloop and the Gaussian ships finally discerned why they were an hour or so late to their scheduled meeting. Apparently, primitive tachyonic comm arrays tended to be a bitch when it came to arrival times.
10 minutes ago, they'd just been shuttled over to a Gaussian dreadnought stationed within the system, as everyone preparing to disembark finagled with uncomfortable neck-mounted translator modules meant for cockney backwater worlds.
5 minutes ago, the three diplomats were walking through the halls of the foreign dreadnought, the odd aesthetics and various alien species within providing a very odd melting pot of things to look at. He personally found the tuft-eared four-armed weirdos the oddest thing around.
And now, as they neared their lucky door, the captain-turned-diplomat's thoughts were racing through his head like there was a million dollar prize at the end.
The K'lvan guy, T'lajoa, even for someone of his clan he seemed rather on-edge. So much for an 'in-and-out deal', huh?
The O'vaukan chick, P'tala, they'd hardly even spoken a word since they got on. Then again, she hadn't said much at all since he met her beyond simple yes/no answers.
And himself, well, he probably-
...no, he absolutely had his heart plastered on his sleeve. He never was very good at that whole 'hiding your emotions' trick everyone had.
The meeting room's entrance, meanwhile, seemed to have dashed towards them. F'ghan couldn't help but wonder 'do i really think that hard?' as the trio prepared to enter.
The Prime minister was seated at the far end of the room conference room, reviewing the polls of the upcoming prime minister election. The room was typical of those aboard military vessels. Minimalist polished metal and ultraviolet lighting conduits designed to sterilize every surface. Only the furniture had merited some degree of aesthetic consideration, simple chrome and mesh chairs which could be folded into the floor.
"What do you mean the Socialist's leading candidate has cancelled all of her public events and went out at Marchland right before the election?"
"Madame-" The supreme galactic commander, Garo interrupted. She snapped around, letting out a snort.
"Oh... apologies..." The hoytachian began, finding her composure, rising from her seat and giving a breif bow. "I did not realize you were attending. I don't suppose your kind have the propensity for being what you would call... fashionably late. Regardless, allow me to introduce myself. I am Prime Minister Kroywen Nal Hoytachia, and this here is-"
The Cauldarion gave a bow "Supreme Galactic Commander Garo Tarongori at your service." Being an imposing individual, even by the standard of his species he was very soft spoken.
The trio, after a moment, each gave their own curt bow in return. Their host's titles didn't help their personal tension much; if anything, to them it was a twofold sign that they were in way over their heads, and that the Council really, really needed an update to their diplomat appointment policy.
At the very least, the spartan room design was a small comfort, if only because similar sparse design philosophies were present at home.
"Շ'ℓ-[T'lajoa Rt'as. Clan K'lve.]"
"ि-[F-F'ghan Y'hola. Clan Kho'thar.]"
"ค'Շ-[P'tala Wto'al, of Clan O'vauka.]"
Their translators were a bit scratchy, and with a slight delay, but they at least got the job done, overpowering their tongue with Galactic Common as they spoke.
After their own introductions, T'lajoa spoke first, mostly out of habit-those of his clan liked to be the leader when in a group.
The other two were content to watch for the moment, though one was certainly happier to wait than the other.
"ɭﻮร'๔ ภןץ-"
The prime minister took little issue with slow or slightly distorted translations, holding out enough confidence in their technology that there would be no miscommunications in this meeting.
"Indeed we are at war, and the road leading up to it has been long and complicated. I sense that you are not the types to obsess over details; so I shall summarize. The Furrelians are responsible for a major cyberattack... They ignored my demands for peace, even when I obliged to their demands. Tensions came to a head when they attempted to run the security blockade in our capital system and when their ship was shot down... they declared that an act of war and used it as precedent to invade the Luasu system.
As we speak the Galactic Admiral is preparing a retaliatory fleet. She is of... tumultuous character but she is a brilliant tactician. I only hope that after going a few rounds with her, the Furrelians rethink their decision to declare war.
But I would not ask for help unless I could be certain. The Furrelians have proven time and again their superiority in a number of aspects. Their forces are in many respects... superior to our own. They have also proven that they are more than willing to incite conflict and conquest. I am not asking of you to commit the lives of your people to defend mine, but I posit this question. Who would you rather be your neighbor on the galactic stage? The good commodore, who assists in the return of pirate striken vessels? Or an empire driven by conquest?"
"...mm. รเ ﻭ๒ค-[That is... pretty damning of them.]" He said, pushing the urge to say "nice" out of his head and pretending that they wouldn't do half the things the PM mentioned. Going along with his newfound farce, he continued.
"๒ ๔ﻮђ-[Clan K'lve can offer military support. If not with spaceships, then with weapons and soldiers.
Uh, O'vauka...?]" He turned to P'tala.
"ɭ Ŧย-[We can try and gather intelligence on these, er, 'furrelians's operations and plans, or otherwise attempt to hamper and damage their infrastructure and fighting capability.] She followed suit in the pretense of authority. She was mostly going off of clan stereotypes, but they were usually pretty accurate anyways.
"ภ-ภรђ-[A-and i believe Clan Kho'thar can build or h-help build important in-infrastructure, or otherwise provide m-manpower for whatever you need.]" He wasn't too sure how his clan could help, but that sounded about right. Atleast he didn't sound as unsure in voice than in thoughts.
T'lajoa then turned to Kroywen, after a moment's pondering of what the other two said and another moment to subtly clear his throat. "ﻭ๒-[Is that acceptable?]"
The supreme commander addressed each of them in turn.
"T'lajoa Rt'as of house K'live. If you are offering military support, we are humbled by your willingness to support our cause. I will get you in contact with a liaison such that we can coordinate a joint operations soon.
F'ghan Y'hola of house Kho'thar. We have been trying to garner extra resources to support the Free Furrelian republic, an opposition faction, and have laid plans to help them assemble their own fleet, and are in dire need of exactly the type of help you are offering. The Galiferius collective has already agreed to lend their support; but the more we can help our other allies, the better. You might also considering assisting house K'live in their operation.
P'tala Wto'al of house O'vauka. It sounds to me as though you seek to operate more independently. You are free to carry out raids as you see fit and I will see to it that you are briefed on the intel we have about their weaknesses and major trade routes.
What you and your clansmen will be doing is very brave and very selfless, I vow to repay your kindness. I understand the risk involved, as the methods of involvement in this conflict you have proposed are far more direct than our other allies. Since you have offered direct military support there is the very real possibility that the Furrelians will make a formal declaration of war against your clans. In such an eventuality, I am willing to see to it that your home territories will be placed under our protection. Should your homes come under attack by the Furrelians, you need only call us and reinforcements will be on their way. And should we be victorious, I vow to continue this defense pact... extending its influence to any other threat you may encounter... as long as good relations are kept between our people."
Kroywen nodded. "I agree with the Supreme Commander's proposal."
One of her aides had drafted the terms of the agreement on the holographic table, sliding it across to be signed.
And signed it was, each taking their own turn at signing a thing that probably would be better signed by someone with actual experience.
The good captain could only wonder if there was even anything else to suggest while signing over the agreement, while silently printing off potential damage control phrases in his head for his superiors.
The false leader, meanwhile, was just concerned about how much he was gonna get shouted at for this when he got home. Or how much he was gonna shout at his (former)captain.
And the quiet one silently vowed to convince those higher up to update their diplomat policies, as she quickly mulled over the document before signing it.
After their own signing, P'tala broke their own silence before T'lajoa could, to his slight surprise.
"ย-[We will inform our Council of the document's agreements. Results may not be immediate, but they will come.]" She adopted a slight, but false smile. That usually worked. Usually.
"...ยคﻉ-[What she said. I thank you for having us.]" He then bowed, mostly going off of stuff he remembered seeing on the telly once or twice, maybe thrice. The other two followed suit, participating an unannounced game of follow the leader.
Garo, Kroywen and the other officials in the room returned thankful bows. They could tell the Zets weren't fully familiar with their culture yet the fact that they made an effort to show respect meant everything to them.
The Go'shii who had ushered them in rose from his posting to lead them back through security to the hangar. Once they had left the room, Kroywen let out a stressed snort. She tapped the table, causing the signed conditions to slide back across before rereading them and passing them to be formalized. A gaping ring on the table which visually seemed to suck them away like a black hole; transmitting them to Kon Galon.
"You think this is a mistake?" Garo posited.
"This war was a mistake... Yet at least... I know our effort to build positive relations was not wholly in vein." She responded.
-+-
OOC:
So the TL;DR of the defense pact is in return for their help with the war, the Gaussians will help these clans with territory defense. If the Furrelians declare war and try to attack them on their home turf they will come to help. Basically they'll put a couple of ships or small monitoring or just some liasons at the Zeytan clans. If they come under attack the Liason will evaluate the attackers and call for a proportional response. So basically there won't be a big fleet there all the time but since the Zeytan clanholds are close by they can count on reinforcements being there quickly. So if the Furrelians just send like a 15 ships, the gaussians will send like 15 also. If the Furrelians send like a 500 ship doomstack to try and genocide the clans the gaussians will scramble their 500 ship doomstack to help fight it. If theres pirates they'll send some ships to sweep the area.
Obv this could have some interesting repercussions. I don't know how much infighting there is in the Zeytan clans but I could see the clans that signed on dragging gaussian forces into that. Or the clans that have it securing power because other clans wont fight them knowing gauss is a bananaphone away. Theres also probably some fine print about them not just casually pissing off some major ancerious nation then crying uncle for the GD to help.