Traders of the Galaxy [FT Invite Only]

[Derscon]

OOC: This thread is closed to all people not in the ESUS. For those of you who are in the ESUS, please see the thread in the General forum. However, this thread is still invite only. No saboteurs. I'm looking at you, SC.
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Tolbiazot Prime, Tolbiazot System

The Tolbiazot system is one of four recently settled and established star systems by the Amaranthine Imperium in and around the local area of other established Imperial systems in the Milky Way Galaxy. This one in particular was chosen due to one of the Terran planets in the system was naturally inclined to be anywhere from a temperate to tropical climate base, allowing it to be a rather cheap vacation world. After all, the Dersconi wouldn't have to terraform it.

Currently, there were groups in the more moderate sections of the planet making some finishing touches on the preparations for this particular Imperial resort palace. Granted, this palace was more of a country club. In fact, it was a country club. Thankfully, climate and weather moderators have already been established, and working well, so the fields were a lush green as the primary palace glistened in the bright sun.

Above the planet, around one of the moons, the incoming invited ESUS leaders were docking at the facilities to be transported down to the club/palace (it was decided for aesthetic reasons that all incoming space traffic would be diverted to the moons of the planet and nonphysical transport would be used from there, so as to not clutter the paradise planet with needless industrial -type facilities). The Heads of State of several states were invited to a small meeting in the system for purposes yet unknown, and the invites were sent out in the strictest secrecy, being hand-delivered by Imperial Couriers.

On the ground, the Ekhaecan, the supernatural guardians of the Imperial Throne, were ceremoniously positioned around the entire club to make a show, as well as guide the Imperial Courtiers and staff members to direct the arriving heads of state to the primary conference room, which was, in fact, a terrace/balcony overlooking a pure and shining lake, neobaroque gardens flanking each side, and staff and servicemen in full court dress waiting to take light food and drink orders. Hopefully the meeting would go as well as the weather.

[Otagia]

No one had seen the man arrive. One moment, the grounds were empty, the next security footage began to show him strolling across the grounds. Tall, pale skinned with white blond hair, it seemed unlikely that anyone would have missed him. Yet there he was, standing idly, hands thrust into the pockets of his immaculate white suit, as he gazed across the golf course from the champion's tee. Drawing a ball from his pocket, the man's grey eyes twinkled as he inspected the dimpled sphere. He nodded in satisfaction, and turned to walk back to the club, carelessly tossing the orb over his shoulder as he did so.

Seven hundred yards away, the ball rattled gently against the flagpole, circling once before sinking into the hole.

[Derscon]

Two staff members watching over the course were too busy chatting to initially realize what was going on. "I'm telling you, this whole place was made for some sort of international agreement." The other staff member chuckled.

"What is this, then, the Bohemian Grove?"

"Get the fuck out of here." Both shared a laugh as they turned back to see the white blond hair man walking back towards the clubhouse. It didn't shock them too much - Dersconi being who they are, the two staffers were used to people appearing and disappearing randomly. They simply glanced at the new arrival to alert those in charge as a physical avatar of Sefirah Malchut Shavar Katazarov appeared before him.

"Enjoying the new course, I take it?" He smiled and gave a polite bow to the man. "I am the Sefirah Malchut, Shavar Katazarov. Feel free to come inside and enjoy the food, if you can, while we wait, or enjoy the gardens and the golf course until the rest of the dignitaries arrive."

[Balrogga]

Nhur-Galladu sat quietly in his chair sipping his glass of Cognac. He swirled the rich amber fluid absent mindedly in his gold-rimmed glass as he looked out the window at the green vistas. In the distance he could see someone dressed similarly to himself walking across the golf course toward the clubhouse. The Ta’Nar chuckled as he took another sip of the warm golden fluid. Outside the open windows the sounds of birds singing in the many trees could be heard and the curtains fluttered in the warm breeze. The sky was only partly cloudy so the sun did not beat down too harshly and the smell of bloom and blossom filled the room as the rich life of the world infused the room.

One of the staff entered the room carrying one of the final decorations for the room and noticed the Ta’Nar sitting there. Nhur-Galladu was wearing a white suit with golden buttons. His white hair was neatly groomed and his golden eyes continued to stare out the window. Nearby leaning against the table was an ivory walking stick with gold foot and head depicting some unknown creature.

[Allanea]

Tolbiazot Prime, Tolbiazot System

Pacing the grounds of the immense garden-world was a tall young man – almost a boy by his looks, and a millenia-old entity by his nature. Yet, by the counts of the universe, the man was still young – there were nations out there governed by creatures whose age dated in the very millions of years. Many still derided Alexander Kazansky as an 'eternal man-child' – and were surprised when he did not show even the slightest air of offense to it.

Kazansky wore a the black parade uniform with gold-stitched epaulets. The only items of luxury he wore were the gleaming golden pistols at his sides and a thin golden circlet of a crown at his head, one denoting his status as the Emperor of Greater Prussia. Gleaming on his vest was the Imperial Medal of Respect and Thanks, First Class – issued to him by the Eternal Necrontyr Empire. To his side he wores the Sword of the Republic.

To his right walked Baronet Willhelm von Stossel, his disciple and personal bodyguard, wearing a similar uniform and carrying large metal chest. In it was a gift to the Dersconi Czar – a set of six matching beer mugs fashioned from the skulls of Chronosian infantrymen, gold-plated and encrusted with rubies where the Chaos worshippers' eyes were once planted.

On his left – his good friend, Prioress Victoria Sheshet, clad in the ceremonial armor of the Sisters of Liberty. Hanging from one shoulderplate was the icon of Saint Asaid, the patron saint of Allanean assasins.

Other men walked behind them, all good friends of the President of the United States, all members of the Allanean elite. There was Marshal Al-Ghazi, with his eyes gleaming with the gleam of madness, and Marshals Conde and Watanabe. Between them and Baronet Stossel, these men were known as the President's Four Horsemen. Next to them walked the leaders of the Allanean corporate world – Kevin Nivensky and his wife Julia. Few knew – but of course the Dersconi did – that Kevin had as much to do with Allanean success as the President himself, being that he administered the infamous Ringworld Foundation. If an important endeavour was to start here, the Foundation would help.

[Derscon]

Appearing before the Allanean delegation, Velikiy Kynaz Tarakh Napoleon-Andropov bowed to Kazansky. "Welcome back to the Imperium, Emperor Kazansky. My father will be certainly pleased to see you again." The Grand Prince gave the delegation a brief tour of the local area for those present that hadn't overseen the development of the area (Kazansky and Nivensky had been...generous...in their help to construct the facilities themselves) and then brought them to the clubhouse, where the avatar of QUETZAL was currently enjoying himself. Katazarov gave a bow to the Grand Prince before disappearing as Tarakh turned to both QUETZAL and Kazansky.

"You are all free to enjoy yourselves here while the rest of the heads of state arrive. The actual meeting will be taking place in the central palace; we will come get you when it is time. I believe Nhur-Galladu, Warlord of the Ta'Nar, is already present in the Grand Palace. Emperor Hadriel of The Hellenic Empire has yet to arrive, as does whomever the Telrosians are sending after their civil war - admittedly, I haven't been keeping tabs." When he was done speaking, Dersconi attendants were quick on the job as the Grand Prince faded from sight, off doing who knows what as the staff members made sure to keep everyone present happy until the other two delegations could arrive.

[Telros]

Those who remained outside would be disturbed from their thoughts when a bright flash of light signaled the arrival of a single figure. He wore a black and silver robe, with the silver emblazoned symbol of the Telrosian eagle with the four stars at key points; the national flag of the Empire. He also wore a long dark blue cloak and had the aura that indicated this was a supernatural being. He gazed around with hard eyes filled with an equal portion of suspicion and cold calculation. God-Emperor Sebastian Harken had only come here after the Dersconi, realizing that a system of mistrust and paranoia had set into the Empire, had sent their foreign minister, Shavar Katazarov, to open talks with him and to show him they did not intend any foul play concerning him. He was unsure about trusting their word, due to previous attempts on his life by seemingly kind beings but both the word of Alexei and the minister were given, laying the line down for what would or wouldn't happen. Due to their previous actions, he chose to respond to their request. He paused for a moment as he thought back to the briefing he had undergone for this. A system of alliances cultivated by the previous government had led to the downfall of Dominion and the resulting devastating civil war. However, there were several reasons to heed to the call of the Dersconi. They had been nothing but kind to the Telrosians before, aiding them in withdrawing from IRON and preventing them from losing any lives in what was though to be the inevitable Hermes-IRON war, the ESUS was the only "alliance" they had not withdrawn from due to economic benefits and little to no restraints placed on them and also because those invited had great technologies that could be bought to improve and replace those lost by the departure of so many Telrosians due to the difference in opinions on the Empire's policies.

Trailers. Derscon. Balrogga. Allanea. Otagia. All familiar and powerful names that brought back images of strength and destruction on massive scales. The Balroggans were another race they were familiar with, due to the attempted Uplifting asked by the former government, Allanea was a distant friend they aided in their crusade against Chaos and Otagia was merely a name they recognized from the old Galactic Assembly meetings.

"My apologies for my lateness, business came up."

[Trailers]

An elderly man wrapped in a gold embroidered toga could be seen off to the left of the group, inspecting some obscure genus of flora. Botany, you see, was his hobby.

At any rate, he was clearly Hadriel, Emperor of the Hellenes. Although on this occasion he was not dressed in the formal war-garb that the Dersconi had seen him in at their meeting a few weeks before on Primus Trailica. No, today he was dressed in the relaxed fashion of the venerated elders of a polis. Today, he was among friends.

Ringlets of white hair framed an ancient, wrinkled face, and a long white beard. He looked more like an old doddering philosopher than Emperor of one of the most influential civilizations in the galaxy.

The younger folk had been talking amongst themselves, and he saw no need to interrupt with outdated slang; he would wait until he was needed.

OOC: I know it's short. Cope. :0

[Derscon]

Tarakh leaned down beside Hadriel and waved over the flowers. "You can have some, if you want. I think parts of the Hellenic empire should be suitable for their growth." The Grand Prince stood back up and gave a polite bow to the Emperor. "Thanks for coming. We may as well start, now that everyone is here." Tarakh Andropov led Hadriel to the rest of the group outside as Shavar Katazarov brought the Telrosian Emperor Harken to join them. Tarakh navigated the maze of neobaroque gardens, leading all of those present up to the doors of the Central Palace. From there, it was simply a matter of group teleporting the delegates to the balcony several stories up, where Nhur-Galladu had already been waiting, and leading any brought staffers or entourages (in the case of Allanea) inside the palace or back to the clubhouse to entertain themselves or be entertained while the heads of state carried on their meeting.

The balcony overlooked a massive reflecting pool, flanked on both sides by the gardens they had just walked through, ending with the clubhouse on the other side, while on the balcony itself, two Ekhaecan guardians stood at each corner, mostly for decoration. In the center of the balcony, a moderately-sized perfectly circular marble table sat quietly, not sharing the typical shine of the black stone tables of elsewhere, so as to prevent glare from the sun. Six chairs sat around the table, equally spaced, with a court attendant at each chair, each head of state being assigned a personal staffer. The court attendants led them to their form-fitted chairs and waited on them for any drinks they might desire, as a single glass of Napoleon Reserve was sat in front of the currently empty chair with a slightly higher back than the rest.

Once the delegates (for lack of a better term) were settled in, the court attendants silently made their way out as two other Ekhaecan Guardians opened the French doors to the balcony for the Mahatzar Alexei Andropov. While to these delegates, it may not have been a particularly exciting situation, it was in itself a rare moment, for since ascending to the Throne, Alexei had basically disappeared, rarely meeting or even showing himself to anyone, preferring to do only he knew what in the highest dimensions of the greater Cosmos.

He looked around at the gathered heads of state and smiled, moving to sit down at the chair prepared for him. "Thank you all for coming today. I have been gone for some time, and things seemed to have changed quite a lot." He sighed, taking a small sip from his glass before turning and addressing each head of state individually, starting at his immediate left. His mere presence, due to his powerful psionic and arcane nature, seemed to create an aura of peace and calm throughout the entire meeting. "Emperor Hadriel, it is good to finally meet you in person. My son, Tarakh, whom you've regrettably first met under unfortunate circumstances, tells me nothing but good things about you and he Hellenic Empire." Moving clockwise one chair, he nodded to QUETZAL. "I suppose it would be difficult to greet you as an individual, QUETZAL, but thank you for coming all the same. Your assistance during the Advent Rising situation was quite helpful." Next, he looked straight across the table at the one person Alexei had been wishing to meet with for a long time, for out of everyone here, he was, due to their shared nature, the only one he could completely identify with. "Warlord Nhur-Galladu, I regret that this is only our first meeting. Our societies and races seem to have much in common, and yet we have failed to interact except in the most trivial of ways. I hope this will change in the future." He looked one chair clockwise, nodding to Emperor Harken of Telros. "I believe this is a first meeting for us, Sebastian. I hope we will be able to establish as friendly a relationship as I once had with First Jonathan Spring." Finally, he looked to his immediate right, smiling to his old friend. Not much needed to be said. "Alexander Kirillovich, it's been far too long. It's good to see you again." Alexei swept once more over the gathered delegates before continuing. To some, that whole ritual might seem silly, but to those that knew Alexei, they would know that the Mahatzar has always been that "eccentric grandfather" figure for many friends and allies alike. Despite his status as what amounts to being a god, Alexei has always encouraged and desired personal relationships with those he worked with.

"All of us, for various reasons, have decided at some point that it would be beneficial for our nations to join the Extra Solar Union of Systems. For some, it was a desire for trade. For some, it was to spite the Solar powers, when they were still relevant. For others, it was just for a social feeling, such as belonging to a club or fraternity." He let the irony of that statement sink in for a bit before starting again. "Obviously, one of the joys of the ESUS is that it is a loose organization, an alliance almost only in name." Alexei paused, taking a brief sip of his wine. "However, I've found that we have gotten too separated, too apathetic to the needs of our supposed allies and friends. To a point, this is inevitable. After all," he said, with a mild smirk. "We are talking about an alliance where the chaos lords of Chronosia are supposedly allies to the great Chaos Crusader, Alexander Kazansky.

"Unfortunately, this has led to the virtual irrelevancy of this alliance. I would like to change this, at least to a point. I have gathered all of you here today because, within the ESUS, it is us six that are, at worst, merely capable of getting along," he said, nodding to Emperors Hadriel and Harken, the former for being the leader of IRON, thus opposed to Derscon because of its former membership in Hermes, and the latter, because of his known distrust of 'supernatural' entities, "and at best, long-time friends." Alexei nodded to Kazansky when he mentioned this. "Obviously, bringing the entire ESUS together would be impossible, and I would even say undesirable. Alas, the galaxy is becoming a rough place again. It is multipolar, and it is filled with many nations and organizations without the ability or desire to at least leave well enough alone and live without the bloodshed of a thousand star systems crying out in suffering.

"And that is why we are here. We don't need to be crusaders, we don't need to be defenders of justice. I simply would like to see us six with the ability to cooperate and be friendly towards one another to use that ability. We don't need to sign anything, we don't need to forge a new alliance; we simply must rid ourselves of distrust and instead find a spirit of cooperation...a gentleman's agreement, if you will."

[Otagia]

QUETZAL leaned back in his chair, hands tented before him.

"An interesting proposal, Mahatzar. While we personally disagree with your assessment of the utility of the ESUS- having joined primarily for economic reasons, a purpose it has served admirably- current galactic politics would suggest that a stronger relationship with our economic partners could be beneficial. We will agree to your proposition."

[Balrogga]

Nhur-Galladu sat waiting while reading a paper. When the other guests arrived, he folded his copy of The Indra Times under his arm and stood from the comfortable chair he had occupied. The battered and yellowed newspaper bore tomorrows date.

Following the others onto the balcony, the Ta’Nar took the seat reserved for min and pretended to eat, neatly disintegrating the food and drink he consumed. It was something that could not be helped. Ta’Nar did not possess bodies and if he were to actually try consuming the foodstuffs, it would merely drop into the chair or under the table making a mess or be contained within the telekinetic fields he used as a solid body until expelled, making an equally undignified mess elsewhere. The logical alternative was to simply “eat” with the others and make the refuse “go away”.

As the Dersconi stood and greeted each guest in turn, Nhur-Galladu carefully listened. He had met QUETZAL before but so far many of the others have only been strangers until now. Even though they were allies, many of them have never set foot upon a Ta’Nar vessel before and the Warlord had not visited them. Most were newer incarnations of their leaders for few were as old as the Ta’Nar Warlord. Humanity tended to live their long lives in a period of time considered a mere flash to the Ta’Nar.

After listening to Alexi give his short speech, the Ta’Nar waited to see who would respond first. When QUETAZAL who was seated to his immediate right spoke, he could understand the reasoning behind its words. The Ta’Nar never joined the ESUS for safety, or even economic reasons. To tell the truth he was not really sure of the reasoning, he followed instinct and insight, probably given to him passively by his precognistic abilities.

“I do have a couple questions. What will this entail our respective nations to do? Are we to act as a police force or are we merely to be observers until it is time to react to one of these poles you mentioned.”

“It would be good to know more of what is being suggested and of possibilities. One cannot agree to things without having the details first.”

[Trailers]

The Hellenic Emperor had picked at his food at first, foreign tastes were anathema to a Greek palate. However, as Alexi spoke, Hadriel began eating, and had finished his meal by the time QUETZL voiced his opinion. Hadriel then turned his attention to the ethereal Nhur-Ghalladu as he spoke. At the conclusion of the entity's questions, the Greek addressed the gathered lords.

"Gentlemen, as you may or may not be aware, the Hellenic Empire perhaps stands to benefit the most from this agreement. I make it no secret that we are assailed from every side both by militaristic and political ambitions of foreign principalities. I have made many enemies with the foundation of IRON, and I have attended this palavar today not because I seek to draw any of you into my conflicts, but because you have all been allied with Greece since long before I took the mantle of leadership. I cannot defend the sovreignity of my civilization alone anymore. The distance between Greece and other members of the Union is not enough to draw on if things grow..dire. I will hazard the speculation that none of you gathered here today are subject to the same circumstances as I am. Since IRON has lost much of it's membership, the nations of Hermes have percieved this as weakness and have time and again threatened to slay my people and erase our memory from the galactic community. I will not go so far as to prostrate myself, but know this: Greece is in great need of close allies, allies that can be depended upon, closer than what the ESUS offers as it stands today.

I believe that what Alexi is conveying is that we all need someone to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with as the galaxy grows more hostile by the day. Now, any one of us alone commands a military capable of standing toe to toe with virtually any other nation that plies the stars, but when five, ten, twenty hostile nations band together, any one of us alone would not be enough. We are all in need of insurance against that, insurance that we will not stand alone."

[Derscon]

Alexei nodded at the Greek. "Hadriel has it basically correct. No, Nhur-Galladu, I have no desire nor intent to become some sort of galactic policeman. The Amaranthine Imperium is a prosperous nation because it chooses not to interfere with the affairs of others, but still trade with as many other civilizations as possible. However, friends one can trust in such a hostile environment are a good thing. I have no intention on making this agreement between friends a criminal organization to enforce its will on others. It is simply a re-commitment to work for the benefit of all of us, and thus for ourselves, and aid in times of need. What is certainly not in our collective benefits is to act as a conquering power; war only destroys.

"And the fact is, what is out there isn't necessarily trustworthy as a core group to consider genuine allies, or even friends. This is why, to form this group of ours, I have decided only to invite already good-standing ESUS nations with established relationships between each other. The Hellenic Empire is under threat, Hermes is becoming even more active than before, and the Northeast quadrant seems to be filled with all sorts of new powers wanting to prove their worth by destroying a few civilizations. Armed and rational people need to stick together in a galaxy full of idiots and animals."

[Balrogga]

“I see, for a moment it sounded like you were talking about a force to cowl the troublemakers and not an alliance within an alliance. That situation is completely different.”

The Ta’Nar took another sip of his wine. The taste and other effects were completely lost on him and he only did it to set the others at ease with familiar actions others would have done.

“In that case, you can count on the Ta’Nar. I assume this would allow us to decide the level of involvement based on availability like the ESUS charter has provisions already detailed?”


He set the glass back onto the table.

[Allanea]

"Armed and rational," – Kazansky smiles – "I like it, good friend, I like it a lot." – he turns to his friend. – "What do you think, Kevin?"

Kevin Nivensky is a person that bears describing. Tall of stature – though not as unnaturally tall as the President-for-Life, he is dressed with the sort of elegant sloppiness reserved for the truly wealthy and stylish. A deliberately-crumpled white shirt of some precious material, a simple mithril bracelet and a set of black jeans look as professional and fashionable on this man as a three-piece suit would look on another. He looks young, but anybody who know anything knows his age is expressed in four digits. Next to him, his wife wears a bluish-silver coat made out of the fur of a Parsis Nine Mink, her ears gleaming with diamond earrings. Her face is what some would call 'Oriental' in appearance – Julia Nivensky-van Ghent is the offspring of an Edolian noble family.

Her husband nods. "Armed and rational. An excellent idea. I take it that the Foundation's assistance would be… of a useful nature?"

[Otagia]

"You'll forgive us if we can't bring ourselves to agree with you, Nhur-Galladu," QUETZAL said with a frown. "One could very well argue that the general military apathy of the Union of Systems is due entirely to such a stance on military assistance. While it is understandable if one is unable to render assistance due to distance or a prior engagement, so to speak, this informal organization of ours would protect its members little better than our shared constitution if we were to allow ourselves to ignore allies based on convenience.

"Instead, if we formally codify this agreement at all, I would recommend a doctrine of proportional response: If one of us were to be threatened with the loss of a fresh colony or newly claimed system, we would be allowed to send a much smaller fleet than if the very existence of our nations were threatened. Of course, it was our understanding that this 'gentleman's agreement' that Alexei proposes would be a touch more informal than all this. Even so, we have made known our disagreement with continuing the ESUS' policy of elective defense."

[Derscon]

Alexei smiled at Nivensky. "I believe your funding of this facility has been more than enough help, although I will certainly keep your offer in mind for anything that may come up.

"As for the military situation... Both the Warlord and QUETZAL are correct. Officially, there will be no formal codification of anything that is discussed or decided at this table. It is, as QUETZAL has stated, a 'gentleman's agreement' between armed and rational people." Rachek made a note of Kazansky's endorsement of the phrase. It was just something he said at the time, but it looked like it was too catchy to not use more formally. "Technically, we would be allowed to choose our own level of involvement, as the ESUS charter dictates. This was an acceptable situation, considering the purposes of the ESUS. However, we are not here today to form a trader's alliance, but to form a closer brotherhood of trustworthy friends and allies. It would be expected that we support each other in our times of need, militarily or otherwise. Should one of us require military assistance, while no one would be formally obligated to provide in numbers, the purpose of us gathering here today would be to ensure that we all have each other's backs, as it were." He paused, chuckling to himself a moment.

"Of course, none of this pertains to any of Kazansky's crusades of the month."

[Balrogga]

“You will have to excuse me; we are used to being self sufficient. We have no systems or worlds to safeguard; if a threat becomes too great we could always draw the enemy in and let them attach an empty target. That is one of the advantages of being nomadic; one can leave a badly defended target and let them find the traps left behind. That is why we have not asked the other members for assistance, nobody has tried to attack us and I am certain I would only get a ham sandwich from many who happened to bothered to open their mail. One cannot trust the fickle; one only has to outlast them until they get new shiny toys to distract them away from oneself.”

“Some of the ones I would trust to have covering my back is in this room. In return, I will offer the same. If you need assistance, let us know. Send a message over the Battlenet, we will all get it immediately.”

The Ta’Nar picked up his bourbon glass and swirled it while he spoke. He took another sip before continuing.

“I do request that if you are planning an offensive, you should run it by the Gentleman’s Club if you will need our assistance. Starting something and expecting us to have your back would not be very gentleman-like. If you know about it beforehand you should have enough time to alert us so we can also be prepared.”

[Telros]

Sebastian let the Grand Prince escort him to join the main group outside, then he let himself be teleported to join those who had already gone inside, or appeared, as the case of Nhur-Galladu was, the being liked to have a tad of the dramatic to his actions. Probably was a cultural thing. They then were lead into a balcony that overlooked a massive reflecting pool, with gardens on either side. The room had a good use of…what did the mortals on Earth call it? Oh yes, feng shui. The room had a feeling that would soothe and calm those who sat here, which was also something the Emperor and his family also desired.

He picked a chair, finding himself between the Galladu and the Emperor of the United States of Allanea. He motioned for an attendant and quietly asked for a specific drink from Earth, vodka as they called it on that planet. Once his glass was filled, he asked if they could leave the bottle here for him to use. He was surprised when they granted his request; an interesting sense of freedom for a diplomatic meeting. The Imperium was a strange nation, indeed. As he took his first drink, and the fire of the alcohol rushed into his system, the doors opened and what could only be the leader, from his clothing, manner, and divine aura, came walking in. He looked them over, smiling enigmatically as the Dersconi were wont to do and sat down in the chair, which Sebastian noticed was slighter higher than the rest and was put at the point which could be called the “head” of the table.

Sebastian watched as he addressed each in turn, giving them a welcoming message. A personal quirk of Alexei’s, he always liked being something which others could latch onto as “human” or “mortal”. He didn’t like playing the distance game a lot of deities liked to. He was in full agreement; when once had to face an existence of eternities, experience and passion helped to keep inevitable sadness and depression away. When Alexei addressed him, he nodded and replied. “Indeed. I also thank you for accepting his request to live here. I assume he is happy here?”

Harken then sat back as Alexei began his pitch to them all, the reason why they had all come here. He had wanted to discuss a way to fix the issues with ESUS. Not overall, of course, but just concerning this group. Leaning back, he took another taste of his vodka and listened. Overall, it was not a bad proposal, and it helped that Alexei was a very good speaker. One with his experience has it come like breathing does for mortals. The ESUS was becoming irrelevant, since its loose nature had given rise to just it falling apart as an alliance. He had called them here to have an alliance of cooperation essentially. No crusades, wars, etc, just cooperation. Harken knew questions would be asked, so he remained quiet to see what would be said.

QUETZAL and the Warlord both brought up interesting points. The Warlord wanted to know if this was to play galaxy policeman or some other kind of alliance. The President Kazansky liked this, as he called it “an armed and rational force.” The Warlord and QUETZAL disagreed on military assistance protocols, with the former wanting the same voluntary assistance, while the latter wanted mandatory. Alexei opted to go for a merging of both. Military assistance was not required, but the agreement they would be sharing behooved them to aid with what they could. When a pause in the talking occurred, Harken spoke up. The language of the initial speech had him wondering a couple things.

“Alexei, if you don’t mind me using your first name, I have a couple questions. The Telrosian Empire is going to be expanding and aiding other allies we have gained, which will inevitably cause a lot of military campaigns in the future, plus we are determined to stop Hermes at any cost. Your speech indicates a disdain for such kind of conflict, so will we still be welcome in this alliance within an alliance if we intend to pursue this? I am not expecting you to aid us if you disagree, are too far, or simply have other things to worry about. We have enough aiding us as it is, but our foreseeable future is war and war may be something we get used to. I need to know if this violates the spirit of our agreement and thus makes the Empire excluded from this.”

[Derscon]

Alexei frowned. Harken had it right; the Mahatzar disdained such constant aggression amongst civilizations. However, Telros has always been a good ally, and did not typically engage in needless conflicts. "The general points would stand, I would think. No one would be obligated to support you if the conflicts were initiated on your part. Any conflicts that were not initiated by you I imagine we would step in and intervene, but to what degree I believe would depend upon investigations as to the motives of your attackers. If it was an inevitable result of previous actions on your part, I would not expect too much help from us."