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Why not both? [RESTRICTED]

PostPosted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 1:04 pm
by Tarasovka
OOC : Because IRC.

* - * - *

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TARASKOVYAN EMPIRE

HIS MOST AUGUST MAJESTY'S
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY
AT LARGE


STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

His Excellency Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek, Hist Most August Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large, Prince of Karaboomerr
To
Her Majesty the Queen Dr. Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, Master Control Program of Zero-One, Duchess of Marilac, Titular Duchess of Upper Cimmeria, Protectoress of the Realms of Abu-Dhabi Khristata, Lady Governess of Sirenum, Councilmember of the Triumvirate of Yut, Chief Analytics/Data/Information/Legal Officer of Zero-One Monocorporation, M.D., Ph.D. Psych


Your Majesty,

    It is with much reverence and humility that I am writing the present missive to you upon the command of His High Excellency the Foreign Minister of the Taraskovyan Empire, His Highness the Duke Alexei of Var-Vilena and Southern Aphyr. I am pleased to note the ever blossoming relationship between our two Realms as between two responsible entities whose interests interlace in a mutually profitable and beneficial way. As unlikely as it may have seemed not so many years ago, our ties are proof of the triumph of the rational over the irrational.

    The Taraskovyan Empire, just as any developing living entity, is in constant evolution and development of her internal and external policies and approaches, part of which is the approach towards collective security.

    With this in mind the Empire has one proposition and one request to the Queendom :

    Proposition:
    Taraskovya and Zero-One are already closely aligned through the Martian Defence Initiative, of which both parties are members. Through the scope of the MDI and to optimise the performance and capacities of both the QACF and the TNDF in the Martian Theatre, the Taraskovyan Empire proposed to think about ways to integrate the responce capabilities of the two structures in order to better serve the interests and the security of both the Taraskovyan and Zero-One assets and citizens on Mars and, through this, of all Mars.

    The geographic positioning itself dictates closer cooperation as the Queendom's holdings of Sirenum lie in between the provinces of Dajdbog, Upper and Lower Cimmerias of the Kingdom of New Gardarika and the protectorate of Os Sanglants.


    Request:
    Whilst it might come as a surprise, I pray Your Majesty understand the Taraskovyan approach in this matter. As part of the evolving priorities for the Empire, Vigvar has been steadily drifting away from the ages old approach of bilateral diplomacy in favour of a multilateral approach. As part of this approach, Vigvar is considering application to the Triumvirate of Yut. And for this, whilst the Empire has various degrees of relations with various members of the Triumvirate, Taraskovya would like to seek the assistance of Zero-One in sponsoring the Empire.

    It is true that we cannot speak of a thousand years of bonds of friendship tying our two Realms, but neither can we speak of enmity. Both parties have always adressed each other respectfully, cooperating in times of need even when Taraskovya did not even begin considering the Sapiency Reforms. Nowadays, our ties stand on firm foundations of mutual respect, backed up by a solid history of efficient cooperation.

    I do understand that Your Majesty would seek additional information and clarifications and I have been empowered to provide what assistance Your Majesty requires in the matter. Should such be required, I am ready to travel to the place of your choosing, or two welcome you within the Realms of Taraskovya.

May the Holy Theotokos watch over Taraskovya and Zero-One,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large
Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek
Prince of Karaboomerr

PostPosted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 5:06 pm
by Zero-One
It wasn't completely unexpected in hindsight. Heuristic models plugged into the public-access media feeds of the Empire projected warmer relations and greater cultural interplay due to the overall success of the Sapiency Reforms and the Queendom's very, very quiet diplomatic and political support for them. The policy in Sirenum had long been one of simply being good neighbors, allowing trust to build naturally along border crossings and between border patrols. The mechanoids of Sirenum, and, more importantly, the arguably 'indigenous' Khristatans were paranoid that the Taraskovyans would consolidate their empire in this particular sector of the planet; the Taraskovyans were paranoid that the machines would run rampant. Yet, over time, as the ambassador said, reason prevailed, both nations being too open and too cosmopolitan not to share ideas and tentatively get to know one another. Yes, better relations were projected along a probabilty arc roughly modeled as a particular distribution through time, expanding with the likely decision tree based on known variables and estimates of unknowns.

Still, the entire point of black swan events is that one simply cannot predict them before the event.

The mostly benignly-mad intelligence that quite simply was the government of Zero-One had been pleasantly surprised by more than one of these as of late. She knew better, however, than to extrapolate it into a trend. The gestalt, curled up in her protective shell, conducted a quick poll of local avatars and nodes and consensus emerged as if it had been original thought, as it effectively was. Language was still being invented to actually describe what was going on, and even then it only really had a single speaker. At any rate, in the twilight zone between delegation and volunteering a local node in a similar cyberspatial shell responded, speaking for both herself and Herself.

A more formal tone than usual would be required. Sticklers for tradition, her neighbors and friends.

OFFICE OF THE MASTER CONTROL PROGRAM
QUEENDOM OF ZERO-ONE

Image


To His Excellency Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek, His Most August Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large, Prince of Karaboomerr

Your Excellency,

It is with pleased surprise that we accept your missive, considering the request therein made. We are glad that our efforts, quiet as they necessarily were, to support your reforms have brought mutual benefit to both our lands. Taraskovya is highly regarded in the Queendom, in Sirenum and beyond, and our interactions in all spheres--trade, culture, and mutual defense--have always been forthright. It is perhaps telling that what were once areophysical points of contention between our nations are now rather profitable tourist attractions.


In truth, Checkpoint Charlie was still arguably a secure border crossing. Arguably more of a formality by this point, though one both sides adhered strictly to. That the border patrols there were much more likely to professionally goof off than to glare at each other distrustingly was certainly indicative.

As such, we have considered both items put forward in your communication in great detail and with a favorable light in mind. The proposition offered by the Empire is hereby accepted and we are at this moment directing the QACF to commence upper-level discussions with the local Taraskovyan military apparatus to effect this coordination, pending similar orders and actions within the Empire. The MDI has shown that our nations can work together in mutual defense in terms of logistics, and the mutual regional concerns our nations share in the Martian Theatre highly promote a synergistic collaboration of our capabilties. We personally look forward to the opportunities such collaboration offers, including closer relations between the peoples of the Empire and the Queendom.

Similarly, we personally and the Queendom as a whole would be honored to sponsor our friends in the Empire for membership in the Triumvirate of Yut. We are honored--it is a great thing to ask, and such requests are not made lightly. It is the Council, as we are certain the Empire recognizes, that, in the end, who will have the final say. As such, please allow us the time to canvas our allies in the Triumvirate and, in order to conserve Your Excellency's valuable time, arrange a meeting if necessary where all concerned parties may have a say in the matter. This can be done most discreetly and will serve to answer any questions or address any concerns any party could have, without making a public spectacle of the whole matter or risking any loss of face should the Council choose unfavorably for its singular reasons. We do not expect such misfortune to occur, but it has been our experience that these matters are best approached conservatively.

We will of course alert the Empire as to the progress of our diplomacy on its behalf, and provide advance warning as appropriate of concerns our closest allies relay to us. If, in the meantime, the Empire has questions regarding any topic that we may be of reasonable assistance with, please do not hesitate to ask them. Our doors remain forever open to you, as they should to good friends and neighbors.

May causality ever favor Zero-One and Taraskovya,

We remain,

Image
Her Majesty the Queen Dr. Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network,
Master Control Program of Zero-One, Duchess of Marilac,
Titular Duchess of Upper Cimmeria,
Protectoress of the Realms of Abu-Dhabi Khristata,
Lady Governess of Sirenum,
Councilmember of the Triumvirate of Yut,
Chief Analytics/Data/Information/Legal Officer of Zero-One Monocorporation,
M.D., Ph.D. Psych


Honesty. Few may have believed it, but she honestly preferred it when it was appropriate. Much simpler. Neater.

As one node sent the missive back after a polite few seconds, other nodes looked up from couches or arose from broom closets or began steering conversations towards a new topic...

PostPosted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 5:54 am
by Tarasovka
Image
TARASKOVYAN EMPIRE

HIS MOST AUGUST MAJESTY'S
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY
AT LARGE


STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

His Excellency Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek, Hist Most August Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large, Prince of Karaboomerr
To
Her Majesty the Queen Dr. Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, Master Control Program of Zero-One, Duchess of Marilac, Titular Duchess of Upper Cimmeria, Protectoress of the Realms of Abu-Dhabi Khristata, Lady Governess of Sirenum, Councilmember of the Triumvirate of Yut, Chief Analytics/Data/Information/Legal Officer of Zero-One Monocorporation, M.D., Ph.D. Psych


Your Majesty,

    I am grateful for your kind words, which are most appreciated. We will of course entrust into your knowledge of the internal proceedings of the Triumvirate of Yut, but me and my team shall remain on stand by to provide any assistance, information or clarification you might require.

May the Holy Theotokos watch over Taraskovya and Zero-One,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large
Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek
Prince of Karaboomerr



* - * - *

OOC: Let's consider the QACF and TNDF will come up to something that we can discuss OOCly between us whenever I pop up on IRC.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:17 pm
by Scolopendra
Mballa Ipolla looked out the picture window of her office in the Executive Apartments, out across the forest canopy covering the Center Park of Stonozka. Away, past the trees, modular skyscrapers with floors stacked like toy blocks ringed the green space, topped by additional gardens and navigation beacons and simple advertising signs. Truly high ways connected the buildings, arcing gracefully in engineered curves, mass transit and footpaths gone vertical. It was the sort of scene where certain folk might expect lines of flying cars marching across the sky and between the buildings, but there were no such things here: too dangerous, not enough sense. Only the occasional news or patrol or emergency aircraft flitted silently about from station to station inbetween the slowly wafting, highly-regulated, and still controversial zep-taxis. They weren't dangerous; it'd be hard for one to crash and it was even less likely that it'd kill a pedestrian. They were just... less communal.

Different.

Normally the Segments didn't have a problem with 'different,' but it had been a rough year.

It started with the mysterious cyberattack. After finally reaching normal relations with Arda, her one diplomatic coup, it was a cold war all over again except with no idea against whom or what. Then Arda heated up again, the late Devon Treznor got more paranoid, incidents occurred, the-now-Imperatrice Naiya fell off the VIXEN network's radar...

Things slipped. It was still dangerous to think about, but the memory of the Break and the new unreality held the Segments in good stead. Others... well, localized YutLink crashes tanked the Karmabaijani megacorps, a second Awakening destabilized the Berserker principality... to make a long story short, after a lot of National Contingency Blacks depleted the TYCS capacity to respond, the Federated Segments stepped into the breach. The intent was to reconstitute the allied governments. The result was to effectively annex them. Between the Segments and Zero-One, populations were absorbed, distributed, milled about... and of course foreign affairs had to take a back seat as chairs were rearranged, fiercely independent people assimilated. Assimilation works both ways, and so the Segments were still the Segments but not the Segments they used to be.

Being the face of the Triumvirate for so long helped.

But this? The Segments now practically were the Triumvirate, in its original sense.

And padishah Ipolla was Supreme Emperor of it. An intentionally overblown title for the first empire of historic empires, now suddenly apropos once again. She didn't feel it, though, and hadn't felt it since she held up a signed napkin representing peace in her time. She never admitted it, but she felt as though things had got from under her, that she was just gritting her teeth while holding the ratcat's tail and waiting for it all to stop--and bared teeth were a threat. Looking like she was staring down the world when really she was just holding on for dear life and desperately faking it.

Still, she was the Iron Dame. She knew nothing of the weaknesses of Man. That was her public persona and, for the longest time, she'd convinced herself it was her private one too. Publicly, she was turning down re-election because she chose to. In her own mind, she admitted that she was avoiding it because she had no other choice. The new Segments needed to have their voices heard rather than feeling like vassals of the 'old' Scolopendra. She also just wanted to finally let go of the tail.

"Tarasovkans," she said to the window.

"Taraskovyans," the grey-skinned woman sitting on the couch behind her corrected. "It is a quirk of Slavic languages--"

"And we're speaking in Arabic."

"This is why you are not the best diplomat, Polly."

Mballa reflexively glanced towards the oversized chair behind her desk. "No argument, Shoddy. Okay, the Taraskovyans want into the Triumvirate. What's their angle? They've been non-aligned forever."

"And they've taken non-alignment about as far as they reasonably can," the diplomatic avatar replied from across the room. "They've admitted as much to moving from bilateralism to multilateralism, and we're one of the very few alliances they actually trust. You know full well it wasn't always that way."

Ipolla nodded, black hair shaking slightly with the motion. She felt like it should have been grayer. "There has to be some impetus, some trigger."

"Yes to the first, no to the second. The Empire is rather conservative, and it takes full advantage of its social inertia. It evolves slowly, but steadily and stably. They've been moving towards our sphere of influence for a very long time, considering our strong presence in multinational Martian institutions. This is a logical, if previously unexpected, expression of that movement and a serious commitment on their part. Note that they didn't ask me to poll around, I recommended I do it for them. From the ambassador's missive, they sounded ready to start formal proceedings as soon as possible."

"A pretty bold move for a glacial institution."

"Bold moves are easy when one is committed."

The Supreme Emperor congratulated herself on failing to wince. This job broke people, it took them and it broke them. Kommetrez did a good job and disappeared into the Up-and-Out. Hertzfeldt took over the Galaxy Exploration Command from Advisor Rijil and now ran it from a comfortable little office light-years away and had never looked back. Speaker played chieftan-pope on the Ring... though perhaps that one was unfair. It was a self-banishment, he said as much. The 'Emperor' title should become true, and he was too respected. Other than saying he'd always be willing to talk, he'd never offered assistance and she'd never asked. In hindsight, she felt rather stupid for that. In the now, she was still proud she'd done it on her own. "You recognize this isn't the most convenient time."

"History is rarely convenient."

"True. Practically never, as far as I can tell." Ipolla folded her arms in front of her. "It's not like the old days, when the office had the final say as the actual seat on the Council. We'll have to expedite it through the Lej-Yoo, and more than a few of them will have to be briefed."

"The new reality."

"Hrm." She wasn't happy abour that phrase gaining traction. According to the charcoals in the OPO, it was more accurate than anyone felt comfortable admitting to. The Ardans were gone and with them went some of the old pillars of the Triumvirate too. What worried everyone is that maybe something more had slipped away too. They couldn't think about it if they wanted to stay sane. That was another reason why she needed out; she was part of the old reality.

She had asked Agent Simmias once if the new reality had anything to do with rumors she'd heard around the First End of the Ardan Cold War (the First End itself being a brain-slide topic) about bleeding escort carriers and empty <i>Nemesis</i>-classes. He replied not that he didn't know, but only 'not directly.' "The new reality. Speaker was right; I can't let this title become true and if I just decide... I don't need to tell you that things are shakier than we let on."

Behind her, the grey-skinned gynoid nodded. Mballa saw the reflection in the window. "The veto's still up in the air, I suppose. I'll have to get the Advisors in, get their reads, and make a case before the Leg-Yoo. Assuming of course the Taraskovyans don't see it as beneath themselves to send a party to give testimony before a foreign legislature."

"It would probably be best not to refer to it as 'testimony.' Perhaps 'an opportunity for mutual discussion' would be better. It'd also be a good idea not to emphasize the third syllable so much when you finally speak to them in person."

"I'm doing that for my own accord, Shoddy. Wouldn't want to get it wrong." She smirked cooly over her shoulder. "Wouldn't do to offend new friends, no?"

PostPosted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:58 am
by Tarasovka
There were many reasons why Timur was chosen for this assignment. The reader would gradually become acquainted with them over time through the course of this story, but for the time being it sufficed to say that Timur had no problem what so ever with testifying before a foreign legislature. Or talking to a foreign legislature. Or going out to a night club with the local legislature and shoving off his grooves on his customized bling-bling gravplatform. Whilst the typical Taraskovyan career diplomat was born in symbiosis with a broom up his backside (or her backside, Taraskovya was all about equal opportunities) and cherished it all his life as it grew stiffer and stiffer, Timur had no such things.

Any such testimony, of course, would have to be strictly private and confidential as the Taraskovyan side did not yet wish for the entire matter to go public before some firm ground was taken in the matter. Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek could only congratulate himself on his choice of going in with the help of SHODAN. Some in the Ministry suggested first mending ties with the Elves. He argued the Elves would demand too much beforehand, whilst the mechanoids were by far more reasonable to deal with. The matter was a heated dispute and it went to the Most August arbitration, so to say. The Vasilevs'es arbitration ended quite quickly, with his one pager proposal getting the visum "APPROVED" and the rival ten pager proposal getting the visum "NO".

"Your Excellency, the flight to Mnogonozhka have been booked," Elena said, in the worst transition from a narrative to a first person dialogue ever.

"I believe it is Stonozhka, Elena," Timur said as he tapped something on the holographic screen in front of him. "But say what. If they call us Tarasovkans, we'll call them Mnogonozhkans. Now, did you again book economy class tickets for yourself?"

The middle aged secretary's face remained stiff and without emotion. Timur sighed, stood up and paced left and right on top of the desk he was sitting at. Being a Praksan meant he could use space more efficiently than a human and didn't even need a chair to work at his desk. Timur really valued Elena as an efficient and performant worker, a former librarian at a Taraskovyan university, who became his career long aide. He appointed her to the Embassy on Duat. He then appointed her as his personal assistant while on the "special assignment". But sometimes her belief that an economy must be economical simply exasperated him.

"Go rebook first class. And for Anton and Vitali and... euh..."

"Dimitri, Your Excellency. He's your bodyguard for this month around," Elena said. "Upon the Minister's personal orders."

"Yes, Dimitri! We all travel first class and do not say anything. I am the budget holder."

"But... the fees..."

"I say I am the budget holder. Just spend the budget and I'll sign the POs..."

"Technically it's a Waiver..."

"Whatever. I'll sign. I'll even sign you a raise if you stop pestering me with silly red tape," Timur said as he stopped dead in his tracks and turned abruptly to look at his personal assistant. "And make sure the gifts are ready!"

"They are, your Excellency, I have received them yesterday."

"Ah, most excellent!" Timur said as he jumped up and down on the desk and rubbed his paws together. He tried to think of something original to bring along and in the end did not find anything else than a compilation of all the Sapiency Reform laws passed by the Grand Ducal, then by the Imperial legislature and the various subordinate regional legislatures. The compilations were nicely done in A5 format in leather binding, silver letterhead atop, on fine and exquisite paper. Basically something to put on the work desk and get reminded every day what a nice sapient-loving country Taraskovya was.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 1:52 pm
by Scolopendra
Executive Apartments

"Shodey really is acting as an intermediary, isn't she?" some low-level functionary said as International Relations Advisor Thong-oon Kraisee hauled out The Book for his staff. The Book really wasn't the tome the name implied, heavy and leatherbound; instead, it was about the size of a conventional two-centimeter three-ring binder with enough smartpages in it to make flipping back and forth worthwhile. The databases the smartpages were linked to, on the other hand, were absolutely massive. That the librarian and revision management specialist of The Book was almost always a mechanoid wasn't due to preferential hiring practices: The Book contained the cultural minutae of everyone the Scolopendrans (and, later, the Triumvirate of Yut Diplomatic Corps) had any reason to interact with, including those who had disappeared for one reason or another. If the Taraskovyans were going to actually go through with a question-and-answer session, then by whatever gods there are or aren't IntRelate is going to do it right.

Kraisee planted the book on the smallish table and opened it up. He decided to hold this meeting in the open-plan inner sanctum of the International Relations Section rather than a conference room because everyone could huddle around more easily to look at The Book. Sure, everyone had their own individual copies, and were probably already looking over them via headware, but in the Advisor's experience this helped with teamwork. "She did promise them, and she is a convenient connection to have, all things considered. Now, while James is looking up whatever he can pull on this 'Timur' fellow, let's see what we should expect on our side..."

Legislative Unit, Committee Room 24

A rainbow of legislators, covering a range even wider than the Segments would have traditionally hosted, fill a moderately-sized lecture hall. Given that a fast-track operation like this needed the coordination of the International Relations Committee, the Scheduling Committees of the two houses of the Unit, and the newly-important Segment Executive Delegations, the event was well attended. The doors were also firmly closed, which was unusual.

Sad, because open debates were always entertaining.

"I still think it should be held in an open session. How can I get the opinions of my constituents if there's no reporting?"

"The media would just make a circus out of the whole thing. Something for Thrust Horsepower to talk about on his nightly YutLink political program. The Tarasovkans--"

"Taraskovyans."

"--Taraskovyans, thank you, want this discreet. We can be discreet, can't we?"

"Does such discreetness really have a place in a democracy?"

"Is discreetness even a word?" Not actually in an insulting tone; more curious.

"Well, discretion certainly has a place. We're talking about a country that's obviously making efforts to improve itself--"

"By whose standards?"

"Ours."

"Who's 'us' at this point?"

"Good question, but--"

"Isn't that ungrammatical?" Gaveled down. "Sorry."

"Look, they wanna be friends, we can play ball."

Around The Book

"Fanged God, these people are traditional."

-Maybe not-, James announced via brainchat. -Look at this.-

They looked.

"So that's what a 'Praksan' is."

CR 24

"Well, what about a general assembly then?"

"God's teeth, you want us to bring in a delegate from an empire that still apparently uses titles of nobility and all that in classical style and throw them in front of a thousand people all throwing questions?"

"Look, only five hundred of 'em are actually legislators with speaking rights, don't hyperbolize."

"Sounds like they could do with a little reality check."

"Our reality."

"Who's 'us' again?"

"No, seriously, we-as-in-whoever-we-are-right-now don't get to dictate to other countries or their ambassadors how to do things. The padishah's bad enough in that regard, we don't have to reinforce it."

"But how else are we supposed to get our say and have our questions answered?"

"Submit them ahead of time. Actually do homework."

"What about new questions that come up?"

"Look, you guys elected us to this committee. That's delegation. Don't you trust us?"

"Who's 'u--" Gaveled down. "Oh, you're no fun anymo--" Gaveled down.

"In the classical democracies--"

"This ain't Athens, and for good reason. Ever read your Thucydides?"

"Thoo-sid... who?"

Sigh. "Greek historian."

"I don't need any of your 'Pendran elitism--" Gavel. "C'mon!"

"Everyone, keep it professional."

"Fair 'nuff. Anyway, what's wrong with democracy?"

"For a large enough system, you have to delegate powers upwards and downwards for anything to get done. It's why we're a republic like anyone else."

"This is all too theoretical. Simple fact of the matter is that it's silly to expect one guy to answer a string of questions from five hundred people in one go."

"Exactly. And we've already delegated that authority to the Eye-Arr Committee."

"Plus it'd take hours and hours and hours and in a closed-door session with a foreign diplomat that'd raise eyebrows."

"Well, we could open it up--"

Gavel, tapped a different way. "No. That decision has already been made, seconded, passed."

"Damn. I move to--"

"Timer hasn't reset yet."

"Damn."

"Can we at least, I dunno, be able to text questions to the Committee while we watch elsewhere?"

The Book

"The C'tani gave him a missile."

"Hoverbike."

"Made out of a missile."

"We can't top that. Can we? Can we afford to?"

"I'm more worried about the arms export limitations."

Kraisee simply folded his hands behind his back and listened. It's what he did.

"Says here we can give him almonds. Everyone likes candied almonds."

"I'm allergic."

"Well, he's not."

"We can't just give an honored ambassador a bag of almonds."

"Sure we can."

"Rephrase: we can't give an honored ambassador just a bag of almonds."

CR 24

"Then what happens if a Committee member doesn't ask one of those texted questions?"

"..."

"Seriously. Someone is going to ask something silly and either the guy behind the desk reads it and makes us all look like chumps or he doesn't and suddenly he's censoring the voice of the people."

"We could make the questions public."

"It's a closed sess--"

"To ourselves. So we know who's asking what."

"And someone with a good but probing question could be chilled out of asking it."

"Then they're in the wrong line of work."

"Look, guys, gals, and whatevers--"

"Hey."

"Sorry. None-of-the-aboves?"

"You're lucky we're drinking buddies."

"Right. Anyway, we've already delegated all this stuff to the Committee. Just by electing 'em. It's right in the procedures. So why don't we just let 'em do their jobs and, if we don't like it, drag 'em over the coals after? We can vote the bums out just like our peeps can vote us out. Simples."

"Well... it would prevent a schedule impact. I mean, the Timperial Segment was worried that this would effectively filibuster their vote on expanding the Special Armor Corps funding. That would've been... bad."

The Book

"I've got a letter opener."

"Somehow, that strikes me as insufficient."

"Why do you have a letter opener?"

"Sometimes we get letters. And it looked cool. And it was kind of a school project."

"You'd give up your sentimental school project letter opener?"

"I got a C on it."

"How do you get a C on a letter opener?"

"Wait, no, guys, though it sounds stupid--"

"Hey."

"--it's not a bad idea. Now a letter opener to us would, scaled about right, make a pretty badass sword for this hamster-dude."

"Praksan."

"Praksan. Anyway, we take the letter opener, hone it to a monomole edge or whatever, put on a little crossguard, wrap some leather around the handle, etch some cool centipede designs into the 'blade,' bam--badass sword. We can even say we made it ourselves in commemoration of this historic visit."

"Y'know, in Karmabaijan, we'd just give 'im liquor and firearms."

"So we give him a badass sword and liquor."

"You're trying to bribe an ambassador with a grown-up version of macaroni art, you realize this, yes?"

CR 24

"So, to recap: closed session. Objections?"

"Y--"

"Worth having?"

Silence.

"Good. Eye-Arr Committee only. Not broadcast to the rest of us, so the overall schedule isn't impacted. Objections?"

Silence.

"None? Good. We trust the Eye-Arr Committee to do their jobs, with the possibility of a shakeup if they f... bust it up beyond all repair. Objections?"

Silence.

"Good. Chair proposes opening the doors, leaving this place, and entering the bars to get wasted. Objections?"

Silence. Well, there is one "wooooo" from the back.

"Excellent. Session is so closed." Bam.

The Book

"So... we're decided then. Cool letter opener--"

"Badass sword."

"Sword. Liquor, top-shelf. Best local candied almonds we can find. This weird gold bauble thing that Magnus 'found somewhere.'"

The Envoy to New Worlds, who had just been passing by before overhearing the conversation and offering some help, shrugged his broad shoulders and grinned.

"Actually, Officer Hesche," Thong-oon noted quietly, "this sounds as though it is quickly becoming something in your cachet. Would you mind being the point of contact?"

"Not at all, boss, but you realize that nothing I do ends up being low-visibility."

"Then consider 'discretion' to be your challenge for this little endeavour. After all, you rarely come into the office. This is certainly fate, is it not?"

"Nah, fate is what we make it." Magnus grinned, as he often did. "This is just a happy coincidence. I can't promise to keep things under the radar, but you can be certain that I'll play interference for our guest when it comes to the cameras."

"Excellent." The Advisor nodded. "That is exactly what we need."

PostPosted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 3:25 pm
by Tarasovka
[OOC: Taking the artistic license to speed things up. Blanks can be filled as you deem fit in your post and you are granted artistic license. I also suggest that we move to GoogleDocs for the more interactive portion of the post.]

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Legislative Unit, Stonozhka

Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek sat comfortably in the armchair atop his personal multi-purpose assistant, or the PMPA, with the latest hit in Taraskovyan night clubs playing out from the volume sound speakers integrated into the mechanism. Timur, after all, was a known adept of dance music and of night life in general. And that particular song actually managed to ruffle some feathers as some very known arch-conservative Horobr* scholars criticized the song's video for their portrayal of the Horobr culture.

The PMPA he sat upon was a sort of a platform outfitted with a comfortable armchair and lots of nice and funny gadgets to ensure both comfort and work efficiency. The platform resided on four long and slim legs, guaranteeing all-round mobility. Teerathe's PMPA was pretty much a custom design, an exploratory product into the line of PMPAs for Praksans who, due to their size, had to rely on technology to make them comparable to humans.

This one particular PMPA was the more « civilian » variant of the product. Timur also had a « combat ready » variant with all sorts of offensive and lethal niceties in it for the more dangerous destinations. This one, however, was not armed (except for some non lethal self defence things). After all, he was not going to war, but to make peace. Instead, the platform contained additional limbs to handle whatever, the limbs being busy with carrying the packages of the “Taraskovyan Sapiency Reforms” volumes.

Timur was accompanied by two of his aides that were Vitalij and Anton, and by Dimitri, who followed at close distance, disarmed as he was by the LegU security. Elena stayed behind at the hotel. Leading the procession was the Scolopendran representative Magnus Hesche, of whom Timur quite obviously quickly fetched up quite some interesting information. After all, it could not be expected for Teerathe to know every single Scolopendran around, but Hesche was certainly not the least public of figures in the multiverse.

As the party took its place in the allocated room, Timur directed his PMPA next to Taraskovyan delegation's desk. The PMPA projected a bridge of hard light to allow the Taraskovyan ambassador to scamper off to the table's surface, before he sent the PMPA off to distribute the leather bound volumes. Needless to say, by this time the music was already turned off to not interfere with the proceedings.

Panstvo** Members of the Legislative Unit, the Honourable Chairman*** of the International Relations Committee, first of all allow me to thank you for your time and for the opportunity to be present at this session,” Teerathe said as he walked to the edge of the desk to be closer to the Scolopendran legislators. The hambil looked impeccable dressed in a business suit, with a small tie and shoes and all. His two aides were already seated behind his desk, Dimitri stood like a good soldier by the doors and the PMPA was busily going about the room distributing the volumes. “I pray you accept this very humble gift as a sign of friendship from the Taraskovyan Empire, a testimony to our mutual adherence to the principles of fundamental sapient rights, equality, freedom and the greater good. It is a great honour for me to be here, and if I may present my aides. Vitalij Skoroborodov to my right is my legal expert, whilst Anton Dobrokhotov to my left is my economic expert. Dimitri back there is my security detail whom I have to tug along as per our internal procedures. But before we proceed further, I shall be as bold as to request the Panstvo to provide me with three good and valid reasons for the Empire to not join the Triumvirate.”

With that, Timur simply sat down on the desk's edge, his legs hanging down, his eyes going from face to face. Teerathe was a skilled and cunning diplomat. He knew when to uphold stereotypes and when to break them. With the Scolopendrans, he would be crushing the usual Taraskovyan stereotype so that by the end of the session, hopefully, nothing remained of it. He would immediately seize the initiative in a way that would be seen as an insult in countries like Pantocratoria. And he would roll from there.




[ooc:
* The Horobr, as you can guess, are a cossack-like sub-culture of the Taraskovyan Ros. Very conservative, to say the least.

** Panstvo is the honorific way of addressing a group consisting of both men and women. In NS case, of men, women, whatevers and none of the aboves.

*** Here and beyond all titles can be assumed to be correct ICly, unless specifically mentioned in the narrative that they are incorrect. If anything, I can always edit the post, so feel free to remark to such. I feel this simplifies things.]

Co-op with Tarasovka

PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:30 am
by Scolopendra
The committee room--different number, same general layout--fit the general pattern of such things in representative democracies: a curved desk seating the committee members, rotating at a constant radius around the presenter’s desk, focusing attention like a parabolic mirror on whomever sat in the hot seat. The major difference was that unlike many places, the committee desk sat on the same level as the presenter’s; none of this elevated-dais-looking-down-from-upon-high nonsense. Admittedly, that was something of a relic from when the room was built to the cultural specifications of Old Scolopendra--Al-Ārroda Halish in the new official documentation--but it worked out well with regards to the whole integration-as-equals scheme. At any rate, the man sitting in the center of the arc--fair-skinned, fair-haired, and labeled “SenLeg BYQUIST” by the little slotted placard in front of him--smiled a little more than diplomatically. “Yes, well, to buy my compatriots some time to think up answers to an unexpected but certainly reasonable question, I’d like to take the time to thank you for coming to speak with us, Ambassador Kweedrat-Menek. The International Relations Committee recognizes to a degree the political… sensitivities surrounding our request for an interview and personal dialogue. Up until now the relationship between the Taraskovyan Empire and the Federated Segments has been polite, perhaps even cordial, but not necessarily the closest in the multiverse, so we can safely admit to a little surprise. So,” he glanced over at the other people seated about the committee-arc, “are we ready?”

They all looked at each other and were variations on the humanoid theme. Some had more exposed metal than others, others had distinctive structures such as ears or ridges, but there weren’t any splat-une or blobs or kzinti or dragons or anything particularly far out from the population average. Luck of the draw this time, one supposed. One of the more metallic members, a woman sporting a shock of electric blue hair done in a style between ‘mohawk’ and ‘high and tight’ and arms she probably wasn’t born with unless her father was a mechanoid leaned forward. She was labeled ‘SenLeg PATTON.’ “Well, one good reason is the taxes.”

Certain others around the arc almost snickered; she shot them a momentary look best described as ‘ha ha, you guys.’ “The Triumvirate is a bit more than just another economilitary alliance. It’s more like a superstate, so there are negotiated… costs associated with maintaining the superfederal bits like the Combined Services, Diplomatic Corps, Space Patrol, and the like. It ain’t free.”

“Likewise,” added a brown-haired, slightly angular elven type labeled ‘SenLeg DRYEARG’HYMN’ whose High Elf features clashed slightly with the standard-issue business suit she wore, “there is a mild loss of sovereignty, to a degree. Members are expected to work together and while very little is actually formal, outside of the Combined Services being able to take Theatre-wide command of military assets in emergencies, there is an expectation of always working with the collective strategic intent. Portions of the Charter were expressly added to address members who had tendencies to act in their own in ways counterproductive to the rest of the alliance.

“The third reason is more ideological and its import may vary,” said one ‘SenLeg INUKAI’ from a far end of the arc. He was short, slightly frumpy looking, but otherwise well-groomed, fitting the bill of some Far Eastern functionary or businessman. “The Triumvirate accepts all sorts, ranging from nearly direct democracies to full-blown tinpot dictatorships and corporate plutocracies… and we all influence one another. The Trium-level agencies generally adopt the ‘Pendran model because it’s remarkably open-minded and agnostic, as quite a few of us have learned most directly,” he said wryly, “so there’s a lot of overarching representation from that angle but more importantly the trade and movement freedoms will force the Empire to deal with a lot more ideas from a lot more angles than it may be traditionally comfortable with. The Akashan Union definitely had to get used to working with autocrats like the House of D’Aquisto or the House of Treznor.”

Byquist glanced for a moment at Inukai; the latter man’s eyebrow quirked up for a moment as he looked at nothing else in particular for a moment. Then he decided he was done, and the chairperson took over again. “So there are three reasons, Ambassador. Whether they’re ‘good’ or not is subjective, but hopefully we’ve managed to deliver flexibly enough.” He smiled a good, friendly, mensch-to-mensch smile.

Timur listened very intently to the exposé of the various reasons and felt that he pretty much hit the jackpot as he would alleviate the major concerns early on and proceed further. Of course, the three reasons provided were just part of the pool of reasons he scribbled down into his personal notebook while preparing the meeting. He identified more. As with any supranational alliance, there were tonnes of reasons to join and tonnes of reasons not to join. It all depended on the kilograms that tipped the balance.

“Thank you, most honourable Panstvo Senate Legislators,” Teerathe said with a polite nod. “In answering to the honourable Pani Patton, I would have to note that first and foremost the Empire would wish to refrain from referring to the Triumvirate as a super-state, as it is still an International Governmental Organisation of sovereign nations, whose governments have come together for mutual benefit, assistance and cooperation. We are of course aware of the associated costs and that the Triumvirate has a supra-national military force. The Empire prefers to not see at as the sign of a super state, but as a sign of a pool that governments voluntarily contribute to. And Taraskovya shall, of course, willing to do its part in means financial and material, as well as in manpower should such be required.”

Timur paused for a second to catch his breath. “And in this I shall join in my answer to the honourable Pan Dreearg’hhymn,” Timur spelled it out somewhat slower than his usual speech as his eyes focused on the nameshield. “The Taraskovyan Empire has at various times placed its own forces under the operational control of allied governments in times of crisis where a joint command was established. TNDF Operational Theatres have a vast autonomy of decision and must not refer to the Generalstab for every single bit of action in case a vast enemy fleet pops up to say hi with overwhelming firepower. Such interactions are always reglemented in specific protocols and instructions and worked out in practice in mutual maneuvers, exchanges of officers and liaison officers, joint training exercises. As far as going outside of the scope of the charter is concerned, Taraskovya’s general foreign policy tends to be one of much care and attention to not get embroiled in some sort of a meat grinder for no reason. In this, we are far less active and eager to jump the trigger than, say, your own Menelmacari allies,” Timur said as the protocol-obliged snub at the elves was served.

“Finally, to the honourable Pan Inukai I can answer that we have historically dealt with all sorts of governments and mindsets. We have become allied with the over-the-top liberal minded Knootians, albeit I shall be the first to admit that they can be at times quite annoying to deal with. The Queendom of Zero-One is our sponsor in our bid, something nobody could have imagined some years ago.”

The committee nodded amongst itself and, in behind-the-scenes braintexting amongst those so equipped (and embedded screens for those not), they started to appreciate the clever little ambassador. They’d tried to answer honestly, reasons why the Empire from its own viewpoint shouldn’t join, and these answers were turned into reflections of the committee’s own concerns. The old Scolopendran, in particular, could appreciate this. For his own part, Inukai nodded at the jab at the Noldo nation; they were exactly the ones who necessitated those amendments to the Charter in the first place. And it had the desired effect; since then, the Menelmacari had stopped being quite so obnoxiously gunboat about everything. Otherwise, the High Elf looked towards the chairman; the chairman looked back and nodded, and Dryearg'hymn took the reins of the ‘Pendran side of the conversation. “I recognize my name uses uncommon phonetics, Ambassador, but it is also a compound. I can accept ‘Dryear’ if it eases things.

“Otherwise, our first question is perhaps the most obvious. The culture of Old Scolopendra is one of, shall we say, getting straight to the point, and despite being the senior Senate Legislator of the Berserker Principality I can appreciate that. What is the Taraskovyan Empire’s interest in joining the Triumvirate? We have heard through channels about multilateral diplomacy, but we’d like to know more fully what motivates your nation’s interest.”

“As one Sorvalian rock opera diva sings in her song… I walk alone, every step I take, I walk alone,” Timur said, simply reading out the lyrics, without making the slightest attempt to even sing them. “There simply comes a point when walking alone is no longer an option. We tried to get by through bilateral agreements, but it ended up in a mess. Structured alliances offer some clear guidelines and a feeling of security that everything is organised and is running smoothly. More or less. Now, we are certainly a recognised economic, political, cultural and military power. Yet, to be honest, TYCS battleships tend to generally be spiffier than the TNDF ones. The Triumvirate is ahead of us in many areas and can help us get better, stronger. We, in turn, can contribute new skills, our own technologies where we can surprise more than a few, we can contribute the Imperial resources to your alliance. We gain, you gain.

“You get to access our market, we get access to yours. Everybody profits. Our people get to travel easier to your countries, learn, teach, contribute, take something new in for themselves. In the end, a guided and structured policy of open borders within a regulated environment offered by an alliance is the path the Empire would like to pursue under the new foreign policy guidelines established by His Most August Majesty.”

“We’ll have more specific questions in a moment, but a follow-up, if I may,” replied the Berserker elf. “Why the Triumvirate specifically?”

“The Empire is also allied to the governments of Knootoss, Pantocratoria and Excalbia through the treaty of… Austerbeer?” Timur said giving a quick look to Vitalij, his face a bit confused as he never managed to get that name right.

“Oosterbeek, Your Excellency,” the legal expert said immediately.

“Ah, yes, thank you, Pan Advisor. The alliance was triggered because as you may know His Most August Majesty the Vasilevs is married to Her Most August Majesty the Vasilessa Elena, who is also the Princess Helen of Pantocratoria through her father His Imperial Highness the Prince Basil of Pantocratoria who is the younger brother of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Andreus I of Pantocratoria. And since Pantocratoria is very allied to Exclabia, those were signed up, even if not immediately. And the Knootians… we’ve been friends with the Knootians for a while. However…”

Timur paused for a second, pondering his next words. “To be entirely honest, the Triumvirate sits at the core of Taraskovyan foreign political interactions. Whether it be VERITAS, which we can certainly not join due to some persisting disagreements over the status of largely depopulated areas of Mars, or the NDA, which we do not seek to apply to as we have a very complicated system of democratic governance and popular referenda, the Triumvirate is still at the center. Moreover, Yut has the advantage of being what you call a super state and what we call a closely integrated alliance. Now, we cannot really go sign up to the numerous treaties the Allaneans lead because, to be frank, we are not the trigger happy trigger jumping… folks… as them. Even if we do share a certain disdain to slavery, for example. We feel ourselves more calm and we see the Triumvirate as a… calm… organisation, which evolves, but does not cause a revolution within its ranks every second week.”

The Berserker nodded with understanding at the connections of lineage and royalty; the Karmabaijani cyborg followed along after a moment of translating it into terms she could appreciate, and Inukai’s eyes momentarily glazed over. The rest, everyone could understand and the answer mets with silent approval. Byquist took his turn on the next question. “One concern of Old Scolopendra in particular is in regards with the limitation of public worship in the Taraskovyan Empire. Now, freedom of speech or religion is not mandated by the Triumvirate but it would help if we understood this policy in context.”

“Oh, now that one is quite complex,” Timur said with a sigh. “There are indeed laws on the freedom of worship which impose a whole series of limitations and interdictions on various religions movements. Some make sense, such as the forbidden Cult of Akbaa, a splinter Tarathian sect that thinks sacrificing people is a good idea. Some make less sense, such as the privileges afforded to Christianity, in particular Eastern Orthodox Christianity, over the other Abrahamic religions that are Islam and Judaism. The reasons for this are so complex and date so long ago that I would prefer to simply refer the honourable Pan Senate Legislator to several volumes on the matter published by known Taraskovyan scholars. The matter of the fact is that in a recent legislative amendment, the issue of religions freedom was transferred from the Imperial level to the Realm level. And here is where I will need the assistance of Pan the Legal Advisor…”

Timur turned somewhat towards Vitalij and nodded, as the young man took on from there. “The Taraskovyan Empire, despite the vast powers concentrated in the hands of the Vasilevs, in its day to day business functions as a devolved federation composed of Realms and Dominions,” the young man hit a button and a hologram appeared over the desk, with various charts and graphic representations of the Imperial constitutional structure appearing as he spoke. “The Realms are those territories specifically listed by the Imperial Constitution with equal rights and privileges, but also duties and obligations. The Dominions are protectorates, colonies, associated states. We shall concentrate on Realms as delving deeper into the Dominions could take days. Suffice to say, for example, that the Tsardom of Acarionne, as a Dominion of Taraskovya, has never had any restrictions on religious freedom as it always enjoyed a special status. At any rate… Realms benefit from a wide range of internal self-governance in matters economic, political and legal. Some realms chose in fact to federalise their own selves, mostly for historic reasons, by devolving big powers to their own component entities. We shall call these entities the Provinces, even if in each Realm the name is different. The unitarian Realms have no Provincial level and administer everything from the center.”

Vitalij caught his breath for a second. “This out of the way, I can return to what His Excellency the Ambassador stated. The Veche of the Taraskovyan Empire formally devolved the issue of religious freedom to the Realm level, enabling the Realms to take their own decisions in the matter. Some realms, namely the seven Handalarian Lordships, immediately seized the opportunity to tighten their own rules and, in fact, now heavily restrict even the construction of Taraskovyan Orthodox churches within their territories. But the Handalarian Lordships, populated by the descendants of those Tarathians exiled in the aftermath of the Strife, which was this big civil war between abolitionists and traditionalists…”

“I believe we can skip the history excourse, Pan Legal Advisor,” Timur said.

“Yes, Your Excellency,” the legal expert nodded hastily and proceeded on with the explanation. “The Handalarian Lordships are quite special. Anyway, some other Realms, such as Belovodie, also known as Dreamreach, and Zoria have moved to in fact cancel the restrictions on religious freedom. The United Kingdom of Dakathia and Cardinia is still debating the matter at the Realm level, but everything tends to suggest that it would end up being devolved to the Provincial level, as Dakathia and Cardinia is an extremely complicated place.”

“Indeed, for the reference of the Panstvo Senate Legislators,” Timur said, nodding to Vitalij. “What we call today the United Kingdom of Dakathia and Cardinia used to be the Grand Duchy of Taraskovya proper before the Imperial Reform. I shall take on from Pan the Legal Advisor. The religious reform follows suite to the Sapiency Reforms and shall be quite a long process, even longer than that of the Sapiency issue. Taraskovya is extremely diverse and imposing this issue from the center could lead to some negative consequences. Which is why it is being taken slowly. It might take ten years or ten thousand, we value our stability over immediate shake ups.”

“If only we’d had ten years,” Legislator Patton muttered.

“It does sound familiar, doesn’t it?” Inukai noted.

“Hence the request for context,” Byquist said with a smile. “It’s not all too different here in the Segments, even now. In Old Scolopendra, broad leeway was de facto given in regards to similar issues. I’m sure you’ve heard of Dar-al-Din. The primary difference is that the Federal government guarantees freedom of religion but not necessarily its immediate expression, so if any given Segment or territory or colony off in the Periphery happens to squeeze too hard, adherents are legally protected by Federal primacy. Of course, this has led to a sorting effect out in what’s now the Periphery Segment, where you can find monocultures-of-choice of every stripe, but just between us that happens to be a feature rather than a bug. The ‘expression’ part also allows people to be sophont sacrificers so long as they don’t actually sacrifice sophonts.”

“Except for the assisted suicide clause,” Inukai mentioned with a smirk.

“Yes, but there’s more than a few legal hoops surrounding that. Anyway. I believe the Senate Legislator from the Hegemonic Karmabaijani Segment had a question?”

“Why, thank you, Chairperson.” Patton’s words were sarcastic, but her tone more jokingly collegial. “My concerns are more economic than political, Ambassador, though the two kinda interact a bit. The Triumvirate is a free trade and free movement org as much as it is anything else; of course, I’m certain, the Empire knows that and has already taken all that into account. Just for the record, though, that’s not expected to cause too many problems other than the usual economic corrections and whatnot?”

“I believe I will require the expertise of Pan the Economic Advisor,” Timur said, nodding to Anton, who inclined his head a little in acknowledgement.

“I can answer this question by putting everything into context,” Anton began. “The Taraskovyan Empire in itself is a huge self sustaining market. The freedom to reach the stars and settle planets, habitable and inhabitable, opens endless opportunities for continued development in autarky and isolation. However, this development has its own speed limits set by objective factors, such as population, available production resources, etc. Gaining access to a broader market will stimulate the growth of prosperity, open up new opportunities for cooperation. Our economic analysis shows that the Taraskovyan economy in its current state will not suffer immediate negative implications from opening up to the Triumvirate market. Neither, in fact, do we expect any immediate positive fallout. We aim to the long term, as the economic actors adjust and probe new opportunities. Of course, locally, some impacts will be self evident. Take Mars as an example, where the Svarog province of Nyi-Gardarika is surrounded on three of four sides by Menelmacari domains. Or the areas of Nyi-Gardarika by Zero-One Sirenum. In these areas, of course, there will be a mutual change of economic settings in these areas, but we expect them to be beneficial in the long term. Of course, minor actors on both sides might run out of business or get absorbed by the bigger players. But this also happens whenever, in fact, another Imperial colony manages to fully enter the market and its local population begins to challenge the grip of the major Imperial corporations on wealth generation. Overall, Imperial economy is sufficiently robust to not succumb to foreign actors and will contribute beneficially. So we do not expect to be overtaken by Scolopendrans or for the Scolopendrans to be overtaken by the Taraskovyans. Or the Menelmacari, the Sunsetti or others.”

This all made sense to the assembled committee members. The International Trade Section’s analyses roughly agreed, as could be expected, even if their reports were more rushed and therefore more conjectural than the Taraskovyans’ own. Still, more questions. Questions more specific and technical and, accordingly, less important in the big scheme of things.

Nevertheless, the minutiae took time. Lots of time. It always did.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:30 am
by Tarasovka
FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY
TARASKOVYAN EMPIRE

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

ASSIGNMENT : TOY ACCESSION
PROGRESS UPDATE


Automated stamp:
Amb. E&P at Large Kweedrat Menek T. S.
Special Assingments Directorate
17 – 431 - 14 / YUT1 – 1711 - 16

To the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Taraskovyan Empire

    Your High Excellency,

    The interview with the Legislative Unit of the Federated Segments of Scolopendra has been concluded.

    General tone of the interview : positive and productive.

    Final conclusion by the Federated Segments of Scolopendra pending internal processes and debates through the Committee and into the Chambers. The outcome is expected to be positive with the addition of a vote in favour at the Yut Council. The complete protocol for the meeting shall be compiled by my Aides and forwarded to Your High Excellency post haste.

Compiled for your information.

Amb. E&P at Large
Kweedrat Menek T. S.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:30 pm
by Scolopendra
Scolopendran Independent News
"Everyone has a little S.I.N. in their life"

What's Going On In The LegU?

STONOZKA - Government watchers in the capital today continue to question the purpose of the closed Joint International Relations Committee meeting and the later International Relations Committee meeting with Taraskovyan diplomats earlier this week. While the official word from the International Relations Section is that the meetings were in regards to potential trade deals with the Taraskovyan Empire, S.I.N. and the Council for Government Transparency noted that such secret discussions are unprecedented for trade agreements. Indeed, the International Trade Section's public databases note that trade between the Federated Segments and the Empire are quite healthy, particularly in the Timperial Segments. Doctor Williams, chair of international business at the University of Stonozka, notes that during informal conversations between her and her colleagues could think of no important trade factors between the two governments requiring such tight secrecy.

An undisclosed source in the Legislative Unit, however, who claimed to have attended the first closed-door meeting, claims that the subject was not trade but accession into the Triumvirate of Yut. Historically, the Scolopendran vote on the Council of Yut has been left to the singular discretion of the Supreme Emperor or a duly appointed functionary, but sources within the Executive Unit say that it is the opinion of the Ipolla Administration in light of the Reformation that for the immediate short-term such issues of national interest be referred to the Legislative Unit "for input, like advise and consent." If this actually is the case, the Karmabaijani Government Watch states that it could actually be a use for the Segment Executive Delegations in the Legislative Unit and, if that were the case, it would have to retract its criticism of the SEDs as "useless government waste."

None of the Segment Executive Delegations could be reached by press time, owing to "schedule conflicts" according to the delegates' respective offices.


Legislative Unit Building Basement

All legislatures have a room like this, whether they mean to or not. Unfinished, with pipes and vents and other facilities routing through, bare concrete or breeze-block walls, furnishings limited to a few scattered folding chairs pulled from storage racks in the corner. Inevitably, these rooms find use as quiet meeting spots, away from the bustle and noise of the chambers and the public spaces.

"So much for the 'trade mission' cover story," a darker-skinned, harsh-faced woman of obvious Mongol extraction grumbled with a Berserker accent grumbled from one chair. "At least it fell apart after the good Ambassador left."

An ambiguously dark-brown man somewhere between Dravidian and Western African shrugged as he looked thoughtfully through the concrete wall, hands folded behind his back. "Well, that's democracy for you, Dash." The collection of little pox-like scars along the sides of his neck would have made him an alien in science fiction with limited makeup budgets, but he was just from Si'lat. "You can always trust someone to break OPSEC. It's a feature."

"Yare, yare," waved a tattooed woman with a Karmabaijani gruffness to her voice. The tattoo, a thin outline of a highly-stylized firebolt around her left eye, somehow failed to clash with her corp dress. "We know. Now, about the hearing."

*record scratch*

"I've had the home office run a few numbers," the Karmabaijani woman replied, artificial eyes flashing slightly as she pulled something up on them. "They confirm the Taraskovyan numbers, and by and large they look forward to it. There were some dissenting votes along the fringes; DefCorp and Le Qualite Heavy Industries think that the Taras could cut easily into their markets. KCTS is behind it, though, so there's nothing to worry about from our Executive."

The dark Si'lat man nodded. "I can't really tell the 'Pendran reaction, though I don't know if I have to since this is the padishah's initiative. As we start releasing information, I could see public opinion turning more favorable to the Taraskovyans, probably putting them more on par with the Menelmacari in terms of perception as a de facto limited monarchy."

"No complaints from the Reformed Principality," the Berserker woman said. "The Prince-Regent would appreciate a friendly monarchy since his line's still under Parliament's probation period and the Republicans are still making noise about scrapping the nobility altogether, even though the Laws of Title make that whole idea a bit more fluid than it is with the Taras."

"Well then, that leaves the Suunto Segment Executive." The 'Pendran looked over his shoulder at a quiet old man off in one corner, hair white and long with age. "Mister Ochirbal?"

"No objections from Corporate," the aged man replied.

"I suppose we can adivse the padishah and consent when it comes around," the Si'lati said.

-record scratch-

PostPosted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:01 pm
by Scolopendra
*sound effect*

Mballa Ipolla blinked, sniffled, brought a hand to her nostrils and brought back a spot of red on her knuckle. Getting up out of her chair, she stalked over to the door to her office and peeked past the sill. Outside, in the cubicles, everyone else on the floor was sniffing and reaching for tissues. Advisor Tourneur held her nose in a most undignified way.

"Goddammit," she muttered to herself, then louder. "Someone please find Agent Simmias, and tell me whether this can be good news for a change."

As it turns out, it was.

PostPosted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:37 pm
by Dread Lady Nathicana
“As you may know, relations had cooled somewhat, though there hasn’t been much in the way of international unrest on the part of the Triumvirate, that one might make an issue of it.”

Naiya D’Aquisto nodded patiently from her seat near the middle of the conference table. It was a somewhat different approach overall than her mother had maintained, where her office was the prime place for meetings, with her firmly behind her desk – a visible reminder of her separation and station.

This was one of several conference rooms in the government offices, albeit one of the more private ones. The table was a long rectangular arrangement with rounded corners, and a clear protective top over the rich woodgrain surface. There were five comfortable office chairs to each of the sides, with an additional chair at each end. The colors in the room were warm and inviting, and there were of course a sink, countertop, and workstations for coffee and tea at one end of the room. Close by, a serviceable wine rack with the appropriate glasses also stood at the ready. There was an open box of pastries, most of which were gone, sitting open on the countertop. The rest had either been eaten, or were sitting in various states of being devoured by the smaller group in attendance.

Small plates, assorted glassware, various digital devices as well as papers and folders were scattered across the tabletop between the gathered ministers. Cesare Calabrese, her current Chancellor, was currently drawing their attention to a recent S.I.N. article while updating the newer ministers of the overall state of affairs.

“The Scolopendran leadership was in attendance for the coronation, which was deemed a positive sign. While other members and signatories have either been subsumed or gone quiet,” the Dominion’s method of referring to the odd phenomenon of whole nations ‘falling off the map and out of contact’, “this nation, or conglomerate of nations, who has always been the one we’ve viewed as the functional backbone of the alliance, has remained strong. And now, for the first time in a very long time, there appears to be an outside interest in joining the historically stable alliance. It’s something we should inquire about. At one time, such things were discussed amongst the membership at large.” The last of course, was for Naiya’s benefit, as during her time in and around the government business, there had been no new members in either alliance the Dominion was a part of. In fact, the NDA had taken on an entirely new method and face, considering where the membership had wished to go, and the almost frighteningly stable arrangements they all had.

“Then perhaps we should get in contact with the Supreme Emperor,” she replied sensibly, already calling up the requisite protocols to do just that.

“It probably wouldn’t be amiss, though I would recommend a gentle touch,” Antonio Pellegrino interjected – Minister of Intel, still in the position from her mother’s cabinet. When a person was doing a good job, and was still capable of continuing to do it, Naiya saw no need to make any changes, at least for now. The situation had agreed with him as well, and thus, he’d stayed.

“Well I hadn’t planned on calling up and making demands,” the young woman said dryly, eliciting quiet laughter amongst the group. It wouldn’t have been the first time such things had happened from these offices, after all.

“If it helps, we could make the request for more information via my department,” offered Evangelista Ravanelli, Minister of Public Relations. She had hardly changed in all the years Naiya had known her. Still with the kind face, and the long brown hair. Only there were additional lines of care, and smiles at the corners of her eyes, a depth to the wisdom in her eyes, and a lingering quiet sadness that she’d never quite figured out. Of all of the remaining, whether for the future or interim while replacements were interviewed and examined, Evangelista seemed the most at ease with the change in leadership. Perhaps even satisfied, one might say. At any rate, she no longer appeared on the defensive in meetings, and that was enough to verify several suspicions on Naiya’s part.

“I don’t recommend a fruit basket,” Calabrese said, pausing to sample his pastry while again, those in the know, laughed softly. “Though I’m all in favor of bringing those back for tactical applications. There was something eloquently beautiful about that particular response.”

“Well you can see it isn’t a trade issue, as it seemed some had suspected at first. You realize we have one of his brother’s restaurants up on Machiavelli. Delightful little chap if I do say so,” Bernardo di Medici, Minister of Trade said, switching the tone back to a more serious one. “Korobom Soint Kweedrat Menek – a Praksan, if you will. Tiny fellows, but quite polite. In any case, that’s my understanding. That the Taraskovyan diplomat currently holed up with the ‘Pendrans, and our good entrepreneur, are related. Perhaps that’s another point of contact or reference.”

“How the devil do you remember all those names, man?” asked the oldest gentleman there, the Defense Minister, Giancarlo Torino. His hair was white, and his face wrinkled with age, but his eyes and wits were as sharp as ever. “There must be hundreds of shop owners and assorted business contacts up there by now.”

“Oh, at least,” said Bernardo, smiling benignly. “Chalk it up to good, clean living, my friend.”

“More like ‘damn good augments and longevity treatments’,” the older man muttered, much to di Medici’s amusement. He simply smiled and raised his glass in a silent cheer to his long-time compatriot.

“All good ideas, and good information to have, but I fail to see what’s wrong with simply putting in a polite request for more information, and how we might be of assistance,” Naiya half asked the group. Several brows went up, and at least one set of eyes looked off to the side.

“Well, it’s not that she’s difficult,” Calabrese began carefully.

“But she is a tad on the prickly side. With no great love lost for us, unless I’ve been imagining things,” finished Torino in a slightly gravelly voice.

“I’d imagine after having had to deal with some of the problems she has on account of us—“ Evangelista began quietly, only to be cut off by Naiya raising a hand patiently for some quiet.

“Gentlemen, Ladies, I’m aware of the tensions, and in part, the whys behind some of them. I’m also aware that in the times I’ve met the woman, she’s had a more formal, military-style bearing, was proper and reserved, and was not some sort of dragon woman out to bite my head off. I found her to be quite polite, in fact. She may not hold the office with the easy grace that Speaker did, but then again, who does? I’m not going to prejudice our actions here on account of fleeing impressions or public masks,” the young woman stated gently, but firmly, without raising her voice as was her mother’s habit.

She still got odd reads from many in her staff on account, in spite of having grown up around them. On some levels, it amused her. “In the meantime, please continue to make your reviews and recommendations on those positions we are looking to pass on to new seats. I cannot thank you enough for all of your hard work and support, especially in all the time leading up to the shift in power. You and the others have done an outstanding service, and it will not be forgotten – regardless of whether you are staying, retiring, or moving on to other opportunities. I believe that was the last item on the agenda, unless there is anything else?”

“Aside from the matter of backed-up drains in the main floor lavatory,” Calabrese quipped, knowing full well it was being taken care of. Naiya smirked, crumpled up a page of notes she’d transposed to her datapad, and tossed it at his head. He caught it, and grinned.

“Right then. I’ll be up in the office composing,” she said, standing and gathering her things. The others stood as well, out of defference, and they all made their brief farewells, though the others lingered in the room after she’d left.

“One meeting down, and not a single glass broken, or eardrum tested,” Evangelista noted, her tone once more dryly amused.

“Not that I’d expected less, all things considered, but it’s refreshing. I just hope that she’s strong enough for the hard decisions,” Torino said quietly.

Calabrese had watched the young woman leave, his expression thoughtful. “I don’t think you need fear that,” he replied, his eyes still directed toward the doorway while he turned the crumpled ball of paper over in his hand. “I guarantee that young woman has all the steel her mother had – or will, when the opportunity presents itself. She simply wields it with a lighter, more deft touch.”

To: Supreme Emperor Mballa Ipolla of Scolopendra
Fr: Imperatrice Naiya D’Aquisto of the Dominion
Re: Triumvirate Inquiry; New Membership

I hope that this missive finds you in good health. And I wish to thank you and yours once again for attending the coronation. The unflagging support of your nation, and indeed the alliance, has been invaluable. It has always been appreciated – more so when understanding that we have been both an asset, and a concern during our association.

We stand in no need of aid at this time, nor for the foreseeable future. It has, however, come to our attention that there may be a new interest in expanding the alliance membership on the part of the Taraskovyans. I am aware that we have never had a seat on the First Among Equals, and would not wish to presume on account. But in this particular incident, I wanted to voice our support of the addition, for whatever it is worth.

There are longstanding ties, however unbinding, between our two nations, that have been remembered, and appreciated. While it has had little to do with alliances, or more serious matters, our impression of them has overall been a positive one. Time has simply improved the view, as they too have changed and evolved.

If it pleases you, any further information you wish to share with other alliance members such as ourselves, or any insights or concerns, would be very much appreciated. In the meantime, please forward our good will on to the rest of your staff and associates. In respectful anticipation of your response,

--Naiya D’Aquisto

PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:25 pm
by Scolopendra
A scrap of paper facial tissue wedged gently but firmly up one nostril, the Supreme Emperor looked over the missive displayed in her desk blotter. She read it once, parsed it, then read it again, used to trying to tease out hidden meanings and secret angles. It looked, on its face, like a pleasant message with a mild undercurrent of lobbying. The Taraskovyans are good folk and they'd make a good addition. The woman narrowed her green eyes but, try as she might, she couldn't think of another way to read it.

The Segments had the sole surviving veto. Hence the running around with the Legislative Unit to make sure the remainders of the other veto-holders got their fair say in. The memo from the Segment Executive Delegations was green. Just to be safe, she'd contacted the Segment Executives themselves to get their read, and they were all green... all except one, who claimed he had a potential conflict of interest because positing an opinion on a possible member would look odd coming from a TYCS officer who would then be offering an opinion on whom he should serve. That made sense to her.

So she typed a response.

TO: Imperatrice Naiya D'Aquisto, Dominion


She would really have to ask Thong-oon at some point what it was the Dominion of nowadays. The Dread Lady was retired. Dread Lady Naiya? It'd save them a bit on stationery, perhaps.

FR: Supreme Emperor Mballa Ipolla, Federated Segments of Scolopendra
SJ: Taraskovyan Triumvirate Membership Inquiry


Ipolla frowned. She was never really good with small talk. The people had sensed 'war,' so they elected a warrior, then no war came and she was decidedly unqualified for all this nice stuff.

Imperatrice:


Too formal. Backspaced.

Dear Imperatrice D'Aquisto:


The padishah had never liked the word 'dear' outside of certain very particular frames of reference. Naiya was a little young for her tastes. Backspaced.

My valued ally


What the hell was that? Backspaced. Right idea, wrong execution.

My fellow Member of the Council of Yut:


Nice.

We are indeed quite well here in Stonozka and wish excellent health to you and yours in Devras in turn.


She looked over at the screen-in-screen showing a TYL-Nooz report on reports of unexplained, simultaneous minor nosebleeds occurring all across the Legislative Unit. Praise causality that it only appeared to have affected the government.

Attending your coronation was our pleasure and you are, of course, welcome. Our support has been a matter of friendship and honored duty and it has been our pride to stand with you through thick and thin. Any challenges our nations have faced, any difficulties that have come between us, have only served to make us stronger as a whole.


Okay, it was flowing pretty well now.

It is indeed true that the Taraskovyan Empire is sending out feelers regarding potentially joining the Triumvirate of Yut. As you well know, MCP S.H.O.D.A.N. is to be their potential sponsor and is advocating on their behalf. To hear some of The Elders speak of it, this is apparently somewhat counter-intuitive. I take that as a good sign. The Empire has sent a diplomatic delegation to the Segments' Legislative Unit to give testimony on their behalf. I have the reports from the legislative committees involved and they are favorable, despite some continued concerns from some with regards to potential regressive factors in Taraskovyan society.


She wondered whether or not to mention that Scolopendran foreign policy was basically built on the concept that it was easier to reform close friends than distant enemies. The new Emperor Treznor and Imperatrice D'Aquisto were prime examples of this. She decided not to. It'd be poor form to remind her that she was something of an experiment.

Plus, it'd be unfair. The old ratcat actually was friends with the old Dread Lady; most of The Elders got along famously with her. The whole experiment thing would make it sound like that was the plan all along, rather than just a gentle hope of leading by example.

One worthwhile concern that crosses my mind is the reaction (if any) of our Menelmacari allies. I am aware that the Taraskovyans and the Menelmacari have several disputes that are probably better resolved before the Triumvirate is called in to arbitrate as would necessarily occur if the Taraskovyans join the Triumvirate against Menelmacari protests. Another is the response of the Serene^Union, who may be even more conservative than the Taraskovyans in some respects. The International Relations Section expects them to be against Taraskovyan membership based more on inertia than principle or any actual disagreement. Perhaps you and your nation, via ties through the Non-Democratic Alliance, would be better placed to influence them.

As far as the Akashan-Scolopendran Union is concerned


She sniffed again. She knew what she was typing and she knew why she shouldn't think about how she knew.

the Tiburonese are torn. On the one hand, they consider the Taraskovyans trustworthy friends. On the other hand, they are doubtful about their arch-conservatism and monarchist government. On the gripping hand, there are already monarchies, constitutional and not, within the Triumvirate.

The International Relations Section is still polling the rest of the Council. I am currently unaware of any further opinions.


And now to close the damn thing. The business part she could do. The niceties... required effort.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.


No, she's not tech support. Backspaced.

I will keep you informed of any developments here, and our staff will of course work closely with yours.


Needed something a little more.

Welcome to the Council.

Respectfully,

<signed>
MBALLA IPOLLA, Supreme Emperor
Federated Segments of Scolopendra


She sighed, proofread it, and sent it back to the younger and probably more professional head of state.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:13 pm
by Dread Lady Nathicana
“See? Perfectly polite,” Naiya stated confidently as she finished reading the response to her chancellor. He arched a brow somewhat skeptically, but nodded in agreement.

“It does sound promising,” he admitted. “So what do you propose we do next?”

“I intend to suggest we all get together for a nice chat,” she answered firmly. “There’s far too much opportunity for misunderstandings, leaving everything to cold text and the like. And much harder to hold grudges, when met with smiling, welcoming faces – or at least that’s been my experience, such as it is.”

“You really are set on this, are you?” The older man looked at her curiously, and she smiled back.

“No one is so great that they can do without a few more good friends. And given the oddness of the … shifts and such of late, I think it is in all our best interests to promote and increase the good will between those of us who remain, and have more or less common interests of peace and prosperity. We’ve been sitting on our laurels for far too long while at the same time fearing the darkness beyond.”

Calabrese chuckled softly. “And here I thought I might be looking at a few years of relative quiet before my eventual retirement.”

“Nonsense. I don’t intend on stirring up the wrong sort of attention, but I certainly don’t want to sit here letting everything settle further into complacency. We’ve had a good response from one ally, Let’s see how others respond.”

“Have a care with the Kaeneians. They’ve always been a … delicate bunch to treat with.”

“And yet, somehow, my mother managed it – at least well enough to have them in not one, but two alliances.”

He raised his hands in a gentle sign of surrender. “True, true, but she had her fair share of troubles with them as well, remember. And if they still have issue with the Taraskovyans, it will be all the more difficult to present your case.”

“Then perhaps we should see if they would accept an invitation from the Scolopendrans?” Naiya answered, smiling even as she began to type up another missive.

To: Supreme Emperor Mballa Ipolla, Federated Segments of Scolopendra
Fr: Naiya D’Aquisto, Dominion Imperatrice
Re: Taraskovyan Triumvirate Membership Inquiry

My sincere thanks for the warm welcome to your honored ranks. I hope that I will be able to serve our alliance well going forward. With an eye to that, in reference to the topic at hand, I had wondered if it might be in all our better interests to suggest a face-to-face meeting of some, if not all of the parties in question.

You mentioned that there are some concerns among some of our allies. What better way to clear them, or bring them to the table to be dealt with than a meeting between representatives? I wouldn’t presume to step in and inadvertently step on toes in the process, so I thought it best to approach you with the idea, and see what you and yours thought of it.

I would be more than happy to host if the arrangements would be inconvenient on your end, and even assist in forwarding any invitations on behalf of the Council, should you desire. We would be dealing with allies who we respect who have on occasion had somewhat volatile pasts, and reasons for discomfort to one degree or other. This might be an excellent opportunity to start afresh with some, and close the gaps that have inadvertently grown over time between various allied states.

In the meantime, thank you for the kind response and information. I hope that we can be of service going forward – simply let me know if there might be such a capacity we could fill.

With Respect,

--Naiya D’Aquisto

PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:40 pm
by Scolopendra
Mballa tried standing up and reading it sideways.

Get everyone together, hash it out in person. Maybe in the Dominion.

It made perfect sense. It just wasn't Naiya using the influence of the Dominion of Whatever to poke the Kaeneians. Which she'd probably do in the background anyway. Otherwise, it was simple, direct, honest. She found herself starting to like the kid for the same reason she liked Kraisee. Let the Type Alpha personality pretend to be in charge with the big presence, work with it, rather than lock horns. It was her own fault, really, for being a cast iron bitch. Ah well.

Not in the Dominion, though. People sorta didn't expect simple, direct honesty in the Dominion and she'd paid enough attention to her trusted IntRelate Advisor to know that setting was important.

The Supreme Emperor sat back down and got to typing, sticking to business.

TO: Naiya D'Aquisto, Imperatrice, DLN
FR: Mballa Ipolla, Supreme Emperor, FSS
SJ: Taraskovyan Differences Meeting Proposal

A low-key, face-to-face meeting of the Council would be an excellent opportunity for everyone to work out their differences before it all goes public, so to speak. Thank you for the offer to host the meeting in the Dominion, but it will be no inconvenience on our part to host it in the Triumvirate capital of Port Aurora. I'll work on inviting the members of the Council and have MCP S.H.O.D.A.N. alert the Taraskovyans to it, so if their attendance would be appropriate it can be arranged.

All I ask from your end is that you poll your contacts on an unofficial angle. The Segments have always been perhaps the most public face of the Triumvirate and so everyone tends to look at us as official and react, and gauge their responses, accordingly. This is probably even more true after the Reformation and how we're the only First left. You may be able to get angles we can't, and I think our work could be complementary.

Respectfully,

<signed>
MBALLA IPOLLA, Supreme Emperor
Federated Segments of Scolopendra


And then, to the Council at large:

TO: Members of the Council of Yut
FR: First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla
SJ: The Taraskovyan Empire

Allies,

By now I am certain MCP S.H.O.D.A.N. of Zero-One has made you all aware of the Taraskovyan Empire's interest in joining the Triumvirate. I know we're also all aware that we've let ourselves get rather quiet as of late, and there may be gaps of light between us on certain issues. I would like therefore to invite you all to the Triumvirate Building in Port Aurora on Titan for us to discuss the Taraskovyans and any other matters we'd care to address. This meeting is, for the time being, planned to be strictly informal; this will maintain the confidence the Taraskovyans have requested and free us to be more open in our interactions.

Duty, Service, Honor.

Mballa Ipolla
First Among Equals
Triumvirate of Yut

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:16 am
by Tiburon
"Immediately? I only just moved my things in, you know!"

"Well it's your job, and you wanted it, Minister-President."

The petite caramel-coloured woman sighed and leaned back in her chair, gazing out of her office window onto the large tree-lined promenade that stretched towards a series of massive, sleek skyscrapers which filled the horizon, alternately jagged and rounded with graceful curves according to various architects' tastes. The layers upon layers of mass transit tubes and highways between the buildings forming twelvth- and thirteenth-level streets in various directions were busling with activity as officials and businesspeople scurried about their daily tasks. From her vantage point, of course, the trees intended to obscure on ground level some of the massive bluish and white buildings behind them did absolutely nothing of the sort.

She took another small sip of her nearly jet-black liquid and exhaled strongly again, this time more wistfully. "No, you're quite right about that. And a big international issue like this right away lets us show just how big of a break with the past we can accomplish. It's been way too long since we did anything meaningful on the international stage." It was no big secret that one of the major factors that sunk the Brugière-Hamidullah Administration in the polls was Akasha's complete lethargy in the international scene, especially in the Akashan-Scolopendran Union. A harmonious union of two incredibly similar progressive democracies working in tandem was one thing, but with Brugière-Hamidullah turning a complete blind eye to issues beyond Akasha's borders, the Common Foreign and Security Policy meant that he'd pretty much completely ceded international representation to the Federated Segments. Between his apathy towards foreign relations and the Segments' recent massive expansion, more than a handful of people were anxious for an administration that would make the Akashan voice more than a slight whisper in the backrooms of the Union.

A Triumvirate summit meeting a mere 430 kiloseconds into her term, on the other hand, would at once put her into the thick of a significant alliance matter, give her a chance to meet her Scolopendran counterpart and establish a new working relationship for the Union (not to mention the other Trium leaders), and immediately show the voters her seriousness about Akasha's change of pace. She chuckled slightly. "Drei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen, eh? No rest for the wicked, I suppose. Thank you, Helmut." The slender, middle-aged man brought his palms together, fingertips pointed skywards, in front of his face and bowed briefly before leaving.

She turned to her pad to type- and stopped, her fingers hovering over the screen. My first message to the Supreme Emperor, she realised. A first impression for someone I'll have to work with for some time. How could she possibly know what sort of tone to set? One wrong step might set her even further back than Brugière-Hamidullah-- bad interactions, after all, were worse than none at all. Strictly business, she thought, I can work the charm offensive in person.

«D-Net Communication 124131129-0037-E»
«Security Level: 2»
«To: Supreme Emperor Mballa Ipolla, Federated Segments of Scolopendra»
«From: Saraswati Tripathi-Fähnrich, Minister-President of the Akashan Union»
«Subject: Re: The Taraskovyan Empire»

Supreme Emperor Ipolla,

It would be my great pleasure to discuss the matter of the Taraskovyan Empire's interest in Triumvirate membership. Additionally, I would be very interested in setting aside some time to discuss Akashan-Scolopendran Union matters; as you may be aware, it is firmly my intention to have our side of the Union pull much more of its weight than during the previous administration. I firmly believe that Akasha playing a more active role within the Union, the Triumvirate, and on the stage as a whole will serve as a useful reinforcement to our positions in the Common Foreign and Security Policy vis-a-vis other entities. I very much look forward to our meeting.

Sincerely,
Saraswati Tripathi-Fähnrich, D. Sc. Biophys.,
Minister-President of the Akashan Union


The other message was no less important, and required a great deal of tact in language as well, but there was, perhaps, much more leeway in this one. After all, it was ultimately a request the Taraskovyans were making in part to her, rather than the other way around. Nevertheless, it was still most prudent to be delicate, especially with a culture seemingly far more etiquette-conscious.

«D-Net Communication 124131129-0038-E»
«Security Level: 2»
«To: HE Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek, HMA Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary-Plenipotentiary at Large, &c.»
«From: Saraswati Tripathi-Fähnrich, Minister-President of the Akashan Union»
«Subject: The Triumvirate of Yut»

Your Excellency,

It has come to my attention that the Taraskovyan Empire has expressed a significant interest in membership in the Triumvirate of Yut. Undoubtedly, our two nations' long history of pleasant interactions, particularly in the framework of the Martian Defence Initiative, provides a positive backdrop for our consideration. In order for us to glean a fuller picture on the matter and more knowledgably make our decision within the Triumvirate Council, it would be most highly appreciated if you or a plenipotentiary of equal authority would be able to visit Heisenberg-Sarabhai City for a discussion with the Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committees. I thank you tremendously for your consideration, and I very much look forward to our discussion.

Sincerely,
Saraswati Tripathi-Fähnrich, D. Sc. Biophys.,
Minister-President of the Akashan Union

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:36 pm
by Dread Lady Nathicana
The exchange had gone well, she thought. Truth was, it would be nice to get out and travel a bit, not to mention, avoiding the necessity of planning another high-security event so close on the hells of the coronation. They were still finalizing the costs on that, and had come up with some interesting bills that required sorting out. A number of which, her mother insisted on taking care of out of her own accounts. Naiya felt it was only right, all things considered.

There were additional complications in contacting the Kaeneians, given the internal matters they were currently dealing with. It was hoped that something favorable could be managed, but she wasn’t holding her breath. They were a historically touchy group in the best of times; xenophobic on several fronts, hesitant to change, and unwilling to trust at face value. They were also historically good people to have at your back.

What bothered her most about the situation was knowing there were things her mother hadn’t shared about why there had been increased tensions between the two nations, that she felt went beyond the incidents up on Machiavelli, and their supposedly sabotaged ship. Her own experiences suggested that fooling around with the time stream was quite likely not in anyone’s best interests, and was inaccurate at best, and potentially devastating at worst, given the fluidity – not to mention the acknowledged ‘broken’ status reality now existed in. They were better off without it. But apparently, it still existed in some form or other. And the Kaeneians had it.

There was nothing for it at the moment, really. They had no rights to demand an ally turn over or destroy their own ships or technology – not on any ground she could justify.

After sending back a brief yet polite confirmation to Mballa, Naiya considered her options on contacting the Kaeneians. The Scolopendran had requested an unofficial polling. So perhaps a bit lower down than the top, who was busy with their own internal problems already.

With that in mind, she sent out several inquiries and requests for ust that – opinions, thoughts on the situation, and potential for a positive outcome to the other nations who shared membership in moth the NDA and the Triumvirate. Her brother, she was certain, would be in favor of an inclusive stance. Tsaraine, she wasn’t certain of, but couldn’t think of reasons offhand that would be problematic. And then there were the Kaeneians. Thankfully, they had a point of contact locally, in the form of Kristilanna Lgealis-Vettori.

Meanwhile, she got in touch with Bernardo di Medici to see about arrangements to have a fair sampling of the available fare at Trattoria Prakksana to be available for Dominion pickup to take with them to the meeting, once all was in order. She doubted Kirill would be against the purchase.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 4:35 pm
by Kaenei
Communiques were a strange and wonderful thing. They allowed for instantaneous delivery of data across incredible distances, from city-to-city and planet-to-planet. They were also, occasionally, intercepted by agencies which should know better, but nonetheless revelled in it and subverted for reasons known only to themselves. It was as such that Kristilanna Lgeallis-Vettori, Assistant Federal Representative to The Dominion never received Naiya's missive. Instead of being routed the short distance to the Serene Union's Federal Representation in downtown Devras, it travelled to the other side of the planet and up several degrees of latitude. It was there that the Kaeneian Intelligence & Security Service, or KISS, are first notified.




Folding his arms behind his back, Calistar patiently waited for his immediate superior to finish reading through the message.

"Oddly, the Governor-General and the Overseer of OFESA continue to be indisposed on this strangely lengthy international visit ..." Vitras mumbled aloud, scrolling downwards through the data. "I presume we still do not know where exactly they are?"

"We believe it to be an allied nation; either in the Non-Democratic Alliance or the Triumvirate of Yut--"

"Only slightly more accurate than suggesting they are not on a state visit to the Ardans," The Deputy Governor-General interrupted with a scowl. "No matter, while they are indisposed, I will discharge the duties of the government as is my prerogative."

Calistar shifted uncomfortably. "I do not understand."

"Prepare a transport," Vitras nodded as he set the tablet down upon the desktop. "I will attend this conference personally. Gather suitable expertise from relevant departments and assemble a diplomatic team. "

"Provide me with all pertinent data on Tarasovka," Vitras added before Calistar could even turn on his heels. "It is always preferable to base an argument on fact, even if we have decided our position before reviewing them."




TO: ToY Shared Communication Resources; ALL MEMBERS
FROM: OFESA-HOME, Solarri, Serene Union
RESTRICTIONS: GREEN//GENERAL RELEASE
SUBJECT: ToY Conference


/// MESSAGE BEGINS ///

The Serene Union will attend.

/// MESSAGE ENDS ///

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 5:44 pm
by Tarasovka
Matters Dominionite

The Trattoria Praksana was of course quite happy to receive the takeaway order from the Dominionite Minister of Trade in person and, as such, the order was processed speedily and with the best of quality guaranteed personally by Korobom, also known to many as Kirill.


Matters Akashan

Image
TARASKOVYAN EMPIRE

HIS MOST AUGUST MAJESTY'S
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY
AT LARGE


STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

His Excellency Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek, Hist Most August Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large, Prince of Karaboomerr
To
Her Excellency Union Saraswati Tripathi-Fähnrich, the Minister-President of the Akashan Union, D. Sc. Biophys.


Your Excellency,

    It is with much honour that I accept your invitation and I will attend in person the required meeting with the Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committees in Heisenberg-Sarabhai City . The ties between the Taraskovyan Empire and the Akashan Union have historically always been pragmatic and cordial and to the mutual benefit of the parties and it is my duty to ensure that such ties can only evolve and develop further, not only for the mutual benefit of the parties, but also for the benefit of all sapient beings.

May the Holy Theotokos watch over Taraskovya and the Akashan Union,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large
Teerathe Soint Kweedrat Menek
Prince of Karaboomerr

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 5:56 pm
by Scolopendra
Port Aurora, Triumvirate Common Zone, Titan

Port Aurora sat on the plateaus of the Adiri* Mountains at the intersection of the original three Triumvirate states: Scolopendra, Suunto, and Karmabaijan. As part of the Triumvirate's Bravo Site operation, Port Aurora was chosen as a readily accessible depot location for the three nations' individual colonies: Stonozka, Valeria, and Peace River respectively. As such, after the Break, it was the de-facto capital of the Triumvirate and, as such, it grew with the alliance. What little bureaucracy the alliance maintained lay, for the most part, in Port Aurora and its adjacent mountain complexes, sharing room with the launch rails and mass drivers and landing pads of the city's primary industry as a major trade spaceport. Most of the city was, therefore, industrial and decidedly form-follows-function utilitarian in its design.

The government sector, however, was a piece of Raygun Gothic architecture commonly referred to and generally known as The Triumvirate Building. That, however, was not a particularly apt name. It was, in fact, an arcology of blue glass and glittering steel, the outer layers under its super-modern dome delegated to gardens, parks, and vertical farms while its deeper interior was made of medium-density housing volumes and office buildings. Even this is an incomplete description; the interior of the Triumvirate Building was better understood as a lattice through which natural light could be filtered (and occasionally amplified with well-tuned 'sunlight' LEDs) so that even the core wasn't a lightless mass of grey steel; the combined outer layers instead caused a visual effect not unlike a forest floor. Heat exchangers and careful control of the sunlamps by TerraEngineers moderated the Building's internal weather patterns, and the entire structure was large enough that gentle rains could fall on one terrace while the skies were clear on the other.

The actual Council structure inside the Triumvirate Building was a central glass-and-steel spire with a plus-sign floor plan beginning at the very base of the core on this forest floor and curving up to a flat top high up near the outer dome. This spire was filled with meeting rooms, conference rooms, offices, servers, and all the other things to be expected in a government building. There were also two actual Council rooms: one at the top of the spire, under retractable awnings for public and friendly meetings, and one underneath the base in an armored shell, when more security was required.

This particular event would be hosted in the former.

Thus, under the blue Titanian sky, elevated stories above the leaf-and-metal forest canopy below, there sat a round circular table, empty in the middle and with a break in one side for acces, around which there sat chairs for Council members or their duly designated delegates. Opposite the break was a very low dias with podiums for the three opposing seats; these podiums were labeld "DUTY," "SERVICE," and "HONOR." Several of the chairs around the council held up black sashes, as did the chairs behind "DUTY" and "HONOR." These were those whose name placards carried the names of nations that had ceased to be, in one form or another, in one way or another. In the center of the table's arc was a platform for speakers, a theatre-in-the-round of alliance politics. Finally, the dias of the First Among Equals was flanked by standing poles with the Triumvirate flag, motionless in the very gentle breeze on the open deck.

The table failed to take up the entire deck; by design, the spire's rooftop held ample room for private side discussions, complete with small circular coffee tables and functional chairs, if needed. Railings around the perimeter provided some security for those overly conscious of heights.

The Supreme Emperor was the second to arrive; S.H.O.D.A.N. would certainly have had a head start with a local avatar. The rest, well, would be up to just when exactly people got there.

* Yes, I know that years ago it used to be Xanadu. That was based on 2002 HST maps of Titan which are horrendously out of date now. That was also when Titan was thought to be rocky with methane seas, not ice with methane seas. NS Titan is now roughly equivalent in scientific accuracy to Barsoom, and this is recognized.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:26 pm
by Sakkra
TO: Members of the Council of Yut
FR: First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla
SJ: The Taraskovyan Empire

Allies,

By now I am certain MCP S.H.O.D.A.N. of Zero-One has made you all aware of the Taraskovyan Empire's interest in joining the Triumvirate. I know we're also all aware that we've let ourselves get rather quiet as of late, and there may be gaps of light between us on certain issues. I would like therefore to invite you all to the Triumvirate Building in Port Aurora on Titan for us to discuss the Taraskovyans and any other matters we'd care to address. This meeting is, for the time being, planned to be strictly informal; this will maintain the confidence the Taraskovyans have requested and free us to be more open in our interactions.

Duty, Service, Honor.

Mballa Ipolla
First Among Equals
Triumvirate of Yut


First Ambassador Bosska received the message on his personal IntFeed link, and sat down to read it over. "The parade never stops, does it? How much information do we have on the Taraskovyans?" One would think he was talking to himself, showing signs of his age, save for the fact that there was a presence in the room with him made of the stuff of Terran nightmares from antiquity.

There was a grinding sound as the Deep One known as Prime Liaison Ghrrgg moved his mouthplates and clashed his claws while gesticulating slightly. A monitor on the right side of his chest scrolled out words. "Little is known of them. Our dealings with Titan groups has been few and far aside from Trium business. All information have comes from public links and NewsFeed." His jawplates let out little jets of steam now and then as he moved his mandibles.

Bosska gave a throaty Hrrrm now and then as he thought, and then looked at Ghrrgg with one eye over his spectacles. "Then this needs to be amended, wouldn't you say? I have been made aware from a missive of the Taraskovyans interest in the Triumvirate....." He seemed to trail off a bit, then stood and reached up to place a clawed hand on Ghrrgg's shoulder plate. "I am exhausted after hopping about the Known Systems for the past nine months, entertaining talks with potential trade partners and so forth, and I feel I will perish of stress. As such, in the good and proud name of the Herpetological Empire's Diplomatic Corps, I charge you with the mission to go forth and gather information, mediate on our people's behalf and further our good relations with the mammalian peoples of our acquaintance."

A jet of steam escaped from Ghrrgg's jawline as more words scrolled along the board on his chest. "I will do this so you may not perish. Will I respond or will you?" Bosska thought a moment. "I will. You should take this time to prepare yourself to go to Titan. Be swift, be efficient." He patted the Deep One on the shoulder and Ghrrgg clashed his lobster-like claws together as a salute, and turned slowly. One of his size had to be careful not to move to quickly or everything on both sides of the room might end up everywhere all at once. Bosska began dictating to his BioComp as he sat down at his desk again.

IntLink Comm;
TO: First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla
FR: First Ambassador Bosska
SJ: Triumvirate Conference

First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla,

Prime Liaison Ghrrgg will be attending the conference in my stead. He has the full authority of Emperor Kraah and the Herpetological DiploCorps to act as the face and voice of our peoples in this meeting, and will be representing our needs and queries as his position entails.
May you walk on warm sands

Bosska
First Ambassador
Herpetological Empire of Sakkra
IntLink severed;

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:55 pm
by Sunset
SDF-Unconquered Sun, Earth Orbit...

Erika watched the little silver-black craft drop away from the underbelly of the Unconquered Sun and sweep away in a lazy arc towards the cloudy skies over the Taraskovyan Empire. Turning away from the conjured holo-screen she slipped back behind her desk and back into her chair, straightening her skirt as she did. The message from the First among Equals had arrived just as she was seeing the Wus off on their diplomatic mission and it was still waiting for her response.

IntLink Comm;
TO: First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla
FR: Secretary-General Erika Silaco
SJ: Triumvirate Conference

First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla,

It just so happens that I'm already in the neighborhood and so I'll be there in person. Just give me ten minutes to pick out a dress!

Erika Silaco
Secretary-General
Republic of Sunset
IntLink severed;


A quick word to the captain and the Unconquered Sun heeled over and broke orbit for Titan.

What would she wear?

----

Keth, capital of the Fiefdom & Duchy of Kethar, United Kingdom of Dakathia and Cardinia, Taraskovyan Empire...

Flitting down through the clouds towards the appointed landing zone the small shuttle dipped and rose before settling into a gentle spiral that brought it down with admirable precision on one of the landing pads reserved for craft of it's type. Settling onto it's landing legs it stood still for a few minutes while it's passengers finished their final preparations.

"What do you think?" Sun-Ye Wu turned, showing her partner the thigh-length waist jacket she'd chosen. "Go with the gray, or maybe a nice cream?" One hand on her thrust hip, she fingered the collar with the other. Like the matching trim at the bottom hem it was a short, soft textured light gray fur. After allowing Kimiko to consider the gray for a moment it faded to a dark cream and she spun around again.

"I'd go with the cream."

Lighter colors were better on her partner as far as Kimiko was concerned. It fit her brighter, more bubbly personality. It also left the gray available for her and that would go nicely with the dark blue camisole she was going to wear under it.

"White for this then." Sun-Ye swept the jacket open, tucking it behind her hips and the long cashmere blouse she was wearing underneath. Like the jacket it was closely fitted, showing off every bit of her curvy figure.

"Looks great. Let's go."

If she let her continue to experiment Kimiko knew they'd be sitting on the tarmac until the next morning. A touch of the door controls and the door slide down to become a set of stairs. Bag in hand and with Sun-Ye close behind she descended the steps and headed for the terminal and customs.

PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 1:49 pm
by Tarasovka
Matters Sunsetti

The international aerospace port at Keth was not exactly the hugest nor the busiest in the Empire, but it still followed all the traditions and standards set out by Imperial guidelines to such installations. The terminal was very well illuminated, spacious and comfortable. Flowers and interior trees were everywhere, offering a relaxing sight to the traveller while they enjoyed themselves in one of the relaxation armchairs or simply shopped about. Because, and indeed, in most Taraskovyan airports there was no separate tunnel specifically for arrivals. Instead, arriving passengers were processed into the international area of the terminal along with the departing passengers, free to get some duty free shopping done or have a lunch at a restaurant. It is just that the arriving passengers would be directed by guiding panes and arrows to the migration and customs control section.

The migration control at Taraskovyan airports was rather quite... open. Literally so. There was no barrier holding arriving passengers away from going into the Empire itself. Migration control officers sat behind circular counters, a line illuminated in red showing the threshold not to cross. One of the officers, a somewhat bored looking man in his early thirties sporting the black service uniform of the Security & Quarantine Forces, with the obligatory "skull & barbed wire" emblem on the left arm, gestured lazily to Sun-Ye to advance just as he had finished up with Kimiko only seconds earlier.

"Purpose of your stay? Tourism, I guess?" he said as he casually passed Sun-Ye's passport through the control scanners, not really awaiting an answer. He fixed Sun-Ye for a second, just as the various security scanners (totally invasive of one's privacy) quietly scanned the foreigner from a distance of a dozen centimeters. The officer handed her back her passport. There was no entry stamp. Instead, he reached out towards a machine on his desk and handed Sun-Ye a plastic "visitor ID" card, with her photo on it (taken just a few seconds ago and showing her off as she was while passing the border control).

"This is your visitor ID card. I hereby inform you that you are obligated to keep it on yourself at all times. You are hereby allowed a 72 hours stay in Taraskovya," the officer said lazily, having said that for quite a few times this day already. "The authorisation of stay is valid for the unified Imperial visa area, exception made of the restricted areas you can check in this here document," he continued, handing Sun-Ye what looked like a plastic sheet, but instead was actually a sort of a touchpad device with various information on it, available in several languages. "Please check the traveler information contained in this document. Should you wish to extend your stay, please proceed as described in the document. Enjoy your stay."

The red illuminated line next to Sun-Ye's feet turned green and the officer lazily motioned to Sun-Ye to proceed. She then met up with Kimiko to collect their luggage (there was none, as they apparently only had carry on, so to say) and then pass customs control, which was even more boring, since they simply walked through a brief tunnel, through sliding doors and off they were in the arrivals hall and the in the unified Imperial visa area.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 2:29 pm
by Kajal
To say that the Kajali worlds had dropped off the radar would have been something of an understatement. There had, of course, been the calamatous appearance of Large Spatial Anomaly One all those years ago, and it had indeed fractured the Then-Federated Imperium into a series of smaller states, focused around regional centres of government and all still nominally hailing to the same crown, even if the mundane truth was that each polity more or less kept to itself.

In time, any disagreements between these polities had settled, moderated both by the usual TYCS presence and cyclical arrival and departures of Combined Federal Services task groups. Those task groups continued rotating in and out of TYCS service as per treaty without interruption, and as such even given the relative quiscience of the Federated Imperium at large, the sight of vessels flying her flag in the far reaches of the periphery was not uncommon. Some might have argued that the Combined Federal Services' choice of theatres was perhaps a bit odd, preferring to keep the majority of the fleet in such remote locations, but in the event of some unspeakable calamity not unlike that had previously occured, the CFS would not themselves be caught within it with their pants down, as it were.

And so it went. Interested parties of course would be able to pick out interesting sound bytes from regional news, but by and large the Federated Imperium seemed not to have much interest in the universe outside of her borders.

Naturally, there were a few events that were capable of rousing even the now-distant Kajali to some semblance of action.

TO: Members of the Council of Yut
FR: First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla
SJ: The Taraskovyan Empire

Allies,

By now I am certain MCP S.H.O.D.A.N. of Zero-One has made you all aware of the Taraskovyan Empire's interest in joining the Triumvirate. I know we're also all aware that we've let ourselves get rather quiet as of late, and there may be gaps of light between us on certain issues. I would like therefore to invite you all to the Triumvirate Building in Port Aurora on Titan for us to discuss the Taraskovyans and any other matters we'd care to address. This meeting is, for the time being, planned to be strictly informal; this will maintain the confidence the Taraskovyans have requested and free us to be more open in our interactions.

Duty, Service, Honor.

Mballa Ipolla
First Among Equals
Triumvirate of Yut


TO: First Among Equals Mballa Ipolla, ToY
FR: First Ambassador Jeren Tavaar, CFSDC-SL
RE: The Taraskovyan Empire


Image
Official Communique from the Federated Imperium of Kajal
Combined Federal Services Diplomatic Corps
Home Office - Solanna


First Among Equals,

It is with great humility that we receive notice of this most austere invitation, on this most important of subjects. The Federated Imperium has, as no doubt our illustrious allies and friends have noticed, been focused inwards for some time.

Matters such as this require that the inward focus that has characterized our nation for so long to be broken. As such, I shall make haste in my travels to arrive at the appointed location and hour.

Good health and fortune to you,

First Ambassador Jeren Tavaar
Combined Federal Services Diplomatic Corps
Federated Imperium of Kajal


One thing was perhaps somewhat unxpected; Before they'd all but disappeared from the international milieu, the Kajali had never, never been so insipidly florid.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:15 pm
by Kaenei
The Kaeneian party arrived courtesy of a surface-to-orbit transport imaginatively titled Government Two or, FC-SS-21114, to give it the name it had carried since construction. Presumably that had been some time ago, given the squat-nosed craft's rather tired looking appearance; soot-streaked exhaust baffles hung on four extended limbs, each one a patchwork of successive coats of paint, hydraulic fluid and grime. The odd square of slightly shinier composite identified where unfortunate incidents involving ground tugs and fuel buggies had occurred and been rectified, and the tang of hot coolant hung sickly-sweet in the air.

Vitras had known what to expect of Port Aurora; if necessary he could have taken a fully immersive virtual tour of the facility in any number of ways prior to his first visit. Instead, he had familiarised himself with nothing more than the information necessary to avoid presenting his credentials to Flag Officer, Ablutions. The entire cityscape positively screamed Scolopendran; utilitarian, efficient and overwhelmingly, positively, inoffensive. It worked, and that was as much as anyone was going to get from the experience. He supposed some thought it had charm, but they found beauty in the function quite accidentally. He found it hard to believe such beauty was ever intentionally engineered.

His entourage was small; there was no profit in attempting to impress with sheer numbers or grandiosity. It was why he had limited his party to those deemed absolutely essential - such as international expertise - and those who simply couldn't be left behind any other way - the military. Ironically he found he favoured the counsel of the Field Component over that of the Fleet; the latter had a tenuous but plausible interest in any reformation of the ToY, including new membership whilst the former had very little interest either way. Honesty was often found in apathy.

Still musing on the thought, the five-strong group made their way to the the Council Chamber sat at the top of a spire.