I'm telling you, I must be going. (TPM, others interested)

[Roania]

The ringing was... annoying. That was the word she wanted. It was the middle of the night! Or close enough. She was pretty sure her first order on relocating to this hellish place had been to set the clock to civilized standards. And yet, there was buzzing. Lixuan fumbled to find her balance and managed to sit up, letting the sheet fall to her waist and drawing a muffled grunt from her companion. "Crystal, answer that for me." There was no response. Of course there wasn't. With a scowl (something the princess was very good at), she smashed her hand down hard on the button next to her bed. "Do you know what time it is?"

A video screen appeared in front of her. And looking through it was her father. "The Empire never rests, number one daughter." The Emperor raised an eyebrow at her lack of attire, but mercifully didn't comment on it as she quickly grabbed an abandoned shirt from the floor. His shirt? Her shirt? Oh, definitely his. Well, it was better than nothing. "May I ask who your companion is?"

"Him? Oh, he's no one important. He'll be gone by morning." Lixuan's lips quirked. The bou was, no doubt, in the middle of the most fantastic dream. One in which she featured prominently. Saved her the trouble of actually taking the time to learn his name, after he'd failed her test. "Don't worry about it, daddy." How he'd be gone in the morning, she wasn't entirely sure. Her father didn't say anything to that, either. Lixuan believed in miracles. "But you must have called me for a reason! Is everything well, daddy?"

"I have received your proposal." He lifted up some sheets of paper. "My congratulations on your penmanship, number one daughter. I thought it would be best to contact you personally."

"Really, I have everything ready. I just need you to tell the boys to listen to me." Lixuan wanted to stamp her feet, but she didn't. "By spring, I could have this entire planet kneeling. I was very careful to budget out every..."

"Your proposal is denied. I have no doubt that you feel certain it would work. I do not feel it is worth the attempt. Furthermore..."

"What?! Father, I know it would work! I promise! I swear! Ancestors, Spirits and Light, I swear!" Lixuan did stamp her feet here. "It's a perfect plan! I know it is! I'm not some dumb kid! You put me here for a reason, and I..."

Her mouth closed, as a greater will even than hers shut it. "I put you there, Asen Lixuan, to get you out of my hair and away from further scandal. In the clear and certain hope that with you at the edge of my realm, no one would care what you got up to. I hoped, further, that your time in exile would lead to you learning some discipline. Some control. Some awareness of your station." Her father lifted the papers again. "I feel you have surpassed my wildest dreams, and I am thus revoking your title and ordering you to return Home. Your mother has numerous suitors waiting to meet you, and I think the needs of the Empire can give you a week or two to pick one of them."

"Daddy! You can't make me marry someone I don't know!" Lixuan stopped. Paused. Her father was looking at her with that raised eyebrow she hated. "Okay, I mean, you can, but why would you? I'm doing a good job here!"

"I thought you wanted to come home, child. Did you truly believe I would let it be done on your terms? After the trouble you've caused?" That stung. "After your previous behavior and current... dalliances... you might consider yourself lucky to find a good husband at all." That stung more.

"I made some mistakes, daddy! I did the wrong thing. I mean, you can't tell me you never..." There was a grip on her throat. Like a python constricting around a neck. A sensation she knew all too well, and one she didn't particularly like being on this side of.

"I made mistakes. I learned from them. How fortunate for you, daughter, that you have the benefit of my knowledge to draw from." This was said in a frigid tone. "I am glad you acknowledge you were at fault. I am proud of you. I forgive you your trespasses. As I am sure, in time, House Greizon will." That stung most of all, but she deserved it, so she kept her head down. "My mind is made up."

The young woman gasped for air as the grip on her neck faded. With air came foresight. "Wait, if you're going to withdraw me, daddy, then you must be sending someone else." A nod, a confused look. "And that means you'll give them my plan and you won't give me any credit for it when they succeed! I deserve recognition, daddy! Even if you hate me, I know that plan will...daddy?"

For a moment, just a moment, her father's mask broke. And he started laughing. Loud enough to wake the dead. It was a good few minutes before the laughter stopped, and when it did, he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Oh, my darling daughter, I have no intention of putting your plan into action. Indeed, had you not been my daughter, I would probably have had you handed over to the Martian authorities for punishment as they saw fit."

"What?!" Lixuan shouted, drawing an answering groan from next to her. Without a backwards glance she picked up a pillow and pushed it down over her bed-mate's head. After a moment she looked up at her father. "Uh... just to make him go back to sleep." She said, lamely, before releasing him. "I mean, what?"

"The punishment for touching my daughter without my consent is death, Lixuan. It means nothing to me if that death comes by your hand or mine." Her father sounded bored. "Child, Mars is beyond the reach of our ships, unsuitable for our agriculture, will not support even the weakest of crystals for long, and is a drain on my resources. Even if we held it, we would be unable to garrison it before the counterstrike. Your plan is brilliant. But risky. And even if it succeeds, it will be of no benefit to the Realm. I did not send you there to draft brilliant plans. And your successor will not be sent there at all. Now, listen to my orders."

Lixuan did listen. And when she didn't understand, he repeated them for her. "So.. if I do a good job with this, is there any chance..." The look he gave her sent shivers down her spine. "I mean..."

"Child, if you do a poor job with this, you will be forcibly brought to Thanh-Tonh and given to your cousin as his third bride. We will discuss after your success what your reward will be. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, daddy. Thank you, daddy. Love you, daddy."

A moment. "I love you too, daughter."

---

And so it was that on the following day, word went out that the Lord of Ten Thousand Years was looking to divest himself of his Martian holdings for the best offer, with applications to be made in person to the Governor's Palace in Darsalin Base.

OOC: http://www.pacifier.com/~cziller/images ... arsMap.jpg <--- Is the relevant map. I've been there for a while, and it's made less and less sense IC. Rather than just hold it into eternity, like some, I figured I'd make an RP of it.

[Kinstantia]

It should come to no one's surprise that the Kinstanti had been very interested in learning about the Sol system. Their newly-found Earth-origin friends were fun, but rather particular about giving too many details. Thus, when the word went out the Kinstanti jumped (quite literally) at the opportunity.

Prince Kai was sent post haste from the soiree at Machiavelli Station, after having successfully completed meeting with other Earth-origin folks, to find out the Roanian's asking price for a piece of Earth's neighbor, Mars. A cargo ship would be dispatched to catch up to the prince with something that might be considered valuable enough to trade for a piece of a planet.

Having reached the Governor's Palace in Darsalin Base, Prince Kai, in his effortless way, expressed the Kinstanti's interest in their piece of Martian territory. Without being long-winded, he made the Kinstanti's offer. In the first large crate was 14 million total carats of diamonds in various sized. Some the traditional clear, others were blue, and several portions were chocolate diamonds. In the 2nd crate were gold bars, roughly some 5,000 pound of gold. In the third crate were old Kinstanti silver coins roughly totaling 5,000 pounds worth of silver. In the fourth crate, a veritable rainbow of gems from peridot to ruby to emerald and sapphire. In the fifth and final crate were clothes of satin and lace and fine fabrics. And without missing a beat, Kai stated that this was the Kinstanti offer for this piece of Mars. Whatever its real value be, for the Kinstanti did not use money, the Prince hoped this was enough to make the sale.

[Lady Scylla]

The Scyllan Syndicate
United in Defiance, Divided in Solidarity

Darsalin Base, Mars. Peculiar name for a peculiar planet, but what made it so peculiar? The Chancellor was sitting beside a window, staring out at the twinkling stars. They'd never met these Roanians, the apparent owners of this territory, and according to the planetary charts, there was quite a few other star-states with claims on this planet. There was also its vicinity to the Sunseti. Now them, the Syndicate had met.

The Sunseti were a humanoid civilisation originating from Earth in the Sol system. The very same system where this planet resided, that was peculiar. This left the Chancellor with several questions. Why was this planet, apparently terraformed, being divided up between other sovereignties? Why was it in the home system of the Sunseti -- had there been some sort of conflict, and the planet's fate was left contested? She had no answers for these, of course.

What she did know, was that the Roanians were selling their claim to the highest bidder. This offered a potentially grand opportunity for the Syndicate and its various enterprises. For one, it brought them much closer to their trading partner, the Sunseti. It also exposed the Syndicate to numerous other alien civilisations, all of which could also be traded with. The economic potential was hard not to pass up. Of course, there was an intelligence potential, as well. The Syndicate could more easily run surveillance from Mars, and keep tabs on Sunseti shipping, and others.

There was just one thing left on the Chancellor's mind. Their offer. The Syndicate had a handful of energy crystals they had undoubtedly stolen from some freighter. They had the wealth to spend on such a venture, though separating a Scyllan from such was like pulling teeth. However, some of the larger conglomerates within the Syndicate had offered an interesting proposal. Several hundred thousand units of droids that could be cheaply manufactured and sold, including units for advanced AI, and prosthetic bodies. All of which had been offered, in exchange, if the deal was secured, then the Syndicate would convert the acquired land on Mars into manufacturing centres for these units and equipment.

[Roania]

"Yes. Well. These are both very interesting offers. Very interesting. Did I mention how interesting they are? And I would like to congratulate you on making them. Daddy... the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, will be most pleased with them. And so am I! I am delighted." One of those boxes had her attention. She slipped from the throne and placed her hands on the silver. The sensation sent a shiver up and down her spine, one she only barely managed to control. "Ah... ah. I mean, Ah---of course, none of these offers are enough. I mean, they're very nice. Perhaps think of them as down payments? Yes. They're equal in standing."

The princess pulled her hands away from the silver after one last long, lingering moment. "Yes. A down payment." She licked the corner of one lip and then pressed her fang against the other, drawing her back to the here and now. "Yes. You, with your silver, and you, with your... your... robot things. I'm willing to order all further offers turned away." She returned to the silver, her hands plunging into the cold coins. "So!... of course, we're at an impasse. I'll give you both some time to come up with something more. Um. Mm. Say, a couple of hours. Something to tip the scales."

[Oyada]

A man as busy as Oswald Burkensteiner-Sinievskiy did not have time for personal representations, least of all ones to be conducted as far away as Mars. Mars, by the suns themselves! One might as well be asked to go to the seventh ascent of the heavens and be back by lunch, and it was a damned impertinence that they should even consider asking.

Nonetheless, Oswald did manage to sign the electronic missive that was to be dispatched to Lixuan's residence. Gruffly. You could feel his irritation merely by looking at the hugely looped O and the crabbed S's. In full, the note read:

From: Oswald Burkensteiner-Sinievskiy
To: Asen Lixuan

Dear Madame,

It has come to my attention that you wish to make the sale of your government's holdings on the planet of Mars, in the system of Sol, on behalf of your government, the said sale to take place imminently and to be open to any appropriate offer from any party.

My time is pressing. I require a great deal of land for certain ventures. Your relation, Patrician Drakharn, will tell you more of them. The land must possess plant life edible by most terrestrial life-forms and an appropriate atmosphere.

My family's wealth is built upon resource extraction, processing, and shipping: what the common man calls 'mining'. Specify the tonnage of precious metals you would require of my organisation, the state in which you should like them delivered, the destination to which they should be shipped, and the date by which this should be done. We will make appropriate arrangements.

Yours,

O. B-S.

P.S. Invite Casir over when we are done.

[Kinstantia]

Kai stood in awe of the term impasse. He was hoping that there would be no impasse. In fact, as he stood there reviewing quickly in his mind the deal that could be made, he assumed several problems the Kinstanti had compared to other space-faring races. Primarily, the Kinstanti had long since abandoned money-based economies. There wasn't the proverbial wad of cash to be throw at the Princess no matter how much that might expedite the process. Furthermore, it appeared that the trinkets that were brought to entice a sale to the Kinstanti did not quite do the trick. Without cash to offer and a relatively unimpressive offer on his part stood there wondering what he could offer to get what he wanted.

He beckoned one of his subordinates, a lieutenant in the KSN, and whispered to him to bring out a few more boxes of silver, take away the diamonds and previous stones, and to bring a big freighter crate of Sandoran Oras. Kai stood patiently as the men before him worked to remove those things which seemed not to impress the princess.

"Great Princess," Kai began, "I am going to sweeten the pot a tad. We are quadrupling the amount of silver as well as bringing something more native to our empire." It was then the crate with the Oras arrived. They were placed gingerly before the Prince himself. He dismissed the KSN man with a wave of his hand and opened the box himself. Contained inside were dozens of blue fruits. They had a tough outer skin, much like an orange. Opening the skin, Kai would show the princess that, like oranges, they were naturally presliced. However, as he offered her handler a fruit to inspect, upon tasting, any resemblance to an orange would melt away. It was a sweet taste, that was for certain. Yet, the taste was sweeter than an orange and not nearly as acidic. It was a smooth tasting fruit, as well. It was a tropical fruit, oh yeas it was. It grew in plenty across the Kinstanti and Sandoran homeworlds. Furthermore, this was the fruit which formed the basis of Sandoran Ale, one of the most alcoholic beverages in the whole of the empire.

"If the most Noble Princess enjoys, we can send freighters full of these Oras, as we call them. They are the most prized fruit in all of Kinstantia. And they're only found in our empire." And with that, he awaited the princess' response.

The lieutenant stepped over to Prince Kai while he awaited her reply. He whispered into the prince's ear. "Your Imperial Highness, word has come that there is other land available on Mars. If our offer is not accepted, withdraw from negotiations and return to home."

[Roania]

It turned out Lixuan did not have the authority to turn other offers away. And so, she resigned herself to accepting them.

(Resurrected for a player. Still open to others, too.)