Reasoning with Fire (FT, Closed)

[StellarGate]

You cannot reason with a force of nature, that does not mean you cannot bend it to your will, through force or other means, even the wildest of things will eventually be tamed or brought under control.

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

The capital system of the Royal Cresian Empire probably looked just like any other at the basic level. a couple of gas giants, two very large asteroid belts, a couple of rocky planets, one of which was habitable. That where it ended with 'normality.'

The star system was practically saturated in contacts. Warships exercising(and there were a ton of them, not counting the ones just sitting in orbit,) miners meandering around the asteroid belts, asteroid processing stations the miners called their base, civilian ships moving around on small cruises or just to have fun, merchants lumbering to and from the habitable planet to the hyper limit to leave with their cargo or deliver it to the bustling planet.

Now the habitable planet named Cresa was a tad bit... different. For starters it was a large planet, a ball of blue-green against the blackness of space, with beautiful sweeping blueish-white rings around it. Three moons, from largest to smallest being Middron, Dyntax and Krystal, orbited around it. The orbital space was absolutely packed with ships, mostly important flagship, civilian yachts for leaders or diplomats in the inner orbits while civilians got the middle and the far outreaches of orbit were packed with warships of the Royal Cresian Navy. It made the planet look like a riot from an outside point of view.

---

Supreme Commander Caitlyn StarNight stood on the platform above the room called The Pit, the room where every since sensor platform in her capital system reported to. the holotank spread a massive hologram of the stay system into the air, highlighting different contacts as they moved about, keeping watch on the civilians and generally just watching to make sure everything was running smoothly. She smiled and ruffled her feathers. It was nice to see her world like this, everyone here was alert of course, but relaxed, not expecting trouble of course because after all who would want to cause trouble here and invite a Navy to kick the shit out of you? To see the Terran merchants sitting in orbit and a few of their warships playing war games before they headed off to go pirate hunting with some of her own ships.

So she turned and walked out of The Pit. Of course there was that First Contact they'd had, but thankfully they had given no indication of hold ill will against them. Vaughn had come back to brief her on it and she was of course glad that it hadn't ended in any deaths. She was ready of course for the inevitable warning sent by the one of the funneling colonies that a Solarian ship was on its way here and she could be ready to meet and debate their relationship if needed. It would be nice, she thought, to have start out a nice relation without almost going to war.

[Solarian States]

From the edges of the system, a single message was broadcast in Latin. However, it seemed to come from a myriad of different direction, making the source impossible to trace.

"Cresian Empire, this is the Solarian ship Daffyd's Reluctance. I'm requesting a meeting with a senior official of the Cresian government."

the ship itself had its stealth systems active and had coasted into the system ballistically for a few days now, to make it hard to detect. It also had decoy's out, that would look like the ship if found, which were actually just a hair easier to detect. The ship itself was quieter than space and ran on the same principle as the Prowlers, only with slightly less advanced systems. And the AI aboard the ship monitored everything around, modifying the systems aboard to keep the vessel undetected. It wasn't the first time the ship had entered another system and tried to remain unseen. It'd been tested by send it into Sol and having Capital Fleet try and find it, without ALEX's help.

"I am unarmed, aboard an unarmed vessel."

The ship was unarmed, aside from anti-missile defenses. Like military prowlers, it relied on stealth and deception to survive.

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

One could technically call the reaction 'controlled panic.'

Mere seconds after the message was received the entire star system became a whirlwind of activity. The warships in orbit cleared their wedge area and immediately became to form a fleet, civilian ships in the system hid either in the stations in orbit itself or 'behind' the station in its sensor shadow, the miners turned tail and fled to their bases while warships out on patrol moved to cover those too far out to reverse course back to the planet. Cresa itself disappeared into a ball of fuzz as the stations ECM and jamming came online. It was kind of hard to miss an entire planet, but it showed at the least this system did not take its security lightly.

The effect of that reaction was clear, with most if not all the civilians cleared out of normal space it left the rest of the system open for hostile engagement. And it was done so quickly it was obviously something that the system practiced.

It did not take long for a reply to come back. Female, obviously not human by the accent, it came back in Latin, obviously through a universal translator of sorts, but it did absolutely nothing to hide how pissed off the speaker was.

"Solarian Ship Daffyd's Reluctance, you will drop your stealth immediately and stay right where you are for escort in system or else we will consider this a hostile incursion of our territory."

[Solarian States]

"Well, you see, therin lies the problem. I made a perfectly reasonable, polite request, stating my lack of weapons, and your response was an attack formation, as if a fleet of enemy warship's had just entered your system. So frankly, I can't trust you. You responded with force and a demand veiled in threats. So I have no guarantee that revealing myself won't result in an attack."

Even through the distortion, there was amusement in the voice of the man, even if he was being confronted with the present situation.

"I mean, right now, I do hold an advantage. I can still go back into h[Unintelligible, non-latin word]. You obviously can't find me. And you can't prove I'm actually Solarian. So consider it what you like, but in all reality, all it is is a simple, polite request from one civilized person to another. You don't have to accept my request, but I also don't have to listen to yours. But then, neither of us are really being polite if we ignore each other, are we?"

The AI on the ship was on hair trigger, prepared to either move the ship or unass the system, depending. It also made small adjustments to direction of coast, so the vessel never stayed in one place for long. the vessel was using an advanced radiation drive that was indistinguishable from background cosmic radiation. The negative side effect was that the drive didn't allow for quick travel.

"We can always try this again, only acting as more civilized, polite individuals. I come in visible, you don't attempt to sic warships on me. I assume that would be an acceptable arrangement?"

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

Supreme Commander Caitlyn StarNight gave a growl that was half anger, half nerves. Oh Stayr how she wanted to just tell him to fuck off and never come back. How dare he/she/it come waltzing in here, under stealth no less! And claim itself harmless. She could not imagine the same thing going over nicely if she decided to send her stealth ship to their home world to waltz around. And then talk to to her like she was being unreasonable and like she was 5 because she was assuming that a stealthed ship in her system was a threat!

She flared her wings out a little, glaring at the icons around the outer star system in The Pit Hologram denoting guesses as to where the interloper was. Finally she spit out a word in Cresian and turned to face the officer waiting to send a reply.

"Alright start recording..."

---

After a few tense minutes a reply, same voice replied. It's tone had cooled considerably, still not happy, but definitely chilled. With the message came a few bits of data showing where the ship could advance to, Cresa's outmost orbit. The warship fleet moved out farther away from the planet, but made no move to break formation. The fuzz.around Create faded as the stations turned.off the ECM suites.

"Alright, if you come in visible to the point I've highlighted I won't 'sic' my warships on you.

[Solarian States]

"Very well. But I'm on a time crunch, so forgive me if this seems a little sudden."

there was a hyperspace signature from near the out reaches of the system, an instant before another one, 0.5 light seconds from Cresia. A single vessel was heading toward the specified coordinates at almost Destroyer speeds. It was only 300 meters long.

"Cresia, this is Daffyd's Reluctance, carrying an important Solarian official for a face to face with your Supreme Commander. Official has no escorts, but carries a single pistol, as Solarian law requires either an escort or a weapon of some sort. this vessel is equipped for planetary flight, as well as landing and takeoff. Whether the vessel lands or docks is entirely up to you."

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

Different voice this time, sounded human.

"You'll be docking directly onto the Stayr Tower in Telegett, coordinates are included, once you get there, the tractors will guide you in. The Supreme Commander will receive you in the Throne Room, an escort will guide you there."

---

Once decending into the atmosphere of the planet, it was over an absolutely enormous city which was obviously Telegett. They city below was unisally dark and quiet, the heartbeat of civilization absent. The sky around them was bathed in Auroras of all colors! While the sun was setting to nighttime in the east. The main focal point of the city was a large gleaming silver tower the rose so far above everything the very tip of the tower had to be in space. The ship could find the coordinates provided led to the tower and soon tractor beams reached out and grabbed the ship, pulling it gently to dock with the side of the tower and keeping it locked there far above the city.

Upon exiting his ship he would be greeting by a young man, human naval officer in their signature uniform with two marine guards with guns. The guards were not hostile, but the way they held their guns was in a way that told that they were ready in case there was a threat.

[Solarian States]

"Alright, but don't blame me if something goes wrong."

As the ship slowly approached the planet, the ship's sensors were shut off. After all, this wasn't an espionage mission. The only thing still running was navigational sensors, to prevent any accidents. the ships AI was instructed not to record anything other than navigational data. However, the defenses were still online, in case they needed to make a quick getaway. Nothing active, such as sensor and missile jammers, but the shields remained charged and the point defense nodes were on standby. Aside from that, it could have been any other ship going for a cruise. It was obviously a civilian ship and not military, due to the design.The moment the tractors took hold, the propulsion was modified to just keep it in the air. After all, they didn't want to run the risk to the tractors being unable to keep it aloft. However, the AI also modified engine output, so as not to fight the beams. Once the ship was docked, the hatch remained sealed for a moment before opening, revealing a blonde man in a white dress garment. The attached cape, though solid an opaque, flowed like smoke around him as he moved. On his right hip was a holstered pistol, but his hands went nowhere near it, even at the sight of two armed Marines.

"You must be escorts."

He gave a shallow bow in greeting.

"I assume I am to follow you and your...entourage?"

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

"Thank you for joining me so quickly Sir Michael. And may I say you look as rediculous as I do right now in that get up?" StarNight said as the guards opened the door to the Throne room that doubled as the House of the Lord's when they met. She took her sword off her belt and placed it against the throne as she sat down, motioning Sir Michael Remington into the seat/desk to her right.

"I believe that as rediculous as it looks, it is a fine uniform designed to impress those around me... Much better then the skinsuits you wear." The Terran Empire's Ambassador.

Even with how pissed off she still was at this Solaris, she couldn't help a snort of laughter as she sat back on her throne. The Terrans always needled her about that. It was practically a conspiracy at this point, but one that always managed to bring a smile to her face. She'd invited him in on this because it was likely that any ally of her Empire, would become involved with his too. Also the small fact that it had spawned an actual 'this is not a drill' full shut down of the star system.

"That's because you humans have a sick pleasure in subjecting yourselves to getting dressed up and parading  yourselves around like those Old Earth Peacocks while you also take amusement from watching us be uncomfortable with the entire affair because we're not masochists like you are." She said, adjusting the eight-pointed star award around her neck.

"Come now Supreme Commander, when one is representing ones glorious Empire one should look good whilst doing so."

StarNight looked over at the man who had become quite a good friend, even with some of the... Strangeness that had come out of her Empire to threaten her ally. He was a good man, and StarNight was grateful that he was here and not somewhere else. "believe me Sir Michael, that is one lesson we learned from your Empire very well."

"It's good to see you're taking your lessons gracefully," Sir Michael grinned.

This time she threw a half humored glare over at him. They all did it. They never let up about their damned uniforms and how they single handedly changed the RCN into actually using them on a regular basis. Then again the Terran Empire had bragging rights to many things when it came to teaching her Empire life lessons. She swear she'd be on her death bed and a Terran would still bring it up. It was a good thing they were allies or else she might of tried to battle her way to better standing with her ally. 'even though you know they'll only beat you to paste like they always do.' she thought with amused affection.

---

The guide nodded. "Yes Sir, please follow me." He said as he turned to walk down the halls of the tower with the guards falling in behind them. The hallways were pleasantly designed and nicely lit.

After a short ride down on a lift they stepped into a grand hallway decorated with all different types of art, paintings, holograms, light sculptures you name it it was there. At the end of the hall were two large dark wood doors carved various animals that would not look terribly familiar. The two guards, one hand, the other Cresian, at the doors stiffened and one rested his hand on his archaic sword at his belt.

"Who comes to speak to the Supreme Commander of the Royal Cresian Empire?" One challenged

[Solarian States]

The cape contained to float as the man followed, rather uninterested in the sights, instead lost in his own thoughts, as he was wont to do. Even with his current position, his mind never strayed far from where it worked best. However, we snapped out of it when he heard the traditional challenge. Every time he went anywhere to talk to any form of leader, and there was a militaristic or aristocratic tradition, there was always the standard armed door guard.

"I am a representative of the Solarian Empire. I come in peace and aside from my legally required sidearm, I come alone and unarmed."

He knew what was bound to come. He'd prepared for it. And when it did, he'd be sure to follow Solarian law on the matter. However, if not, he'd be pleasantly surprised. His left eyebrow was up after he finished, as if waiting.

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

The guard studied him for a moment, no matter if he had declared it and it had been allowed by the omission of no one telling him he couldn't take the side arm, he didn't seem too happy about letting him into his leader's presence.

He opened the door and stepped inside for a moment, before he stepped back out and the two guards swung the door open for him. "Supreme Commander Caitlyn StarNight will see you now."

the 'Throne room' looked less like a room, more like a meeting hall. The circular room was lined around the edges with desks, there must be well over 100 tiered up the side of the room. an empty floor with an eight-pointed star inlaid into it stretched out before the door to the throne. The throne was not gaudy or gilded. but it was raised above the floor and was the focal point of the room simply by both being a throne and the screen over it for showing things during whatever this room was used for.

The Supreme Commander sat in the throne, black and gold uniform with no less then 7 thick rank stripes on the sleeves of her uniform. Around her neck an eight-pointed star made of dark opal on an aging ribbon made it clear the stars were a motif here. The leader herself had brown hair with red streaks under a white beret, eyes that were brown with brilliant shots of green in them, her plain white wings decorated with a beautiful fine golden chain. leaning against her throne was a jeweled sword that almost looked to pretty to be a functional weapon. Even when you had it blocked, trained to resist and not at all paying attention to it, she had a presence that dominated and filled the room. That was part telepathic and part just because she was the Supreme Commander, but it wasn't hard to miss.

Sitting to her right at one of the desks was a human male, hisuniform was different, it was black and gold too but a pattern extended down its from and on the cuffs, it wasn't military.

For a few moments StarNight stayed silent, staring at the man, thinking of what she was going to say, before she spoke, the translator working easily for her. Obviously here they were the norm and even through the translation, it managed to keep the tone, gender and even accent of the speaker. "You know most nations around these parts consider sneaking into a system under stealth an act of war no matter what the armament of the ship is. I think this comes from a very minor fact that most stealth ships are so equipped to be spies and as such have sensors that can reveal important information or secrets the owner of the star system rather not get out." Her tone was so conversational one might possibly believe for a second she wasn't mad. "I think I would preferred the station or perhaps a warship. Instead you come in here, play games, and then have the audacity to act like I'm being unreasonable when something I can't see starts contacting me from an unknown point?" She was definitely still mad. "I was willing to considering working something out with you, and I'm starting to regret having humored the idea."

[Solarian States]

Having seen Emperor Rudolph and empress Zirdae in full Imperial Regalia multiple times, he was less than impressed. Especially since he also had a similar looking uniform in his closet back home.

"Well, you see, therin lies the problem."

He spoke in English, knowing that was the default language they'd used, at least from the original set of messages sent to HMS Stag Beetle. He'd asked an Eosapien to upload the language temporarily into his head.

"By my laws, I have to be protected. Due to my rank and status, two full Task Forces of the Solarian Navy would have had to escort me. That's 6,300 ships. Warships. Fully armed and ready to kill anything that comes too close without permission, regardless of who owns that system. Now, I don't know how you work, but I know that if that popped in to my system, I'd be thinking it was an invasion."

His voice had a slight accent, almost Mid-Western America, which was unusual, due to the fact he wasn't a native speaker.

"So, because my laws say I need protection, I had to opt for the stealth aspect. Quick, easy, and a bit more innocent than just popping in to your system with the kind of force one would use to annihilate everything orbiting the star and saying "Hi, we're hear to talk peaceful business with your leader." Because that just sounds oxymoronic, doesn't it?"

Every time he mentioned his laws, he emphasized the word "My."

"But, I do have to point out, if you can find my laws un reasonable, then it means that either my government needs to work them out, or allow loopholes. Because unreasonable laws can cause issues between two civilized star nations, can't they?"

There was a faint hint of a smile on his face.

"As for the part I should mention, my name is Tylar Noche, the Imperial Governor of the Solarian colonies, Appointed by His Imperial Majesty and approved by the Imperial senate."

Governor Noche bowed at the waist, to an almost 90 degree angle, the smoke-like cape floating in the air, before slowly wrapping around him when he stood back up.

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

Perhaps in the future when they were friends (or enemies) he would learn that this 'impressive display' was really all just a sign you'd pissed StarNight off. She was, most of the time a friendly happy soul, who loved to play games, do pranks, and generally not act act her age OR like she was the leader of 28 planets, an impressive military, and over 24 billion beings. Its what made her such a popular leader among her own people, she wasn't some hard ass or perhaps just some distance ruler who had to keep up appearances, she was a person too and not afraid to show it. She hated protocol to the point of shunning years of tradition and law to do whatever she wanted. For her to dust off the rule book and follow it was a fairly good sign you've made a misstep somewhere. Now she could understand that laws in other nations weren't as flexible, but sometimes you have to bend a little, after all the RCE wouldn't be here if they hadn't been willing to adapt.

"Then I guess that solves everything, instead of invasion, you decide its a good idea to play mind games in a star system that I am fairly certain we told you to stay away from." She'd switched back to English, only seeming annoyed that these people had to play a language version of musical chairs. it was getting tiring to have to listen to all these various languages. And she didn't even react to the information on who the man was. It wasn't like she was using names or titles yet anyways. "I mean the First Contact chip is specifically designed to be so easy to extract information from a simple scan would of worked and if you didn't trust it a simple 'hey that chip you gave us with all this important information didn't work, can we have another version?'"

When she heard his talk about the 'unreasonable laws' her hair streaks got more vivid. her expression told that it was Cresian equivalent of 'pinned back ears in anger.'

"I know that's exactly why you are here, because my cousin Vaughn told me your Finance person was less them pleased with my own tariff laws and that you would come to attempt to discuss them with me. I believe a few moments before you shut down my star system and I was getting ready to go back home to tuck my children into bed, I would of been MORE then happy to discuss it. You haven't managed to convince me you're worth it yet."

[Solarian States]

"No, mind games would have been using multiple ships. Would have been waiting until I was in orbit. Or not even informing you I was there to begin with. I could easily have come in under stealth, right to orbit, and taken a transport down. All I did was fulfill the requirements of protection from my people, under our laws. This display was not meant as a threat, and the Solarian Empire apologizes for any ruffled feathers."

He was directly quoting the first contact ship they'd given him.

"For the record, which I have the reports and comm logs to show it, my people have received nothing but threats and distrust from you people since your Captain Vaughn came across our recon patrol, disguised simply as procedure and caution. This is why we couldn't just send a ship without escorts or without any kind of stealth. Because even ships outside of your capital system have been threatened and your officers basically said we need to change to meet your standards. So forgive me if I find myself a little unworried about all this nonsense going on. Because as it stands, the Colonial Senate needs one of two things: Either some form of equitable agreement for trade or a non-aggression pact. You aren't aware of this, but your officers and your rules are almost exactly like a rather fascist nation my people dealt with in the past, that eventually resulted in a war. Don't get me wrong. I'm not making that assumption about you. I was a military man at one point, with almost as much power as you. I know the difference. The Senate does not. and I agree with them about the outcome of this. Because without any kind of formal understanding, with the difference between our laws and our procedures, issues are bound to happen. It's how I ended up ordering 7th Fleet into Saiyu and turning Saiyu into a protectorate."

All joking tones had dropped, his face now serious.

"Basically, your people threatened mine, intentionally or not, and the Senate wasn't inclined to play nice after all of that. Mainly because we're tried of pussyfooting around a nation that wants to throw their weight around. We did it three times, and it always ended badly. Now, the choice is yours. Either you can stop with the posturing and we can have a normal discussion like civilized people, you and I can swear to avoid any kind of conflict and hash out the details of a non-aggression pact, or I can say fuck it and just leave. I honestly can do either of the three, though I'd prefer the first option."

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

StarNight stayed silent, reaching up with one hand to pinch thr bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. The floor had begun to glow slightly during his little speech, but after a few minutes The glowing flickered and died as StarNight opened her eyes.

"The reason we keep threatening is because this universe is a cold and dangerous place. We did well for a while with the friendly approach, then we began to run into people or things that weren't as forgiving as most civilized nations." It sounded like there was a story behind this, but it wasn't one StarNight felt like sharing now.

She was very glad this man wasn't a telpath and that her ability to hide her emotions had grown over the years. As she'd been able to hide the stab of terror she'd felt as he'd spoke. Even if he hadn't meant it as a threat of war she did not relish the idea of another war against a larger foe, and especially not with an ally she would certainly have to have involved and a war in Andromeda that was technically already started. Remington placed a hand on her shoulder, and even with the realtive difference in their ranks, it was a nice gesture that helped her stay calm. with her soulmate out at the human colonies, she didn't have the support and calming influence she usually did. It didn't help this man had punched quite a few of her buttons in the process of his speech.

"Alright, I guess we can try the first option." She still sounded so unhappy, but the anger was roped under control, as she sat back against her throne. "Since thats what you came out here to do in the first place."

[Solarian States]

"Anywhere can be cold and unforgiving. The Empire once fought back from the brink of annihilation against an unrelenting foe, who's sole purpose was to wipe out humanity. We've been there. I didn't sleep for three days, as reports came flooding in and I tried to rally defenses, only to find out they were a step ahead. It can be frustrating."

Tylar was actually relieved this was going better than his worst case scenario. He looked around, as if searching for something.

"Is there somewhere else we can go to discuss business? This doesn't exactly look like the kind of room used by people of equal stature to talk about something that is mutually beneficial. Especially since there's no seating for visitors like myself."

He seemed casual, as if he'd done this countless time and was looking for his usual spot.

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

StarNight stood, sheathing the jeweled sword and motioning the Terran Ambassador to his feet. She stepped down off the throne with a ruffle of her wing feathers and Sir Michael fell in a slight step behind her.

"Follow me." She said as she walked to the door, it opened as she approached and the guards there snapped to attention, the same two guards that had greeted him falling in behind them while the guide simply walked off in a different direction, it wasn't like the leader needed a guide.

It didn't take long, one level down and a few hallways that were nicely kept but not as grand as the ones they just had been in, they arrived at a different door, paneled in dark wood with a carved star in it. StarNight had already started to open the doors before the guards could attempt to and she stepped in first, followed by Sir Michael and her guest.

The room was an office, with a desk big enough to land a shuttle on(or at least it appeared that way, with a few pens, papers on it. On one wall was a black square flag with a white 8 pointed star, on the opposite a bookcase filled with different books, the wall behind them had paintings of various landscapes that looked alien and unfamiliar. The 'wall' behind the desk was just one big seamless window, with an impressive view of the city of the Telegett, though right now it was twilight and made it hard to see, you could see a thin layer of clouds rolling below the windows level.

She walked around the desk and sat down, motioning to the chairs across from her, Sir Michael took one, adjusting his uniform slightly.

"Please sit." She said, looking down at the terminal in the desk. She tapped a few things into the screen, a red hologram popped up and she dragged her hand across it, turning it from red to green. Outside the lights of the city flickered on and after a few moments pricks light began to flow in the air. The city was alive again. StarNight looked back up.

"Is this more acceptable?"

[Solarian States]

"Very."

Tylar was impressed for the first time since his arrival. The city's instantaneous return to life was something even Capital Fleet couldn't attain. the few times they had to close Sol off, it took hours to get everything back up and running. Benefits of a smaller population, especially one entirely based on a planet.

"I'm assuming this gentleman here is an advisor?"

While Tylar would prefer having a solo chat with this Supreme Commander, but he was not about to deny her an advisor. After all, Rudolph had XONA and GAIA, Tylar had VICTORIYA and ALEX. It would have been hypocritical.

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

"This man is Sir Michael Remington, The Terran Empire's Ambassador to my own Empire. The Terran Empire is a very close ally of mine and given that any interaction we have will eventually result in you interacting with Terrans, I thought it best to bring him into the loop." She replied, tapping something else into her terminal. StarNight ruffled her feathers again, she wanted Sir Michael here. There was no way she wanted him out of the loop. If this man and his nation proved trouble, she'd be going to him first anyways.

"Now how about you begin by telling me exactly what a reasonable tariff rate for your people would be, and I'll debate it from there."

[Solarian States]

"Oh. Well, that makes things just a bit different. Not more complicated, don't get me wrong, just slightly different."

Tylar leaned back, clasped his hands together, placed them on his belt, and crossed his ankles.

"So, realistically, any tariffs are going to be seen as unreasonable. All trade we have with others is open. The only time tariffs come in to play are for dangerous items. Now, I understand you have them and you enact them and I see no reason why you shouldn't. But it's not just your tariffs. You strict hold over your own market, that would end up boiling over into ours. We have a few safety regs that that's about. From my understanding, from the talks your Captain Vaughn had with the sub-Minister of Trade, you'd want to basically enforce the same regulations on everything coming in as everything going out. Tariffs with overly strict regulations regarding trade are going to scare people away from you."

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

"Believe it or not Governor, I know exactly what those tariff laws do. Thats why they are there." StarNight said, using his title for the first time. "If someone comes here and expects free reign, they won't get it and will go back where they came from, people who are willing to make it work will stick around and try to talk it out." She looked outside at the city glowing in the night as the speck of aircars continued to multiply and spread out.

"And about Vaughn, he is a good man, great friend, 4th in line heir to the throne, all the jazz, but he's not economist. He probably read the papers wrong or didn't phrase it right. If it can pass through the safety tests for being consumed/used then yes it can be sold here on different levels depending on who can use it, since with four different sentient races, you have to check for that kind of stuff. It tiers with the race. The lowest is every race, second tier is Cresian, Alaren, Namerian, Third is Cresian Namerian, and top is Cresian only. When stuff is sold here, we provide the stickers to slap onto them for the selling tiers."

"All the other tests we ream our companies through won't be applied. However if we find that companies are doing certain things we cannot agree with, the comapny will be banded from selling in the RCE. It'll be a small drop in the pan compared to the amount of worlds and people you have, but I will not have my nation, nor will my people enjoy the though of, supporting companies that violate some of those laws. Things like child labor, slave labor, will be result in an immediate ban and if we can manage it, legal action, have had a few Cresian-human brands go under from consumer protest when they kept skirting, loopholing our laws on employee treatment. Can't do anything about what the people want so if they don't bite, they don't bite."

She leaned forward, to lean on the desk. "So you'll have to excuse the fact that I know what I'm doing. We've been doing it for a LONG time."

[Solarian States]

"Well, you see Commander, I didn't insinuate that you don't know what tariff laws are. After all, you are in charge and you have them. Instead, I gave you information you don't know, which is how the Solarian Empire reacts to tariffs. How a free market with only a basic oversight would react. After all, you've never dealt with the Solarian Economy and you obviously don't have the kind of free market we have. Our people would accept some regulation, considering they have some of it. That regulation does include laws against child labor and slavery. The latter is a capital crime. But the Solarian people are used to being able to freely buy and sell goods with others, with restrictions only for safety and legality. It's part of why the Solarian economy is so powerful. We ruined the black market by simply out-producing it. And unlike the black market, the Solarian people had standards to meet. "

Tylar leaned forward, imitating the Commander's position.

"So you'll have to excuse the fact that I not only know what I'm doing, but might have equal experience in this than you, for the Empire has been doing this for a long time as well, with races who's space travel began millions of years ago."

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

StarNight gave a nod, still looking slightly unhappy. She stayed silent for a minute, staring at her terminal.

"Alright then here's what I'm willing to do. At the start no matter who or what wishes to invest in my Empire, the tariff will start off at 50% of base price and over a 4 Earth year period gradually reduce to 10%, where it will stay. Though a few items will be kept at 15%, all of which will be outlined in an official document I can have typed up and in a few minutes along with the laws and rights of foreign merchants in my space." She tapped something into the terminal.

"Other then one law and rule I don't believe there is anything else I'm worried about."

StarNight still didn't very much care for the man sitting in front of her, but made sure to keep it off her face. She had something to discuss with Michael after this though.

[Solarian States]

Tylar's head started slowly shaking the moment she said 50%, but he waited until she finished.

"50% won't work. Provided the agreement passed the Senate, the only people that would be trading with you would be the desperate, and their prices would be jacked up to meet the costs of the tariffs, to the point where few, if anyone, would buy them. 10% is fine. I could run that buy with little issues. 15% for some items, depends on the particular products. But If I approached the Senate with a 50% tariff, I'd be laughed at. His Majesty has the power to override the Senate in matters of foreign affairs. I know Emperor Rudolph well. He'd never approve of it. He'd prefer no tariffs at all, but he'd be willing to accept lower ones. I could talk him in to it."

He leaned back, this time sitting normally, without the relaxation he'd shown earlier.

"15% to start across the board could work, with 20% on those items you said would be 15% to end with, of course depending on the items in question. Though, I MIGHT be able to bend 25%, again depending on the item."

[StellarGate]

Alpha-Deltii
Royal Cresian Empire
Cresian Star System

"I'm afraid no tariffs is not possible." StarNight replied. "Even with the power afforded to me as leader of the RCE, that is one thing I will not change." She looked down, tapping another command into the terminal, taking a moment to study the list of items of items she pulled up. "Before I make another offer, the items which will be tariffed at a higher rate include all naturally minded gemstones, some electronic items, and anything on the rating level that can be only be used by Cresians. We don't allow any sort of recreational drugs to be sold and pharmaceuticals probably won't find much of a market here, so we discourage anyone from trying to sell them here. They might not even work on our population due to race variations so its for the best."

She paused for another moment, looking out at her city. "Lowest I can go is 35% at the beginning, dropping gradually to the 10/15% set up I said earlier over a quarter of a year, I mean 3 Earth years. Any lower at the start or shorter time period and there will be riots." She didn't turn back, but she wasn't joking. the last time she'd had to go that low the population had been close to storming the Stayr Tower to protest the decision. And that one was to help avoid a war! "Good thing about the tariff is the gradual drop starts the second the law is signed into action, so if I were to sign it in today and you, or your eager merchants, were to wait 6 Earth months, you'd already be down to a shade over 30%, with it continually dropping til it reached the base offer of 10/15%."