League Consolidated News Services [Maint][News][Closed]

[Kisia]

An IC thread for posting happenings and unrelated short stories within the League. Events that have threads will be linked.

Kisia Today
Republican Diet Passes First Navy Expansion Bill
Amid rising galactic tension, Diet authorizes first round of major naval building

---

Kyoteishian, Kastia - After a several-week long battle of words within the Republican Palace, both the People's House and National Council approved a final version of the "League Navy Expansion Bill", which is set to, over some years, double the size of the League Navy to a target ratio of around 55,000 vessels of all grades. Opposition to the bill was fierce, many citing fears of rampant Navy expansionism could lead to high levels of military interference within national politics. However, rising tensions within the galaxy prompted many to eventually agree to the bill.

According to expectations, the first portion of the bill is set to lay down several new battleships, battlecruisers, and fleet carriers. It also makes provisions for expanding the Naval Assault Landing Cadre to have at least four Cadres ready to deploy at all times, instead of three. The second proposed bill would fund a vast expansion cruisers of all classes. The third proposed bill would fund the building of screening vessels and other smaller craft. While the bill has passed, funding must still be secured for the 2nd and 3rd phases, which could doom the bill if sentiment changes down the line.

The chief drafter of the plan, National Councilor Heichang Tohuo (Asankirian, National Party) was quoted as saying the following on the bill:

"In this turbulent time of the galaxy, we must secure ourselves against all potential aggression. There are those that would seek to destroy our nation, our democracy, our right to do as we please, unbound from a tyrannical monarch. This cannot be allowed to pass! It has been said that we must operate on the One-Half War Concept- that is, we must be able to fight and win one major war, before turning to the other. I say we must push ourselves to a Two-Half War Concept, we must be able to fight and win two wars at one time, before achieving victory in a hypothetical third war. The expansion of the League Navy, our shield in a galaxy of darkness, is a necessity to defend our Kisian Democracy."

The Navy Ministry released a statement saying they would "rise to the challenge without delay and with the utmost perseverance", stating that they would begin drawing up plans to recruit more young men and women to the colors.

[Kisia]

Kisia Today
Election Results In!
Major conservative victories across several Federal Subjects

---

Kyoteishian, Kastia - This year's round of elections proceeded calmly, and the Election Integrity Branch has reported very little acts of violence or subversive activity. Most votes have been counted, and victories declared across all Federal Subjects, alongside the composition of the Federal Diet, and the composition of the 8th Supreme Executive Council.

Federal Subject Election Results

• Asankari Star Republic - National Party, Conservative
• Sutaibu Directorate: Republic Clique, Conservative
• Oyui Republic: People's Advancement Party, Liberal
• Constitutional Taisvanist Republic: Taisvanist Party, Conservative
• Nenshou Free State: New Dawn Party, Liberal
• Kanyouchui Federation: All-Federation Alliance, Conservative
• Mien-Chei Union State: New Union Party, Liberal
• Yumei Dominion: Iron League, Conservative

The Federal Diet also had a largely conservative swing, with the National Council being led by the conservative All Foward coalition. In the lower house however, it appears that no such coalition of parties is forthcoming, with individual parties squabbling over various regional and national issues. Analysts expect this will hurt All Forward's chances of passing it's agenda, depending on just how hard the House of the People fights over bills proposed.

The 8th Supreme Executive Council was relatively balanced this period as well, with an official register of 9 rightist officials, 8 centrists, and 7 leftists. All members of the 8th SEC are expected to be sworn in later this week at the Republican People's Palace in Kyoteishan in a grand ceremony.

[Kisia]

League Political News Directorate

SEC Inaugurated With Large Military Parade
8th SEC expected to move quickly on issues of severe threat to the League

---

Kyoteishian, Kastia - Today, the entire League rejoiced with the official swearing into office of all members of the 8th Supreme Executive Council. The day was marked by an inaugural parade constituted by units of the Combined Armies, Asankirian State Army, League Navy, and Naval Assault Landing Cadre in front of the Republican People’s Palace. Many Federal Subjects also threw satellite ceremonies of their own, celebrating with festivals and patriotic parades as well.

Yahicha Thoipho, chosen from the council to speak on all their behalf, expressed elation and determination about serving the League to her utmost, alongside working with her colleagues and the elected bodies of the Republican Diet.

Members of the SEC are expected to put forward legislation regarding some form of potential mobilization against the Weld, which has been met with extreme concern and a morbidly hot topic as of late.

---

Anti-Weld General Mobilization Edict Put Forth, Passing Delayed

In what was widely considered to be the first major act of the SEC, the Council put forth an Edict requesting the mobilization of League forces to help the Vipran Imperium in sectors currently being beleaguered by Weld forces. Fighting was bitter in all levels of the government, and the bill is currently stalled out in the Republican Diet, where the House of the Nation is currently unable to reach an agreement on how long such a supposed deployment would run for, if at all.

“It is not our war to fight. Why die for the Imperium?” People’s Councilor Teiguo Shoha spoke to crowds assembled in front of the Legislative Building.

“The weld are the problems of the Vipran Imperium, and the Viprans alone. Why should we send our men and women to die cold, far away from home, fighting an enemy that won’t ever see our shores? Our soldiers are needed for issues that protect the League and her interests, not the interests of a foreign power. I and others in the Anti-Mobilization Clique have made it our goal to oppose this reckless and wasteful measure that will cost both Tao and lives.”

There are those however that feel otherwise, as evidenced by People’s Councilor Keichang Thikyath.

“The Vipran Imperium is one of if not our closest ally, ever since the fall of the Solarian Empire. We are honorbound to help them in their time of need, just as they helped us during the First Republican Rising. Long has the Kisian warrior shed blood in the pursuit of noble causes, and this is no different. On the honor of our fathers, and for the future of our children, we must go forth to fight this darkness. The Weld may yet move closer to our own territory. If it does, we will undoubtedly pay for our negligence.”

Public opinion appears to be somewhat in favor of intervention, but time will tell if the Diet passes a final version of the edict soon.

[Kisia]

The following is a short story, unrelated to any event in the League, and more just a bit of 'slice of life' writing, as it were.

Entry Lobby, Chikuo Industries
Kuoang yawned as he ran his ID card through the timekeeping computer, the machine making a cheerful little ‘ping!’, and flashing a green checkmark as it registered him as being present for the day. Shoving his hands back in his pockets, he made his slow walk through the lobby, stopping to grab a cup of coffee in the communal breakroom.

Breakroom
Walking over to the machine, he flipped all the switches for cream, sugar, and all the other additives off. Taking out his wallet, he fished around for a buck-fifty; no such thing was forthcoming however. He grumbled, replacing his wallet and starting to search his other pockets. As he was doing so, his friend Aishira walked into the room. Also walking over to the machine, she produced the necessary coinage and the machine hummed to life, producing a medium sized cup and spitting out a rich, dark brew. She gagged at the strong smell.

“Do you drink anything else?” She said, fanning her nose at the bitter smell. “Also, you owe me lunch now.” the girl went on, a coy smile on her face.

“I don’t like anything else in my coffee. I just need the caffeine to get goi- what?” Kuoang started, before looking at her with an exasperated expression. “It was just one-fifty, that’s hardly worth getting you lunch!” he continued.

The machine wound down as the protective door opened up, producing a cup of piping hot coffee. Aishira quickly grabbed the cup, taking a step backwards towards the sink. She tilted the cup threateningly, frowning as she did so. Kuoang sighed.

“I guess it can’t be helped. Fine, I’ll buy you lunch- but we’re eating cheap.” he said, shrugging his shoulders. Aishira merely smiled and handed him the coffee back. Glancing at the clock, she was startled to see it was two minutes til 8:30 AM.

“Shit, I have a meeting to take notes at! See you!” Aishira blurted out, before immediately turning and running out of the breakroom, down the hall. He could hear some other employees shouting at her to quit running, to which he merely smirked. Taking a sip of his coffee, he also left the room and went again at his slow pace down to the Accounting Department, his home away from home.

Accounting Department
“This is always such a bother…” he thought to himself.

Entering the room, he stood, taking a breath. “Sahekusho!” he screamed, to which everyone else assembled yelled it back in return. Making his way to his cubicle, he ran into Yahecho, his boss, who rolled his eyes as he saw him walking in right at 8:30. He held up his wristwatch, pointing at it.

“If you’re on time, you’re late! C’mon slacker, pick up the pace! You’re here to work, not lounge around!” Yahecho shouted, pointing at his cubicle.

“Hiyen, Yahecho-kehe!” Kuoang replied, immediately fast walking to his desk, swiping his ID card to activate his computer, only for it to buzz in error. Without thought, he immediately reached for the third drawer, opening it, and pulling out a thick manual. Feeling for a tab he’d placed, he opened the book, scanned to the diagram marked “Startup Error Routine”, and began performing that.

Yahecho nodded in apparent approval. “I can’t blame you for technical errors, but at least you seem to have the troubleshooting routine down pat. Get to work as soon as you’ve finished debugging your system.”

“Hiyen!” Kuoang said, his eyes not leaving the manual. Yahecho walked off, as Kuoang continued to click away at the keyboard. Hearing the door to his office shut, Kuoang snickered as he moved the book to the side, and took a big swig of coffee.

“Heh, I’m a slacker yes, but a fool I am not. It’s a simple matter to make this thing go into a false startup routine. I probably have about two hours before he comes back out to make his rounds, I bet he’s in his office practicing for the company golf tournament or something inane like that….” Kuoang thought to himself, a smile on his face.

He turned the computer off, flicked a switch and turned a dial till he heard a satisfying ‘click’ noise, then restarted it, swiping his ID again. Like magic, it booted to life. He was annoyed when the desktop came up, realizing somehow, he’d set the language into a dialect of Kisian he didn’t understand- which had changed the symbols too. He was...reasonably sure everything was still in order though. He just needed to perform a proper shutdown, then he could mess with with the knobs and switches again and fix it.

Making his way through the- at this point alien desktop, he accidentally misclicked on a file. A menu came up, to which he clicked what he presumed was the close button. Unfortunately for him, a little animation of a piece of paper going through a paper shredder came up. What’s worse, was the documents name was still in the proper dialect he could read.

He’d just erased the quarterly reports he was supposed to finish up and give to his boss today. Now, he was starting to break into a cold sweat. Taking a breath, he tried again, this time successfully shutting off the computer. He turned the dial a second time, before going through the startup procedure yet again. He was rewarded with an interface he could actually understand- and did indeed confirm that he’d just vaporized the only copy of that report he had.

“Shit. This isn’t good. Laziness, he can tolerate. Losing a copy of this is probably my job if he finds out. Someone has to have a copy….probably records. I need an excuse to get away thou-” he smiled, writing a note to himself that the dial needed to be turned twice, before putting the machine back in it’s ‘false startup’ state. He then entered a command that made it print out a small piece of paper with various debugging and system information on it- usually referred to as ‘troubleshooting cards’.

Taking the paper and putting it into his pocket, he then walked to Yahecho’s office, knocking on the door.

“Enter!” Kuoang heard, entering forthwith. He just barely managed to repress a glare as he saw him polishing golf clubs behind the closed internal shades. Closing the door behind him, he walked forward some and stood ramrod straight, almost as if he was giving a report to a military official.

“Yes?” Yahecho said, not looking up from his clubs. Kuoang merely stared forward. “My computer seems to be having more trouble than I can fix with the handbook. Permission to go to the maintenance department to ask for further help?”

Yahecho looked up at him, cocking his head and glaring some. “Exceptional. If you’ve managed to break that machine, it’ll be your paycheck for the next month.” He turned to his computer, typing rapidly. A printer spat out a small piece of a paper, the time and some other indications marked on it. He put a stamp on it and handed it over to him.

“You know the drill, get it stamped by the other department head. Proceed.” Yahecho said, relatively unamused, before going back to polishing his golf clubs.

“Thank you Yahecho-kehe! I will return as soon as possible!” Kuoang replied, taking the piece of paper and slipping it into his pocket. “Busy day…” he then muttered under his breath, going for the door.

“Hm?” Yahecho said, looking up again.

“I was merely cursing myself for my ignorance of computer systems.” Kuoang replied quickly.

“Ah.” Yahecho muttered, not paying much thought to him anymore.

Main Lobby
Briskly walking out his bosses office, he meandered back into the main lobby area where he saw a relatively bothered Aishira sitting at her desk with several stacks of paperwork and a large dictionary. He snickered.

“Are you going to be able to catch lunch at this rate?” He said, whistling at the rather foreboding stacks of paper.

“Heaven curse you, and curse the maintenance departments meetings!” Aishira said angrily.

“What even is this?”

“It’s the semi-quarterly performance metrics for some contrived mess that I don’t care about, but have to type up and send to corporate- I don’t mind doing basic digitization, but this should be illegal! Maintenance loves to steep their reports in technical jargon and use these archaic words that seem like they went out of date three goddamned centuries ago! Look at this!” She picked up one of the report pages, pointing her finger at a complicated jumble of symbols.

Kuoang blinked at the long intimidating string of characters as well. At best, he could tell these were pre-Reform characters, but that was it. Many complicated characters had been deemed obsolete and done away with, but many companies were slow to abolish them, such was the pace of things in business. Worse, was that there appeared to be no ‘helper text’ to at least try to make sense of the words.

“They didn’t give you any translation notes or anything?”

“No, the eggheads who wrote it presumed we all spoke perfect High Xjanae.”

“I suppose it can’t be helped. Do your best then!”

“Shouldn’t you be working? What are you doing?

Kuoang darted his eyes across Aishira’s desk, acting as if he hadn’t heard the question. When she pressed him about it, he explained the situation to her. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to berate him for his laziness or laugh at his misfortune. She decided to do both- for a decent while as well. Eventually however, he managed to convince her to come along; an easy matter considering it gave her a momentary respite from her work. Thus, the duo went onward.

Records Department
The two took the elevator down several levels. When they emerged, the air was much cooler and had a distinct ‘recycled’ smell to it. Aishira shivered.

“They keep it like a deep-freeze down here, I don’t see how anyone actually works down here.” she said, rubbing her shoulders as the sudden cold gave her a sudden shiver.

“They have to, the servers and other machinery are down here. If they got hot, they’ll fail, and we’ll lose our backups. Corporate would be displeased with that, I’d wager. But yes, it’s very cold down here- you think Hensaro is in?” Kuoang said, starting their way down the corridor, steps reverberating on the metal floor.

“I don’t think he’s missed an official day of work for the past seven years. If he doesn’t show up he’s either dead or in the Service again.”

“Fair point.” Kuoang replied. Wandering for awhile in the labyrinth like complex for a few minutes, they eventually stumbled into Hensaro’s workspace. It was neat and organized, datatapes and various discs arranged into neat little trays. Two pictures were on his desk, one of he, his wife and their four children, and a group photo of his former squadmates from some conflict long ago. He turned around to face the two, and made a quizzical expression.

“Shouldn’t you two be working? It’s this early in the workday and you’re alre-” Aishira stopped him mid-sentence.

“As much as I’d like to listen to you go on about the virtues of duty and honor, Kuoang here is about to get fired unless you help him.” Hensaro raised an eyebrow. Kuoang sighed.

“I erased my quarterly financial reports. I was hoping you might have a copy of backed up somewhere that I could use to recover the lost file. I beg your assistance.” he said bluntly, even going so far as to offer a bow to the former soldier. Hensaro simply stared, as if seemingly processing what was just said. Just as Hensaro was going to continue, he merely pointed at the doorway.

“Leave. You must deal with the consequences yourself.” Hensaro said, turning back around to his computer and starting to type something up,

“Hensaro! He’s asking gra-”

“Leave, before I inform security and alert your bosses to the matter.” he stated again, raising his voice in irritation. Kuoang gave a curt nod and silently left, bringing a fuming Aishira with him. They started walking back to the elevator.

“Hmph. I thought he was a friend. I’m sorry Kuoang, maybe you can come up with some sort of story...you’re usually good at that.” Aishira said quietly, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“It’s no good, I won’t survive interrogation by a panel of corporate officers. I’m absolutely finished.” he sighed in defeat, before being roughly grabbed by Aishira and dragged off again into the department.

“What’s this?” Kuoang said, at first resisting the pulling but now going along with whatever she had in mind.

“Damn him, we’ll find it ourselves! We went by the main archive on the way to his office, let’s just search for it! I’m sure we can find that file.” she said, voice twinged with a mix of anger and determination.

“Have you ever worked the datatape machine before?” Kuoang said curiously

“No, but I’m about to.”

As they got to the room, they saw that the heavy steel door was locked, and there was a keycard reader on the door. To make matters worse, there was a camera aimed right at them.

“I’m pretty sure neither of us have access, and now we’ve been recorded trying to access a secure area.” Kuoang said with some nervousness.

“Believe it or not, we’re actually fine. That was one of the things I wrote up, believe it or not. Those are the old model security cameras. They come on in certain intervals, and shut off to save power.” She glanced at her watch. “This is an estimate, but I think they record for intervals of twenty minutes, then shut off for an indeterminate period, then start back up again. It’s 9:20- which means they just got through recording. At the minimum we have 10 minutes.”

“Okay, so we’re not going to get fired for trespassing, but we still can’t access the room.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Aishira noted smugly, producing a spare ID card. Swiping it through the door, the reader chirped happily and the door opened.

“I swiped his spare on the way out. Now let's hurry, before we actually get caught red handed!”

Central Datatape Storage and Retrieval Room
As they entered the room, they noticed it was even colder in here than it was in the general area. Vapor came out of the cooling vents in the room, and there was a constant heavy drone of a dedicated AC unit going. Adding to the noise was a large machine that took up the entire back wall, a myriad of panels, screens, and keypads anointed the machine.

On the other sides of the room, lockers and other wall mounted computer consoles existed, alongside some hefty looking books, manuals, and even a couple of rolling carts.

Unfortunately for them, even more cameras appeared to be in this room, but in the same dormant state as the one covering the front entrance.

“Damn.” Kuoang said, noting the other security cameras. “We’ll need to work fast- but I couldn’t tell you how this place even works.” He looked for the nearest thing that looked like an instruction manual. “Quick, get a book and start reading!”

“On it!” Aishira said, before grabbing another hefty book and flipping through it rapidly. The room was silent- as it could be with the machinery humming, with nothing but the rapid flipping of pages breaking the monotony.

“I think I’ve found something!” Kuoang said. “This computer on the left wall here, you use it to initiate the process, the actual machine needs to be fed a datatape so it can pull the right one from the storage banks. Go figure.”

“Start it then, I’ll see if I can’t get the actual machine warmed up, since it may take time for this thing to get ready to accept input.” Aishira said, lugging the bulky operations manual over to the back wall computer and poking at it like a baby encountering an unknown object for the first time.

Kuoang started one of the wall terminals, and was immediately greeted with a string of complex characters that made the vaugest sense to him. He silently thanked his foresight to bring the troubleshooting card along with him, which provided the needed information to get going.

After several attempts and restarts, he managed to finally produce a customized datatape for the actual retrieval machine, spitting the retangular cartridge into his hands.

“Quick, put it in here!” Aishira said, pointing to a slot on the machine on the back wall. He did so, and Aishira went to work on the wall based computer. Clicking rapidly, she awaited the machines response.

A red screen came up, flashing in large, angry looking characters about an access violation, the machine making a deep angry buzzing sound- some sort of alarm. Matters became infinitely worse when the cameras in the room activated, their ominous red lenses pointing directly at the two intruders.

“What did you do?!” Kuoang yelled.

“I think….I may have accidentally hit a “false” key and triggered a security alert.” Aishira said, sucking in air through pursed lips. “Shit.”

As if it couldn’t get any worse, the steel door opened. Hensaro walked in with a security guard flanking him. He smirked.

“You hit a false key that activated the machine’s security lockout routine. You’ll most likely be arrested for this- tried for corporate espionage even. The penalty is pretty severe.” Hensaro then slid back a hidden wall panel, produced a physical key, and put it in, turning it backwards, forward, then forward even more. The alarms stopped, the cameras deactivated, and the machine itself appeared to go back into a dormant state.

“Of course, that can’t happen if the alarms got reset and the footage from the last 20 minutes got erased.” he said, smiling. “I thought about what you said, and I thought about my days in the army. Adherence to authority has its place, but so does helping out comrades in times of need. Forgive my earlier rudeness.”

Kuoang and Aishira were dumbfounded, merely standing there for a good minute, before bowing profusely and repeatedly to Hensaro. After having a laugh, he assured the guard’s silence and sent him off, leaving the three in the room together.

“Can he be trusted to keep his word?” Aishira asked.

“I’ve known that man for many years. He’s a fellow soldier like me, and we look out for each other and our allies. I can assure you- he won’t say anything- even on pain of death.” Hensaro replied, a sense of pride in his voice. “Now, you said you were looking for those quarterly reports, right…?”

“Yes. Last nights copies will do, I think there’s only five records missing. I can quickly re-add those.” Kuoang replied.

“Right. I’ll get them for you- but I want lunch as repayment.”

“Guhsoma!” Kuoang cursed bitterly. Aishira chuckled while Hensaro looked on.

“Oh, he’s just upset because I already made him buy me lunch today as well. Don’t pay him any mind.” Aishira replied.

“I intended to eat a nice dinner tonight, but I guess I’m going to have to cut that out if I want to actually keep a reasonable budget this week...I guess it can’t be helped however.” Kuoang explained.

“We can have something reasonable then. It shouldn’t cost you too much.” Hensaro stated.

“I guess…” Kuoang replied.

Accounting Department
Kuoang quietly and deftly slipped back into the office. The blinds to Yahecho’s office were still closed, and everyone was quietly working, the sound of a multitude of keystrokes happening at once alongside the near silent rustling of the AC unit the only sound in the room.

“He must still be polishing his golf clubs, I need to hurry.” Kuoang thought to himself, as he took his spot back at the computer. Once more he went through the start-up routines, remembering this time to set that damnable dial to the proper position. The machine activated without question, and brought him to the desktop.

“Now….let's hope this works…” Muttering a silent prayer, he produced the datatape with his treasured reports on it, and slid it into the computer. There was silence for a second, before the hum of the reader started and the computer asked what was to be done with the files in question. Naturally, Kuoang clicked copy and the machine began the process of transferring the items over.

Suddenly, Yahecho stepped out his office.

“It’s time for the 10 o’clock inspection! You’d all best be working! Especially you, Kuoang!” Slowly, he began making his way around the office, inspecting his subordinates work with merciless precision. Kuoang broke out into another sweat as he noticed the machine might not finish copying the records over before he stopped at his station. He pretended to look busy as the computer slowly but surely kept moving forward.

“Damnit, damnit, damnit…” He thought to himself, as Yahecho completed his scan of the first side of the department, now making his way down his side of the rows of cubicles. When Yahecho was about just one chair away from Kuoang, the machine made a happy blip and finished copying things over. Immediately he opened the reports, just as his boss strolled behind him.

“Move over.” He said plainly, to which Kuoang obliged. He looked the reports up and down, looking for any traces of errors. He scrolled for a long time- much too long for Kuoang’s likings, especially considering what had happened today. He sat, still and motionless for what seemed like an eternity.

Eventually, Yahecho made an approving nod and a bit of a grunt.

“I believe there are 5 records missing. Add those in and send that file to me at once. Also...where’s the return slip I told you to bring me?”

“Here it is, Yahecho-kehe.” Kuoang said, producing a slip of paper. Yahecho looked at it for a moment. “You went to the records department? I thought you said you needed to go to maintenance?”

“The problem was that the computer had a bad update, and it needed to be rolled back. Records has the only datatape creation machine in the building right now, that was the only way to get a copy of the last good working OS version. My apologies for any misleading statements I may have said.”

“Hmph. Weird they don’t have their own machine but, I don’t make company policy. Alright, you’re off the hook this time. Good job with getting the machine back up and running- I guess I don’t have to dock your pay after all.”

“I hope that request didn’t already go through…” Yahecho muttered quietly to himself.

“I’m sorry, sir?” Kuoang said.

“Nothing. Get back to work.” Yahecho said quickly, before briskly walking back to his office.

“Of course.” Kuoang replied, moving back in front of the computer and beginning work once again.

“I’m going to hate lunch today…” Kuoang thought to himself, realizing how much money he was probably going to spend in a few hours.

[Kisia]

League Political News Directorate

Anti-Weld Mobilization Edict Passed
Bill establishes provisional “League Expeditionary Force” to help Vipran allies in Gamma Sector

---

Kyoteishian, Kastia - After a long period of deliberation and extended sessions in the Legislative Building, the Anti-Weld Edict passed though both the House of the People and Council of the Nation in an emergency vote held late in the night. The bill makes provisions to equip an expeditionary force from the Federal Navy, Marine Landing Service, and to begin federalizing national units to serve in the Combined Armies. The majority of state legislatures have approved the conscription measure, and are calling up their own troops to join the expeditionary force.

It is expected that General Xaekhoth Taexong will be granted the rank of Expeditionary General, with Admiral Naimva Laathko taking the rank as Admiral of the Fleet as well, pending the official request letters from the Supreme Executive Council. Both are seasoned veterans of the Second Republican Rising and popular war heroes of national regard.

The general mood remains in favor of intervention, though all remain in wonder about what actual first contact with the Welded will be like, and what the League’s next steps will be moving forward. From information gained from the Imperium, it has been noted that augmented individuals are being forbidden from joining the expedition, but will instead be sent to serve in more appropriate fields away from the lines of battle.

[Kisia]

The following is a 'side-story' of sorts, related to the events in this thread.

Senior Administrator Jāhoharu's Office
Khlango Jiion Complex
Geimadi, Senshushya-jo, Sutaibu Directorate, Kisian League

The octagonal shaped room resembled more of a temple than an office. It was rather dark, the blackstone walls barely illuminated by lights placed into recesses within the walls and floors that gave off a soothing red light. Incense burners put out their holy smoke, just below a stylized depiction of the Forgemaster Xikanra; which hung above the door into the room, with Jāhoharu's elegant crafted desk sitting opposite the elaborate picture.

Several computer terminals with no apparent keyboards were on the desk, the connecting cables of all the terminals neatly filed into trunks and hidden away out of sight. Adjacent desks had stacks upon stacks of technical manuals and design journals arranged in some esoteric way, with a few laid open for all to see. Though they were like this, it'd do little good to attempt to copy or steal them. All the writing was in Manufactory Code, a sort of pseudo-technical and scientific lingo that made little sense to one unversed in the higher levels of the Manufactory's workings. Add to this the general reclusiveness of the Manufactory, and effectively they had their own internal "language" of sorts, unbeknownst to anybody except they themselves.

Jāhoharu himself sat in a large metallic chair, covered in robes of dark blue with white fringes. His robes hid his mostly metal body, the only giveaway being his metallic legs, hands, and the upper part of his face, his eyes long having been replaced with a singular scanner of sorts in the center of the metal plate, which was sleek and featureless, save for a few ritual writings.

One of the trunks of wires appeared to plug directly into the side of his head, and it was with this that he was controlling the commands of the terminals in front of him- though they were there for more sentimental value than anything. He rarely looked at them anymore, since he was able to "think" what he wanted to code and it would be so, such was his blessing with the Forgemaster and the Machine.

He was deep in this state, working on some program or design as directed by his seniors, when an alert from the chambers outside door gave him pause.

"Annoyance. Interruption of deep processing subroutines most unfortunate. Report by subordinate officer." He thought to himself, before mentally triggering the door to open and allowing the interloper access to his sanctum.

It was a junior employee, his ID chip registered as much. Jāhoharu internally sighed as the individual walked in, activating his central scanner as to give the appearance he was there.

"Blessed be the Forgemaster and Machine!" The menial said, making a holy symbol with his hands.

"Blessed be. Inquiry, why do you speak in the tongue of the unenlightened?" Spoke Jāhoharu, firstly in Qianshogo, then in Manufactory Code. The lower appeared to have an 'aha' moment, and there was a visible twitch as he activated the needed implants and components.

"Request forgiveness. Unaccustomed to the Holy Language in both speech pattern and usage." they replied.

"Understandable. Further usage will result in illumination and greater understanding. Inquiry, why have you summoned yourself to my chambers?" Jāhoharu replied.

"Report. Regarding external arms manufacturing, sales, and shipment. Success regarding export of weapons for Sections A, B, and C. Addendum: Weapons require rechambering to 7x45mm Martian as to be in compliance with contract specifications. Further details upon data-card, shall give afterwards." they responded.

The employee was greeted with several milliseconds of brief but intense static screaming. Though he could not outwardly tell, he presumed the Senior Administrator was annoyed.

"Deep annoyance. Request of rechambering, upsetting of Forgemaster to alter design for those of lesser understanding of the complexities of the Machine." Jāhoharu stated rather quickly, proving his subordinate right.

"Suggest ignoring of the ignorance of the unenlightened, proceed with contract. Additional funding of great benefit to Manufactory." his lesser replied.

"Valid statement of fact. Request, item, data-card." Jāhoharu said after a moment of pause, allowing himself to regain his usual stoic aloofness. The employee did so, giving him the floppy-disk like device, to which Jāhoharu immediately put the device into a nearby processing unit, and "read" the data.

"Interesting. Submit specifications and details to Sikhang Complex, request evaluation report on rechambering difficulty within next 3 cycles. Transmit as Priority One message. Leave."

"Yes, Senior Administrator. Blessed be." with that, the employee turned and quickly strode out the chamber, the doors seamlessly opening and closing behind him.

Something kept his attention in the report. Something called the Welded. Indeed, Kisia had been abuzz with this 'Welded' phenomenon, something about flesh and machine fused together. He began to seek reports and findings from the Manufactory's various depositories, but found none. He then tried to access the public feeds from the various news-nets, eventually expanding his search to a large portion of the foreign interstellar news feeds that also came through into Kisia. Eventually, he managed to find footage and pictures of them. Though limited, it intrigued him. He wished to know more... but how?

He was interrupted again by another alert, this time from an System Master. It was digital in origin, so the interruption was minimal, he found it akin to having a voice call in one's head.

"Observation. Higher than normal computational power re-directed to your office. Inquiry, why so?" The System Master 'spoke' to him.

"Seeking data on subject, will release additional computational power shortly. Using authority as Senior Administrator to process requests."

"Noted. Proceed, please release additional computational power as soon as reasonably possible." With that, the System Master 'hung up' on him, and he was alone again in his thoughts.

He had an idea. The Combined Armies were mobilizing, why not send some of the Manufactory's soldiery over? Apparently they would need to be unagumented, but it would be a trivial matter. More importantly he would need to convince the Commandants-General that such a expedition would be worth the cost and bodies.

He began to think of a message, and started writing something out...

[Kisia]

Another side-story, related to dealings between the Huerdaean Star Empire and Kisian League, about the Welded.

Chambers of the Supreme Executive Council
People’s Republican Palace
Kyoteishian, Kastia, Asankirian Star Republic, Kisian League

Twenty-four Kisians sat around a circular table, nameplates perfectly aligned, with pen, paper, and a small bottle of water. They were mostly dressed in formal suits, save for the Asankirians and Oyui, who wore the uniforms of their Army and Navy, respectively. The room itself was rather baroque in styling, taking elements from Kisian, Vipran, and other states to make a rather glorious expression of the superiority of the League. Pieces of artwork and armor- mostly looted from the both of the Old Imperial Palaces, tastefully decorated the chamber to finish off the extravagant room.

While the room itself was rather peaceful looking, the men and women inside the room were definitely not peaceful. Indeed, their shouting could’ve been heard from the hallways if anyone was nearby.

"What do you mean we're helping the Huerdaean? I'd rather see this so called "Welded" anomaly kill them all before I dare send a League soldier to those scum!" one of the officials shouted.

"Temper, Councillor Tandu! Regardless of your personal opinions, this chamber will remain civil!" shouted First Chancellor Ishai Kuaito. Though all in the SEC had the same rank, they would usually appoint a ‘first among equals’, as to have some semblance of order and to orchestrate official votes and lead the session.

There was a brief pause. "Yes, of course. My deepest apologies." Tandu said in a barely civil tone, sitting back down into his chair.

"I have another concern.” spoke someone else. “The legislation to provision an expeditionary force to send off to the Imperium, our ally, very nearly came close to failing. How will we get this to pass?"

The room was silent for some time, before one of the Asankirian councillors spoke up. It was Xathjo Tiai, one of the newer members of the council. Ishai found their devotion and seriousness to the task at hand to be rather pleasing, something she felt some of her colleagues sorely lacked.

"We can use the limited majority we have right now to pass a temporary expansion of deployment terms, renewable within the next 3 years. That will give us a decent enough window to drum up actual support for this cause beyond token forces." Xathjo stated.

"Abusing the mechanics of the system isn't the way the game is to be played, councillor." Tandu interjected.

"If the reports we've been receiving for the Viprans are accurate, a slight abuse of the system will be the least of our worries should the Welded emerge here." Ishai retorted.

"So then, you're telling me that you wish to subvert the military deployment laws merely so we can help a state we've that we've had rather chilly relations with for the greater part of several decades now?" they continued on, increasingly argumentative. Tandu said, his voice rising again before checking himself.

"I've told you once, and I will tell you again. The Welded will make no distinction amongst us when we're dead." Ishai said, trying to appeal to Tandu’s senses. He would have none of it though.

"Until the Welded actually make a show and we see evidence of their activity in our sphere of the galaxy, I will continue to remain firmly in the camp of non-intervention. The HSE and Imperium be damned, it’s not our war to fight." Tandu said, reclining back into his chair, arms crossed. Several others seemed to be of the same general sentiment.

"So be it. If there are no other comments, shall we put these two motions to a vote?" Ishai said after a few moments of silence.

The assembled councillors nodded.

"Those in favor of an expansion of the deployment laws as to allow for longer military deployments abroad, raise your hands."

There was a pause as Ishai took a note of the room twice.

"Those against?"

She took note yet again, writing the number down on her paper.

"Abstentions?"

Surprisingly, nobody had abstained this time. It seems the battlelines had been set for now.

"13 Aye, 12 Nay, 0 Abstain. The motion passes. We will immediately move to pass an extension of deployment laws, alongside the drawing up of a provisional task-force to send to the HSE. The council is dismissed until later this afternoon."

There was audible grumbling about the results of this session. Though none would go against democratic rule, there were ways of making dissent known still...



Later in the day

When the council reconvened for their afternoon session, it started in a rather odd way. The other 12 chancellors that had voted ‘Aye’ with her were greeted by their other 12 comrades, backed with the military commanders of each of their respective nations. Tandu stood foremost in front of them.

"Let it be known that the Nations of Mien-Chei, Oyui, Yumei, and Sutaibu have hereby agreed to go forth with the proposal, but have informed their respective military commands that unless they are federalized, these nations shall not, until it is deemed needed, participate in any foreign military venture."

Ishai was unamused. "Is this the will of the nations in question?"

One of the military officers stepped forward, briefly saluting. "It is the will of all assembled nations, Chancellor-General!"

"You realize that by dividing the nation with these acts, we achieve little, yes? It is important that in times of crisis that we act together, with decisiveness and certainly, not hesitation and division." She sighed. "Regardless. If it is the certain will of your nations, then so be it."

Tandu allowed himself a smirk. It was enough to push Ishai over the edge.

“The Armed Forces of the four states in question shall hereby submit themselves to Federal Service.” Ishai said plainly. Tandu cocked his head.

“On what grounds?” Tandu replied.

She looked behind her to observe the faces of her fellow compatriots, nodding in apparent agreement and approval.

“The council has the majority say. Therefore, by the will of the Constitution and Kisia herself, you will submit your armies to Federal Service.” Ishai retorted. “Or will you defy the authority of the Council and have me issue a warrant for your arrest?”

Tandu’s smirk had turned to barely restrained anger. “You think you can just abuse Federal authority to get what you want when we refuse to play your game? You honestly think that our militaries will cooperate with you holding a proverbial gun at the back of our heads?” He scoffed. “This isn’t the Empire anymore, we’re free to do what we wish.”

“You’re free to do what you wish, but you endanger Kisia with your reckless abandonment of our allies and lackadaisical attitude. Speaking frankly councilor, I’m tired of you.” She tapped a button on her wrist-watch. Seconds later, several Capitol Police entered the room.

“The Capitol Police will remove the unruly councilman!” Ishai said, pointing her finger at Tandu. Several other councillors started to make a ruckus, eventually culminating with several members staging a walk-out, leaving alongside Tandu in solidarity to defy Federal rule. Even a few that had initially agreed with Ishai felt she had gone too far calling the Capital Police, and left as well. In the end, there weren’t enough councillors to continue the day’s session, and as such, was adjourned.

---

En route to Kastian Spaceport

“Damn her. She thinks she can get away with this? I’d rather die than submit to that tyrant.” Tandu thought to himself. As he reclined in his seat, a video call came up on a screen seated within a console. He pressed the button to answer, and one of the military commanders from earlier appeared, giving him a quick salute.

“We can’t disobey a federalization order. We stand with you, but we are compelled by the Constitution to serve, Councillor Tandu .”

“Oh. I know. You have to serve.”

“Pardon?”

“Make it hell for the damned Federals. Make up bureaucracy, lose supplies, intentionally redirect our forces. They’ll pay for this, we’ll struggle against that rope with every man we’ve got.”

The officer merely nodded. “Understood.”

“Good man. Now go. I’ll be back in a few days to stir something up.”

The screen shut off, and Tandu allowed himself yet another smile, pouring himself some whiskey and drinking it as he sunk into his thoughts.