The Ordlan Reach

[Bitter]

Exile

Exile eats his omlette while he listens to the speech, multitasking by making a few notes on his tablet.

“Basically what I expected,” he says after finishing off his meal. “First and third pillar violations, though I imagine Galamax will argue the case.”

“If you’re being kept underground and denied freedom based on your job contract, that’s a pillar three violation. I imagine Galamax had some convoluted process for getting freedom that was technically feasibly but practically impossible that they’ll use to argue that this technically wasn’t a pillar violation. By the same metric, they’ll argue that if someone is being fed maggot ridden spoilt food they’re still being fed food so that isn’t a first pillar violation.”

Hamza looks from pilot to pilot, meeting their eyes to huge their reaction to what he’s saying.

“To me the pillars are about providing basic human decency and you can’t rules lawyer your way around it, and I suspect there’s a fair amount of case law backing me up; from ThirdComm at least. Assuming this wasn’t all talk and we confirm what he’s saying, I think there’s a strong case for the Galamaxians being granted independence or at least some measure of autonomy with their freedoms guaranteed. Not to say that we won’t have to kick their ass as well for all this piracy, but that’s another matter.”

[Hazrond]

Jin enjoyed his omelette quietly while watching the video. He spent only about half of his attention on the speech itself as Cassius transcribed it into his SES for easy reference later. "It sounds like the Conglomerate, and by extension the Empire, will have some explaining to do once we arrive."

As Hamza spoke about the meaning of the pillars to himself, Jin listened intently. "The matter of the piracy is going to be a problem we'll have to address as well. With any luck the number of crews whose behavior we'll have to correct will be low. It sounds like the Marauders were driven to desperate measures by their mistreatment by the Conglomerate." he says, before thinking for a few moments. "Though. This was a propaganda speech, so we'll still have to look for a clearer picture when we talk to the factions themselves."

[Awful]

Sister

The Reverend Sister poked at the omelette with her fork before she delicately cut off a tiny section to try.
"An omelette... the main ingredient is of animal origin, correct?" her tone was interested, as one would when shown a strange animal. "How quaint."

She placed it in her mouth and chewed daintily.
"What an interesting texture."

She watched the speech with a practiced eye.

"Mmm. I would be interested in the actual actions of the marauders and the noble forces, and how they match up to those words. Words are often easier than actions - and I say this as someone who gives sermons." She smiled a little at her own mild joke. "As has been said, no doubt we will have to talk to the factions themselves to get a clearer picture."

[Bitter]

Exile

“Yes, unfertilised avian eggs” says Exile, answering Sister.

“That’s ideally though and I doubt we had any in stock, so Phillipe will probably have done what he can with powdered protein supplement to make a close copy of what an omelette should be. The eggs themselves don’t have too much taste, but are full of protein and energy and it’s a good carrier for ingredients you can put inside the omlette, in this case some spices for flavour and some of the vegetables from hydroponics. It can be especially nice with small cuts of salted and spiced meat, but I’m guessing we’re not carrying any in stock.”

“Yes, we’re in no position to make a judgement call until we’ve spoken to both sides,” he says agreeing with Sister’s final comment.

[n0ble]

Vinson takes out his multi-tool and prods at the omelette. It smelled delicious, made all the better that it was amongst the first real foods he’d eaten in…quite some time. Looked like something he’d evaporated in Hadar system. Or maybe Kataphoss. He cut a bit off with the fork end of his multitool and bit into it. Tasted good. Tasted really good. Vinson smiled and nodded his thanks for the food, then again at the sense in everyone’s words at looking at the bigger picture of things. Starting out big and narrowing down agreed with him as well as the rest of the omelette.

[Awful]

Sister

"Mmmm." Barb intoned. She span the fork thoughtfully between her fingers. "Back in Chapel, we use vat-grown nutrient solutions infused directly into the blood. More effecient and controlled - though of course, much less of a social experience to change solution cylinders."

The redhead smiled, looking down at the blob of proteins and carbohydrates on her plate.

"I had a digestive tract implanted before I came on this mission; I understand food and eating has quite the important aspect, socially. It is an interesting experience."

[Hazrond]

"..implanted? Apologies, because i do not know your people, but why would such an implant be necessary? Have your people been genetically tailored to lack digestive organs?" Jin asks out of a morbid mixture of curiosity, pity, and mild disgust. The thought of removing such a vital part of the human experience from an entire culture saddens him on some level, as he remembers nights in the mess hall back home eating freshly caught crab legs with his friends and learning to cook his mother's old recipe for chocolate cake using ingredients that could be created by a fabricator, she used to make it for his birthday every year.

[bc56]

"As fascinating as this conversation is," Stella interrupts, "I must inform you that the first diplomatic shuttle has docked, and the second one will do so in roughly 1.42 minutes. I'm directing the diplomats to the public conference room. I recommend you get down there quickly before they get at each other's throats. They've also each transmitted copies of petitions they'd like you to address. It might be wise to skim them before entering the discussion."

Spoiler: Irulin Petition

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Thank you, Lancers, for coming to resolve our disputes. There are a few issues we could use your help on.
Chief among those is the evacuation of Irulin loyalist citizens from Galamax. The settlement of Cornall 7 has been blockaded by Marauder troops for unspecified reasons. A majority of the citizens within would like to evacuate back to Merel for their own safety, but are prevented from leaving. We would like you to escort them to a friendly spaceport where they can be transported home.
This is a matter of freedom and possibly life and death for our stranded citizens, so we ask your aid.
Signed,
Milima Gari, Councillor of Tevolik Province, on behalf of the Irulin Empire and its Emperor

Spoiler: Marauder Petition

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"I'm going to keep this brief. We sent a scouting party to Nocturne. Their mission was to scout for locations for new colonies, somewhere safe from native wildlife and outside the Empire's reach. We lost communication with them and suspect foul play. We'd like you to help us run a brief search and rescue op. Native fauna is nasty, we could use the extra firepower.
-Raider Lord Verrick Mester.

[Bitter]

Exile

“Guess we need to walk and talk,” says Hamza, getting to his feet and moving on to meet the diplomats.

“Stella, could we get some names and titles for whoever we’re going to meet? Oh,” he adds a moment later, “And can you keep an eye on everyone to make sure they’re not planting bombs or anything. Don’t want to end up like the last team.”

Hamza finished reviewing the two proposed missions.

“For me, I think the Irulins have to take priority. Maybe we can resolve it here and now diplomatically and then handle the other mission in person, but otherwise it’s a case of getting civilians out of a war zone or helping rescue military personnel and for me civilians take priority.”

[Hazrond]

"In my case, relay the titles and such to Cassius and they can pass them on to me." Jin says as he walks and reviews the two proposals in his head. The Marauder petition interested him a lot more than the situation on Cornall 7, but curiosity aside he needed to put the needs of the larger group of people first. Especially considering, as Hamza said, they were civillians whereas the Marauder scouts likely had some level of equipment and training to survive out on Nocturne.

When he finally spoke up, he said to the other lancers "The civillian matter on Cornall 7 is more pressing in the short term. I hope that the Nocturne scouts can survive until we have time to offer them aid as well"

[Amaril]

Prai might not be overly fond of Hamza, but that doesn't stop her from wolfing down every bite of her omelet. Wasting food is a crime, after all. Plus, even she has to admit it's delicious.

She almost chokes on her last bite when she realizes what Sister Barb is implying. Jin voices her thoughts before she can, but Stella interrupts any hope of clarity. "Wait, they're here now?" She scrambles to her feet, filing away the petitions to read in a moment. "Wish I'd known the schedule, I wouldn't have suited up..." Well, it's not the worst thing, she supposes--certainly makes a strong impression to show up to a negotiation in armor. But then again, with Hamza dressed as he is, the military image is rather spoiled....

She pulls up the petitions again, skimming them as she falls in behind Jin. "I agree. Civilians have got to come first."

[n0ble]

Vinson nodded for the third time and took out a small cylinder of tomato paste. After offering it to everyone else he squeezed some out onto the remains of his omelette, then set to smearing the red about the foods surface to get a nice even distribution. He idly munched while the others talked, gauging the addition to his food and the conversation in equal measure. Mm. Chives next time. He removed a small flask of water and an e-cigarette, thought of grumbling about the oh-two content on-ship not allowing for smoking, then thought better of it. He took a conservative drag from the plastic tube and relaxed a bit back into his seat with the hit of nicotine. A single faint contrail of vapour wafted from one of Bo's nostrils. He took a swig of water from the flask to quench the raw dryness of the inhalation.

"Civvies first. Are there any other extant parties in-system similar petitions could have gone out to?" Civillians came first. But the notion that a group styling themselves as Marauders would want or gain access to more armaments while they were performing an evac lodged a sour feeling in Vinson's gut. The feeling promised escalation.

[sandmote]

"First dealing with a scouting party seems odd." Carmi notes after looking over the petitions. "The empire certainly seems more interested in looking good to us. Even if the civilians didn't take higher priority, it seems much more relevant to learning about the greater conflict. I'd be very interested to learn why the party from the Marauders considers this a priority to ask about though."

[Bitter]

Exile

Hamza claps his hands together a single time, smiling broadly.

“Looks like we’re all on the same page,” he says. That was nothing if if not a small miracle considering some of the strong personalities only properly meeting now for the first time.

“Now we just have to hope these diplomats are as reasonable.” The tone of Hamza’s voice makes it clear what he thinks of the chances of that.

[Awful]

Sister

What a surprisingly strong response to her comment on digestive systems and the implantation thereof. She filed it as a conversation to continue at a later date and focused her attention on the presented petitions.

"Hmm, yes, I agree. The Irulin petition does seem more urgent. Honestly, it's almost bizarre how... Petty isn't the right word. Tangential, perhaps, the Marauder petition seems.. I'd almost suspect they were just trying to get us out the way for a while as a primary objective."

[bc56]

The conference room approaches. You can all hear the muted tones of barely-contained argument within.
"You want to send them on that frivolous errand? People are dying!" "Unlike some people, I'm actually trying to end the war! Don't you want my people out of your hair and off your planet?" "And let you abscond with millions of Manna in stolen equipment?" "Would the three of you just calm down for a minute? I can't hear myself think!"

Stella pings the you with a quick message. "Sorry this is late. I didn't actually know who they were sending until they actually arrived. Here are some brief summaries of our files on these diplomats... If you can call them that. Luckily, the primary authors of both petitions are present, so you can question them more closely. I've also recorded a complete transcript of their current debate, which I'll release to you when your meeting is done."

Spoiler: Dossiers: Irulin Delegation

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Spoiler: Milima Gari

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Speaks in Purple

Councilor of Tevolik Province, an outlying farming district on Merel. Tevolik Province has been hit particularly hard by the war, and Gari has fallen out of favor recently due to her solid position in the compromise faction of the Council. She has been a strong, often outspoken advocate for peace talks, civilian evacuation, and demilitarization.

Spoiler: Roder Icmal

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"Speaks in Orange

Roder Icmal is head of Public Relations for the Galamax Mining Conglomerate and 9% owner of the Conglomerate as a whole. He is a strong pro-war spokeman, often citing justice against Marauder piracy as his reasoning.

Spoiler: Massey Olten

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Speaks in Slate Grey

Olten is an aide (mostly a secretary) to the Emperor himself. He is, unusually, of common blood, ascended to his position through merit rather than inheritance. While he has little stake in the ongoing conflict or the peace talks, he can be assumed to be the Emperor's eyes and ears in these meetings.

Spoiler: Dossiers: Marauder Delegation

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Spoiler: Verrick Mester

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Speaks in Navy

Raider Lord Mester is young and apparently dedicated. He was a close lieutenant to Raider Lord Delor before his passing and is said to truly believe in Delor's vision for the movement. Mester is considered a moderate among the Marauders, advocating for economic expansion and improvement of facilities for those within what has become Marauder territory.

Spoiler: Esmyra Sonnel

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Speaks in Green

Sonnel is an Irulin actress and musician who defected to the Marauders midway through the conflict for reasons unknown. Speculation generally indicates that she either was hungry for attention or wanted to play at being a pirate, possibly both. Her fame outside the Reach is practically none. The reasons for her inclusion in this diplomatic party are unknown.

Spoiler: Olin "Blackrock" Reshma

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Speaks in Fire Brick

Olin Reshma was convicted in the Irulin Empire on two counts of murder, five counts of arson, and eighteen counts of assault and battery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the maximum security Titan Hold prison facility located on Lyra. Five years and eight months later, the Blue Marauders attacked the prison from the outside and managed to seize it. As part of this operation, they released the majority of prisoners, especially those with political or combat backgrounds. Reshma has since found a place among the Marauders as a special operations trooper, if eyewitness reports are accurate. Consider him armed and dangerous at all times.

[Hazrond]

"After the negotiations may be a bit late Stella, forward me the transcript through Cassius." Jin replies as he tries to make himself look presentable before the diplomats and "diplomats" properly arrive.

[sandmote]

The Cadet arrives a bit early, and takes a moment to listen in on the arguments going on inside. He'll otherwise enter along with everyone else.

Spoiler: OOC

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If I can I'd like to listen in a bit more on the arguing. Particularly the Navy voice (ie. Verrick Mester, although I don't think Carmi would know that yet) that wants "my people out of your hair and off your planet."

Partially because I'm not sure if we're going in yet.

[Bitter]

Exile

Reaching the door, Hamza looks at both Jin and Cadet who are loitering outside without
making any attempt to enter.

“You realise this is a sad state of affairs,” he says, shaking his head sadly with a touch of theatrical over-the-top ness, “When finally tuned mechanised cavalry pilots such as yourselves find yourself stymied by a door.”

Flashing them a smile to make it clear he’s only giving them a little light teasing, Exile opens the door and walks in with what superficially appears to be complete confidence. Nodding warmly to both factions, Exile grabs a seat in a neutral position between the two factions.

“Good morning, my name is Hamza Von Marlborough.” As the others walk in, Hamza introduces each of them in turn.

“Just to make clear what we’re doing here, our mission is to stabilize the situation here into something aligning with the Pillars. We’ll get involved in humanitarian aid and shooting pirates and everything else that we can to help as a matter of course, but our focus is ending any pillar violations. Union has instructed us that keeping the violence to a minimum would be preferred.”

Hamza let’s the implication that this is only a preference hang in the air.

“With that in mind, I think to start things off it would be helpful if each side could make clear why they think the mission request they have made to us takes priority, what pillar violations they think are happening in the system and finally any information on the previous Union delegation; who we are obviously very concerned about.”

In fact Hamza assumed the old Union embassy were either dead or hiding out somewhere and fine, so he wasn’t much worried either way but had caught that this was a big thing for some of the rest of the team.

“Just picking at random and to avoid any genital waving and shouting over each other, why don’t you go first,” says Hamza looking at the Marauder delegation.

“Unless…” and here Hamza glances back at his compatriots, seeing if they have anything to add.

[Amaril]

This is definitely not Prai's field. Honestly, if it were up to her, they wouldn't even be having this meeting right now; it seems pretty clear the time for diplomacy has passed, here. However, she has her orders, and her crew is counting on her. Therefore, as she enters the conference room, Hamza providing an introduction, she offers the delegates a businesslike smile.

Taking her seat, she inputs a blink command through her dataplating. Lila, who's spent the past several minutes hovering obediently by her shoulder, floats up into a corner of the room and extends a camera lens toward the table. "For full disclosure, I should inform ya we'll be recording these talks," she announces to the diplomats. Surreptitiously, however, she also commands Lila to run a few facial and vocal analysis applications on their guests, and stream the data to the team's displays. It's not exactly top-of-the-line software, but it should help call attention to anything suspicious.

[Bitter]

As the delegates respond, Hamza pays particular attention to vocal and biological cues. He hasn’t had formal training, but a lifetime spent in scheming Baronial dynastic houses has thought him how to spot a liar and root out hidden agendas.

He keeps a close eye on them, wanting to try and ensure that these mission requests and people’s stated agendas are all on the level.

Spoiler: “Dice roll”

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Read the room +2 with accuracy from Prai’s help

(1d20+2)[4] plus (1d6)[1]

[Awful]

Sister


In her full ceremonial robes, far more ornate than her normal clothing, the Reverend Sister made a magnificent sight in shades of blue and the occasional eye-catching splash of gold. She entered with solemn grace, a small smile playing around her lips.
"As stated, I am the Reverend Sister Barb of the Chapel. As my good companion has said - though perhaps," she said lightly, "Not quite in the way I would phrase things - let us hear your cases. I ask you to not interrupt your counterparts or interject until they have completed their statement, and keep in mind we will give you your fair chance to defend yourself against any allegations - after."

She paused, and then made a oh! as something occured to her.
"Ah, yes - do any of you wish for refreshments? We have quite the selection, though I'm afraid being new to that sort of business I couldn't make any recommendations."

[bc56]

The Marauders are asked to go first, and the Irulins to not interrupt. Röder Icmal has to choke back an objection that had been rising in his throat, but they will listen.

"I understand that rescuing a scouting mission hardly appears to be a matter of systemwide importance." Mester begins, "But look at the bigger picture. Our friends here," he gestures to the Irulin delegation, "Want the so-called Marauders off of Galamax. We want to form a new society where our rights are respected. We don't need Galamax. In fact, we don't even want it. Who wants to scratch out a living on a burning hellhole?" He pauses for emphasis. "I have been heading the Marauders' colonization efforts. My primary target is Nocturne. Uninhabited, but the atmosphere is breathable. Untouched except by researchers and glory-seekers. This is one of several parties I have dispatched to the planet surface to survey promising colony sites, but the native wildlife has been troublesome. Most orbital imaging is unfeasible due to the planetary conditions, so I've been forced to rely on topographic scans and boots on the ground." He comes to the end of his speech. "I assume minimizing violence doesn't include against hostile wildlife? This could be one of the quickest peaceful ways to end the war." It's hard for Exile to tell how sincerely he believes what he says, or if he's holding anything back.

[sandmote]

"As much as you may want to leave it, I doubt your moving out would solve union violations in the long term and we might just end up here again." Carmi pauses for effect before continuing; "Could you go into more detail about what specific conditions led to the Marauder's creation? I doubt you would simply want them recreated on someone else should you leave, as much as I'm sure the Irulin do not accept any pillar violations were occurring on Galamax. What conditions are Marauder groups trying to leave that makes such a dangerous world seem like greener pastures?"

[Bitter]

While Mester speaks, Hamza does his best to look interested and focused as he types across a quick private message of his impressions to the others on his compconn.

taking tihs at face value, this si a dong term issue. colonisation won’t be dne quickly. Also all maruders bhind this?? evn if leadershiip not frafmented, evry1 on glmax bhind this?? no wai, always have ppl wntng 2 stay.

Taking a look at his message, Hanza frowns. He’d never been much of a touch typer and this is what happens when you don’t look at what you’re writing. Still, it was legible. Mostly. Hamza hit send to fire it across to the other pilots.

“Thank you for that overview,” says Hamza. “We had got the impression that the Marauder leadership is splintered, not to mention that we’d expect a variety of views within the population as a whole. What percentage of the marauder leadership and population are committed to upping and moving planets? After all, it is unhospitable but your planet mineral rich which is why you’re there in the first place. With the profits going to you rather than an off-world corpo, you could pretty quickly have some very hospitable domes and sealed communities. Despite this, no-one wants to stay and make a go of it after putting all their blood, sweat and tears into it? Or just stay and play at pirating?”

Hamza gives them a moment to think it over before moving to the next topic.

“Also can you define ‘quick’ for us? I’d understood colonising a brand new planet to be a long and painstaking endeavour. I’d like to have access to you colonisation plans to go over it in detail. I’m no expert on colonisation, far from it,” he adds, forestalling any objections, “but there’s several dozen thousand experts in Union bureaucracy that we can run it past to ensure it’s feasible and give you advice on how to go about it without dying of some alien fever or dying of starvation within a couple of years.”

[bc56]

"Dangerous? It's a lateral move." "To put it simply, Galamax was never a suitable place for human habitation. It's too tectonically active for underground settlements to last long without constant repair, and the atmosphere is very toxic and mildly corrosive, so any exposed structures decay quickly as well. There isn't enough coolant in the world to keep any habitat there from being no more than an overheated tin can." Mester has to consider the questions about statistics. "Leadership... 30%? Population is more, I'd wager. And once we're successful, more will come." He leaves the question about speed unanswered, perhaps intentionally.

[Bitter]

“Right,” says Hamza taking a purposefully neutral tone, being somewhat dubious of the explanation given but not wanting to give any ammo to the other side. “Thank you for your explanation.”

“Now,” he says turning to the Irulin delegation, “Can you give an explanation for why you believe your mission should be a priority for us and your thoughts on the Marauder colonisation efforts?”

[bc56]

"Simply put, because our idea isn't a pipe dream!" Icmal blurts out. Gari glares him down. "People are dying. Our immediate concern should be getting those people out of danger. Then we can talk about long-term solutions." She nods to Mester. "A subset of Marauders have been blockading a settlement where some of our people, Irulin loyalists, that is, are hiding out. We'd like them evacuated from the warzone."

[sandmote]

"I can't say we disagree," the Cadet points out. "Winding down conflict and cutting out civilian casualties seems like a heavier priority, especially compared to an admitted lateral move."

He turns to councilor Gari. "I hope to check out the situation on the ground in any case, but can you send us the information showing these are Irulin loyalists under Marauder blockade? I'd be best to have that before moving in evacuation ships under tense conditions or to discover there been some deception going on." He quickly clarifies before anyone else interjects "I want to point out that when we talk about potential deception here, I am assuming bad intelligence having been provided to those present here. I am more than familiar with middle management and how one party can sabotage relations between two, other well meaning ones."

[Bitter]

Hamza leans back in his chair, stroking his chin in thought for a few seconds while he takes in the explanation. The unwillingness to discuss the terraforming seems like a way to dismiss the issue without engaging with it so they can try and stop it in the future but Hamza can't really dispute the point either.

"Under siege isn't really the same as in immediate peril either though. Why aren't the Marauders just entering the settlement and dragging out your people by the hair? And if they did, what would the consequences be? How are prisoners of war being treated?"

"You know," says Hamza as an aside to Verrick Mester, "If you could end the siege and let their people go, there'd be no competing request and we'd be able send a rescue party after your terraforming party as a certainty." Hamza shrugs nonchalantly as if he doesn't have a care in the world either way, just speaking an idle thought. In truth he gauges Verrick carefully to assess his reaction.