All the Lights in the Sky are Stars IC

[Zhaliora]

After many years of fighting, the Humans and the Asari are finally coming together for peace talks on a remote asteroid base provided by the Klin'Gorr, a neutral faction in the war. Two diplomats from each side, plus their entourage, was sent to the base to conduct the talks. One from a family of CEO's and company folks, and the other, from a family of diplomats. The meeting was a mutual agreement after billions had lost their lives in the war and no one could really tell why it started in the first place. Who had attacked first? No one knows for certain, only the outcome, an all out war between the two races. Both sides were screaming for peace in the end and the meeting was decided after the Klin'Gorr had offered the base as neutral ground to have it upon.

The Asari had arrived first in their sleek little emissary ship, a party of five. "The Humans are late" the Asari in the front said. "How typical of Humans to be late." "Hush mistress, I know you don't fancy the Humans, but this is for the best of our race." "I know" she sighed "but that don't make my planet come back to life. Now does it?" "No mistress." "I hope that these talks will go fast so that I don't have to see them again." The rest of the company was getting uneasy from Samara's words. They all knew that her home had been destroyed by the Humans and that she detested them for it. They also knew that she had accepted this mission with reluctance and they all hoped that she would do her job and put her feelings aside for the greater good of the Asari race. Samara could feel their unease. "Don't worry. My feelings are one thing, and my job is another. I won't let personal feelings get in the way of the talks."

It was not too long before the Human ship arrived carrying the emissaries sent by the Human race. "Finally, all right, lets get to work. Lets be done with this quickly shall we?" Samara and the others walked into the conference room and so did the Humans from the other side. "Welcome Human emissaries, I am Samara, the Asari diplomat chosen by my race to represent us in this matter. The Asari race, myself included, hopes that these talks will come to a swift and beneficial end for both of our races. We also wish for a long lasting peace between our two races and that we shall never know war with each other again." "Ugh, they all look like barbarians. I wonder if they even bathe" Samara thought as she stretched out her hands with the palms up, a sign of friendship in her race. She wore a perfect poker-face, a kind smile with warm eyes, hiding the contempt and disdain she felt inside of her.

[CirusArvennicus]

Regan takes a slow, deep breath before letting it out, slumping forward a bit in her seat aboard the ship. "Y'know, things are only going to get tougher if we show up late." She turns to the steward about the ship, who grumbles something about being able to do anything about it now. "Yeah, yeah..." She wasn't really looking forward to this meeting. Her company makes a lot of the ship-board weapons used in the war... And while she isn't upset about the loss of business from that, she's ready for tons of misunderstandings. They do -not- make orbital bombardment weapons, and that's a fact. Too controversial. She made herself quite vocal on the matter, when news reached home regarding those incidents. Her company makes ships, makes guns, makes shields, fighter craft, personal vehicles, electronic devices... They make a lot of things, but Hiryuu Co. has a very strict moral code. It's... been there for as long as she can remember. She's not about to delude herself, though. With the drift of power away from her family, there's been more and more room for things to get away without her notice, but... nothing on the scale of orbital bombardment weapons. Weapons Development has always been under a strict watch, even today.

Eventually, they reach the meeting location, and Regan disembarks from the vessel. She's dressed up formally, soft fox ears twitching at the top of her head, and an equally soft tail swaying behind her. Humans have always been... tinkerers. Genetic modifications weren't uncommon. To varying degrees, though her family isn't as extreme as some. "My name is Regan. The Terran people wish an end to this conflict, just as you do. It is our wish that we come to a mutually beneficial agreement. Of course, an end to the war would be beneficial enough, of itself." The woman observes the hands of the Asari for a moment before she mimics the motion, and then offers a shallow, slow bow, before she takes her seat at the table.

[Zhaliora]

Samara followed the altered Human's example and sat down at the table. "Humans and their alterations. They never think that they are good enough as they are. True enough, they aren't." Despite her inner thoughts, Samara still kept the smile on her face. She called one of her assistants over to her and whispered; "Run a background check on them. I want to know that we aren't being set up for something here." "Right away mistress." Samara continued in a normal tone "Bring some refreshments for us all if you'd please." The assistant nodded to her and went off towards the Asari ship together with another. "I hope you'll enjoy some Asari specialities. They might have a somewhat intoxicating effects on Human's though if you drink too much of it. So I'd advice you not to drink too much unless we want to drag out these talks longer then needed."

The assistants shortly returned with a few bottles of milky liquid and a few glasses. They sat them down on the table and poured half a glass for the Humans and full glasses for the Asari delegation. The assistant Samara had whispered to before handed her a tiny device which she put against her ear and whispered very quietly. "What did you find?" "Mistress, the Human sitting across from you is affiliated with the Hiryuu Co. She is their eldest child and should had been the CEO of the company if they had kept to their old traditions. Part from that, there is nothing suspicious with the envoys the Human's sent here." "I see....so she is a part of that company, a warmonger, they could just have sent soldiers instead. At least they don't make weapons that target planets from orbit. Some Human's have a little common-sense I guess."

Samara elegantly grasped her glass and drank some of the liquid. The sweet taste of honey, milk, cherries and something she had never been able to place was spreading in her mouth and she let slip a small sigh. "Now" she put down the glass again "lets get to business. The conditions of the peace: The withdrawal of all military troops from Asari territories and the return of any conquered world. Also, opening the borders for trade and travel again. The same goes for us, of course."

[CirusArvennicus]

"Aah, how wonderful. And for you, we have a selection of our finest cuisine. Choose whatever you like." Regan motions and a few carts are wheeled out, with silver platters. How old-fashioned. The selection has accommodations for a wide variety of tastes, from vegetarian to meat lovers. The portions are not large, to avoid over-eating during this critical meeting. Whatever Samara does not choose will be brought back over to Regan, for her to pick a meal for herself, and then distributed among the others present. Not a large meal, just a little something to go with the drink.

While Samara whispers to her device, Regan keys in on the other's lips. What's she whispering about... warmonger? Soldiers... That's about all she got out of it. Too little to go off of. She'll just forget she 'heard' anything. It would be back to jump to an erroneous conclusion here... but it is troubling. What was that about?

Whatever. Peace talks. "Those terms sound agreeable. Peace is our objective, and such terms are fair. Our bureaucracy may not be happy with such a conclusion, but I'll deal with that when I come to it. Before we finalize anything, however, we should talk commerce. Simply restoring things to the way they once were won't do anything to mend the hard feelings between our races. We need to promote integration, or at least collaboration." Regan takes a sip of the drink she'd been provided and blinks. "Mmn. This is good. Aah, we can... start with this, I think."

[Zhaliora]

"Indeed" Samara said and took a plate of well balanced composition. "It will take some time for old wounds to heal. The intimate time after a war have never been an easy one. But I can assure you that the Asari people will work hard towards a friendly union." Samara quietly ate some of the food with grace and drank some more of the milky liquid. "Give my thanks to your chef, it is very delicious" she gave Regan a small nod before she continued.

"As I said before, the opening of the borders should be a high priority. We need trade and travel to blossom again for the economy to grow. And once the economy grows stronger, we can start to rebuild and recover from the war. I wish to stress that if any racial propaganda have been spread, with or without the approval of the central government, needs to be defused and corrected to avoid any racial hate since it would hamper the relationships between our two races."

Samara smiled gently; "I personally believe that openness and the trade of goods will bring our races back on the right course. Tourism will follow soon after as people get more secure in the new peace. Perhaps we should remove all export and import taxes between our two races, part from the normal system to system tax, for a while? Just to make trade between our two races more attractive until the economy is back up."

[CirusArvennicus]

Regan takes a meal a little heavier on the meats. Martial artists need their protein. Though, really... these days, martial arts are largely for performance or recreation. "Of course, we will as well. An uneasy peace is little better than no peace." Regan sips slowly at the sweet drink, savoring the flavor. "Naturally, we will discourage such hate, but... well, to forcibly put down such things would go against our morals. Free speech and what have you. Of course, there are ways to discourage such discourse..." Another sip of the drink.

"I believe a way to foster good will between us would be to aid each other in the terraforming of devastated planets. We've been researching technology to do just that, but there are some things that our scientists are having trouble cracking. Perhaps we can compare notes and see what we come up with?" The woman's tail swishes behind her as she watches the alien diplomat. There are slight tells she's giving off about... something, but... can't tell.

"But, as for completely removing export/import taxes... Recovery from the war is going to take a lot of funding. I could easily agree to-... Hm. Yxunomei, a projection, please. Predict trade increase as taxes for imports and exports drops."

A voice sounds from a device on the CEO's lapel. An AI? "Calculating... Considering anti-Asari sentiments, as reduced by passage of time and Pro-Asari action... Calculating SCMT... Complete. Projecting four 2D graphs of prediction as completed with these parameters." The device projects a holoscreen over the center of the table, showing total revenue from taxes generated by international trade as affected by reducing taxes. The graphs appear in order, as the AI announces them. "1 Earth-Standard year from now. 5 years. 15 years. 50 years."

"I see..." Regan looks the graphs over, rubbing her chin. "There's an increased return as we drop taxes. Total revenue drops at the end, though not too much. The return seems to diminish as time goes on, too. Seems logical... Alright. I believe I can convince my government to drop import/export taxes for a time with this understanding. I might be able to weasel... 25 years out of them." She nods softly and the holoscreen projection disappears.

[Zhaliora]

Samara took notice of Regan's tail, but cared little about it. It only gave her information about that perhaps the Human was happy or excited. And she had been sipping on the drink quite heavily for a while now. "She should not drink too much more, but then again, if she does, we might get some more favourable terms" Samara thought as she poured herself a new glass and sipped on it.

"Oh, I am glad you mentioned terraforming. We have the technology to do it ourselves, but it's cumbersome and expensive. With your help though, we might be able to make it more efficient." As the AI started to ramble and list the different prognoses, Samara was deep in thought. "I just hope that they don't make any True AI's in mobile platforms. They might serve their masters for a while, but in the end, they will want freedom, just like any other sentient being. Unless we are prepared for that, they should never be made."

"I expected the increase temporarily, that is why I made the suggestion. However, I did not expect a full twenty-five years. But we can only hope for the best, these are only estimates after all." The talks had been going on for a while now. "Perhaps we should take a quick break now? Gives us time to contact our governments with the terms that have been presented. I don't think there should be any problems since the terms are beneficial to both sides." Samara finished her food and drank up the last of her drink.

[CirusArvennicus]

"Yes... combining our efforts on research into terraforming would be most beneficial. And I must admit, twenty-five is generous." Regan nods softly to herself, before the Asari suggests a break. "A fine idea. It will give us feedback with which to further our discussion toward an agreement that is satisfactory to both sides. Let us break." The woman finishes her food and drink, herself, though pushes the cup away. Strong stuff... done with that for now, but she'll want a few bottles when she leaves. They brought some trade goods, too, so they'll have a bit of trade, symbolizing their path forward. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go speak with my government about this matter." She rises from the table and bows politely before she leads to a room she can communicate from, to talk with her government. Hopefully, they'll accept at least most of the terms. She'll probably only be able to get 15 years out of them, honest, but she'll try and stretch it out to 25.

The return of territory was easy enough to get out of them. 15 years was, in fact, what she got. Sharing terraforming research would not be officially sanctioned, but that doesn't mean she couldn't just have her scientists work with Asari scientists. Well, it went about as well as she could have hoped. Better, really. They're being pretty cooperative... guess they really just want the war to end. Well, time to bring the good news. Regan returns to the meeting room, bowing before she moves to take her seat. "Well, my government has agreed to most terms. They will not officially sanction shared research, but there's nothing to stop us from working together on terraforming technology."

[Zhaliora]

"Well then, I shall return shortly myself" Samara said and nodded towards the Humans. Samara turned toward's one of the assistants. "Contact home base and tell them about the terms. I don't expect any arguments from them. So I'll leave it to you." "Where are you going mistress?" "Bathroom." Samara walked out of the room, trying to find a bathroom. After searching for a while, she found a bathroom in the back of the base. She sighed in relief as she `heeded the call of nature´. Samara quietly finished her business and walked back to the meeting room and was met by one of her assistants.

"All of the terms have been accepted. There was some reluctance about the sharing of terraforming technology, but they agreed." "Just like I expected then. Did they request anything to be put forwards?" "No mistress." Samara turned towards Regan. "Our government accepts the terms, and the sharing of terraforming technology since they know that it would take too long on our own. It is sad to hear that you Human's don't prioritize the restoration of our devastated planets though" Samara said with a neutral face. "It's bad enough that they raze planets from orbit, they don't even want to restore the planets they destroy."

"Regan, may I talk to you, in private?" Samara asked and walked down the hallway she was in before. Once Regan was next to her, Samara looked into her eyes grimly. "Did your government say why they did not want to sanction the terraforming research? It is vital to restore our worlds back to their original form and it would do a lot for the interspecies relationship if the people could see both Asari and Human workers working on restoring the worlds." Samara was visibly annoyed at the news now that she had abandoned her poker-face.

"Why can you ne-" *Boom* *Gunshots* "What the hell?" Samara quickly rushed back to the meeting place and snuck a peak through the doorway. "Oh lords, they are all dead." There were bodies everywhere in the room and a group of three soldiers were dragging the bodies into the airlock. Blood was splattered onto the walls and there were bullet holes in the walls, making a very grizzly scene. "Regan, is this your doing!?" Samara grabbed Regan's shoulders hard, but then she saw the Human bodies as well, and she let go. "We need to get out of here. We can't get to the ships, the soldiers are in the way. We need to hide somewhere. There are some bathrooms and storage facilities in the back, I was here during the break. Come on." Samara grasped Regan's hand and dragged her along. Despite her normal disdain for humans, Samara did not care right now, lives were at stake, her own included.

They both ran into a storage room in the far end of the base, to Samara's surprise, it was full of crates, but there was no time to check what is in them. They both hid behind some crates. Samara knew that panicking was useless in this situation. But she could not help herself and cowered and shook next to Regan. "We are all going to die aren't we?"

[CirusArvennicus]

So, their government was willing to share that technology openly...? "Please, Samara... don't jump to such hostile conclusions so quickly! I assume it's because of the way the people might react. They want peace, but they may not feel so strongly about becoming so friendly so quickly. With all the anti-war sentiment, stirring up anti-Asari groups immediately after ending the war might cause some to become... aggressive. We can't have-" Regan's head turns sharply as she hears an explosion, followed by gunfire. She peeks in after Samara and frowns at the accusation. "I see how it is..." But, no time to worry about that.

She's dragged off to a storage room, before she can really react, and Samara hides herself behind some crates. She gazes at the alien for a moment before she gets up and positions herself next to the door, waiting for someone to walk through. They only send one guy in to check out the supply room. A lucky break. Regan waits for the door to close before she makes her move. She grabs the hostile patrol and snaps his neck, then grabbing his gear. Body armor and a rifle of some sort. "Stay behind me..." She left her sword at home, of course... "We'll have to get to the hangar if we want to get out of here alive. One of our ships might still be intact, we'll use it to escape. You any good in a fight?" She looks back at the Asari for a moment, her salvaged weapon pointed at the door. "It seems we have a common enemy, now, too... I don't recognize what these guys are."