Zapdos
Xaltwind
Spiffy
dwyer austin
The Otter
Dezuel
Izurich
Danyel
Aku the Samurai
tundrafrog1124The Xandalian Republic
Diplomatic Ship, Xandalian Space
"An Attempt At The Truth: Part 3 - The Return"
Diplomat Matthews sat in the meeting room itself, alone in the quiet of the space with a martini sitting half-empty on the small table next to her chair. One hand was rubbing her temple, the other resting on the armrest of the chair itself. The silence in the air was a welcome thing in the wake of what had just occurred...
...or in other words, it had been a hell of a meeting.
Accusations from both sides about the whole inciting incident, and frankly the whole situation beyond that had been a mess in and of itself. The one consolation was the drinks from the bar, perhaps, though Matthews had downed some pain medication for the splitting, throbbing headache it had all left her with. She could keep up a face and calm demeanor no problem, but hell she wished she had more time to get acquainted with a post-Gate-opening world's politics before all of this had erupted. Anything to realize just what she had been getting into.
Though to some extent, she perhaps felt it was all inevitable. This thing. All of this. War.
Three hundred years of separation between various human colonies, all as their ancestors had cast them about in an effort to simply survive and escape a dying world. Yet the old records spoke clear, in that humans were always creatures of habit and strife in some part at their core. There was the good too, but right now the worst seemed to be showing itself. In fact, she had found herself simply telling Malden to transmit the secret audio record of the Zetan rep to her to watch and then send it to the black box for when they got back to Xandal. Yet even after listening to the recording and the one she had kept from the meeting itself, the Diplomat found herself unable to shake a rather unsettling mood about it all in the end.
On one hand, the Zetans were nothing like regular human life. Cyborgs, users of combat robots, technological wonderkids that could assemble space stations in pre-built parts like they had the Meeting Place itself. Almost made her wonder if that machine the Zetans sent aboard for pickup wasn't just a mouthpiece for some controller far away, but some living thing's brain slapped into a robot. Felt like a potentiality at least, especially with how this warform was during the meeting at all...but hell she had to admit the thing had creeped her out a little bit in hindsight. Something about the Zetans came off as eerie, more mechanical than human at times in her limited experience thus far with them at the Meeting Place prior. She couldn't entirely blame the Undefeated and ECU for waging war on the Zetans. Hell, if she ran into odd robot people who looked human and they seemed to kidnap one of the Republic's scientists, the Senate would have pitched a hell of a fit...not outright declared war as the first option, mind, but at least been aggressive in investigation and working to find out what the hell went on. If the other party was trying to dig up Thalarite tech at that, at least obviously enough, the Senate would have likely declared war outright.
Plus if the danger the Zetans posed to others was valid to enough of an extent, perhaps the ECU and Undefeated had a point.
On the other hand, she'd hoped at least a partly fleshy rep would have been sent. Though at the same time she had to be lenient to the fact the Zetans probably didn't want to put a citizen in danger more directly. From what the ship's sensors and such could tell, the planet the Zetans were on was a hell of a place to say the least. To imagine a population of humans stuck on a world like that, desperate to survive in all likeliness, she could only imagine what lengths people would go to. Especially when isolated from the rest of their kin, and no help or alternate living space in sight. Hell, her own people's ancestors did just some stuff to simply survive in the higher gravity world they landed on.
Frankly, hostility to the Zetans was understandable somewhat...but all the same struck a rather unique chord to boot. The Xandalians themselves, her own people, had been warred on by another alien species who was so different they couldn't recognize the Xandalian people as sentient beings. They had been thought of as parasites, and their machines as living creatures. It was so odd to think about, but in only a few years they'd had to fight back genocide until the truth emerged. Lucky enough the Gusb had some sense of morality when it came to sentience, something they'd learned in turn in the following century of peace. Albeit a century of peace maintained through myriad means, but that was something to ponder on for another day.
What mattered in the end was that this situation, where the simple disappearance of a scientist had led to an outright major war with two nations versus one, felt in some sense like a parallel to the Xandalians' own past issue with the Gusb. A war to strike down another nation, another people, for one reason or another. Fear. Anger. Whatever it was...one question remained in her mind: Did the kidnapping of a scientist, or alternately the defection of one who wanted to immigrate to another nation, really need to be the catalyst for an outright hostile war against each other? Was it so justified that the eradication of space forces and invasion of another's world was the natural result?
Blargh. She needed another martini to make it all settle down more, at least before she handed in her report to the Senate. To that end, she pressed a button her chair to make a call over the ship's internal intercom.
"I know we're almost there, but I need one more drink after this one. Martini. Dry. Shaken, not stirred. Skip the olive."
@Irredeemable@Tortoise
Zetan Embassy, The Meeting Place, Sol System Space
"A Redundancy: Part 3"
Christensen put on a somber but still diplomatic face as he listened to Sigma-Devi, his brows furrowing as he crossed his hands from his side of the table where he sat.
So...it was like that then. Naturally each side in a war would claim and say what they wished, but it was a tall claim to make indeed that made Christensen briefly raise an eyebrow at Sigma-Devi's words. A lot of specific information as well, eerily specific stories being given to him about the war crimes the invaders were committing against the invade-ees. He did have a secure channel to back home, but all the same there weren't foreigners in control of the Gateway on his people's end nor here in Sol space either. Hmm. Plus this was the first he'd heard of accusations of torture against the Zetans to boot.
The string of what he could recognize as an "old Earth language" at least was an interesting finishing touch as well, even if he didn't speak said language. But it wasn't utterly unfamiliar from his college days either to be frank.
It also seemed that some other parties were arriving for the first time as well, other nations whose gateways were finally opening. Ah. This place did always seem to be a bustle of business and things going on anyway.
"I'll be sure to relay your account to the Senate, though I wish we had been able to talk under better circumstances indeed. Your frustrations, at the very least, are most justified, and I can relate to having to gain diplomatic prowess on the fly...," the man said, giving a light nod to his fellow ambassador, uncrossing his hands and sitting back in his seat for a moment, "Though as an aside, just between us of course, I just want to make note of a small observation of mine before I head out. If I may-"
Christensen leaned forward again, with his elbows on his knees, his eyes glinting in the room's light briefly as he began to speak again in a calm and cool voice.
"Your implants are quite something, as I must note about when your people made a formal announcement about the ongoing issue here. That eye-based projector is most unique!
Likewise I must compliment your eye for detail, despite your own self-proclaimed lack of diplomatic experience! How you were able to tell I came here to investigate the ongoing war and issues behind it was most interesting. As if you knew we were doing something before I even arrived! Haha! Ah.
You in final also seem to have quite specific accounts, ah, at least for someone whose Gateway and space has been taken control over by a foreign power who is likely monitoring any detect-able communications coming to and from your homeworld. I will trust it comes through a very secure means of communication indeed, we all have likely had our own technological marvels to develop over 300 years of separation, and as such those means that can escape current means of detection must be quite sophisticated indeed.
Though in the end I must confess, the level of coordination your people have here on the station is also admirable...but all of this, especially the name of your nation itself, reminds me of something else as well."
The middle aged man let out a small sigh, before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face.
"Please pardon an old man's silly ramblings, but what all of this reminds me of an insect of old Earth called a 'bee'. I studied it in my years of education after military service, you see, in my personal time. I find it to be a beautiful but fascinating specimen! I can even send you my notes and literature about them if you so desire later.
You see, bees are organized little things, like extensions of the hive itself. Talking without speaking. Ordered about without a single word or command given. They are part of the hive, individuals each yet also one of the whole at the same time. Like cogs in a machine, keeping it running together and in unison. Mankind in olden times seemed to take note of this with interest, and ultimately the concept found its way into certain parts of their ancient fiction and games in certain spots in turn."
The Xandalian Envoy gathered himself for a moment, before quietly standing up and trying to neaten up his attire. He then looked back at Sigma-Devi with a cordial and official smile once more. There was no ill will in his tone this whole time, nor ill will or hostility within the depths of his expression or smile.
"But, ah, please do not take my words in offense. None at all has been intended. Just some attempt at banter really...though truly I've never been good at small talk throughout all my life. Seems to worsen with age even.
But you see, I say this all because we've all been cast out over the vastness of the Milky Way and had to come to survive in one way or another. We've developed our own technologies, languages, and so forth. Frankly a number of us have run into alien species in some fashion or another, for better or for worse, and have come to ask questions about ourselves. Among these, especially once these Gateways re-opened, has come one major one I believe:
'What does it mean to be human?'
Now I don't know the full picture of your people, nor of any of the others quite frankly. I don't think anyone does. Yet in my heart I would want to think we can all come to an understanding of how to answer that question together, to find that as varied as people can themselves be that humanity can take on various forms and remains at their core 'human' despite all of our differences.
Hmm. That does come off as a tad idealistic, doesn't it? Apologies. I've taken much of your time, and I believe you have new nations to try to get to know and speak with. Perhaps there will be more friends waiting in the wings. I can only hope so at the very least! But I do have a report to write, and frankly speaking my retinue of guards at the embassy will worry if I am gone too long."
The door whooshed open once more as Christensen made his way back over, only to half-turn back to Sigma-Devi and give a friendly goodbye wave.
"I hope we can talk next on more pleasant terms. But I will make sure to send a gift basket of Xandalian fruits and food to you by the end of today! It isn't much, I know, but perhaps it will all be a nice treat and help you keep up the energy in your work here, no? Until then!"
With that, the envoy left without another word. All that would remain would be his calm footsteps down the hall, shoes clacking lightly on the metal floor of the space station's halls.
@Irredeemable
Senate Floor, Capital City of Thalus, Xandal
"The Decision"
It would be a number of days as the Senate debated the matter of the matter, as the whole matter itself was one of the biggest events in Xandalian history. Two foreign powers were at war after the past six months, and both sides were worrying in their own rights. Unsubstantiated but unable to be investigated claims had been made against each other. Propoganda had been sent out. Announcements at the Meeting Place had been made. Diplomats and Envoys had been used to try to get a picture of what was going on. Clashing definitions of what was 'truly human' or not were coming up. Likewise emotions were running high, all because the Xandalian people themselves were debating the very war itself and arguing for one side or the other...all without as much of a clear majority as the Senate would have desired to see.
In the end, the Senate had been trying to get to the root of what was going on behind the so-called "Zetan War" in order to make up their own minds about it all. However, time was not kind and the moment to make a decision about things had closed in far sooner than anyone had wanted it to.
Would they assist the beleaguered Zetans? Would they take them as not being the threat the ECU and Undefeated had presented them as? Would they define the admittedly suspicious and somewhat more alien than others branch of humanity as being worth protecting? Did the Zetans present any sort of danger to the Republic, or did the actions of the war's aggressors ring out as hollow and foolish? What was considered a means of self-alteration and design that made one 'dangerous' to all somehow?
Likewise, would they turn and support the ECU and Undefeated? Would they go and leap upon a potentially very real threat to humanity, erasing an aberration of existence that could undermine the free will of the people one day through the export and import of foreign cybernetics and implants? Were the Zetans truly a danger, and they had not seen it as early as others? Were they trying too hard to be diplomatic, and risking their own people by remaining in ignorant bliss?
On another hand, would they simply just declare themselves neutral to this matter and remove themselves from the equation to avoid the issue altogether?
Meeting Place, Sol Space
"The Announcement"
It was no easy thing.
If they chose one option they would inevitably engage in a war on one side, fighting two nations and trying to save one that was being backed into a corner...all with no guarantee that other nations wouldn't get involved on the other side due to their own involvement (among other things). On the other, they could end up joining the aggressors, seeking to purge a potential danger and threat to them all...but if they were wrong, it meant committing what was tantamount to 'genocide' against a way of life and people. They had no way of knowing how far the ECU and Undefeated would go with this, after all, or if the Zetans would return the favor and be just as bad if they survived and 'won' this conflict. And in the end if they sat idly by as well, would their conscience truly allow them to rest and be at ease about this whole affair?
Inn the end, the Senate came to its conclusion, and Envoy Christensen would be given the order to make an announcement to the whole of the Meeting Place-
"People of the Meeting Place, Ambassadors and Delegates and Envoys and so forth alike, as well as any ships who are able to listen to this broadcast beyond the station. Most of you, at least, have likely heard both sides off an issue that has developed...one that has no small amount of ramifications on either side. A war has been ongoing between the Earth Cultural Union, alongside their allies in the form of the Undefeated, against the defender in the form of the implant and cybernetics-using Zetan Consciousness.
On one end, the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated have declared the Zetans to be a danger and threat to us all. Especially so, they have accused the Zetans of kidnapping one of the ECU's own scientists against his will. And worse. They claim to seek to avoid further incidents like this ever again, and insinuate their actions seem to protect us from some danger. The Earth Cultural Union in particular has also sent large amounts of propaganda to the Xandalian people, my people, to try to sway them to their cause, and I have no idea if other nations have been targeted by varying levels of this foreign propaganda in turn to try to seize the support of other peoples beyond their own. Likewise their joint blockade prevents vessels from ascertaining the true situation of the ongoing war, as even one of our own fully neutral diplomatic vessels, after going into Zetan Space, was pressured to comply with demands despite going there to simply host a meeting and try to understand just what is really going on out there.
On the other end, the Zetans claim the scientist defected and immigrated of his own free will. They place numerous charges of war crimes against the ECU and Undefeated, ranging from attacking civilian centers to destroying hydroponics to shooting prisoners of war out of an airlock to execute them. As we cannot validate the claims of the Earth Cultural Union and their allies, nor can we validate the myriad claims of the Zetans in return. Are they the threat those who are fighting them, doing so even now as I speak to you all, claim them to be and have been preaching since the start? Is their augmentation a deviancy from humanity, one that requires correction? Are their actions of taking in a foreign citizen aggressive and kidnapping, or were they assisting an unhappy individual to immigrate and settle in a new place more accommodating of them and accepting?"
The Envoy declared his words with clear annunciation, trying to choose them well as he spoke in what would be a rather...definitive answer from his nation.
"In truth, my fellow representatives upon this station, and those whose ships have arrived just beyond it, we are unable to know for sure. None have allowed us to know for sure, or to find out for sure. Secrets have been hidden, actions have been kept from the international eye or otherwise spoken for themselves, and so forth. For all we know, a genocide could be in the process.
Thus I take to making this neutral announcement on behalf of the Senate of the sovereign Xandalian Republic, seeking to be as neutral and informative as I can to you all about this matter. Do not let rhetorical 'fluff' and simple face-value claims and misinformation cloud your judgements, but let yourselves and your nations decide for themselves what is right and wrong in this issue. It is your governments' rights to decide for themselves, just as it is was the right of all mankind and its branches over the last 300 years of isolation to become as we were forced to by our surroundings or desired to on our own, but as for the Xandalian Republic the way forward is clear enough in regards to this matter."
Then came the biggest part of all...
"I, Envoy Christensen, on behalf of and by the most direct and clear orders of the Xandalian Senate and the people of the Republic, declare the following:
'Our people have been accosted by aggressive foreign propaganda by the Earth Cultural Union, in this seeking to undermine our government and the free will of our people by subterfuge. The Earth Cultural Union and Undefeated have continued to censor the details of this war through their blockade, and the demands made upon a neutral vessel that the Republic sent to Zetan space are continued evidence of this point of seeking to censor the truth. What little information we have, as none of the aggressors in this conflict have given us means to ascertain if they tell the truth or not, indicates that the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated seek to not simply recapture a supposedly kidnapped citizen, who frankly alternately might have fled his nation of origin due to discrimination and cruel treatment, but also to persecute the Zetan people in cruel and unusual ways.
Even the representative of the Earth Cultural Union has admitted in a prior announcement that they do not possess knowledge of the truth about this 'abduction', and yet they and the Undefeated have pursued not a diplomatic route to this matter. No, they did not. They have instead chosen the path of invasion and destruction upon another nation and its people, even to waste the lives of their own troops and people upon a conflict that need not happen in the first place. No, this needless violence cannot stand as it is, and the Xandalian Republic will not tolerate the continuance of this unclear situation as it currently stands from what little we know.
Being held back from the full truth of this matter primarily but not wholly by the very actions of the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated, we are left with only one choice and one demand to make - If the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated do not cease hostile actions against the Zetan Consciousness, and all parties cease any censorship of this issue and stop the bloodshed involved so a neutral international delegation can be formed too enter and help solve this matter peacefully, we will be forced to formally Declare War on the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated.
In the sole case that the former two parties comply fully and prove truthful, yet the Zetan Consciousness is hostile or equally as abrasive or censoring or the like towards or in regards to the the Republic or its people, we will be forced to Declare War on them accordingly on the side of the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated.
We in turn, the Senate and people of the Xandalian Republic, petition with and plead to the other nations assembled here to seek the truth of this conflict on your own and decide for yourselves. Whether you agree without our decision or not, you should not be held back from the truth if you wish to learn it.'"
@Kale19@Raylah@Irredeemable@Sigma@Sep@Tortoise@Sophrus
