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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: 188604 A political meeting

Edto Xar'Sivaree

Lizard Freak!
Inactive Member
Komodo System

This meeting, from an outside perspective, had not started out quite to plan. The VDTF seemed real skittish when the Yamataian Yacht entered their system, asking to land on the planet. This wasn't the first time a Yamataian Vessel had been on Komodo, but this was the first time they had been greeted with so many... questions. Who sent them, why were they there, how many people were on the ship. Questions, that crew of the ship had answered, seemingly to the satisfaction of the military, as they were currently heading to the planet.

After entering the first segment of the hangar, the diplomat aboard the Type 30 Space Yacht hailing from Yamatai could see that the pilot was a little uncomfortable with the idea of piloting the ship into an underground cavern. It was fine, however, with plenty of room for the ship to wiggle should they need too. It took several more minutes for the ship to pass through several kilometres of tunnels. When they entered the actual hangar proper, the sight was a little strange. In the absolute darkness, with only the light of the ship's engine, and the lights marking a landing spot for the ship, they could not see the walls or floors. Just total, complete, blackness. Sensors, however, read that there were Vekimen in the cave. A couple thousand, to be more specific. When they finally landed, six armed Vekimen walked into sight.

It was pretty easy to see that they were very on edge, as they pointed to the door to let the in. The crew complied, and the six Vekimen calmly, but quickly, walked through the ship. It wasn't aggressive, no one was threatened, touched, or even acknowledged beyond a small look, until one Vekimen with three golden bands around his horns finally stopped, looking at a display on his wrist.

"The VDTF apologizes for how the ship has been treated thus far, however, recent event has made such treatment a requirement. The Sraralumee hopes you understand. We ask that any and all weapons be declared before exiting this ship, and while personal defence is perfectly acceptable on Komodo as a whole, all weapons will be held when meeting with the Sraralumee. Are there any questions comments or concerns from parties leaving the ship?" He asked, looking down at his wrist.

Two members of the small force of Yamatai Security Agency personnel fanned out in front of the diplomat that had come to see the Sraralumee while one stayed behind her. Their weapons were declared and there was nothing left to say, so there was a short and terse shake of the head from the captain of the space yacht.

The escort accepted this, and the six lead the four through the hangar. It was hot and dry in the massive cavern, and the Elf's sensitive ears could hear the sound of oh so many claws and talons against rock and dirt, couple with the screeching, guttural sounds of their communication.

It wasn't long before they were lead to a train car, which was to take them right to the headquarters of the VDTF, as explained. It wasn't a very long trip, about two minutes, with the train moving fast enough that most had to at least shift their stance once it started moving.

Exiting the train, they came to what was probably the most uncomfortable part of the trip. Vekimen were everywhere. Dull red lights had been turned on to allow the visitors to see better, without the assistance of their escorts lights, and the place was packed. Vekimen, none lacking at least one gold bank around their horns, moved around, carrying datapads, files, and a whole assortment of other things. It was an active workplace, and there wasn't much space otherwise. Still, the hoard of aliens going about tasks easily shifted as much as they could, parting to give the group enough space to be lead to a door, where they were stopped and informed that past this point, no weapons would be allowed to pass. The Senator could safely pass through, and her guard could remain where they were if they wished to keep their weapons, but even the Sraralumee was not allowed to have weapons inside the Thyva Chamber, by Vekimen law.

Not one change was noted amongst the diplomat and her guard, who had left all of their weapons at the ship, since being accustomed to Vekimen law enough to know that. After they were stopped they seamlessly went towards the Thyva Chamber and, once inside they saw that the room looked strangely normal. To them, this just looked like a dimly lit office with a large table in the middle of it, with only a single Vekimen inside.

She was taller than the rest, her scales glittering in the low light, and the one seemingly solid gold horn contrasting with the natural horn drew the most attention. She turned her head to the four visitors, seemingly taking them all in individually, before lifting a hand and tracing it along the golden horn.

"I take it, I will be speaking to the Elf? Are you Sachiko? Or am I entertaining four ambassadors today?" Khelena asked, placing her hands on the small bar table she was at.

"I am Sachiko," said the lone Elf on the entire planet as she stood facing the Vekimen woman, Khelena, "Conclave Member of the Elves of Xiuluria and representative of Yamatai. I thank you for meeting with me," Sachiko said and looked behind her and to her left, at her guards.

Without further instructions, they were ushering themselves out of the room. Sachiko watched as the last of them left with her profile to Khelena for only a moment before she turned back to face her with her full respect and attention, which made the centrepiece of her sculpted silvery hair softly glinted in the very low lights of the Thyva Chamber. Charcoal flared shoulders of a mauve dress were complimented by the black embroidered designs down the centrepiece that hung down past her knees, which was bordered by the rest of the silken dress' material, dyed to move to a lighter shade of a paler mauve than the rest of her dress.

Khelena, in a stark contrast to the well dressed Elf, wore nothing, with a strange, primitive beauty. She watched as the guard absconded the chamber, the grabbed two bowlish cups carved from an unfamiliar wood. "And I thank you for the visit. It is not often I entertain visitors. I hear so much of other factions and their common visits to each other, so I try to enjoy what I can," Khelena explained, pouring a soft, clear blue liquid into one of the cups. "Would you care for a drink? I have met one other elf, and she was able to drink it, so I am sure you should have no issues. Though, other then that, I am curious what brought on this meeting. Did Yamatai hear of the attack on my people?"

It was apparent that Sachiko had been watching Khelena with wide, opal-like eyes while the Vekimen woman poured the strange blue liquid into the wooden grail. Her body was well kept and straight in her standing position, save for her neck which moved languidly while she followed Khelena's movements and then after when she breathed in and looked up and to the side. For a moment, she said nothing, then spoke.

"I am thinking of all of the things that have come before to make this meeting possible as well as those things that we both wish to come. I find myself having a hard time telling you which of those many things I should bring forward to you first." The Elven woman said.

Khelena paused for a moment, holding the cup she had just poured, then drinking from it. She then looked, and the shrugged, pouring another glass. "We Vekimen and your Yamatai are quite different. Clearly, as you can possibly see. Though, this would be a first-time Yamatai has come to me, rather than me go to them. I suppose you should bring forward the one thing that would explain that, perhaps. After our last encounter, I didn't think Yamatai would want much to do with us again," Khelena stated, holding out the cup. "So, would you care for some?"

The fingers of one of Sachiko's hands extended forward to hold onto the bottom of the saucer-like cup. With her other hand, she held the rim with a delicate touch. "I thank you for this. Does it have a name?" Sachiko said as she lifted it a little into the air.

"Not one you could pronounce, to be sure," Khelena sighed. "Our language is... complex."

Sachiko's grey brows moved up on her pale face incrementally and she said, "Don't doubt there are many that would like to know more about it, Sraralumee Khelena Het Laderen." Looking at Khelena as she said this, she brought the goblet up to her lips and let the liquid rest against them.

"Perhaps, this is true. Though, from the past, I have met very little who are interested in aspects of my species, for any reason other than to put me at a disadvantage. So far, people have been vying for ways to hurt my people, rather than help them. I apologize if I seem to have little interest in advertising my people further than I have already tried," Khelena sighed, pouring more of the dink into her muzzle.

"Regardless, you have things to speak about? Yamataian officials do not visit me for quaint conversation regarding drinks my people make."

"I'm troubled by this attack, Sraralumee. Is there more you can tell me about it," Sachiko said and then added, "I only hear so much between the Embassy Park and visits to other nations and may know only half of the story."

"Hmm? Oh yes. A large band of surprisingly well equipped L'Kor highjacked a vessel our computers and defence grids did not mark as suspicious. I was not aware of the lights on the ship, and as you might be able to tell, my people do not like light. Many were killed falling from the walls of our hangar. I would say I was shocked you didn't see the bodies in the Hangar, but then I remember you cannot see in utter blackness. I will guess, you are pleased with this fact," Khelena mentioned, walking over to a desk.

"Though, in the chaos, they managed to get many of their people into my city, which is where the attack ended. Our hangar was susceptible to the sneak attack, and it did take time for word to reach us, but when it did I was able to mobilize forces against them. The current body count is... 3,756 Vekimen dead, far more injured. I've been busy, which is why I am less inclined to entertain small talk if you can understand."

"I can understand it, all too well," Sachiko said as she set down her goblet and thought of the bitter emotions that lingered within the heart of oneself after the death of kin. She asked with an intensity to her tone, "What do your people need now?"

Khelena sighed. "Well, that certainly depends. Personally, I know who orchestrated the attack, and I personally desire to take the fight to them. I don't know how much you know about my people, but we will bring upon the fury that even their unborn generations will feel. So, if you are offering something, I would like information on whatever Yamatai know about the Kuvexian fleet deployments. From there, I suppose weapon tech would be nice, but I already know how your people are with a thing of just such a nature." She said, tapping on the desk as she pondered things.

"Though, I have speculated the idea. Your form is fairly pathetic when it comes to fighting. I have a Nekovalkyrja here on Komodo, who is serving a sentence for the murder of a Vekimen citizen. I have often chuckled at what a Vekimen with similar powers would be capable of doing. Though, these are mere pipe dreams," She chuckled to herself. "No offence intended to the combat capabilities of your form, of course. Just an observation."

Sachiko's eyes lowered and a wan smile spread across her lips as she offered, "I have no form to speak of that fares well in combat, Sraralumee. A Vekimen child that hasn't even entered your VDTF yet has more combat skill than myself, of that I can assure. I would not say the same of the nation I represent, Yamatai." It was then that Sachiko made a small series of movements to be able to sit at the main, low-lit table of the small Thyva Chamber.

"I think, you miss what I mean by form. The citizens of your nation, to a large degree, look similar that to you. You lack teeth," Khelena stated, baring her own for a moment, "That is suited truely for attack. You lack claws, talons, your flesh is soft. Your people were not evolved from those who fought using their bodies. They moved away from such and relied on tools for their fighting. That is what I mean by your form, not any doctrine or teachings you may have. That is far more up in the air to decide, and would only be discovered by taking actions I am not currently yet suited to take, nor have a desire to," The leader explained.

Sachiko gave a small smile as she breathed in, looking excited and said, "That is wherein the beauty lay; in the unity of those that have no form but have the tools with those that have the form but no tools."

"Now you see why the thought makes me chuckle. On a physical, natural capabilities, my species is better suited to fighting in war. In a purely technological facet, yours would clearly win. I hold no idea of grandeur or hubris in that fact. I could only imagine how terrifying my people would be if they were joined with your technology. Alas, that opportunity has come and gone, because of the way we think.

"Of the three things, I can only imagine how many terrifying combinations there has been the possibility of existing, that were simply destroyed because of thoughts and opinions. What is right and wrong is subjective, and yet it can stop a great many good things from happening," Khelena said, remaining standing where she was.

Sachiko continued, "I am of few opinions that matter when compared to the opinions of the masses. Your people are included in those ranks, as they should be. I have been open to hearing the stories of your people if you would believe it."

"What has occurred, I know half the story of. Have you ever head the tale of the Asturian Vekimen, Sraralumee? It is a story one would think I would hear from my fellow Xiulurians on Yamatai," Sachiko thought to add the history of the word Asteria, how it both came from Xiuluria and was a word for someone gone from there at the same time. "I heard of her story in an orphan city, instead. It pays to be open-minded enough to hear of these sides of the stories of a people. Without the stories our children tell, we would have nothing close to the full truth. Or, at least, it has been found in some experiences to be the case."

Khelena seemed to take the comment with interest. "I know the Vekimen you are talking about. As a soldier, she was perfect. I sent her to a Yamataian school to continue being a soldier, and to show Vekimen Strength. She was promptly expelled, by reason of a lack of concern for the safety of her fellow students. I didn't know if I should be insulted or laugh at the concept, but alas this is where it has come."

"She now has a warrant on her head for strange reasons, a large sum of money, and a political position within Yamatai, if not directly, within Yamatai. This suzerainty idea has yet to make complete sense to me, but it doesn't matter," Khelena said, finishing her drink. "You ask for stories, I suppose I could entertain one. There is no one better to ask for one, so I suppose I should give you the opportunity. What would you like to know?"

Sachiko tried to not sound too honest when she said with resounding confidence, "I want stories..." She sighed, "Telling them without the inherent need to isn't what we want to spend our times doing, though, so I will forego asking questions about your stories and ask questions about what we can do amongst peoples. I am here as a representative of Yamatai and Conclave Member of Yamatai, at present two positions which give me little ability to find you anything else besides a plot of land at Reikan Park," Sachiko said wistfully, pausing, almost hoping that was one thing that the Vekimen woman would prefer to have, which would open up further discussions about what they would need to do, which Sachiko said.

"What we need for that is bilateral agreement on what ultimately comes down to watching one another's back. Is that something that both you and Yamatai have disagreed on in the past?"

"Oh, no, the point we disagreed on was the idea of your intelligence services parking in our yard, as I believe the saying goes. I was more than happy with the military alliance I had with Yamatai before they started sticking spies amongst us. The disagreement on that point was what cause the collapse of the agreement," Khelena explained.

"Honestly, my people are a military fighting force by nature. There is not a citizen on this planet who is not a member of our armed forces. Fighting is in our blood, a core of our existence, and with it comes a tenacity that allowed us to conquer what should have killed us. Every day we train, and that training has the very real possibility of death, depending on where in the military you plan to go. The benefit of my situation is I can hand any Vekimen a weapon, and they could use it with proficiency. Any Vekimen on this planet could follow orders, lead troops, operate equipment. This was what the VDTF offered to Yamatai if Yamatai gave us the ability to use the technology that would make us a force that could help Yamatai. That is, in the end, what makes us different as a fighting force. Mere resources. Do you see?"

"Giving away the guarantee of having something in the future is no easy task," Sachiko told Khelena as she sat, watching the standing Sraralumee Vekimen as her lone gold horn shone in the dim red light of the room. "Usually there is an expectation of something in return," she added. "Which is rarely profitable when dealing with the interests of the people."

"I have a question for you, Sachiko. How much, do you think the blood of a Vekimen is worth? The life of an individual who cannot simply be brought back to life by some grace of technology?" Khelena asked, cocking her hip as Sachiko was cast into shadow by the movement. "You can decline to answer, but I am curious about what your answer would be if you gave it."

"There is no need for worth," Sachiko said, leaning an elbow on the table as her expression spoke of compassion, "when we're all equal."

"You said something should be given in return." Khelena softly countered.

"It is expected," Sachiko added. "By many and is not by few."

"Indeed. I have seen what all these factions have. I know that most factions have enough that they could dedicate their existence to humanitarian aid. I have never really asked for much in the grand scheme of things. The ability to get back on my own two feet, and yet each time I have been forced to sacrifice things any sentient being should have. Like dignity, and privacy. To think... This attack could have been stopped with a single beacon in the region, and a call. Almost four thousand irreplaceable lives could still be here. All I had to do was sacrifice my basic rights, and the basic rights of my people," Khelena sighed. "Though, I suppose... That is politics, isn't it?"

"In its current state of things, it is," Sachiko said, "but that is not what the future can hold. We do not have to let the past repercussions mar the future's appearance."

"So then get to the point," Khelena suddenly snapped. "I have deaths on my hands, and you are speaking in cyphers. You are offering me something, somehow, somewhy, and I stand here thinking that I have to submit myself to the prying eyes of a nation to get anything from them. That my people are not allowed to live as they are. I have tried, to make alliances with Yamatai, and I could easily show you what the term of that was. Yamatai, changed the terms on me, so why should I expect anything less this time?" She questioned, snorting in anger.

"Making promises before seeing what the future holds for my place within Yamatai would muddle what is clear between us currently. When you say what you want, I hear things that can be given. Not all things can be offered by me, but when my gifts do not come with a price, Sraralumee Khelena. I understand you do not like some of the aspects of Yamatai, such as its listening posts. I can see opportunities for the growth of both nations when you say that."

"Are you talking about an Embassy of sorts?" Khelena asked, crossing her arms.

"I do," Sachiko said with a solidity.

"An embassy would be... Palatable, but nothing on the planet. I am currently in process of building a station. Yamatai could if everything goes to plan... Have a garrison on that station, provided that they give the ability for the station to support it."

Sachiko nodded, "Then what should be done, can be done. This small step, I can work towards right now for you and your people, as well as mine. I am sure countless others will be bettered by something of this nature." Sachiko rose and strode to the bar where her fruity blue liquid was waiting for her and she took the chalice from where it had been sitting and looked to Khelena.

"Well, I would be more comfortable with that, and I am sure my people would be, but I would still have to deliberate such a thing. I may be the ruler, but I still need to assure my people are happy," Khelena stated.

"I hope that I can have your contact information," Sachiko said and then with a wry smile, added, "perhaps that of a civil engineer, too, if a Vekimen Embassy is to be built on Yamatai in YE 40!" She knew that putting a group of Yamataians in Komodo space would be beneficial to the nation she represented by protecting its more clandestine aspects. The operation would go smoothly, she knew, with this sort of interaction between nations continuing. "I will be sure to keep a steady line of communication and, will visit."

"That would be appreciated. Yamatai, as I am aware, has access to the V.I.C.A.S communications network. You can contact me through any standard method, just inform V.I.C.A.S operators of your request, and I will be sure to implement your name into our system so that I get the alert. I will do what I can but do not expect any engineer of mine to make something Yamatai is accustomed to seeing. I take it we will talk about that second thing next you visit?" Khelena asked.

"You understand," Sachiko said with a bright smile as she set down the smooth wood grail on the bar and stepped forward, and raised both arms so that her elbows were touching her stomach while her palms were raised upward and then she brought them towards herself and clapped her hands, a somewhat symbolic gesture as well as one that showed her enthusiasm as it was coupled with a bright white flash of her smile between her pale pink lips. "All too well. I thank you for that, Sraralumee Khelena Het Laderen. Meetings between us will be abundant and successful if this one is any indicator."

Sachiko added, "I thank you as well for your hospitality and willingness to speak to me on such equal terms."

"Of course," Khelena smiled in return, though hers was far more, unintentionally sinister. "Please, don't be hesitant to call. I may not be capable of catching you every time, but I will certainly get back to you when I can," Khelena explained. "Hopefully everything goes to plan."

"And to you," Sachiko said, "as well, Sraralumee."
 
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