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| - The initial round of introductions and the formality of the occasion being addressed and the usual courtesies seen to then tactfully set aside, Warlord Korolov, President Mahon, Governor Laran have accepted the invitation of Commodore Caiton to have this meeting held on the flag ship of the task force, the Inquisitor. Prior to calling for the initial recess, the contributors added final thoughts: Bailey tilts her head as she looks at the Caspian territory. She debates saying something, but if being a Politician has taught her anything, it's best to be looked at like a fool, then open your mouth and release all doubt. So she stay's the quiet nubian beauty she always is. Studying the display of the sector in question and flipping through her own read outs of the overview, Caiton finally says, "Consider this. Between the edges of our expanded borders and the indicated edges of the Caspian territory lies some disputed areas held by the New Republic. Instead of squabbling over these borders, I put forth the question as to whether or not the CDU would be willing to be held responsible for patrolling their border that adjoins the Rebel border. Should they note any upswing in activity that can be linked to the rebellion, they notify the Empire and we step in to deal with it, accordingly. But at their request, mind you. Not unilaterally without consent of the CDU to enter the area." Mahon arches an eyebrow faintly as Caiton speaks up, turning to look to her fully. Even though the officer is not a diplomat, Mahon seems inclined to grant the courtesy of listening with every patience and consideration of her idea. "The idea perhaps needs a little finessing to accommodate our neutrality. The Union has no more interest in picking fights with the Rebs than it does with you folks, and we will continue to allow their ships to visit and trade at our ports. But..." he swivels slowly in his chair, turning to look back to Korolov and Bailey, "We can likewise guarantee that we will not permit the Rebs to utilize our territory as a base for military operations against the Empire. Frankly, if they decide to utilize such a strategy, we'll be obliged to shoot a few of them ourselves and save you folks the trouble. Likewise we'll have things to say about any battle fleet that wants to cross our space to make trouble." The intervening recess offers the participants time to mull over the topics discussed thus far. Warlord Korolov steps out and in the interim Count Dises Diaglo steps in to offer further advise and counsel on this topic. Once the designated time has elapses the conference room is once more opened to the meeting. Advisors and officers taking their places once again, refreshments refreshened and the like. Commodore Caiton takes the initial moment to summarize the most recent topic of discussion, cueing up the display of the system as it is currently, she repeats: The proposed compromise on the table pertains to formally recognizing the CDU as an independent entity responsible for policing and patrolling it's own borders. To that end we are discussing the details of this suggestion, mainly the Empire would not move a fleet through CDU space without appropriate authority in advance. The CDU, while not interested in engaging in a dispute with the Rebels at this time, will be free to call for aide in routing such footholds that they establish." She looks up from her notes, "Count Dises Diaglo joins us now to continue this dialogue," she says, indicating the Count by way of introduction then seats herself at the table once more. Count Dises Diaglo, Imperial Court Advisor, steps into the room. As he is introduced, he nods to those seated, and clears his throat. He steps over to a seat at the semi-circular table near the President and Commodore. He nods toward the President, "Mr. President." Then nods toward the Commodore, "Commodore." He then takes his seat the table with them. His face is expressively serious, and his eyes are focused as he examines a datapad he places on the table before him. He speaks clearly, "I have been briefed in a summary on the prior precedings. I will speak in a moment, what further words on this topic do you have Commodore?" Dises nods over to Governor Bailey, "Governor." He then gazes at the Commodore, awaiting her response, and observing closely. Caiton rests her hands on the table, an instinctive gesture designed to prove that she has nothing in her hands, nothing to hide. In a room where many of the dignitaries are militarily trained, gut instincts sometimes need to be addressed in advance. She speaks in reply to Count Diaglo's inquiry, "Initially I would like to reaffirm that we do recognize that the expansion of the Galactic Empire into the territory held by the CDU can be marked as a lack of diplomacy," she says simply. "We are here to address that, and other issues, primarily establishing a treaty of non-aggression and the opening of trade on both sides to, and within, the Empire and the CDU. I would also note that the discussion of the exchange of ambassadors is also on the table." Through the course of the recap, Mahon looks across the table at the other participants. His hands are folded together, and his face bears a sternly thoughtful expression. When Caiton concludes her opening comments, a faint smile crosses his lips, and he looks back to her for a moment. "Thank you Commodore Caiton," he finally murmurs, looking towards Dises and Bailey now. "I think it's key for the folks here to realise that as a neutral power, we'll be having diplomatic relations with both you and the Rebs, and will specifically be avoiding expressing favouritism between you all. When you folks come to visit, you might well find that the Rebs are doing the same. You will encounter their ships and their people. And we will take a dim view of either party taking that as an opportunity to bring the war to another theatre. I'm sure that some of your countrymen will be offended by this equality, but..." he trails off, the unspoken implication that it's a line that will have to be towed, since the alternative is to push the Union over to the Rebel end of the spectrum, and while the Empire could always suppress the Union militarily, it will be an expensive and likely Phyrric foray, in an area of space where even at its peak the Empire never managed more than weak sovereignty. "A veiled threat, is still a threat, Mr. President." Bailey says as she listens to what he says, and the implications,"I think that this is simply an attempt on both sides to come to a mutual understanding. Both the Union and the Empire have specific concerns and priorities which would not match up.." She stops for a moment and glances at him,"Yet. However, I don't think that it is necessary for either side to even think of war at a discussion of peace." She leans back, trying to phrase her words careful,"I think that this is the beggining of a relationship, and neither side should make absolutes at the moment. You never know what the future might bring. The Cdu might consider the New Republic an enemy and join the Galactic Empire. Who thought it possible that these talks would even take place - 6 months ago?" Nodding to Governor Laran in reply to her statement, "While I agree that both sides have specific concerns and priorities and they will not, necessarily, match up or coincide with each other, it is important to determine what precisely the ground rules of interaction will be pertaining to the Empire and the Rebel ships and personnel that may be in the area should we, at the CDU's permission, be allowed to enter the territory. Let me test my understanding," she says simply, her hands still folded before her on the table as she speaks. "Should we encounter the Rebels or should they encounter us, we are bound by a non-aggression agreement while in territory. I will inquire as to the penalties for such infractions in a moment," she adds, "but I have another question at the moment. Should assets of the Rebellion be waiting for the assets of the Empire, or vise versa, a few lengths out of the specified CDU held territory, with the intent on engaging in actions of aggression, are there penalties for such infractions?" "There is no threat there, veiled or otherwise, Governor Laran," answers Mahon stoically, his gaze sliding aside to her. "Merely an honest accounting of the facts at hand... a recognition that there are aspects about the Union that will rankle folks, and are all part of the package. However..." He opens unfolds his hands, and turns them palm-up, "You all really have nothing to lose by recognizing the Union's sovereignty. The Rebs have an active interest in your destruction. The CDU does not." He looks over to Caiton now, tilting his head slightly to one side as he reaches up to scratch his chin thoughtfully. His eyes linger upon her, serene and contemplative, "We are referring to an attempted ambush in a region just beyond our functional sovereignty? Or within what would be our reasonably enforceable borders?" "Precisely," Caiton replies as President Mahon sums up her question. "The second part of that question pertains to whether or not the CDU will consider these actions to be bad form and what the ramifications of these actions will be, diplomatically or otherwise." ".. Ahh.. Then I do appologize." Bailey says with a slight smile towards Mahon. She dips her head and leans back. Her eyes going to Caiton as she waits. Mahon actually smiles now, which isn't exactly a common thing for him when he's addressing matters of politics. "No harm," says Mahon aside to Bailey, before his eyes return to Caiton, "I would have to say that in either case, the Union would be a little rankled. The exact response would likely be determined by matters of practicality. If it's within our enforceable borders, we'd be prone to disrupting the ambush." "..She does have a good point.." Bailey says as she takes another drink of her water,"If the New Republic had 10 ships waiting 10 parsecs from your 'territory' and attacked an Imperial ship - how would the CDU respond? Technically, they followed your rules." Dises clears his throat a moment, speaking on the matter as well, "President, we can understand the Union's wish for neutrality, but it is difficult as the Rebel terrorists threaten us on a daily bases, and galactic stability. The New Order is intended to bring order across the galaxy, the Galactic Empire is the only thing holding back the Rebellion from throwing the galaxy into chaos and civil wars. You can see by their record of trying to resurrect an corrupt, ineffective Republic. You saw how the Old Republic collapsed, and that destabilized the entire galaxy. If it were not for Emperor Palpatine, the galaxy would have fallen into total utter chaos with no progress for all of humanity." He now presents the actual practicable point, "If we encounter Rebel forces along your border, of course we would wish to engage them as they would engage us. I would not call it an ambush if we happen across their ships, and they attack us though I can most definitely understand your desire for peace in the CDU. You must understand the need to defend ourselves, and eliminate the terrorists from the galaxy however." "As long as it is outside the enforceable boarders of the CDU," Caiton clarifies as she speaks. "When it comes to engagements within the territory of the CDU, both sides will be held to non-aggression actions within the territory. I have the feeling that this may lead to someone's headache in the future," she muses briefly before continuing. She nods to Diaglo as she speaks, "Our needs in this issue, and our position in this continuing war are clearly defined. And the CDU has expressed it's position as not involving itself in the continuing dispute. I put forth the supposition that the Galactic Empire will heed these dictates. Should we be provoked, knowingly, does anyone have a suggestion on measured response? Follow that question with an inquiry leading back to my original statement: Should the CDU find a foothold of the Rebels in CDU territory, will the CDU choose to evict them or call in the Empire for assistance?" "She does indeed pose a good point, Governor. Though it's not so much a matter of our rules though, as a matter of interstellar law. Technically, if you and the Rebs keep the fighting outside of our actual territory, we haven't much right to keep you all form cheerfully beating each other's brains out... no more than we would if we were to try to interfere if your ships confronted each other over Tatooine. Technically. Though since it's happening right on my doorstep, I might have to concoct any number of pragmatic, less than official responses to such an action... particularly where it begins to interfere with the free flow of commerce to the Union." And then as Dises starts speaking, what's left of Mahon's smile more or less evaporates, replaced in stages by a patient expression, followed by a bored one, and ultimately a pained one. He blinks a few times, then looks aside to Caiton with arched eyebrows. And indeed the President is ominously silent for a moment. And then he sighs, as if he's been saddled with a child who is acting up, and begins to speak, slow and carefully even, "Thank you Count Diaglo. I'm already aware of that particular version of history. I'm afraid our neutrality isn't as complex or as difficult as you make it out to be, except to the folks who try to compromise it. Allow me to summarize - we'll put up with both of you, and be profoundly indifferent to the respective rhetorics, and generally ignore arguments by one side about how the other is the absolute evil. I most certainly do not comprehend your desire, or theirs, to expunge the other from the galaxy. I have strong opinions on that sort of thing, but it's not terribly relevant to the business at hand. But if you intent upon converting us from that position, I'm sure there's more useful places you can be than here." And then he looks back to Caiton, his smile returning, but faint, as if absolutely nothing had transpired in the interim. "Depends upon what the Rebs are doing. Suppose they're sitting on the beach, drinking fruity drinks with little umbrellas with them... probably nothing. If they're trying to build training camps or base starfighters in the Union... we'd make 'em leave. If we caught wind that they were plotting to attack your embassy, we'd disrupt it in such a fashion as to make the venture as costly and /embarassing/ for them as possible." Dises listens closely to the President, his face growing stern at the President's response, but remaining otherwise fairly stoic throughout the President's various statements. He clears his throat at the end, remaining silent for only a moment, before speaking, "Very well, Mr. President. Then we have your agreement that you will harbor no military forces from either side in your the Union, and will not allow either side to conduct planned military operations within the Union." He looks at the President seriously, "I assume we also have your agreement that you will in no way support the Rebels militarily, preferably that you will not engage in arms deals or trade in weapons with them?" Caiton reaches for the pitcher of water in front of her, pouring herself a fresh glass while the President and Count exchange words, waiting for a pause before interjecting her own comments. "President Mahon has stated that the CDU is a neutral party in this conflict, and will enforce their neutrality as necessary. They will neither harbor forces of the Empire nor forces of the Rebellion within their territory. Though we, and the rebels, are allowed to visit and in doing so boost their trade revenue. When it comes to issues of trade, and specifically regarding to weapons traded and or sold, along with ships and other armaments, I would like to hear the position of the CDU before continuing." Mahon watches Dises closely, as if expecting the man to continue upon his earlier propagandist diatribe. When this doesn't happen, Mahon first arches an eyebrow subtly, then gives a nod of approval. To the matter at hand, he turns back to Caiton, "Well... I can't guarantee that none of them will ever buy a weapon in the CDU. Indeed, in the past I've seen a bit of interest from your quarter in buying our armaments and ships. I can safely say that there are limits as to what we'd be willing to permit to be exported to either of you. If it's something we'd reasonably sell to our own civilians... there's a distinct possibility either you or them would be able to buy it. Beyond that, we'd take a rather dimmer view. Dises nods slowly, as he listened to the President attentitively. His face remains one that is stoic, though concentrated. He speaks, "Very well, if it can be sold to civilians, we may say that it would fall into the hands of either side or could potentially. However, I would like it as part of the agreement that your government will not directly or officially engage in weapons sales to either side. As a government making arms deals with either side directly would be considered an act of military support." He gazes over to the Commodore a moment, in conclusion to his statement. He takes a glass, and pours water from the pitcher into the glass in an elegant fashion. He takes a slow sip of the water from the glass. "That may well prove to be the, or one of the, sticking points of this conference," Caiton says after a moment of contemplative silence. "Just as the manufacturer of the various weaponry that both side employ are not held accountable for the ultimate use, attempting to track the sales of the countless vendors of weapons - both private and public - would amount to a mountain of paperwork for the CDU. Suffice it to say that such an undertaking is, unfortunately, slightly improbable." "Bloody nigh impossible," concurs Mahon with Lynae's concerns, "Though we do endeavour to track large shipments... mostly as we're not keen to have them end up in the hands of pirates. But I'd be a liar if I said I was at all confident that we'd stopped every weapon from ending up in hands we'd rather didn't have it." He frowns thoughtfully as he mulls the condition that Dises requests, "The Government of the CDU has no real interest in marketing for our arms industry. Though... we're the majority shareholder in several domestic producers." Dises nods slowly, clearing his throat, "I am going to have to review this matter, and look into it further. I hope you understand our position, as long as you are not having cooperative military development or otherwise open arms trades directly between your government, and the Rebellion. Though we will look at this issue further at a later time." He reviews his datapad, "I believe I am done with my part of the negotiations for this evening." He nods to the Commodore, "I hope we shall carry on at a later time." He then rises from his seat, and exits the room with an confident stride. Rising from her chair briefly as Count Diaglo exits the room, Caiton smoothes her uniform jacket with one hand before returning to her seat. Reviewing her notes once more, Caiton reaches for her glass of water before speaking again, "Additional trade issues will be discussed then on a later date. I would recommend that scheduled trade summits be implemented as the need arises. Governor Laran will address the issue of Corellia's interests regarding their shipyards and accompanying market," she adds, nodding towards the governor before moving on to the next topic. "Now, it is my understanding that we are extending an invitation to the CDU to designate a formal ambassador, as we will be extending a similar official to the CDU in return." Mahon seems to shed a degree of tension as Dises leaves the room, his gaze deliberately tracking the man's departure. He draws in a breath, and lets it out slow before turning his eyes towards Caiton again. "Mm. Yes. We are still in the process of finding a suitable ambassador to send to you folks. And we will want to open a consulate on Corellia as well. Your old embassy in Plaxton is still basically intact, though perhaps suffering some wear and tear from disuse and political tension." Caiton chuckles softly, perhaps an unexpected response, but it matches her following comment, "Some wear and tear from disuse and political tension," she repeats, a slow shake of her head accompanying her words. "Are we talking some new carpet, fresh paint and nice window treatments? Or would it be best to level it and rebuild?" she inquires, one eyebrow arching upwards as she asks the question. "You will be provided with suitable space on Coruscant to open your embassy there, and Governor Laran no doubt will assist you with determining the best location for a consulate on Corellia." "Far closer to the former than the latter," assures Mahon, though he does look rather briefly amused at Caiton's phrasing of the question. "I had it secured before the exuberance could get out of hand, but it definitely needs some sprucing up." Seriousness returns to his expression before he concedes, "Though you all might want to give it a serious sweeping for bugs. There was a window when certain folks unfriendly to your interests would've had the opportunity." "Thank you for the suggestion," Caiton replies, inclining her head in a measured nod of appreciation, "we will of course do a thorough house cleaning before any official business is conducted." She glances around the table at the assembled participants then says, "If there are no further topics on the agenda or remarks to be made, I would hold this meeting adjourned. I extend my thanks and appreciation to President Mahon for attending and participating in this conference. May these accords lead to a new era of cooperation and respect between the Galactic Empire and the Caspian Democratic Union."
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