Caught at the throat, one knows when to give up.

[Torontonias]

Conference Room #5, ESUS Headquarters

Topic: Peace

It had been several long months since that first fateful step into Facehuggerian territory over a bill in the courts that had long since been stripped down. It was more that just about the bill though, it was more of an awakening, it was proving that The Torontonian Nation was more than capable of fighting off a few enemies with the help of a few trustful allies. However, it also taught them how quickly a situation can spin out of control. A Crippled defence network and a shell-shocked populace can attain to that.

The Military Gains had been sweet, the Torontonian Combined Armed Forces, in a sort of baptism by fire had been dispatched and had captured no less than three enemy planets, not without heavy losses, but it had been the first time that ground troops had been dispatched in an act of aggression, although it would never ever be construed that way.

Today however, there was a general call to drop arms, its origin was unknown, but it was suspected it had something to do with plummeting troop morale (For Torontonias at least), but all sides agreed that the senseless bloodshed had to end, and so they all ended up in this conference room, in neutral ESUS territory. It was only a short walk down the hallway to the courtroom were good-hearted intentions broke down into indecision and political quagmiring. William Waltzburg, Torontonian senator turned front man was standing by himself in the room wringing his hands in wait. He was about to confront the most volatile group of people he would ever have to in his life. All sides had sustained heavy losses in this war, and no one was happy about continuing it, however, now that the Peace Conference had arrived, they would all be looking at a chance to clear their nations political slate and muddy another in finger pointing.

It would be in this room that all sides would be looking for a chance to get even. With Facehuggerian ships parked in orbit around Epsilon Prime threatening bombardment, the TSDC had informed him that all assets gained via military insertion were considered droppable, he was charged at all cost, to satisfy all parties, Facehuggerian's especially, to cease all hostile activities and leave all foreign territories. The irony was that it was a Torontonian Economic Blockade that had started this war, and it was a Facehuggerian military blockade ending it.

A message, crafted by the Torontonian Diplomacy Corps, had been dispatched to all Civil War parties early in the morning, at least, the time of day when the clocks told them it was morning, you couldn't really tell time of day by the location of the sun in space, but that is another issue all together. The message, along with the location and time of day, had been sent out, all carbon copies of each other, all looking like this:

To: [group_civilwarparties]
From: Torontonian Diplomatic Offices
Subject: ATTN: Peace
To all members involved in the ongoing brutality of the ESUS civil war, the Torontonians are willing to offer a general cease fire with all parties if certain conditions are met. Terms of peace are negotiable; all parties are requested to meet in conference room #5 of the ESUS HQ. All parties are also requested to bring a list of grievances, which will be resolved at the peace conference. Date is 120 hours (Five days) from the sending of this message. It is strongly urged that all parties who wish to end all military activies in ESUS Member Territory arrive at this conference.

When the representatives arrived at this conference, they would see aside from Senator Waltzburg, there was also a large metal table with comfortable chairs and catered food off to the side, no one knew how long this conference would take, but he would be damned sure that something got accomplished before they'd be allowed to leave.

Dominating the room was a large holo-projector, which was at the moment, projecting a large star chart of the ESUS alliance member territory, there were several flashing red spheres, which represented Systems in dispute, yellow spheres represented captured systems, and flashing red blobs represented general space in dispute. Also, scrolling along the bottom of the screen was a timeline of the Civil War, scrolling down to the bottom and the repeating itself in a loop, so that no one would be left out when reading it. It looked something like this:

CW1 (Civil War, day one): Torontonian Military Ships move into the Facehuggerian system of Gehenna among others, in a general effort to forcefully end Facehuggerian support of a new bill being drafted in the ESUS senate.

CW1: Torontonian Blockade destroys freighter attempting to run blockade, after ignore repeated threats from Torontonian Authority. Facehuggerian military opens fire

CW1: Several other nations become involved in conflict, now Metallinautian forces have aligned with Facehuggerian forces, creating the newly dubbed Centralist Faction. Arenumberg and Underwater Asylum come in aid of Torontonian Blockade

CW1: Torontonian Blockade destroyed, flagship flees combat, Centralist Faction now consists of Central Facehuggerian, Metallinauts and The military forces of Lord Ragen

CW5: Shipping begins to Tappeeian Territory as part of a deal for use of their shipyards in exchange for medical supplies

CW7: After a brief few days, Centralist forces invade Torontonian Capital System of Epsilon Indi, defences rally to throw them off. Balroggan forces move in as a "Neutralist force" to cease the bloodshed.

CW7: Yonder destroyed via Temporal Weapons, causes Arizona Nova to join Torontonias in the newly formed Traditionalist faction, other members contribute what they can to either Neutralist of Traditionalist faction to slow the Centralist invasion. The Military Forces of Lord Ragen launch surprise attack on Atlas Defence station, and then promptly abandon all military operations.

CW7: After near destruction of Foundry World Atlas, and near assassination of Chief Federal Officer Charles Purfurt, Balroggan ships terminate all movement in system via dimensional anchor, flagships of all forces dragged back to ESUS HQ for trial.
CW8: Trial is slowed down in politicking and indecisiveness, allows Centralists and Traditionalist factions to align themselves against the Neutralists in an effort of retaliation. Admiral Edmund Sayre surrenders to Facehuggerian Military as part of a battle deal brokered to save Atlas.

CW9: Torontonian Forces invade two Facehuggerian systems in retaliation for Capital System invasion, met with strong, armed resistance.

CW10: Unknown attacks on shipping reported, signs of distress expressed by Torontonian Business community

CW18: Invasion of Balroggan territory by a combined Traditionalist/Centralist force is made by surprise, Balroggan defenders scramble to keep invaders out.

CW20: Unknown attacks on shipping intensify, military dispatched but finds nothing

CW42: Invasion of Balrogga has slowed down after defenders renew efforts to drive the Centralist and Traditonalist forces out, heavy losses reported on all sides.

CW43: Military Convoy escorts shipping, attackers finally brought out into the open, identified as Sskissian, massive public outrage ensues as the bone of contention for the Sskiss is reignited.

CW52: News of Torontonian invasion reaches Facehuggerian government by form of leaked reports, news also breaks ESUS news waves, outrages towards the supposed "Defender of Sovereignty" shown, member support of Traditionalist faction plummets

CW65: Invasion of Balrogga ends in stalemate, although each member of the Centralist/Traditionalist alliance have seized portions of territory, the bleagured invasion force is unable to continued against strong wall of defence. Problems within Traditionalist/Centralist alliance occur after news of Torontonian Invasion reaches the invasion force.

CW72: Facehuggerian Military blockade dispatched to Epsilon Indi, broken defenders are unable to push back the formidable Facehuggerian ships. They park themselves in orbit around Epsilon Prime and issue and ultimatum: Surrender or be destroyed

After that last part comes to now, it had been only a few days since that ultimatum had been issued, and the Torontonians, trying to save face, had delayed their response until they got the message out, and now it was the endgame, it was up to William and possibly some other sympathetic parities to smooth out the process to peace. Although priority was given to the actual involved members in the Civil War, the message had been sent out to all ESUS Members, so all were welcome to attend as observers at the least.

[Xanthal]

The Socialist Republic has never been an active participant and has managed to come through the fight dignity, fleets, morale, and territory intact after some deft dilomatic maneuvering. Apparently, however, what involvement it has had, most notably its brief fleet deployment during the Balroggan Stalemate in day seven of the conflict, has been enough to include it in the group of 'Civil War Parties.' With the recent securement of Xanthalian territory from a wave of home-grown terrorism and the resumption of normal government activity, the Alphini feel obliged to fulfill whatever role they can in promoting a successful diplomatic resolution among their allies. They dispatch a diplomat that is seasoned and skilled, but not indispensible, shying away from asking their decidedly biased ESUS representative to involve himself. After all, with the kind of threats that have been zipping back and forth along communication channels lately who knows what kind of security breaches might occur during the proceedings?

The red, squid-faced mon calamari has no hair and dresses in the tight-fitting formal suit of the Xanthalian diplomatic corps. He walks into the room with a smile, or at least what his physiology can manage of one, and a bow to Senator Waltzburg. He stands about 160 centimeters tall, and appears slightly plump, if one has sufficient experience with mon calamari to notice. His broad arms and bulky hands with their six fingers are in contrast to comparatively human legs, though this may simply be an illusion created by the slick black pants and well-shined shoes he wears that hide any skin on the lower part of his body. He has a name tag attached to the left breast of his suit which identifies him as Yelniv Bolakin / Socialist Republic of Xanthal on two lines in white on black text. He greets William graciously, recognizing him from the list of ESUS Senators included in his briefing. "Best wishes. I am Yelniv Bolakin. I have been sent to represent the Socialist Republic in these proceedings. You are the Torontonian Senator, correct?"

[Balrogga]

K'Ahlon entered Conference Room #5. He stood in the doorway for a second, scanning everyone in the room. After a few moments he stepped into the room and the door closed behind him. He walked over to the seat reserved for the Balrogga Empire diplomat and sat down.

"I assume the others are delaying their arrival. They seem to be fighting Justice iwith their own War of Attrition."

He extended his awareness to the computer system in the wall and accessed the internal security cameras. He kept in inner eye on the hallway cameras. He also used his Neurolink to connect to the files aboard his ship docked in the Embassy Wing. He didn't trust paper for his work.

"I am ready. Let's get this show on the road."


"Computer, when the time expires, secure the door to prevent any from entering late."

OOC:

You will have to send me the complete goings on of what happened after the Trial. I am not sure what the story is; only I was attacked by those I stopped. I need details so I can give my list of grievances.

[Argheraal]

Five armored figures stomped through the halls of the ESUS senate-station like angry gods. Four of them were identical, down to their jet-black power armor. They wore no markings or livery, save a tiny badge on their armored breasts. A whitewashed, screaming skull, impaled by a golden sword that thrusted upwards as though it were adorning a banner or pennant. The fifth figure on the other hand, he was someone clearly unique. A true leader of men. A true monster.

His power-armor was sealed, lacking any of the partially reflective surfaces that could give away a view of its occupant. It was golden in luster, gilded with inlaid silver with shots of platinum and other, rarer metals that were once unknown to human science. Great jewels as big as fists encrusted the armor’s form. Gehennan Hell-Stones, Opterran water gems, Borean singularity spheres… Every one of them was worth a king’s ransom. Each could buy a planet, were it pried off the armor’s hide.

Which was no mean feat! The armor itself was perhaps twelve feet tall, so massive that it had to stoop to walk in the hallway. Its monstrous fists were as big as men’s heads, great ham-fists that looked like they could batter through starship armor plate.

If, that is, the occupant chose not to use the armor’s massive weapons suite to destroy whatever it wished. Few things could stand against the suit’s weapons systems. Anything that could reasonably operate on a planet not excepted. Even the massive Bolos of the Empire were not safe from its leader’s violence.

“Emperor.” One of the black-armored guards said as he tried, in vain, to open the main door to the ESUS senate. “The door will not open. Access logs suggest Balroggans have closed it to prevent the opposition from arriving.”

”Use the Administration override.” The Emperor’s electronically reproduced and altered voice replied quietly, laden with the malice of a man who had, personally, slaughtered untold billions.

”…Override failed. They’ve locked out access to this terminal, My Lord!”

”Eviscerator. Break the door down.”

“Yes, My Lord!” The armored guard replied eagerly as he began pounding on the thick senatorial door.

Metal screeched and groaned, but eventually it began to give way. Deep rents appeared on the other side as the door metal dented under the force. Soon, the Eviscerator was through. But a hole that could fit him could nary fit the monstrous sovereign. Instead, he was forced to continue, tearing the thick door from its hinges like so much tissue paper.

“Your entrance is ready, My Lord.” The Eviscerator said. Inside his armor, he did not beam with pride as a normal man would. He had a job to do, and obeying the Emperor was it. It was his purpose in life.

“Thank you, Eviscerator.” The Emperor replied, stooping even further to go through the now-ruined door.

“Balroggan! How dare you attempt to bar your justified opposition from this meeting!” The Emperor said as he emerged into the meeting room, extending to his full height in the towering room as he spoke. “Let the participants note the Balroggan deceit in this matter.”

OOC: Try to keep me out will you?
Note 1: You can try to scan my Emperor, but you probably won't like what you find. You'll be bombarded by all the unyielding, intense hatred a being who's seen of ten thousand years of warfare and death can conjur, and scenes of the atrocities he's committed. Destroyed planets, populations impaled on pungi-sticks for fun, the mind-rape of psionics, all sorts of nasty stuff that'll revulse most rational beings.

Trying to scan the Eviscerators won't work, as they all possess mind shields, which'll blunt any attempt at scanning. The Emperor has them too, but he's got 'em turned off because he want's you to scan him.

Note 2: I'm assuming that the ESUS senate station was designed to accomodate a wide variety of races, hence why how a twelve foot armored giant can stand at full height in a confrence room. Mind you, I don't expect him to actually be able to sit down.

Note 3: No, the Emperor himself is not twelve feet tall. He's actually curled up into a little ball in the Armor's torso. It's a combination uber-pwnzor suit of armor and life support unit which my leader takes out of the garage for special ocassions. :p

[Sskiss]

The Sskiss "speaker to others" [diplomats] had arrive much later for the "gathering of the fractured creche". As typical of the Sskiss, they formed a wedge shaped formation, the leader at the front and lower ranking toward the rear speading out in a "V" shaped pattern. The Sskiss compound - chambers and corridors all, had been constructed to appropriate Sskiss dimentions. Kraal' Trakk, a middle aged speaker to other, had been dictated/ordered to fulfill this task for the "glory of the multitudes/race". In truth "the great tyrant/watcher of all" had been angered of late as her plans to conquer Torontonias space had been foiled by this very meeting. Amoung the Sskiss "claws and teeth of the race" [military?] all were eager to fulfill "duty/servitude to the race". Indeed, a vast fleet had been gathered at Riiss' Sslash, their homesystem and only awaited an order from the great tyrant herself to invade.

The Sskiss delegate moved in a steady heavy tread, the talons of their three toed feet clicked lightly on the stone floor as they aproached what appeared to be a solid wall, but suddenly formed an oval oppening to allow entry into the vast diplomatic chambers ("chambers where weighty issues are discussed") as the Sskiss often called it. They wore nothing, carried nothing. Kraal' Traak was not looking forward to these lengthy meetings, although in his reptilian mind, he consoled himself that he and the rest of his delegate had eaten well. While he and the rest of his delegate entered the main chamber, an unmistakable hum could be heard - a Sskiss proof force field was always erected for such meetings. It only reminded him that he and his species (even when well fed) could never be fully be trusted at any large gatherings.....

Automated instinct, reflecsive, eons old, occured amoung each of the Sskiss delegates - the entire Sskiss delegate flared their nostiles to smell any scent - the scent of prey.....

[Torontonias]

Conference Room #5, ESUS Headquarters

As the Mon Calamari stepped through the doors, William was thoroughly surprised, he had not suspect the "Neutral" nation to show up at all, and first? That was just flabbergasting. However, it was a conference all sides were welcomed and had been prepared for.

"Greetings Mr. Bolakin, how are you doing at this time? I wasn't expecting Xanthal to send a representative but I am very pleased that they did, it would seem that Xanthal was the only nation to get a truly neutral perspective on this war and I may be calling on you to mediate if things get hairy, which they most certainly will with the Facehuggerians and Sskiss involved."

"Please, have a seat" William finished, pointing at the long rectangular table that dominated the conference hall, every seat had been assigned in hopes that tempers could be kept civil in the meeting based on who the delegates were seated beside. The Xanthalians had gotten a position at the one end of the table, while the Balroggan delegate would occupy the other end, these positions were denoted by small flags that were in small holders on the table.

As for the rest of the positions, it had been set up with the Traditionalist and Centralist sides sitting opposite of each other on the table, near the centre, and observers/lesser involved would sit near the four corners of the rectangles. William would sit opposite of the Facehuggerian diplomat, with Arizona Nova at Williams's side and Metallinauts at the Facehuggerian side.

When the Balroggan delegate arrived in the room, he was greeted coolly by William, but not ignored completely, a small welcome was issued and the delegate was shown to the accommodations and their seating. However, what William didn't realize was the Balroggan locking of the door, something he would notice in a moment.

When the door burst open via brute force, William, was practically shocked off his feat, when he looked towards the source of the abrupt entry, and was horrified from what he saw. Had he had his Cardioregulator, it would have been telling him his heart rate had spiked 20%, unofficially announcing that the Facehuggerian entourage had arrived. A mammoth humanoid clad in what could only be described as a beastly armoured figure forcefully ripped through the reinforced material followed by four other shapes.

After the accusation was bellowed by what could be assumed to be the delegate, William leaped to his feet, leaving common sense behind and standing against the Facehuggerian Emperor (Although not knowing this at the time).

"Now see here, Just because your in that Mechanized Monstrosity, doesn't give you the right to tear down a section of the ESUS Station simply because it was locked. We are trying to initiate a peaceful end to hostilities, so now is not the time to be flinging accusations. The accusation of the Balroggan Diplomat barring the door's entry will be looked into After proceedings have started, but right now we are waiting for the arrival of other delegates. Now, I would ask that you take a seat, and judging by your senseless use of brute force to solve problems, as well as your getup and that of your similarly clad cronies, I would venture a guess to say your representing Central Facehuggeria" William stated, getting more exasperated as his rant went on, and emphasizing the last part.

Realising his slip-up in representing his Nation, he quickly attempted to keep face

"My apologies, I overreacted there, its not every day a participant of peaceful proceedings forces their way in, you may take a seat Mr...?"

William did not get to finish, in midsentence his eyes locked with the Door, as the delegates from the nation he hated even more than the Facehuggerians arrived, The Sskiss the very sight of the vile beasts sent his heart racing. However, now was not the time to let racial prejudice rear its head. No actually recognising them, he spoke to the delegates (The Conference Room System Translating) advising them to their seats, and the seats could be removed or replaced if they did not meet certain physiological criteria.

Soon the Conference would begin, and peace would be hammered out.

[Xanthal]

Bolakin bows politely to the entering delegates, though even his seasoned restraint is shaken slightly at the decidedly loud entrance of the Facehuggerian Emperor and he takes a step back before bowing shallowly. Satisfied for the moment that he has adequately acknowledged everyone he goes to his seat, smiling at the miniature Xanthalian flag sitting on the table. He loves these things. In fact, he collects them. He already has all the flags of the parties here today, but this is his country's new standard, adopted just weeks ago. He makes a mental note to inquire if he may take it with him when the conference is over. Yelniv quickly moves on to placing his personal computer on the tabletop and turning it on, taking this time to briefly review the information he has, which he realizes is actually quite incomplete.

[Balrogga]

K'Ahlon turned towards the CF emperor.

"Well, I guess 120 hours isn't time enough for you to make it here. I apologize for my misjudgment. I should have figured you would be late."

K'Ahlon then turned towards Williams but kept his eyes upon the Central Facehuggerian delegate.

"William, I assumed we were not allowed to bring weapons to this meeting. Should we adjourn for an hour so we can go get our own toys or should he have to share with the rest? If he didn't bring enough for everyone he should be made to send them away. He should also be made to fix the door. After all, he did break it in front of us all."

K'Ahlon sat back staring at the new arrival, his passive scan picking up on what everyone in the room was projecting. The guards were blank so they were shielded although a faint whisper could be heard if he concentrated. He could feel the Suits but the mind of the operator was blocked. Only the mind. This might get fun.

He could feel what the CF delegate was trying to do so he just created an Id Insinuation and mirrored the hatred, feeding it back upon itself until it was massive. He made an easy target for anyone who was Psionic in the room to attempt to attack, while hiding his mind behind the Id Insinuation. The big difference between a Fleshie and a Mentat is the "body" of the Mentat can take a lot more than the Fleshies can dish out. He was ready for someone to try.

When the Sskiss entered through the torn hole, K'Ahlon could feel their desire for the Hunt. He could agree with them. IT was too bad this ESUS Constitution prevented them from taking the offensive to the Aggressors homeworlds. There would be nothing left. The Empiure had too much Honor than to break an agreement so they just defended the Kalathaun System from the four Honorless invaders.

K'Ahlon was ready for whatever they threw at him and he had his Emperor's demands ready to present. Only if the show would get started.

[Xanthal]

Yelniv stands, looking dismayed, waving his broad, bone-plated arms. "Gentlemen, please! We are here to bring a peaceful end to this conflict; to end the death and destruction that threatens everyone here. We must aspire to our higher natures and put the injustices we have all suffered during the course of these events aside. I understand that you have your own disputes, but we are the only ones that can prevent further bloodshed among ourselves now. Please sit down and let us speak to one another like civilized people. There is too much at stake here for us to decend into petty bickering."

[Balrogga]

"Then the CF Delegate must remove his guards and weapons from this peace accord. They are an obvious attempt to bully those present. If we were allowed to bring weapons, it would not be a peace conference."

K'Ahlon paused dramatically.

"It is either that, or we will leave and the cease fire will be considered broken by the actions of Central Facehuggeria."

Everyone in the room could tell K'Ahlon was very serious about this.

The internal security cameras continued to record and broadcast the events to the rest of the ESUS who could not be present.