It's Not a Scene, It's an Arms Race
Posted on Wed Aug 19th, 2020 @ 9:41pm by
Mission:
Cruel Meridian
Location: Capital Building, Oslerton
Timeline: MD 14
3161 words - 6.3 OF Standard Post Measure
"Emperor, a representative from the Sozon News Network is here to speak with you. He claims that he has information that is of the utmost importance before today's final round of negotiations."
Tevrin's normally neutral demeanor had soured over the past two days of negotiations with the Federation. Each of the days planned for negotiations had two session scheduled - one in the morning, followed by a break for lunch, with an afternoon session planned to expedite the process. Three of the four sessions had passed with little progress. The royal afternoon meal sat largely untouched by the soon to be married head of state, but it would have been impossible to infer that he was only one sleep removed from marrying a princess and ending a war from his mood.
"Send him in. If he has anything useful, we shall be gracious. If he wastes my time, perhaps we shall give this Federation something to substantiate their claims of war crimes and violations of these so called rules of engagement.." Venom filled every word.
"Right away, sire."
Emperor Condruil idly poked at the food on his plate. He allowed his mind to wander, which he had resisted the urge to do ever since the opening ceremonies two nights ago. Every time he closed his eyes, his imagination ran wild with flowing green fabric and chestnut brown hair, and no matter how many portraits of the future empress consort filled the room, Tevrin's thoughts were haunted by the look of determination shown by the Chief Diplomat of the Majestic.
"Your Excellency?"
Tevrin's eyes snapped open, his piercing, orange irises flared with the same anger that had been smoldering within him as a lanky representative from one of the state controlled media companies came into focus. He had prostrated himself on the ground, but even so, he was shaking in fear. By his calculation, the Emperor realized that his visitor was no older than fifteen summers.
"They have sent us a boy," Condruil barely contained an eye roll. "And here I thought a journalist or investigator would bring me something I could use this evening, but no, they have sent the intern on an errand. Rise and speak, boy. What do you even do?"
"Sire, I am an audio technician for the live broadcast team. I was working during the evening of the opening ceremony, as well as in the editing room later that evening prior to the upload of the event to the datanet."
"Yes, and?"
The technician cleared his throat, wishing very much that he could stop stammering in front of the Emperor. To his surprise, when he had collected himself and looked up from the floor for the first time, Tevrin stood there with a cup of water in his outstretched hand.
"Th....thank you, Your Excellency."
"Go on, drink. Collect yourself. Then tell me what you have come to tell me."
Drinking deeply, the young man seemed unsure of what to do with the now empty cup as he fidgeted, passing the vessel back and forth from hand to hand as he spoke. "As you know, my liege, the microphones we use to capture ambient sounds for the broadcasts are quite sensitive. Furthermore, there are several parabolic designs that capture sound in a particular direction. One such microphone was pointed towards the Federation team. Here... here is that recording."
Tevrin waited for him to produce a data chip from his pocket before taking it over and inserting it into his data processor. The chaotic din of the massive crowd filled most of the sound waves, but a faint conversation could be heard. Two female voices, which Condruil realized belonged to the Majestic's captain and chief diplomat.
"I recently spoke with the reviewer assigned to the case, and she's fairly certain that the Sozon application will be rejected. We'll probably only know for certain during the talks. I apologize for this blatant display of politics, though."
"Don't worry about it. I've had to bite my tongue and play nice plenty of times before. The life of a starship captain. Besides, maybe this is a good sign. Perhaps they actually want to change things. They're not ready for membership but they might be on the right track toward it. Hopefully."
Arching a single eyebrow, Tevrin remained silent for a moment as he replayed the message once again. He turned back to the audio technician and began to ask questions.
"This is unaltered in any way? How did you find this?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Raw audio from the source. I - we found it when we were scrubbing the feed for any dissenters that were booing Your Excellency's speech," the young man nodded.
"I must hold council with my advisors at once. You have done well, son. Stay here in the capital as long as you'd like as my personal guest. I will send word to your superiors, commending your work."
Before the technician could pick up his jaw from the floor, Tevrin had walked out of the room and disappeared around the corner. With the knowledge that they were on the back foot, he knew that they would have to change their tactics and do so quickly.
[Royal Conference Room, One Hour Later]
"Cassie! Wait!" Cassandra heard just as she was about to open the door to the conference room. A security complement from both parties would already be inside, waiting for her and the Emperor, but mostly waiting for the Emperor. If this was like any of the other sessions so far, she would be made to wait for two hours, or even more. A short conversation outside the doors wouldn't make a difference.
"What?" she asked as she saw her aide jogging towards her, PADD in hand.
"It just came in. Nyx transferred the ruling just now to Sozon's central computer, and sent me a copy to give to you," she said after catching her breath.
"Thanks," Cassie said, giving her aide a look that said everything. Nyx had come through. Although the ruling had indeed been expedited, Cassie was convinced her colleague at Federation Headquarters had delayed at it much as possible to give her the least amount of time to read and analyze it. She still took a moment to quickly read through it. "He will not be happy," she remarked.
"Are they ever when their application is denied?" Jennifer asked.
"Indeed." Cassie held the PADD aloft. "Thanks again. I hate being the bearer of bad news, but I'd rather tell them myself than have them find out by other means. " Jennifer nodded and left the antechamber.
Cassie glanced one last time at the contents of the PADD, convinced she'd have time to review it in detail before the Emperor's entrance, and smoothed down her sleeveless dress.
Not for the first time since she'd arrived, she was wrong. "Oh," she uttered in surprise as she entered: Emperor Tevrin was already waiting for her, lounging on a chair at the end of the massive table. She gave him a quick smile as she composed herself and gave a small curtsey. "Good evening, Emperor."
"And to you."
In a continuation of the Sozon head of state's change of tactics, he stood and greeted the Federation diplomat, drawing a few curious glances from his advisors which he promptly ignored. Pleasantries exchanged, Tevrin gathered his thoughts, took a deep breath, and set about the uphill battle of reversing the course of three sessions worth of negotiations.
"Ambassador, during my studies of the varied cultures of the Federation, I stumbled upon an old Terran idiom, curiously attributed to the famous Einstein, scientist of the twentieth century. 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.' In the spirit of this saying, allow me to apologize for making you endure these long waits. Punctuality? I believe that is the word?" Condruil noticed a slight nod. "I long expected that you were worthy of being viewed as a contemporary - allow us to apologize for the show we had to put on for the public. They expect pomp and circumstance, and we must give it to them."
In three days, Emperor Tevrin Condruil, fourth of his name, was apologetic? Now? He would never forgive her for being skeptical.
"Of course. Smoke and mirrors are sometimes an unfortunate necessity," Cassandra simply replied. She wanted to say so much more, yet she held her tongue. Pomp and circumstance were but a distraction from the real political issues, and the ruling class very knew that, and used it to its advantage. Hopefully, the citizens of this autocracy at least suspected as much as well.
As for making her wait for long periods of time, it was a common, even a preferred tactics amongst rulers, believing it would make people who they perceived as their inferiors more nervous. Cassie only saw it as a sign of disrespect, and most of the time, it did work out in her favour. She usually used that time to her own advantage: it gave her that much more time to prepare, to write notes, to make secondary plans in case her town tactics went awry.
For the time being, her best strategy was to keep silent and listen to what the Emperor had to say.
"Now, to the matter at hand," the Emperor shifted his attention back to his notes for a moment, remembering the look of the audio technician's face as he recalled the sound clip from the opening ceremonies. "From where we left off, we understand that the Federation may have some issues with cultural issues that are as ingrained into the Sozon people as this damnable conflict has been plaguing us. However," Tevrin stood and placed both palms flat on the tabletop, looking across to where Cassie was seated, "we have come to learn that our application for membership seems almost certain to be rejected."
The audio file played at the table for all parties to hear. Except for Tevrin, no one on the Sozon side had heard it before, and their looks of anger and shock attested to that fact.
"With that said, just as we have shown a penchant for peace in recent times, we believe that Sozon is capable of making the changes necessary. We need guidance, leadership, strength - but as I am a byproduct of this culture that we are trying to change, we need an external catalyst for change. This is why we have made the final position of the Sozon Empire the following," the Emperor took his seat, easing back into the perfect posture that had been embedded into his person since he was a boy.
"We propose the Holy Rite take place tomorrow's evening, but in place of the Princess, the Ambassador shall take the title of Empress Consort and all of the rights and privileges therein. Together, our leadership will provide the shift in paradigm that is needed for Sozon to evolve into a culture that is worthy of joining the Federation and the greater galactic neighborhood."
She had most definitely not expected that. Cassie, and everyone around her, went completely silent. For a moment, she was completely dumbfounded, but after that moment had passed, she eased back on her own own chair. She bit her lip and even brought a fist to her face to keep herself from bursting into a laughter. And yet came the chuckle, the giggle, and finally the burst of laughter.
"The Ambassador will do no such thing," she declared in between fits of laughter, even as she knew the opposing visibly disapproved of her reaction and that she had made a gigantic faux-pas as a diplomat. "Mais putain de merde! This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've heard!"
The Emperor found himself unable to keep a neutral expression, tilting his head to the side for a moment as the diplomatic translation of Cassie's French exclamation made little sense in the Sozon language. But the rest of the body language from the Federation diplomat was very clear, as was Tevrin's disapproval of the way the final round of negotiations was proceeding.
"Explain your meaning."
Cassie finally managed to contain herself. "For a whole slew of reasons. For one, each of the member planets of the Federation has abolished political marriages centuries ago. Two, if the betrothal contract, if indeed there is one, even remotely resembles the one that was drafted prior to your current betrothal, almost every single article in that contract goes contrary to Federation law. Third, my marriage to you for your outlined reasons, which will not happen," she said, emphasizing those last few words, "would be in direct violation of our Prime Directive."
"It is the Holy Rite! Surely it is within your so called 'Prime Directive' to respect and observe the customs of those who you are sent to..."
Cassie smirked, and wagged her finger. "I'm not done!" she interrupted, as if insulted bu the Emperor's own interruption. "Four: you are subject to reprisals and sanctions from the Tulias Alliance if the Empire unilaterally breaks the betrothal contract, as outlined in Article 3 of said contract," she continued without even looking at her own notes. That's how much she knew her material. Five: it's already too late."
She plucked the document containing the ruling and flicked towards the Emperor's own. "Your application has been rejected, Emperor. Every single reason justifying the Federation's decision is outlined in this document, which has also reportedly been transferred to your central computer."
Reality finally began to sink in for the Sozon Emperor. The plan he had concocted over the past three years to join the Federation by way of grand gestures and "peace" laid unraveled on the floor around him; his aspirations of galactic grandeur nixed by the stroke of a pen on a desk he would likely never see. Anger, sadness, despair, rage - one by one, the emotions flooded through his head, each one in a strong enough dose to render the head of state speechless for a very long time.
"Very well," Tevrin muttered. "These negotiations were doomed from the start, it would appear. I should have trusted my instinct. I shall never make that mistake again. I suppose this was your Federation's way of attempting to teach me a lesson - to agree to go through all of the motions like you were seriously considering our proposal, only to humiliate me on the eve of achieving a peace that has not existed for decades."
"I can assure you, Emperor, the Federation receives every membership application in good faith, and each is meticulously analyzed. That being said, you do have options. You can appeal the decision, or you can take the annexed recommendations into consideration and re-apply. In either case, I do suggest you carefully read the conclusions the analyst assigned to your case has come to," Cassie explained.
"Indeed, I was in contact with her about a week ago, and yes, she told me about the upcoming ruling, but I only learned of it a few moments before opening these very doors," she concluded, pointing to the door behind her.
"One final request, then, assuming that you have the authority and are simply not an errand-girl for whomever has the real power," the Emperor gritted his teeth. "Take the Princess with you. One does not need an intelligence division to know that her desires lie with the one you call Barr. We will find another way to make peace with the Tulians."
"If you're officially absolving Princess Leyana from her contractual obligations, I think you should give her the courtesy of telling her yourself, and discuss the dissolution of the betrothal contract with her," Cassie suggested, leaning back on her own chair. "With witnesses and a written confirmation of said dissolution."
These developments didn't sit well with Cassandra. She had come to gauge the Emperor over the past few days: he wan't one to give up this easily. Over the last three days, these talks had been a veritable game of chess, neither of them gaining the upper hand. Now that she had arguably played her best move, he just folds? This was highly uncharacteristic of him. She was even surprised he hadn't ordered her immediate execution for laughing in his face. What was he up to?
"I gather these witnesses will suffice?" The Emperor nonchalantly waved around the room before summoning one of his assistants to him. The shorter Sozon man held a silver tray that he placed carefully on the table. Centered on the tray was a large document bearing the Emperor's Seal, the handwritten contents of which contained the absolution of Leyana's contract. A stroke of a pen and a stamp of the royal ring in a circular disk of wax institutionalized the document. It was as good as the law in the eyes of the Sozon government.
"You must be curious," a thin, wry smile stretched Tevrin's lips into an uncomfortably sinister line. "We know we would be. You see, my dear Cassandra, you have arrived just in time to play your part in the final chapter of a long story that began long before the Federation had ever heard of the Great War or of the Sozon Empire. You may have assumed peace is the end goal for the Sozon people, but peace to my people is a direct path to poverty and suffering. You see, all my people know is war and conflict. They are indoctrinated from a young age. Our economy is a finely turned machine based upon the production of war!"
Emperor Condruil stood from his seat and glanced at his advisors individually, but his eyes eventually settled on two of the five seated members of his court.
"There are those, of course, who are proponents of peace. They have grown bold, using their ideology to sway the weak. They have infiltrated our house! They seek to erode the very foundations of the Sozon Empire! But what they don't understand is that they seek their own undoing," Tevrin stood behind one of the advisors he had singled out earlier and clasped his shoulder. The diplomat trembled in his seat, closing his eyes in fear.
"So in closing, Ambassador, I thank you. You have given us everything we need to sway the public opinion. Distrust of foreign envoys, belief in the State media - what more do you need to control the masses?" Tevrin laughed, his eyes were wild with lust for power. "Leave. Make your report to the handler. Take that Tulian b---- with you, if you wish for her to stay alive. I will show the people of the Empire how little the Federation truly cares."
Cassandra Leblanc-Reed
Chief Diplomat
Emperor Tevrin Condruil
as played by
Cmdr Jared Hanover
