The Best Laid Dinner Plans #2
The Emperor stood, fury clouding her face.
“How dare you come here to celebrate falsely with me? Guards, arrest that man. Arrest every Despotate delegate! They are no longer welcome at my gala. They are no longer welcome in my Empire. I do not recognize them as a legitimate government. I hope all nations will join me in branding the Urgan Despotate as a rogue nation, a criminal enterprise, and work with me to eradicate their influence from the galaxy.”
As armed guards leveled zeroblades and lancers at the rising Urgans, Lady d’Lyre called out, “The Federation is with you!”
Several Urgan officers drew their blades.
One made to strike an Imperial guard, but his clumsy thrust was parried and he was run through.
Two lancers shrieked, and there was a brief flurry of martial movement.
In a second, the blood of half a dozen lords commander slicked the floor.
The remaining officers were smart enough to drop their weapons and raise their hands.
Lady d’Lyre herself held a small zeroblade dirk at Hotzendorf’s throat, but he was smart enough not to draw his blades.
Instead, he glared daggers at the Federation senator, as if the heat of his gaze could penetrate her shields. Sadly, Bridgette was unaffected.
As a tense silence descended on the hall, the Emperor raised her hands for attention.
“Lady d’Lyre, I thank you and the Noble Federation for bringing me this important news, terrible though it is.
You have done me a great service, and I insist on rewarding you in kind.
Say what you wish of me, and if it is within my power, it shall be done. ”
Here it was, the moment the Federation would make a play at becoming the quadrant’s superpower.
Lady d’Lyre’s smile was gracious, as was her bow.
“Thank you, Emperor. I wish for nothing myself. I am but a humble servant of the Federation and the galaxy at large, but for my nation, I have a few small requests.”
I chortled wryly at the idea of Bridgette being a humble servant of anything, but she continued unchecked.
“The continued prosecution of this horrid war benefits no one. We’ve already suffered one Fall event. Further bloodshed may lead to similar ruin. Let us end this conflict now, before events spiral beyond our control.”
The Emperor nodded. “You speak wisely. The Empire also wishes to bring the war to a swift close. I recommend our diplomats meet to officially discuss peace terms.”
Lady d’Lyre bowed graciously. “Thank you for seeing the truth, Emperor. However, I feel we can agree on several peace terms here and now, allowing the official work to proceed that much faster.”
The Emperor pretended to consider. “I don’t see any reason we cannot reach an agreement now and ratify the details later. What is it the Allies desire?”
“Dear Emperor, is that quite fair? It was not the Allies who brought you this information, but the Federation alone,” Lady d’Lyre replied.
At this, Prince Aureli stood. He cut an impressive figure in his white formal evening suit and the authority only a thousand years of royal history can give a person.
“Lady d’Lyre, surely you jest, or have you forgotten the Marseilles Accords? We signed a pact to negotiate a unified peace, not to sue for separate treaties.”
Bridgette pealed off a laugh like a tinkling array of crystal bells.
“The Marseilles Accords were rendered null and void the moment the Despotate detonated a Fall device and became a rogue state. Their treachery releases the Federation from all obligations and renders us free to make whatever agreements we can.”
“The Despotate’s interests may be forfeit, but nothing has invalidated the obligations between the Federation and the Royal Commonwealth.
We have activated no Fall devices nor committed any breach of the Accords,” Prince Aureli said.
His voice was firm and resonant, commanding attention and respect from all who heard it.
I could see why he was the Commonwealth’s lead diplomat.
The Emperor raised a placating hand. “Prince Aureli of Lynwyzc, I will also end the war with the Commonwealth and your other allies. The Federation delegate and I are discussing the gift I intend to give her in gratitude for revealing the Despotate’s barbarism.
You will have your turn to speak at the negotiation table, but for now, I would hear what the Lady d’Lyre has to say. ”
Bridgette thanked the Emperor. “The Federation’s requests are simple. In gratitude for exposing these vermin, the Federation asks to annex any Despotate worlds currently occupied by Federation forces.”
“An entirely reasonable request, so long as you do not object to the Empire doing the same with worlds controlled by Imperial soldiers,” the Emperor replied.
Lady d’Lyre agreed before making her second request. “The Despotate has been declared a nation non grata, yet they maintain many yet-unconquered systems in the Silesia cluster. The Federation humbly requests the now-nationless stars and their associated worlds be ceded to Federation control, to allow a seamless transition of power.”
“I care not what happens to the surviving worlds of the former Urgan Despotate. You may have those worlds which the Empire does not control, but I believe many are currently defended by Commonwealth armies,” the Emperor replied, and I tried not to start.
That was true. The Silesia cluster had been one of the most active battlegrounds for the war’s duration, ever since the Commonwealth stopped the Empire’s initial blitz there with a brutal counterattack.
Many Urgan planets in the Silesia cluster were defended by a mixed force of Commonwealth and Urgan soldiers, seasoned veterans all.
Most Urgan armies were commanded by Commonwealth officers.
Surely, the Urgan rank and file would side with the Commonwealth officers who had fought alongside them for so many years.
The Empire had not handed d’Lyre the Silesian systems outright.
If the Federation chose to take them by force, they would have to attack some of the quadrant’s most militarized and best-defended worlds.
Perhaps the Commonwealth held more bargaining chips than we thought.
Lady d’Lyre clearly did not expect that to be any trouble, as she waved the Emperor’s comment aside.
“A detail which shall be remedied at the final negotiating table. However, there is one indulgence which I would beg of you, one final concession I ask in return for delivering this vital information to you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Prince Aureli tense. I shared his anxiety. Here it was, the moment of truth, the determination whether my day had been spent in vain, or saved the Commonwealth’s future.
Lady d’Lyre parted her cupid-bow lips and said, “The Royal Commonwealth has been stretched thin by this war. Fighting you has proven too much for their limited resources and, as a result, they have abandoned their Fallspace colonies to fend for themselves. These colonies cried out for aid, and the Noble Federation magnanimously stepped in to supply and oversee these colonies, saving them from chaos, destitution, or even destruction caused by the Commonwealth’s neglect.
Therefore, as the Commonwealth has abrogated their right to these worlds, the Federation seeks permission to annex the abandoned Commonwealth Fallspace colonies. ”
Once again, Prince Aureli drew attention onto himself.
“Your Imperial Majesty, I protest this request on two grounds. First of all, the Commonwealth is not a conquered foe, not yet. Our armies still stand; our government has not surrendered. Our lands are not yours to give away. Secondly, the senator’s claim is based on a wild misrepresentation of the facts.
It’s true, Federation troops police our Fallspace colonies, but that was arranged at the Marseilles Accords.
According to our articles of alliance, the Federation assumed peacekeeping duties in the Commonwealth’s Fallspace colonies for the duration of the conflict in order to free up trained Commonwealth soldiers for the front.
At that time, the Allies thought seasoned Commonwealth professionals would be more valuable blunting the Empire’s assault than barely trained Federation draftees.
It was clearly stated and always intended that the Commonwealth would resume its normal governance of the colonies at the cessation of hostilities.
But now, I see our alliance was nothing more than a plot to allow Federation forces to steal desirable Fallspace territory while Commonwealth soldiers died in their stead.
“The Royal Commonwealth has spent centuries reclaiming star systems devastated by the Fall. We expended the effort, materiel, and lives to explore uncharted star systems, clear habitable worlds of still-active pre-Fall weaponry, and secure viable travel routes. The Federation has never contributed the slightest assistance in this effort, and has long publicly decried the Commonwealth’s Fallspace reclamation efforts as worthless wastes of resources which would never yield a profit.
Now that the Commonwealth has established several profitable, self-sufficient, contributing colonies in Fallspace, the Federation seeks to take them and reap the benefit of the Commonwealth’s work.
Federation troops did not magnanimously rescue abandoned colonies at the request of the colonial governments – they were peacekeepers requested by the Queen herself.
The Commonwealth never would abandon a colony, no matter how unprofitable.
Please, Emperor, do not support the Federation’s profiteering from a position of cowardice.
See this for what it is: a greedy and opportunistic grab for territory at the expense of an ally who shouldered the lion’s share of the war’s burden. ”