NationStates Jolt Archive

=<Transmission Type: Diplomatic Communique>=
=<Subject: Kajali Entrance Into The Triumvirate of Yut>=
=<Destination: Council of Yut>=
=<Sender: Andrew Seal, Prime Minister, Imperial Commonwealth of Khenala>=

Greetings, fellow Councilmembers:

After careful review of the dossiers compiled by both our internal Intelligence service and information submitted by fellow Triumvirate nations, the Imperial Commonwealth of Khenala has decided to ABSTAIN from a vote on membership.

While the Kajali government does seem to be sincere in their willingness to concede to the responsibilities required of a Triumvirate member, their past dealings with Arda leave us wary and cautious.

However, due to our recent isolation from international affairs, we feel a "NAY" vote may possibly reflect unfairly upon Kajal's bid for membership.

Therefore, we will leave the decision to those more familiar with Kajal and its current affairs.

{private encryption}

Furthermore, we have no objection to Cetaganda's request for control over the former territories of Ravenspire.

{/private encryption}

May the Stars illuminate your paths,

Andrew Seal
Prime Minister
Imperial Commonwealth of Khenala

=<End Transmission>=

It appears the leopard has changed it's spots. As long as those spots do not wash off our vote is 'Aye'. However, it is still a leopard and bears watching.

Erika Silaco,
President,
Libertarian Republic of Sunset

Menelmacar votes AYE in support of Kajali membership in the Triumvirate of Yut.

UPDATE:

ISSUE CURRENTLY AT VOTE: Membership of Kajal

VOTING POOL: 21
NUMBER NEEDED TO PASS (2/3): 14

VOTES FOR: 14 ISSUE PASSES FOR FAE REVIEW
Zero-One (sponsoring)
Sakkra
Cetaganda
The Caloris Basin
Dread Lady Nathicana
Tiburon
Reploid Productions
Mangala
Sneaky Bastards
Euroslavia
Treznor
Eniqcir
Sunset
Menelmacar
VOTES AGAINST: 2
Kaenei
Freod
VOTES ABSTAINING: 2
Imnsvale
Khenala
VOTES UNACCOUNTED FOR: 5
Suunto
The Elsani City States
The Territory

* - * - *

The Federated Segments of Scolopendra, noting the change in Kajali administration and national drive, believes that the Federated Imperium is ready for membership in the Triumvirate and ACCEPTS this decision.

http://www.weirdozone.com/projects/nationstates/scolopendra/speaker-to-animals.gifSupreme Emperor Speaker-Rrit
Scolopendran Delegate, First Among Equals
Council of Yut

"In the interest of better relations with our Martian bretheran and the furtherment of the Triumvirate, we find the admitance of The Federated Imperium of Kajal to be benificial."
"In our role as a First Amongst Equals, we cast our vote as aye."

"So say we all"
-Maria Peacecraft
-Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Ordance Enabled Karmic Hegemony of Karmabaijan will not block the admission of Kajal into the Triumvirate of Yut. We send our congratulations.

-vK

We oppose the extension of the Triumvirate of Yut to further nations at this time.

Mægþeow, Þeoden Mearclanda

Kajal has passed all requirements for entry and so the Charter shall be updated.

Punch and pie at Kajal's place. Everyone must bring beer and chips to be allowed entry.

http://palara.sularan.net/kajallogo.gif
Seal of the Federated Imperium of Kajal

The Federated Imperium is humbled by the approval granted by our fellow nations regarding membership in the Triumvirate of Yut. We are very much grateful for your support, and noting the concerns that have been raised, we hope that our future cooperation and interaction will help to allay those concerns remaining.

At this time, we have booked a banquet hall in our Embassy in Vinyatírion, as it is somewhat more local a venue than Mars or Kajal proper. We extend an invitation to all fellow nations and note that there is no set dress code or actual specific time beyond seven-ish, local time.

There will also be present a rather large screen, measuring in excess of two hundred inches, and compatible with most set-top entertainment devices...

~MSHAD870
FKC Improbably Engaged
Combined Federal Services, Federated Imperium of Kajal.

Emperor Gorrm makes a public notice of his desire to attend, and as such is anticipating dipping into his private store of Granny Slag's Tapioca Pudding. It is expected that sharing of this delight will commence. You may all begin looking forward to it.

Short and simple he thought, Alliance kind of declaration only the start of it, really. The message in question read only "We quit. Reasons given on request."
Of course, being a gross simplification, agonising over the act was for the history books now. Still, friends to be told outside of official channels comes next. Contact could of course never cease, but growing attitudes could now be aired, in a sense, if in a different way. Certain elements of the administration had their own opinions, and tried their best to convince him otherwise, or set up their own little agreements with certain other contacts, or deny others existence entirely, but all it lead to the in the end was a short, sharp visible side and the far greater, far more 'grey' fallout that would cause more trouble than was perhaps neccessary. For the average Elsani, the greatest concern was avoiding the trickery and deceit to come, and a sense of general dread that it was a great possibility that they would return to the life they had abandoned, to them, so long ago.

It wasn't a first so to speak. FSP had withdrawn before, but had at least offered reasons and presented them in a diplomatically acceptable format. For a group who had only benefited from the alliance, so far as could be seen from an outside view, who had added little, and done less, seemingly supported for the most part by one member state in particular, it was a ... surprising response. And an odd one to boot.

"We quit? That's it? 'Reasons given on request'? What in hell prompted this?" Nathicana asked the group in general, which prompted various shrugs and expressions of 'hell if I know'.

"There hasn't been any indication previous of problems that we've seen," Pellegrino said, looking as confused as the rest.

"Fallout?"

"None, really. Aside from alliance membership, there were no formal ties, trade agreements, or anything else. They seem to overall keep to themselves," di Medici offered.

"Now, there was a request some time back for assistance in dealing with a problem of seemingly mystical nature," Pellegrino added thoughtfully.

"Which we were ill-equipped to assist with, so didn't. Outcome?" Nathi asked.

"Unknown - there were no subsequent reports."

"Perhaps they've been quietly building up military forces elsewhere, and now feel they've no need of alliance protection." This from Torino, unsurprisingly.

"There's been no reports of such," Pellegrino countered.

"Still, possible. We can't be everywhere and see everything - no offense, Toni. Realistically, no one can, however impressive their skills," Torino replied, offering a respectful nod of the head.

"Granted," the intel minister said, nodding in return. "So, no obvious reasons, none given, and a response I'd expect from children on the playground, not people whom the alliance welcomed without much question."

"Then we accept gracefully, and let it go," Nathi said, shrugging slightly and pausing to take a sip of her ever-present ice water. "There's really nothing for it. And it isn't as though the Trium is known to take any actions against those who choose to move on. If they'd rather be on their own, that's their affair. I'll type up the response, and we too can move on. Now, what's next on the agenda?"

*=*=*=*=*

While we may not understand the reasons behind the decision, we wish the Elsani well in their new course of action.

--Nathicana D'Aquisto, Dread Lady and First Imperatrice of the Dominion

The grassroots reaction can be described as... displeasure. One wouldn't normally consider the Queendom to be an imperial power, even if one remained cognizant of Sirenum; the formerly Kajali elves and Khanate humans integrated well as they were left to their own ends, and domination never really seemed to fit in well with the usual mechanoid mindset. Throughout Shodey's adoption of the Elsani, mechanoids complained about the seeming waste of resources, and the sudden imperial dominance over a client state. That the Queendom was even more hands-off of the Elsani than it was with Sirenum never entered the picture; the 01MC-built Habitat was a rally point for the QACF and a transfer hub for 01MC robot freighters, and that made it a client state at best and a proper colony at worst. To most minds, that was a serious problem.

Of course, no one knew about the quiet transfer of the Elsani genetic legacy information. 01MC quietly made a tidy sum off of Shodey's discoveries and tinkering with that rather large collection of genomes. People generally prefer not knowing these things, whether they know they prefer it or not.

Now, with this unexpected departure, tides shifted and minds previously looking for Elsani freedom suddenly felt... cheated. After all, Zero-One built the habitats. It protected the Elsani around Mars, format it all, and this sort of short brush-off is all they get for their troubles, and courtesy, and charity? That's just not polite.

A lot of people think post-Singularity minds will be better, more rational, and less petty than their human forebears. To an extent, they're right; later-generation minds further removed from their artificial intelligence origins certainly are more distinct from their organic forebears. Still, none of these qualities have been, nor does it appear they ever will be, expurgated. Simply the cost of intelligence, it seems.

Of course, Escher's Star celebrates the fact that a bunch of meatbags have decided to leave the protective embrace of the Queendom and its allies. So they want to face the big bad universe on their own? Let them. Let's see how long an undefended, unarmed habitat in orbit around Mars lasts as a sovereign state. Betting pools immediately spring up on whether the Elsani's final fate will either be a subjugated nation of wageslaves or fine particulate matter around Mars. The pool even goes to the extent of betting on the particular salaries of the sweatshop workers or the average size of the debris particles.

That goes on for a few hours, minutes, days, and--albeit with people starting to wonder why S.H.O.D.A.N. has nothing to say on the matter--life itself doesn't change all too terribly much. The grass-roots are buoyed, though, and the technological jihadists dismayed, when the official statement finally does come through.

<Communications to Greater Networks>
{
<< As the Elsani have left the Triumvirate, they are no longer covered by the Combined Services' defense policies. With this in mind, and considering that all agreements and associations made outside the alliance are still valid, the Queendom Armed Conflict Force will continue to provide defense services for the Elsani City States up until they are capable of defending themselves from any reasonable aggression in Martian space. Additionally, trade via Zero-One MonoCorporation will continue on schedule as previous, as these were also established in negotiation outside the aegis of the Triumvirate.

<< I wish the Elsani the best of luck and respect their recent decision.
}

http://dagobah.tchmachines.com/~tpjzdd/albums/randomocity/sshock2_rev.jpg
S.H.O.D.A.N. v3.0
MCP : Q01

Emperor Gorrm looks over the incredibly brief communication from the Elsani. "Did we have any truck with them?"

His aide, seemingly ever-present at his side, nods her head in the negative. "No, sire. As such, their departure means they have taken none of our culture or technology with them."

"Hmmmm...." He looks over the communication. No noticeable traits of any emotions at all show on him." Ah well. It's not like they were particularly important to us. Such rudeness is best left to drift in the wind. Next order of business?"

"Yes, sire. Multiple candidates have responded to the call for an Empress. You can bring up the details......."

Commissioner Rock, the big, blue, chummerly Seldane in chage of Triumvirate of Yut Space Patrol and International Rescue, takes the podium and looks around at the various delegates (both physical and telepresence) with a good-natured but professional smile.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. You've certainly all heard of the Osage unrest throughout the Solar System, and know that we have had relatively minor cases of unrest in the Ringside Reserve Territories where we shipped the Osage after the Volarian Impact. I've met with their spokesperson and the good news is that they have no real quarrel with us. They thank the Triumvirate for our hospitality and our willingness to be... libertarian with them. They do, however, demand independence."

He pauses for a moment. "Not here. They wish to go back to what they consider their homes: all of Ur and a portion of Sentinel Two on Mars. I promised them I'd make the argument for them, and, after talking with Sky Marshal Fani-Kayode of Mars Theatre, we've come up with a sort of plan.

"The Osage are highly inclined towards the metaphysical, almost to the extent of hive-mindedness. It's like if the New Age were real. Anyway, they will become more problematic as time progresses if they don't get what they want, although I'm pretty sure we can convince them to be well-behaved on the Ring. Even then, I can't expect the pot to boil over forever. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, the Triumvirate federal institutions like SPIR, the TYCS, the TYSS, and the TYDC have no place actually ruling people. Look at Ravenspire. If we support the Osage cause, we can move them to where they want to be, seeing how they do not wish to integrate with us.

"On a legalistic side, they built Ur. Even if they signed the rights back to the Valinese, they simply need to get them back... something we can do for them with the Triumvirate Protectorate Territories on Mars. We don't want them, we can parcel them out so Valinese interests aren't greatly aided in hindrance to our own, and we have enough to offer a two-for or three-for-one area deal so they can't help but profit. As for Sentinel-Two... perhaps the Menelmacari delegate has an idea. I don't know if it's dependent on both, but getting at least one for them would be good.

"Finally, this is a matter of Triumvirate interest given the overreactions seen across Mars to peaceful Osage protests. While it is not our business to directly interfere with how others choose to run their nations, we are permitted to hold an opinion. We are generally a progressive organization, and I think we can all agree that slaughters in the street are..."--he grimaces a bit--"inconvenient if not downright wrong.

"I'd like to put the case of the Osage up to a vote so the federal services will have a mandate to act and coordinate more efficiently concerning them. Will we support their bid for nationhood, or not?"

Firefury, actually present for once due to a "vacation" spent playing around at Camp R, looks over the available information.

"Frankly, this is why I've kept the Shogunate nice and far from the entire issue of Mars. It's like the Middle East of the space age. As such, the Shogunate isn't really in any great position to give an opinion on Mars junk, but I say go for it." The orange reploid pauses. "The question is, given this is Mars we're talking about, can Osage independence be achieved without the usual outbursts of violence or cataclysmic disaster? Given the reactions to otherwise peaceful rallies, seems to me that supporting 'em could just be one big headache."

Commissar Rock nods. "Yeah, it is something of a hornet's nest, but things on Mars aren't too difficult to understand, according to Sky Marshal Fani-Kayode. Actually, I'll let her speak for herself. Sky Marshal?"

One of the telepresence holographic emitters next to the presenter's dais hums to life and a middle-aged yet still athletic woman of Madagascan extraction in Fleet greens fades into the local reality. "Thank you, Commissioner Rock. Ma'am, Mars works off of three basic cardinal sins: pride, envy, and greed. Envy doesn't really enter into to this one, so let's establish the case from pride and greed.

"The Valinese are pretty damn proud, and I'm not sure I'm willing to say they can back it up or not. They had Ur signed over fair and square, and should they be forced to give it away, well, they'd be rather miffed. It would make them look bad. However, they are also greedy. They have Ur mostly because it's there, and they haven't done much with it. This plays into our advantage because, quite simply, we can offer them a swath of ex-Eniqciri Triumvirate Protectorate Territory we honestly don't need and I don't want to administrate and thus bribe the Valinese into giving us Ur, at which point we give it to the Osage. There would be some complaints because the abuses of some previous Osage leaders have been transferred to the people in general, but... back to the Commissioner."

"They've been model citizens on the Ring," he says bluntly. "Even the latest unrest has been almost unnervingly non-violent. Yes, they do have a sorta boneheaded tendency to walk past the high-security line and get a dose of antipersonnel maser set to 'burning feeling,' but it's far preferable to a militarized resistance or freedom-fighting movement. I don't think they'd constitute a threat back where they want to be on Mars."

"They'd also owe us for bribing the Valinese. A lot." Fani-Kayode smiles predatorially. "There would be muttering about the Osage being back, mostly from the traditionally contrarian nations of Mars. As time progressed and the Osage turned out to be good citizens, things would settle out. Should the Osage turn out to be a problem, well, we'd get blamed but we would also be in a very good position to do something about it. WarWANCC says that it is highly unlikely that they would have the sort of defenses necessary to protect themselves from the average Martian aggressor. Thus, they'd be reliant on the QACF/Martian Port Authority defense umbrella. Should they take the effort to arm up, that would not only be in direct contravention of their new stated ideology, but, more than that, it'd be readily obvious. The defense umbrella goes away, and, as Machiavellian as it is, the Osage get left to the hounds who would be scared of any such buildup. Overall, the eventual advantage of keeping our name as the good guys overcomes the fact that we're helping a people who had some historical warlords."

Ambassador Sreeth, present due to a reassignment from a directorial position on Sslaa V for mental health reasons, was present in his black and silver leather trench, endemic of the DiploCorps. He coughs to garner attention before posing his question. "That is well and good, but have projections been made on how the Osage would interact with their neighbors and vice-versa in their current political states? Casus belli and all that? It would probably be good to know the likelihood of .... future interventions in order to prepare for them."

Ambassador Merala spoke up. "As you know, the Kajali government has tried to remain neutral in this matter. While we support the thought of their sovereignty, there have been attempts by other nations to attempt to paint our government as sponsoring terrorism and the like.

Of course, that particular incident is currently being dealt with and should be resolved soon... However, it is possible that more incidents of that nature may occur.

Again, while we support Osage sovereignty, what is it going to cost us in possible future interventions, not only concerning the Osage themselves, but groups that may want to deliberately threaten their position on Mars?"

"I would think that if they keep their noses clean, there wouldn't be further problems - providing this independent state remained somewhat separate, as the case would be should they be relocated to Ur," Nathicana said via telepresence.

"We support them being independent because we too believe they would be less problematic this way, as well as having no one be held accountable for them should something end up going awry. I agree with the good Sky Marshal on the many benefits of the approach she mentioned. Favors given, favors earned, and in the end, we're able to step away if the Osage prove false."

"Given our relations however, it would perhaps be wise not to have the Dominion be the ones to approach Valinon. Bad blood, and a lack of trust and respect seems to be mutual."

"I will admit, there is a chance that some Martian nations would try to destabilize the Osage in misplaced revenge," the Sky Marshal replies with a nod. "Given what we know of the new Osage ideology, though, they may actually refuse our intervention except in case of an existential threat, at which point we'd probably force the issue with an extraction campaign anyway. Meanwhile, if we do nothing and leave them where we are..."

"We will have to intervene," Commissioner Rock picks up with a shrug. "'Cept instead of a stand-up bared-teeth back-em-down military standoff, like the Ticks here has been doing on Mars for yonks, it'd be an insurrection on our own soil. It may be a peaceful insurrection, but that'll just make it worse. Our countries generally have sympathy for the little guy. We don't do insurrections very well, and we can only bury them in so much riotfoam before a grass-roots movement comes up to force our hands one way or another."

Tandra smirks. "Yes, and it's better if we bribe Valinon now and get the situation taken care of rather than, say, knights-errant militant or some other silly do-gooder force does it the hard way, taking the whole 'liberating the rightful homeland' thing a bit too seriously. Besides, we could also act as intermediaries between the Osage and the Martian nations, setting up resource deals and whatnot. Fiercely independent they may be, but they'll still probably want to trade, and people will want access to an untapped market. Good markets generally breed good relations, all else being equal."

"'Course, on the subject of Mars, what's all this crap flying about some new virus down there? How's that tie in to the Osage movement?" Firefury muses with all of her usual lack of tact. "We don't have any surface traffic down there, but I know there's probably a trickle of tourist types that are going to just have to stay put until they're cleared."

The reploid pauses for a moment, before addressing Nathi. "And no offense or anything, how long will Machiavelli be shut down due to all this? DipCorps has been catchin' flak from some of the small merchants that have the station on their trading routes."

"It's Mars," the Sky Marshal says tiredly. "Other than the fact that perhaps three member fleets plus one destroyer are standing by to Gee-Oh-Twenty-Four the unclean, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. I've seen worse."

Nathi nods, looking none to pleased herself about the entire mess.

"We're working with Zero-One to finish a complete scan of the station and it's occupants, at which point we'll be re-opening fully, and conducting any further scans just inside our perimeter on any incoming ships as a preventative measure. I would expect results within the next twenty-four hours. We've already released a statement concerning compensation and we'll handle it on a first-come, first-served basis, as smoothly as can be managed. Our finance ministry is screaming over that one, and they have every intention of forwarding our bill to those they view as the responsible party."

To the Sky Marshal, she offers a slight apology along with an explanation.

"Given our presence on Mars is directly tied to the NDA, we're attempting to keep our military activity very low-key. Officially, we're doing no more than protecting our borders, and our movements reflect this. Unofficially, Dominion forces in the area have been directed to respond should you require any assistance. Other dual members will have to speak for themselves, and NDA joint forces will be handled as seen best by the Council."

"Kajal Mars remains under quarantine for the next 48 hours. Economically this situation is less than desirable, however, mechanized infrastructure continues to operate normally and normal shipping and civilian traffic should resume at the conclusion of quarantine measures.

I am sure that you've all seen the newscasts, and the data recently declassified concerning Miyanna Arcology. Since that incident, there have been an additional 1,028 suspected cases detected, and an additional 5,242 persons in quarantine. The vast majority of these persons were detected through use of the scanners fabricated using the patterns from Vespoidia - of the total 6,270 persons in quarantine none have actually yet developed any symptoms. Any place known to be frequented by any of those in quarantine is undergoing recommended sterilization procedures, up to and including complete demolition of existing buildings through gravitic containment and high energy gamma ray burst, colloquially "vaping", when necessary. This method has only been recommended concerning residential towers that held residences for many of the quarantined - many of the structures housing the remainder of residences and office spaces are resilient enough for individual spaces to be subjected to the same sterilization treatment on a small scale and the spaces thusly resurfaced.

Detection efforts are ongoing, though we have essentially confined 600 million citizens to their homes for the next 48 hours. It is not expected for the number in quarantine to increase at all. Only a small percentage of the business and civilian communities have traveled to or from the suspected contagion points within the past three months, and, barring those who have already died or are currently in stasis aboard Isasrach, we have accounted for all of them.

As the Queendom of Zero-One is well aware, we have approved a motion to place an order for replacement bodies for the full population within quarantine, with the option for those who don't want to wait to use "loaners" based off of standard 01MC commercial androids, paid in full for by the Kajali government.

Obviously, replacement bodies place certain requirements upon the buyer, and we have made available what records are extant concerning DNA samples of those quarantined. None of the samples should show any sign of the so-called "Geneticorps Marker" as most are several years old.

With any luck, in 48 hours, after preparations and final scans to confirm that no further incidences of infection are present within Kajal Mars, the quarantine will be lifted.

We will of course continue to forward all relevant data concerning this outbreak and our actions to contain it. Incidentally, it has been submitted to Parliament that a memorial be constructed on the site of Miyanna Arcology. No designs are forthcoming at this time but the Members of Parliament believe something identifying all the victims would be most appropriate..."

Rising to stand and gain the attention of the chamber the Supreme-Overseer for the Office of Foreign and Extra-Solar Affairs, one Riordan Likonesse, folded his hands neatly in front and regarded the representatives of the council with eyes baring the wrinkles of many decades of experience.

"Representatives," He began. "The Council of the Aengelistoria Dominica is of the opinion that as noted by the Scolopendran representative, Mars is a seething hotbed of instability and chaos. We are all keenly aware of the afore mentioned greed that sees any plot of land that becomes merely poorly governed, let alone ungoverned, become contested and desired by every power surrounding."

"We are concerned that should the Triumvirate step in to broker an agreement to transfer the contested area from Valinon that we may set a precedent whereupon future claims to land under foreign ownership or indeed our ownership is contested by the displaced or unhappy and that our actions here may lend legitimacy to that end."

"The Serene Union therefore suggests that under the aegis of the TYCS, a world suitable for Osage habitation be found and that the population in the Ring be relocated there for perpetuity."