Nomad Deals

Brank

>Galaxy September Sixteen<
>>Diplomatic Fleet - On Behalf of The Seekers<<

It had been such a long time since anyone other than Elohim and his Musavians had directly contacted the Seekers of the Future, and their Nomad Fleets & hidden worlds. The Ascendant Dawn, nevertheless, the most beloved Prodigy children of the long-dead Old Imperium. What they had to offer the Seekers was the real question of the matter; but if one was never to look, then the answer would never be found.

They had quickly pieced together a small diplomatic element, splitting from the main nomadic element during a scheduled system-jump, and heading towards the Designated meeting point. The fleet consisted of three vessels, one a civilian transport craft holding diplomatic crews and the like. The other two, however, consisted of their necessary security. This consisted of a New-and-improved Espionage-class Stealth corvette, as well as a larger, and more dangerous Brazen-class Destroyer.

They were clearly trying to send a message.

Over the holodevice in the primary diplomat's hand, Captain Tourmaline of the Destroyer SVS Kestris stood in full-colour definition, a luxury no Dominion holodevice back in the day could've managed.

"Menthis, I assure you, it will be fine for I to accompany thee to the ground. We will be exiting hyperspace in a few moments, so please cease this pointless argument..."

The captain held his face in his hands, and was clearly frustrated.

Menthis- the diplomat holding the device- shook her head.

"Fine, you can come. Dont start anything, though, and quit speaking like a weirdo dumbass, Tourmaline. Just because we're some secretive org doesnt mean you need to talk like Thrawn."

"Oh fuck you, I think it sounds cool," he responded, and then cut the transmission.

What an Idiot...

One Minute Until Arrival

Drakador_Chaos

Andromeda Brank
As the two parties arrived what they found themselves in front was... rather curious.
There was a ship the size of a cruiser sitting in the interstellar void, surrounded by a number of escorts, they did have Ascendant Dawn IFF's though looked nothing like the usual AD ships did.
The main ship was large and bulky, it seemed heavily armoured and had a number of cargo or hangar doors, it was clearly armed, but definitely not a military ship though it had a quite significant engine section. A blockade runner perhaps? The size of a cruiser? The escorts on the other hand were no less bulky though considerably smaller and judging by the minute movements the had made when the ships left ftl, also considerably more maneuvrable, a concerning number of missile ports indicated they were more than capable to punch well above their weightclass, if so necessary.

Scans were detected by either party, likely to confirm whether they were actually the guests they were expecting, needless to say it would've been less than convenient for either side if they weren't. However, as things stood a hail was sent out along with a short transmission, containing info on their assigned docking ports on either side of the ship. There was no other transmission, no greetings or formalities so far, it seems they were being expected on the ship.

The inside of the ship in teh meanwhile was rather busy, hatched and corridors were opened and closed, guards moved into position in secret compartments, in case things went wrong, Invas Sogara in the meanwhile had entered the rooms designated for negatiation and waited patiently, he had been notified their targets arrived and read through teh briefings one last time.

Andromeda

Drakador_Chaos

"You have reached your meeting point." the voice would call out, notifying the captain of the obvious.

"Seems like it. Hail's gone through, we're on...that side it seems. Docking port...got it." Halthuss would say to himself, the data routed into the computer's main system. All that was required from him was his authorization code to engage the thrusters to dock with the AD's vessel. He raced over to the input his code to get the ship on a course to dock with the vessel, the blue spire of a cruiser in engaging its thrusters with a vibration throughout the ship, heading straight for the indicated docking point of its opposing party.

The Izerani vessel would notify the AD ship of its course, in order to prevent a misunderstanding and an unlikely warning strike or preliminary assault. It would be a tense few minutes as the Izerani cruiser slowly advanced to dock with the opposing party's vessel, its unusual construction being noted down and stored in some arcane archive to be looked through once the ship returned to Forlorn Hope.

Drakador_Chaos

Andromeda Brank
Things had gone smoothly so far as each ship had docked or landed in their designated spots. There was no big greeting ceremony, and the hangars were held simple and utilitarian, as expected from the outside look of the ship. Besides a number of automatons, moving around boxes and some workers coordinating them, the hangar were in fact mostly empty.

However one notable thing was awaiting each of them in their respectove hangar, a man looking and clothed like a butler, flanked by what looked like ship security on each side, as they came out of their ships, he bowed formally and then begann addressing them.
Notably the two men looked almost idetical, although neither side was aware of that currently.
"I see you have arrived, we bid you our greetings in the name of the Dawn and our thanks for taking up the offer. Please do come with me, you are being awaited."
The man waited patiently and would then proceed to lead them through the ship. The corridors on the way were equally as blank as the hangar and they did meet a single soul on the way to their destination.

Brank

With a soft shhhhh noise- the sound of numerous forms of radiation pouring from the jump-point being picked up on sensors- The Seeker's fleet appeared. The ships were tall, glowing in red- the Civilian vessel shining in a contrasting bright cyan-blues- and in the shape of four (or six, in the destroyer's case) pointed stars.

Within moments of the Dawner's message being sent out, the Seekers began to move into action, their weapons and shields remaining powered down. From the hidden hangar-bay of the large red six-pointed Kestris, a transport in the shape of a tri-point star bent backwards, shooting through the stars. Before it landed at the AD dock, it stopped in the hangar of the Civilian ship, then shooting out again.

The transport-craft seemed to have no visible drive-signatures, until Gravimetric sensors were brought into the mix, showing powerful bursts of gravitic energy being shot from small points in the craft, and from a region in the center of the three points, pushing it along on seemingly sheer-will.

As the transport dropped down into the hangar, smaller sharp spikes unfolded from the bottom-two starpoints, poking into the ground and providing the ship an even sitting on the flat deck, while the front point unfurled at the chin of the prow to reveal a ramp, a soft reddish glow emanating from the belly of the craft, followed by a gentle mist as the atmospheres equalized.

Brank

Drakador_Chaos

From the dropship a trio of people emerged, in extreme variations of clothing. Tourmaline was the first to leave the craft, stepping down with regality, wearing a deep red cape with golden pauldrons falling over his black-red captain's uniform. The second was Menthis, the actual diplomat of the endeavour, who wore a grey-blue uniform, and had a holotab in hand. She had poofy, curly brown hair, and walked briskly and with purpose. The third person out of the dropship did not follow them, and instead hung around near the opening to the ship, with the full armour of a marine and a sub-machine gun in hand. Just standard security.

Menthis and Tourmaline both smiled towards the so-dressed butler, and followed him. Tourmaline's arms were held snug-ly close to his body as he walked, keeping a straight posture. "Where exactly within the ship are we being led to?" he questioned absentmindedly.

Beside him, Menthis stuck to being politely quiet, cringing at Tourmaline's attempted small-talk. She kept up her brisk walking pace, having flicked off the holo-tablet and strapped it onto it's spot on her belt.

Drakador_Chaos

Brank Andromeda
The 'butler' looked at the seeker delegation for a couple moments, stopping on the marine, nodding, but not saying anything. As they walked through the corridors the man promtply answered their question in a formal and respectful yet somewhat monotone tone.
"We are heading to the reception rooms or negotiation chambers, if you wish to call it such."
He continued his way without futher ado.
In the meanwhile around the same time his counterpart in the other part of the ship answer the Izeranians, his answer in the same tone as the other to the Seekers.
"Berastio, Albin Berastio. Though do not worry yourself with one such as me there are more important individuals to get acquanited with here."
They both walked in relative silence for a couple minutes before both groups stopped before a two winged door, which promptly slid open to the sides when the respective butlers approached the consoles.
As the doors opened, each group was faced with the other on the opposing side of the room for the first time, they led to the same room with precise timing, which likely meant this had been intentional. Looking into the room itself it seemed to have an aura of utilitarian dignity, there was clearly money invested into the room but without seeming pompous or gaudy.
In fact, between the wooden furniture, the couches, screens and carpet, it seemed almost somewhat cozy. A holographic fire burned in a mock fireplace and on one of the couches sat a man that could be in his mid fourties, with a wine-red business suit, a worn but not weary face and a body which was stocky but not fat.
Seeing the groups arrive, he actually stood up and nodded courtly to each group respectively.
The butlers, which both groups now saw were almost eerily similar looking bowed formally and reached one arm palm up into the room, as if signifying them to enter.
The man looked at each of the groups respectively then nodded again.
"Greetings, Delegations of the Seekers and Izeranians."
He stopped again to look at the Seeker guard.
"If you would be so inclined I would ask you to leave your guard outside of the room, he may ruin carpet."
The man, still standing, waved his arms at the surrounding couches in a wide gesture as if asking them to pick a seat, though not without offering his arm for a handshake beforehand.

Andromeda

Thankfully the initial contact between the Izeranis and AD has gone well so far, and Halthuss would respond in kind.

"Pleased to meet you. What is your name, sir? I am Captain Halthuss, and I am representing the Free Directorate of Izeran."

Halthuss had never been especially taught in diplomatic matters, so he kept his face mostly blank and expression neutral, though the worry could not be hidden. The future of his very nation could ride on this discussion as the sweat beaded on his face even while seeming calm.

Following from his introduction, Halthuss would follow the men of the AD, their extremely similar dress not going unnoticed.

Brank

Drakador_Chaos

Tourmaline and Menthis stepped into the room briskly, eyeing the Izerani delegation and the oddly similar butleresque men. Tourmaline nodded to himself, and Menthis chose to ignore it for now. They both took a seat, Menthis offered a polite smile and looked towards the regal man. Tourmaline however, was more genuinely smiling and busy taking in the scenery of the room, the fake firelight and the authentic wooden furniture.

"Quite the nice place you have here, yes?" complimented Tourmaline, who finally turned to face the man. "I am Captain Tourmaline of the SVS Kestris, and to my left here is my friend and diplomat Menthis. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Menthis, knowing that polite small talk was Tourmaline's specialty- for better or for worse-, simply affirmed him and offered her own quick greeting, ever smiling.

Andromeda

Drakador_Chaos Brank

The remaining guard of the Izerani Captain stayed at the door, per se, miffed at being denied entrance on something so consumed by vanity. Halthuss, however, stepped into the delegation room with his new interlocutors -- The Seekers. As the sole delegate of the FDI, he'd have to pull his weight and then some.

"Pleased to meet you all, I am Captain Halthuss of the Free Directorate of Izeran, and commander of the ship ISDF Xerona. I must agree with you, Captain, this is quite the impressive meeting room. I can assume you were also called?" the man would say, quite bluntly with a small sort of false bravado in his voice, clearly overworked beyond imagination.

Halthuss would look around at the scenery after introducing himself briefly, with its cozy nature reminding him of what was once his grandfather's rural home back in Vulterra, a piece of a bygone age, since overrun in the cities and larger settlements. Perhaps he'd be able to find that kind of simplistic beauty in G-S16, once a stable planet was found for the Izeranis.

Drakador_Chaos

Brank Andromeda
The man nodded in acknowledgement and shook each offered hand firmly.
"Invas Sogara, Head of merchant house Sogara, from the Ascendant Dawn."
He looked at them for a couple more moments, then swayed his hand, offering them to sit down on one of the couches surrounding the table.
"Please, take a seat, any refreshments? Wine? Water? Any other drinks? Just ask."
He waited for a couple moments until they sat down and then did so himself, though not picking anything to drink yet, as if waiting to see if they would take up his offer and what they would pick, the couches were neither particularly soft nor hard, nor did the room have any overbearing pomp, it seemed that first and foremost it seemed to be functional, whilst remaining comfortable.
"I am most pleased you have come here today and that you have taken us up on the offer of a meeting, it goes a long a way towords building trust and I am sure we will find an outcome to this meeting which will be mutually satisfying."
He paused for a moment letting them take in the situation and room.
"Now, where are my manners? How has your travel here gone? No issues? I hope your arrival has been pleasant. I know we are a bit... out there currently, alas, I'm sure you see the necessity of it."
He seemed to be very... amicable, not oppressingly so but considerably more so than one would expect from someone sent by the Ascendant Dawn.

Andromeda

Drakador_Chaos

"I wouldn't mind some wine, if you'd be so amiable." Halthuss would reply to the man from the AD.

A little bit of relaxation wouldn't doom the meeting, and Halthuss, thanks to many years of hard drinking in the latter years of the FDI's increasingly barbaric time in Vulterra, had a very strong alcohol resistance.

"As am I pleased to meet you. The opportunity of making ties is essential to our survivability in this unfamiliar galaxy."

"The travel here wasn't the worst I've ever experienced, however, I've been needing to pull my weight and then some on my ship to keep it from descending into anarchy. So few crew can be spared, after all. Of course, being so far away from anywhere, and more importantly, anyone else in the galaxy makes our discussions less likely to be tapped, so I understand the necessity."

Halthuss would pause for a brief moment, waiting for any response from the Seekers before he got down to brass tacks, as was his preferred diplomatic routine. Short, quick, and above all, not bogged down in meaningless dribble. Results are what mattered.

Brank

Drakador_Chaos Andromeda

Tourmaline nodded as Halthuss spoke. "The same as him, if you wouldnt mind."

Menthis meanwhile, simply asked for a glass of water.

"It is a pleasure to be here as well, I can say that for the both of us," Tourmaline said, smiling. "The benefits to meeting with a nation as mythical as the ascendant dawn, a distant cousin to our own nation, far outweighed any plausible downsides. The travel was fine, although we did run into some pirates along the way that were..."

Menthis cut in, "Taken care of in the least violent manner we could manage. The seclusion of the meeting spot is to be expected, and is much appreciated as well." Tourmaline cut her a glance, but did not interrupt her, and instead stayed silent as he waited for Invas to respond.

"While I cant speak for my colleague," she continued, "I say we get down to business, and let the formalities flow after everything is sorted out," Menthis suggested politely. Then, she thought, she could leave and let the remaining three shoot it off with their pointless fancies and pleasures, and she could get immediatley to sorting out the bureaucracy that came with making agreements to other nationalities.

Drakador_Chaos

Brank Andromeda
'Straight to the point, a good stance.'
Invas nodded again, this time to himself, and continued as he poured a glass of wine for each of them and then one with water for Menthis.
"Very well. Very well. As you obviously know, we have gathered here today to make deals between our nations and see how each of us could benefit off our cooperation."
He paused for a brief moment before continuing.
"Ofcourse, we do have our own visions on what these deals will entail and how they will be handled, however, before we talk about those, I suppose it would be fair to ask, what you had in mind yourself, or if you came here in the sole expectation of an offer. Whilst we act in the interest of the Dawn, it would interesting and obviously necessary to hear your own."
He leaned back and interlocked his fingers, waiting for their response with seeming and genuine, interest. It was as much as question for their interests, as it was probing for their expectations of the Dawn.

Brank

Drakador_Chaos

Tourmaline graciously accepted the drink, lifting it with one hand, and sipping it lightly, smiling. He offered some banter, complimenting the wine , then leaned back as he allowed Menthis to speak.

Menthis took a drink of the water, quietly cleared her throat, and made sure no-one was talking before she began to speak.

"While my parent nation regrets to admit it, The Dawn are leagues more advanced and influential than us. Instead of making it a problem or a challenge, we have instead decided to come and work out an agreement of sorts. Our initial ideas would entail us giving you indirect command of a few fleets of our vessels to do whatever bidding you might need done without anyone knowing who did it, and in exchange, we get to tap into some of your resources, research programmes, and other things of the same vein. While i still hope to achieve something similar, I'm interested to hear what your idea of an offer might be."

Andromeda

Drakador_Chaos

"I was told by the FDI that I was here to organize a deal with you to get a permanent living space," Halthuss said, taking a sip of the drink offered to him. "We've been recently expelled to this galaxy, and I'm glad that you invited us out here. Preferably, they wanted me to keep talks short so we have a permanent planet to call our own."

He would take another sip of wine, using the short break from talking as a moment to gather what to say next. He was a ship captain, not a diplomat.

"So I'll put forth a deal now -- for the planet you assist us in settling on, we'll hand over 10% of the resources extracted until we pay back what assistance you gave us. I've been informed that the planet selected needs specific characteristics, too."

He would present the AD representative a small tablet, with a document pulled up on it. On the document were the biological needs of the Izeranis, and the requirements the planet needs to have. All things considered, it was relatively lax, with concerningly large ranges of acceptable oxygen levels and gravity.

Drakador_Chaos

Andromeda Brank
Invas nodded again, seemingly satisfied with their answers.
"I see, I see. very interesting offers, the both of you, it seems we will be getting along well."
...they also seemed to have no qualms about cooperating with the Dawn, unlike some of the more veteran nations of the galaxy, which would be quite helpful. He took a sip from his wine glass and looked through the prerequisites Halthuss had given him, raising an eyebrow, but not making any comment, it would just make it easier finding a world for them. He continued, turning towards the Izerani first.
”Our offer is, the assisted build up of a colony in one of the inner ring sectors, close to one of the major trade routes and one of the GIIG stations. Our assistance with this matter of course, comes with a cost, as you’ve likely expected. We have no particulate interest in common resources, however, one of them would be the permission to use the colony as a staging ground for future operations.”
He paused for a moment, trying to read his guests' reaction to that information off their face.
”...operations, of non-military nature of course. There will be a number of other things, such as a word in decisions that go beyond the scale of the colony, assistance in the maintenance and later potential expansion of the GIIG but we will be detailing those later in the full contract.”
He paused waiting for the reaction from both sides, whilst mentally putting an answer for the Seekers together.

Andromeda

Drakador_Chaos

While ordered to find a home for the Izeranis under any means necessary, something about this deal rang...suspicious to Halthuss. He was not a seasoned politician nor was he a seasoned admiral, so he wasn't sure what to say, but it rang in his head that this "staging ground" would be almost certainly a devil's bargain. Either to hold an axe to the heads of the Izerani or to pin potential bad actions on them come the future.

However, duty called that he accept. No matter the costs.

"I greatly appreciate the offer, and I am willing to accept on behalf of the FDI the terms of this agreement."

Drakador_Chaos

Andromeda @Brank
Invas frowned at Halthuss immediate egreement, it seemed suspicious. Either they had some sort of backhanded plan, or they were really, really desperate, neither of which was the optimal prerequisit for making a contract of this scope.
"I... see."
He paused, then shook his head.
"With all due respect, I think we should probably leave that for once you have actually read the full contract. Against popular opinion, we do prefer our contract partners to know their responsibilities, nobody should be able to say they had not been aware of what they were getting themselves into."
He turned to the Seeker representative and continued,
"As for you.
Your... proposal, seems interesting. We had something similar in mind. Our current plans are that you continue your operations as per normal, however, we will be getting the first bid on every piece of information or technology you unearth, be that merely starmaps or precursor artifacts, we also would like to presume priority in any contracts that we might give you."
He sipped from his drink and observed as the holographic fire in the fireplace flickered soundlessly.
"In return, we permit you to refuel and repair at the shipyards which will be built above the Izeranians new homworld and any other station that we designate you. So long as you do it discretely. However, as of yet we not intend to share any technology with you, though if you prove useful and loyal... well, that may change down the line."
He put down his glass and waited, this time to see the Seekers reaction.

Brank

Drakador_Chaos

"Hmm..." she thought for a moment, going over his words in her mind. She frowned, but more in thought than any actual distaste for the idea.

"It could work, though I merely have one issue," she started, and sat her glass down on the table. "Priority in contracts is very doable, we have the capacity to take on work with some free fleets. Though, I must give forewarning on the first section of the offer. While I cannot speak for every instance, It is very likely that there are some discoveries we make that wont be so easily bid off. I cant name them, but there are already some like that. If you find that fact to be a non-issue- most discoveries wont be barred off in that regard- then I say it is a good basis to draw up a contract on."

She smiled politely, and awaited the response.

Drakador_Chaos

Brank @Andromeda
Invas seemed to be pondering over his wineglass for a couple moments then nodded. There were some... issues with this statement, though perhaps that could be remedied. After he had his orders, though how he would achieve their goals was left entirely up to him. One the boons of being trusted by the Regent.
"That depends. If there are indeed things which cannot be bid off to us, I would like to assume that this goes for all of your other contractors as well, yes? Object and information we cannot attain, will not be attained by other either?
If that is the case, then the Dawn should have no issues with that. So, what do you say? Is that acceptable?
If so, are there any other questions or things of note left to discuss before I adjust the contracts and present them to you?"
He paused looking over to the Izeranians.
"That is including you as well. Feel free to voice any concerns you have before I finish the contracts."
He chuckled in a display of humour.
"If nothing else then at least to save me the work of reworking repeatedly."