Scene #714: Mining Station Zephyr Diplomacy.

Owner	Pose
Aurora	Cargohold - Mining Station Zephyr It's a time of day that has the sun shining through the glass panes of the cargohold, brightening up the area with its glow. Boxes are strewn everywhere and there's a small table with a tiny chair and three big ones. Probably why there are open boxes everywhere. The Shinki's currently unarmored, wearing a simple purple suit with a few papers in front of her and multiple windows open as well. "Master, do you think they would be amiacable to such an exchange?" she questions towards Ariah, a puzzled look upon the face. "I mean, they immediately assumed I wanted to hurt them. Are they that delusional that they cannot accept a manner such as a diplomatic exchange?"
Ariah	Ariah is sitting in her uniform, in her big chair, with her staff layed across her lap. She's looking at the papers and lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "I would be curious to know if they would agree to a peaceful exchange. It would make our task easier. The station's contested status brings no mineral profit to either side of the conflict. You have me here if negotiations collapse." She's looking a little uneasy in the hold, the gargantuan station not exactly the sort of place she'd like to hang out in.
Kaede	Kaede floats in, she's wearing her flight pack and nothing else, most of her gear is still stored in her Slipway. "You really think they just wanna talk?" she asks of the Knight beside her, flitting around his head a few times before they get to the meeting point. She then darts ahead, and lands on the tabletop, dismissing her flight pack and peering at Aurora. "Huh, don't see many of your Type around. Arnval Tempesta..." she smiles warmly. "Nice to meet you~ I'm Kaede!" She seems amicable enough, though who can tell?
Gawain	It's not long after he announces that he is on his way on the broadband that Sir Gawain arrives, to help with the diplomatic situation. Even though he has never handled diplomatic situations and knows jack squat about them. But he /does/ know how to dress for one! The Knight of the Sun is clad in a gray suit with a golden tie, floral printed, his blonde hair cleaned up (read: brushed), and a friendly smile on his face. "I am Sir Gawain, of the Round Table and of the Union. Are you those who requested a diplomatic meeting over the territory?". His smile doesn't fade, it's his only feature that might help him with this. Honestly, Sir Bedivere would have been a better Unionite, but NOPE, stuck with Sir Gawain. This should be hilarious.
Aurora	Aurora tilts her head at the Rapitas model making her way in... "Another Shinki?" she gives a light nod of her head, "Yes, I'm a rare model, supposedly the last one at the store Master got me at. I'm Aurora, a pleasure." she shuffles a bit in her seat as Gawain makes his entrance and almost visibly shudders. She looks up towards Ariah and makes a weak smile at her before turning back, that 'buisness look' is upon her face. "Yes, it is I that requested it. This is my Master, Ariah. I'm sure the Union knows about her." she looks towards the papers and shuffles a few towards Kaede and Gawain. "Have a seat please. I was expecting two humans, not another Shinki. My apologies for the lack of preparation for this." She awaits the two sitting before she starts, "I will start bluntly. The Confederacy has need of the resources this station produces for efforts in a few private projects that are going on. I do not have the clearance to state which. However, I noticed that we are also in deadlock with the area marked Zone Ninety Two." she looks between the two, "I believe it of best interest that you pull your troops out of the station and in exchange, we'll pull our troops out of the other zone in a mutual exchange of power."
Ariah	Ariah's uniform is clean and in perfect condition. She looks less at home in a business meeting and more at home in a military agency standing guard. But it suffices as formal enough as well. She bows her head politely to Kaede, then stands, taking her staff into one hand. The other hand she offers to Sir Gawain, the short magess looking to shake cordially and respectfully. If she's uneasy about how this is starting out, she doesn't show it. When she's introduced, Ariah will bow her head politely and leave Aurora to do most of the talking for now. She is, after all, the one better trained in diplomatic affairs. "A pleasure to meet you both," she states in her icy, French-accented voice.
Kaede	Kaede shrugs, and plonks herself in a sitting position on the table, crossing her legs and peering at the papers. "Uh... Well, we can't authorize that ourselves... but maybe we can talk to the higher-ups about it." she suggests. "But if you guys want minerals for 'projects'... how do we know those projects won't come to bite us in the backside? You could be building weapons and stuff."
Aurora	"This is the risk that you are taking with such a transaction. On the other hand, we do not know what you wish to do with the capabilities of zone ninety two, and such have accepted this risk as well." a cough coming to her, "So, you two have no authorizations to perform an exchange of such? This is a bit disheartening, but, I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement!" Aurora gives a light smile, her purple clad frame bowing gently. "Perhaps it won't take long to get such authorization?"
Kaede	Blink. "Well, like I said, we can talk to the higher-ups about this after we come to an agreement... see if we can make it work." she replies to that, before leaning in. "I heard there's plenty of minerals you can get in Z92, why don't you take that and give /us/ the station?" she counters.
Gawain	"Most likely not. If a successful agreement goes through, our superiors are more than likely to permit the transfer." Sir Gawain is running on charisma and jargon. Luckily, that is actually all you need in a diplomatic meeting. "Our higher-ups have already showed agreement with a diplomatic meeting, so it's more likely they'll accept it than not." Sir Gawain turns to Ariah, a bright smile on his face. "However, do you have authorization from the Confederacy for /your/ side of the exchange?"
Aurora	Aurora tilts her head at the Rapitas, giving a light nod. "That will be accceptable, however the minerals from zone ninety two aren't sufficient for what we need currently, the ones here at the station are more important and immediately useful towards us." she nods, "Your offer is noted, though." she smiled a bit, looking up towards her Master at Gawain's question, before turning back to the Type Eagle. "I do not have much else to offer other than that zone as it's immediately important to us." she shufflers her papers a bit... "What would it take from you to make this exchange work? Keep in mind I am only a lieutenant, there's a few things I cannot do."
Ariah	Ariah watches the two Shinki go back and forth. It's clear the diminutive duo are better at fencing with words. She's caught off guard when Gawain addresses her directly, and with that smooth backup to Kaede's words. The witch's expression is blank, or neutral, it's difficult to tell with her. She sort of stares at him. Then rehashes other things that have been said. "The details of the agreement are yet to be fully realized. The offer we are proposing is, as you can see, are clearly in the nascent stages of discussion. With verbal negotiations in place, authorization for terms will come once we've completed all necessary discussion." She pretty much turns Sir Gawain's words around on him, "There are several worlds under the Confederacy's wing that require aid in the form of materials for rebuilding their infrastructure. The use of this station would increase the speed of those recovery operations exponentially and allow us to return to re-negotiate for extending the lease of use on its facilities."
Gawain	Sir Gawain listens intently to Ariah. He slightly realizes she's playing him, but doesn't realize /how/. Though he doesn't trust her in the first place, being a Confederate and all. "However, how can we guarantee you'll peacefully re-negotiate when you have finished your operations? How do you plan on governing this lease, through what channels?" So, he needs to play her back. But with truth and blinding questions, instead of wordplay and trickery! "Making a loan to an enemy in a war /is/ tricky business, so how do you plan on 'leasing' it from us?"
Kaede	"Full disclosure. I'm sure the higher ups would like to know where the materials from this station are going." Rebuttes Kaede, leaning forwards and slamming her hands onto the table. "If we're giving up this resource on a 'lease' we want to know what it's going to be used for."
Ariah	Sitting stoic and calm, Ariah takes what Sir Gawain gives her. She nods, clearly agreeing with his assessment that loaning to/from an enemy in wartime is tricky business. "Paperwork," she answers, nodding to Aurora's forms that she'd brought with her. "Clear and unambiguous terms of service contract with a solid date where negotiations, be they civil or otherwise, may be utilized to reclaim the station for factional use." There's a small shrug, "When we, the gathered, draft the paperwork, we submit it to the leadership of our respective factions and upon their review, finalize and agree upon the terms therin. Simple." Her chilly, even voice makes her seem well-suited to board room politics, but what little she knows of actual negotiations is entirely from things she'd overheard or experienced in training and combat over five decades prior. Treaties didn't exactly stop the atom bomb.
Aurora	"I am not of the one to make future plans for a resource that is immediately needed today. I have no control over anyone here in the Confederacy and likewise, I know you don't have any control over anyone in the Union, now do you?" she looks up towards Gawain then back at Kaede, nodding. "As much as I wish that we could always have peaceful negotiations, there's people there on both sides that will poke the bees nest until it starts to sting." "I'm aware that this will be good for only this encounter, as much as I wish it the same for all encounters be I there or not. After all, have you read history books? Some treaties didn't stop other countries from doing things."
Gawain	"And if one side rejects the paperwork and the other accepts? If terms continuously keep changing to the point where this station remains contested for weeks, months, possibly even years? You are aware this could happen, and that it could harm the speedy process of getting your Confederate planets their resources? How do plan on circumventing this, if at all, to make it faster?". Gawain is trying to pull rebuttals wherever he can. He saw it in a movie once, never give up easy! "I'm aware this is a mutual effort, but if we're trying diplomacy, is it not a way of working together?"
Kaede	Kaede huffs. "Yeah... well..." huff. She's getting flustered now. "What's the point of negotiating if you think your side will just default and do stuff the agreement doesn't allow anyway?" she retorts, folding her arms over her chest.
Ariah	"Temporary joint custody," Ariah replies without skipping a beat. "A state of a civilly contested status for the station and both sides with vested interests..." She looks around the messy room, considering. "Half shares of all gathered resources being sent to processing facilities on both sides." There's a small shrug. "During the Great War, neutral parties operated with both sides of the conflict to provide resources. And our present conflict sees mercenary entities..." She draws some comparisons and looks to the Shinki duo going back and forth before her focus returns to the handsome Knight.
Aurora	Aurora gives Kaede a stoic look. "Considering negoitations are only for the current parties involved, I would say my justification in my words earlier is fair." she nods, "And I also defaulted to /both/ sides... if you pay attention." she shakes her head a bit, shuffling the paper forward. "This is honestly not a point where I would like it to come to blows, Kaede. I am sure you can respect the willingnes to cooperate, even if I'm of the enemy side." She looks towards Ariah with a curious gaze, then back towards her verbal opponent. "If you wish, you could just concede your side and have your partner take over for you, it seems he is making headway with my Master."
Gawain	"I..see. That..is actually not a bad idea. How would we govern this temporary joint custody? Soldiers from both sides? Because if we have all the counter-measures in place, I see no reason for such a deal to not be possible. Though if these resources are being used for mass destruction, anything like that of the Great War I believe you refer to, I am not sure I can agree with it much myself." No, don't concede! Sir Gawain is actually agreeing with Aurora! ..What is this witchcraft?
Kaede	Kaede shrugs a bit. "Yeah, I know, but I trust the other people in the union." she smirks a bit. "Can you say the same of your people? I honestly doubt it." She leans back, looking up to the ceiling. "If you could vouch for... the higher ups coming down on anyone that misuses the treaty... I think we could progress this further."
Aurora	"I can say the same of my Master." she comments, "I do not appreciate you making a broad statement that involves her. Are you intentionally trying to make negotiations fail here? Don't you see what you're causing?" she shakes her head, looking towards Gawain.. "At least he understands the value of what we're doing so far." she shakes her head, "Trust a novice to come and interrupt what fine negotiations." A flash of her slipway and a reusable jelly can comes out, opened and sipped. "Ah. Here, would you like some? It's grape flavored."
Ariah	The agreement actually surprises Ariah. She seems, for once, taken aback slightly. She re-composes herself, shaking her head. "Both sides of this conflict are hardly innocent of manufacturing weaponry of varying scales. We are at war, after all. I cannot make any promises that materials would not be used in the creation of weaponry, self defense or otherwise, but I am almost certain that you could not say the same for the Union, either. My suggestion of a joint share of resources is only in the event that our negotiations here come to a standstill." She looks at the exchange of jellycan, the flash of the slipway catching her attention. Then back to Gawain. "I am willing to offer you a small list of Confederate holdings in dire need of these resources, however, as a token of good will towards making this work." In my favor.
Kaede	Huff. "I'm not trying to do anything. Besides, you backhandedly accused the Union of defaulting, and that includes /my/ Master." she retorts, before flashing her own slipway, pulling her own refillable jellycan. "I don't really like grape. I prefer Cherry." she replies with a smile, after sipping from her own little flask.
Gawain	"You..make a good point. And that is true. I will see if I can privately call any of our superiors for permission on this, because I actually think this is an excellent idea. The list would be a good idea as well. Allow me to be back in..say, five minutes, whilst Kaede finishes negotiations?" At this point, Gawain's kind of..doing this wrong. He's trying to act like in the movies, except somehow he's found himself in the losing side. He offers a hand to shake and all that, bows his head, and then gets up to try and call a superior. It's probably Ariah's fault! Vampires suck...wait.
Ariah	Ariah stands and takes the offered hand, bowing her head politely in return. "I am not a politician. I am a soldier. I understand the perspective of war from the trench line, not the board room. I merely wish for this conflict to be more civil towards those who are made more vulnerable or brought to harm because of it, hence the requisition of resources here in a less hostile manner." She leans on her staff with both hands, watching Sir Gawain's retreat.
Aurora	"Ah, then my apologies. What say you this then. I will write up a thirty day ceasefire treaty for this. The entire month of October, ending at twelve and one am on November first." she pauses, "Thirty days we will not fight over the two zones and they will exchange hands between Union and Confederate. Confederacy gets the Mining Station, Union gets Zone Ninety Two." she looks at Gawain as he retreats. "It seems your ally there has taken a liking to the ideas put forth by my Master." Aurora's face goes stone cold, "What about you..."
Kaede	Kaede hmmphs softly. "I can't see any problem with this. I'll contact the Union higher ups alongside Mister Gawain... we'll be in touch." concedes the Type Eagle. She then reaches out a hand to the Arnval. "Lets hope this works out, for both sides."
Aurora	Aurora smiles, giving a bow. "THank you for seeing to reason. And thanks once more for not seeing it come to anything but words." she looks towards her Master, a bright smile upon the purple shinki's face, "I will be in talks with my higher ups."
Ariah	Ariah isn't exactly dumbfounded, but she is silent. She hadn't fully expected the exchange to actually succeed without coming to blows. "Thank you for being willing to come out here and speak with us. I understand there is a certain level of suspicion when both of our sides are so often at odds. Especially with... recent events."