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[mainiac]

My house sees that there is an unjust conspiracy against us, no doubt orchestrated by you. So willing you were to relinquish control of the fleet, since you control it through your control over Lord Aqizzar. We wonder how many years he has been your puppet. And likewise I lost the Garrison, unable to use a ministry to defend my house's interests while another is used to bolster yours.

So the proper role of the imperial ministries is to aid you in attacking other houses and the improper role is to stop wars of senseless aggression?

Quite the victim complex you have there.  If you are so persecuted then why are you not eager to accept my generous offer of status quo ante bellum, which everyone in the galaxy but you agrees is best?

This is a war of choice and you had a chance to end it.

[Kebooo]

Because the "status quo" is a hostile occupation of a planet that threatens the internal security of my very empire? Don't be a fool Lord Maniac, it is obvious why I cannot accept the status quo. Aylon and Shaprut cannot live under the specter of Li Halan incursion at any moment.

How have the ministries ever aided me in attacking other houses? And it certainly is not their proper role, not by Decados sentiment. The words you spew now are conjured from nothing but madness. The proper role of the ministries is to root out rebels, to protect us against the symbiot and Vau threats and to protect the throne world at any cost. These will be the first ministers to be so corrupt as to help you rest a planet away from a people who had colonized it for generations. They will be creating instability so great that it will never cool down. Cadavus cannot be in the hands of another house, not even a small presence can be tolerated. It would be as if I controlled half of Vera Cruz. So by doing so, the regent will create perpetual war.

The chance to end it defeats the purpose of starting it. I was willing to lose all of my armada to keep control of Cadavus. But I have underestimated your supreme control over such lesser lords. We applaud your ability to manipulate them. But in time, they will come to their senses, as they will have no choice. I fear it will be too late then.

[mainiac]

Lady Decados.  A million words to say nothing.  And what do we call this charade?

This Aristocrats!

Turn sent.

How have the ministries ever aided me in attacking other houses? And it certainly is not their proper role, not by Decados sentiment. The words you spew now are conjured from nothing but madness.

Well you are correct about that:

And likewise I lost the Garrison, unable to use a ministry to defend my house's interests while another is used to bolster yours.

Glad to see that you are on the same page with us.  The torrent of words that you spew certainly is madness.

[Kebooo]

Silly lord, are your people really fit for court? Of course we would use the Garrison if the Fleet was being used against us, as it is now. The ministries are meant to combat such deep corruption. Who but enemies to the throne would squander these imperial ministries for personal squabbles over remote holdings? And so naturally those that would abuse the ministries would meet the guns of whatever ministries still stood in noble hands. But if the Fleet stood by the side, as it should, we would never consider using such an honored institution against another house.

[mainiac]

In the name of the Pancreator woman, do you never shut up?

But thank you for acknowledging that the legitimate use of the ministries is to stop aggression by those who corrupt our institutions.

[Aqizzar]

This is madness, all of it.

At no point have I ordered the Fleet to render aid or otherwise advance the aims of any House.  I ordered all warships out of orbit of Cadavus in the hope that it would keep your violence contained there.  And I'll remind you, again, that you can hardly expect anyone to acquiesce to your increasingly irrational demands without the given time necessary for galactic communication.

If I appear hostile to Decados in these judgments, it because you have done nothing to prove you deserve any accordance.  You settled upon a planet and chose to leave its capitol in the hands of the hostile natives, then fly into a rage when another power defeated them.  But not at the time occurred, only after you saw command of the Fleet transferred to another House.  You fire off a whole series of "ultimatums" and then acted before the recipient could feasibly respond, knowing of this full well.

All based on the premise that if you did not act immediately then this occupation of Cadavus' capitol, an occupation already years underway, posed either you or your name a threat so dire you could not spare even a single cycle to demand honor from your opponent.  And in the midst of this response, you send your drones to loot the cities of any rightfully won relics and spirit them away, neglecting to ever acknowledge any of this of course.  This was not an act of imminent defense, it is the logic of a marauder.  And still you have the temerity to cry foul that your opponent would in any way hold you grievance for this behavior, and would call any response but total submission unjust.

You acted in hostility, and hostility you will receive from your chosen foe.  I called for a single cycle for the Fleet to reach a position to even ascertain the state of affairs and this was apparently too dangerous a gulf for you to wait.  Let it be clear to all that the Fleet exists for exactly two purposes, to defend the galaxy at large from hostile interlopers, and the enforce the will of the Imperium within its boundaries.  Even with the bulk of the Fleet still beyond Stigmata, I can assure all my electors that it is quite capable of performing both.

When this hostility begun but a few short years ago, I thought it a conflict born of honest dispute where diplomacy had failed.  It is rapidly becoming apparent to be something more base.  This impugnment of my Regency and the honor of my House has pressed the limits of my patience.  I guarantee passage of transports to Cadavus, for you now have the war you clearly wanted.  And if you dare to think I would grant any leniency towards Li Halan in doing so, or that my willingness to allow their retaliation for a conflict you began is somehow favoritism, I will show you exactly how adamant this Regency can be.  Li Halan is no greater or smaller a House under my authority than any other, and I would suggest you look first to maintaining your own good name.

[mainiac]

Lord Aqizzer, please clarify.  Do you wish me to grant free passage to all Decados shipping?

If so I offer my humble apologies for their transport which I have destroyed this turn.  Please forgive me as I did give warning and Decados did not ask me to stay my hand.  It could also be considered fair retaliation for the transport they had destroyed just prior.

I will comply in the future if that is what you command.

[Aqizzar]

Indeed.  As stated before, the Fleet will honor the passage of any unarmed vessels traveling to and from Cadavus, and will deny will due force any warships crossing that threshold.  What two combatants do to each others' servants is not my purview.  War is war.

Regarding the matter of Decados transit to and from Byzantium, I trust in your ability to recognize a difference between a shipment of supplies and an invasion fleet.  Small, peaceful passage is to be granted and honored.  I have no doubt you'll immediately shout word to the entire galaxy of anything more substantial crossing your borders, or that the Decados will do the same should this edict not be respected.

[mainiac]

I would suggest that Decados make public notice of any shipments before they occur.

[Il Palazzo]

Turn sent.


Perhaps another arrangement to the policing of the space above Cadavus can be made? The Fleet would stay its guns for as long as neither of the Houses attack each other in space or by bombardment from space, otherwise ignoring the presence of military ships as such.
Without this amendment, the Fleet will be bound to eliminate both the starbases that Decados finds so precious, and the Li Halan fleet that has just arrived over the planet, as per Lord Aqizzar's present ruling.

[mainiac]

Li Halan will abide by the current arrangement if Decados will.  The current arrangement is fine.

[Margrave]

Now I may be the least qualified of any House Major to form an opinion about the conflict raging so very far away but I would offer my two firebirds.

Indeed, it would be hasty due to the unfortunate nature of interstellar communication to start firing on warships that only just received the ultimatum, but perhaps it may be too much to give free reign to allow warships in orbit above Cadavus. Given the...belligerence between these two particular Nobles of Houses Major it would be just inviting catastrophe to allow hostile fleets to be within range of each others guns and with ground forces below.

Just a mite too tempting to fire off a salvo and retreat to friendly holdings. Of course I agree that any Decados starbase there is stuck by its design to obey the Regents decree, so perhaps that could be left in orbit unmolested under the vow that it take or endure no hostile action. (Are starbases capable of bombardment? I've never built one.)

It may be beyond realistic intent at this point but is there no grounds for compromise between the Illustrious Li Halan and the Prestigious Decados? Return of artifacts gleaned from righteous crusade for land inherited from generations old?

And if I may question Lady Gorakhan are you suggesting that if you had control of the Garrison you would now be using it against the Li Halan?

[Kebooo]

We have no choice, evidently. And if the ground battle for Cadavus is a perpetual war that never sees resolution, what then?

The star bases will remain in orbit but take no action.

Lord Margrave, no, that was not my suggestion. My suggestion was that if the Fleet was used to obliterate my own armada above a Decados controlled planet we consider our territory, then we would have used the Garrison to defend our world from a corrupted ministry.

(Regular star bases can't bombard, meson star bases can. I wouldn't recommend building them anywhere but potential 'battleground' worlds. If your home world needs star bases then it's game over anyway.)

Turn sent.

[mainiac]

You could just accept the damn status quo ante bellum and end this.  As you are so fond of pointing out, I have access to troop techs you dont and I have more transports.  I'm offering you the status quo ante bellum now but if you make me evict you forcibly city by city that offer is not going to stay on the table.

[Kebooo]

The status quo was a scenario that was so unacceptable it led my people to war. You will have to evict us city by city, and I assure you that will be no easy task.