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[mainiac]

Well I've seen the contested cities and you have by my count five units in them...  Not saying there aren't more out there, but you haven't exactly applied many to the front lines.

[Kebooo]

I have many times that number on the surface. I would be very impressed if you could clear us from Cadavus in any shorter than fifteen years.

[mainiac]

Which apparently would be a preferable outcome for you compared to compromise. 

[Aqizzar]

Lord Mainiac, I will demand only once that you immediately withdraw your warships from the orbit of Cadavus.  They would now be engaged, but I am not so craven as to refuse to admit that the forces you have arrayed there are more than a match for the small lance of the Fleet able to yet be mustered.  I will not waste their lives so callously, but do not think this entitles you to any leniency.  All that is proven is that your ambition has grown such as to challenge, in part, the Fleet's strength, and the core must be withdrawn from its cleansing of the Tertiary.  In other words, your minions sent to the Symbiot worlds can no longer expect any assistance.

(Turn sent.)

[mainiac]

My ships will be withdrawn, don't worry.  Some of us still have respect for the political structures of the empire.

[Margrave]

Turn sent.

[mainiac]

Kebboo, what exactly are you doing here?  That garrison you were boasting that I'd only seen a fraction of was 10 units.

[Kebooo]

I never boasted about any particular garrison on Cadavus.

[mainiac]

Well, I destroyed your garrison near the palace and I captured your garrison at the starports.  Are you willing to discuss terms for peace yet?

[Kebooo]

I will have to survey the situation on Cadavus before any terms are discussed.

[mainiac]

I will have to survey the situation on Cadavus before any terms are discussed.

Sorta like you  let me survey the situation before starting this war of aggression?

Will you or will you not agree to a cease fire?

Turn sent.

Keboo, if you agree to a cease fire now, I'll accept a status quo peace ante bellum peace.  If you dont then I will express my displeasure.

[Kebooo]

The status quo is dangerous for my internal empire. Aylon and Shaprut in particular.

I have not had a chance to survey the situation, but obviously the toll of this war will be much larger than I anticipated. We still believe we would eventually win a war of attrition, but at a cost difficult to swallow, a cost worth considering peace for.

In order for peace, these are the terms I would agree upon:

• Returning each other's cities to the originally controlling house.
• Return of the captured relic to house Li Halan.
• Demilitarization of Cadavus - military units are not to be stationed on the surface unless prior agreement and divulging the strength and location of these units.
• Free passage for both houses through Cadavus with no prior warning required.
• House Li Halan would be free to construct three star bases (to match the Decados number), but no more than that, and the Decados would construct no more. These would only serve to inflame tensions.
• The continued presence of the fleet to ensure these conditions are followed by both houses.

Cadavus itself is not even the main priority, it is the security of Aylon and Shaprut that concerns my people the most, hence our desire for permanent demilitarization of Cadavus if we are to agree to peace.

[mainiac]

This is acceptable but I would suggest that last condition be removed.  The fleet has better things to do.

[Il Palazzo]

Turn sent.

Has it really come to this? Sons and daughters of noble houses slaughtered like common villeins? This is not how our fathers fought their wars. How dreary a thought to have among ourselves those who hold noble blood in such contempt.
It's a sad day for the Empire indeed, for the shadows of corruption are encroaching on our ancestral values.

[Kebooo]

(37 turns in, not enough drama/action and I'm not about to let it end. So it is time to provide some more)

The sirens could be heard throughout the city. Li Halan forces were making landfall on Cadavus.

Jorkhan turned to his brother Wilheim and whispered something into his ear. Wilheim, with a sly smile, nodded in response. The best and bravest of the Decados had banded together to stand against any Li Halan incursion toward the main palace cluster. Wilheim mused aloud about how cowardly Li Halan men were, how they would be little threat. Without their great cruisers in the skies they would offer no challenge.

Reports came in of routed tanks in the southern reaches of the continent, no doubt commandeered by the enemy. Jorkhan wore a grim expression on his face, but Wilheim still brimmed with a boyish confidence. He had seen many battles, squashing rebels, symbiots and any other foe that stood in his way. He had never tasted defeat.

When the Li Halan forces approached, Wilheim scoffed. They looked pitiful, such a small force arrayed against a much superior enemy. But they seemed to radiate with an aura, though no Decados spoke of it. Each man, to the last, ruled it out as battle nerves. Jorkhan knew. In his academic life he had learned of the ancient relics of war, granting man powers far beyond that of a mere mortal. Relics that led to civil wars, for their power was too great, too threatening. And he knew that Lord Mainiac had found all three, and here they were, bearing down on the best of the Decados. It was here they would make their stand.

It was a slaughter. The bullets grazed off Li Halan men as if they were flies. Every shot fired from the invaders hit their mark. The great battlemaster leading the Li Halan host emerged from flames like a living god. The Decados rallied again and again; they would not flee, the stakes were too high, here and now, there was no retreat. And die to the last man they did, brother with brother, siblings of Lady Gorakhan. Their blood trickled into the sewers, the life force that had filled these once great conquerers sapped forever, perhaps to return to the Pancreator, or the eternal empty void.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Lady Gorakhan sobbed in private as she saw the video of her two brothers dying. Initial reports had caused her to favor peace. But to see her brothers die in such a way, to see the unstoppable might of the relics, she had to make a difficult decision. She rejected peace. Of all the thousands of resources lost, the engineers stripped from their training and brave soldiers that died, even her brother Wilheim, nothing pained her more than to lose her twin brother Jorkhan. It was he that had taught her strength, he that had shown her how to lead. Now he was no more. She vowed to avenge their deaths, to not allow their deaths to be in vain. To do nothing would be for what, a temporary reprieve from the Li Halan villain? To grant him a chance to build ever greater armadas?

In Gorakhan's thoughts she could picture great Li Halan fleets above the throne world led by the battlemaster, aided by three relics, unassailable by the might of all other houses combined. Could she ever bend the knee to Lord Mainiac? The thought disturbed her and the tears went dry. No, he would pay for every inch of Cadavus he fights for, he would rue the day he threatened the Decados people. Too much blood had been spilled to forgive, too much sorrow, all that was left was war, war at any cost. She dreamt of the days on Cadavus where rolling green hills faded into bright purple sunsets. Now there were screams of agony and blood ran through the streams. Chaos, disorder, and madness, each filled the air. Marauders pillaged the countryside while Decados and Li Halan forces fought pitched battles across the surface. She only hoped the rest of the lords would understand what she has sacrificed to fight an unimaginable power. The line was drawn.

(Turn sent)