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[Margrave]

(OOC: Hot damn, I've never seen a pitched battle like that. Clearly I've been underestimating the power of relics. I wouldn't want to fight it with nothing less than overwhelming orbital bombardment or maybe lots of planes to counter something that kind of firepower.)

[mainiac]

((What's not pictured here is that more then half of the Decados army was hidden to me when I started the battle.  I attacked, saw the numbers and thought "oh shit, this is going to be a slaughter."  Well, turns out I was right.))

I can't understand why Lady Decados insists on dragging this fight out.  I'm not making any demands.  The forces I can marshal are powerful to say the least.  What does she mean to prove at this point?

[Aqizzar]

Turn sent.


Am I looking at this image correctly?  Most brazen of the Decados to reveal their forces, let alone their bloodline, being handily slaughtered.  Little wonder that they would so suddenly sue for armistice, but...

These oh so blessed forces of Li Halan appear... less than human.  I sense the new Patriarch and I are likely to soon exchange words.

[mainiac]

These oh so blessed forces of Li Halan appear... less than human.  I sense the new Patriarch and I are likely to soon exchange words.[/i]

I used one symbiot unit.  Keboo used like 6.

[Aqizzar]

Well I have no way of knowing that, now do I?  Where is that spymaster anyway, there's an alien infestation in the ranks of this war, and this is the first I learn of it.

[mainiac]

You had a pretty good way of knowing it.  The fact that Keboo wasn't making a massive stink about it was pretty obvious evidence that he was doing it himself and to a much larger degree.

[Margrave]

(Turn sent.)
(I don't know how to treat that the information from that last battle report in universe so I will treat it like a neutral! Those most suspicious of people, you never know where you stand with a neutral.)

My good Cousin Arus al-Din, that most Persuasive of Emirs, that currently resides in the posh residences of Byzantium Secundus in my stead has reported something most alarming from the gossip corners of the Senate. He does declare that rumor has it, from a friend of a friend, that he heard in passing from most reputable sources that SYMBIOTS were seen on Cadavus. Naturally being given command of the Garrison this is most disconcerting if they were to bypass Stigmata. Not only that but if humans were also consorting with the wretched things to help them break the blockade.

I trust our cousins the Li Halan and the Decados, would they be so kind as to tell me if Cadavus is to be treated as not only a warzone but also a warzone that needs to be QUARANTINED and PURIFIED?
I would completely believe them if they said no.

[mainiac]

Wow...

So Decados just completely broke the rules of engagement that Hawkwood laid out, attacking me in space the instant that I complied with Aqizzers orders to remove my warships  He killed one of my nobles in what was declared to be neutral territory and he destroyed 3 holy relics (on top of the one that he had previously stolen.)

I have been VERY patient up until this point.  I made peace offering after offering after offering.  Each time Decados has spat in my face but I could tolerate it.  But this...

Decados has not just shown contempt for me and the regent but for every moral code and shred of decency.  For not only mankind has been betrayed but the will of the Pancreator.  The most sacred relics of our holy prophet are now nothing more then dust because an insane bitch wanted a few more hectares of land.  Legions on a holy quest to safeguard mankind against the unrighteous were killed by the score in an treacherous, cowardly attack by this miserable excuse masquerading as a human.  And you have betrayed our most righteous battlemaster, a man who has singlehandedly done more to protect the galaxy from the symbiots then the miserable house of Decados has done in it's entire lineage.

This goes beyond the pale in every way.  The galaxy is meant for the righteous, not trice damned renegades such as utterly contemptible house of Decados
.
----------------------

"Lords, Ladies and all those who watch these noble halls, from the righteous crusaders still battling the symbiots among the ruins of De Moley to the masses of this teeming metropolis, I come before the Imperial Senate in anguish. 

Today is more then a black day, it is a tragedy that will bring tears for years to come.  Our galaxy's champion, Lord Yi Teng Li Halan, has departed this life to find his eternal reward in the home of the Pancreator.  Yi Teng was a man who walked always in the grace of the Pancreator and lived in constant devotion to the fight against the Symbiot.  His wise council lead the Fleet in battle against the Symbiots and broke the fleet that menaced the galaxy.  All could see the righteousness of his ways and crusaders flocked to follow in his footsteps, going forth into the worlds long lost.  More then a battlemaster, he was a visionary who defeated mighty symbiot hosts.  The blessing of his leadership could let the righteous few fight against many and need not fear defeat in their holy task.  Noble cousins, weep not for him but for us, we shall never live to see another man so brave or so righteous to take up the holy banner of mankind's preservation.

Yi Teng is most certainly among the exalted of the Pancreator's host today but my tears of anguish must turn to howls of rage when I share the manner of his death.  This crusader died not in righteous battle against the foe.  He died not in battle at all.  His death was the result of treachery most foul.  He was foully assassinated, killed while defenseless by traitorous elements within our very empire.  His foul murder was carried out in breach of parley, contempt of imperial law, disobedience to the direct command of the imperial regent and rebellion against the very will of the Pancreator.  Not since the assassination of Caesar by Brutus have we seen a murder so pervert every law of nature.  On his homeworld of Absolution they say the very sands are shuddering in pain.  The winds rage as never before and cry out tortured wails.  Nit even the planets can understand or abide this foulness.

Gone with Yi Teng are the champions among his regiments.  They saw him through his battles against the Symbiot menace and were with him to the very moment of his betrayal.  They are surely standing with him at this very moment as he basks in the glory of the Pancreator.  Were they still with us it's certain that Yi's men would make the wrath of all nature felt and destroy those responsible for this blasphemous act.  But the best among us have been taken beyond the veil so the tasks that Yi Teng was to fill must fall to other, less instruments.

Under the leadership of Lady De Moley we will continue our fight against the symbiots.  Our soldiers on the Symbiot worlds maintain their struggle and they will not struggle in vain for more men shall join them in their holy quest.  The death of Yi Teng is a blow worse then ever we have known but we shall emerge like a Pheonix, ready to fight on.  Yet this is just half the task before us.

Long have I stood in the Imperial Senate to debate and denounce the misdeeds of House Decados.  That time is past.  Decados has gone beyond all sanity, rebelling against the will of the heavens as well as the will of men.  Again and again we have been ready to forgive their misdeeds until finally it comes to this.  No more.  This house must be purged.  They make a mockery of our nobility.  No more should they be allowed to dishonor these sacred chambers where Vladamir stood.  There will be a vengeance for this most unholy act.  Hear me now and hear me well, you vile beasts of Decados.  You will be made to pay for who you have done.  You have spilled blood in the most treacherous way imaginable and you will pay for it in a price of blood.  From this day forth, your lives are forfeit.  We will hunt you down until there are none left in your house that have Yi Teng's blood on their hand.  If it takes a thousand years and every one of our lives it will be worth it to see scum such as you purged from the sight of the Pancreator.

And we will start with the miserable excuse for humanity that pollutes this very room."

Shocked emotions ran through the room as Lady Octavia Li Halan finished her speech and stared very pointedly at the senator from house Decados.  Before any protest could be raised the senate parlimentarian banged his gaval and activated the sound dampening field, drowning out any voices but his own.

"As is customary for the passing of high nobility I have agreed with Lady Octavia's request to suspend the Senate's business for the day.  The Senator from Decados can make his rebuttal then, for today the business of the Senate is at an end."

------------------------------

Lady Octavia exited the Senate and was greeted by the captain of her guard.  Password and reply were exchanged.  They walked towards the Li Halan estates of Byzantium, guarded by three legions of troops and a contingent of special forces.  After the death of Yi Teng no chance would be taken with the safety of Lady Octavia.  But the caution seemed unwarranted, there wasn't a glimmer of danger.  Still they were on high alert throughout the trip.  It was only when they were safely inside the estates that Lady Octavia turned to the captain and asked the question.
"And the men you dispatched?"
"The sentries at the south eastern perimeter have been dispatched.  They are inside the grounds now and our suspicions are confirmed.  The Senator from Decados kept forces inside the estate."
"Then he was a fool."


(Turn sent)

[Il Palazzo]

Turn sent.

Madness! The order of Hashishim has been revived and reaps its bloody harvest on Byzantium. The Symbiots have infiltrated at least two noble houses. And now, there's a war between the Ministers? Has the Hazat remained the last bastion of sanity?

Where is that spymaster anyway, there's an alien infestation in the ranks of this war, and this is the first I learn of it.

And when I warned against allowing greedy houses to inflitrate Symbiot space my words fell on deaf ears.

[Kebooo]

Yes, yes, we admit all of it. Dishonor, treachery, breaching of the regent's trust. We did all of this so that all men and women throughout the known worlds may sleep in peace, knowing such terrible power is not all vested in one man. Perhaps we have sacrificed all of Cadavus, our star bases, perhaps even more. None of that matters. I allowed all other houses to see my devastating defeat so that they may better measure my decision to sully my family's name, to disobey the acting regent, to call into question my very trustworthiness. This is a great sacrifice I had to make, more than mere cities or resources or men. But there was no choice, Emperor Mainiac did not easily flow from my tongue. All of us combined could not meet this lord in battle so long as he wielded the Pancreator's blessings against us, even while he wars with the church! I am one of the two strongest houses, the other of course being the Li Halan. And we know he could have taken our empire piece by piece, bit by bit, with the power of those relics.

The blood of my brothers runs thicker than any agreements between far off worlds I make. I saw them die with my own eyes, I saw the invincible aura that which the battlemaster accompanied by relics permeated. And like a coward that cares nothing for Cadavus, he hid in the skies, he and his relics of war hid like scared children, because they were too afraid to protect the people Lord Mainiac so wishes to rule over. My actions were dishonorable, I admit it, but his as well. Do not listen to these pathetic eulogies for the departed battlemaster. My brothers were braver and more valiant men, they sat in the open, waiting for honorable combat, fearing no death, no unfavorable scenarios. They were true warriors. And this alleged great conqueror, with little to fear with his relics, was too afraid to stand as a man and face judgment in war. My people have shown deceit and treachery, but never cowardice. The galaxy is a better place without men such as Yi Teng.

Let the other houses curse my name. Let them insult the honor of my house. I was willing to accept all of it when I made my fateful decision. But in the deep of the night, I wonder if the Hazat, al-Malik and Hawkwood give quiet thanks to the sacrifice I have made. I wonder if they would not pray to the Pancreator for my salvation, to absolve my sins. Whatever the realm decides of me, they will know I did not take the easy way out, that I protected the realm from unchecked power. Above all else, my brothers did not die in vain.

(Turn sent)

[Aqizzar]

...Have I been so blind, so callous, so insulated from the aims of my peers, that I could allow this to come to pass?

I hear the cries in the imperial halls.  I can see now the smoke from the Mezzanine.  Already I can hear the Warmaster calling a gendarme that has not seen action since before any of its members were born.

The Decados have been ejected from Byzantium.  Murder is afoot in the palaces.  In one stroke, the Pax Imperium has truly ended.

And so my trust has truly been repaid.


Turn sent.

[Kebooo]

Gorakhan woke to the news that had already spread the galaxy like wildfire. She did not even have a private moment to mourn the loss of her eldest brother,  Lord Sten. He had been the most diplomatic of the Decados, the most palatable to the other ambassadors on the throne world. And he, like her other brothers, had died at the hand of the Li Halan. Two assassins in the night struck quietly, killing Sten's bodyguard and disposing of the noble himself. She did not even want to know the manner of his death. Rumors suggested it was very painful and gruesome.

Li Halan banners could be seen fluttering above the former Decados compound. The food now gone and the local agora sold out, the remaining Decados forces went hungry, with no reprieve in sight.

Only two Decados of royal blood remained. Lady Gorakhan and her younger sister Lady Lilith. Without a presence on the throne world the Decados had lost their right to vote. Gorakhan was numb to this. Politics meant little to her now. She had lost three of her family members in two years. That the master of Li Halan was able to so quickly muster and dispatch two assassins to stain the throne world was no surprise. He was no stranger to thoughts of dishonor and treachery. He knew family comes before everything else. Despite her burning hatred of this Lord Mainiac, her desire to have his entrails slowly drawn out from his body while he lived, she did not blame him. He too had lost family. He too had experienced profound loss. Perhaps misery was the only way the two houses could understand one another.

[mainiac]

...Have I been so blind, so callous, so insulated from the aims of my peers, that I could allow this to come to pass?

I hear the cries in the imperial halls.  I can see now the smoke from the Mezzanine.  Already I can hear the Warmaster calling a gendarme that has not seen action since before any of its members were born.

The Decados have been ejected from Byzantium.  Murder is afoot in the palaces.  In one stroke, the Pax Imperium has truly ended.

And so my trust has truly been repaid.


Turn sent.

Maybe if you enforced the laws this wouldn't be a problem.  Li Halan withdrew it's warships under your explicit orders.  Then our men get slaughtered in orbit and you don't retaliate against their murderers.  I am still waiting for a reason why you are not enforcing your earlier orders.

[Kebooo]

Those rules were never law. Sten never mentioned legislation on the throne world being passed on Cadavus. It was an edict by the Fleet Commander.

My people wonder, Lord of the Hells, whether your bombers that sat in orbit for an extra year should have also been destroyed? The proclamation was for only unarmed ships to orbit the planet. We admit we had bases, but these are not ships and they cannot be moved, not now and not ever. If Lord Aqizzar had followed his word to the letter, your convoy may have faced destruction by the fleet, rather than by my own hand. You certainly had the shipping capacity to move the ship out from orbit. And the edict claimed they would be fired upon.

And now that you have conducted assassination on the throne world, it seems all laws have been throne to the wind. You have violated the most sacred of all, shedding blood on a world where combat is forbidden by time honored tradition. Of all laws in the known world, is any more vital to the governing of all houses? I admit to breaking a regent's trust. I wonder, which is the higher crime in the eyes of the Pancreator? It is not my labs that are burned to the ground.

[Aqizzar]

Maybe if you enforced the laws this wouldn't be a problem.  Li Halan withdrew it's warships under your explicit orders.  Then our men get slaughtered in orbit and you don't retaliate against their murderers.  I am still waiting for a reason why you are not enforcing your earlier orders.

Never did I say that the Fleet's presence was meant to protect anyone, and never did I say attacks against transports would be forbidden.  I ordered the lance elements of the Fleet to Cadavus, thinking it capable of destroying any piecemeal escort that might arrive.  Having seen the power wielded by your formerly blessed armada, this assumption was clearly mistaken.

Only with the full backbone of the Fleet would I be able to enforce any edict without casually obliterating the Fleet elements first to arrive.  That backbone of the Fleet's cruisers has only just now achieved orbit of Cadavus.  Would you have me roll back the hands of time for them to take part earlier?

And now I would dare say that any such edict is pointless.  The Decados may have initiated this conflict, and may indeed have destroyed these relics you chose to leave in harm's way.  Lady Gorakhan's crimes are one matter.  But there can be no excuse for the fact that you have escalated this conflict to a scale not seen in generations.  Noble blood has been spilled on Byzantium, and a surviving House has been left voiceless.  These are grave matters to any other affront.