The Divine Shadow pulled back the hood to the pleated robe, letting it rest on his shoulders. "You may call me, Mollem, if you so desire." He said, smoothing down his robes as he rose from his seat, and approached the Belkan Emperor to shake his hand.
"I'm expecting you because in truth I summoned you, we have similar ideologies, and we all have the long standing goal to bring our Empires into prosperity. The Democracies of UCON and the Terran Government are an affront and an offense to everyone in this room." The Shadow explained.
"I would hope an agreement could be made that would bring Terra under mutual subjugation, and ensure that the Coalition of Organized Nations never threatens our absolute power again."
Wing kept her face blank, her opinion of the Aschen unswayed, even with their conversion to a proper empire. She paid attention to all about them, but allowed Josef to speak for now, not trusting her own tongue. It would be better than to start a war, thanks to old grievances.
Though she was still rather bitter over the destruction of her childhood home, she certainly held a new home now. The woman paid close attention to this…Mollem. “I am certain some sort of agreement may be had.” She agreed. Share?
He wanted to share? Oh yes. Josef would end up doing most of the dealing. Wing was not a fan of mutual anything.
"Mollem" Josef spoke, taking the offered hand in a firm and brief shake, smiling as he did. It was, after all, the least he could do, being a guest in the other's realm. "The Coalition has had a turn of heart, a characteristic lack of vigor," That seemed to fail them in their hour of need - and their hour of opportunity.
"I doubt either of us have forgotten their offenses against our peoples." Indeed, or the ravenous appetite for Terra that both the Coalition and the Aschen powers possessed. Kampf couldn't, of course, care less, but if expansion was possible then it would be foolish not to pursue.
"The age of empire is dawning, Mollem, it pleases me that you're willing to cooperate in its formation." It seemed that this disease that had infected the galaxy, democracy, would soon be dead. "What would you ask, in such an agreement?" An establishment of terms, before anything else, was necessary to gauge the plausibility of whatever treaty the assembled parties might author.
Mollem paused for a moment, before he sipped a glass of water at his side. "Terms..." He then slowly waved his hand and a map of the galaxy flickered to life, various colors highlighting territories belonging to their respective factions. "Perhaps Belkan holdings on the eastern side of the Local region, moving right around Sol. I can't speak for Sol and ultimately Terra because of the terms of the Armistice we have with them... I assured their sovereignty.. but the Local Region on the other side of Sol would make an excellent Belkan buffer between the Aschen State and the Coalition." The Emperor said calmly.
"I want to maintain subtle political pressure on the Terran Government until their brought into the United Aschen Empire, or become Absolute themselves and join our Coalition." He said, highlighting the various regions on the Galaxy. "If we include the Taiyou in this new Tripartite, we would be unstoppable against any democratic entity in the Galaxy."
Wing raised an eyebrow at this suggestion. Was She not already unstoppable? That this pleb, the...commoner who raised himself so high, would insinuate otherwise...she frowned.
Still, she had little agaisnt the Taiyou. They were bearable, in their own way. She thought it over. "And if I request Terra instead? I am found of the planet after all." She had sought refuge there during times of war, and honeymooned there. Yes, she was fond of Terra.
Kampf looked over the galactic display with curious eyes, noting that he Erutin and Belkan domains had yet to be unified. "Sovereignty? You what?" Guaranteed the independence of those insects? That was almost baseless. Kampf sighed at the thought for a moment or two, pondering it for a moment as Mollem extrapolated further.
"Why not force an autocratic party into power, Mollem? Who will save them from such?" No Coalition, not any longer. He certainly had a party in mind, one that was rather pro-Terran, and highly imperialistic.
Josef did move to slide his hand into Wing's at that, gently squeezing as she posed her question. Of course she would ask for it, and were it in his power he'd give it to her. Perhaps later he could talk her down to a summer home, or some such.
The Shadow listened to Kampf's suprise at his guarentee of Terran Sovereignty. "You must understand, Kaiser, that the Aschen are a methodical people, I have orchestrated the inevitable fall of the Terran Government from the start. I want them to have a false sense of security, I want them to demonstrate the incomptence of their government, I want them to show they cannot govern themselves. Civil wars incited by various groups will cripple them."
The Shadow grinned. "I've got several moles within the Terran system already, ready to incite a Civil war that would show the incompetence of the Terran Government, and open the door for the Empire to swoop in and install an Autocratic regime. A new Tripartite Alliance that will rule Terra through an iron fist." He then leaned forward, and the light hit his face just right.
"We have a saying, Kaiser... Pax Per Bellum, Peace through Power."
Peace though power indeed. She remained quiet through his spiel, listening to it. "I see." She murmured at the end. "There is more than one way to deal with Terra of course. I believe all three of us have had some hand in its current state." She stated simply.
"And do you have a timeline for your work to be complete?" She couldn't bring herself to say simply his name. How informal! But she had not been given a proper title to call him, despite knowing it was Divine Shadow. She was hardly going to say that.
It gave an air of legitimacy to the man. Wing was uncertain if she wished to grant that, despite her husband's actions.
"... why not show them the inefficiency of their idiocy as you rain fire from the sky? Tear down their flag and burn their homes?" No doubt it would force the Terran people into submission, and were it that a new, or rather an autocratic continuation of the fomer state, was established then there would be no infringing on any treaty.
Especially if one installed the right puppet.
"Sieg durch Diziplin." Was Kampf's reply to such, finding subversion ill-suited to his current legions. That was for a time now lost. Now was the time for action.
"... but, we can agree. Terra will know imperial rule - one way or another - and we will lock the Coalition out of the Local Region." Kampf glanced to the map, then his wife, then back to Mollem. "... now, what of the Coalition?"
The Emperor shook his head. "We tried that, we tried to rain fire from the skies, and we tried to rain death from our ships. The Terrans fought us every step of the way. They rebelled, they fought, and they eventually won with the help of the Coalition -- No... I want the downfall of Terra to be at their own hands. It would make the victory all the more sweeter." He then turned to Wing, and inclined his head.
"We're a long lived, patient people. It will come when it comes."
He then turned back to Kampf. "I am sure that the Belkan Hegemony has some long unsettled debt with the Coalition that I am sure you would be happy to repay. Scatter will be Belkas, the Aschen have no desire for Beta Hydri." He said calmly.
"However, I have a long unsettled debt with the Terran Government, and their continuous sponsorship of Terrorism. I will handle Terra, and I will leave the Coalition to the Hegemony."
Wing held her tongue, just barely. Instead, she squeezed Josef's hand and allowed him to speak. She would not be able to be civil. A debt! How dare their heathen tongue speak of of debt! As if they did not owe her a great one themselves.
Oh yes. It was best she remain silent right now.
"A fair deal," Kampf mused, Terra for the Aschen and Scatter for himself. It was more than worth it, were it that Terra was so important in the eyes of the Aschen. He was more than willing to trade. As for the falling out that the Aschen had with the Erutin, well... that was a matter to be addressed at a later point. For the moment, it was best to resolve the issue that stood with the forces that strictly opposed them.
"We will leave you to your sphere, if you leave us to ours."
But there was one thing that begged his questioning, as it was quite the large piece of the puzzle. "... what of the Taiyou, Mollem?"
"I'm waiting for certain political events to fall into place on Niihama, so Crown Prince Takayama can take powe, allowing us a new Tripartite Sphere across our three Galaxies." The Emperor explained, looking to Wing. "I want to address something with the Erutins, should we be allowed to survey the remains of their world, following the collapse of the Black hole that Admiral McGregor activated, we will collect as many Genetic codexes as we can, and attempt to rebuild Dev Eru, the least we can do to atone for our... misunderstanding with the Erutin People."
The Emperor brought up a new hologram, showing a massive sphere shaped vessel. "I call it the Genesis Project, the creation of a new planet." He said, nodding slowly. "We devised it in the event that Langara were to suffer destruction at the hands of the Coalition." He said, manipulating the hologram. "We can spare a Genesis ship for Dev Eru at this time." He said, turning to Kampf.
"Trade, a strong economy between our two nations is paramount to a strong alliance. We can upgrade your vessels with our shields, if you provide us the secret to manufacting Nano-diesel."
"It is a black hole. It is in my understanding, though I do not claim to be a scientist, that there will be no remains once it collapses several Million years from now." She pointed out, fury barely contained.
His misunderstanding cost her millions of lives, if not billions or trillions, more than one solar system, and a goodly number of ships in her fleet, and he believed a new planet could solve the problem?
She frowned darkly, any pretense at aloofness gone.
Wing was not a kind of gentle monarch, but she genuinely cared for her people.
Then it would be a matter of time before the Taiyou were brought into this alliance of sorts. Understandable, considering the crown prince's relations with the Aschen and the influence that Mollem might have over the young man. "Then we shall wait and see." It was, at the moment, the most that they could do.
But the issue of the former Erutin homeworld was something that Kampf sat back and stayed out of, knowing it best not to be involved in something so volatile with Wing. "... I can provide nano-diesel, but, Mollem," He glanced to Wing momentarily. "... you are treading on thin ice. Please be careful with your diction."