A Meeting On Neutral Ground [Enver's state visit to Galactya]

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Galactyan Empire, Quadrant One

Cruslux System, Galactya

27/6/6001 P.E.

1 ABT

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In the recent months, four members of the Coalition - the Colestians, the Emeraldians, the Drakari and the Akropii - had made first contact with the Grand Commissariat Of Enver, a nation of unknown extension thought to be located Spinwards of the Drakari Imperium and Rimwards of Colestia.

During these contacts, even the much more diplomatic ones showed that the Envari were… less than agreeable most of the time. Their attack to the Emeraldian colony of Victoria III certainly bought them much hostility in both the Emeraldian Government and population. The situation with the Drakari and Akropii was more positive, but it still painted an icky picture at best.

Galactya too had some indirect exposure to them: during the incident at Victoria III, some of their vessels were almost involved in the armed exchanged, before being moved to the side of the planet opposite of the battle.

The Empire was making preparation for the establishment of a new espionage net across the Commissariat to gather proper intel and more data about this possible threat, but before doing that, they had decided to arrange an official diplomatic meeting on the Capital with Envari Representatives to ratify borders, establish an embassy and non-aggression treaties and discuss trade. After the visit to Galactya, the ambassadors would be escorted by a squadron of the Combined Coalition Fleet to Ilanor and New Greenston, where they would carry out similar visits with the Calerostan and Emeraldian Governments.

Many, even in Galactya, rebelled to these negotiations: some said that the Empire, the Coalition or both shouldn’t even consider such bloodthirsty, primitive nations, while others said that a military strike was needed in order to get rid of the threat. Others instead were happy with the negotiations, hoping that further hostilities could be prevented by these meetings.

The Emperors and the Clade Councillors, together with the Nine Grand Ministers, waited in front of Galactya’s Prime Spaceport. While the meeting was meant to be diplomatic, many security bots were readied in case anything went south, remaining hidden for the time being.

The Enver ships would be dropping in system in mere moments now.

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The flagship emerged from the dark void of space over Galactya. It looked like a submarine emerging from the ocean, except there was no ocean, only space. The ship was huge, riviling Calerostan Starbrakers or Galactyan military ships. It was oval-shaped and smooth, with silver and black coloring, reflecting the starlight of the system. Its multitude of engines, situated in the back, let out a yellow glow as it moved into a stable orbit around the planet.

A shuttle emerged from the ship. It looked like a minature version of the larger ship. It smoothly entered the atmosphere, flying past the orbital rings, while producing barely any reentry flames.

These negotiations were to be kept secret from most, but the nost senior officials. What most people would have interpreted as weakness and showing mercy to the xeno scum, only a few understood that it was necessary. The recent months revealed how late and unprepared the Comissariat was to the grand political game of the sector. They were in no means ready for war. Enver needed time. And Hoxha was here to ensure it got it.

The shuttle landed in the previously decided area. The first to emerge were the Black Guards, forming two rows, one on each side. A familiar sight to everyone who had previous dealings with Enver. After them came out not one, but two figures. One of them was was Hoxha, in his standard, long and greay coat, with red and gold decals and multiple medals pinned to his chest. On his hat there was an emblem presenting a golden star with a black fist on it. He had two thin cables attached to the tubes at his cheeks, which allowed him to breathe in the foreogn atmosphere.

The other was a Black Guard, but pivotally different to the unmoving black statues. He walked right behind Hoxha, slightly to his left. His armor was standard blacj, but there was a blue lightning painted on the right side of his helmet’s visor and a red fist on his right shoulder. There also was a knife in a sheath attached to his left arm. His movement was more relaxed and casual than even that of Hoxha and he held his rifle on his right shoulder.

When they reached the “welcoming comitee”, Hoxha greeted them with a standard “All hail the Grand Comissar”. He has set hid translator to Terran, as it was known by the Galactians and would eliminate the need for a lenghty translation process. Weirdly, the Black Guards remained silent.

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"Greetings Director Hoxha. Welcome to the Empire, and welcome to our capital, Galactya."

"We hope that this visit can provide peace and order to our nations."

"If you may follow us, we'll lead you to the place we selected for our discussion. We made it so that the chamber is hermetically sealed, and hosts an atmosphere comfortable for your respiration."

"That way, the meeting will be much more comfortable for you. You're guests after all."

While talking, the Empeor activated his exoself telepathic communication function, and connected to the Empress.

JUST TO BE SURE: YOU DID MAKE SURE THAT NEXUS IS NOW ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EMPIRE, RIGHT?

YES, YES, DON'T WORRY. RIGHT NOW HE SHOULD HAVE JUST ARRIVED TO THE BORDER OF QUADRANT 11 TO "GET WORK EXPERIENCE" IN A MONITORING MISSION FOR THE BORDER WITH THE TIYANKI BADLANDS.

GOOD, GOOD. WE DON'T WANT THE ENVARI GETTING ALL VIOLENT. NOT HERE, AND MOST DEFINITELY NOT NOW.

THEY'RE ALREADY AGGRESSIVE ENOUGH. CARTOONISHLY SO IF WE'RE BEING HONEST.

WEREN'T WE ALSO CARTOONISHLY XENOPHOBIC?

YES, BUT IT WAS 7000 YEARS AGO AND WE WILLINGLY STOPPED BEING LIKE THAT. AND SO, THERE REALLY IS NO EXCUSE.

...TOUCHE.

"The Black Guards will be able to escort you all the way up to the Imperial Palace Complex - the enormous tower behind us - but they'll have to remain outside of the entrance. A sign of trust on your side, if you will."

"Of course, our own guards will also remain on the outside of the Complex. Trust comes in pairs, after all."

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Hoxha and the Black Guards followed the large group of xenos. Hoxha was suprised to say the least. He was more tolerant of xenos than most Envari, working on slightly improving the situation of slaves and saw each of the slave species in person, but he never imagined such diversity in one place. And it all worked without one of the groups being superior to others. And their development was almost equal to that of the Envari. Hoxha knew that xenos could be inventive and the unique conditions of their creation could create innovations unknown to the Envari, but not on such a scale. Galactya seemed to defy every natural law and the Ideology. But there were more pressing matters now.

“Well said Emperor. Don’t worry , there should be issue with that. I’m not paranoid, compared to some if my subordinates.” He looked at the Black Guard walking next to him. “Dornan, can I trust you to keep them in line?”

“Sir yes sir.” Jokingly answered Dornan.

On the outside Hoxha appeard lighthearted, maybe even cheerful, but inside he was worried. Even if he was allowed to bring in the Guards, they wouldn’t be of much use anyways. Galactyans probably stationed thousands of their own troops just outside the Complex, ready to overrrun it and capture him in the matter of minutes. Hoxha would need to hope they had good enough reasons not to do that.

“If I may ask, how many species are in your Empire? I have already seen more than the amount of nations we have discovered.”

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"Oh, nobody knows for sure. The best estimate is in the hundreds of thousands, but even then there are some saying that the real number is higher."

"We regroup large numbers of our species in clades, based on their common ancestor, and even then there are hundreds upon hundreds of them."

"If you wish to know, our species mostly derive from genetic engineering and artificial diversification, as well as neogenic, lazurogenic and provolution projects. A number of them also derive from alien immigrants hailing from our many allied nations."

"All of them are treated equally as everyone else, as xenophobia was something we forcefully phased out of our brains 7000 years ago. We tried to make Imperial Infrastructure be as inclusive and panspeciest as possible, even though it's objectively impossible for it to be truly fit for all of our species, exception made for very important public spaces."

"Our species include baselines, tweaks, rianths, splices, xenosplices, provolves, neogens cyborgs, bioborgs, biaiods, virtuals, aioids, neumanns, vecs, sophont structures and exots, such as silicon or magnetohydrodynamic interactions-based life."

"How about Enver instead?"

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“There are Envari and a small amount of AI citizens. There are other xenos too, but you will probably not meet them. Historical and ideological issues,lets just say. But things are better than they were before. Some of the previous leaders wouldn’t even consider diplomacy as an option. There is of course opposition to those changes, but as long as the Comissar supports them, there is nothing they can do.”

“Iskander, the Admiral responsible for the Victoria Crisis, was a member of one particularly radical group. After this and a couple of other incidents, ceirtain measures were put in place to ensure it never happens again. And Iskander received a fitting punishment.”

“For you xenophobia might seem like something evil and unnatural, but there was a point in Envari history at which xenophobia was our only chance of survival. Effects of these events can still be seen now, 3000 years later. But as I said before, there are forces at work to reverse the past mistakes.”

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"Come on now Director, avoid telling us that lie xenophobes tell everyone else We’ve been in your current shoes for FAR longer than you could even comprehend."

"For 45 million years we evolved on this very planet, a hellhole in which resources were always scarce and were competition drove us to near extinction over and over again, until we became the most xenophobic species the Sector had ever seen! The fear of anything that wasn’t Galactyan had been engraved in our DNA so much that it basically defined who were completely."

"But then, 7000 years ago that same xenophobia who helped us survive as primitives on our planet brought us levels of conflict and devastation we had never seen before. Billions dead, dozens of worlds ravaged and destroyed. It was then that we understood that we were faulty and crooked: the very thing that helped us before was now the reason for our near total destruction."

"We understood that xenophobia was a poison that kept us from truly becoming great: the stars are an unforgiving place, and to hate is to be stuck in an endless cycle, an ouroboros of misery. So, we took matters into our own hands and changed to become better, smarter, and quite ironically, stronger."

"With our new understanding of things, we crafted an utopia fit for all species, no matter how bizzare or exotic; we forged alliances and friendships with other nations for centuries, and now we stand tall above the Sector’s stars."

"We get where you and your people are coming from Director, but we are also fully aware that having a brief period of very harsh history is no excuse for still being xenophobic."

"That aside, we are very, very happy to hear that you have started to change for the better. Or at least, that you’re trying to. It won’t be a short process, and if you’re not willing to do something as radical as we did it might take centuries, but it will be worth it, trust me."

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Hoxha was a part of a truly tiny movement, which came up with a radical and, to most, preposterous idea. To free the xenos of slavery and integrate them as second-class citizens. Without a strong, guiding hand it would all surely collapse. Envari would be tge ones to provide it and handle most of the governance. After all, they were the victors and, most importantly, superior. Or were they? The Hydrosians, Drakari and Galactyans all seemed to prove him wrong. Hoxha knew what mindblowing things xenos managed to accomplish, but there always were excuses, framing them as isolated incidents, one time lucky moments. He never questioned the Comissar or the Ideology. They couldn’t be wrong, could they?

“It will for sure be worth it. But for many this visit is already the most radical move that the Comissar could make. But lets not delve into the complicated matter of Comissariat’s internal politics. There are more pressing matters that we need to discuss. And talking about the discussion, is there going to be anyone present besides us three?”

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"During the main diplomatic discussions it will just be us three, if that is not problematic for you. However, if that makes you uncomfortable, you can always bring others along."

"As for other activities, such as meals, tours and formal visits, the Councillors, Ministers and other members of the High Government will join us as well. Since you will be staying on Galactya for a while, we thought it would be best to arrange for ambassadors and representatives of our SubPolities to visit as well. They might be partially independent, but they are still under Imperial Sovereignty."

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“I would love to have a tour of Galactya. It reminds me of Enver actually, just a bit more… purple.”

“Just us three will be perfect for the negotiations. We will be dealing with highly sensitive topics, so having more people might cause problems.”

“I’m rather worried about a different thing. I’ve heard rumors about Edhels and their religious fanaticism. And their beliefs are highly incompatible with Comissariats policies, to say the least. My presence there is bound to cause tention, which might boil over into open conflict. If such a thing will happen, it will completely negate my visit here and Emerald. Due to the relationship between your states, I believe it would be best if you managed to acquire some kind of assurance that such a thing will not happen. Peace with the Comissaria is in the best interest of the Coalition after all.”

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"We will pull some strings and put in a good word or two. We cannot assure anything, as both public and governmental opinion of the Commissariat is generally very low all throughout Calerost."

"Many in the Coalition, and even in our Empire, have a very low opinion of you as well. Our decision to allow you inside of our territories for a diplomatic visit was widely disliked."

"Luckily for you, our political influence is enormous, so while nothing is certain, there is a high chance that we will be able to negotiate such a deal with Calerost."

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After a pretty exhausting conversation for Hoxha, they finally reached the promised negotiation room.

“Stay outside. Try to not attract too much attention.” Hoxha instructed Dornan.

“Don’t worry. This isn’t the Comissariat, I’m probably one of the more normal things here. And how are they supposed to know I’m a defect?” Dornan answered.

“You are ceitainly a lot less colorful then everybody around. Just don’t use buildings as target practice.”

“Sir, yes sir”

Hoxha went to the negotiation room togheter with the Emperors and took his place at the table.

“May we begin?”

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