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Post by Admin on Jul 29, 2015 21:42:14 GMT -6
Wikwana Ikosi Miatwane inhaled deeply, wringing her hands together as her shuttle buffeted and flew through the atmosphere of New Sovereignty. Spaceflight itself did not bother her - it was the precarious sensation of rising and falling that came during takeoff and landing which unsettled her stomach. She could not afford to puke on this particular occasion, not as the first free IkaKwazan to set foot on the homeland of the former Antoviyan Empire. There was too much pomp and precedent in the occasion for something as petty as a biological imperative to screw up.
Finally the shut landed with a powerful *thunk* and her stomach was safe once more. Wikwana stood, allowing an aid to smooth her dress and straighter her hair while everyone got into position. Guards flanked her on either side, along with aids and assistants. Although she did not see them, she knew that guards and reporters would be taking up position outside the shuttle as well, to record her first steps onto foreign soil and the first international mission with the new Transportal Drive.
Someone gave the "ready" signal and the ramp lowered. Wikwana descended onto the platform and advanced toward her counterpart, smiling for the onlookers the entire way.
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Post by RWU on Jul 31, 2015 18:15:53 GMT -6
Everything on New Sovereignty was dense. The hills were cramped with farming terraces, the open fields with agro-factories, and the deserts with solar collectors. The cities themselves were monstrously high and wide...and that wasn't counting the subterranean districts. But Victory City, even by this standard, was packed. An entirely modern city built and planned by the RWU with the latest technology, it was essentially a mass of arcology diamonds -a pyramid above ground and a pyramid below- connected by mass-transit tubes. From the outside they looked drab and all alike, but inside they were vibrant with plethoras of cultures and communities with a full range of expressions. Each diamond was a virtual city unto itself with integrated hydroponics, plumbing, and power generators (solar above, geothermal below). Each had its own distinct industries, schools, parks, museums, galleries, markets, monuments, and many other manners of buildings and institutions particular to districts and enclaves within the arcology.
This marvel of urban engineering, however, was not ideal for accommodating state visits. It was for this reason that a patch of Victory City had been adapted for space landing and takeoff, a massive but relatively short short "tree" of landing platforms that was the sole site of planes and cylinders in an otherwise pyramid-dominated skyline. It was here that a party of RWU officials, accompanied by armed militia-folk and a swarm of media reporters, met the Kwazan representative. Although most of the party was Ayar, one of the many figures in grey coats was ostensibly humanoid. It was he who bowed curtly to the ambassador and spoke.
"Union Councilor Kazamar Qoma Busisiwe Okunye," he introduced using his full name, an Ayar given name followed by IkaKwazan family name, clan praise, and tribe name. Wikwana Ikosi Miatwane would surely recognize the "tribe" as a simple (and politically-charged) term, "Other." "Whom do I have the honor of welcoming to Victory City?"
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Post by Admin on Aug 3, 2015 13:37:03 GMT -6
Wikwana wondered briefly what the RWU's intentions were in sending one of her lost people to greet her. From Antoviya it would have been an insult; from the RWU it was more likely some poor attempt at criticism or an effort to get a reaction out of her. Probably the latter - a shot at Kwazan triumphalism by shoving evidence of their past failures in her face. Well she wouldn't be thrown off script that easily.
"Wikwana Ikosi Miatwane." She bowed formally to her counterpart. "Ambassador of the Kwazan Conglomerate. It is a privilege to visit the old heartland of Antoviya."
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Post by RWU on Aug 3, 2015 15:03:50 GMT -6
Indeed, Councilor Kazamar Qoma had both eagerly volunteered for this assignment and received encouragement from his counterparts, precisely to throw the Conglomerate ambassador off. Sometimes the workings of the Union Council could be quite simple.
What was less simple, however, was devising an appropriate response to Ikosi Miatwane's embarrassingly ignorant remark. Heartland of Antoviya? Victory City had been a modest colonial port at best before the Revolution, well away from the Antoviyan core provinces in Hauthkaj. If it wasn't plain enough from mere observation, the enormous municipality was the farthest thing in the RWU from old or traditional.
Kazamar raised an eyebrow at the ambassador but refrained from saying anything harsh. "It is an honor to receive you in the heartland of the Revolution." He might have allowed his correction a bit more force, if it weren't for his gender and diminutive stature compared to the Kwazan woman. Any anger on his part could only be met with dismissal, falling into the age-old Kwazan caricature of the "small angry man."
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Post by Admin on Aug 3, 2015 19:04:21 GMT -6
"Of course," Wikwana conceded. "I simply meant that this was the home planet of Antoviya. Coming from another planet this is quite close for me." She pointed out. After distances measured in light-years she wasn't about to quibble over the last several hundred miles. She especially wasn't interesting in doing said quibbling while standing on a landing pad.
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Post by RWU on Aug 4, 2015 12:11:54 GMT -6
"Of course," Kazamar conceded in return, mirroring Wikwana's tone. There was no point in making an argument out of this, as much as he resented the sheer aloofness of her remark. Naturally this was the old home planet of Antoviya, because it had been the only planet of Antoviya. That certainly did not imply their presence everywhere on the planet was at all the same. It was like saying the tundra might as well be the rainforest if they were on the same continent.
"Shall we show you to our meeting-place for the day? Or would you prefer to take some time to rest among the accommodations we have prepared for you and your staff?"
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Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2015 15:30:35 GMT -6
"If you could escort us to our accomodations I would be greatful." Wikwana admitted. "I should catch up on events and discuss with my staff before our formal meeting. Perhaps we could speak this evening?"
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Post by RWU on Aug 6, 2015 16:47:36 GMT -6
"Very well," Kazamar offered with a bow. "The Veteran-Vanguards will escort your party to the Guest Apartments of the Landing Tree." Six lightly-armed milita folk, three Ayar and three Kwazan, approached the Conglomerate representatives. However, the host of reporters behind the Councilor was not about to let their big story get delayed. No less than fourteen outran the soldiers and brought themselves face-to-face with the Wikwana. The first one to address her was a tall Wuxianese man whose face and neck were covered in red and black tattoos.
"Madam Ambassador! Madam Ambassador!" he shouted slightly louder than his counterparts behind him. "What is the stance of your government on Kwazan RWU citizen-members?! Will they have dual citizenship?! What if --" He was abruptly cut off as a small Ayar slid up from between the man's legs and pushed him back into the crowd.
"Madam Ambassador! Does your government consider the RWU a successor-state to Antoviya?! Will you be demanding reparations?!"
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2015 13:59:15 GMT -6
Ugh. Vultures. Wikwana silently grumbled, hastily summoning the will to paste her best smile onto her face for the cameras. "The Decimation of Kwazan was an unimaginable tragedy. However, the Conglomerate recognizes that the RWU is not a successor state to the Antoviyan Empire and not liable for the damages of the past. It is clear to us that the RWU's people suffered under Antoviya just as the Kwazan did. We hope to move forward together in peace and prosperity rather than dig up old grievances to levy at one another."
She answered a few more carefully chosen media questions before retreating to the embassy suite, emphasizing the Conglomerate's wish to coexist amicably with the RWU while avoiding any specific commitments. Back at the suite she had a brief time to rest before her staff began drilling her with every event and nuance that might be potentially relevant during negotiations with the RWU. Past that she needed to clean herself, prepare her outfit for the meeting, meet with the Conglomerate's own media in a much smaller, more private session, and contact her superiors. Clearly she would get no rest, although Wikwana was at least happy to be on solid ground again. When the time came to attend the negotiations, she was ready.
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Post by RWU on Aug 7, 2015 14:11:11 GMT -6
Wikwana and her attendants were escorted to a conference room at the far Southern edge of the Landing Tree. The room was half metal, half glass with a round table in the center. The Southern half offered a magnificent view over one of the very few remaining forests on New Sovereignty, a mass of green oak leaves with a number of birds seemingly always flying above. The Northern half, much more plain, was decorated only with a black banner bearing the red star.
"Greetings, Ambassador Wikwana," began Councilor Kazamar, sitting at an angle from the doorway. "Please sit." On either side of him sat an aide, one Kwazan woman and one Ayar. "What tidings, news, or proposals do you bring us from the Conglomerate?"
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2015 14:36:31 GMT -6
"Councilor" Wikwana bowed before sitting. "First let me say it is my pleasure to visit Victory City. I thank you for providing an audience to hear our proposal so swiftly."
"The Conglomerate wishes for amiable relations with the RWU and wishes me to assure you that peace and mutual prosperity are our first concerns. For this reason we wish to propose treaties establishing safe and open trade and travel between our states, as well as free passage through each other's territory for the purposes of diplomacy, trade and exploration. Such an agreement would grant the Conglomerate freedom to trade with the Wuxian and Asteron freely, while drastically reducing the distance necessary between the RWU and the Viscarri, Retaren and others. We hope you will see the wisdom in a proposal that will mean safer, more secure routes and prosperity for both of us."
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Post by RWU on Aug 7, 2015 15:28:36 GMT -6
"Amiable relations may be a tall order," Kazamar replied bluntly, "but at the very least non-hostile relations can be arranged for. Certainly your announcement to the press that you will not be treating us as a successor-state to Antoviya is a step in the right direction." He smiled slightly, with a hint of genuine warmth to acknowledge Wikwana's deft move. The fact of the matter was that the RWU would have loved nothing more than to cut off the Conglomerate plutocrats from the precious flow of interstellar commerce. But unfortunately, they occupied a strategic location that would allow them to do just as much damage back should matters come to diplomatic blows.
"The Revolutionary Workers' Union will not interfere with the Conglomerate bourgeoisie's free travel through our system, so long as the Conglomerate recognizes all bodies in the New Sovereignty System as the sovereign territory of the Revolutionary Workers. Naturally, we expect that our freedom of travel will be equally unimpeded, and of course we will respect the territorial integrity of the Kwazan System."
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Post by Admin on Aug 10, 2015 15:54:05 GMT -6
Perhaps not, but if the RWU wasn't actively seeking to sabotage their society and trade relations it was certainly a start. The RWU's methods of interfering with societies were in many ways more dangerous than outright invasion or military strength, something Wikwana's bosses were quite well aware of. But influence could work both ways, and if the RWU was willing to take their money and look the other way, all the better.
"The Conglomerate is also interested in establishing a direct trade deal with the RWU. Our current spaceport is already earmarked, but we have plans in development for expanded infrastructure. Such an agreement would bring great prosperity to both the RWU and Conglomerate."
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Post by RWU on Aug 10, 2015 16:04:21 GMT -6
"The Revolutionary Workers' Congress will never agree to such a proposal," the Union Councilor stated matter-of-factly. "The central organs will not sustain greed and slavery with our commercial infrastructure, and the masses will not use the means of production so recently re-appropriated to fuel the same exploitation they broke free from. Until such a time as a Kwazan workers' delegate or peasant councilor is sitting across from me, and not a bourgeois state bureaucrat, you can expect that our response to such proposals will remain the same."
The only prosperity the capitalists pulling Wikwana's strings were interested in was their own, and even if the RWU profited it would be by the toil of their Kwazan comrades. Collective liberation or no liberation, as the common saying went.
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Post by Admin on Aug 10, 2015 18:37:57 GMT -6
"Are you going to maintain the same stance for every non-syndicalist nation you come across?" Wikwana queried. "You're punishing your own people by excluding them from the galactic market. Syndicalist or not, your people need trade, goods and money to prosper, and your government will need money to spend on all of your 'outreach' programs."
"If your experiment is to truly succeed, not just here on Ayar but on a grander scale, then you will need to prove that your system can compete on the galactic market. You have yet to show whether Syndicalism can survive as an economic system outside of the cozy confines of protectionism and domestic regime." She wondered whether her reasoning, which was not untrue, would work with the commissioner. There were, in actuality, many Conglomerate scholars who outright proclaimed exactly what she hinted at: that Syndicalism was a fool's pipe-dream, and would collapse without protectionist walls shielding it from actual challenge or outside competition. Wikwana was less certain - she was too pragmatic to easily buy into such grandstanding - but a few barbs and a hint of challenge might push the chancellor to see refusing as an act of cowardice instead of defiance.
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