[RP] Turn 42 - Tharkad 1619 RP thread.

[Deathrider6]

 Kommadant Dieter Handlemann Bitburg stepped into the room and noticed Loremaster Tutuola. "Loremaster, pardon the intrusion..." Before Dieter could finish Duke Robert Kelswa Steiner stepped into the room. He stopped and turned to the Loremaster. " If my briefing materials are correct you are the Loremaster of Clan Wolf? I am Robert Kelswa-Steiner it is an honor to meet you Loremaster." His security detail stepped into the room. The senior of the two gave Tutuola a respectful nod as he took a seat in one of the chairs against the wall.

[august]

Heidelberg Kazerne, Tharkad

Customs having been cleared with a minimum of fuss, Numen approached the LCAF officer in charge of transport. "Colonel, so kind of you to meet us here. Have you been on Tharkad since before the attack? My people and I were able to get some idea of the extent of the damage from our relief force's report. Heart-breaking, honestly; the resilience of the Tharkans must be great indeed if they have weathered this catastrophe. I only pray that the Commonwealth as a whole shares their determination and that the despicable criminals who inflicted this attack can be swiftly brought to justice."

[edit: got the rank wrong]

[NVA]

"I am grateful to meet you also, Duke Kelswa-Steiner.  I would prefer other circumstances, of course."

The nature of an elemental, trained into him since childhood, had him sizing up the other security detail.  However, training also made it possible for that action to seem like a natural look, rather than some over bearing ogre.

Kommadant Dieter Handlemann Bitburg stepped into the room and noticed Loremaster Tutuola. "Loremaster, pardon the intrusion..." Before Dieter could finish Duke Robert Kelswa Steiner stepped into the room. He stopped and turned to the Loremaster. " If my briefing materials are correct you are the Loremaster of Clan Wolf? I am Robert Kelswa-Steiner it is an honor to meet you Loremaster." His security detail stepped into the room. The senior of the two gave Tutuola a respectful nod as he took a seat in one of the chairs against the wall.

[Deathrider6]

Tharkad

  Avril nodded. "I have been here for quite a while. I was assigned here to work with the Nagelring ATB but was on leave at the time of the blast. Since then I have been here co-ordinating relief efforts. I would love to stay and chat but I have other duties to attend to sir. The Leutnant will ensure you and your escorts are given billeting. Welcome to Tharkad."

[Deathrider6]

"I am grateful to meet you also, Duke Kelswa-Steiner.  I would prefer other circumstances, of course."

The nature of an elemental, trained into him since childhood, had him sizing up the other security detail.  However, training also made it possible for that action to seem like a natural look, rather than some over bearing ogre.

 Robert nodded. "The circumstances could be much better. I would have been here sooner but there were security issues. I'm sure we will have much to discuss Loremaster. I need some time with General Russell's staff once that is done I would appreciate a briefing on the situation on the Clan front. News has been scarce during my trip here."

[Dave Baughman]

Briefly holding his hand to the microcomm on his ear, the guard standing before Nondi Steiner's command center-cum-throne room spoke to the assembled dignitaries.

"Gentlemen, the Regent will meet with you now."

As soon as they entered the dimly-lit room, all present were struck by how badly the dying General had deteriorated. The face of her youth had faded into a mass of dioxin-induced chloracne, and those who had been on Tharkad the past fall were reminded eerily of the makeup the tenor Albericht Östermann had worn during the production of De passie van de Vader in his role as the evil emperor.

"Galaxy Commander Tutuola," she said softly, "I see you have returned."

She peered towards Kelswa-Steiner for a moment as if struggling to focus on him, "Robert," she said with somthing that might have been relief in her voice, "you arrived in time. Sehr gut."

After a momentary pause she said, "I apologize to the rest of you, but I'm afraid my eyesight is not what is used to be. Please be seated, and introduce yourselves."

[august]

Numen took his seat uneasily, with a sidelong glance at Tutuola that betrayed discomfort.

"General of the Armies, Duke Kelswa-Steiner, I am Franz-Georg Numen, appointed Delegate Tharkad under the emergency laws. The Estates General has sent me here in order to work with you to figure out how we can best get the Lyran state back in order. I'll let the others introduce themselves before we go any further, but I want to at least apologize for the conduct of my predecessor; Colonel Taks is a damn good pilot and a capable commander, but, as you saw, not exactly the man one would one want representing someone else in a tense situation."

[Deathrider6]

Tharkad.

  "Robert looked at Nondi then over to Delgate Numens. "I was not here to see Colonel Taks outburst or the reaction of Kaptain Schrakenberg to said outburst but I do believe the good delegate missed someone in his apology. Kommandant General Russell is the aggrieved party if I am not mistaken." Robert nodded towards him. "That aside Delegate Numens I need the assurance that you are the duly elected or appointed Delegate from this world. I can assure you that Arc-Royal's supposed emergency powers have no bearing here. All of Skye and Donegal's delegates have been elected legally. Your status will get you here but unless you can prove that you are legally elected or appointed under LYRAN law I am not so sure that the Estates General will accept you. I will defer final judgement to General Stiener though as she is the senior representative of any branch of the LC government here. If she accepts you as a delegate from Tharkad I have no issue. In spite of the legal issue at hand I do welcome your willingness to work here to unify the Commonwealth.

[august]

"Duke Robert, with all due respect, I'm not here to prove my legitimacy or, for that matter, to question that of anyone else. We can keep quibbling over legal minutia until the stars grow tired, Lyran worlds burning all the time, or we can figure out what common ground we do have and move forward. Right now, and you will forgive my frankness, there isn't a de facto Lyran state, and asking questions de juris is pointless. We either pull ourselves together, commit to a common task and get things moving again - agreeing to defer questions of strict legality until the time comes when we can deal with them without external threats pressing - or we can die separated and weak. Regardless of what you think of my title, I represent the interests of the Arc-Royal zone here, and what we are interested in is cooperation. So, is that enough for you?"

[Deathrider6]

 Tharkad


  "Arc-Royal has gone their own way Delegate. I accept your desire to help in any way you can but the fact is that regardless of what you do Arc-Royal probably will not follow your lead. I do not doubt your sincerity Delegate. That is a non issue. What I doubt is Arc-Royal's desire to return to the fold. What little news is bad. Tharkan martyrs? Is there even a true government left? They killed Morgan Kell to try and cow the SLDF that alone makes me question if Arc-Royal even cares if there is a Commonwealth left. As I stated initally you and your motives are not the issue here. What IS the issue is if you speak for Arc-Royal will they make an effort to back up what you have to say or have YOU been left out on a limb with them holding the saw?"

[Deathrider6]

Tharkad

  General Russell cleared his throat. "Duke Robert, Delegate Numens I'm sure that you two can work together and arguing the legal aspects is fine but I do think we should get things moving along. I'm sure that General Steiner didn't bring us here to see you two debate even as friendly as it is. We need to come up with a way to unify what is left of the Commonwealth gentlemen and quickly. I have been notified that the Estates general is in the process of selecting a speaker. Once that is done I'm sure they will be keen on dealing with the current situation."

[Deathrider6]

Tharkad

  Robert looked over at General Russell. "General you are correct. I do believe I owe Delgate Numen an apology and an explaination for my attitude towards him." Robert turned to Delgate Numen. "I meant what I satated before but I do owe you an apology for my tone. While en route my wife was assassinated by rogue elements of Free Skye. Now to clairify on that the majority of that group back my change of heart vis a vis the Commonwealth, but there are elements who did not take kindly to my about face. I am angry but not at you. I am willing to work with you and I will leave it at that. The loss of my wife has made dealing with the issues difficult but General Russell was correct in telling me obliquely to shut up and get to business."

[Deathrider6]

Tharkad

  General Russell smiled thinly. " Thank you Robert. I would hope that we can get some semblance of order in the region. I do intend to ask General Steiner for a status report on units she is in contact with to arrange for some possible joint operations to secure the area in anticipation for a possible counter offensive against the clans. Once a secure base for logistics is set then we can begin at minimum raiding operations to try and see what we are up against. I do hope that Arc-Royal can contribute."

[august]

"Firstly, General Russel, forgive me - I did not recognize you at first. Had I known that you were present, I would have extended the apology to you directly. And Duke Kelswa-Steiner, my sincere condolences, and those of all the people of Arc-Royal on the loss of your wife. She will be mourned throughout the Lyran worlds."

"Duke, please understand that our repeal of the Articles was not intended as an act of secession; as the groundwork for the Commonwealth's laws, it has failed. There is evidence enough of this in our situation now. If the Estates General is working on a new constitution, it is to prevent this sort of tragedy from even shattering the Lyran state as a whole again. If you were to be accepted as Archon, I would heartily suggest that you would also look for ways to improve the document - hopefully the labors of my colleagues on Arc-Royal will be productive and suggestive for the state as a whole."

"As for the incident with the SLDF, what can we say? I have no interest in arguing with the representative from Clan Wolf here present, but the issue at hand was the SLDF attempting to remove Lyran property and civilians in direct defiance of the local government's wishes. We could not accept the forced evacuation of our resources by a foreign power, and the Wolves and the SLDF refused to comply."

"Marco Hall tells us that he respects the General of the Armies' claim to be head of state. That is fine. It is, however, no excuse for attempting to bully local authorities into submission. The SLDF has no right to confiscate Lyran property without local authority - it was for this that we opposed him. Our means were, yes, undesirable and extreme. But Arc-Royal was and remains in not in a position where we could be otherwise persuasive. If they had offered us something in return, we might have been more amicable; but then half of the Arc-Royal zone fell to the clans last month, and we had no support. Arc-Royal will not be anyone's buffer state."

"Ahem. I am letting my emotions get the best of me. Suffice it to say that nothing that Arc-Royal has enacted is irreversible; nothing is more important to our course right now than unity. I will not deny that this is somewhat guided by pragmatic concerns; I come with intelligence that will be of interest to all. But just the same, we are prepared to cooperate in full, provided that we are given the chance."

[Deathrider6]

Tharkad.


  Robert nodded. "Delegate I cannot speak on the actions of Commanding General Hall of the SLDF as the Star League had not recognized ANY part of the Commonwealth. In the case of Arc-Royal I cannot offer anything at this point but possible logistical support from Skye and Donegal any force allocations will need to be passed through LCAF channels. Arc-Royal may not have left the Commonwealth but personally I would be more open to a dialogue if more than just you were here. The Estates General has convened here of thier own free will. Each world in Donegal and Skye sent a pair of Delegates. I have not been there to observe the seesion thuis far and will probably wait until my appearance is requested to attend. I'm sure they will welcome you Tharkad is short a Delegate."

  "I also thank you for your condolences. I will ensure that Skye and Donegal hear your sentiments."