The Planetary Peace Conference - our negotiating stance

[Snoddasmannen]

My opinion:

Well, I don't think we should accept an immediate end to hostilities due to the conference, not until we have received (at least part of) the payment owed to us by the Morgans. And also, we should insist on a time limit on that cease fire, not just "until the conference ends". We need a more solid contract.

They want a cease fire, and I am guessing that they are willing to pay for it, whereas we have little to gain from it. I'm just not comfortable with giving them exactly what they want without effort.

EDIT: And also, it is better role-play I think

[Modo44]

Yes, but once we get the next turn, they will know we are not attacking. This time it could be "refitting time", but not next turn. Once they see that, they will tell us to bugger off and right so. Meaning, someone has to go talk to them now. Oh, Goooooglie!

[Googlie]

My suggestion (edits/comments at will):


Spartan Justice

Background:

After first meeting, the Federation and the Corporation signed a Treaty of Commerce and Friendship

Some trades were made, and some technologies sold, by the Federation to the Corporation. Recognizing the large commerce imbalance, the Corporation also engaged the Federation in a profit sharing scheme, beneficial to both factions. The Corporation also paid for “observer status” for one of their operatives aboard a Federation lightly-armed exploration vessel, the SCC (Spartan Combat Craft) Hunter

Some time thereafter, the Federation commenced infiltration on the Corporation, resulting in the death of Corporation armored covert operations agents – however note that though the protocols of inter-factional relations deem covert operations agents to have no legal standing (see below, our italics)

Extracted from Interfactional manual, p133

Probe teams cannot attack other units directly, but they can battle one another to the death. Probe Team combat is based on the morale of the combatants. Probe Teams can attack other teams even in squares containing other units. Since Probe Teams have no “official” existence, destroying another faction’s Probe Teams does not violate a treaty or pact.

the Corporation chose to treat our actions as hostile, and commenced withholding credits from previously agreed trades to “compensate” them for the loss of a unit with no official standing.

As a result, the Federation booted off-ship the observer attached to the SCC Hunter

This was our first complaint against the Corporation, and the resulting lost income amounted to 50 credits

Sometime thereafter, the Federation saw fit to promulgate the Modo Doctrine, the intent of which was to preserve inviolate the shores of the Federation and University territories. It was always understood, in our embassy exchanges, that the extent of this exclusion zone was negotiable for any faction (read The Corporation) whose harbour egress from certain coastal bases might be covered by our exclusion zone.

Immediately thereafter, the Corporation decided to mind-control the patrolling vessel (the selfsame SCC Hunter) and declare Vendetta on the Federation. They immediately ceased all due payments (some 48 credits remaining to be paid)

We commenced peace talks, and the Federation position was that we would be willing to renew a treaty if the Corporation returned the Hunter to us to a base that we specified. However, our patrolling vessels found it lurking in the fungus half a continent away from our specified base, and just offshore a coastal base, poised, no doubt, to infiltrate and/or gain control of any unsuspecting vessels emerging from the base. With some regret, we destroyed our erstwhile vessel.

The Federation thought long and hard about an appropriate response to this duplicity, and decided to strike a decisive blow that would remind the Corporation of how long our reach – and our memory – was. We captured their headquarters base, and destroyed it, along with the Planetary Transit System Special Project, losing, however, some highly skilled forces in the mission.

We then held out an olive branch of peace, asking for appropriate reparations, in the embassy:

Posted by Sparta in the Morgan-Sparta Embassy

- Immediately resume all per-turn payments you have ceased without agreement.
- Return the 50 ecs payment you took for the lost probe; a payment we never agreed to give.
- Pay full reparations for the Hunter - the purchase cost of a similar unit.
- Return to Treaty of Friendship status with us.
- Wire war reparations worth of a minimum of 350 energy credits, bringing the total amount of ECs we expect to see in the box to 400 (plus the purchase of the Hunter, the size of which we shall determine should you be willing to agree to these terms).

(Note that the reparations figure appears high, but it includes the fortuitous pod-popping by the Corporation by the captured Hunter of a pod that we were about to pop – it produced an armoured crawler, worth ½ a special project. We deemed that to be theft of rightful Federation property)

Our claim was treated with disdain by the Corporation, so we continued to press “tough love” on them.

After we discovered Doc: Air, we decided to ‘take out” that crawler, as well as other similar targets of opportunity, a campaign which has been proceeding to date.

And another invasion fleet has been assembled, intended for a major assault on Hive Territory, but now stood down as a result of our signing a truce with the chairman.

So that brings us to the current impasse.

Current Situation

Clearly we are still doing considerable damage to Corporation infrastructure. However, this vendetta wastes lives and resources, and while for the Federation, the price has been cheap these last few years, the imminency of 2169 (and the lifting of sanctions) has given the Junta cause to re-evaluate our position.

We are interested in a cease-fire, and potentially a longer lasting peace, provided the conditions are right. (However the parties involved in conflict with us should be aware that a maintainence of the Vendetta would no doubt keep some of our officers happy and our troops gainfully occupied).

However, to ensure peace, we would require significant reparations from the Corporation, in the order of the 500 or so credits already tabled. We are prepared to treat the loss of our invasion force as equivalent to the loss of the Corporation Headquarters and its defenders.

This is the Federation’s position

edited to reflect Modo's comments (below)

[Modo44]

Good post, Googlie.

I have only one small modification I would like to propose. Namely, leaving the predicted Spartan losses out. I say we let them think we find any losses acceptable (by not mentioning them in future terms). My addition in italics.

Originally posted by Googlie
Clearly we are doing can still do considerable damage to the Corporation , although Federation losses may be commensurate . However, this vendetta wastes lives and resources, and while for the Federation, the price has been cheap these last few years, the imminency of 2169 (and the lifting of sanctions) has given the Junta cause to re-evaluate our position.

Making the punch line a bit stronger.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by AndiD
Corporate Accounting finally has tabulated the number of losses. The records may not be complete due to the turmoils of war of recent years, the official non-existence of Probe units and the destruction of our previous capital city.

Aha, the Corporation just gave us ammunition for our argument that destroying a probe team is no hostile act.

[Snoddasmannen]

Good message Googlie Do we really think they'll ever pay anything close to 500 ec?

Btw, is their tally on casualties correct? Did we really take out 8 formers?! All in all 24 units if I counted correctly, not a bad job! And we've lost ... 4 rovers, 1 transport, 1 airplane and 1 SCC Hunter? 7 units?

[Maniac]

We've also taken out some 9 probes I believe and an artifact. In addition, their population loss is worse than Morgan Industries. Pops were also lost in IIRC Morgan Mussels (during the PTS raid), Argi Narnia and Morgan Robotics (air raids).

[Googlie]

As an aside - they don't know that we lost the transport. For all they knew we just withdrew it when the rovers kamikazi'd

Position paper posted now, with some snide introductory remarks

[Googlie]

Suggested further post:

the Federation vs. The Gaian Union

Although the Federation has had cause to distrust the Gaian Union for several decades, our vendetta with them is of recent origin.

3 years ago a Federation battlefleet sailing to harrass Hive bases on their southern coast was blocked by a Gaian transport in the canal through the isthmus joining their two landmasses.

We requested its removal. to allow passage of our fleet.

Not only did the Gaian Union refuse our reasonable request, but buttressed their blockade with a seaformer.

As our strategic interests were threatened by the Hive, and as we deemed it imperitive to capture a Hive base to allow us negotiating strength, we eliminated that transport and made passage through the canal.

The Gaian Union then, in an act of wilful defiance and "nose thumbing" at the Federation, signed a Pact of Brotherhood with the Corporation

To teach a much-needed lesson, our troops then invaded and destroyed a Gaian base in the vicinity - again an act of 'tough love" on our part.

Chiron's factions must learn that when the Federation makes a reasonable request, to thwart it produces repercussions.

Our military is strong, and our reach is long ...........

But we have no quarrel with the Gaian Union - other than their choice of bedfellows. A Truce - if not a Treaty - would likely suit both our factions.

[Maniac]

lag

[Maniac]

Love the post in the Peace Conference thread.

For the post re the Gaians, aren't we straying a bit too far from reality though? The Gaians appear to have long toes, so it might piss them off needlessly. Also it might undermine the believability of our story re the Corporation, where we are staying close to the truth (and the bit that is a little bending the truth can't be checked by them).

To specify, we didn't ask the Gaians to withdraw their troops. We planned to, but no one got around to actually sending the request.
Also IIRC the Gaians signed a pact with the Corporation MY 2162, while we started the attack MY 2164. (This latter is of course a better justification for the attack than the Gaians signing a pact after our initial attack, as it appears from your post.)

[Googlie]

Aha - I thought that Kassi actually had e-mailed them to ask for its removal

I didn't realize that thge Morgan-Gaian pact was of that vintage - that's only 3 years after the PTS raid of 2159

I'll have a retry and post something soon in this thread

[Googlie]

How's this .......

The Federation vs. The Gaian Union

Although the Federation has had cause to distrust the Gaian Union for several decades, our vendetta with them is of recent origin.

But to go back in history - we had some useful technological excahnges with the Union - indeed, we were Treatied with them for a decade or two - but they broke off dealings with us after noticing a Federation exploration vessel very openly mapping coastlines of the southern continents (and trumped up a "parrotted" quasimodo ( ) doctrine to demand the removal of our "covert" (their words) ship or sharing of the exploration data)

We naturally refused - after all, the Federation had made the research of doctrine: Flexibility a priority (and other factions could have done likewise) so the Junta were not about to share strategic information just on demand, without recompense

So relations deteriorated, followed shortly thereafter by the non-execution of a crucial technology trade that would have immensely benefitted both our factions.

Then some years ago a Federation battlefleet sailing to harrass Hive bases on their southern coast was blocked by a Gaian transport in the canal through the isthmus joining their two landmasses.

We considered formally requesting its removal, to allow passage of our fleet, but decided it would be a test of their attitude to us to see if they voluntarily moved it to allow passage..

Not only did the Gaian Union not move the blocking transport, but buttressed their blockade with a seaformer. In addition, they then in an act of "nose thumbing" at the Federation, pacted with the Corporation, knowing them to be in vendetta against us, and practically inviting us to take counter action.

As our strategic interests were threatened by the Hive, and as we deemed it imperitive to capture a Hive base to allow us negotiating strength, we eliminated that transport and made passage through the canal.

To teach a much-needed lesson, our troops then invaded and destroyed a Gaian base in the vicinity - again an act of 'tough love" on our part.

Chiron's factions must learn that when the Federation's security interests are threatened, to thwart movement of our vessels in open waters produces repercussions.

Our military is strong, and our reach is long ...........

But we have no quarrel with the Gaian Union - other than their choice of bedfellows. A Truce - if not a resumption of our Treaty - would likely suit both our factions.

[wuy3]

nice writting. Seems diplomatic enough to me

[DeathByTheSword]

maybe remove the military strong reach long thingy....sounds a little bit to warmongery...i know we are RP....but a peace with gaians is really needed i believe...(yes i never say anything but i am keeping uptodate as a real lurker has too)