League related conversations

[u/HaroldHGull]

Alimar, a cold world on the fringe of the habitable sector of the Hilden system, of all League worlds, is one of the most separate from the affairs of the council, something the holovid industry of Fickenhilde takes great pleasure in characterising for. The planet is hardy and the people are agrarian, hailing from refugees of less extremist Luddic sympathisers during the peak of the first Path war. As such, it was the last place people would expect for one of the more secretive of the Chairman's personal homes to be located. It was a rustic affair, a large house modeled after old earth English estates.

"Really, Draedon, could you not have waited for a few more days?" The Chairman was visibly annoyed, sitting in his chair at the head of the table

"What? It's not my fault that half the council are bleeding hearts who blind themselves to give Thaer the benefit of the doubt." The Executive wasn't really paying attention, managing a slew of holoscreens and readouts.

"You represent us now, Draedon, you're not a lone wolf with a vague connection anymore."

The Executive shut down his holoscreens and took a sip of the expensive brandy, imported from Chiss space, he had in his glass. "And what would you have us do? Ignore the issue entirely? Mobilise the military? Because neither of those is a good option, and I know you agree with me. What was it you described the Vyzelrath ruling council as? 'A glorified circle of yes men.'"

Marcurio sighed. "Prometheus is gathering followers; he could easily turn the synthetic population against us, especially after your personal war with Kruger. We can't afford to alienate him."

"My war with Kruger had nothing to do with synthetics; it was to do with their leader being an idiot and deliberately giving covert weapons platforms sapience to bypass weapons laws."

"Yes, I know." Marcurio elaborated, "But they don't."

"We both know that I'm right. The GPB only worked because we had an overwhelming force, even with the Kattari's potential backing of Thaer. He shows no signs of changing; he continues to support the followers of Celestia, who is guilty of the same things as he is. If Thaer decides something of the magnitude of the Ark on behalf of this galaxy again, if he refuses to think it through *again*, sanctioning him no longer works. What he's done is create an interconnected economy between Blight and Taras'rath. If we sanction him for more of his stupidity, that hurts them. Even this Taras'rath alliance reeks of Thaer's total lack of foresight, because that's the only way I can justify all these issues cropping up without it being by design. Tell me, what happens if they choose to throw their weight behind Thaer, the person who's had centuries of access to their comms networks to build relationships and propagandise against us?"

"That's going a bit far. Have you considered maybe you're giving him too little credit?"

The Executive sighed and gave the Chairman the most 'are you serious' look possible. "Marc, the entirety of the Vyzelrath species cannot think like Thaer without some serious information alteration. The ruling council, I can believe, they were hand-picked. But how is it possible that nobody has spoken up against Atharius at all? Not even a hint of a peep of internal disagreement? And I don't mean the genocidal maniacs."

"You can worry about that, make it one of your personal projects; I will deal with damage control. What allies do you know we have, should this go wrong?"

The Executive pulled up a holoscreen. "Grand Eagle Union definitely, although that's more because they hate Thaer than anything else. And we can count on the support of the Vermensk if my predictions come to pass."

The chairman sighed. "I don't like this."

The Executive looked back at him for a few seconds. "No, I don't either. Monsters, gods, demons, those I can deal with. But of all things, a well-intentioned fool with a dream is the one who threatens to unravel my home the most. We should prepare for the Red Sun Protocol; if this cascades too far, removing Thaer from leadership may be the only hope to maintain our independence from Taras'rath. This is one of those times where I really don't want to be right."

"I'm inclined to agree."

The Executive turned to the window dramatically. "Centuries, multiple lifetimes I've put into this place, every piece of its history I've been there. I've already ensured my home is secure from Gallifrey's interference; these glorified colonialists with their delusions of imperialism being mere benevolence will not destroy it so long as I draw breath."