Seated next to the likely more talkative of the Bretonian representatives was John Redmond, an Admiral of the BAF, Leeds native, and current commander of both Essex and Stirling, and in effect, Dublin and Omega 49. He kept his emotions in check, despite the scenery that was presented to the conference, he had agreed with himself that he would not show the array of former and present enemies with the satisfaction of seeing an emotional reaction from him.
Standing up to speak, following the Gallic Amiral, he gave a short statement of Bretonias stance towards the Enclave. "It is the diplomatic position of Bretonia, and the military stance of the BAF, that the Enclave, or whatever they call themselves, is essentially a state-less rogue organization of a terrorist nature, albeit one with considerable military hardware and training. Anyone who deals with them are by association guilty in some measure, and Bretonia will act to shut down any relationship they may try to build. They are attempting to create a state from a completely undeveloped world, a recently de-developed world, and some outlaying economic centers, primarily in Orkney, or Brittany as they call it. As it is the stance that Bretonia sees the present representatives as the real House of Gallia, any peace concluded here will of course exempt the Enclave, and they shall be the target of military operations." John spoke with little emotion in his voice, but with a level of intensity suited to the situation.
Turning to face the Gallic representatives "If the Bretonian government, in combined voice with the other allies present, is satisfied with the peace settlement with the "real Gallia" represented here today, and our relations normalize, it is possible the BAF can provide some military assistance and coordination with the provisional naval forces now comprised of former Council and Gallic Naval assets, with the aim to remove Enclave from our collective plates, for peace to reign at least. However - and though I do sincerely hope I am wrong - I fear from the tone of some Gallic representatives here today, the allied forces present today, may not attain the satisfaction required for such cooperation to become reality. For the sake of the military forces who have to face this Enclave, I appeal to you to be willing to make the concessions required for a full peace agreement to be reached. Any peace agreement that comes from this conference may well have "military assistance and coordination against the Enclave" as something the Allies give the Gallic side. That is all for now." and with those final words, John took his seat again, readying himself for the next set of statements likely to follow.
Rebecca listened carefully to the speech of other delegates and, considering she could have a word regarding the current subject being discussed."The Enclave - or whatever they call themselves, are the forces that have commited the genocide of New London and Leeds population, and have since then been a very controversial topic on the sessions of the Board of Guildmasters. But the majority of my colleagues have agreed that they are to be condemned for these crimes, and to be brought to justice by whatever means - this was the general opinion for those who followed that order ever since the Guild have commited a degree of it's efforts to the evacuation of Leeds. But the majority have agreed that the Guild should abstain from having any contact with people capable of commiting such crimes, and are intending to keep that line of behavior."
Morales took a small pause before resuming her speech. "I would, however, like to make it clear - the Guild will not go as far as providing with the available supplies that the forces on the front line may require, but to largely avoid getting involved in active offensive actions against the Enclave that have entrenched themselves in Herbides. This, however, does not include any defensive operations should the Enclave forces try and mount an offensive - the Guild shall act in defense of it's holdings as well as the holdings of the parties present on this delegation. This would, however, involve a degree of consideration from the Crayter Republic, and they are expected to lift the blockade of Pecos and Singapore immediately. This is mostly directed to you, Admiral Townley. We are willing to provide the logistic and defensive support for the allies against the Enclave, but we should actually have the ability to do so, and your blockade is not going to help."
Peace, being the distant dream it is, comes inevitably, and goes hand in hand with justice.
Cursed be the war.
Townley had been listening closely to the previous speakers, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she scoffed, she turned her attention firstly to the topic at hand, she stood up. "Firstly, I will address the topic of the Enclave. The remnant of royalist forces that have entrenched themselves in the Herbides are still considered to be opponents of the Republic and we shall face them as we have the royalist fleets before. Our forces may be regrouping and recuperating from battles past but we stand firm in face of this, as our Bretonian ally so aptly put it, rogue organization."
She then glanced around to all the delegates present at the conference, before speaking once more. "Even as some of our forces may currently be occupied upholding a blockade." She turned to the Guildmistress. "A blockade you brought upon yourselves, Guildmistress, with your support of the royalists and the assault of innocent civilians." Amanda then turned back to the crowd at the tables. "We shall use our forces to protect our own, and stand by our allies against the Enclave."
Originally annoyed at Nivaggioni's prodding, Steiner was now sporting a wide grin that he attempted to hide as he saw the Gallic delegation bristle at the sight of LaFlamme. He made himself look busy, pouring over papers but couldn't do much better, especially with the Crayterians distinct lack of enthusiasm with the Miners response. Now at a point where the floor was open, he decided to clarify Bretonia's stance toward the enclave, although he wasn't sure it was needed. For people who put such emphasis on proper etiquette, the Gallic members seemed to have lapsed in their organisational skills, so If the right honourable members have quite finished with their late arrivals perhaps we could move on. He paused briefly, turning to general LaFlamme Sehr geehrter Général Pierre LaFlamme, I welcome you to this meeting sir. He gave a short bow before he turned back to the rest of the conference
Need I say that Bretonia's stance in regards to this Enclave group is remarkably simple, we will continue to fight until they have been removed from Edinburgh. While we hold Gallia in general responsible for the genocide that is Leeds, they were the men and women on the ground. The law demands they be held accountable for their actions. To that end, ladies and Gentlemen, the University has produced a document that is currently pending review. I have taken the liberty of producing copies for your convenience. He shot a look at the Gallic delegation, I'm terribly sorry, it is written in English. I do hope you understand it well enough however.Not really interested either way. I appreciate that this is not the topic at hand, but given that we will reach it sooner or later, I ask that you take time to read it first as it is rather long and likely in need of discussion, some of it's points are out of date With that, he sat back down. He made a note to speak with the good Admiral later on about his thoughts on those currently attending the meeting.
"Might I have a word, esteemed delegates?" Consul Escudero stood up with and with a nod addressed the present representatives.
"Firstly, I would like to comment on the Bretonian document on Inter House warfare. The document provides that the punishment is to be executed by the Houses listed in the document. Maltese Hispania, albeit a successor to Hispania and recognised as such by our trusted allies, de facto is not a fully fledged House. Crayter Republic of which esteemed delegates are present here today cannot claim to be a fully fledged House either. In this regard I would like to raise the issue of judging war criminals that happen to be captured by Maltese Hispania and by the Crayter Republic. I propose that we judge them at home under our domestic jurisdiction not to complicate the existing matters."
After a small pause, his eyes turned to Crayterian and IMG tables.
"I would also want to draw the attention of esteemed delegates to a small conversation that happened between the IMG and Crayterian delegations. While there are obviously more important matters being discussed such as the role of Gallia in the conflict and how it is to be judged, we are not to forget the role of IMG who in wartime turned sides on the allies and did it in quite an unfavourable moment for all of us." With a smirk, Escudero gazed at the IMG and turned his face to Bretonian delegation with a polite smile. "Now the tone the IMG delegation chose sounds to me as if they want to excuse themselves from their misdeeds and pose themselves as wayward children, who got confused and lost their track. From our experience of encountering IMG alongside Gallic forces and from the public news of their attacks on Libertonia transports it seems to me that their decision was quite a deliberate and calculated one. I suggest that we judge the IMG accordingly, for any crime should entail judgement. Should Gallia have won, they would have done the same to us. But I am drawing attention to this for us not to forget about it to discuss after we deal with the question of Gallia."
After Consul Escudero took his seat, Consul Riley stood to address the delegates.
"Before we get too sidetracked, I think this would be a good time to close out our discussion about the Enclave. It seems that we are all in agreement that the Gallic Royalist Enclave is a rogue stateless paramilitary organisation with no connection to the current Gallic government. The next item on our agenda was to be repatriation of POWs and civilians, but as the honourable gentlemen from Bretonia and Malta have already broached the topic of war crimes, we can move directly on to that point. Afterwards, we'll address the POW issue. I believe we should hear from the Gallic delegation next, then the Crayterian and IMG delegations."
As Consul Riley took his seat and waited for the next delegate to speak.
Morales stood up, deciding she was the first to take the word. "Miss Townley, senor Escudero, mister Redmond, mister Steiner. I perfectly understand your position and where it comes from. However, prior to my final conclusion - i would like to go into some context regarding the events that have brought the Guild to it's current... untenable position. It have all started this spring. The Guild had to rally around someone to stand against the aggression of the Kingdom of Bretonia, that have deliberately ignored the offer the Guild have presented them, and pushed for this to be resolved by force. So, naturally, the Guild resisted, and Kirigiri Kyoko have been the person that have rallied the paramilitary for it's defense. But, as the events unveiled - she was getting carried away further and further, as if she was obsessed with the idea that the violence was the only way to prove the independence of the Guild. She is still pushing for that idea, and if it was working six months ago - it does not work now."
Rebecca glared at Escudero. "Her efforts, necessary at the beginning of all this, are now dragging us down. Her feats have been fitting the times of war, and have no use during the times of peace, and we here have gathered to establish the terms of those times. The Board of Guildmasters will submit Kirigiri Kyoko to the tribunal, but i would have two conditions. First - a representative of the Guild will be present on the process as an independent observer. Second - Bretonia and Crayter will agree to start peace negotiations - either at this conference or at the later date convenient for both delegations. This is the only way for us to proceed to resolving this issue. But i have to make this clear - while we might pledge a degree of support to Crayter and Bretonia to bolster the post-war rebuilding - restoration of the alliance with the Crayter Republic is out of the question: it is a highly unstable entity capable of spitting rogue battlegroups and living through coups in the government to support those rogue battlegroups, and thus The Guild has no desire to deal with such an entity as it's ally. Pretty much the same stand for Bretonia - allying themselves with our archenemies dead set on spreading their influence in the form of Cardamine and encouraging the slavery, an overextended criminal organisation regonised as a legitimate House. Which is not only laughable but also detrimental to the Sirius as a whole. But let's get back on the topic, i would like to hear the opinion of the esteemed delegates on the presented conditions."
Peace, being the distant dream it is, comes inevitably, and goes hand in hand with justice.
Cursed be the war.
Pierre had mixed feelings ever since he sat down: on one hand he was uncomfortable for being late, even if for merely five minutes, as well as for having to endure the arrogance of the Bourguignon delegates; on the other hand he enjoyed the subtle and less than subtle clashes between each delegation, something he himself had his fair share of as well with the repeated reminders of his late arrival. The only time he felt anything else, annoyance and distrust, was when the Maltese representative spoke. His remarks about the IMG, albeit Pierre somewhat agreed with them, were still felt hypocritical, especially in light of the common history of Council with the Outcasts. There were few in the room he trusted.
When Consul Riley brought up the next subject to address, as well as by whom it should be addressed first, he readied himself to stand up for speaking before d'Argenlieu could once again speak on behalf the whole delegation. Let's not let him reinforce the thought of being fully in charge, then disappoint when it turns out he isn't. However, Pierre didn't expect he would have to race with anyone else at speaking up, which is why Morales could beat him to it. They stood up at the same time, but while Pierre noticed her, she began speaking without apparent notice or care of him. As a gentleman, he hid his annoyance behind forced patience, standing there with arms crossed until she finished her tale.
Mademoiselle Morales. - he looked at her, his arms still crossed in front of him. - Thank you very much for finally taking a deep breath, so that others can share their thoughts too. It would have been a pity to see you fall down fainting due to asphyxation after telling us such a long story. I'm glad we did not have to witness that. Now, if you don't mind, I will get back to the subject Consul Riley expected us to discuss. - now he looked around at the delegates, his hands behind his back, one wrist held by the other hand.
Esteemed delegates. I am glad to hear we all agree on the legitimacy of the provisional Gallic government the few of us were meant to represent - here he motioned towards the delegates sent by the Duchy and the Minarchy. -, as well as about considering and treating the Gallic Royal Enclave as their conduct warrants: a terrorist remnant of the belligerent Gallic Royal Navy, still fighting for the same empty fantasies which once formed the ideological foundations of the Gallic Conquest. At this point I'm only concerned about whether we will fight them in cooperation with eachother, or beside having our own conflicts among ourselves, in which regard the displayed behavior of certain delegates has raised my concerns, if not doubts about the former. I'm curious which it will be in the end.
Regarding war crimes, and the proposed document - he continued -, I have had a brief glance at it, finding more issues than merely the use of English, primarily in form and content, so it would definitely require some rework. However, I couldn't avoid to notice that several acts listed as either a war crime or a crime against humanity apparently fit the perceived agenda of Malta, the infamous drug dealer and slaver nation of Sirius, quite well. - at and after this point he was switching his sight between the Bretonian and the Maltese delegates. - Considering the long standing and close ties between the Kingdom of Bretonia and the Maltese Nation during the Gallic Conquest, even at the cost of other allies, I found this surprising at first, but then Consul Escudero pointed out that Maltese Hispania was omitted from the list of signatories, which explained why. I'm a bit uncertain about whether we should really discuss such a document and the details of its contents here and now, if in the end it will not be signed by and obligatory for every one of us.
This also reminds me of a news report I have read one or two weeks ago, quoting the Consul himself about a separate treaty between Bretonia and Malta, concerning the Tau Region, the end of the war and what is to come after. Could you, fine gentlement, elaborate on that? - after his question Pierre sat back onto his seat, curiously awating the answers.
Escudero calmly listened and following the last argument of Council's representative realised it was up to him to answer.
"Ah, so Maltese news are popular if watched even in Gallia? Indeed, our media presence is strong nowadays. Probably, you refer to the agreement I mentioned in the interview. The gentlemen's agreement between the Kingdom of Bretonia and Maltese Hispania was a necessity to coordinate our efforts in Tau sector against the loyalist forces. Moreover, our both parties have suffered from the war and would like to avoid further hostilities in the post-war era. Hence, our representatives met and concluded gentlemen's agreement - oral non-binding agreement that is upheld solely by reputation and goodwill of the parties - that Maltese Hispania and the Kingdom of Bretonia do not undertake hostile actions close to each other's territories and abstain from provocations for lasting period of post-war restoration. Bretonian side even kindly recognised our Hispanian heritage as a token of goodwill to convince our populace of their genuinely peaceful intentions". - Escudero sounded especially honourific in this part, making a quick polite nod towards Bretonian delegation.
"The opposition to Gallic Royalist invaders united quite unlikely under pre-war circumstances factions, such as Gaians working alongside Bretonian Royal forces, or joint evacuation of Leeds populace by corporations and factions usually engaged in piracy against them. There was absolutely nothing peculiar about Malta and New London seeking to avoid hostilities for the purpose of winning the war. Now, however, having enjoyed peace on our southern borders we intend to upkeep peace with Bretonia."
Escudero made a small polite pause signifying the end of his speech and returned to his seat.
Steiner was not happy with the answer the Maltese delegate gave, although he was very careful not to show his dislike of the answer. It would have been fair more prudent to simply deny any agreement. Nonetheless, he couldn't contradict the outcast and so simply decided that the best course of action was to go with it. Quite right, why cause issues now when peace has been upheld by both sides? But we are getting off track once more gentlemen. Our offer to the Gallic delegation is rather simple, all prisoners of war will be returned to their places of birth within Gallia, we expect the same in return. Although there is also the matter of the number of Bretonian civilians that have been taken as labour by the Gallics, we should like them back. He paused, and turned his attention to Pierre Sir the document was written two years ago, it is by no means perfect and is intended only as a starting point. Although I would not be surprised if you and your fellows are apprehensive about signing it, after all, Gallic Royal forces have broken almost every single one of it's facets.