Mere minutes later, Askar strode confidently into the main council chamber, followed quickly by Karin. Laryn had paused just outside the chamber, well aware of the fact that bringing a bodyguard into the negotiations would be considered a breach of etiquette and as such, would be all the excuse the council would need to delay, or even dismiss, this meeting. Even the presence of an adjudant such as Karin might be frowned upon, but Askar wasn't willing to force his adjudant...and niece...to wait outside just because some backwater councilors relied too heavily on the old system. 'These imbecilic councilors don't have the slightest clue of the wonderful benefits a union between our two worlds could bring.' thought Askar witha scowl as he allowed his gaze to travel over three councilors who sat on the far side of a rectangular table.

As his eyes passed over each one, he mentally called up the reports on each councilor. 'Rey'las, he's likely to be my best supporter. Just keep appealing to his desire to improve his clan's future.' Next, he glanced at the center councilor, a slim, silver-furred Bothan named Vanya Sel'yus who'd always been the most moderate of Kothlis three representatives. 'Aim for the economy, that's what he's most concerned about.' Finally, Askar allowed his eyes to move on to Salin Tre'vey. Ever since Askar had made the initial overtures towards an alliance between the two great Bothan planets, Salin had made no secret of his hatred of the idea. 'Don't bother with him. You only need a majority vote.'

Askar smiled slightly at Salin as he considered how the tan-furred Bothan would react to being outvoted in this final meeting, a meeting he had hoped he would never have to attend. ’It will be good to see that arrogant fool brought low,’ thought Askar, still smiling politely, before he turned back to Vanya and inclined his head politely. In return, Vanya Sal’yus motioned for him to be seated, before consulting a datacard in front of him. As he read it, his eyebrows raised slightly, before he glanced up at Askar, and enquired,

”So, you are here to present the final terms of an alliance with Bothawui? I’m intrigued, please, do speak, Arbitor Vri’kre”

wrong account...ignore...delete..whatever...

As Vanya spoke, Askar smiled and nodded politely, before pressing a rather inconspicuous button on the side of a datacard that Karin had placed on the table once he had seated himself. Then, without waiting for the slot in the side to open, he removed a small data-chip from the side of his wrist-comm, which he slid into the slot as soon as it had completely opened. As soon as it had clicked into place, Askar entered his twenty-nine digit clearance code into the datacard, causing the decryption program embedded on the data-chip to activate and begin to decrypt the information on the datacard. Within a minute, the program completed it’s task and Askar passed the datacard over to Vanya, removing the data-chip surreptitiously as he did so. Only then did he begin to speak, ensuring that he tone was formal, yet pleasant,

“First of all, I would like to thank you for agreeing to this meeting so soon after the last delegation so mysteriously disappeared.”

Here, he allowed his gaze to meet Salin’s, smiling slightly, before he turned back to Vanya and continued,

“Now, if you’d care to turn your attention to the datacard in front of you, you’ll find it lists all of the main points the previous teams of delegates managed to successfully negotiate. For those of you who are to far away from the datacard to see it, allow me to recite them. First, in exchange for a guarantee that 10% of all trade profits generated due to goods from Kothlis will be returned to your clans, while the rest shall be used to further the cause of the combined clans. Second, the clans of Kothlis will be recognised as equals to their equivalents on Bothawui. Thirdly, Bothans from Kothlis will be able to enter any field for which they are qualified, without any prejudice. Fourthly, a regiment of troops from Bothawui will stationed on Kothlis at all times, while a regiment of troops from Kothlis will be permanently stationed on Bothawui. Fifthly, the Kothlis defence fleet will be integrated with the Bothawui defence fleet, but it is guaranteed that the commander of the defensive force left over Kothlis will be from Kothlis, provided a suitable captain can be found. I trust you all still agree with these points?”

He glanced first at Rey’las and Sel’yus, noting with relief that neither of them appeared to have any problems with the points that they had agreed upon, before he turned to look at Tre’vey, his most likely opponent. However, it appeared Tre’vey had no desire to quibble over details that had already been agreed upon, for as soon as he noticed Askar looking at him, he merely nodded, before smiling, somewhat unpleasantly. Still, Askar made no reply to Tre’vey, he simply turned slightly so he could watch the faces of all three diplomats quite clearly, before continuing in his previous tone,

“Excellent. Then that leaves us only with the few points that my predecessors were unable to deal with. And many of the points on this list are, in my belief, superfluous and can be dealt with simply by giving attention to the final point on the list; power sharing. I have been granted permission to make you an offer, that, should you accept, would enable you to have a say in how Kothlis is run, making sure that it gets a fair deal, rather than the unfair one that the opponents of this merger are warning about. The offer is this; In return for agreeing to become part of the Bothan Empire, each clan leader who’s clan produces more than 15% of the planet’s trading goods, military resources or other valued items, will be granted a position on a council of clan leaders, made up of the most powerful Bothans from Bothawui, Kothlis and any other colonies that join us. This council would technically be the second most powerful part of the Bothan government, with only our glorious leader ranking higher, but even his decisions could be influenced by the actions of the council, so as you can imagine, they would have a lot more power than is immediately apparent.”

For a moment, nothing but silence greeted his words, but then, with icily politetone, Salin Tre’vey spoke,

“And you, a mere diplomat, can guarantee this for us, can you?”
“I can guarantee it. Amaer Kre’fey has given me full power to negotiate a deal here and the powers to ensure that the terms agreed upon in it are fufilled. And, of course, I am no ‘mere diplomat’, as you are already well aware.”
“Ah, yes, you are quite correct there. Very well, I have no further questions for you Arbitor.”

Askar smiled at him, quite sardonically if truth be told, before glancing at the other two council members, who’d been talking quietly as Salin and Askar had exchanged verbal jabs. For several seconds, they continued to confer quietly, before they turned to Askar, looking fairly pleased. Still, they had to discuss the idea with Salin, even if only for appearance’ sake, so Vanya turned to Askar and politely asked,

“Arbitor, would you mind waiting outside the council chamber while I discuss your proposal with my fellow councillors?”
“Not at all, Councillor Sel’yus. I shall await your decision eagerly.”

With that, Askar rose from his seat and turned towards the door. As he strode towards it, he was immediately aware of Karin falling into step behind him, but he said nothing, not until he was out of the council chamber. Then, as soon as the elaborately decorated doors swung shut behind them, he motioned for Laryn to join them, while he turned to Karin, awaiting the question which was guaranteed to be spoken,

“So, do you think they’ll agree?”
“I believe they will, though Councillor Tre’vey will undoubtedly oppose it.”
“Can he stop the merger?”
“Not on his own and the others appar to support us. Therefore, it seems as if Councillor Tre’vey will be disappointed in his attempts to discourage this union between the clans of Bothawui and Kothlis.”

He smiled at this thought, quite happy for the first time since he’d arrived on Kothlis. Now that’d he’d seen the council’s immediate response to his offer, he was almost certain of that. For several minutes, the small group of Bothawuians engaged in meaningless chatter, speaking of everything from xenobotany to fine Bothan cuisine, anything that wasn’t related to the negotiations. Then, as the conversation was beginning to shift to family matters, Councillor Sal’yus opened the doors to the council chamber, before smiling at the delegation from Bothawui and commenting,

“Arbitor, would you and your aid please re-join us so that we may conclude this meeting?”
“Certainly Councillor.”

Slowly, Askar followed Sel’yus back into the council chamber, closely followed by Karin. Once inside, they didn’t bother to sit down, instead, they merely stood before the council and waited expectantly while Sel’yus rejoined his colleagues. When he had done so, he smiled at hte Bothawuian delegation, before speaking in a pleasant tone,

“Arbitor Vri’kre, Assistant Arbitor Vri’kre, we have come to a decision. By a majority vote of two to one, we have decided to accept the offer you presented to us. We are willing to arrange a formal event where we shall sign to confirm this immediately, if you wish.”

Askar smiled and inclined his head in a polite, semi-bow, while Karin’s smile widened perceptibly. Still, despite the momentousness of the occasion, Askar didn’t allow himself to be overwhelmed, either by the aforementioned momentousness or the feeling of having triumphed in a diplomatic assignment once again. Instead, he took another datacard from Karin and stepped forwards, offering it to Councilor Sel’yus as he did so.

“That won’t be necessary Councillor. If you would just sign there, I’ll contact Amaer and arrange a formal event. It’s in all our best interests to finalise this now though. The formal event can merely be a seconday signing, for the press.”
“Very well, I will sign now.”

As he said that, Vanya Sey’las placed his hand on the small DNA-checker attactched to the datacard reader, before entering his confirmation on the choice display and passing the datacard to Councillor Rey’las, who repeated the process, finalising the union of the clans of Kothlis and Bothawui. ‘Today is a great day for all Bothans. I am honoured to have been a part of it.’, thought Askar proudly as he watched Councillor Tre’vey place his DNA signature, rather reluctantly, on the union documentation.