Intergalactic Summit

I think this discussion would be better served in its own thread.

I suppose the basic point remains, however; the Villore Assembly is asking for equal standing to a sovereign group in its treatment, which is to say equal standing to a delegation that could certainly include spokespeople of Federation's government itself. While Soter is perfectly within his rights to request such a thing, it could conceivably be read as an insult to the Federation itself, given that Soter seems to seek a seat at the same table as Roden.

I would suspect that such a request as this is more likely to be granted to a delegation from the Imperial capsuleer organizations, but they've not sough to grandstand in this way: instead, they host a celebration.

Soter had little to no hand in the creation of this delegation. Neither that, nor is the delegation asking for official recognition and announcements of speciality.

This is an era of great change for the Empire. The Empress is setting the first of presumably many precidents. The Federation is slowly warning to the Empire as tensions grow elsewhere. Can you not see this? Such childish remarks are unbecoming of a man of your status. I feel you are well aware of the ramifications and benefits this delegation could provide.

The worst (or best, in your eyes) the Empire politicians could do is simply say "no," after all.

Indeed we will, we are not asking the Empire for anything, we are asking the Federal authorities to include members of the Assembly in their delegation. Should the Federal authorities decline our request I suppose we will have to make other arrangements. If they do, then I suppose it's up to the Empire to accept the delegation or not.

Oh, do not worry about me, Ms. Priano, I can take a few rebukes from fellow Amarr who have not yet let the poison of cynicism creep into their veins.

Anyway, whoever drafted this request sent it to the wrong address. As capsuleers, the Villore Assembly is already allowed in Amarr space as an extra-national entity under the jurisdiction of CONCORD law. However, standings, Imperial criminal records, and persona-non-grata lists due to acts against the Empire might still apply if they try to set foot upon Holy Athra, and they really ought not even try. As the Contessa pointed out, people far more important to the Empire will be hogging up the seats in the Imperial Palace and Basilica where the events will take place. No one from the Federation short of the President himself would be allowed within a hundred kilometers of the palace, and the only capsuleers I could think of that would be let in are the Tash-Murkon champions. Not even my wife, Champion of House Sarum and Admiral of PIE, will likely be invited, but the Empress-elect might be feeling generous and allow representatives of her rivals to show up.

Now, having established that the Villore Assembly's attendance of the coronation ceremony proper to be next to impossible, the next best thing would be to attend the military procession in the Amarr system. That is very much possible, and I will likely be leading the Amarr loyalist fleet for the event. Thus they really ought to have sent this request to me or the Praetorian Admirals, as it will be up to us whether or not we'd welcome them in our territory. CONCORD might protect them from unlawful weapons fire, but there is plenty of time to plan a sanctioned war against them if we feel they might present an insult or a threat. Now, I truly doubt we'd deign to do such a thing, but the possibility exists and the courtesy this request represents ought to have been sent to people who could and would actually acknowledge them.

If the Court Chamberlain does indeed respond and invite them, I will stand thoroughly corrected on this matter. But frankly, I simply do not see that happening, and I interpret the attempt to be naive at best and arrogant at worse, as have many other loyalists of the Empire. This is neither surprising nor especially galling coming from Gallente, but it is still enough of an issue that it warrants correcting. I'm sorry to rain on their parade, but it's actually our parade and while Gallente exceptionalism can be cute sometimes, it's really unbecoming. I'll forgive them, however, because I am to busy trying to figure out how to counter a Drifter alpha strike if things come down to that.

Wow. Then your wording was even more horrible than I originally thought.

2. Requests that the members of this delegation be included as official members in the Gallente delegation.

I fixed it for you.

Specifically, Ms. Priano, the letter is addressed to the body in charge of overseeing the coronation, that being the Court Chamberlain headed by Pomik Haromi, who is currently the de-facto ruler of the Empire in absence of an Emperor. The Tash-Murkon Family, of course, now also has heavy influence in that sphere as it is their Heiress who is being coronated, as do the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy as they are surely in charge of security. Thus, this request is basically addressed to those four primary bodies which are in charge of vetting potential attendees of the ceremony, even if the actual request was made in a 'to whom it may concern' manner.

That is why it seems so presumptuous, since even we loyal Amarr do not expect to be given special attention by these bodies, nor would we basically demand that attention in such a manner. Again, I chalk this up to a naive notion that the Villore Assembly might be considered important by the official Imperial institutions involved in the coronation's planning, and I forgive it. They'll just have to learn the hard way that the best they're going to get is Admiral Rodj Blake's politely smug 'yes' or 'no' instead.

That doesn't seem terribly welcoming.

How amusing it is to see such a fuss being made over something so small as a few words which can easily be replaced. I believe instead of focusing so much energy over something so incredibly pedantic, the overall premise and tone of the resolution should be evaluated. This is a historic moment in the Empire's history, and individuals who claim loyalty to the Federation are attempting to reach out with an olive branch and a hope for better understanding - only to be met with individuals solely focused on a few words of their proposal? ******* pathetic.

In an effort to guide the discussion in the right direction, here are some topics some concerned Amarr may wish to bring up:
- what exactly does the VA delegation hope to gain from this interaction?
- how can this foster a greater sense of mutual understanding?
- is there anything planned to promote the sustainability of these good-will acts, or is this just a one time thing?

Entire planets have been razed with just a few words. How amusing it is to see that you think so little of words.