trans_9 | "Listening to others, considering well what they say" (Part 3: Maingate Hotel)

The Maingate Hotel was pretty extravagant, and an entire section of it had been eked out for the crew's use during their stay. They had several suites, three communal areas, a conference room, their own kitchen with a chef on call if they required her.

They were all teleported from the main teleport pad of the hotel into the conference room, which was a large enough room to be able to hold a group their size and had plenty of chairs arranged in a circular pattern so they could mostly all face each other or whoever was in the middle of the room.

Everyone had to settle down so they were all able to talk, and the meeting itself would have to be carefully controlled so they wouldn't all talk over each other. But they were up for the task, right?

[ooc: Guardian Setup, General Mingling, Clone Checkup, Newbie Briefing, General Briefing, More Mingling, Back to the Meeting, and The Idea Guy sections are open. Backup characters introduced to the plot can join in the mingling subthreads if they want. The opening of new subthreads will be announced here and the ooc. Please read the linked OOC post for a plot timeline.]

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"You have a very keen mind and an excellent use of your tongue," Ildraniath remarked. She even sounded slightly impressed, which meant something when it came to Eldar.

"I'm not quite sure why you're not in charge of these negotiations. You seem one of the more adroit members when it comes to diplomacy and negotiation."

Ildy, flattery will get you... quite far, actually.

"Thank you," he stated, looking over Ildy briefly. She had been a person he kept an eye on, a politician at heart. Pragmatic. Some would call her arrogant, and perhaps she might be a touch, but he saw it more as she didn't feel the need to placate others.

"I likely should be in charge of negotiations. But that requires people who are morally self-righteous to get over themselves, and hand off the reins to someone who clearly is not."

"That seems to be the case with most of the day-to-day operations of the ship and our missions. Too many idealists," Ildraniath mused, half to herself. "Morality can get you far, but too often it also tends to hinder you when you could gain an advantage."

She arched one brow, "Exactly how much leverage do you think we can get from this incident?"

His opinion seemed worthwhile.

For a mon-keigh.

"If we imply that this... offense is the only impasse preventing them from getting what they want, we can leverage that for a huge gain. 'We want to help you,'" he stated, switching to most sincere of tones, "'But this misunderstand has really upset some of our leaders. Now, they might be willing to compromise," Lex placed a hand on Ildy's shoulder, offering but a gentle glimmer of hope in that one gesture, "but I'll have to present a really good deal to them. And what you're offering so far...?'" His expression didn't look hopeful as he looked at Ildy, and then switched to a small grin as he dropped the act.

"Unfortunately, how effective that approach will be is far too dependent on just how much the rest can keep their anger in check." Which, judging by the brief look he gave some of the others, he didn't have a lot of faith in their being able to control themselves. "If they're too angry, the Council of Five might consider it a lost cause, due to our out of control clones. Not angry enough, and they'll see no need to appease us further. They'd have to present an image of being pissed off, yet can be appeased, if the price is right.

"There'll have to be greater care put into selecting who meets with them next."

Ildraniath resisted the urge to brush the hand off of her shoulder. She didn't appreciate unwanted physical contact, but this man could be useful. Was useful. And he seemed to think like she did. She nodded, a small, subtle smile on her face. "As I said, you're skilled. But if we let the ideologues dictate our next course of action, it will be wasted."

Repeating, perhaps, but it deserved emphasis. "You ought to be there, obviously. Ter'thelas seemed amiable enough to negotiation and... perhaps might play the reasonable fellow in concordance with you."

Her smile broadened slightly, "And I can do a very good imitation of my very real anger if the moment comes to it - but I won't be allowing it to dictate our actions or the results of our negotiations."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Unfortunately, Kang was one of the ones taken and he seems... less and less inclined to listen to reason or to anything other than violence against the state..."

Lex removed his hand eventually, but not immediately. She can read into that what she wished of it. But he growing to like Ildy more and more. He may have to preemptively stab her back some day soon.

He looked over towards Fate. "Lt. Harlaown might be a good choice. She's rather good at keeping an even temperament, though and anger and disgust is quite genuine. She's not obsessed with making speeches about how right she is, and also one of the least likely to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation."

She followed his gaze and chose to ignore the lingering hand for the moment. She did remember it for later, however. "...she is also a clone. Do you believe we can use her presence as leverage and an example of the affront they've given us? They may not understand entirely, but if one of the bereaved parties - even a clone - is a sitting at the table, it may help unnerve them."

Yes, Ildy, you got Mon-Keigh germs on you now. But that aside, Lex did agree with her assessment.

"Precisely. Her presence will go a long way to impress upon them that they've committed a grave error."

"And I thought subtlety was a lost art among humans. I'm pleasantly surprised."

A backhanded compliment, if there ever was one, but it's still there.

"Listening to others, considering well what they say" (Part 3: Maingate Hotel)

Re: General Mingling

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