Mother Russia

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Yun Li put a list on the table before Varos. "These are the people whose families I am accountable to. And for whose souls I am responsible, not for seeking revenge as revenge is pointless, but justice. We want a trial. We are not seeking the blood of the innocent and the innocent will be released. If your government is forthcoming on the actions and strategies of your father and the roles of your generals in his plans the ones that truly were not complicit in his designs will be freed and returned to you. Those who helped with the plotting.. the ones who devised the plans of attack and gave him counsel.. are the ones to be held responsible for not counseling him against his actions. Each person will be given due process as an individual. THe innocent will be returned to you. But we cannot know they are innocent until we have assessed their role which is why we specifically targetted command staff of the government."

 

"These people didn't want a war. Didn't want to mobolize. Didn't want to kill.. didn't want to be at the front.. didn't want to be killed. They were living healthy, happy, productive lives until your father and his henchmen required we protect ourselves and our neighbors. We are not asking you to sacrifice your people. We have rendered no judgements yet to even demand a sacrifice. But you cannot say this entire war machine rolled forward on one man's command.. someone else had to help devise this plan and while you are volunteering those that are complicit in his inner circle, we want to ensure all see justice who may have been involved. Is that not fair?"

 

"We are not asking you to surrender land.. or even your gains to the west of the DMZ.. only those who might be responsible for this tragedy so they can sit before a judge and jury."

Edited August 7, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[jesbro]

Now this was when Jesse spoke up. "I'm sorry Yun Li but I actually have to agree with the Russians on this one. Soldiers and Generals are meant to follow the orders of their superiors no matter what as any honorable soldier should. Yes those orders went against the Harbin treaty but it was their Emperor and Lady Upyr who are the top ones responsible for giving those orders are the ones you want your revenge on. Their Emperor is dead now and Lady Upyr will be captured even if I have to have my best men (Delta Squad) do it themselves. The Russian Generals are not at fault here but I swear to you we will get the ones who are!"

Edited August 7, 2014 by jesbro

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Li looked to Jesbro, sighed.. and nodded. (lets pause for Amur's input.)

Edited August 7, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Chicago Noise]

"Counsel, when Yun Li speaks of those who were forced to fight he means us all, and I agree. However, I must say, my countrymen were forced into something they could not possibly imagine. I remember when this government was formulated. It was derived on the auspices of collective government, a government by the people. Now, the innocence of our nation has been lost, stolen away from us. It is not our intention to reap a pound of flesh from those who attacked us, but a world in which unjust actions have no consequence is a world ripe for its own destruction. I will say that I agree with Druk Yul to this point, anyone responsible for the formulation of the plan to send Siberian troops over the DMZ must be brought to justice.

Lady Varos, I respect you and your claim to the throne, but justice must be served upon those responsible. I stood before a fledgling nation, honored to be its Minister of foreign affairs, ready to reach out to the world. Instead I have been relegated to the role of de-escalator and peacemaker of conflict. All this while my people are reduced to a militarization of society, just for the act of surviving. Those who perpetrated this...this act of obscene aggression, they must be brought to trial."

Lang paused to gather his breath and survey the room before continuing, "That said, Amur does not intend to take emotional revenge on the people. There are many things to discuss at this conference, but first and foremost we will deal with the matter of justice for those who have wronged not a government, but the people of Asia, citizens of nations or unaligned. As a token of good faith, the UAR proposes a tribunal of one representative of Amur, Druk Yul, Shanghai, Japan, if it be their wish, and Imperial Russia, to dole out sentencing on the accused. If you truly mean to change the culture of your foreign policy, it would be a great chance to do so. I can assure you that Amur will not stand in the way of a fair trial and if your government is bent on a change from your father's ways, I expect you'll wish the same."  Lang sat down after his speech, momentarily emotionally exhausted. To underestimate his ability to politically counter, though, would be folly.

OOC: on a phone, edited for the typos I first saw.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Chicago Noise

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"SEATO by majority has spoken. We will have the officers rank of 4 stars equivalency or higher for trial and the civil government that you see as co-conspirators with your father. I agree with Amur that Imperial Russia will be allowed to have a justice on the tribunal. The fate of the generals will be determined by majority vote of the tribunal. The innocent will be returned to Imperial Russia.. the guilty will serve a term determined appropriate by the justices. If you want this war to end as much as we do, Lady Varos, these are our demands. We want no one's blood. We want none of your land or resources, we want the peace of mind of our people and a demonstration that this new administration is in fact something different from what came before. We will effect that by helping you purge the poison that is in your government and military through the rule of law. So long as you respect the DMZ, going forward, there will be no further conflict. If we are tested again, we won't stop for a peace treaty.. even if there is a change in government. At that point, we will have to tear down the throne of Russia and have elections. We will not have a choice in that matter. It is not a threat, it is not a promise.. it will be necessity." Yun Li  took the pair of spectacles that sat on his nose off and cleaned their lenses, then set them back on the bridge of his brow. "The terms now stated, are not further negotiable."

Edited August 7, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Kevin Kingswell]

A slight tremble in her lips and a narrowing of her eyes would show the only signs of anger that Empress Carla was feeling towards the other representatives, she would bring her hands together palm to palm before her and bow her head low, closing her eyes she concentrated on taking some deep breaths to calm herself. As she did so her anger faded to be replaced with sadness and a feeling of betrayal as she accepted but hated the knowledge that she had little choice but to agree to do otherwise would result in more bloodshed. Tears would begin to gather in her eyes as she quietly spoke her reply.

 

"It seems I have no choice but to agree to your demands in the hopes of avoiding bloodshed. I shall hand over those of my people you require for your trial. I expect and demand they be treated fairly and equally" she said in a quiet pained voice. 

[jesbro]

"That is a wise choice Empress. Sodliers and Generals were meant to follow orders from their superiors but some of them might have been a part of the conspiracy the entire time and we must find those truely responsible no matter the cost. However even then I believe there are more evil forces at work and that we may all be pawns in some deadly game to destabalize the entire region. You can believe me or not but either way I just hope it is not too late to stop whoever it is that is trying to destroy us all."

 

 

Later on. The MHC main leader (Could be anyone at this point) would contact his/her second in command:

 

"So the Russians did not kill as many SEATO forces as we hoped they would but it does not matter. The Russian Emperor has played his part and now we must get ready for what is to come next. Do you understand what you need to do."

 

"Yes. They have no idea what is about to happen to them and they never will until it is too late for them to stop us."

[Kevin Kingswell]

"Considering that such a handing over of personnel has never been carried out before by my nation how shall we proceed with carrying it out?" asked the Empress sadly as she studied her hands trying to fight back the tears that began to fall from her eyes to land on the table top before her. A small part of her, a part inspired in her by her late father, hated to show such weakness but it mattered little and she was unable to hold them back. At least she told herself she wasn't sobbing which she would never show in public before these men. 

 

She also decided that even if peace was brought on by this there would be no consolidation between the various nations, this demand for the blood of her people only proved that some of what her father stated was not all madness and she knew that the Russian Empire would forever stand alone in the world now. A single beacon of light in the eternal darkness. 

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Yun Li sighed, "Empress, if it makes you feel any better you will get to choose your justice. Why not appoint yourself and help us oversee the handling of the military. You will know them better than we and know who is and who is not likely to have been involved in these matters. In such way you will ensure justice is served." He didn't like for the innocent to suffer, even if they were among their former enemy, but he had to ensure his people's losses were not in vain.

"Ask them to surrender themselves voluntarily into our custody. THe tribunal wil be convened immediately to expedite justice and ensure the innocent are held no longer than is necessary to determine their role and so that those who are guilty will swiftly see their time of incarceration begin. Deliver them to Druk Ralung, our old capitol. We will keep them in one of our top facilities until their sentence is determined."

ooc: Kevz, we'll need you to serve the list of characters to stand trial and then we can either choose to rp it out.. or select an outcome privately. Only you would know who actually participated in the Emperor's scheming so only you could tell us what would be discovered in the investigation. Thus, you'll determine who ends up with a life term for involvement and who walks free.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Kevin Kingswell]

"Very well" she would reply sadly and would use a personal communicator to contact the homeland. "Aria are the generals still standing ready in the palace?" she would ask speaking into the device. "I see, could you please have them sent to the old Druk Yul capitol of Druk Ralung. And tell them...tell them I am sorry" she said her voice breaking ever so slightly on the last few words. She would close the communicator down and look over to Yun Li before speaking. "There the generals who made the plans for the attack as per the late Emperor's orders are on the way to your people as we speak. is there anything else you require?" she asked fighting hard to keep any scorn out of her tone.

[Chicago Noise]

Lang had been running his index finger between his chin and lower lip with furrowed brow, but broke his silence at the Empress's open question.

"Yes, in fact. Less of a demand, more of questions. I want to know why, truly, my nation was attacked and threatened out of nowhere. If you cannot provide me with the answer to that question, perhaps General Petrovich will pull it out of one of your Generals, but he is much less polite.

Secondly, if you can, detail for me your plan for peace. Why should my government or I trust that this won't happen again? Bear in mind that my patience for insolence is completely drained, I will suffer no more rhetoric like that of your father or Upyr. The burden now rests on you, Varos. So tell me, why should I leave this conference with an semblance of confidence that you will remain on your side of the DMZ?

[Kevin Kingswell]

The Empress would look over at Lang as he spoke to her she tried but failed to keep a look of horror and dismay from her face as the man mentioned in a round about way that her Generals would face torture if she didn't answer and she feared not knowing the answer he sought would bring much pain to her people. "Sir I can not say why my father made his threat though if I am to guess I think there are outside forces at work here who may have warped him into becoming the man he became. I ask that you do not hurt my Generals they only made the battle plans as was their orders nothing more" she asked pleading with Lang. 

 

"As for peace between us. It will likely be a long and hard road but I must seek to undo the damage inflicted by my father. This land he strove to claim is one tainted by blood and darkness and I will see that the Empire has no part in it. I will relinquish all claims to any territory and ensure the Empire stays within its borders" she stated firmly. 

[Chicago Noise]

"Madam, your generals will not be harmed unless they are found to be guilty of something egregious, and by decision of the tribunal.  My meaning was straightforward, I do not play word games.  General Petrovich will not lay a hand on your generals, he will simply fill his role on the tribunal, in equal standing with your own representative.  I can't vouch for what he will wish for Upyr however.  Perhaps at the tribunal one of your generals will be able to shed some more light on the subject, one who was privy to closed door conversations with the departed Emperor."

 

"I will take your word for now, in reference to the peace.  Amur will not violate the DMZ for as long as it stands and will not engage in any sort of war of aggression or revenge on Imperial Russia.  Indeed, our administration would just like to move on from this bloody baptism we have been forced to endure.  Know this, however.  The Amur Defense Force will stand vigilant, and we will refuse to allow threats to be levied against our nation from Siberia again."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"No one will be tortured while they are in our custody. I personally guarantee that Carla. Everyone here has hot feelings.. though given our losses and our burden of carrying out this war, we probably have the most reason to be upset. Please, everyone keep your cool. Your fathers madness was his own. Umar couldn't steer him into it because they had literlaly just formed. I couldn't.. becuase I hardly interacted with him. Shanghai couldn't because to my knowledge they had few relations with Maximillian before his expansion attept. I admit the situation is stressful. If there are outside forces though that warped your father they're not from our nations unless they're private citizens acting on their own. If you meant within your own country, we'll try to help you with that."

"For the sake of the tribunal, please forward as much details on the war record as possible in terms of your chain of command and the order of battle to the tribunal. While some of it you will want to black out or keep for national security, the more you are able to send us, the better we will be able to ensure justice is appropriately served. The people of Druk Yul are hurt.. saddened, but we value forgiveness and we value peace. It will be a hard road, but it's only as long as we make it. You can keep the land you claimed up to the DMZ if you want, that hadn't offended any of us.. though it had made the Japanese concerned. If you pulled back some it would probably make them feel better, but it isn't required and they have not even asked you go that far. I would say, ask the people of Siberia how they feel about being ruled by you in the areas you are in. The war may have frightened them, but there's no reason for you to leave if your presence is desired." Yun smiled slightly, "There is no need for such dramatic action on either side of this conflict. We actually like the idea of having a north border with you.. if your regime is stable."

Edited August 8, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[jesbro]

"We are all a bit stressed about the war and what it has done to us. My mother had to step down after it drove her down a hard road and honestly I don't think she may ever become a diplomat again. If there are truely outside forces at work here we will do our best to help find them and bring them to justice as well. My Uncle Lee will represent Shanghai at the tribunal since he was our main General during the war and will make sure that the innocent are released as soon as their innocence is proven. Now unless anyone else has more they want to say about all this we can consider this peace meeting ajourned." 

 

Emperor Jesse's friend Jordan would approach him once everyone was getting ready to leave and ask what he really thought of it. "Seriously Jesse there is more going on than you are letting on. If you know who might really be behind this besides Lady Upyr than you can send me after them."

 

"TWICE NOW. Twice the MHC has made attempts to destabalize the region and caused wars that had thousands of casualties on both sides. I dont know if Lady Upyr was really working for them but if so it proves just how dangerous they are and how they wont stop until we are all destroyed. First they used Chin to launch a suprise nuclear attack on Asia causing a nuclear war between China and Japan and now they manipulated the Russian Emperor to make him want to invade our nations and kill our people. What I am wondering Jordan is when will it end and will we be able to stop them before they succeed in killing us all?"

 

"We will stop them Jesse. You know what they are capable of and so with you as our leader it can put us one step ahead of them so the next time they try to start another war we might be able to stop them."

 

"I hope you are right Jordan. For all of our sakes."

Edited August 8, 2014 by jesbro

[Maelstrom Vortex]

ooc: If the rest of you want, to expedite the conclusion of this rp I could narrate the results of the trial. I will be fair to all involved. I have to have unanimous consent to do this, including and especially Kevz. Otherwise rping out the trial may be considered a bit tedious to some of us but if you want to rp out the trial, we definitely can do so.

[jesbro]

OOC: If Kevin agrees than by all means go ahead and do it. Heck you can even have the ones that were closer to the Emperor and are guilty mention MHC being involved with driving him mad and believeing that they were the ones truely responsible for causing the war to happen in the first place if Kevin wants to agree with that part as well.

Edited August 8, 2014 by jesbro

[Kevin Kingswell]

OOC: You have my consent. 

[Chicago Noise]

OOC: I'm alright with that.

IC:

Lang was getting weary of this duty and spoke up once again, "Representatives, in this case, perhaps Yun Li could provide us with the charter for this agreement so we may sign it? I must admit, Amur had wished for more little more out of this, but we are willing to leave it at the point we've come, since that seems to be the temperature of our allies' attitudes. Amur will respect the DMZ and we look forward to potentially learning more about this who debacle through the tribunal."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Shanghai Peace Agreement

Article 1.
In order to prevent future recurrence of warfare and to assist Russia in bringing to justice those responsible for the irresponsible use of their blood and war machines the Russian Empire will provide into the custody of SEATO via Druk Yul all members of their military and government ranking 4 star or equivalent rank of general and higher for trial and to obtain witness accounts.

Article 2:
Justices at the tribunal will have one representatige from all SEATO members and Russia as chosen by those states.

Article 3:
Conclusions of the tribunal will be final. Appeals can be made but they also must be made through the Tribunal.

Article 4:
No persons to be brought before the Tribunal shall be tortured. SEATO will guarantee their safety.

Article 5:
It is agreed that those found guilty will be made to serve a life sentence. They will be given their choice of which SEATO nation in which to serve this sentence. They will never be permitted to serve in a political or military position again. They will not be allowed to leave the SEATO nation they choose for residency while they serve out their sentences. Their sentence need not necessarily be carried out in a prison or a cell so long as the individual doesn't pose a threat to society. They will be afforded the rights and privledges of the citizens of that nation other than these prohibitions and may even be visited by theif family. How the sentence will be carried out will be determined by the local laws of the nation in regards to prisoners serving a life sentence. All prisoners are expected to be treated humanely by their hosting government.

Article 6:
Russia reaffirms the Harbin Accords under the new administration and will respect the DMZ. It is understood that if the Harbin Accords are breached again it could result in full legal occupation of the Russian homeland while a less threatening democratically elected government is established.

Article 7:
This treaty may only be lifted under unanimous consent of the signatories.

Signed for Druk Yul and as proxy of the Imperium of Japan,
Yun Li MOFA

Edited August 8, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Kevin Kingswell]

Signing the agreement Empress Carla silently prayed that her people would forgive her and once her signature was on the document she would get up and leave with her bodyguards. She had no wish to remain in the room with any of these men any longer, in fact she hoped to never have to deal with any of their nations ever again either. 

[Chicago Noise]

"Very agreeable."

Ho Lang,
Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Soviet, UAR

In addition, Ho Lang selects General Koba Petrovich as representative of Amur on the Tribunal.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Chicago Noise

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Later at the trial... the arguments would be intense and passionate between both sides. The generals had been afforded the best defense team available to them at their chosing. When the final verdict came down.. the generals immediately below the battlegroup generals were released innocent, but based on their testimony revealing that the Battle Group generals had been responsible for the planning and implementation of the Emperor's orders..  condemned them.

 

 

The Druk Yul Justice, Matar Pradesh would stand and state, "It is the finding of this Tribunal that though the generals here were following the orders of the Emperor, they are also responsible for the action of the forces they command and thereby they are, in line with the Emperor, equally responsible for breach of the Harbin Accords. They had opportunity to counsel the Emperor away from his actions.. or to outright refuse to implement his orders and therefore are legally liable for the conflict as a result.  As per the peace treaty, these 4 persons, Battlegroup Generals of groups A, B, C, and D respectfully are hereby sentenced to a life of exile from their homeland in the domain of a SEATO nation of their chosing who will be responsible for their care and well being and enforcing the articles against them that they not be permitted political or military practice. They may however, serve in the domestic police forces of the nation in which they are detained in a civillian status.

 

All other generals below this mark are considered to have been following the orders of their superior officers in honorable and dutiful fashion as is expected of militaries around the world. Having not been found of any other warcrime such as the detonation of a nuclear weapon, chemical or biological weapon, genocide, or any other attrocity against  the nations affected, these generals are hereby released to their homeland.

 

The Battlegroup Generals may appeal for leniency after 5-10 years among the very people they helped to kill pending their behavior within their society. That appeal may be made to this tribunal. This is to give time to allow the world to change, to remove them from the influence and power they once held to guide their homeland's military into harms' way. Speaking of representative of Druk Yul. You helped kill many of our people in aggresive action, but we are a very forgiving people and our burden for you will be light. I encourage the generals consider residency in our domain where you may live in peace, unmolested and free to see your families as long as they will visit you here. The generals will be provided counsel as to the laws governing lifetime inmprisonment as a political prisoner of war from each nation and will choose their domain of detention.

 

The Tribunal still awaits the delivery of others that Russia feel are complicit in the war.. having yet evaded Russian forces. This tribunal will reconvene once they are brought for trial.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Kevin Kingswell]

The three convicted Generals, the fourth having fallen in battle to buy time for her soldiers to retreat would choose the nation of Japan to house them for their sentence. They feel they would best live our their lives in forced slavery in Japan who they now had the most respect for nationally wise. The Generals would also take this time to state they were only following their orders and that they didn't hold the current Empress responsible for the actions undertaken here today. The Empress would be both relieved and humbled by their words and thought of something in turn.

 

The Empress would contact the Druk Yul government and request that the commander of the force that had inflicted such casualties on her soldiers in the Delta group be turned over to face judgement for what the authorities in the Russian Empire were calling disproportionate retribution. 

[Maelstrom Vortex]

The response from the Druk Yul Government was as follows.

 

"The person responsible for those casualties and who initiated aggressive action, we understand to already have been punished. They are, to our knowledge, being burried in their homeland. Perhaps if they took better care of their soldiers and did not seek to use them in unjustifiable conflict, they would not be dead. Unfortunately, this means that person is not in our custody. All nations are entitled to use whatever force deemed necessary in their defense so long as it doesn't put the whole world in jeopardy. This entitlement was invoked by this indivdual when they, via their order to their forces, broke the Harbin Accords and attacked a force responsible for policing the DMZ."

Edited August 9, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex