Private Diplomatic Room.
Hoshiko was already there of course.
Not that Wazu had been dragging his feet. There was a lot to do, many diplomats to talk to, connections to make, offers to be extended... It all gave him ample time to consider how he would approach Taipan. They had already threatened two of his pet projects.
Pet People he corrected himself…
A moment or two went by before he realized he should be saying People and just leaving the pet part out of it all together. Semantics were important after all!
He took stock of what cards he had to play.
- The Armistice He came out ahead either way. Either the Alliance goes without a major resource crisis, or he was in a position to profit heavily from a resource crisis. Hoshiko’s desperation for the Armistice was showing through during the general discussions. It was easily the best tool he had for concessions.
- Zenigata and the Kiwomians He brought them into this, he couldn’t let them suffer because of it. Drones were already on the way to Zenigata’s home world. Token defenses might be enough to ward off an initial foray from Taipan, but those were dice he would rather not roll.
- Other things Just trying to get a handle on the gaggle of nations here was too much for one person. People seemed to want stability, but everyone seemed to have gripes about their neighbors. Worse came to worse, setting off some massive disaster would be enough to draw attention away from his people. Perhaps offer up Hoshiko some grand crusade to keep her bloodlust entertained?
As he approached the Diplomatic room, he considered what would happen if she just pulled a gun on him? Certainly she could just punch his head off too, her type was supposed to be strong. There were emergency force fields in place, but they were designed to work only AFTER shooting started. Perhaps he needed more precautions?
There were only a few systems precise enough to only affect that room if things went wrong.
Increasing the artificial gravity around her? Certainly could work, it would aim the gun down at least… though upon consideration if she was aiming at his head or chest, she’d likely just end up shooting him in the stomach. Not an optimal outcome. She may also be strong enough to overcome the gravity. Then again, he could reverse the gravity, throw her up towards the ceiling if she tried to kill him.
It was a better solution… he’d integrate that protocol into the ship’s systems before finally heading into the diplomatic room with the delegate from Taipan.
“Hoshiko.”
There was the sudden realization that he should have spent more time on what he was going to say when he got in there. To buy a little time, he clipped his datapad back to his belt,
“...So how are we going to do this? Are we trading requests or threats?”