[b]Timbeross HQ,
BetweenaRockandaHardPlace City[/b]

Joseph adjusted his tie and gave another smile in the mirror. With pearly white teeth and thick, black hair, he could be any women's dream. Yet he was still single, preferring the life of a bachelor. Behind him, on his desk, a large hologram showed an older man's face. 'How'd the shareholder's meeting go?' asked the hologram. 'Not bad. They were moaning at me a bit for not seeing an increase in the last quarter but whatever' replied Joseph, his eyes stuck on his hand mirror. The older man sighed audibly and rubbed his bald head. 'I wouldn't worry about those guys. Wha'cha do need to worry about is this meeting with the Chief. From what I hear, he'sa slippery bastard. Get this deal signed and we can keep choppin' the jungles and searching for treasure. If not, we'll have a problem. A big problem' 'Yeah, yeah' replied the CEO impatiently, his eyes fixated on his own appearance.

'A'ight. Just as long as you know. And Joseph - I'm receiving some reports from the sawmills. Don't push it off. I know it's annoying but we have to be careful. Using Batmen is Timbeross's worst kept secret and you know it. We can't have that shit gettin' out there.' the advisor's voice became stern. McKay stopped playing with his hair for a moment and closed his eyes in frustration. Just yesterday, he had received news of a 'small' slave revolt from one of the saw mills deeper inland. They attacked and killed their handler and gone on a rampage throughout the facility before being gunned down by a group of mercenaries. The rest of the slaves on the facility were now acting rebellious and Joseph was faced with a careful choice. He could massacre the entire enslaved tribe, have the bodies burnt and forget it ever happened but face the wrath of various Tkria advocacy inspectors and lose a chunk of workforce. Or he could try and pay them to keep them quiet. Either way, it was guaranteed that the slaves would never leave the sawmill. If this story got out across the safe zone, Timbeross would be finished. The concept of a slave revolt had worried his father greatly but this was the first time since the days of Ross McKay an actual revolt had happened. 

'Yes, Vance. It'll be handled. Go on, sod off. I've got the Chief coming in a few minutes' he pressed a button on his desk and Vance's face disappeared to be replaced with a map of the safezone marked with the various Timbeross business ventures, a slowly revolving picture of the planet and a large map of the jungle just outside the safezone. The map of the jungle was also marked with the Timbeross business ventures, all starting two miles into the jungle. Most of Timbeross was concentrated in the safezone but the jungle logging was a little project Joseph himself had thought up. The idea was to cut a large, horse-shoe chunk out of the jungle and begin mass planting Oak and Mahogany and perhaps gain a few native 'workers' in the process. There was also rumour of great Tkria temples, chock full of gold and valuables deep in the jungle. The idea fascinated Joseph and he had already begun sending out mercenary scout teams deeper into the jungle. While he examined the map of the jungle with stars in his eyes, he didn't notice Clara step up behind him. 

'Chief Toonak of the Junker Confederacy is on the lift approaching the floor, sir' she said, his voice jarring him. 'Yes, yes, yes. Sorry, lost in thought a minute there, Clara' replied the CEO with one of his dashing smiles. Clara looked unimpressed, as usual, but led her boss out the door anyway. At the end of the hall, the lift doors opened and out stepped Chief Toonak. The Batman was the oldest Tkria Joseph had ever seen and his back had worsened with age. He clutched a large stick for support and only wore a loincloth to cover his shame. His ears were weaved with decorative leaves and beads. A small, wispy beard poked out of his chin, not long enough to touch his ragged grey fur. On either side he was flanked by younger looking tribal warriors who clutched long spears tipped by sharpened stone. Like the chief, they wore simple loincloths but nothing else. Behind them, a smaller, better dressed Batman followed behind, whispering carefully into the Chiefs ear. The translator wore long robes and a small hat was perched on his head. This fellow had been ordered in by Joseph as the Chief spoke no English.

The translator rushed ahead of the Chief, almost tripping over his long robes to approach Joseph. 'CEO Joseph McKay, Chief Toonak has been very looking forward to meeting you. My name Yera and I shall be the translator for the duration of the meeting. I speak fluent English, Hindi, Spanish and the five of the main dialects spoken by tribes outside the Safe Zone' said the small Batman. His voice was reedy and Joseph could already tell Yera was going to annoy him. Nevertheless, he stepped forward and warmly shook the translators hand. The Chief had approached and as a form of greeting, Joseph held out his hand. The Chief looked taken aback and his bodyguards looked ready to pounce at this alien gesture. The translator jumped forward and frantically whispered in the Chiefs ear. The chief listened for a moment and then nodded. He clutched the CEO's hand weakly and shook it. The bodyguards relaxed slightly but still suspiciously watched the CEO.

'Chief Toonak, I trust your journey was well?' smiled Joseph, opening his door and waving him in. Clara took her seat behind her desk and gave Joseph an encouraging smile. He nodded. 'My journey was uncomfortable and long. Your human metal birds are not comfortable' came Toonak's reply through the translator. [i]Grumpy bastard[/i], thought Joseph with a smile plastered to his face. Toonak made a noise to his bodyguards, who each took a place on either side of the door. The door shut behind him and native and human took their respective seats across from each other.

'Well, Chief Toonak, let's get to business' grinned Joseph, rubbing his hands together. He tapped a few buttons on the holo-computer and a large map of Safe Zone appeared on the hologram screen. 'These are several satellite photo's we 'found' of the surrounding area. We had several of our surveyors roughly map out the Junker Confederacy, which is the blue square'. The Chief squinted at the holographic map and nodded slowly. Joseph pressed another button and a red line cut halfway through the Junker land.

[centre][img]http://i.imgur.com/SAf0Us6.png[/img][/centre]

Joseph pressed another button and a red line cut halfway through the Junker land. Toonak bared his teeth slightly, angered. 'This red line represents the area that Timbeross has begun cutting. One the horse-shoe shape has been cut, we shall begin cutting in land until that large area of the jungle is gone and the region will be incorporated into the Human Safe Zone. You can obviously see the problem here. While we at Timbeross hate to cut into Tkria traditional lands, we're afraid we have little choice. Much of humanity lives in squalor or in overcrowded apartment buildings. Several deals are being negotiated with local governments as we speak to clear this land for further human habitation'. That was a lie. Joseph had not yet begun negotiations with anyone, as technically, Timbeross had no loggers in the jungle yet. The ones that were there were simply gauging the area and testing the waters. 

The Chief listened to his translator and then, stared at Joseph for a long time. Finally, he spoke. 'We cannot stand for this. We cannot allow our lands to be violated and destroyed by aliens. We have lived here for generations, we have respected the jungle'. [i]Shit. Better pull out the my next set of cards[/i]. 'Chief Toonak, you misunderstand. Your tribes will not be pushed from their lands at all. The Junker Confederacy shall be allowed to stay or leave as they wish. The reason you have been called in here today is to negotiate the terms of which. If the Confederacy wishes to stay, they will be offered homes, jobs and safety within the safe zone and sponsored by Timbeross themselves. If the Junker Confederacy wishes to leave, they can leave to the jungles and never have to worry about humans again. This shall be one of the last pushes into your lands and I promise you that'. Another lie. 'However, no matter your decision, Timbeross shall be chopping down the allocated area. I wish for it not to turn to bloodshed but if you force our hand, it will'.

The Chief snarled as he heard that. ' You are threatening us? Never. When will it end for you humans? When you have depleted this planet of it's resources? When you have wiped out it's inhabitants? I do not care for your money, your homes or your jobs. We are comfortable with our lives. We do not want change. On behalf of the Junker Confederacy, I say we will resist your attempts to enroach on our land. We will kill your loggers, break your metal birds, smash your metal monsters and raid your settlements. This can be avoided by simply not attacking our land and spreading like the horrible diseases you are. And you!' The Chief was suddenly pointing at the Translator, who continued the translations as the Chief ranted. 'You are a betrayal to our species! You live with these humans as they slowly infect our homes, steal our resources and kill our people! Where is your respect for your own race, child?'. The Translator sounded almost scared as he stared at his feet and translated the outburst.

The Chief jumped off his chair. 'Negotiations are over. We will not be moved from our traditional lands and we will resist your attempts to take it. When your species first came to our planet, we had hoped for peace. But you force our hand. If your metal monsters attack our anscestral homes, we will take up arms against your species. I am heading home to inform my people of our decision and I would hope you honour our wishes'. The old Chief gained a new vigour as he kicked open the door and barked at his bodyguards. Joseph watched calmly as the translator ran after the chief and began speaking in rapid Tkria. The door slowly swung shut and closed with a click. He tapped his holo-computer and a hologram of Vance's face appeared on the screen. 'How'd it go?' asked the chief advisor. 'He left the room kicking and screaming about destroying our machines' sighed Joseph, sounding disappointed. 'I expected that would happen, if I'm honest. What do you want to do now?' asked Vance.

'Toonak is going home on one of our shuttles. Make sure it doesn't cross the Safe Zone border. I want Toonak in chains'.