Collab between [@Tortoise] and [@Sigma]
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Columbia
Capital City of Argus
Senate Building 
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In a reserved conference room was a small circular table, a perfect shape for a trio of Columbian senators sitting opposite to the ECU diplomat, Kalya. “I must say.” One of the senators, a middle-aged man by the name of Houston Tanner was the first to be speak. “It was certainly out of the blue for your arrival.” He paused as he grabbed and drank a small cup of water. “Regardless, on behalf of the Chancellor, I'd like to formally welcome you to the Columbia and it's beating heart.” 

“So... what brings a young lady like you here anyhow?” Another of the senators spoke, a woman by the name of Jasmin Brooks. 

"Oh, politics," said the young lady in question, noncomitally. "Or something like politics. Curiosity? And war." Her grandmother used to say that Kayla could write a whole book and not say a single thing. It was rare for her to be understood, but really, part of her liked it that way. Kayla the Obscure, she called herself, when nobody else was around to overhear. "The one with the Zetans. We just finished it, as you'll know, and you didn't get involved. That's alright with us- but some of your civilians did. The Grave... somethings? Gravebakers? No, Gravemakers! Yeah, they came to us, but only as mercenaries. It's left us on New Hollywood wondering where the Columbians stand."

There was a brief moment of silence among the senators, the three looking to each other, followed by some nods. “Ah…yes, that.” The last senator spoke, an Urkani by the name of Krais Jia. 

“We’ve been made fully aware of Columbian citizens partaking in the war.” Senator Brooks said. 

“And the Gravemakers as well…” Senator Tanner said. “Their exploits during the Yulzan War were truly inspiring.” He paused somberly, his eyes looking down. “It’s a damned shame what happened on Zeta. The casualty reports have been…vague at best, body recovery will be…strenuous.”

“And only one of the Gravemakers was able to return from the surface.” Senator Jia said. “And so far…. he refuses to spoke a word of what happened down there.”

“Putting that aside.” Senator Tanner spoke once more. “While our citizens had volunteered in the conflict, this was in no way condoned by the government, quite frankly, the Chancellor had a half a mind to send a task force to support the Zetans.”

Kayla smiled broadly. "Then it's good I'm here. There's another diplomat, his name rhymes with Shanaka, who would have flipped backwards out of this chair if he'd heard something like that. But I'm not mad. Nope, not at all. In fact, I was at the Zetan blockade. I was in charge of it." She let that bombshell settle around the room, before continuing on: "So I'm curious- do the Columbians modify themselves like that?"

In her own way, Kayla was going through the checklist of info she was assigned to learn about the Columbians. The first was whether they supported the ECU or the Zetans- check. The second, if they liked Zeta at all, was whether they'd gone down that same kind of path; the kind that led to a war with New Hollywood.

It was quite the revelation for the senators, having the leader of the blockade sitting right before them.  Normally, this would’ve landed someone like Kayla a nice comfy spot in a URC prison, although, despite the alleged and confirmed war crimes that took place, the URC and ECU were never truly in a state of war, and although relations were made complicated due to the conflict, had remained cordial and neutral for the most part, thanks in part to the stand-still that took place in the Senate. Senator Tanner cleared his through, focusing on the subject. “Yes…Columbia is a far different beast than Zeta-5.” Senator Tanner replied. “We’ve would’ve never have gone to such a path.”
“Cybernetics is a part of our lives, yes but for the most part, only when necessary. We don’t replace our whole bodies with machines.” Senator Brooks said. “We Columbians, while embracing progress, are a stubborn people out of habit, keeping our old ties to Earth, to what we once and currently are.”

"Only when necessary," Kayla repeated. "That's what my people said about the invasion, you know. Necessary. It's the Zetans favorite word, too: they say everything is necessary. Chopping legs off and replacing it with metal. Necessary. I think people believe that word is magic." She chuckled at her own joke. "I don't hate them, you know, the Zetans. The Savant just sent me to watch the blockade after the 'naval conflict' was already done. Felt like baby-sitting. The protectors handled all the fighting stuff." She nodded to the bit about keeping their ties to Earth. Boring stuff, to her, but it's what the ECU wanted to hear.

This Kayla was certainly a peculiar woman, the senators rather kept on edge with her antics. “…A comfort to hear.” Senator Jia said. “Columbia potentially seeks to help mend relations between Zeta-5 and New Hollywood in Xandal’s relief efforts, and to further deepen our own ties.”

“It was quite a relief in truth, that the ECU was willing to come to us.” Senator Brooks said. “Factions within the Senate had shared some rather…incendiary words to both parties.” The Columbian Senate had pretty much paralyzed the URC, parties sympathetic to both sides in the war, preventing much decisive action from taking place, much to the displeasure of the Chancellor, the only worthy compromise for both parties was to avoid war altogether. Although the mercenary activities did warrant an ongoing investigation, since it was made quite clear neither the ECU or Undefeated had enlisted their aid to begin with, rather, a mysterious third party was responsible. 

"The Xandalians are an interesting people," Kayla commented. "Inventive. I met with some of them, during a negotiation on their ship. No appreciation for holo-tech, but then, nobody outside of the ECU does appreciate it." That reminded her of something. She was starting to feel a little disappointed with all this usual diplomatic talk, and decided to steer the subject into new waters: "While I'm here, I'm asking. Are you people still, ah, reacting well to our media exports? The ECU entertainment, I mean."

This question got a bit of a smile out of Senator Tanner. “Surprisingly well for some.” Tanner replied. “My personal favorite was the Blaze Gina series, feels oddly nostalgic, very retro.” Following that, the senator couldn’t help but start a slight humming of the intro tune.
“Yes, New Hollywoodite media has been in sort of craze in the past few months.” Senator Jia said. “You know how people go for the “exotic” products.”

"Hah!" Kayla laughed. "Senator Tanner, odd nostalgia is the ECU's number one export. Actually, I heard there's a sequel of that coming up, where... ah, ah," she teased, "I shouldn't spoil it." She loved playing this kind of role. A lot more than generic diplomacy, by far. And then she answered Jia: "New Hollywood. We aren't named that for no reason. And that brings something up." Her smiled faded a little bit, knowing the waters she was wading back into. "Since the end of our, uh, conflict with the toas- Zetans- the ECU has been experiencing a bit of a..." how to phrase it? "...cultural shift." 

This is the first time an Oligarch has mentioned the brewing rebellion to an outsider, but Kayla decides that's only because none of the others were brave enough. Won't foreigners need to know, eventually? "It's not a new thing. This has been festering for a long, long time. I won't bore you with the details. But all you need to know is that- in the future, I mean- we probably won't be pursuing further wars. Probably. So, we want to focus on media. And trade? Yeah, and trade." Kayla was aware her tongue was tying itself in a rope, so she eases it with a sigh, and pressed onwards. "What I'm saying is: the ECU wants to refocus ourselves on diplomatic and mercantile goals. We would like to pursue further trade with the United Republic of Columbia, and hopefully, ease any lingering mistrust between us from the Zetan Occupation." There. Proper politician speak. Mission accomplished.

The three senators looked to each other once more, all nodded in agreement. “It is quite an honor that you would even share such an exciting event with us first.” Senator Tanner said. “And we would be more than happy to forward the ECU’s proposal with the Senate.”