Alena looked down from her position on the hillside at the gathered representatives from 1st and 2nd Divisions. General Mack Brower, a male Human from Corellia, and General Tigua Amada, a Female Zabrak from Iridonia, stood face-to-face over a small, steel-framed brazier. The fire that crackled between them glowed gently in the night. The tactical situation between the two opposing forces had continued for three weeks after Alena and the rest of the staff decided to continue the exercise, which had escalated to something tantamount to a continental war. Alena had been forced to request more training space from the Imperial Military in order to accommodate the emboldened tactics employed by the two Generals. The request had been a tough sell to the Imperial commander of the continent's training division after the raid executed by 2nd Division's 3rd Battalion, which had secured artillery munitions and technical crew from an Imperial training support base. However, after speaking with the garrison commander, Alena had secured permissions to expand their operations across the continent; the commander had been intrigued enough to demand his own personnel be attached to Alena's command detail in order to follow the development of the "war." The two Divisions had been decided to represent two different populations of the Caridan people, split between the East and the West of this continent. The "government" was played by personnel from the Imperial military and represented civilians living in both territories. Eventually, diplomacy had been attempted, which was why Alena was here tonight, speaking directly to both leaders. An Imperial representative was also present, playing the role of the elected civilian leadership. Alena herself was playing the part of arbiter for the talks. The rest of CSAF's command staff was present as well as support staff for each respective Division.
"Generals," Alena began, her voice soft, but firm. "I am Senator Alena Reckar, chairperson of the foreign relations committee of the Republic Senate. I have been called by the elected leadership of Carida to facilitate a peaceful resolution to this growing conflict, and appreciate your mutual attendance this evening." The two Generals looked to her and bowed slightly. Alena dipped her head in exchange. Of course, Alena was not a Republic Senator, but that was the role she had been selected by the command staff to fill for the purposes of the exercise. The only "in play" leadership on behalf of CSAF were the Generals themselves. "The Caridan government has brought to the attention of the Republic the plight of their people. Your conflict has spread across their lands, destroying and risking civilian lives, and disrupting the Caridan economy. The people of this world wish to see a resolution to your conflict."
Alena gestured to the holoprojector table sitting between herself and the brazier. It flickered to life, and a hazy image of the continent appeared, glowing in the dark of the night. "As things stand, your two forces have engaged across hundreds of kilometers of Caridan land, pressing into civilian and military populations alike. You have secured supply lines, air fields, and entire military installations and cities." The last development had been of particular surprise to Alena, when she had been made aware two weeks prior. 2nd Division had pressed into an Imperial active duty garrison in order to secure a tactical advantage over 1st Division in the rolling hills East of the mountains. The Imperial garrison had at first refused them entry, but after Alena had spoken with the garrison commander, they had been allowed to roleplay their takeover of the base, and Imperial troops and personnel had been organized to provide a realistic response. CSAF's ultimate training exercise now involved not only CSAF's own thousands of commandos and support staff, but hundreds of the Imperial's own military personnel.
"Casualties have mounted," Alena continued, "And both sides of this conflict have suffered long enough, do you not agree?" The question was rhetorical, and neither General proffered a response. "I am here tonight to ask of you three, what will it take to end this conflict?" She gestured to
the Imperial playing the role of civilian government. "Minister Gloman Shue, you may respond."
Shue stepped forward and spoke directly to both Generals. "Esteemed military representatives of the Caridan people, I am Prime Minister Gloman Shue. I have been elected to represent the civilian populations of this continent. Your war has spanned a significant portion of the globe, affecting trade and commerce every bit as much as the lives of our people. We have seen death and destruction rend the lives of our populace, and we beg of you to end this disastrous conflict. I have been tasked with issuing these demands from the peoples of our lands. We wish to see both sides of this conflict disarm themselves immediately, relinquishing their weapons and equipment to the civilian government immediately. Such a turn over will take place in the strongholds of the East and West respective of their Divisions. Your soldiers are required to disband immediately and swear an oath never to take up arms against your fellow citizens. A representative military of the Caridan people of this continent will be formed, exclusive to those who have not taken part in your conflict. Your soldiers will be tasked with reconstruction efforts across the continent, and you will be provided with the means to support yourselves during this time. Representatives are requested from each Division to facilitate the turnover of weapons and equipment. A civilian militia has been organized to oversee these demands are met."
Alena's eyebrows arched, Now that was an interesting development. She thought. The civilian representative was threatening the rise of a third participant in this conflict, one that was already tactically positioned within the territories of both Divisions. An uprising would be costly to both sides. Alena nodded, "Thank you Prime Minister." She looked to General Amada, "You may respond, General." Alena said.
The Zabrak General cleared her throat and drew a datapad from her pocket. "As representative of the fighting forces of Second Division, I have been chosen by my peers to provide this list of demands. Firstly, the forces of First Division must withdraw from the Imperial facilities they now occupy and return to their lands in the West. They must relieve themselves of all equipment and supplies secured from our territories and bases, and vow never to return to conflict against us. We will organize the reinstitution of commerce along three different routes of trade through a neutral, demilitarized portion of land between the East and the West. Lastly, we will require payment for reconstruction be provided by First Division in the form of supplies and personnel from your civilian population."
Alena looked to General Brower, who was coming from a position of greater strength. 1st Division had pushed nearly two hundred kilometers into the East during the last week of the conflict, and held the tactical advantage over 2nd Division, whose forces in the region were holed up within a small span of mountains that limited their movement and opportunity for counterattack. "General." The Corellian frowned at General Amada. "Our demands stand as follows. Second Division must immediately relinquish control of the lands we have secured. Your armies are required to disband, and your equipment and arms turned over to us. A demilitarized zone will be demarcated East of the territories we now hold to facilitate commerce between our two peoples. We will reduce our arms, but will not disband our armies." General Brower looked to Alena, signaling the end of initial declaration of terms. Alena nodded, "Thank you General." She looked to the other two representatives, taking a deep breath and yielding her primary judgment.
"General Brower, you are arguing from a position of strength over Second Division, and have fought admirably in this conflict. Neither side has resorted to deplorable tactics, and have endeavored to secure and provide for the respective civilian populations they have come into contact with throughout the duration of this war. Even so, I do not find it just that Second Division must be required to disband their military while yours does not. I cannot see that General Amada will accept these terms."
General Amada nodded, "You would be right, Senator. I cannot willfully disarm my people while their attackers linger, armed and armored, just outside our borders. Similarly, the lands they have secured in our territories must be returned, the resources there are vital to the infrastructure of our economy."
General Brower interjected, "We would gladly process and sell to you those resources that you need." The Zabrak's eyes flashed and she bit back, "At an incredible mark up, I am sure." The Corellian shrugged, "I'm certain we could come to amicable terms." To which Amada replied, "Your terms, as they stand, are anything but amicable."
Alena cleared her throat loudly, "Generals, please, let us not lose sight of what is important here, the lives of the Caridan people. Whatever terms we reach, they must be focused on the needs of the people, not the needs of your personal selves, or your respective fighting forces. Seeing as how neither of your terms consider this crucial factor, I am inclined to side with Prime Minister Shue. Your arms and equipment must be turned over to the civilian organized militia, who will decide their fate. Your personnel must not only be disbarred from service, but exchanged between the two populations for the duration of the reconstruction efforts on both sides. This, I believe, will help strengthen the bonds of your citizenry, showing that there are more sides to war than simply us and them."
Alena dipped her head to the Caridan Prime Minister. "Minister Shue, I announce my support of your terms above those of either General. Republic forces will be provided in order to ensure a peaceful transition. We will require air space and landing permissions in all of your respective facilities. You can expect this transition to begin within the next three days. I appreciate the active participation of all those present here tonight. Thank you, and may the Force be with you."
Alena stood, signaling the end of the discussion. The two Generals bowed stiffly to one another and stepped away from the brazier, which continued to burn softly in the night. After stepping down from her dais, Alena clapped her hands together and cried out gleefully, "ENDEX, ENDEX, ENDEX." The order was reproduced across all CSAF lines of communication, marking the end of the lengthy, simulated conflict.
Generals Brower and Amada stepped toward one another and grasped hands, smiling and patting one another across the shoulders. "Congratulations, Lord Commander, they are finally ready." Hat Ma'an said as Alena stepped down. She nodded, "Indeed they are."
Ali, who had remained silent throughout the duration of the talks, made her way to Alena's side. "I'm glad to see it finally resolved," she said with a smile. Alena nodded, embracing the other woman warmly. After two years of grueling, arduous training, CSAF's inaugural class of Commandos was ready to do what they had all gathered to do: Help people.
An hour later, Alena had the upper echelon leaders from both Divisions join her along with the rest of the Command Staff. They were to perform an extensive AAR, or After Action Review. The meeting would go on for hours, she was sure, all through the night. She sat around a large conference table within the Imperial FOB that had served as their initial training garrison, a cup of caf, not liquor, resting before her. "Well, I firstly wanted to thank everyone for their valiant participation. We have risen to great heights from a band of volunteers to a force of commandos prepared to take on the problems of an entire Galaxy. Your efforts were essential to the success of this fledgling operation." Alena nodded her thanks to those gathered.
"I wanted to begin with the end negotiations that took place tonight. Generals Amada and Brower, while I commend your civility and open mindedness, neither of you placed the needs of the civilian population ahead of your respective forces when it came to designing terms for peace. While I recognize that in a real world scenario you would be hard pressed to forego the needs of your forces for the needs of neutral parties, you were still acting as representatives of organizations like our own. I am glad to see you accepted the terms provided by the Imperial actor, but I fear you only did so in the face of Republic intervention. Keep this in mind next time you find yourselves in this position. Trust is hard to come by when dealing with enemies, but never forget the Mission."
The Generals nodded, offering no rebuttal. Alena smiled, then turned her attention to the details of the exercise. They continued evaluating the last three months of conflict with great attention, outlining successes and failures on both sides, and ascribing suggestions for improvement to both. Alena felt sleep nagging at the back of her mind throughout the duration of the discussion, though the excitement she felt boiling inside her kept her both awake and attentive through the rest of the night. She had finally found her purpose in life, and she would die before she missed a moment of it.
