8
The Conference of Wazan has been a resounding success. Representatives from across the Inner Sphere met on Wazan to discuss the great threat of the Clan Invasion and unifying against it. After many days of discussion, debate, and deliberation, the delegates reached an agreement, and in a nearly unanimous vote agreed to recreate the Star League, declaring cease fires and alliances across all borders of the Inner Sphere. The Star League lives, and rises to fight the Clans!
Details of this convention, and the ratified agreements, will follow as they become available.
[Original post]
Soldiers and Mechwarriors of the Inner Sphere. Today, a great shadow looms over the Inner Sphere. In our centuries of bickering and petty squabbling, a terrible enemy has grown in a distant corner of space, and it has now returned to threaten everything that we value and hold dear, vying for the cradle of Humanity itself.
This enemy is powerful. They have superior technology, superior battlemechs, superior numbers to any one House, and they have already driven deep into the heart of Inner Sphere territory. The Lyran Commonwealth is hard pressed, fighting a slow but steady retreat on two fronts. The Draconis Combine is hemorrhaging worlds at a devastating pace, The Free Rasalhague Republic has all but collapsed, and both Luthien and Rasalhague are completely surrounded, entrenched in bitter sieges.
Under this fierce and brutal onslaught, the Northern Houses cannot hold by themselves. At the current pace of invasion, these "Clans" will be at Terra's doorstep within the month, and if not checked soon, they will have sapped the strength of the Inner Sphere to resist them. By the time they reach Terra, the Republic will be obliterated, and the Combine and the Commonwealth will be devastated, leaving only the Free Worlds League, the Federated Suns, and the Capellan Confederation to oppose these dastardly invaders. We in the Free Worlds League have no illusions that we could resist this onslaught by ourselves, or even with the Suns and the Confederation supporting us. Like the Northern Houses, we would resist fiercely, but alone we will inevitably succumb. Some projections show these Clans conquering the majority of the Inner Sphere within a year.
If we are to resist this great threat to Humanity, and these vat-grown monstrosities are indeed a threat to all of Humanity, we must put aside our differences, our petty squabbles, our centuries-long feuds, and unite. For the last two hundred seventy years, we have been fighting each other, and it has gotten us nowhere, nowhere but backwards in technology, backwards in industrial capability, backwards in the state of our civilization. And now, with this new threat, it could see us utterly destroyed. If we are to have any hope, we must put those conflicts behind us and stand together.
To this end, I propose we do together what we have been struggling to do alone for the last two hundred seventy years. We must rebuild the Star League. We have no other choice. For two hundred seventy years, we have bombed each other, in our darkest moments almost back to the pre-industrial era, and it has gotten us nowhere. Now we face a new, existential threat, and it is time to put aside our old squabbles and conflicts, to stop acting like petty children, and unite. We have no other option. Our choices are unite, or die.
This new Star League will not be the same as the old. It cannot be. Our forebears squandered the golden age they had, and allowed the old Star League to die. That is gone, and can never return. But we can forge a NEW Star League, learning from the mistakes of our ancestors, uniting Humanity under a better, more resilient banner.
Among those mistakes is the position of First Lord. It is this very position that lead to the downfall of the Star League, first with the Amaris Coup, and then the dissolution of the Star League after the leaders of each Great House could not agree on who to elect as the new First Lord. The fact is that the Great Houses will never agree upon a First Lord, and so long as that decision is left to the families of the Great Houses, our conflicts will never be resolved. In this new Star League, we must do away with the position of First Lord entirely. Hereditary governing positions have brought nothing but grief and strife and conflict to Humanity, and we must abandon them entirely.
I propose this new Star League be governed by a Parliament consisting of the governors or representatives of each Member World, with no one man or woman ruling the Star League. Alone, individually, we are all weak, prone to mistakes and temptations, even the best of us. It is only collectively, as a community, with reciprocal accountability, that we can avoid the worst mistakes and the worst temptations, so we must govern ourselves, together, watching out for each other, catching each others' mistakes. Criticism is the only known antidote to error.
Unfortunately, no idea nor proposal will rebuild the Star League on its own. We must all come together to forge this New Star League, and so I am putting out the call to all the nations of the Inner Sphere. We must come together in a conference to craft this new alliance. I propose that this convention be held on the world of Wazan, a world that is the modern icon of the bitter, internecine conflict between houses, and a world whose devastation will bear a stark reminder of the cost of our petty squabbles, and what will happen to ALL of our worlds should we fail to put them aside.
I call all of the leaders of the Inner Sphere to meet on Wazan, so that we might unite against the Clans, reforge the great Star League, and expel these fascist Clanners from the Inner Sphere once and for all!
/character
This is a call out to all the Loyalist unit leaders in the Inner Sphere. We need to unite and organize against the Clans, or we're ALL going to get rolled up. None of us can stand alone, so we have to unite or get whittled down to nothing. And we have to do it NOW.
To that end, the FWLM is asking the IS loyalist units send a representative to a "Conference of Wazan" on the Marik TS server this weekend, to forge a new "Star League." Saturday would be preferable, but Sunday will work, too, if it works better for the majority of units.
We're not asking for a hard command structure, that will create too many problems, challenges, and drama potentials, and we don't NEED a hard command structure. We just need to representatives from the Loyalist unit leaders, and any IS-dedicated Merc units, to get together, and set up a structure for communication and coordination, as well as come to agreement on some general strategies to open as many fronts with the Clans as we can, do what we can to try and save the FRR so they don't get completely obliterated by the Clans, and organize offensive and defensive actions, as well as exchange tactics, strategies, builds, intelligence, etc. There will be no First Lord, no one person "in charge of" the Star League, it will be a parliament-type organization without a hard-and-fast
We need to organize and coordinate against the Clans, and we need to do it FAST. The 3-worlds-a-day cease-fire cycle has dramatically accelerated the timescales we have to deal with, and we have very little time left before the Clans have reached Terra and achieved an overwhelming advantage of momentum. We please ask that every Loyalist unit of every IS faction, and any IS-dedicated merc unit, send a representative to this Conference. We HAVE to organize, and we have to do it NOW, because our choices right now are unite or die.
Please post here what unit and faction you are from, if you are willing to participate in reforging the Star League, and what general time a representative from your unit could participate in a conference this weekend. I would prefer a meeting sometime on Saturday, because we need to get this done sooner rather than later, and it should give the non-North American timezone units some more flexibility in the times they can show up, but we can do a meeting on Sunday, if that works for the majority.
UPDATE: The official time for the Conference is set for 1900 or 7PM Eastern Time on the FWLM TeamSpeak server.
We ask that all Representatives and Observers go to House-Marik.com and register ahead of the Conference to alleviate some of the strain on our TS Admins during the Conference itself. The direct TS address will be posted here one(1) hour prior to the beginning of the Conference to allow any Representatives or Observers having difficulties with the registration process, or arriving late or at the last minute to attend. It will be removed after the Conference has ended.
We ask that each unit from the Inner Sphere send a Representative if they can. We would like all units to be represented and have a voice in this new alliance. Observers are also welcome, though only Representatives and some Special Observers will be granted talk abilities.
UPDATE:
Conference of Wazan Rules of Conduct and Procedure:
Courtesy is a must. This is a diplomatic convention, and proper decorum is encouraged. Friendly ragging and other jests are allowed, and even encouraged to promote a relaxed and friendly environment, but trolling and flamebaiting is prohibited. A single warning shall be issued to any offending party, and then the offending party shall be ejected from the Conference.
As this is a public conference of people from a diverse range of personal and cultural backgrounds, and the observers will include a wide range of age groups, please strive to keep all dialogue to a PG-13 level. Slips-of-the-tongue, etc. will be tolerated, but excessive profanity, crudeness, etc. will result in two warnings, and then an ejection from the Conference.
Due to the large number of Representatives and Observes expected, the actual Conference Chambers will be a muted channel, and only official Unit Representatives and Moderators will be granted talk abilities. Observers are welcome, but will remain muted, and direct any inquiries, comments, etc. through their respective representatives. Representatives will also remain muted until they are given the floor, or the floor is opened up for general comment. Individual Representatives may be muted by the Moderator(s) during general comment periods if they refuse to let other Representatives get a word in.
Formal agreements and decisions by this Parliament of Representatives shall be made and approved in the conventional method of a Representative making a motion, followed by another Representative seconding the motion. This will put the motion to the floor for a vote of Aye, Nay, or Abstain from each Representative. Votes will be placed in the channel chat to facilitate counting. Votes on most shall require a simple Majority to pass. Votes to ratify any Articles of Confederation, Constitution, or whatever document is produced to define and govern the new Star League shall require a Super Majority two-thirds vote.
UPDATE:
House Marik Direct TS Server: See House-Marik.com for TS details.
Edited by Ilithi Dragon, 07 February 2015 - 06:45 PM.
