Chapter 4

As the negotiations continued, it soon became apparent that agreeing that Olokun would stop attacking Longinus was the easy part. His fleet was in no shape to do so, after all, and after three defeats, he realized that trying to do so again wasn't going to go the way he wanted either. No, the difficult part was what came after. Lord Yu was pressing for concessions for the return of Orunmila. Olokun agreed in principle, but not to the specifics.

Lord Yu was pressing for the worlds of Tiber and Po, two of Volturnus' Former Worlds, both of which were swampy worlds full of wetlands and rivers. That wasn't the problem so much as the fact that Olokun and his father Obtala before him had invested enough resources in those worlds that they now housed a decent population of slaves and Jaffa from the local Latin population, and were actually productive.

True, they produced less in the way of Naquadah and Trinium than proper mining worlds, or food than proper agricultural worlds, but they were still productive thanks to Olokun's investments. Mind you, that wasn't enough production for Olokun to be this obstinate, but the Sunk Cost Fallacy and typical Go'auld Egoism were getting in the way of signing a peace deal. We had been arguing over this point for the past several hours and it was starting to get on even my nerves, and I wasn't as egotistical and impatient as the average Goa'uld.

"For the last time, no! I have spent too much time and too many resources to simply give these worlds away!" Snarled Olokun.

"You would continue a war over such worlds? Where is the wisdom in that?" Demanded Lord Yu.

"I would do what I have to to maintain the integrity of my domain." Retorted Olokun.

"Be reasonable. Those worlds are only just productive. Surely they are not worth the worlds you will lose in a continued war?" I tried again, knowing that it wouldn't work.

"I have allies yet who might come to my aid." Intoned Olokun.

"I am aware of your entreaties to Camulus and Svarog. They will not lift a finger to aid you without making concessions of their own. Do you truly believe it worth the price for their help? I doubt either of them could send more than four Ha'taks and twice that many Al'kesh." Scoffed Lord Yu.

"Whatever Svarog and Camulus would demand it is less than paying such a price to a foe like you." Spat Olokun.

"It seems that we have reached an impasse then." Sighed Amaterasu.

It was then that I hit on an idea. Mind you, it was risky, but then, so were a lot of interesting ideas. At the very least it couldn't hurt to propose it. See, there were a few minor Goa'uld on the other side of Olokun's Domain. Mukasa, Kahindo, and Kianda were three Goa'uld who ruled a few minor worlds each. They managed to stave off conquest by Olokun and his father Obtala before him, largely thanks to their close alliance, and the Pirhanna Principle, meaning the expense of conquest would leave Olokun open to attack elsewhere.

These three Goa'uld were all children of the Goa'uld Nyambe who had been powerful until his death during Ra's short war with the Asgard and the conquest of much of his domain by Obtala shortly before Shango revolted and killed Obtala. That meant they were ancestral enemies of Olokun's and thus the perfect targets for expansion, if only they weren't too difficult a nut to crack for not enough gain.

"Not necessarily." I interjected.

"How so? Your Lord and Olokun cannot agree on a settlement and we are only going around in circles. That would seem to me to be an impasse." Questioned Amaterasu.

"Yes, your protege seems to have lost his wits, Yu." Sneered Olokun.

"Let him speak. Perhaps he has a suggestion that might be agreeable to both of us." Intoned Lord Yu.

"Olokun, I know the Minor Lords Mukasa, Kahindo, and Kianda rule worlds that you would seek to gain, but cannot. They are too closely allied and it would require too many forces to subdue them. Attempting to do so would leave you open to attack elsewhere." I began.

"They will fall in time. I have sworn it on the blood of my father." Scowled Olokun.

"Yes, where are you going with this?" Queried Amaterasu, curious.

"What if, Lord Yu was to send forces to help you conquer them in exchange for Tiber and Po? It would settle your father's blood feud with the Children of Nyambe and net you Six Worlds. Granted half are of marginal quality, but the wiping out of blood enemies must be worth it." I proposed.

"Interesting proposal, however, I would need more than simply two worlds of middling quality for such aid. I would ask also for the rest of Volturnus' former worlds. Almo, Anio, and Volturno." Informed Lord Yu.

"Five worlds and peace in exchange for six and the fulfillment of my father's blood feud with the Children of Nyambe? I would be willing to make that trade, but what of my flank?" Asked Olokun.

"The Lady Amaterasu is the largest System Lord on your flank. If she will pledge to not attack you, I think we can call this a bargain struck." I nodded to Amaterasu.

"My interests currently lie elsewhere. I can agree to this, at least for the duration of your expedition against the Children of Nyambe." Nodded Amaterasu.

I was sure she could agree. After all, she had to deal with Susano'o's rabble-rousing, which was the whole reason for her agreeing to mediate here. She also had Camulus and Svarog on her flanks, both of whom Olokun would likely demand attack her if she attacked him while he was fighting the Children of Nyambe. They'd be all too happy to do so, too. After all, they would be getting a large swathe of Amaterasu's worlds out of the bargain.

That was one thing Ra had done well. He'd balanced enough of the System Lords against each other in such a way that major conflicts were rare outside of sporadic incursions against border territories and attacks on Minor Goa'uld. Trying for anything more usually meant dealing with an invasion of your flank by other System Lords. Crab Mentality ensured that no big wars would occur which would see vast swathes of territory change hands and threaten to upset the balance of power.

It was also one of the reasons why fleet battles never really tended to exceed thirty Ha'taks on either side, with maybe twice that in A'lkesh. You always had to keep forces back to defend against other Goa'uld who might take advantage of commitments elsewhere. Of course, the other reason was that Ra had set an absolute maximum fleet strength for any of the System Lords that weren't him at one hundred Ha'taks and twice that many Al'kesh. His own fleet had two hundred Ha'taks and four hundred Al'kesh, along with a handful of true battleships that only he was allowed to have. He had to maintain power as Supreme System Lord somehow, after all.

"Then I think we have a bargain. Yu?" Prompted Olokun.

"Indeed. I shall send you a further fifteen Ha'taks and thirty Al'kesh to bolster your forces. That is about a third of my total fleet strength. I still need to keep forces back to defend against Cronus, after all." Agreed Lord Yu.

"Excellent. I think we can call this a successful mediation then. Your Grand Chancellor is quite the clever one, Yu. I'll be keeping an eye on him in the future." Grinned Amaterasu as she adjourned the small peace conference.

As we headed back up to our ships, I couldn't help but think that I'd drawn the attention of one of the System Lords that I hadn't wanted to. Oh true, Amaterasu wasn't as bad as some that I could think of. Bastet and Kali, for example, had signed an alliance that had somehow lasted multiple decades and liked to utilize trickery and deception against rivals. The Fall of Sobek a few years ago came to mind. They'd attacked him, seized a few worlds, then offered peace. Then, attacked and slaughtered him during the summit. Rumor has it, Bastet had Sobek's head stuffed and mounted in her throne room. Then there was Morrigan, who liked to use her feminine wiles to trick information out of unsuspecting Underlords for use in sneak attacks.

Compared to them, Amaterasu's more straightforward sort of deviousness was hardly much to worry about. Most of the time, she'd rather stab you in the front than in the back, and her trickery tended to be in support of that type of move. Still, I would be very cautious about interactions with her going forward. It may be nothing, but there was a reason that the few Go'auld Queens in positions of power were in those positions and not stuck being consorts of some other System Lord, relegated to spawning Prim'ta for his Jaffa. Of the Sixteen System Lords currently in the Galaxy, only four were Queens, after all.

Hopefully, it was just interest in a new subordinate of Lord Yu's and not anything more. That was dangerous enough without having to factor in Amaterasu wanting to use me in a plot or something like that. As I boarded the Xiaotian Quan I made a mental note to keep an eye out for that sort of thing.

Better to be safe than sorry when dealing with a System Lord, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the second part of the Negotiations. Once again, Erlang Shen is proving himself to be a far more canny Goa'uld than is usual for a Young Underlord in a number of ways. So much so that he's drawn the interest of one of the four queens currently ruling as a System Lord in their own right.

In this fic, Bastet, Kali, Morrigan, and Amaterasu are actual queens instead of just female-presenting Goa'uld. It jives with how they all use subterfuge in large ways in their main plots. After all, Goa'uld Society can be quite chauvinistic by design. Queens who can spawn Prim'ta are rare enough to be looked at like a strategic resource instead of a thinking being by most Goa'uld. To get ahead and not be relegated to a System Lord's Consort, a Queen has to be cunning and use subterfuge to even get to her position.

When viewed that way, their being actual Queens instead of just female-presenting Goa'uld just fit with the established character traits they displayed in the show. So that's what I made them.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve Erlang Shen being sent to Taiji to take command of his domain for the first time.

Stay tuned. . .