Another Worldly Summons

Chapter 45: Ultimatum

Third civilization, Philades Continent
June 5, 1640

While there are turbulent events happening in the west, meanwhile in the east, it's nearly the same as the ASEAN council conveyed a final ultimatum to Parpaldia and needed to be complied with within a week or else the ASEAN would launch an invasion that would likely be more devastating than ever and feared by many Parpaldian officials once the ASEAN began to militarily conquer their country, they have nothing to offer nor a plea to ASEAN. So they are in a tough position whether to surrender to minimize the already heavy casualties they have garnered or refuse and resist, where they could possibly be erased from existence, so their position would likely be worse or comparably worse than the Irnetia.

However, though the emperor is already scheming something, the demands of ASEAN are hard to swallow.

• The Emperor must declare the immediate end of hostilities or armed aggression against ASEAN forces.

• The Emperor shall handover himself to the government forces of ASEAN.

• The Parpaldian's Imperial Forces and any paramilitary buraeu of any kind shall be disarmed, restrained, and demobilized.

• The Parpaldian Imperial Family will handover Princess Remille and all the people connected to the abduction of Southeast Asian citizens to the ASEAN Council.

• When the peace negotiations begin, more concessions will be added and explored.

The demands didn't say anything about the disposition of the empire and its territories. Also, they didn't know whether the ASEAN would uphold their commitment of not harming or using the Emperor once Ludius handed himself over to them. Some of the demands are understandable for a victorious country, but the thing that worried them was the last demand for additional concessions that will be explored or be added in the process. They didn't know what demands the ASEAN would make on them, it might be heavy or demands of completely erasing their country's existence and turn it into slave producing territories that they were going to exploit, or so the hardcore fantasies and misunderstandings floated on their heads as they were thinking of what disaster would befall on their once great nation and their pitiful people.

 "Lupasa." The Emperor who visibly stressed by the events unfolding on the Empire, called on his advisor.

"Yes Your Grace?."

"How can the Empire survive on this predicament?." The Emperor or his vassals are already running out of ideas on how to fight back or make some compromises on ASEAN. Some are exploring the possibility of offering their colonies to ASEAN. However, they don't actually need that permission or concessions from the empire as they could simply militarily take those territories over with marines, special forces, or airborne. Not only that, ASEAN could just bomb the encampment of Parpaldia and reduce their military enough to the point that it could pave the way for easy rebellion by the colonists, but they didn't pursue any of those as one of the master plans of ASEAN was to spare those forces in the colonies and border so they could maintain the balance and stability without the catastrophic consequences of a civil war or invasion from other nations, after the war between ASEAN and the Empire.

Lupasa has a complicated face. "At the very least, Your Grace, they don't seem to be maltreating the people of their colony, the former kingdom of Lauria. According to some of my trusted subordinates, it might be just propaganda. I don't really know. So there's a chance, and high on top of that, that they won't enslave our people but likely gonna abolish the monarchial government, much like what happened to Lauria and turned it into a puppet state... So if we--." Lupasa was cut off by the Emperor.

"Not a chance." Ludius frowned as he didn't want to lose the throne or see the end of the imperial family of Parpaldia in his reign. "First and third are understandable and essential for future negotiations, but second and fifth are troublesome, and lastly, the disposition of Remille and other officials is a little bit unreasonable but negotiable."