"The Republic of Eden remains open to the prospect of peaceful dialogue and cooperation with Indonesia to resolve this dispute through diplomatic means. We have already withdrawn our vessel from their territorial waters and have already attempted to negotiate a peaceful settlement to this whole affair. But so long as their specious allegations against us remain unwithdrawn, our stance remains firm: we will not tolerate their slander, nor will we remain quiet asthey tarnish our reputation in the international community.
"Thank you for your time, Madame President and other distinguished members of the security council. I yield the floor," Ambassador Foster finished, then sat back down in her seat. She had presented nearly all of the evidence Eden had, choosing only to withhold the information about the submarine that was responsible for the jamming to begin with.
The back-and-forth continued, with impassioned pleas, rigorous arguments, and tense exchanges between the two nations’ representatives. Other members of the security council, including the permanent members, listened intently, with the expressions of people who were trying to discern who was telling the truth and who was just trying to benefit from the chaos.
After a few hours of that, there came a period for deliberations, or rather a break before the hearing resumed and the security council would vote.
The council filed back into the room after the break, much like the first time, with grave expressions on their faces.
The secretary called the hearing back to order and Ambassador Walker began the proceedings. "Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed ambassadors, we have listened to the arguments presented by both parties involved." Her words carried through the chamber, silencing the ongoing conversations and drawing the collective attention of those present.
"It's now time for us to take decisive action and fulfill our mandate as the United Nations Security Council, tasked with maintaining international peace and security," she continued. "I call upon each member state to cast their vote on the matter at hand, as proposed by Indonesia, regarding the dispute with the Republic of Eden."
With her call to vote, Ambassador Walker set in motion the final phase of the UNSC meeting, a momentous occasion that would determine a resolution to the dispute between Indonesia and the Eden.
The electronic voting system silently collected the decisions; as the results were tabulated, a palpable tension filled the chamber. Whispers and murmurs among the diplomats added to the sense of suspense. The vote tally would determine whether the UNSC would take action and, if so, what that action would entail.
It wasn't long before the display screen tallied and revealed the votes.
United States of America: in favor
Russia: in favor
People's Republic of China: in favor
United Kingdom: in favor
France: in favor
The unanimous support from the five permanent members was a rare sight, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the unified stance of the council, which rarely ever unanimously agreed on anything. The factionalism in the UNSC had resulted in many beneficial proposals being brought to a screeching halt as one or the other of the five used their veto power. It was also one of the arguments people used in opposition to the existence of the UN, calling it a "toothless organization” with "no real power or ability of enforcement".
The screen mercilessly continued displaying the voting results.
Ethiopia: in favor
Kazakhstan: in favor
Japan: in favor
Ukraine: opposed
A murmur ran through the spectators in the hall. Everyone knew that China was backing the Indonesian complaint; it couldn't even be considered an open secret, let alone a secret at all. And with China being the main recipient of Ukrainian grain exports, that vote was the first surprise of the entire hearing. The Chinese ambassador's face turned black when he read the result and he came to the determination that Ukraine would pay a price for their hasty decision.
The tally continued.
Bolivia: abstained
Egypt: opposed
Italy: in favor
Senegal: opposed
Sweden: abstained
Uruguay: opposed
With a tally of nine member nations in favor, four opposed, and two abstentions, the fate of the Republic of Eden was sealed... or so everyone thought.
Ambassador Walker took a deep breath; the UNSC had made its decision, and now it was time to move forward.
"The results are in," she announced, her voice steady but filled with a sense of gravitas. "The United Nations Security Council hereby issues United Nations Security Council Resolution 2344, ‘Concerning the Ongoing Dispute Between Indonesia and the Republic of Eden"
She continued, "The next step will be to convene special investigation teams to determine exactly what happened before we move to a final decision based on their findings. We urge both Indonesia and Eden to cooperate fully with the process and engage in constructive negotiations while we do our investigation.
"And if either of you fails to allow unimpeded access to the investigation team, we will immediately find you responsible and move forward with eceonomic sanctions until investigators are allowed free, open, and unimpeded access." Although it might seem like her statement was a warning to both Eden and Indonesia, everyone in the room understood it was being directed to Eden. After all, they were the ones that would lose the most if they allowed the investigation teams to "inspect" the vessels accused of provoking a war of aggression against Indonesia by violating their territorial waters to sink "innocent fishing boats."
Following the announcement, the meeting was brought to a conclusion and a followup deadline was set to form the investigation team.
The hearing marked the first controversy and was a fuckup on a colossal scale for the fledgling Republic of Eden. Ever since their nation's founding, they had been almost completely absent from the entire international scene, even when they were still being run by a dictatorship.
The world, or rather the people interested in international affairs, were now waiting with bated breath to see how Eden would react. Would they agree with the verdict and allow some of their secrets to be laid bare to other nations? Or would they deny entry and take the chance of facing the might of the UNSC, risking becoming the next North Korea or Cuba? Or would the worst-case scenario come to fruition and they risk "peacekeeping" forces coming to knock on their doors?
Only time would tell.
Aron hadn't watched the hearing, due to an emergency situation that had arisen just as the UNSC meeting was about to start. Instead, he had taken full advantage of the time dilation in the universal simulation and spent the last two days of subjective time in close discussion with Nova.
"Although it's just speculation at the moment, we still have to prepare,” he said, his eyes focused on a screen that displayed such a massive amount of data that he could only shake his head.
"It's time to clean up some loose ends."
