What was once an open building with access freely granted, within reason, to all who desired in has been transformed into a veritable fortress with security checks and guards dotting the grounds of this edifice. The headquarters of the CDU's executive had an unnatural stillness to it despite it all, a tension that could be felt given the high-level talks that had been called for. Not formal talks of course, but still it was known that there was to be a meeting between the CDU's representative, Minister Cordelia, and envoys from the Empire and the Republic. Two landing spots at opposite ends of the headquarters were chosen for the two delegations, their routes to the meeting hall kept far apart from each other lest trouble develop. And finally, Cordelia greeted them both as they arrived, in