Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 958

Chapter 949: Who wouldn’t fight to the death?

The Dark Witch King made up his mind.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the Dark Eldar and the Alliance were progressing rapidly.

In fact, the “peace talks” between the two sides had never stopped.

This was quite normal—soldiers on both sides fought on the front lines, while diplomats in the rear exchanged sharp words, traded terms, and tested each other’s minds based on the situation on the front lines…

However, until now, the talks had made no substantive progress. Both sides had irreconcilable conflicts over their core interests and key terms.

The sudden surge in progress in the negotiations was primarily due to a change in the Dark Eldar diplomats. The new ambassador, Ms. Veserani, took the lead, sweeping aside the previous situation of being unable to reach an agreement on terms and achieving compromises on several key issues.

This necessitated a discussion of the core interests of both sides.

For the Dark Eldar, these were two key interests:

the withdrawal of the human army from Comoros, and the acquisition of Robert and Gu Jing.

For humanity, their core interests can be categorized into two main areas: the most important being the capture of Comoros, and the second being the swift deployment of the Terran Expeditionary Force to Holy Terra.

Clearly, the core interests of both sides were misaligned, and the basis for negotiation was extremely weak.

However, after Veserani compromised on some of these core interests, the basis for negotiation suddenly emerged.

First, the Dark Eldar completely abandoned Robert and Gu Jing’s demands. They no longer offered unrealistic demands, such as demanding their cooperation.

As for the human side’s demands for the occupation and administration of all of Comoros, and for unconditional surrender, Veserani was certainly not going to compromise—wouldn’t that be like throwing her life away?

However, the specific issue can be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

What was the Alliance’s primary goal in demanding the capture of all of Comoros?

It certainly wasn’t resources. Comoros was a barren land, devoid of any resource value.

To obtain the Dark Eldar’s submission, did they require their manpower? That was a slightly more reliable factor than resources. After all, if the Dark Eldar were mercenaries, forming a legion, they would be quite capable. Although their population is small and they can’t afford a war of attrition, they could still be used as elite troops.

However, the combat power of these Dark Eldar is merely a bonus, not crucial.

Moreover, even if the Dark Eldar surrendered, who would dare use them?

A stab in the back at a critical moment is something these treacherous creatures are capable of.

But beyond these two points, two other things about Comoros are far more valuable.

First, of course, is Comoros’s status as a Veiled City, allowing for quick and convenient travel to various locations in the real universe.

Second, is the technology inherited by the Dark Eldar from their magnificent Eldar Empire.

This is where Veselani made her concession.

She proposed a plan to make several of Comoros’ ports jointly managed. Humans would only need to provide the energy required to operate the ports and pay a fee to use them. The Eldar would also open up some of the coordinates they had established in the real universe, including those in the Solar Sector.

This would expedite Robert’s Terran expeditionary force’s arrival at their destination. Furthermore, in the future, through the Veil Gates of Comoros, Gu Hang could visit Holy Terra in less than a day, eliminating the long interstellar journey of over a year required in the past.

As for the myriad technologies inherited by the Dark Eldar over countless ages, a portion could be shared with humanity.

Despite this significant investment, the human ambassador, Dexa, in charge of negotiations, remained unimpressed.

He simply stated,

“After we defeat you, annihilate you, and occupy all of Comoros, these things will be ours. So why should we accept peace talks?”

It was blunt, but realistic, and it was Gu Hang’s stated demand: “We only accept unconditional surrender.”

Diplomacy isn’t negotiated at the negotiating table; it’s fought on the front lines. The current human forces deployed in Comoros are already capable of standing up to the Dark Eldar, having abandoned their previous defensive strategy and even embarked on a strategic offensive.

As time went on, the number of human forces entering Comoros would only increase.

The balance of power between the two sides would shift increasingly towards humanity.

This was why Gu Hang had the confidence to demand ‘unconditional surrender.’

Veserani wasn’t angry.

This statement was entirely within her expectations, and she had prepared for it, offering several counter-arguments.

First, Veserani didn’t deny that humanity currently held the upper hand, but she emphasized that even if the situation continued as it was, the cost to humanity of achieving ultimate victory, completely conquering Comoros, and completely crushing the Eldar regime and organizational structure would be unprecedented.

Perhaps humanity would need to continuously deploy forces equivalent to two Alliance fronts, and ultimately lose more than 30% of its troops and various weaponry in Comoros.

This would be true for everything from warships and tanks to Space Marines and the lives of ordinary soldiers.

Dexa remained noncommittal about this point.

Veserani was right. Even if she might have exaggerated the losses suffered by the Human B side, the losses would still be significant.

Not to mention, if the Dark Eldar were determined to fight to the bitter end, even if their regime and organization collapsed, they could still wage guerrilla warfare for many, many years within the fully three-dimensional Comoros, which was much larger than a planet. Perhaps, for the next hundreds or thousands of years, while humanity would exploit the Veiled City of Comoros, they would also have to constantly contend with the surviving Dark Eldar, filled with vengeance.

Many, many people would die.

Even if Gu Hang, as a leader, could accept these losses after weighing the benefits and costs, if the number of losses could be reduced, then it would definitely be better to reduce them.

After saying this, Viserani raised a second finger, raising a second, even more critical point.

If it really came to a desperate situation, the Dark Eldar could leave humanity with nothing.

Who wouldn’t want to fight to the death?

(End of Chapter)