Nix studied the expired docket. It had already been up before Parliament twice. It would fall under the 3-time rule if it was submitted again. The only issue was that it had never been resubmitted. Initially, all submissions are required to pass through a screening process before they became dockets.

"Hey, guys!" Semmi walked into the Parliament Guild Office, unexpectedly Nix was hard at work at his desk and Fajii was sitting on the couch.

Semmi took a seat at her own desk before wheeling her chair over to Nix. "What ya reading?"

"All about the 3-time rule." Nix studied the hud before pointing out the items he was interested in.

Semmi leaned forward and read the screen. "This is about amending a docket?"

Nix nodded, "yes."

"Dockets can be amended, however, it requires a vote of at least 25 percent and the submission rule doesn't reset." Semmi considered it for a moment. "You want to amend a submission?"

"Yes, guess who has enough votes to amend a submission?"

The blonde smirked at him. "You don't think I know? All of them use to, however with the addition of 75 new votes, only the Fir'Dhassi and Inferno does."

"This morning, Del Tali tried to amend a submission, when she found out that she didn't have enough votes, she borrowed 12 of ours." Nix brought up the contract he had signed with Del.

Semmi read it quickly. "This is really strict. In return for our votes, she is giving us 12 to use. It's a one time use, and limited to this week."

"Yep." Nix brought up a second contract he had signed with Tura Raine Xai. "Now read this one."

"Geez Nix..." Semmi read the Fir'Dhassi contract. "Pretty similar, you gave them a slightly better deal. You borrowed them 10 votes to be used on the "free trade docket' and promised to back them on the "Exchange" docket, in return they gave you 10 one-time votes that must be used this week and can't be used on any of the dockets mentioned above."

"Now I've got 22 extra votes that I can use one time on any docket this week."

"I don't get it Nix, you don't need the votes to amend the docket. Our 75 is enough."

"The amending vote and the docket itself are separate votes. I can use our votes to amend the docket. Then I can use our votes and the 22 votes we acquired to make things go our way."

Semmi nodded, "this is something tricky right? What's the plan?"

Nix brought up the docket he planned on amending.

[Rightful Ownership of Belai]

Summary: The Island of Belai is directly south of the Continent of Inuit. It is North of the closest Ain'Dhassi territory and West of the closest Su'Dhassi settlement. All three nations have laid claim to this island over the years. Originally this was part of Inuit, however it has been disputed and fought over for generations. This has not been considered part of Inuit since Parliament was formed. Therefore does not fall under the Protected Territory Act.

[Return Belai to the Fir'Dhassi.]

[Aprroving Opinion: Tura Raine Xai]

[Dissenting Opinion: Serai Del Tali] [Dissenting Opinion: Deja Ern Kurza]]

[Approve: 90 Dissent:132]

Nix brought up the Island of Belai on the hud map. "As you can see, it's kinda big. Like the size of Safarza."

Semmi zoomed in on the map. "It's nice, but what's the play here."

"The topic of this docket can't be amended. For instance, we can't change it to the 'Rightful Ownership of Inuit.'" Nix brought up the amended version he spent the morning working on.

[Rightful Ownership of Belai]

Summary: The Island of Belai is directly south of the Continent of Inuit. It is North of the closest Ain'Dhassi territory and West of the closest Su'Dhassi settlement. All three nations have laid claim to this island over the years. Originally this was part of Inuit, however, it has been disputed and fought over for generations. This has not been considered part of Inuit since Parliament was formed. Therefore does not fall under the Protected Territory Act. In the interest of fairness, the Island of Belai should be given to the Inferno Guild as their legal territory.

[Give Belai to the Inferno Guild.]

[Aprroving Opinion: Tura Raine Xai]

[Dissenting Opinion: Serai Del Tali] magic

[Dissenting Opinion: Deja Ern Kurza]]

[Approve: Dissent: ]

Semmi shook her head. "I applaud the effort Nix, but this will never pass."

Nix leaned forward and reopened both contracts. "Read the competition clause."

"Holy shit Nix..." Semmi switched to her desk and downloaded the contracts. She didn't speak again for several minutes. "As I understand this, once you use their votes on a docket, their votes on that docket are locked down and can't be used or traded to anyone else."

"That's right... I don't give a shit about their 22 votes. What I want is to shut them out of the voting altogether."

Semmi ran her fingers through her short blonde hair and let out a long breath. "It's just us and the Su'Dhassi."

Nix grinned at her. "Since we are amending the docket, we'll get the first vote. That will lock out the Ain'Dhass and the Fir'Dhassi."

Semmi spun her chair around slowly, she continued for a few rotations before stopping. "Why do we want Belai? We don't even have a real presence on Oasis yet. We aren't strong enough to settle it properly.

"True...I don't read the Oasis forums much, but I have being doing it daily since we registered the Guilds." Nix brought up the forums, his name and Inferno was mentioned everywhere. "A while ago the Oasis Guilds were happy with us. But now..."

"Now we suck again," Semmi completed the sentence for him.

Nix nodded in agreement. "Guild and personal messaging were restored. Guild Building Quests and Guild instances all were made available."

Semmi started to nod but then stopped. "They finished the Guild Building Quests, but the rules are different in Oasis. You need permission from the individual government that presides over the territory."

"Yep, which they can't get."

Nix started the submission process on the amended docket.

[Vote on Amended docket: Rightful Ownership of Belai?]

"Yes." Nix used Inferno's 75 votes and then brought up the 22 votes he had acquired. [You are using contracted votes on: Rightful Ownership of Belai?]

"Yes."

[In accordance with contractual records, the votes of the Fir'Dhassi and the Ain'Dhassi are locked for this docket. A message has been sent to both parties regarding this matter.]

Semmi watched the process, her high-powered brain going through the different scenarios. "You're going to let the Upper-Tier Guilds build their Guildhalls on Belai?"

"Perhaps." Nix stood up and stretched. "That guild alliance you mentioned? Now we have a bargaining chip."

**************

An hour later, Nix, Semmi, Wind, Pon, and Fajii walked through the protective barrier surrounding the Parliament. Nix had applied the camouflage overlay to each of their armors and had charged each of them the cost of adding one enhancement. This was the team that had crossed the Escalades Bridge. Designation: Alpha Team.

/Alpha Team: Semmi: Hey... how come we didn't get the big upgrade like Mina.

/Alpha Team: Nix: Cost. Come up with half a billion credits and I'll do it.

/Alpha Team: Wind: Too Spendy.

/Alpha Team: Pon: Where we headed?

/Alpha Team: Wind: I liked Snakepit Pon better.

/Alpha Team: Pon: I would have loved to keep it if I could have spells with it.

/Alpha Team: Nix: I hear Chael is still in the doghouse.

/Alpha Team: Semmi: It's only been a few days, give her some time.

Nix led the stealthed team deeper in the woods and then activated Deep Blue. When he had returned from rescuing Raine, he took the time to save the platform binding point into Deep Blue.

/Alpha Team: Nix: We'll go through and immediately re-stealth. Delyn Xai mentioned an abandoned Temple near the platform. I thought it would make a good excursion for our first outing.

The Amended Docket [Rightful Ownership of Belai] Has been Approved. [Approve: 97 Dissent: 69]

/Alpha Team: Nix: Our docket passed... It's only been an hour.

/Alpha Team: Semmi: Dockets don't have to follow the deadline. They are recorded as soon as all the eligible votes are in.

[Territory within Oasis has been ceded to the Inferno Guild. Do you wish to rename Belai?]

"Yes. Change the name to Loki."

Oasis System Message: The Territory of Loki has come under the control of the Inferno Guild. This ceded territory falls under the Protected Territory Act.

New Guild Options are available.

New Governing Options are available.

/Alpha Team: Semmi: The Trickster God of Norse mythology? I love it!

/Inferno: Jun Li: Um... Do we have our own territory?

/Inferno: Nix: We do now. Officer Brief in Haven at 1600 hours. I'll explain then.

Alpha Team landed on the platform and immediately stealthed.

/Alpha Team: Nix: The temple is north of here. Follow me and stay close.