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Underground Activities....
Tweet Topic Started: 7 Sep 2010, 04:18 AM (311 Views)
Essalieyan 7 Sep 2010, 04:18 AM Post #1
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Essalieyan, Pallamara, & Saint Martingale
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The meeting had been called in the Labyrinth, the massive maze of deep, deep underground corridors and chambers that honeycombed Mt A`Veraalan, directly underneath the Palace, itself a massive mound of gray stone and concrete. As always, the hallways were dimly lit by emergency lighting, the better not to ruin night vision, giving everything a dim, sinister red cast. Some might have been intimidated by the grim surroundings, or clausterphobic at the thought of so much stone pressing down on them from above, but Hanna had grown up and played in these very halls since a child, and instead took comfort in the closeness of the stone. Not far behind her were the ghostly presence of the Astari, the order dedicated to the protection of the Crown. They were part knightly order, part intelligence agency, and part religious order. The ones in the palace wore their formal vestiments of long midnight blue hooded cloaks, and arming swords, they were said to be deadly with, though they usually carried TAR-21s under those cloaks as well. Approaching the conferance chambers, on the same level, though widely seperated from the National Command Centre, the Keizerin returned the salute from the Life Guards dressed in their cermonial uniforms, clad in steel breastplates, before entering the room.

Only slightly better lit than the red bathed hallways outside, the room was dominated by a massive table of black walnut, at which were seated all her ministers, armed with their briefcases of documents, reports, facts & figures. As she entered all rose from their heavy matching chairs, but with barely discernable motion of her hand, they resumed their seats. Taking her customary place at the head of the table, she began the meeting.

"We welcome you, loyal servants of the Crown. We are gathered here to discuss the general state of the realm, and the outside world--perhaps most particuliarly so. As you all are aware, We have decided to open up diplomatically to the rest of Renatia, a move that has been overdue for quite some time now. It is indeed a dark place--I read the intelligence reports forwarded by the Astari, and see war, chaos, anarchy, assassination, and worse. We want to be certain that Essalieyan is indeed prepared to weather the worst our involvement might bring. We'll start with you, Minister De Beers. How does our economic situation appear?"

The elderly minister, the oldest in the room, a man who had served her grandfather, and who'd been the foremost proponent of diplomatic opening of the realm spoke in a soft voice. "The Economy is strong, Your Imperial Majesty, the perception of us as disinterested neutrals has worked in favor of Essalieyan companies, at least up to this point. My fear, however, is that we may have hit a benchmark--without goverment sponsored effort to open up new markets, we may well have gone as far as we are going to go. I think this move will be good for Essalieyan in the long term, but there may well be some stormy times ahead," the minister concluded his report.

"Thank you, for that candid assessment, Maartyn." The old man was the only one she addressed by their first name in formal meetings, a tribute to his length of service, and dedication to the state. In his late 80s, his mind was still as sharp as ever, and it would be nearly impossible to replace him once he passed on. "We'll make trade the forefront of any diplomatic initiaves put forward, never fear. " Turning then to the Minister of Security, Johan Steuben, "With all this unrest around the globe, what is your ministry doing to see to it that Essalieyan is safe?"

"Your Imperial Majesty," We've started screening all arrivals at airports and docks, and putting into place additional cameras, supplementing the ones we already have screening the realm. Otherwise, we've increased the number of Special Response Units, and we hope within three years to have doubled the number currently available. I've arranged with the help of Ministry of War to make some of the old armored personnel carriers kept as spares for the reserves available, and found room in the budget for the purchase of more modern vehicles, though the number entering service will be dependant on finances. Lastly, we've procured some new, non lethal crowd suppression technology, of both the sonic and microwave variety, for test, though I really do not foresee the need for it at present. Unlike some states, we have practically no political unrest, and no disperate ethnic groups to contend with, but such technology can find other applications, such as being used to secure facilities. "

"Very well, then Minister--keep up your efforts. What has the Ministry of State have to say?"

Young, charismatic, and very popular with the ladies, Janus de Wedde gave her his brightest smile, before beginning his summary. "Well, until recently, our ministry was a thin veneer for the activities of the Astari. We've had to procure actual diplomats, and at the moment the ranks are thin, but we believe we've put together a competant diplomatic corps. The situation around the world is grim at the moment--I don't need to tell you that. I think we could best be served with a series of low key alliances, nothing too big, perhaps some trade agreements, and some memos of understanding. We need to start small, and gradually expand our efforts into a larger circle. Of course, if someone does offer us an excellent opportunity, we shouldn't refuse it without due consideration." Here, he paused and poured a glass of water from a crystal decanter, taking a drink. "I think that we may find some of our best chances with smaller nations, like our own. They won't be able to offer what some of the larger ones do, but face it, we are a lapsed power. Once we did have an overseas empire, but that is ancient history now, and despite our imperial pretentions, Essalieyan is a small island nation surrounded by greater powers. Our best bet, in my humble opinion, Keizerin, is to work within a framework of smaller nations, while making friends with a couple of the greater powers to watch our backs. We must be careful, however, because, despite the best efforts of the Astari, we still don't have a full diplomatic picture of the world." With that said, Janus concluded and took another drink.

Hanna nodded. She never had been too fond of Janus--he was as two faced as the old god of that name, and she didn't trust him any further than she had to, but supposed those were some of the qualities which went into making a good diplomat. When all was said and done, he really hadn't said much, expounding a sort of cautious opportunism, for lack of a better way of putting it. "Very well, then. What says Media and Public Relations?"

The diminuative Sofia stood up. "We are working on some sort of program to broadcast Essalieyan news to the rest of the world, but....well, money has been lacking, and the project is behind. My office doesn't have enough managers, and we haven't found the right face yet. We don't want to come off as a state run propoganda machine, even if that's what we really are. To solve that problem, I need talented writers and actors to make the stories seem as unscripted as possible. I...I'm...sorry I don't have better news, to report--I'll strive to do better!!"

It took her a lot of effort not to smile despite the shortcomings of the project. Sofie was adorable and her childlike enthuiasm brought a change of pace to the normally dry meetings. Speaking of dry, it was time to get the report from the Ministry of Defence.... "Keep working on it, Sofia. We understand it's not an easy project." She now turned to Rijksmarshal Vierzinger. "Your report, Rijksmarshal?"

"Our forces are at normal readiness to defend the Empire, Your Imperial Majesty. We are pursuing a new MANPADS procurement option, and the frigate procurement program is proceeding well. The new vessels should begin to join the fleet within 2-3 years, depending on the priority given. Otherwise, I am pleased to hear from Essalieyan Aerospace Industries, that the Vulcan II project is ahead of schedule--the prototype has been flying for sometime now, and the changes to the preproduction models have been implemented. EAI assures me that the first production models can begin flying by the end of the year, though crew training will take longer, and logistics support must be arranged. Still, I think we should go ahead. If we are going to be actors on the world stage, a long range strike capability is a must....We cannot always wait weeks for an aircraft carrier or submarine to maneuver into position, making the regeneration of our manned bomber force a must. Our current budget will allow the procurement of 5 of these units for the Luchtmacht per year. Perhaps six if I really squeeze EAI. Our Aardvarks are too short ranged to affect much beyond the region and neighboring continents. Of course, if we do this, that will mean the tanker fleet will also need to be expanded, but we can manage on the cheap with converted airliners. For the moment, we have enough for the limited number of aircraft entering service. Other than that, I know nobody is going to want to hear this, but we are going to need some sort of viable deterrant. Nuclear weapons are out of the question--that program would be ruinously enpensive to contemplate at the moment, anyway. What I'm suggesting are chemical weapons."

At this, there were a number of audible gasps around the table. Chemical weapons had a nasty reputation as being inaccurate, unreliable, and indiscreet, the tools of oppressive evil dictators. Hanna kept her composure, however. "These weapons would only be useful as a deterrant if others know we have them, and if we announce the fact, the diplomatic fallout is likely to outweigh the benefits of procuring them in the first place. I assume you have considered this carefully, Rijksmarshal?"

"With all due respect, I have indeed. I'm suggesting we secretly procure a limited number of binary weapons, storing the two components in different facilities until they are needed. We'll use a nonpersistant agent, to further minimize the risk. Mainly, we'll need to begin research on deployment options, though the technology for such things is old, and I don't foresee any technical difficulties. With the chemical industry we have, procuring the actual agents shouldn't be a big deal, and since they are binary, we don't have to get them from the same company, which should reduce the likelihood on leaks."

"You have made a convincing, if not entirely successful case, Rijksmarshal. We will permitt a limited research budget looking into this matter, however, *NO* weapons of this nature may be procured at this time. Tell EAI to begin production of the Vulcan II, but only if they can bring the price down to where we can afford 6 per year. We will break, and reconvene in 2 days."
Edited by Essalieyan, 7 Sep 2010, 09:03 AM.
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