Secretary Kaspar Herbold awaited patiently inside the State Department's rather large room that was purposed specifically for meetings with foreign dignitaries. The cream marble floors were a slight contrast to the darker mahogany colored walls in the eclectic architecture that dominated the Kreigsherr government buildings. In the center of the room was a long reddish oak table surrounded by dark maroon upholstered chairs that were designed to provide as much comfort as possible. The walls in the room were bare except for the flag of the Kreigsherr draped across the wall behind the head of the table. Kaspar looked at his watch once more before inspecting his black suit again out of habit to make sure nothing was out of place nor anything had become stuck to it. Kaspar was a man obsessed with cleanliness as could be seen from his manicured nails and his neatly trimmed blond hair and smooth shaven face. Despite being in his fifties he made an effort to keep himself in shape unlike other governments officials he knew who seemed to be content with their sloth and letting themselves go. He looked down at the tablet he had in front of him again and reread the dossier that had been hastily thrown together about his new guests that were due to arrive shortly. It was fairly clear they were a rather zealous bunch. Their zeal however would work in favor of the Kreigsherr. As his eyes scanned the tablet a drone from amongst the State Department personnel appeared suddenly at the open double doors and cleared his throat, breaking Kaspar from his concentration.
"Excuse me sir but your guests have arrived." said the man in a slightly intimidated voice.
"Show them in please." said Kaspar as he stood up and walked towards the door to greet delegation.
Within moments, two men entered through the double doors. The one in front was tall - unusually tall - with neatly-combed hair upon his head and a not-so-neatly combed beard upon his face. His wardrobe was plain - a simple, dark-grey smock of sorts, with a small wooden cross-like emblem affixed to his right breast. He approached purposefully. Perhaps too purposefully, almost mechanically. He wielded this very same purposefulness in each of his every movement as he pulled up a chair at the opposite end of the conference room table and sat upright upon it.
The man behind him, on the other hand, was smaller. Significantly smaller, and perhaps younger. His wardrobe - while simplistic like that of the larger man he accompanied - was more visibly one of militaristic origin; the grey trenchcoat and white ushanka were reminiscent of a particular Slavic nation, though there were no red stars or double-headed birds upon it. Instead, the man wore the same emblem as the taller one, on both his right breast and in the center of his hat. He simply stepped off to the side and stood at one corner of the room, his feet at shoulder width and arms crossed, parallel with the floor.
The first, taller man - unwavering from his upright-seated posture - smiled at Kaspar through his long, overwhelming beard.
"Good day. Saint Grigori Rasputin, of the Almighty Imperial Theocracy of Angrivantis... at your service. Secretary... Herbold... Kaspar Herbold... correct?"
Kaspar looked the man up and down quickly, he was much larger than the Secretary thought he would be. Both men's clothes were also simplistic in nature. Kaspar wondered if this had something to do with their religion which they clung to tightly.
"You are correct sir, I am Secretary of State Kaspar Herbold of the Nationalist Socialist States of Kreigsherr, I am quite pleased you were able to visit our humble country and I hope the trip wasn't to exhausting for you and your man. Now to delve directly into matters." said Kaspar in a rather formal tone
"First I would like to express our gratitude that Almighty Imperial Theocracy has chosen to join the Sovereign Human Alliance. We fear that humanity itself is headed down a dark path that can only lead to the complete eradication of humans as a species as they are either absorbed into lesser species populations or are outright exterminated, there are but a few in this world who are willing to stand up for humanity and we are quite pleased that the Theocracy has answered the call that has rang out to reassert humans at the forefront of the world as is their rightful place." the Secretary said with slight amount of passion in his voice.
"Now it is our understanding that the Theocracy has already once been attacked and scattered to the winds for their ideals, in what way do you think Kreigsherr can help the Theocracy?" questioned Kaspar of the tall robed man.
Grigori clasped his hands together and leaned forward slightly, deliberately.
"The honor, Secretary Herbold, is mine. We are blessed to finally find even the slightest semblance of an ally in these troubling times."
He leaned back again. Still deliberately. Still mechanically, almost.
"You are correct in your observations that my Children were attacked and scattered. It seems to be a habit of theirs; they prepare and prepare and prepare for some ultimate plan to vanquish those who refuse to accept - even so far as to outright reject - His love for humanity, and then they try, and then they fail, and finally they are scattered, only for someone else to pick up the pieces and restart the cycle of growth and disappointment. In the most recent case, this was against a foe who had significantly outclassed the Theocracy in every way but sheer numbers and piety - two things which, alone, did not seem to serve my children particularly well."
Grigori turned to his companion, muttering something in a disjointed hybrid of Slavic and Italic languages. The companion approached the table and placed a small tablet computer upon it, which Grigori manipulated for a moment before sliding it to Kaspar. The tablet played video after video of footage depicting hordes of ragged footsoldiers attempting to charge a single four-piece fireteam - three humanoids, and one equinoid - of infantry in black, grey, and yellow camouflage-patterned full-body armor; it further depicted those hordes failing each and every time.
"You see, faith is powerful, but it does not last when four Demons of the Skies - the "YellowApplans", as they call themselves - can hold their own against hundreds of my Children defending what was once our homeland. My Children were utterly defeated not because they did not pray enough, or because they were outnumbered, but because they lacked the innovation of these Demons.
"I think the Kreigsherr can help us substantially in this particular front. I have done my best to attempt to... modernize my Children, but I can only do so much. We seek those who can bring us up to par with the rest of the universe so that we can return humanity - under His watch and guidance - to its place of power and leadership as the shepherds we were intended to be. One facet of this is military organization; we absolutely must modernize our tactics, lest we continue to be destroyed by the heathen hordes, our message forgotten in retellings of history by the victors of such conquests."
Kaspar observed the video closely as the men threw themselves selflessly to their cause and were cut down. Amongst these YellowApplan troops Kaspar observed one was a pony, His eyes narrowed slightly at the beast before the emotion fluttered away from his face as quickly as it arrived.
"While I will openly admit that the military is not one of my strong points I can tell you that Kreigsherr has been gearing its production of military equipment as of lately in anticipation of other likeminded nations needing assistance in their time of need. Furthermore we have thousands of military advisors on hand to provide the proper training for the equipment as well as the training of newer more modern military tactics to forge any band of misfits into a fighting force that's name will strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. As this was anticipated there is already a shipment of Kreigsherr small arms and ammo being assembled and prepared for shipment to the Theocracy." Kaspar said. "There is also a team of training officers as well as technical advisors being hand selected by General Hanz Pobst himself to ensure we have the right men selected for the task ahead of them."
"Now, other than an upgrade of military equipment and tactics what other, if any goals does the Theocracy wish? Would I be correct in assuming that you wish to retake your people's homeland and return it to it's rightful owners?" asker Kaspar
Grigori pondered the question asked of him, his head tilting somewhat. Deliberately. Mechanically. A stark contrast from the young man behind him, whose eyes betrayed an emotion of excitement - or perhaps fear - through an otherwise-stoic face. Grigori eventually responded calmly.
"Yes, that would indeed be a desirable goal. I do not believe my Children are prepared to even think of such a prospect, however; 'tis only been a few years since my Children were defeated and I rose to tend to their wounds. The emotional scars continue to run deep through many of my Children.
"On the other hand, the old homeland - La Isla de las Tormentas - has already been defiled; 'tis now inhabited by the Demons themselves, with their demon-horses and demon-men and demons-with-cat-ears-and-tails and demon-elves and such. I am genuinely unsure of what to make of it. Perhaps it is a challenge He wants us to overcome. Perhaps it is a warning - a message from Him that we should not cling onto that past, and to instead make for ourselves a new homeland, untarnished by the Demons and their taunting. At the very least, I am aware that some of my flock still resides there, subjected to the constant tempations and psychological manipulation of the Demons' new plaything; perhaps merely helping them escape and return to freedom would be a more reasonable goal."
"If that is what you desire, I do believe that perhaps this a goal that can be achieved without armed intervention perhaps and through more diplomatic means." Kaspar said in a suggestive tone. As Kaspar finished a man with a silver tray entered the room. He carried a silver tray with glasses filled with water.
"I wasn't quite sure on what restrictions your religion had on what you are allowed to drink so I had only water brought, if there is something else you desire to eat or drink please let me know and I can have it sent for at once." Kaspar kindly offered to his guests.
"Thank you," Grigori replied. "Water will be sufficient." He accepted his own glass of water with a polite nod and a smile; after some muttering from Grigori in the same disjointed Slavic/Italic language as before, his companion also approached and accepted a glass. Grigori took a "sip" of the water - the liquid seemed to enter his mouth and not leave it, though there was peculiarly no swallowing involved - before he continued.
"Yes, non-combative - or, if combative, then very covert - intervention would be wise. The Demons are vulnerable when it comes to infiltration; the Holy Imperial Theocracy might have very well been victorious against them had my Children been patient and allowed their infiltration to continue rather than stifling it on the first sign of failure and reverting to their head-on approaches.
"Speaking of which, given your generosity thus far, it would be impolite of me to not offer our own talents in return. What my Children have lacked in technological innovation is frequently made up for by their proficiency on the seas. Angrivantians are well-adapted for naval boarding, for example, and have demonstrable abilities to defend against - or even successfully assault - vessels with technologically-advanced defenses and well-disciplined crew. If these skills interest you and your people, I can see to it that some Angrivantian training personnel visit your own naval facilities to impart their knowledge; combining your own technological capacity with Angrivantian prowess on the seas would certainly result in a nigh-unstoppable fighting force."
"I'm noot much of an expert on the tactics of the Kriegsmarine I feel safe in saying that naval boarding tactics are mostly a relic of the past unless it is used special operations capacity. We will obviously be more than interested to see what your people are capable of." Kaspar said
"Now then, if you are truly interested in re-settling you people we'll need to come up with reasonable solutions to be able to give you and your people a prosperous homeland that you and yours can go strong and mighty we'll need to look at viable lands that the Angrivantians can settle in and begine to grow." Kaspar said before he briefly stopped and took a sip of his own water. "In the meantime before a possible is discovered the Kreigsherr is more than willing to construct and maintain refugee camps at no expense to you, the stay would be only temporary until a permanent home can be found for you.'
"Now then once a homeland is established it would be unreasonable to expect the Angrivantian people to be able to defend themselves fully, as such a Corps and Expedition Fleet would be assembled to assist in your people's protection, accompanying the Corps would be a full Engineering Brigade to help build and establish the basic necessities.
Grigori took another "sip" of his own water with a slight smile - as if pleased that the companion behind him did not understand enough of the words Kaspar spoke to make proper sense of it, knowing full well that any Angrivantian - particularly a soldier, as the companion presumably was - would not think twice about brawling even in such a beautiful conference room over the implication that Angrivantian naval tactics were "relics". Grigori knew it to be somewhat true, of course - with a properly-equipped navy, his Children could actually fight properly instead of relying on covert boarding and sabotage to cripple an adversary's fleet - but it would take some time for his Children to be as convinced of that as he was, to be certain.
"Yes," Grigori finally responded, after a silent glance toward his companion. "Refugee camps and naval reinforcements would be appreciated. While my Children are... stubborn, to say the least, they will be swayed when I remind them of our need to regroup and rebuild after such a devastating war like the one we only recently concluded against the Demons. This would not be the first time they have sought a new homeland, however, so they are prepared for at least that much."
"I see, well if there is anything that can be done to help smooth the matter over we would like to help as much as possible, if there are any requests you would like to make we would be more than willing to look at them and see if we can accommodate you in some capacity." Kaspar offered, at this point there was really little more he could say here, the meeting was coming to a close.
"Perhaps you and your people would be interested in a matter that is developing in a relatively close proximity to Kreigsherr itself, currently there is a country named Hiluxia, it's central government has been dissolved for some time. It has been beneath the notice until recently when a faction that is favorable towards human rights has reached out looking for assistance." Kaspar explained in a business like tone that was straight to the point.
"To make matters even more interesting the Hiluxian's neighbors too the west have begun to look upon Hiluxia with hungry eyes, now normally this wouldn't be an issue except those neighbors are orcs. Nasty bloodthirsty beings, it would not be long before they killed the men of Hiluxia and began raping the women and creating some sort of half-breed degenerates. So I am curious on whether or not your people would be interested in assisting their fellow humans Your Eminence?"
Grigori pondered the question carefully, remaining silent for what seemed to be a painfully-long moment before he finally replied.
"Yes, that would likely be prudent. If you are suggesting this... 'Hiluxia' to be the new Angrivantian homeland, then we must graciously accept. Do you have much information about the people currently living there? This sounds like a wonderful opportunity to rebuild what we have lost so many years ago, and we cannot thank you enough for that opportunity.
"Of course, I must ask: this land is coastal, no? My Children would not be able to stand the thought of being landlocked."
"There may be a chance of your people settling there, though this would entirely depend on the attitudes of the Hiluxia people to your own. I will not guarantee it though. I'm certain though that if the Hiluxians do not receive your people that we will most certainly find a homeland for you and yours Saint Rasputin."
"Excellent," Grigori responded. "Perhaps with a successful defense, the locals will be receptive to joining my flock. Even if not, it would still boost the morale of my Children - a morale which has been drained considerably as of late."
Grigori took one final "sip" of his water before continuing.
"Is there anything else you wish to discuss, friend?"
"My thoughts exactly Your Eminence, if nothing else casting the orc back into his home beaten and battered while rescuing a human nation and restoring order to them." said Kaspar quite pleased that Rasputin was open too the idea.
"I will consult with the proper military commanders and we will have a force of Angrivantians properly equipped and they will have an opportunity to show what they are truly capable of to the world." Kaspar said with a smile
Grigori turned to his companion for a brief moment, exchanging with him even more of the same disjointed Italic/Slavic creole before returning his attention to Kaspar.
"That is excellent to hear," Grigori concluded with a smile. "I shall begin preparations for my Children to receive your personnel and assume the necessary positions to defend this 'Hiluxia' from the threat posed by these... 'orcs'."
"That is good to hear Your Eminence, I'm pleased to have met you, in the future we will need to discuss an Ambassador to provide a more established link between our nations, however for now you can contact me directly through my assistant Alese for anything." Kaspar said as he stood up and bowed to Saint Rasputin.
"The pleasure is mine, Secretary Herbold. The Holy Imperial Theocracy has typically refrained from ambassadorial contacts, but given the circumstances, I believe we can make an exception in this particular case. God bless, and farewell."
Grigori stood and - with a nod from himself - subsequently left his seat and exited through the double-doors, his companion in tow.
Kaspar made several notes on his tablet of his impressions of Rasputin and his companion, the entire conversation had been recorded as well, Kaspar was curious if there was a translator from somewhere that might be able to decipher the unusual language, the Secretary had his doubts though. He was pleased that they seemed to be anxious for a new homeland, information such as this was the sorry of thing that could be used later on, in the unlikely scenario it had to be used.
Kaspar tapped the screen a few more times as he sent a few more emails off to the necessary people. Once he was finished he stood and grabbed his things from the large table and exited the room well and headed towards the front of the building where a car was waiting for him. Kaspar was expected to report to the Kaiser as soon as the meeting was concluded.
With a slight feeling of trepidation Kaspar headed down the steps to help set in motion the winds of change for the broken nation of Hiluxia.
