Sinope Harbour Festival (IC, MT)

[The Chuck]

Fredrick whirled around and unsheathed his sabre, smirking. "Alexander, you magnificent son of a malnourished Russian whore! Come and face me!"

Sheathing his saber, Alexander ran surprisingly fast for a 70 year old up the gangplank and tackled Fredrick while parrying his saber with his sheath case. As they both tumbled to the deck the fists flew. As they pummeled each other Alex shouted,

"How's the family you old bastard? I haven't seen you in ages!"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Fredrick rolled over, got up, and gave Alexander a good kick. "I don't have any, remember?! What about you, ya cunt?"

Marie cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, please. We're in a port, not a fight pit."

[The Chuck]

Fredrick rolled over, got up, and gave Alexander a good kick. "I don't have any, remember?! What about you, ya cunt?"

Marie cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, please. We're in a port, not a fight pit."

As he took the kick in stride Alexander returned fire with a rabbit punch to Fredrick's stomach knocking the wind out of him.

"I meant the crew you Austrian Blobfish!"

Rolling over to face Marie while Fredrick recovered he said,

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am, Alexander Theodore at your service."

[Moscareinas]

Click.

With the touch of an image on his phone screen Alexander Khala-Kapoor -- youngest maternal grandchild of a largely forgettable former MP of Cadalcaveste; cofounder, with the only son of a slightly older Moscan Paley (as members of the Pale were sometimes affectionately and sometimes derisively nicknamed), of Bigtree & Kapoor, today the premier supplier of small seacraft throughout the Tricontinental; "Lex" to both his newly wedded wife and his business partner, "Sandy" to other intimates, "Mr. Kapoor" to everyone else, name change notwithstanding; and so on -- caught up a picture of yet another competing boat in repose, and he felt sorry for Hal as well as for himself, for coming all the way to Sinope for the festival.

None of these vessels, Alexander now came to realize, were capable of beating their own in open water.

Their own vessel -- tentatively named the Corazon for no other reason than that Hal always took her time naming anything especially seaworthy, and for this one she wanted the name to be Shikomori, in the lexicon of her fellow Comorians -- festooned as it was by brand names from all over the Tricontinental and beyond, was still a beaut at rest at the other end of Sinope's harbor, and a terror on --

-- Alexander's musings were interrupted by sounds of savagery not far from where he was standing. Had a fight broken out? Without hesitation he ran towards the source of the noise, hoping to be of some assistance, his glasses and phone glinting in the daylight as he raced to the scene.

"Hey!", he shouted as he approached a blonde young lady maybe half his age, passively watching two two grizzled men not exactly in their prime try and bloody each other out, "Anyone need help? What's happening?"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Fredrick rolled over, got up, and gave Alexander a good kick. "I don't have any, remember?! What about you, ya cunt?"

Marie cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, please. We're in a port, not a fight pit."

As he took the kick in stride Alexander returned fire with a rabbit punch to Fredrick's stomach knocking the wind out of him.

"I meant the crew you Austrian Blobfish!"

Rolling over to face Marie while Fredrick recovered he said,

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am, Alexander Theodore at your service."

"Marie Ernst at yours", she replied as she helped Fredrick up.
She turned to Alex. "Nie, it's all settled."

[The Chuck]

Laughing, Alexander picked himself up off the ground and wiped the blood from his face. Offering a broad smile and his hand he spoke,

"Fredrick it's great to see you again old pal. If you want come on over to the Geezer's Rest and have a drink with me!"

Turning towards Marie and the unnamed young man he extended the invitation to both of them too.

"If you are interested Marie and you there young fellow, you may join us and hear two old bastards share some stories of our exploits."

With that he put his pipe back in his mouth and rekindled it with a smile.

[Folaisia]

A cab could quickly be found, the transit to their hotel would be easy as well - checking in as well, although there was a slight problem with the computer, the clerk at the check-in messing up the spelling of their names thrice before she just let them type their names in themselves.
The rooms were comfortable, although they did get a slight upgrade: The rooms had their own bathrooms and a good view over the old town, towards the harbour, where a veritable forest of masts was ready for the festival.
Transit there, thanks to shuttle buses, would be easy as well.
What adventures would await them on the bus, though, that was for the future to decide.

It was a short ride, however the pair managed to make use of the time with Cormag recording their minute sojourn, and Alexander using his phone to send his parents and friends pictures of the day, along with some comedy. Reaching the hotel, they got their stuff out with much patience and haste, thanks to the cab driver. After checking into their hotel room, along with a few snickers and groans from the pair, Cormag turned on his camera.

[Recording]

"Okay, guys. You would not believe what just happened," Cormag said as he chuckled, "We've just checked into the hotel, and this clerk just gave us what I believe to be one of the most funny, if not also frustatin', moments in our lives. We were supposed to give our names at the check-in, and this damn bonnie lass of a clerk messed up our names. Not once, not twice, but fuckin' three times. I tried my best to pronounce our names as slowly as possible for her to understand, but she kept gettin' them all wrong. Like, what the fuck?"

"Also," Alexander chimed in, "I suggested that you to drop the accent once. But then, she said it was better to type it up."

"Oh yeah, right. So, she told us to type it up ourselves, and that's pretty much it. Issue settled like it was a mere aftermath of stealin' a fuckin' cookie from the counter. "

"I never understood how she dinnae got the third time you said our names. Like, it was that clear of a pronunciation, a wee kid could get it all down in a hitch."

"I know, right. Oh, so fuckin'...," he muttered while grasping the handle of his luggage, "I mean, she's non-Folaisian, I get that, but how I said it, that should have been fuckin' easy to get."

"You know, you could've just wrote it down for her."

"Maybe you're right," Cormag replied as he nodded, "but hey, I was tae busy helpin' her out."

Alexander then laughs.

"Well, could've wrote it."

"Whatever, dude. Couldnae give up the effort back there," Cormag chuckled.

Alexander then joined in, albeit louder than the last time.

[Recorded]

The pair then walked up the stairs, with Cormag's camera shut off and put aside in his backpack to focus on carrying his luggage up. Alexander did the same thing, except with ease, which was evident with him texting to his friends with his thumb without any sudden interference. Once reaching the floor of where their room was at, Cormag then turned on his camera once more.

[Recording]

"Alright, guys. Looks like we'll be headin' to our room now. Hopefully, it'll surprise the hell out of us."

Once crossing the threshold, Cormag and Alexander could feel the aura and ambience of their room pierce their bodies like they're entering heaven. Their room was built for everything they have been expected: clean, comfortable beds, an exquisite interior design, a pristinely-maintained bathroom, and an alluring and beautiful view of the town and the harbor, full of masts from the yachts docked, like a dense forest of pine trees. Cormag and Alexander wooed with great admiration, which led them to record the view while neglecting to drag their luggages in from outside.

"My god, guys. This is real fuckin' braw," Cormag exclaimed, "I mean, just see for yourself! This room and that view is an amazin' combination that goes well together! Holy shit!"

"Mate, we were right to consider goin' here. I could stay here fer the rest of mi life if I have to."

"I hear you, man. I mean, God! I could just jump out there and attempt to dive in the harbor just because of how pretty all of this is."

With that, the pair then took one more glance around the place and out the window, moving as if they were cameras shooting a panorama.

[Recorded]

"Alright, let's start unpackin'," Cormag said as he put the camera down on a nightstand.

"Indeed. Don't want anyone tae steal our stuff now," Alexander said, strolling to the door.

Cormag chuckled at the reply as they moved towards their luggage. Closing the door, they unpacked their stuff with much excitement now embedded within them, thanks to the room itself. After storing them into the closet, they then looked at the town map unfolded on one of the beds to figure out which restaurant to go next.

[Kyrenaia]

"It is interesting.", Ahmad replied with a small smile, "Mainly because it isn't only boring bureaucracy, filling out forms and making paper planes out of them." He shrugged. "Sure, a lot is making paper black, but a lot is also contact with people all over the world. Granted, I could not remember having stumbled over Mervay, but the world is large - maybe some of my colleagues did."
He let a beat pass.
"Good choice coming here, though.", he complimented, "It's not too hot right now, so you won't meld. Winter's right around the corner, after all!"

They heard very interested about his work, Ahmhad loved it out of the old classic bureaucracy that all of us hated with our hearts; he told them that it was interesting because it gave him the chance of contact people of all the world.
Then he let an beat pass and complimented their decision of coming here since winter was here and that it isn't too hot as of now.

"I've must say that your work is great since it gives you the opportunity of talk and know the world. It's very good" Jessica said smiling to him.

For them it was nice to meet new people and in their lines of work that was something that they would be doing where if is an little or an lot.
Then she decided to ask out of curiosity and because the fact of him saying early something about the most beautiful woman in the world about if he liked her.

"Sorry if I ask this and don't answer it if you don't want to, but I was wondering if you are in an relationship or... Have an eye on someone??"

Ahmad almost stopped dead in his tracks, but then smiled slightly.
"That obvious, eh?", he asked and shook his head, "Indeed I do. Her name is Fara, she is the girl I am meeting. She works in a coffee shop close to the Merchant Navy's Headquarters. I have my eyes on her for a while now and I asked her for a date in the best way possible... drunk out of my mind."
He almost smiled at that memory.
"Had to turn to Aragh to get a bit of confidence into myself.", he admitted, "And still nearly botched it... You must think of me as pathetic now."

"I am sure of it as well.", Qadir replied with a nod, "Amongst us, I took a while to get used to seafaring as well, and I work for the Navy."
Well, formerly Naval Aviation, now as an aide-de-camp, but Navy nonetheless!, she added in thoughts. She nodded to the guardsman at the foot of the plank, the girl carrying a large Tabar over her shoulder, then stopped, looking up.
At the top, a man in his early forties stood, white-haired, piercing blue eyes, wearing a button-down shirt, a leather jacket over his arm, and dark pants, a similar colour scheme to the rest of the vessel's crew.
Qadir rose, saluted.
"Permission to bring the guests aboard, Lord-Commander?", she asked the man.
He smiled, nodded. "Of course, the lovely ladies may come aboard!", he permitted and stepped aside. He would offer a hand to them, if they needed a bit of help at the top of the ramp.

The girls all steppe aboard when given permission to join and gave a respectful greeting bow "Thank you for having us." They all said then took a seat. "It sounds like you know us already but if I again may introduce my little group. I am of course, Yuzuki Shijou, but Yuzu is fine. My two best friends, Yuki Yuna and Harukaze Souma. But Haru is fine wit her."

"Yes please, Haru is just fine." Haru agreed. "Thank you again for having us for tea."

"Thank you so much." Yuki agreed. "I've been needing a good cup."

"I must admit," Yuzu said "I kind of dragged them along, I'm the real nautical nut among us." Yuzu said.

"It's true..." yuki replied "B-but we're so happy that Yuzu-chan brought us along and in first class too!"

The man laughed.
"Then it is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of all three of you!", he said and bowed his head in respect, "Crown Prince Ilia ibn-Razia, Lord-Commander of the Sultan's Navy, owner and Captain of this beautiful vessel and quite nautical myself... and into aviation as well." He rose from his bow. "Miss Shijou, Miss Yuna, Miss Souma, I am truly delighted. Especially about making your acquaintance, Miss Shijou. I heard much about your father and to be honest, I could not resist the temptation of inviting you once I heard from a friend, that you would be coming. I hope, that you can find it in yourself to forgive me."
He bowed his head again, deeper this time.

"Luna Mysteria, this is Sinope Harbour Control.", the radio crackled back in very understandable, if accented English. The speaker was pronouncing each syllable distinctively and correctly, but in doing so overdid it every once in a while. "A Harbour Cutter for customs is approaching at your port, they'll direct you to your docking place."
And indeed, there was a cutter approaching, barely longer then the Luna Mysteria, but without a mast, diesel-powered, what looked like an MG-nest at the bow - upon closer inspection, that would turn out to be a maritime fire hose. It pulled up alongside, half a metre between the vessels.
A friendly looking officer with a not-so-friendly looking submachine gun on a strap over his back called over: "Good morning, Luna Mysteria. Anything to pay duties on? Passports as well, please."

Compared to the harbour pilot's and customs patrol launch that was coming out to greet Zoe and Micky, the Luna Mysteria travelling at a headdy 5 knots was somewhat akin to a snail, in fact a snail's pace would probably be faster, its small diesel engine chugging away as it is navigated by Michaela "Micky" Michelska under the watchful eye of Zoe mariner.

Upon being greeted by the customs launch, Zoe smiled, "welcome aboard, papers and passports are in the cabin just behind the door", There however was a problem, not with the paperwork, just that Micky could feel the launch's twin high performance propellers causing a suction and the stern of the Luna was getting ever closer to the launch and so Micky began to advance the engine to which it responded by picking up its RPM rate, ...eventually, Micky turned to the customs official,
"excuse me but we're now at full power and your launch is sucking us in, im pretty sure you don't want your boat scratched", sure enough the boat's auxiliary diesel engine was now giving everything it had but with even with a strong through of the rudder the stern of the boat was getting perilously close to the launch until the two bow waves met, acting as a cushion between the two boats.

Inside the boat were 3 passports, one in the name of Michaela Michelska, one in the name of Zoe Mariner, and the third was a pet passport belonging to a small ginger and white cat called Jax, he was curled up on the bed that sits under the rear deck at the back of the galley, curled up, under his paw a small toy mouse. Zoe turned to the customs official, "expecting many for the festival?" she asks, following the customs officer inside the boat, part expecting the boat to be searched as after all, they have a job to do. Jax just opens one eye, sees who has come in and recognises Zoe, letting out a meow, hoping to get a fuss.

The officer, having jumped aboard with two other men, nodded and waved to his boat, which then slowed the engines. He did not want to scratch any boat, neither theirs nor his, as that would be impolite to these ladies, who had shown only politeness so far.
Just as Zoe asked her question, though, one of his men returned, nodding. Everything was in order.
The official motioned for Zoe to please wait for a moment, then exchanged a few, quick words with his officer. Nodding all around.
"Seems like everything is in order, Miss Mariner. And your cat is cute, according to him.", the official said with a small smile, then extended his hand, "Indeed, we are expecting quite a lot of people and you will be amongst them. Have fun!"
And, after the handshake, the Harbour Police departed, not without giving final instructions on the docking place. They had found the flare pistol and the rockets, but they did not see them as weapons, as they were a flare gun and they had not found any contraband.
The cat checked out, too.
And with that, the cutter departed, revving his engines when they were a safe distance away.

Laughing, Alexander picked himself up off the ground and wiped the blood from his face. Offering a broad smile and his hand he spoke,

"Fredrick it's great to see you again old pal. If you want come on over to the Geezer's Rest and have a drink with me!"

Turning towards Marie and the unnamed young man he extended the invitation to both of them too.

"If you are interested Marie and you there young fellow, you may join us and hear two old bastards share some stories of our exploits."

With that he put his pipe back in his mouth and rekindled it with a smile.

The customs official had been about to reply, when another man, this one older, appeared and the two men began to beat each other up. He pressed a button, which called for security, but when the four police men arrived with a medic in tow, the two men were already picking themselves up.
As the older one was apparently a lot more injured, the medic turned to him first, while the leader of the police officers spoke to both Captains: "Oh, no, neither of you will go anywhere. Sinope Metropolitan Police, Officer Aietiqal. You lot are under arrest for the time being for breach of the peace and battery. Both of you." He turned to Marie. "As you apparently had no part in this, you are mostly good to go. Just need your testimony, Miss...?"
The customs official looked on for a moment, then, as the situation was taken care of, and turned to the next case, who shook her head in disgust.
That was not a good introduction of the PPC to Kyrenaia.

It was a short ride, however the pair managed to make use of the time with Cormag recording their minute sojourn, and Alexander using his phone to send his parents and friends pictures of the day, along with some comedy. Reaching the hotel, they got their stuff out with much patience and haste, thanks to the cab driver. After checking into their hotel room, along with a few snickers and groans from the pair, Cormag turned on his camera.

[Recording]

"Okay, guys. You would not believe what just happened," Cormag said as he chuckled, "We've just checked into the hotel, and this clerk just gave us what I believe to be one of the most funny, if not also frustatin', moments in our lives. We were supposed to give our names at the check-in, and this damn bonnie lass of a clerk messed up our names. Not once, not twice, but fuckin' three times. I tried my best to pronounce our names as slowly as possible for her to understand, but she kept gettin' them all wrong. Like, what the fuck?"

"Also," Alexander chimed in, "I suggested that you to drop the accent once. But then, she said it was better to type it up."

"Oh yeah, right. So, she told us to type it up ourselves, and that's pretty much it. Issue settled like it was a mere aftermath of stealin' a fuckin' cookie from the counter. "

"I never understood how she dinnae got the third time you said our names. Like, it was that clear of a pronunciation, a wee kid could get it all down in a hitch."

"I know, right. Oh, so fuckin'...," he muttered while grasping the handle of his luggage, "I mean, she's non-Folaisian, I get that, but how I said it, that should have been fuckin' easy to get."

"You know, you could've just wrote it down for her."

"Maybe you're right," Cormag replied as he nodded, "but hey, I was tae busy helpin' her out."

Alexander then laughs.

"Well, could've wrote it."

"Whatever, dude. Couldnae give up the effort back there," Cormag chuckled.

Alexander then joined in, albeit louder than the last time.

[Recorded]

The pair then walked up the stairs, with Cormag's camera shut off and put aside in his backpack to focus on carrying his luggage up. Alexander did the same thing, except with ease, which was evident with him texting to his friends with his thumb without any sudden interference. Once reaching the floor of where their room was at, Cormag then turned on his camera once more.

[Recording]

"Alright, guys. Looks like we'll be headin' to our room now. Hopefully, it'll surprise the hell out of us."

Once crossing the threshold, Cormag and Alexander could feel the aura and ambience of their room pierce their bodies like they're entering heaven. Their room was built for everything they have been expected: clean, comfortable beds, an exquisite interior design, a pristinely-maintained bathroom, and an alluring and beautiful view of the town and the harbor, full of masts from the yachts docked, like a dense forest of pine trees. Cormag and Alexander wooed with great admiration, which led them to record the view while neglecting to drag their luggages in from outside.

"My god, guys. This is real fuckin' braw," Cormag exclaimed, "I mean, just see for yourself! This room and that view is an amazin' combination that goes well together! Holy shit!"

"Mate, we were right to consider goin' here. I could stay here fer the rest of mi life if I have to."

"I hear you, man. I mean, God! I could just jump out there and attempt to dive in the harbor just because of how pretty all of this is."

With that, the pair then took one more glance around the place and out the window, moving as if they were cameras shooting a panorama.

[Recorded]

"Alright, let's start unpackin'," Cormag said as he put the camera down on a nightstand.

"Indeed. Don't want anyone tae steal our stuff now," Alexander said, strolling to the door.

Cormag chuckled at the reply as they moved towards their luggage. Closing the door, they unpacked their stuff with much excitement now embedded within them, thanks to the room itself. After storing them into the closet, they then looked at the town map unfolded on one of the beds to figure out which restaurant to go next.

There were quite a few options for restaurants nearby.
Closest, of course, was the hotel's restaurant, reviews on the net would say, that it was a good place, but that it was a bit expensive. If it was worth, as it was also the closest place to serve international fare, was for them to decide.
Then, there were a few small eateries around, where one could get food to go and indeed go. Not everyone's favourite choice, but a solid choice in many cases.
A few restaurants were around as well, one of them marked as a four star restaurant, with the corresponding reviews and prices, but there were also two without any stars around. One, on the net, was marked as with cute waitresses, the other was marked as with a good look, both with good food - Kyrenaian Cuisine only, though.
Another restaurant closeby served Selkie Cuisine, had good reviews, remarks about the cute waitresses and the prices, which were seen as decent, and was recommended, especially its sea food.
In general, there were almost no restaurants in the city marked as not serving sea food in one way of the other, which was not much of a surprise for a harbour town.
Last, but not least, there was a number of unmarked street food stalls around, which one would not be able to find on the map.
There was quite a selection and quite a lot on the net, in Kyrenaian, Selkie and English, covering it. Fast Food, however, in the sense of a shop selling pommes and hamburgers, was strangely absent, though.

[Lillorainen]

Milenka, near Sinope Harbour.
For those three very close friends, this was a very special trip. Not necessarily because of the activity of sailing itself, not even due to the Milenka, the small sailing ship that Ingmar had bought some time ago - but because of the quite unusual destination.
Sinope, Ilkhanate of Megido, Kyrenaia.
The Milenka was far away from being spectacular or something in the line - it was a small, one-masted clipper; 23.5 meters of length, 5.3 meters of beam, 1.15 meters of draft. Under deck, it had a surprisingly large corridor with a dining table and a galley. Bunks were in a separate room - while up to ten men would have found space in it, those three onboard quite did suffice - as soon as there was always one of them controlling the vessel, all would be fine. They were experienced sailors, after all.
The ship had been built in 1911 by the Kirajevo-based shipbuilder Miloš Kostić as one out of three vessels that did not only look alike, but also had similar names: Milena, Milenka and Milica. There were lots of rumors, all claiming something in the line of Kostić being in love quite frequently, naming his ships after the women he had been in love with at the given point - other, less romantic theories preferred just to go with varying female forms of his own name.
Whatever the case may have been - they all had seen a lot of different waters, until the Milenka had been purchased by Ingmar Jülich, a man who had seen 31 summers, with dark-green eyes and dark-blonde hair, which he often greased back. He was a Captain in the duty of the Federal Navy; formerly serving in Nienhagen, now continuing in Preetz. This wasn't the only experience he had more than Ratko and Merle - what he also knew, unlike them both, was the process of naturalization. He was born and raised in Haanvorderhöhe, in the Autonomous Region of Nyströmsholm, in the Republic of Stella Dorata. At the age of seventeen, he had left his home to become a 'Federation Lillo' and to serve in that one Navy that considered his former home country an arch-enemy. Despite the relative independence from the military rule of the RSD, as well as the fact that Nyströmsholm was unlikely to become a warzone (unlike Helligenholm), he hated the living guts of the Stelladoriani junta. Just like the entire Federation did, and they were not alone with their resentment.
Radovan Spasojević, called Ratko, was 29 years old and had short, dark hair and blue eyes. He came from the same city as the ship they were sailing on, had served at the Nienhagen Naval Base, too, then, a few months ago, had returned to Kirajevo to study shipbuilding. Before he would be able to put his dream of running his own shipbuilding company into effect (in Lillorainen, it was the same with shipbuilding companies as with beer breweries - there could never be enough!), he would need to get through quite a few lectures by elderly professors, who, with a heavy Rhenish accent, explained what a steam engine was … and through his on-off-relationship with a young lady called Sabrina. To be precise, their messenger history accurately documented their current relationship status at any given point, reaching from 'together forever!!! <3' over 'dare coming even close to my flat and you'll meet my MJR rifle, you silly!' to 'Sorry, I didn't mean that!' … and back. Over and over again. Hmmst.
Merle Padrödning was the textbook example of a Nordic beauty - she was 27 years old, blonde, and blue-eyed. She was from Lollerup, Visholm - nothing that made her life a lot easier. When she had gone to Nienhagen as a Sailor, she had needed to get rid of a lot of misconceptions and prejudices the others had held against her - Visholm was the state many people from other states like the Rathland and Lillöer imagined as a cold, inhospitable place full with people who were basically still Vikings. Her home city, in particular, had a reputation that was impacted by the fact that civil servants who did a lousy job, or behaved badly, often were transferred to Lollerup as a disciplinary measure. But as time had gone by, she had been accepted and even become close friends with quite a few other Sailors, including Ingmar and Ratko. Just like the latter, she had gone back home, Defense Technology being the subject she wanted to focus on.
All three were professional enough not to get distracted too much by all these giant vessels (compared to their own) too much when approaching Sinope Harbour - yet, they also could not avoid having the one glance or the other at some of them.
"Flag's still sitting right?" - Ratko wondered.
"Sitting right!" - Merle reassured after a short look to the lee side of the clipper. "Everyone will see that we are coming in peace - and probably ask for something to drink later on."
"Which everyone does who sees our flag." Ratko shrugged. "At least it will make sure we're not from one of these places they reject entry by default."
"That will depend on Ingmar, and if he's nice to them …"
"Sure. We're almost there … you got your passport ready?"
"Aye. Ingmar will have fun when they see his place of birth … at least if they are aware what country Haanvorderhöhe belongs to."
"It's still a passport of the Federation" - Ratko noted.
Ingmar, meanwhile controlling the Milenka towards Sinope Harbour, was more of an optimist at this point. He did not spend too many thoughts on this type of stuff.
They were coming for a festival, after all.

[Mervay]

Ahmad almost stopped dead in his tracks, but then smiled slightly.
"That obvious, eh?", he asked and shook his head, "Indeed I do. Her name is Fara, she is the girl I am meeting. She works in a coffee shop close to the Merchant Navy's Headquarters. I have my eyes on her for a while now and I asked her for a date in the best way possible... drunk out of my mind."
He almost smiled at that memory.
"Had to turn to Aragh to get a bit of confidence into myself.", he admitted, "And still nearly botched it... You must think of me as pathetic now."

He really wanted to have an date with that girl, although he lacked confidence they could see he has an good and honest heart; that was something more important for them since you can't have confidence in love when you don't have an pure, good and honest heart.

"We don't" Edward said smiling at him. "We see you as someone who truly loves her and that they wants to have something with her, you want to be at her side and we support it" he continued grabbing by the shoulders.

"You don't need to feel embarassed about it or don't lose your confidence because of our question and how you did your confession for an date, people always does things that they never believe they would do under the effects of alcohol. But sometimes those things are ones you can't regret of do" he then stopped for an second trying to find an example of what he did for confess his wife.

"You know; everyone did some things that you never expected for love. When I confessed my wife, I was embarassed of do it until I did it in the most embarassing way... In front of all my school with an micrphone in hand and in middle of an festival" he said laughing of such embarassing memory. "It was the most embarassing thing ever. But it was worth it, it was worth it because that same day she accepted my confession and we begun to date" he said looking at his wife and grinning as she grinned back.

"What my husband is saying is that sometimes, the most embarassing things for love are the most noble things to do because of it's symbol for the other when it comes to love" Jessica said. "If you confessed to her drunk, then tell her that you did it because of how shy you was to tell her in an more formal way for them tell her that even with that mistake, but that you are serious about this relationship and that even with that mistake you are serious about this... Don't let your shyness and mistake take the best of you, go for the woman you love and tell her how much you love her"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Marie stared at the officers with some incredulity. After a few seconds, that incredulity was replaced by rage.
She spat on the ground and replied angrily. "They're not going anywhere, especially not with arrogant asshats like you. In case you didn't notice the giant Reichskriegsflagge on the mast-" she pointed at the flag in question "-this vessel is a warship of the Kaiserliche Marine, and you have no right to be on this deck. The sailors would be well within their rights to arrest, blast, or shank you right now, and if you try to take the ship by force...let's just say it won't be pretty."
As if to back up her point, a sailor came abovedecks for a smoke, a G3 slung across his back. Upon seeing the situation he rushed over.
"You have 5 seconds to start explaining before I sound the boarding alarm." He broke a glass panel nearby that was covering a red button, and his hand on said button. "One..."

[The Chuck]

Standing up, Alexander turned to the officers with a large shit eating grin,

"What's wrong officers? Can't two crusty old sea salts show their compatriots how mariners welcomed each other in the days of old? If you plan on arresting us I may as well inform you that I am armed and I have my Chuckian CCW license."

Pulling out his wallet, Alexander passed it to the first officer. Behind his CCW card there was a peculiar card with the crest of the P.P.C. It was an honorary dual citizenship card.

"I should let you know now too that Fredrick and I go way back. We were two competing naval sailors from yesteryear and we've been brawling each other in good fun since he was a cadet at his academy. One day he walked into a bar with a couple of his hooligan brethren and acted like a drunken fool. One thing led to another and it ended up with me knocking him out with a punch to the jaw. Since then we have had a close relationship where each of us tries to best the other in a fight."

With that, Alexander wiped a bit of blood from his nose.

[Kuronami]

The man laughed.
"Then it is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of all three of you!", he said and bowed his head in respect, "Crown Prince Ilia ibn-Razia, Lord-Commander of the Sultan's Navy, owner and Captain of this beautiful vessel and quite nautical myself... and into aviation as well." He rose from his bow. "Miss Shijou, Miss Yuna, Miss Souma, I am truly delighted. Especially about making your acquaintance, Miss Shijou. I heard much about your father and to be honest, I could not resist the temptation of inviting you once I heard from a friend, that you would be coming. I hope, that you can find it in yourself to forgive me."
He bowed his head again, deeper this time.

Yuzu chuckled a little "Ah of course, I should have figured my father's reputation. He always thinks himself as a humble old seaman but he has a reputation, a good one at that. Well we figured that or maybe Yuki being a handmaiden maybe she made a few friends from other royal courts."

"Ahaha no, not really...." Yuki bashfully responded.

"But anyway," Yuzu continued "No apologies needed thank you for having us again, it's a real honor to sit for tea with a Prince."

[AHSCA]

The Sand Wolf gave a happy bark, his tail wagging as he leaned into the scratching.
"I think, that means yes, he would very much like that!", Aurelia translated the obvious, "But only for good little Sand Wolfies!"
She even raised her finger at the threat, throwing a wink at Marcella.
Then, silence, for a moment, before she was serious.
"Grandmother wants to speak the two of us. She assured me, that it would be alright.", she said and looked Marcella into the eyes. "So... how about we face the Old Dreadnought?"

"Aw see I knew he'd like that. So yeah do as your mom says be a good wolfie and you'll be in brushing heaven." She patted his head again. Aurelia mentioned it was time to face her grandmother which Marcella honestly wasn't ready at all, no matter how hard she rehearsed. Her mother assured her just go and the words will come. "Yes, time to batten down the hatches and face the storm my love."

"You'll do great, Miladies" Asuna tried to assure. "Milady Villa, just remember as your mother said, the words will come to you if you relax a little."

[Shamsiyya]

Yenikonya Harbor, Yenikonya-Limankent, a few weeks ago.
The Captain of the SFSS Malika Aljazirat had to grin at the arrival of the passengers who would come with him and Maryam, on this important trip, which would - at least, if the Gods' mercy was with them - bring some prestige to Yenikonya Dockyards. More than to himself ... he, indeed, was experienced.
And there was not much that could surprise him. Yet, one thing today could.
Whereas he quite was prepared for the both young ladies themselves, he was not prepared to arrive in a ... rickshaw.
Cab drivers quite did have anything else than a good reputation in most Shamsiyyan cities, Yenikonya not being an exception, Captain Süleyman Arslan knew that ... but still, this was a surprise.
The third young lady, whom Süleyman knew very well from many sails, grinned, too. "Well, at least, they are on time. No, they are even early! Who knows if they had managed the common way ..."
"That's, indeed, what the case might be." Süleyman nodded.
The pedicab stopped next to them. The driver calculated the price - three Guineas, five Dirhams and a few Millims. The older one of the two gave the driver a Five-Guinea-coin and made a dismissive hand gesture, to indicate that she did not insist on getting change back. "Çok teşekkür ederim!" - she said. Even Maryam, the only one on this trip who did not speak Turkish, understood this - Thank you very much!
The driver now grinned and made the same dismissive hand gesture, put the coin into his pocket and went on.
Süleyman determined that there was still a bit of time left. Since it was eight o'clock in the morning, he offered them to spend a round of either tea or coffee, depending on their choice, which they gladly accepted.
Luckily, both were sold at the next stall. Having the drinks of their choice, Süleyman asked what the girls' reunion had been like, as he was quite aware, that Maryam hadn't seen her friends for a longer time. They told him about the little fest they had held two days ago ...

Albustan House, Junaira, two days before ...
It had been a long time ago, since as many folks were expected in and in front of the little house at the southern edge of Junaira. No one even knew for sure, it was just a damn long time ago ... for some of the people invited, this was even the first time to see the sandstone house in one of the few green lands in these parts, with the enormous orchard and all its orange trees, date palms, nut trees, grape trees, and many more. Beyond the fences, one saw the dunes, and beyond these, a river, ending in the ocean a few hundred meters from here.
There was hardly any visible evidence that this belonged to the capital of the Federal Republic, a city with millions of inhabitants.
For now, however, it wasn't awfully busy yet - some dishes were prepared on a table, a large hookah took most of the space on one of the chairs around it. A young lady with dark hair and brown-green eyes, twenty years of age, had just prepared the fridge that stood in the corner, containing water and soda, and, of course, Raki. Another young woman, in her mid-twenties, dark-blonde and blue-eyed, watched the grill, which was placed at some distance to avoid the spread of all the smoke as much as possible. A young man at the latter woman's age, who had long, black hair, brown eyes and a notably long chin beard (all of which made him look like a reincarnated Pharaoh Antorhotep III.) prepared goat cheese and fruits.
Another young man, nineteen years of age, who rather looked like a footballer, opened something that looked like a pocket watch at the first glance, but, from short distance, would turn out to be a portable ashtray. He lit up a cigarette, looked around, frowned, and said, "I'm really wondering where Layla is ... are you sure that she isn't in the bathroom, or something?"
Iskandra Minyaoui closed the fridge and responded, "Absolutely sure! I would know about this, she's already been here." She let a beat pass. "But interesting that you can't wait to see her - you're now asking the third time. Sure I haven't missed anything?" She grinned.
Yusuf Demirköy blew some smoke away and shook his head, ignoring her teasing tone. "She doesn't stay away for such a long time, usually. All I do is wondering."
Iska shrugged. "Just keep fooling yourself." She turned to the young woman at the grill. "Maryam, do you happen to know when Aaliyah arrives?"
Maryam Abdaliha turned back to Iska. "It will take some time, I assume. She comes with Mahmud, Majida, and Ceylan - and since Mahmud drives his ardently beloved car, they will need a couple of hours, considering the traffic."
Iska raised an eyebrow. "Don't they just have to cross the Bay?" - she wondered.
Maryam nodded. "Well, yes, but you know what sort of ambitioned driver Mahmud is. He isn't born for the Seas at all." Maryam herself was a Sailor who regularly sailed for Yenikonya Dockyards. "He rather bypasses the entire Bay instead of just taking the ferry."
Iska laughed. "Okay, then we might talk about, like, decades."
Maryam laughed, too. "I suppose so."
Yusuf dropped his ashes in his ashtray. Not that there hadn't been any usual ashtrays in the house, but, although it was (quite obviously) open, he was too polite to ask Iska for one - it was Layla who lived here for the time of her studies, after all, and she, most certainly, would not have wanted anyone to search the apartment she had rented for stuff.
The Sailor now announced, "Let's just all hope, that Layla will show up soon. In any case, if she is late, she will have to eat her meat cold. It's almost ready."
"No need to!" - a voice called, laughing. It belonged to yet another young woman in the mid-twenties. It sounded quite exhausted - and as everyone looked over to her, they also knew why. Said lady, entering the garden via a small gate, wore a green t-shirt with the seal of the Qaranisa - cantonal militia - of Mintaqa Almudun at breast height on it, a pair of skin-tight, black sports pants, as well as white sneakers. She was visibly sweating. Not like a pig, but still a bit.
Yusuf visibly tried not to stare at her too much.
"Layla!" - Iska called, grinning.
The brunette lady with the dark eyes, which she often looked excited with, grinned back. She hesitated to hug anyone, since she was sweating - instead, she waved into the round. "I'm sorry - the run took me a bit longer than expected ... thanks to the giant construction lot at Banaissa Corner. I might need to redress."
"You should ... anyways, I hope you brought the specialty from your hometown" - Maryam said.
"Oh, I did!" Layla Murashiniq grinned. "Grapes." She let a beat pass. "Fermented grapes. In other words, wine."
Yusuf laughed. "What else." A good point - one must know that Layla originally came from Sahaouine, a city with millennia of tradition of producing, serving, and drinking wine. "By the way, will finally someone tell me where you guys are gonna sail to with the good old Queen of the Islands?"
Iska said, grinning, "No need to know."
Yusuf pouted.
"I would like to know, too, though ..." - the 'Pharaoh', actually called Karim, said.
Layla sighed. "To solve the mystery - Sinope, in Kyrenaia. A harbor festival. Even the Sultana will be there!"
"Sinope ..." Yusuf lifted his pointer to his chin, thinking. "Isn't that at that small stripe of land near the border of Kyrene and Megido? South of Kerkouane?"
Karim did not say anything. He did not need to, since his facepalm said it all.
Iska rolled her eyes. "That's Sicca, you genius. Sicca, not Sinope. Sinope is at the north shore of Megido, near that peninsula that looks a bit like a boxing glove on the map."
"Ah, that one! But, Iska, don't hold it against me, but ... you will not show up there in jeans and leather jacket, will you." He looked at her, concerned.
Iska laughed. "You should know me better."
"I do know you well enough. That's why I'm asking."
"I can't see that."
All of a sudden, a black cat with sparkling green eyes showed up, nobody could see where it came from. It seemed to be quite fond of the smell of the kebab on the grill ... then, it looked into the round.
Said round grinned at each other, then everyone bowed their heads lightly. The feline visitor sniffled at the air above her - or nodded in approval? Who knew - then went to the next fence, jumped over it and disappeared between the dunes.
"Someone wishes to tell you lassies good luck" - Yusuf determined.
Maryam nodded. "... and a good appetite, obviously. The meat is done in a minute."
Layla announced, "I'm gonna go redress, then." She disappeared through the open door. Again, Yusuf tried to avoid looking behind her, pretending he were awfully busy dropping his cigarette butt in his portable ashtray.
Iska grinned at him, seeing what was up. "Don't you wanna see if you can help her?"
"Uh ... neither." He did not want to grin back, yet he did.
She insisted. "Hadi lan! She won't bite your head off."
Maryam laughed. "Let's not hope. There would be too much meat left."

Not only the young women, but also the Captain laughed about that story.
Layla turned to Iska. "Good to know that it was your idea. Now Yusuf knows whom he may thank for the hairbrush he has had in his face when I saw him standing behind me in the mirror."
Iska grinned and shrugged.
"Are these the famous Qaranisa tactics in Canton O-One?" - Maryam wondered.
"Murashiniq tactics reserved for annoying lads."
Süleyman snorted. "It took the cat a while to bring luck to Yusuf, I figure, right?"
"Or it was rather determined to us than to him" - Maryam said. "That being said, we should depart soon. They announced a thunderstorm for the Saraymedin Passage at eleven-zero-zero, and I'd like to be far away from it until then."

Somewhere in the ocean between Onoba and Sinope, two days ago.
Without any major incidents, but having quite a lot of fun, the four sailors and their SFSS Malika Aljazirat had taken all the way across the ocean, reaching Kyrenaian waters surprisingly early, so they were not in a hurry. It was the second-but-last evening before the festival, and they took a break from the long trip, using Iska's service as a bar lady, her side job next to her main job as a translator. Süleyman had decided that they could drop anchor at a place where the waters were not that deep and just enjoy the night - the next night, tomorrow, would be entirely dedicated to managing the last miles to Sinope, to arrive before ten o'clock in the morning.
Throughout these exhausting weeks, a lot of stories had been told, especially by Süleyman, from his early days as a Seaman, back then in the Shamsiyyan People's Navy and its last years before it became the SFDF-Navy. Getting used to stop calling his superiors 'Comrade Colonel' had been hard for him, even as a 22-year-old.
Iska now filled four glasses with 1994 Sagaion Ahmad, which Layla had brought from home - a bottle they had decided to reserve for themselves, since it was a bit too expensive to leave it for the festival (which they still had enough other good drops for). This brand of red wine, in this case even from Layla's birth year, had a long tradition; Sagaion was the ancient name of Sahaouine, and unlike the name, the wine tradition had not changed a lot since then.
Maryam pressed the play button on her hi-fi equipment, playing some background music, sat down and announced, "Now the night can begin!"
Süleyman raised his glass. "Almunsidilat jayid fi alhalq, walbaqi fi alshaer!" - he toasted, The good drop down the throat, the rest in your hair!
"Fi sahtika!" - a chorus of female voices was to hear, then they all raised their glasses and took their first sip.
Iska said, "What if the bosses at Yenikonya Dockyards learn that each of us has just swallowed down an entire Guinea?"
Süleyman laughed. "Well, since it isn't on their costs, they will probably just wonder if some Raki wouldn't be more efficient."
"They might just ask us to play some more international music, to reach a wider audience ..." Layla had another sip. "I do have enough of that, in case it's needed."
With a dismissive hand gesture, Iska said, "Or they're just gonna get used to ours."
"Or that." Süleyman nodded. "We're representing a Shamsiyyan company, after all. We shouldn't be stingy, neither with our culture, nor with drinks."
"Evet." Layla had yet another sip. She seemed really to be thirsty. "At least they don't make us sell these scarab-shaped chocolate thingies this time. Cetinkaya and Isfahani and their embarrassing ideas ... Osiris will probably reincarnate them as salamanders for this."
Iska frowned. "What did I miss ...?"
Maryam grinned. "As usual, everything. Or nothing. Depends."

And now ...
"Sinope Harbour for Malika Aljazirat! Sinope Harbour for Malika Aljazirat! Requesting entry permission!"
Although the Shamsiyyan language was somewhat similar to Kyrenaian, possibly even related, Süleyman preferred English, since the dialects of Shamsiyya could become quite tricky to understand even for those who claimed to know the language. To exclude misunderstandings, speaking English was probably the best solution.
Meanwhile, the female three quarters of the crew got ready for entering - not missing the looks of all the other ships approaching the harbor. Most of them were a bit larger than the two-masted schooner by Yenikonya Dockyards, but they also noticed the small clipper with a black-yellow-vanilla tricolor. They grinned.
Maryam even said, "Let's see who will run out of their reserves sooner - them or us!"
"There we go with clichés again." A big issue that Layla once had written an entire novel about ...
"They say the same about us." Iska shrugged. "Everyone knows about what the others do right or wrong. That's called international understanding."
"Indeed. Now, if Süleyman gets done chatting with harbor security, we might enter soon ..."

[Danceria]

Dancerian Enterouge, near the Small Basin, Sinope, Sultanate of Kyrenaia
10:03 AM

---

"I would hope to "get through" something rather than "get over" it." Aceus would sigh, his shoulders sagging slightly with the weight of responsibility he had to own up to. "Lead on, it is about high time I meet the family in full." Edgar and Sabin looked on nervously, and Sabin would begin to speak. "You two, stay behind. Enjoy the festivities..." with that, the two were left behind, as Okan and the Dancerian King walked alone, with only Okan's handmaiden to escort them. Normally Aceus would have a witty line, or opt to lighten the mood with conversation. But when Fara was nearly...when he nearly...

Shaking his head of the memory, Aceus strode forward, his face grim with determination though his eyes slightly sorrowful.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Docks
Fredrick scowled. "Everyone, stand down. Wilhelm, get your hand off that button, Marie, don't spit on the deck. As for you, officers...It's a long story; essentially every time me and Alex meet, we brawl for the hell of it. If that's illegal, so be it; you won't hear a peep out of us again."

Sinope
Erika munched on a biscuit as the crowds went by. Currently she was living in an alleyway; she didn't like the indoors anyway-much harder to evacuate.
Even if it was an alleyway, though, it was the most hygienic alleyway in all of Sinope. The grime was scrubbed away, revealing fresh concrete, and it was covered by an equally clean tarp. All it was missing was the most vital component-her rifle.
"Goddamn gun control laws..." she muttered.

She finished off her biscuit just as she sighted a certain Dancerian prince.
She gave a girlish squeal of delight and bounded out of the alleyway, hob-nailed boots ringing out on the street.
"Papa!"

[Kyrenaia]

Docks
Fredrick scowled. "Everyone, stand down. Wilhelm, get your hand off that button, Marie, don't spit on the deck. As for you, officers...It's a long story; essentially every time me and Alex meet, we brawl for the hell of it. If that's illegal, so be it; you won't hear a peep out of us again."

Standing up, Alexander turned to the officers with a large shit eating grin,

"What's wrong officers? Can't two crusty old sea salts show their compatriots how mariners welcomed each other in the days of old? If you plan on arresting us I may as well inform you that I am armed and I have my Chuckian CCW license."

Pulling out his wallet, Alexander passed it to the first officer. Behind his CCW card there was a peculiar card with the crest of the P.P.C. It was an honorary dual citizenship card.

Keeping thoughts, that the girl might also use the Reichskriegsflagge as a table cloth with as little authority as it held in Kyrenaian Waters, the Officer looked at the Captain with a small nod - unlike his daughter and his men, he tried to keep the situation under control, so whatever happened, it would not end in tears.
Officer Aietiqal supposed, that he by his ways a bit so that it indeed would not end in tears for all involved.
"So, if I understand you correctly, you are not pressing charges?", he asked the Captain, "If so, I will leave it at a verbal reprimand, gentlemen. If I ever hear of you two brawling with anyone not the other, I will put your arses into a sack and sent you home." He let a beat pass. "Are we clear?"

Meanwhile, the officer who got the wallet looked at the license, didn't even look at the PPC-citizenship card and handed the wallet back.
"I heard, that the TCP-9 is a good pistol, but I still prefer my own KGS-18.", the officer replied and then nodded, noting, that Alexander was quite obviously above 20 years, "It checks out. Please keep it at hand in case one of my fellow officers asks for it."
And with that, everything regarding that was said and done.

The man laughed.
"Then it is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of all three of you!", he said and bowed his head in respect, "Crown Prince Ilia ibn-Razia, Lord-Commander of the Sultan's Navy, owner and Captain of this beautiful vessel and quite nautical myself... and into aviation as well." He rose from his bow. "Miss Shijou, Miss Yuna, Miss Souma, I am truly delighted. Especially about making your acquaintance, Miss Shijou. I heard much about your father and to be honest, I could not resist the temptation of inviting you once I heard from a friend, that you would be coming. I hope, that you can find it in yourself to forgive me."
He bowed his head again, deeper this time.

Yuzu chuckled a little "Ah of course, I should have figured my father's reputation. He always thinks himself as a humble old seaman but he has a reputation, a good one at that. Well we figured that or maybe Yuki being a handmaiden maybe she made a few friends from other royal courts."

"Ahaha no, not really...." Yuki bashfully responded.

"But anyway," Yuzu continued "No apologies needed thank you for having us again, it's a real honor to sit for tea with a Prince."

"I wouldn't sell myself short, Miss Yuna.", a new voice replied, belonging to a boy nearing the age of a young man, a mop of brown hair on his head, golden eyes sparkling with the moxie and hubris of youth, knowing, that he looked good - and enjoying every moment of it. More interesting for the Handmaiden from Kuronami, however, would be the young woman following him, who she would be able to recognize as Shirin Bayd. "I heard quite a bit about you."
He bowed his head to the Handmaiden first, then to Souma and lastly to Yuzu. "Ladies, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.", he said with charme, "Prince Mahmut ibn-Idris. Crown Prince Ilia allowed me to join you, but..." He raised a finger. "...only if you don't mind!"

Milenka, near Sinope Harbour.
For those three very close friends, this was a very special trip. Not necessarily because of the activity of sailing itself, not even due to the Milenka, the small sailing ship that Ingmar had bought some time ago - but because of the quite unusual destination.
Sinope, Ilkhanate of Megido, Kyrenaia.
The Milenka was far away from being spectacular or something in the line - it was a small, one-masted clipper; 23.5 meters of length, 5.3 meters of beam, 1.15 meters of draft. Under deck, it had a surprisingly large corridor with a dining table and a galley. Bunks were in a separate room - while up to ten men would have found space in it, those three onboard quite did suffice - as soon as there was always one of them controlling the vessel, all would be fine. They were experienced sailors, after all.
The ship had been built in 1911 by the Kirajevo-based shipbuilder Miloš Kostić as one out of three vessels that did not only look alike, but also had similar names: Milena, Milenka and Milica. There were lots of rumors, all claiming something in the line of Kostić being in love quite frequently, naming his ships after the women he had been in love with at the given point - other, less romantic theories preferred just to go with varying female forms of his own name.
Whatever the case may have been - they all had seen a lot of different waters, until the Milenka had been purchased by Ingmar Jülich, a man who had seen 31 summers, with dark-green eyes and dark-blonde hair, which he often greased back. He was a Captain in the duty of the Federal Navy; formerly serving in Nienhagen, now continuing in Preetz. This wasn't the only experience he had more than Ratko and Merle - what he also knew, unlike them both, was the process of naturalization. He was born and raised in Haanvorderhöhe, in the Autonomous Region of Nyströmsholm, in the Republic of Stella Dorata. At the age of seventeen, he had left his home to become a 'Federation Lillo' and to serve in that one Navy that considered his former home country an arch-enemy. Despite the relative independence from the military rule of the RSD, as well as the fact that Nyströmsholm was unlikely to become a warzone (unlike Helligenholm), he hated the living guts of the Stelladoriani junta. Just like the entire Federation did, and they were not alone with their resentment.
Radovan Spasojević, called Ratko, was 29 years old and had short, dark hair and blue eyes. He came from the same city as the ship they were sailing on, had served at the Nienhagen Naval Base, too, then, a few months ago, had returned to Kirajevo to study shipbuilding. Before he would be able to put his dream of running his own shipbuilding company into effect (in Lillorainen, it was the same with shipbuilding companies as with beer breweries - there could never be enough!), he would need to get through quite a few lectures by elderly professors, who, with a heavy Rhenish accent, explained what a steam engine was … and through his on-off-relationship with a young lady called Sabrina. To be precise, their messenger history accurately documented their current relationship status at any given point, reaching from 'together forever!!! <3' over 'dare coming even close to my flat and you'll meet my MJR rifle, you silly!' to 'Sorry, I didn't mean that!' … and back. Over and over again. Hmmst.
Merle Padrödning was the textbook example of a Nordic beauty - she was 27 years old, blonde, and blue-eyed. She was from Lollerup, Visholm - nothing that made her life a lot easier. When she had gone to Nienhagen as a Sailor, she had needed to get rid of a lot of misconceptions and prejudices the others had held against her - Visholm was the state many people from other states like the Rathland and Lillöer imagined as a cold, inhospitable place full with people who were basically still Vikings. Her home city, in particular, had a reputation that was impacted by the fact that civil servants who did a lousy job, or behaved badly, often were transferred to Lollerup as a disciplinary measure. But as time had gone by, she had been accepted and even become close friends with quite a few other Sailors, including Ingmar and Ratko. Just like the latter, she had gone back home, Defense Technology being the subject she wanted to focus on.
All three were professional enough not to get distracted too much by all these giant vessels (compared to their own) too much when approaching Sinope Harbour - yet, they also could not avoid having the one glance or the other at some of them.
"Flag's still sitting right?" - Ratko wondered.
"Sitting right!" - Merle reassured after a short look to the lee side of the clipper. "Everyone will see that we are coming in peace - and probably ask for something to drink later on."
"Which everyone does who sees our flag." Ratko shrugged. "At least it will make sure we're not from one of these places they reject entry by default."
"That will depend on Ingmar, and if he's nice to them …"
"Sure. We're almost there … you got your passport ready?"
"Aye. Ingmar will have fun when they see his place of birth … at least if they are aware what country Haanvorderhöhe belongs to."
"It's still a passport of the Federation" - Ratko noted.
Ingmar, meanwhile controlling the Milenka towards Sinope Harbour, was more of an optimist at this point. He did not spend too many thoughts on this type of stuff.
They were coming for a festival, after all.

Sinope was a busy harbour, especially with such a huge festival.
Freighters dozens of times larger and heavier then even the largest vessels attending it still entered and left in the tact of minutes, the docks on the other side of the Basin and along the river busy as ever.
Still, it went all quickly, customs and entry, despite Ingmar's city of birth. It was a passport of the Federation of Lillorainen and that was the end of that. There was no strife between the two powers.
On the contrary, in the Free Lands, they had a common friend.
The little boat was directed towards a docking spot close to the Luna Mysteria and garnered the attention of the festival's visitors quite quickly, not only because of the flag, but because of the flag as well.
Lillorainen's flag was always known as a flag of good cheer.

Ahmad almost stopped dead in his tracks, but then smiled slightly.
"That obvious, eh?", he asked and shook his head, "Indeed I do. Her name is Fara, she is the girl I am meeting. She works in a coffee shop close to the Merchant Navy's Headquarters. I have my eyes on her for a while now and I asked her for a date in the best way possible... drunk out of my mind."
He almost smiled at that memory.
"Had to turn to Aragh to get a bit of confidence into myself.", he admitted, "And still nearly botched it... You must think of me as pathetic now."

He really wanted to have an date with that girl, although he lacked confidence they could see he has an good and honest heart; that was something more important for them since you can't have confidence in love when you don't have an pure, good and honest heart.

"We don't" Edward said smiling at him. "We see you as someone who truly loves her and that they wants to have something with her, you want to be at her side and we support it" he continued grabbing by the shoulders.

"You don't need to feel embarassed about it or don't lose your confidence because of our question and how you did your confession for an date, people always does things that they never believe they would do under the effects of alcohol. But sometimes those things are ones you can't regret of do" he then stopped for an second trying to find an example of what he did for confess his wife.

"You know; everyone did some things that you never expected for love. When I confessed my wife, I was embarassed of do it until I did it in the most embarassing way... In front of all my school with an micrphone in hand and in middle of an festival" he said laughing of such embarassing memory. "It was the most embarassing thing ever. But it was worth it, it was worth it because that same day she accepted my confession and we begun to date" he said looking at his wife and grinning as she grinned back.

"What my husband is saying is that sometimes, the most embarassing things for love are the most noble things to do because of it's symbol for the other when it comes to love" Jessica said. "If you confessed to her drunk, then tell her that you did it because of how shy you was to tell her in an more formal way for them tell her that even with that mistake, but that you are serious about this relationship and that even with that mistake you are serious about this... Don't let your shyness and mistake take the best of you, go for the woman you love and tell her how much you love her"

Ahmad listened and he listened well.
A gentle push in the right direction was sometimes a good thing and this was a very strong push.
He nodded. "You're right. No time to feel pity for myself!", he said and rightened himself, "Explain the how and why and how it really is, then see, where it is going! And if everything else fails, I can still say, that I tried my hardest!"
Letting a beat pass, he looked from one to the other.
"By the way, are you two... some sort of self-confidence coaches or something?", he asked with a shaky, but present smile, in good humour, "You're good at it!"

The Sand Wolf gave a happy bark, his tail wagging as he leaned into the scratching.
"I think, that means yes, he would very much like that!", Aurelia translated the obvious, "But only for good little Sand Wolfies!"
She even raised her finger at the threat, throwing a wink at Marcella.
Then, silence, for a moment, before she was serious.
"Grandmother wants to speak the two of us. She assured me, that it would be alright.", she said and looked Marcella into the eyes. "So... how about we face the Old Dreadnought?"

"Aw see I knew he'd like that. So yeah do as your mom says be a good wolfie and you'll be in brushing heaven." She patted his head again. Aurelia mentioned it was time to face her grandmother which Marcella honestly wasn't ready at all, no matter how hard she rehearsed. Her mother assured her just go and the words will come. "Yes, time to batten down the hatches and face the storm my love."

"You'll do great, Miladies" Asuna tried to assure. "Milady Villa, just remember as your mother said, the words will come to you if you relax a little."

Aurelia blushed lightly at being called Aldhiyb's Mommy, but in a way, it was true. She was the closest thing he had to a motherly figure.
And she thought, that she did a well enough job.
Waving goodbye to Asuna, they departed, Aurelia smiling as she led Marcella through the crowds, arms linked. Quite a few people smiled and they were way more then the people, who scowled.
But still, Aurelia smiled as they were on the way to the Aurelia, the vessel her father named after his beloved daughter.
Speaking of which, there was a man coming, brown hair, golden eyes, in his mid-thirties, smiling widely as he approached the couple, calling out a greeting.
"Hey, Dad!", Aurelia replied and grinned as he wrapped her into a bear-hug, then kissing her onto the forehead. "Everything ready for the day?"
"Oh, yes, it is.", he replied, then turned to Marcella, grinning, "Handshake, hug, kiss on the forehead or bowing? Your choice... the Gods' willing, you will be my daughter-in-law, so we have a wide array of options!"
Aurelia smiled - although the fighting was still raging, her father was one of their most important supporters. They didn't achieve victory yet, but Aurelia was sure, that her father's words would be true sooner rather then later.

Yenikonya Harbor, Yenikonya-Limankent, a few weeks ago.
The Captain of the SFSS Malika Aljazirat had to grin at the arrival of the passengers who would come with him and Maryam, on this important trip, which would - at least, if the Gods' mercy was with them - bring some prestige to Yenikonya Dockyards. More than to himself ... he, indeed, was experienced.
And there was not much that could surprise him. Yet, one thing today could.
Whereas he quite was prepared for the both young ladies themselves, he was not prepared to arrive in a ... rickshaw.
Cab drivers quite did have anything else than a good reputation in most Shamsiyyan cities, Yenikonya not being an exception, Captain Süleyman Arslan knew that ... but still, this was a surprise.
The third young lady, whom Süleyman knew very well from many sails, grinned, too. "Well, at least, they are on time. No, they are even early! Who knows if they had managed the common way ..."
"That's, indeed, what the case might be." Süleyman nodded.
The pedicab stopped next to them. The driver calculated the price - three Guineas, five Dirhams and a few Millims. The older one of the two gave the driver a Five-Guinea-coin and made a dismissive hand gesture, to indicate that she did not insist on getting change back. "Çok teşekkür ederim!" - she said. Even Maryam, the only one on this trip who did not speak Turkish, understood this - Thank you very much!
The driver now grinned and made the same dismissive hand gesture, put the coin into his pocket and went on.
Süleyman determined that there was still a bit of time left. Since it was eight o'clock in the morning, he offered them to spend a round of either tea or coffee, depending on their choice, which they gladly accepted.
Luckily, both were sold at the next stall. Having the drinks of their choice, Süleyman asked what the girls' reunion had been like, as he was quite aware, that Maryam hadn't seen her friends for a longer time. They told him about the little fest they had held two days ago ...

Albustan House, Junaira, two days before ...
It had been a long time ago, since as many folks were expected in and in front of the little house at the southern edge of Junaira. No one even knew for sure, it was just a damn long time ago ... for some of the people invited, this was even the first time to see the sandstone house in one of the few green lands in these parts, with the enormous orchard and all its orange trees, date palms, nut trees, grape trees, and many more. Beyond the fences, one saw the dunes, and beyond these, a river, ending in the ocean a few hundred meters from here.
There was hardly any visible evidence that this belonged to the capital of the Federal Republic, a city with millions of inhabitants.
For now, however, it wasn't awfully busy yet - some dishes were prepared on a table, a large hookah took most of the space on one of the chairs around it. A young lady with dark hair and brown-green eyes, twenty years of age, had just prepared the fridge that stood in the corner, containing water and soda, and, of course, Raki. Another young woman, in her mid-twenties, dark-blonde and blue-eyed, watched the grill, which was placed at some distance to avoid the spread of all the smoke as much as possible. A young man at the latter woman's age, who had long, black hair, brown eyes and a notably long chin beard (all of which made him look like a reincarnated Pharaoh Antorhotep III.) prepared goat cheese and fruits.
Another young man, nineteen years of age, who rather looked like a footballer, opened something that looked like a pocket watch at the first glance, but, from short distance, would turn out to be a portable ashtray. He lit up a cigarette, looked around, frowned, and said, "I'm really wondering where Layla is ... are you sure that she isn't in the bathroom, or something?"
Iskandra Minyaoui closed the fridge and responded, "Absolutely sure! I would know about this, she's already been here." She let a beat pass. "But interesting that you can't wait to see her - you're now asking the third time. Sure I haven't missed anything?" She grinned.
Yusuf Demirköy blew some smoke away and shook his head, ignoring her teasing tone. "She doesn't stay away for such a long time, usually. All I do is wondering."
Iska shrugged. "Just keep fooling yourself." She turned to the young woman at the grill. "Maryam, do you happen to know when Aaliyah arrives?"
Maryam Abdaliha turned back to Iska. "It will take some time, I assume. She comes with Mahmud, Majida, and Ceylan - and since Mahmud drives his ardently beloved car, they will need a couple of hours, considering the traffic."
Iska raised an eyebrow. "Don't they just have to cross the Bay?" - she wondered.
Maryam nodded. "Well, yes, but you know what sort of ambitioned driver Mahmud is. He isn't born for the Seas at all." Maryam herself was a Sailor who regularly sailed for Yenikonya Dockyards. "He rather bypasses the entire Bay instead of just taking the ferry."
Iska laughed. "Okay, then we might talk about, like, decades."
Maryam laughed, too. "I suppose so."
Yusuf dropped his ashes in his ashtray. Not that there hadn't been any usual ashtrays in the house, but, although it was (quite obviously) open, he was too polite to ask Iska for one - it was Layla who lived here for the time of her studies, after all, and she, most certainly, would not have wanted anyone to search the apartment she had rented for stuff.
The Sailor now announced, "Let's just all hope, that Layla will show up soon. In any case, if she is late, she will have to eat her meat cold. It's almost ready."
"No need to!" - a voice called, laughing. It belonged to yet another young woman in the mid-twenties. It sounded quite exhausted - and as everyone looked over to her, they also knew why. Said lady, entering the garden via a small gate, wore a green t-shirt with the seal of the Qaranisa - cantonal militia - of Mintaqa Almudun at breast height on it, a pair of skin-tight, black sports pants, as well as white sneakers. She was visibly sweating. Not like a pig, but still a bit.
Yusuf visibly tried not to stare at her too much.
"Layla!" - Iska called, grinning.
The brunette lady with the dark eyes, which she often looked excited with, grinned back. She hesitated to hug anyone, since she was sweating - instead, she waved into the round. "I'm sorry - the run took me a bit longer than expected ... thanks to the giant construction lot at Banaissa Corner. I might need to redress."
"You should ... anyways, I hope you brought the specialty from your hometown" - Maryam said.
"Oh, I did!" Layla Murashiniq grinned. "Grapes." She let a beat pass. "Fermented grapes. In other words, wine."
Yusuf laughed. "What else." A good point - one must know that Layla originally came from Sahaouine, a city with millennia of tradition of producing, serving, and drinking wine. "By the way, will finally someone tell me where you guys are gonna sail to with the good old Queen of the Islands?"
Iska said, grinning, "No need to know."
Yusuf pouted.
"I would like to know, too, though ..." - the 'Pharaoh', actually called Karim, said.
Layla sighed. "To solve the mystery - Sinope, in Kyrenaia. A harbor festival. Even the Sultana will be there!"
"Sinope ..." Yusuf lifted his pointer to his chin, thinking. "Isn't that at that small stripe of land near the border of Kyrene and Megido? South of Kerkouane?"
Karim did not say anything. He did not need to, since his facepalm said it all.
Iska rolled her eyes. "That's Sicca, you genius. Sicca, not Sinope. Sinope is at the north shore of Megido, near that peninsula that looks a bit like a boxing glove on the map."
"Ah, that one! But, Iska, don't hold it against me, but ... you will not show up there in jeans and leather jacket, will you." He looked at her, concerned.
Iska laughed. "You should know me better."
"I do know you well enough. That's why I'm asking."
"I can't see that."
All of a sudden, a black cat with sparkling green eyes showed up, nobody could see where it came from. It seemed to be quite fond of the smell of the kebab on the grill ... then, it looked into the round.
Said round grinned at each other, then everyone bowed their heads lightly. The feline visitor sniffled at the air above her - or nodded in approval? Who knew - then went to the next fence, jumped over it and disappeared between the dunes.
"Someone wishes to tell you lassies good luck" - Yusuf determined.
Maryam nodded. "... and a good appetite, obviously. The meat is done in a minute."
Layla announced, "I'm gonna go redress, then." She disappeared through the open door. Again, Yusuf tried to avoid looking behind her, pretending he were awfully busy dropping his cigarette butt in his portable ashtray.
Iska grinned at him, seeing what was up. "Don't you wanna see if you can help her?"
"Uh ... neither." He did not want to grin back, yet he did.
She insisted. "Hadi lan! She won't bite your head off."
Maryam laughed. "Let's not hope. There would be too much meat left."

Not only the young women, but also the Captain laughed about that story.
Layla turned to Iska. "Good to know that it was your idea. Now Yusuf knows whom he may thank for the hairbrush he has had in his face when I saw him standing behind me in the mirror."
Iska grinned and shrugged.
"Are these the famous Qaranisa tactics in Canton O-One?" - Maryam wondered.
"Murashiniq tactics reserved for annoying lads."
Süleyman snorted. "It took the cat a while to bring luck to Yusuf, I figure, right?"
"Or it was rather determined to us than to him" - Maryam said. "That being said, we should depart soon. They announced a thunderstorm for the Saraymedin Passage at eleven-zero-zero, and I'd like to be far away from it until then."

Somewhere in the ocean between Onoba and Sinope, two days ago.
Without any major incidents, but having quite a lot of fun, the four sailors and their SFSS Malika Aljazirat had taken all the way across the ocean, reaching Kyrenaian waters surprisingly early, so they were not in a hurry. It was the second-but-last evening before the festival, and they took a break from the long trip, using Iska's service as a bar lady, her side job next to her main job as a translator. Süleyman had decided that they could drop anchor at a place where the waters were not that deep and just enjoy the night - the next night, tomorrow, would be entirely dedicated to managing the last miles to Sinope, to arrive before ten o'clock in the morning.
Throughout these exhausting weeks, a lot of stories had been told, especially by Süleyman, from his early days as a Seaman, back then in the Shamsiyyan People's Navy and its last years before it became the SFDF-Navy. Getting used to stop calling his superiors 'Comrade Colonel' had been hard for him, even as a 22-year-old.
Iska now filled four glasses with 1994 Sagaion Ahmad, which Layla had brought from home - a bottle they had decided to reserve for themselves, since it was a bit too expensive to leave it for the festival (which they still had enough other good drops for). This brand of red wine, in this case even from Layla's birth year, had a long tradition; Sagaion was the ancient name of Sahaouine, and unlike the name, the wine tradition had not changed a lot since then.
Maryam pressed the play button on her hi-fi equipment, playing some background music, sat down and announced, "Now the night can begin!"
Süleyman raised his glass. "Almunsidilat jayid fi alhalq, walbaqi fi alshaer!" - he toasted, The good drop down the throat, the rest in your hair!
"Fi sahtika!" - a chorus of female voices was to hear, then they all raised their glasses and took their first sip.
Iska said, "What if the bosses at Yenikonya Dockyards learn that each of us has just swallowed down an entire Guinea?"
Süleyman laughed. "Well, since it isn't on their costs, they will probably just wonder if some Raki wouldn't be more efficient."
"They might just ask us to play some more international music, to reach a wider audience ..." Layla had another sip. "I do have enough of that, in case it's needed."
With a dismissive hand gesture, Iska said, "Or they're just gonna get used to ours."
"Or that." Süleyman nodded. "We're representing a Shamsiyyan company, after all. We shouldn't be stingy, neither with our culture, nor with drinks."
"Evet." Layla had yet another sip. She seemed really to be thirsty. "At least they don't make us sell these scarab-shaped chocolate thingies this time. Cetinkaya and Isfahani and their embarrassing ideas ... Osiris will probably reincarnate them as salamanders for this."
Iska frowned. "What did I miss ...?"
Maryam grinned. "As usual, everything. Or nothing. Depends."

And now ...
"Sinope Harbour for Malika Aljazirat! Sinope Harbour for Malika Aljazirat! Requesting entry permission!"
Although the Shamsiyyan language was somewhat similar to Kyrenaian, possibly even related, Süleyman preferred English, since the dialects of Shamsiyya could become quite tricky to understand even for those who claimed to know the language. To exclude misunderstandings, speaking English was probably the best solution.
Meanwhile, the female three quarters of the crew got ready for entering - not missing the looks of all the other ships approaching the harbor. Most of them were a bit larger than the two-masted schooner by Yenikonya Dockyards, but they also noticed the small clipper with a black-yellow-vanilla tricolor. They grinned.
Maryam even said, "Let's see who will run out of their reserves sooner - them or us!"
"There we go with clichés again." A big issue that Layla once had written an entire novel about ...
"They say the same about us." Iska shrugged. "Everyone knows about what the others do right or wrong. That's called international understanding."
"Indeed. Now, if Süleyman gets done chatting with harbor security, we might enter soon ..."

It had surprised a few people, that the first thing announced with the promise of the Malika Aljazirat coming to the Sinope Harbour Festival, that she would be placed in the Small Basin, where the really important ships were. After all, the vessel had been a military vessel once and was now under control of a private investor group.
The decision of that came from the Sultana herself.
Officially, she would claim, that she wanted such a beautiful ship in the Small Basin for all to sea easier. Unofficially, that was true, too, but not the complete truth: The vessel represented a Shamsiyyan company and, by extension, its people.
The Sultanate wanted to deepen the relationship... or rather, not the Sultanate, but the economy, amongst them Surya.
Surya's CEO, Beyeha Fadwa Faris, had asked the Sultana politely, if they couldn't arrange for a special spot for the Malika Aljazirat - the Sultana had agreed.
And so, both powerful women stood at the stern of the Aurelia, waving as the vessel passed to its own docking spot, the radiomen not only appreciating the English, despite the two languages sounding similar, there were crass differences between Shamsiyyan and Kyrenaian, but also welcoming it due to another reason: Language of Radio Traffic in Kyrenaia was by law English, simply because it was easier for foreigners to communicate in.
Both women, however, were passing time before their appointments began - the Sultana was to receive a few foreign dignitaries, the CEO was going to meet Captain Arslan 'by coincidence', which was no coincidence at all.
While the vessel was docking, Faris departed, soon by the wharf, where dozens of people were welcoming the Malika Aljazirat.

Dancerian Enterouge, near the Small Basin, Sinope, Sultanate of Kyrenaia
10:03 AM

---

"I would hope to "get through" something rather than "get over" it." Aceus would sigh, his shoulders sagging slightly with the weight of responsibility he had to own up to. "Lead on, it is about high time I meet the family in full." Edgar and Sabin looked on nervously, and Sabin would begin to speak. "You two, stay behind. Enjoy the festivities..." with that, the two were left behind, as Okan and the Dancerian King walked alone, with only Okan's handmaiden to escort them. Normally Aceus would have a witty line, or opt to lighten the mood with conversation. But when Fara was nearly...when he nearly...

Shaking his head of the memory, Aceus strode forward, his face grim with determination though his eyes slightly sorrowful.

Okan would, despite his feelings, place a hand on Aceus' shoulders as soon as they were out of earshot: "You are not on your way to the chop.", he said, "Relax. You will not be beheaded... that was done by someone else, to someone else, somewhere else. They are not happy with you, and neither is Fara..."
And neither am I, but I am only the messenger., Okan added in thought.
"...but you won't help yourself, if you go in thinking that you already lost. Where is the spirit, that Fara fell in love with?", he added.

[AHSCA]

Aurelia blushed lightly at being called Aldhiyb's Mommy, but in a way, it was true. She was the closest thing he had to a motherly figure.
And she thought, that she did a well enough job.
Waving goodbye to Asuna, they departed, Aurelia smiling as she led Marcella through the crowds, arms linked. Quite a few people smiled and they were way more then the people, who scowled.
But still, Aurelia smiled as they were on the way to the Aurelia, the vessel her father named after his beloved daughter.
Speaking of which, there was a man coming, brown hair, golden eyes, in his mid-thirties, smiling widely as he approached the couple, calling out a greeting.
"Hey, Dad!", Aurelia replied and grinned as he wrapped her into a bear-hug, then kissing her onto the forehead. "Everything ready for the day?"
"Oh, yes, it is.", he replied, then turned to Marcella, grinning, "Handshake, hug, kiss on the forehead or bowing? Your choice... the Gods' willing, you will be my daughter-in-law, so we have a wide array of options!"
Aurelia smiled - although the fighting was still raging, her father was one of their most important supporters. They didn't achieve victory yet, but Aurelia was sure, that her father's words would be true sooner rather then later.

Asuna waved them farewell as she mumbled "Good luck, Miladies." Taking a glance around the streets getting a sense of her environment it dawned on her Marcella did suggest Asuna try out Kyrenaian's own public baths and she could go for a nice moment to relax. If she didn't she'd pace and constantly worry about Marcella so pulling out a map she marked her destination and set forth.

Marcella being pulled along by Aurelia she felt like she was floating. Any time her beautiful hand was holding hers all her worries and troubles melted away. Just as well, it helped her relax. Her spirits brightened further seeing Aurela's father. "How about a little peck on the forehead!" She hugged him back and let him plant one onto her forehead. "It's great to see you again!"

[Mervay]

Ahmad listened and he listened well.
A gentle push in the right direction was sometimes a good thing and this was a very strong push.
He nodded. "You're right. No time to feel pity for myself!", he said and rightened himself, "Explain the how and why and how it really is, then see, where it is going! And if everything else fails, I can still say, that I tried my hardest!"
Letting a beat pass, he looked from one to the other.
"By the way, are you two... some sort of self-confidence coaches or something?", he asked with a shaky, but present smile, in good humour, "You're good at it!"

The couple smiled when he gained that confidence back for him to do what he needed to, it was an great thing since even if it failed or he was rejected he would continue keeping his confidence and say to himself with an smile even if it hurts, that he did his best.

"That's the spirit my friend" Edward said grinning at Ahmad; then the Kyrenaian asked if they were self-confidence coaches or something like that and that they were good at it.

Something that made the couple laugh an little about that friendly joke.
Then Jessica answered his question.

"Thanks for the comply but no, we are just an normal couple and old couple that has passed by the same ups and down's of an relationship and that we always love to help people who needs some push foward in achieve their goals" she looked at him and smiled. "We are glad that we could have been of help for you, we are sure that Fara will accept your confession and feels the same about you"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Standing up, Alexander turned to the officers with a large shit eating grin,

"What's wrong officers? Can't two crusty old sea salts show their compatriots how mariners welcomed each other in the days of old? If you plan on arresting us I may as well inform you that I am armed and I have my Chuckian CCW license."

Pulling out his wallet, Alexander passed it to the first officer. Behind his CCW card there was a peculiar card with the crest of the P.P.C. It was an honorary dual citizenship card.

Keeping thoughts, that the girl might also use the Reichskriegsflagge as a table cloth with as little authority as it held in Kyrenaian Waters, the Officer looked at the Captain with a small nod - unlike his daughter and his men, he tried to keep the situation under control, so whatever happened, it would not end in tears.
Officer Aietiqal supposed, that he by his ways a bit so that it indeed would not end in tears for all involved.
"So, if I understand you correctly, you are not pressing charges?", he asked the Captain, "If so, I will leave it at a verbal reprimand, gentlemen. If I ever hear of you two brawling with anyone not the other, I will put your arses into a sack and sent you home." He let a beat pass. "Are we clear?"

Fredrick nodded. "Crystal, sir. I would expect nothing less."

[Kuronami]

"I wouldn't sell myself short, Miss Yuna.", a new voice replied, belonging to a boy nearing the age of a young man, a mop of brown hair on his head, golden eyes sparkling with the moxie and hubris of youth, knowing, that he looked good - and enjoying every moment of it. More interesting for the Handmaiden from Kuronami, however, would be the young woman following him, who she would be able to recognize as Shirin Bayd. "I heard quite a bit about you."
He bowed his head to the Handmaiden first, then to Souma and lastly to Yuzu. "Ladies, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.", he said with charme, "Prince Mahmut ibn-Idris. Crown Prince Ilia allowed me to join you, but..." He raised a finger. "...only if you don't mind!"

The girls all stood to greet the Prince when he introduced himself and gave a proper bow as young ladies from their parts do. Each girl had their own reaction to him. Yuzu proper and calm and quite happy to have his company, "Why good Prince, it's a pleasure to have you join with us." Yuzu replied.

Yuki was surprised and also pondering because the name did ring a bell and of course it came to her, he's the prince was the one Shirin Bayd tended to. "Ah Milord Prince" She bowed deeper "I thought I recognized your name, you're the Prince tended to by Shirin-san, that is Miss Bayd."

Haru's face flushed red from just how cute and handsome the young Prince was. Yuki would have to break it to her later the Prince had someone already but for now she couldn't help but admire.

Oh my, he's a hottie!...Your Lordship, thank you for your company." Haru responded proper keeping her internal thoughts to herself.

[Lillorainen]

Sinope was a busy harbour, especially with such a huge festival.
Freighters dozens of times larger and heavier then even the largest vessels attending it still entered and left in the tact of minutes, the docks on the other side of the Basin and along the river busy as ever.
Still, it went all quickly, customs and entry, despite Ingmar's city of birth. It was a passport of the Federation of Lillorainen and that was the end of that. There was no strife between the two powers.
On the contrary, in the Free Lands, they had a common friend.
The little boat was directed towards a docking spot close to the Luna Mysteria and garnered the attention of the festival's visitors quite quickly, not only because of the flag, but because of the flag as well.
Lillorainen's flag was always known as a flag of good cheer.

Ingmar had been right with his optimism - they had come through amazingly quickly, his place of birth not being an issue to be asked about. With both the Federation and the Sultanate having excellent ties with the Free Lands ("My friend's friends are my friends, too!"), such things would not get anyone into trouble on this.
The Milenka got directed to a spot close to a cruiser yacht with the beautiful name Luna Mysteria, with two ladies Ratko quickly caught an eye on, too, until Merle pushed her elbow in his side - a friendly reminder.
"Weren't you taken?" - she asked him in a teasing tone.
Ratko shrugged. "Last I checked, sure. But I haven't checked my messages today yet, it could already have changed."
"Better check before you deliver Sabrina another reason to flip the switch again."
The harbor was full of visitors, many of which spotted the flag of the Federation - indeed, good cheers granted since 1981. When the Milenka safely came to a halt, all three Lillos grinned and waved.

[Shamsiyya]

It had surprised a few people, that the first thing announced with the promise of the Malika Aljazirat coming to the Sinope Harbour Festival, that she would be placed in the Small Basin, where the really important ships were. After all, the vessel had been a military vessel once and was now under control of a private investor group.
The decision of that came from the Sultana herself.
Officially, she would claim, that she wanted such a beautiful ship in the Small Basin for all to sea easier. Unofficially, that was true, too, but not the complete truth: The vessel represented a Shamsiyyan company and, by extension, its people.
The Sultanate wanted to deepen the relationship... or rather, not the Sultanate, but the economy, amongst them Surya.
Surya's CEO, Beyeha Fadwa Faris, had asked the Sultana politely, if they couldn't arrange for a special spot for the Malika Aljazirat - the Sultana had agreed.
And so, both powerful women stood at the stern of the Aurelia, waving as the vessel passed to its own docking spot, the radiomen not only appreciating the English, despite the two languages sounding similar, there were crass differences between Shamsiyyan and Kyrenaian, but also welcoming it due to another reason: Language of Radio Traffic in Kyrenaia was by law English, simply because it was easier for foreigners to communicate in.
Both women, however, were passing time before their appointments began - the Sultana was to receive a few foreign dignitaries, the CEO was going to meet Captain Arslan 'by coincidence', which was no coincidence at all.
While the vessel was docking, Faris departed, soon by the wharf, where dozens of people were welcoming the Malika Aljazirat.

Not all people who were surprised about the SFSS Malika Aljazirat being expected at the Small Basin, the 'VIP spot' of Sinope Harbour, had a Kyrenaian passport. Quite on the contrary - three young Shamsiyyan women, and even the Captain himself, had stared like a broken car when learning that Shamsiyya's largest shipbuilding company was obviously representative in a manner that exceeded the expected level. Reason enough for Iska to stick to her promise not to dress as if to gain respect in the streets of Adirnabul, but way more formal, just like the others. Hopefully, it would suit the situation ...
They were quite a bit nervous when they docked next to the famous Aurelia, especially when they spotted a well-known woman in her mid-sixties standing on the stern next to another one, waving as they passed by. They waved back and nodded in respect before they went on, docking.
The woman who had stood next to the Sultana now departed.
The Shamsiyyans still waved and smiled, as dozens of people on the wharf were welcoming the Malika Aljazirat.
Layla said to Iska, "They must have heard about your abilities as a bar lady!"
Iska laughed. "Sure, they qualify me to be welcomed like a state guest."

[Danceria]

Okan would, despite his feelings, place a hand on Aceus' shoulders as soon as they were out of earshot: "You are not on your way to the chop.", he said, "Relax. You will not be beheaded... that was done by someone else, to someone else, somewhere else. They are not happy with you, and neither is Fara..."
And neither am I, but I am only the messenger., Okan added in thought.
"...but you won't help yourself, if you go in thinking that you already lost. Where is the spirit, that Fara fell in love with?", he added.

"That spirit..." Aceus sighed. "That spirit still aches with the prospect at how stupid the mind can be sometimes. How careless..." he chuckled. "I won't even bother trying to charm my way out of this one, for my spirit has many sides. A side for the gentle exchange of poetry, and the stalwart nature of duty. Duty to country, duty to family, duty to the ones I care about..." the last part hung in the air as he pondered his next moves. "In your reading, you may have encountered the phrase "love happens between two people, marriage between two families". That sentiment still rings true in this day and age. Whatever punishment Fara and yourselves deem fit, I will shoulder it unflinchingly. I will not run from my mistakes." Aceus looked downcast, "But I made them. Dammit Okan! I had one job, one! To make her happy and safe, and I buggered both of them up! All I had to do was swallow my damn pride, to not be so romantically sappy, and the two of us would've bonded over breaking prosky* skulls with one or two extra security guards...the fact that you're even on speaking terms with me is a mercy..." he would look up to Okan, his eyes showing genuine appreciation. "I thank you for that, Okan. I appreciate you're trying to get me back to my diplomatically peppy self but...this is not the time for that. A man must own up to his mistakes, no matter if he wears a crown or not. I just didn't think it would be this soon..."

Clearly Aceus still blamed himself for Fara's attempted assassination, and in spite of rounding up the terrorist cell that plotted the ordeal, the fallout was already in play. There were no flowery words nor adorkable antics to mend a near-death experience, and Aceus wouldn't expect things to be righted so easily.

Docks
Fredrick scowled. "Everyone, stand down. Wilhelm, get your hand off that button, Marie, don't spit on the deck. As for you, officers...It's a long story; essentially every time me and Alex meet, we brawl for the hell of it. If that's illegal, so be it; you won't hear a peep out of us again."

Sinope
Erika munched on a biscuit as the crowds went by. Currently she was living in an alleyway; she didn't like the indoors anyway-much harder to evacuate.
Even if it was an alleyway, though, it was the most hygienic alleyway in all of Sinope. The grime was scrubbed away, revealing fresh concrete, and it was covered by an equally clean tarp. All it was missing was the most vital component-her rifle.
"Goddamn gun control laws..." she muttered.

She finished off her biscuit just as she sighted a certain Dancerian prince.
She gave a girlish squeal of delight and bounded out of the alleyway, hob-nailed boots ringing out on the street.
"Papa!"

It was almost comical, how a well timed yank could end a potential diplomatic incident. A brawny blond would with practiced ease yank the young Prussian girl off of the streets and away from any curious passerby. With a hush, Sabin would exclaim "First of all, what in the Holy Hand of Manwe are you doing here, Erika?!" he hissed, now that they were away from a certain Kyrenaian prince. "Did Aceus tell you nothing?!"