Meeting with a Kaiser - Part 1 (ATTN: Orlkjestad, CLOSED)

[Orlkjestad]

"Well, Mr. Wolfenstein, my military can easily intimidate any nation the size of Amythyst. There's nothing a few well-placed air raids can't do to stop or slow military belligerence. But, as you wish. The offer is still up for consideration, though." He turned to Eva. "As for Silver Star, fucked if I know. Knowing what kind of 'honest and friendly' people they are, it's probably something that can kill a lot of people in a shot period of time, either biologically or violently. People say they were behind the Fort Zakozie Incident, others say they were behind the anthrax attack on The Peterson Labs, which was part of the Millennium Attacks. The more paranoid say they rigged the 2000 elections and planned the entirety of the Millennium Attacks. The things the paranoid believe have already been disproven, but as for the other allegations, we don't have any info. The trail's gone cold. It could be Silver Star, could be terrorists, could be spies. And there's another allegation that recently another lab facility was taken over, but this is even more of a guessing game. As far as I'm concerned, it could be anyone. Silver Star does everything it takes to get paid, they'll work with anybody."

[Wolfenium]

"Anybody, huh?..." Eva remarked jokingly, "sounds like the kind of rogue corporation that would deal with despots and crime bosses. They'll get along very well with this lad over here-"

"OI," Karl hissed indignantly, "do I look like a despot to you!?"

"Oh dear!" Eva teased like the younger sibling she is, "did I anger the Lord and Master here? What should I do?"

Planting a face palm, the Kaiser could not help but feel shamed. Again. It's one thing to be annoyed as an elder brother, but to have that sort of teasing done in front of a dignitary was too much. However, as the two siblings argued once more, the usually silent Schwarzlicht came over to the Prime Minister's side.

"Do not mind them, Mr Christiaansen," she whispered, a hint of surprise in her eye, "I suppose it's a... family custom or something... In all honesty, I find such reactionary scenes to be typical in a average family, rather than one that was bound by regal duty. Perhaps it's because the Wolfensteins were never brought up on noble grounds. Their grandfather, Emperor Heinrich was a peasant by birth, rising through the ranks of the Wolfen Army before he was named Kaiser by his predecessor. How he managed to gain that is still up to speculation."

Turning her head over to the bickering duo, she commented, "I fail to understand human nature. Should I be worried about this?"

[Orlkjestad]

"Oh, no," the Prime Minister said. "This is normal. Ah how I remember the days when I fought with my brother... But now I'm dozing off. So, tell me about the situation? Should we be concerned about attacks on our nation?"

[Wolfenium]

As the two stopped, the emperor reverted to a serious tone.

"I suppose you've heard..." he replied in a dark tone, "perhaps this could clear your doubts." Picking up a newspaper from the lower deck of the table, he slid the paper across the table to the Prime Minister. Even though the report was in German, the picture shown on the front page said it all.

"The Schatten der Vergangenheit" Karl explained, "or Shadows of the Past... Surfaced just mere months earlier, they claimed to be a Wolfen 'nationalist' organization aimed at striking at the heart of Amythyst's military command. In short, they're terrorists. So far, they've struck some of Amythyst's key command centers - areas that would prove to be of strategic importance should war break out again... I don't want to imagine what would happen once they started going for Wolfen targets... if they go after us.

The Schatten, as they are called, claim to be a group 'dedicated to the eternal struggle of the homeland'. However, while we've yet to determine their exact aims, analysts speculate that one aim behind these attacks are to provoke the Amythysian High Council and Parliament into breaking the ceasefire, thereby justifying Wolfen actions in the war in the eyes of the world. By far, many of Amythyst's top brass have already been taken out, including Amythysian Expeditionary Force's Chief of Staff. Their rhetorics... are something to be worried about. It seemed that support for these rogues were more widespread than anticipated. I'm already looking into the matter and I intend to bring these rebels to justice...

But it will not be easy. Their agents hide among us. It is nigh-impossible to tell friend from foe. Some of my spies even suspect that some of my military's top brass are involved... But I'll get to the bottom of this. This I promise."

Eva could only keep silent over this. For one thing, she had a nasty suspicion of the mastermind. One of her key supporters, Colonel Adam Licht, was a promising commander who led the Wolfen Army to victory during the later stages of the First War. Intelligent, cunning and manipulative, he attained the rank of Colonel at the mere age of 21. As chief overseer of her personal weapons research program, Project Valkyrie, Licht had access to the best experts in magical technology, cybernetics and genetics. The description of some of the Schatten her brother's informers had given were equally eerie, matching the kind of tools he would have at his disposal.

"These agents," informed Foreign Minister Kuroi Katsuga, dressed in a white suit stained with blood as he met up with the Kaiser in a quiet corner of the castle, "are zombies, so to speak. They were revived through cybernetics and magic and are difficult to kill. One thing to note is that these assassins were formerly soldiers, killed in action during the First War. My daughter had a similar run in with a group of former students turned cyborgs. Whoever their leaders are, they had to be from the military's research department..."

"I don't think you should need to worry about them," Eva assured, "I doubt the Schatten would target your interests, given your neutral status. Of course, if you tried to expand your interests in Amythyst, I can't guarantee they'll leave you alone."

[Orlkjestad]

"Well, that's gonna be a problem. Because the ultimate goal is peace, we'll have to expand our interests in the entire region, both economically and militarily. Regardless, our police forces are always vigilant, as much of the nation is still shaken from the Millennium Attacks. So, tell me about any possible military and economical cooperation between or two nations?"

[Wolfenium]

"I suppose an alliance is possible," the Kaiser replied, "i didn't want to go that far before then, in case I provoke the Amythysians, but current circumstances... clearly no longer permit such luxury. The biggest problem we've faced during the war was logistics - transportation of equipment and reinforcements to the front line. It wasn't so much of an issue early in the war, when the frontline was very close to the capital, but as we pushed further into Amythysians territory, we found ourselves relying more and more on woefully inferior road and railway systems. I'm not surprised... the rail lines date back to the 1930s at best and god knows if they've maintained it at all.

Another issue we've faced is resources. Raw materials are hard to come by, and the Agarians were quick to lay an embargo on both sides when the war broke out. We had to scour as far as the Ilyushian states in order to get the materials we need. Iron, aluminum, petroleum... those were the main issues that hindered our progress back then.

It would be good if your nation could supply us with raw materials and transports. We'd gladly pay a price for your wares, as long as it's reasonable.

As for economic cooperation, I don't see why not. We mostly specialize in heavy industries - automobiles, steelworks, shipbuilding etc. But we also have a thriving IT sector. But what kind of cooperation would you have in mind, Prime Minister?"

[Orlkjestad]

"I suppose an alliance is possible," the Kaiser replied, "i didn't want to go that far before then, in case I provoke the Amythysians, but current circumstances... clearly no longer permit such luxury. The biggest problem we've faced during the war was logistics - transportation of equipment and reinforcements to the front line. It wasn't so much of an issue early in the war, when the frontline was very close to the capital, but as we pushed further into Amythysians territory, we found ourselves relying more and more on woefully inferior road and railway systems. I'm not surprised... the rail lines date back to the 1930s at best and god knows if they've maintained it at all.

Another issue we've faced is resources. Raw materials are hard to come by, and the Agarians were quick to lay an embargo on both sides when the war broke out. We had to scour as far as the Ilyushian states in order to get the materials we need. Iron, aluminum, petroleum... those were the main issues that hindered our progress back then.

It would be good if your nation could supply us with raw materials and transports. We'd gladly pay a price for your wares, as long as it's reasonable.

As for economic cooperation, I don't see why not. We mostly specialize in heavy industries - automobiles, steelworks, shipbuilding etc. But we also have a thriving IT sector. But what kind of cooperation would you have in mind, Prime Minister?"

"We have both. Our roads and rails are pristine, with 24/7 work crews to repair roads and rail networks. We could send some military engineers to help rebuild transportation, and we have air transports and road transports, too.

As for raw materials, we're a gigantic agricultural superpower, the soil in our nation is jet black, which means it's extremely rich in nutrients. Other than that, we're also a somewhat major oil producer, especially offshore. This is along with uranium, steel, valuable metals & jewels, and bauxite, but not much more.

For trade, we produce mainly books, furniture, and automobiles, along with being a popular tourism destination. We have a somewhat large IT sector, and others. But we are very good in high-tech industry, making software, computers, game consoles, fiber optics, superconductors, televisions, and more. Aviation is a somewhat big sector, too.

As for an alliance, I'm sure a treaty would be struck with the right conditions."

[Wolfenium]

"That would be great," the Kaiser agreed. "we could use some engineers at the moment, especially in South Halkenginia. Their infrastructure, technology, or everything else there for that matter, dates back to the early 20th century and the Amythysians never bothered to bring the region's standards of living up to modern levels. It is a heavy burden on our economy and needless to say, many taxpayers are not happy paying for the damage inflicted on a region formerly part of their enemy's realm. However, I very much found their hypocritical behaviour very amusing... They still wanted to hold on to the territory despite the costs.

I'm sure we could work together a lot on the economic field. There are many local firms here that are seeking to expand their interests abroad. I'm sure we could work something out."

"Speaking of which," Eva cut in, "what is your take on South Halkenginia, Prime Minister? The Amythysians demand its return to their ownership as a condition of the peace treaty, but most Wolfeners refused to accept that prerequisite, stating that it is a just reward for all the suffering the nation had to go through since the Commonwealth's first attack. Needless to say, it didn't take us much to win over the people of South Halkenginia. All we needed to do was put food on their table..." A cunning mastermind, a small but sly smile crept up her face.

"Umm..." Karl interrupted uncomfortably,"perhaps you should look at the Geography section of our factbook. It should give you an idea on where you want to place your investments." Pulling out his PDA, he made a quick press of a button. In an instant, a holographic screen appeared in front of him. Handing the PDA over and shifting the screen, he gestured the Prime Minister to look over his options...

[Orlkjestad]

The prime minister read the section quickly, and said, "Well, perhaps the place should be completely independent. It doesn't seem like a rule by any other nation is doing the region any favors. And independence would be good, pretty much making the point off the Amythyst-Wolfenium conflict there null." He decided to sit back in his chair. "Anything more you want to ask to me?"

[Wolfenium]

"I considered that option before," Karl explained, "problem was Amythyst will not have any of it. To them, an independent Halkenginia meant relinquishing their territories - including the ones they managed to regain in the course of the war. Their nation was already fractured as it is. There's no way they'll agree to it. What's more, there's a lot of opposition in Wolfenium over the issue as well. Even by the oft chance an independent nation is formed, what is there to keep any of its neighbours from seizing control?"

"But besides that," Eva added, "you said Orlkjestad is more than capable of intimidating a nation of Amythyst's size. What exactly is in your arsenal? Perhaps we could make a deal there."

The Kaiser frowned over the question. There was a gleam in her eye that he found disturbing. He could tell she was livid over such a suggestion, but to bargain for a weapons deal was dangerous at best. It was such actions that tend to provoke paranoia in their northern neighbours, and Eva was known to provoke them a lot...

[Orlkjestad]

"Well, the primary focus of our military is functionality, followed, in that order, firepower, size, and cost. Our main assault rifle is the DM-1000, with a scope, flashlight, and red-dot attachment. Main combat knifes are large Swiss Army knifes. The main side arm is a simple Smith & Wesson Model 500, revolver. We still use propane flamethrowers, but only a few can use them. RPGs used are RPG-32s. Most planes we have are fighter-bombers, because they can do more. Tanks we use are primarily the Orion Foxhound, and the T-90. Ships are mostly made by private shipyards, custom-order. We do have thousands of nuclear warheads and bioheads at our disposal, but we'll only use them if we're at death's door, and hope when we go down, we take the enemy and it's allies with us."

[Wolfenium]

"Sounds like we both have something alike," Eva remarked with a smirk, "we both focus on practicality. Our nuclear arsenal barely number in a dozen, but in terms of tonnage yield, we possess some of the most destructive warheads in Astol. Of course, those are reserved only for a worst case scenario, although probably not a last stand. As much as we want to go out with a bang, we'd much rather hold on to our sovereignty. Still, we do have alternatives to nuclear weapons."

"Tell me something," she asked, "how much is your nation's knowledge of magic? And what of your people's attitude toward magic in general?"

[Orlkjestad]

"Sounds like we both have something alike," Eva remarked with a smirk, "we both focus on practicality. Our nuclear arsenal barely number in a dozen, but in terms of tonnage yield, we possess some of the most destructive warheads in Astol. Of course, those are reserved only for a worst case scenario, although probably not a last stand. As much as we want to go out with a bang, we'd much rather hold on to our sovereignty. Still, we do have alternatives to nuclear weapons."

"Tell me something," she asked, "how much is your nation's knowledge of magic? And what of your people's attitude toward magic in general?"

"Magic? Well, we probably have some practitioners, but most are intellectuals who believe only in science and God and don't regard magic at all. All of the magic here is either the magic of money or the magic of technology. Well, we have stage magicians, but they're technically just illusionists."

[Wolfenium]

"Personally, I find stage 'magicians' repulsive. They masquerade as real mages and fool the gullible with their little hand tricks and devices," Eva replied back, a small smirk on her face, "but I certainly understand the magic of money fully well. In any case, anything else you'd like to discuss about?"

[Orlkjestad]

"Well, perhaps we could discuss terms to a possible alliance, if you would like or don't have any other questions that could garner my attention..."

[Wolfenium]

"Hmm," Karl thought carefully. He never tried forming an official alliance pact before. Wolfenium's neighbours were not exactly ideal allies to work with. The Venusiyans, who were their one and only allies, were not exactly helping them on treaty grounds either. It was just another of their so-called 'honour debt', one at which the emperor himself helped bring about by striking at their most reviled arch-nemesis, the Vinchi.

"Maybe you should lay out your terms first," Eva suggested to the Prime Minister, "we don't usually work with allies here. The last time we had an alliance was three centuries ago, with the surrounding city states in south Astol. Needless to say, the alliance fractured almost immediately once the Amythysians were forced out of the region and all hell broke loose. As you can clearly see today... we've pretty much made them subjects rather than try to keep them together as allies... But enough about history. What do you propose?"

[Orlkjestad]

"Primarily a scientific pact and a trade agreement, but a military pact can be considered, if that's what you wish."

[Wolfenium]

"We'll start with science first," Karl responded, "we're always keen on acquiring new knowledge for the good of the Empire. How advanced would you say is your technology? Any recent innovations you'd like to share? Anything you'd like to know about our technology or scientific community?"

[Orlkjestad]

"I'd classify my nation's scientific achievement as outstanding, when compared to others. We have recently created a completely-living synthetic cell, as well as some breakthroughs in the fields of genetics, cold fusion, and medicine. Currently, I'd say Orlkjestad's biggest scientific priority is genetics and medicine, especially in the field of finding cures to terminal diseases. What about yours?"

[Wolfenium]

"I would say modest, compared to our neighbours," Karl admitted, "the main fields we focus on are robotics and information technology, although I can't really name anything special we've acquired so far though."

"That's because we've already had advanced technology, for centuries," Eva added with a smirk. As her brother turned to her with a raised eyebrow, she elaborated.

"Technology such as artificial intelligence have already existed as far back as a millenia ago, by the ancient Belkans mages. Needless to say, they managed to combine such technology - god knows where and how they got them - with their own magic, creating some of the most powerful computers known to Astoli-kind, the Belkan and later, the Mid-Childan Devices. You could say that the Devices are the space-age equivalent of the magical wands of medieval fantasy, complete with sophisticated computers stored in a trinket, augmenting a mage's powers. These devices can sometimes take a form of a staff, a ring or gloves, depending on the mage's choice, and some AI Devices are so intelligent, they can even be considered sentient. Other miracles include genetics, robotics and physics. But nothing had come close to the Devices..."

Casting a patronizing glance at Schwarzlicht, she continued, "the ancient Belkans were masters of space-age technology, creating wonders so advanced, they transcend the realm of science fiction. In contrast, they were still a feudal-style city-state, ruled by kings and protected by knights. That didn't stop their own destruction, though. In the end, it was civil conflict within their own ranks which had driven their civilization to ruin... Ironic, that the very technology they possessed ultimately became their demise. All we needed to do back then was move in...

Sadly, the disparity of technological advancements within the country is massive at best. On one end is the Province of Belka, the most advanced state in Wolfenium technologically, thanks to the above mentioned ancient tech. On the other end, we have Belka's neighbouring states of Freond and Southern Halkenginia, possessing early 20th century C.E. technology at best. Some states are even stuck as far back as the Renaissance... But we're trying to fix that."

[Orlkjestad]

Hmm... As for our nation, we're already have complete access to most information technology. 98.21% of the populace has access to the Internet, and counting. 129.79% percent of the populace has cell phones in use, and that over one-hundred percentage is because many of us have more than one cell phone. Artificial intelligence, we didn't discover yet, probably because we shifted our priorities to making computers smaller and the study of genetics and synthetics. In a way, the internet bubble never burst here. As for trade?"

[Wolfenium]

"For trade," Eva explained, "we mainly import raw materials needed for metalworks, such as iron, aluminum and copper ore. We also import fossil fuels for refinement and use. We mainly rely on exports from our arms manufacturing, as well as uranium mining and enrichment. We don't have as much of a need for uranium. Our nation isn't very large and there's really not much room to build so many nuclear power plants - or weapons. Information Technology, Electronics and Automobile industries come in close behind in terms of exports. Still there is a thriving jewelry industry in Kristallin. As its name suggest, Kristallin lies on top of massive crystal deposits used in jewelry design, as well as precious metal such as gold and platinum used in goldwork. It's a rising industry and we hope to move into the field of luxury items such as these in the near future."

[Orlkjestad]

"As I previously said, high-tech products are major here, but agriculture is where we truly shine, as our nation's soil can support a variety of crops. We also have gold, platinum, and jewels, but since the Orlkjestadi Revolution back in 1808 the reserves have steadily gone down. Uranium, natural gas, and oil are plentiful, as well, and we also manufacture books, automobiles, et cetera, and we're a popular tourist destination, as well."

[Wolfenium]

"..." grunted the Kaiser, "then what do you suggest? We could certainly share our knowledge in the fields of science. As for trade... I can't really say much on that field. Food supply is a major concern and we mainly trade in weapons and armaments. But I was wondering what you have in mind in particular."

[Orlkjestad]

"Perhaps food and fossil fuels for weaponry and luxury goods would be best, with extensions if you would like. And military?"