The Ministry of Edolian Recovery
The City of Arthburg
February 1st, Eight O’ Five AM
The City of Arthburg
February 1st, Eight O’ Five AM
Kanya Suttikul was calm and nodded her head as she offered Dr. Morris a GPS, and she calmly indicate the location. “I need you to head to the local hospital if you can. It’s incredibly important. There’s a lot of people in the hospital that need immediate aid. The most immediate concern is getting you in Trimena where you will get your orientation and you can help people in the trauma center.”
The Green Council Building
The City of Arthburg
February 1st, Eight Fifteen AM
The City of Arthburg
February 1st, Eight Fifteen AM
The dry heat over the sidewalks left the haze flashing over the area, the dead dry grass by the sidewalks seemed to leave an ominous sense of foreboding as one meandered through the exhausted city of Arthburg. While Blätterschplitt was rolling with aggressive violence, the city of Arthburg in Contrast was a crawling exhausted whisper. An older man walked across the crosswalk and fainted, the other Edolians responded quickly to aid their fellow men, and one younger woman attempted to check if the man was breathing, and lay him to one side and offered him a drink of water after she shouted to see if he was conscious. He didn’t immediately respond, but then gurgled as he attempted to shield himself from the sun. There was a distinct crunch as the group of Edolians brought the man to the shade beneath an outcropping under a building. The Green Council Building was ahead of them, and one Edolian man helped hoist the man up to his feet and helped carry him to the Green Council Building, and as the door was opened, the cool air from the air conditioning rolled over the people as they were immediately assisted by a group of Parliamentarians. Not all of them had any sense of medical experience, but there was ostensively a pair of nurses and one doctor among them, which meant they were filtering about, checking those who were taking refuge within the building, uncaring if it halted proceedings. These were less important, and ensuring the protection of human life was more of a priority.
Four Pseudonjas marked with New Edomite desert paint jobs and with flags flying had been guided to the Green Council Building. They slowed for the scene of the man who collapsed, and watched as others came to help. Prince Elijah got out and said “Canteen” to one of the RPS officers nearby, who snapped one off his belt. He splashed some water on his hand and rubbed it gently on the man’s lips. “I don’t know who’s a doctor here,” he said, “But make sure he doesn’t drink right away. Rehydrate him slowly.” As he saw a doctor arriving, he stood up. Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the skin crawling feeling he had of being surrounded by Damoclean savages, but they only looked like Damocleans. This was love your neighbor, not love your enemies. “I have come to see the Minister. I am the Special Envoy from the Allied States of New Edom.”
As he said this, the others were arriving apart from those finding a place to park and secure the vehicles. Esther Offenbach said to someone nearby, “How often does this happen? You hear the news reports, and we have the official reports, but how often have you seen.”
“About two percent of the population has perished, they say already, and it’s only going to get worse.” One of the men said with a horrified expression. “The scale of this is much greater than you can possible imagine, however.” He said as there was another man looking over a young child who was standing by the air conditioner. His tan skin was smooth and he had clear blue eyes and his hair was cropped around his head and styled on the top of his head into soft controlled curls. Unlike those surrounding him, his face was fairly germanic, and his clothing was much more formal. He was however, still recovering as his face seemed to suggest he could recognize the foreigners ahead of him. He adjusted his tie nervously, and pet the boy on his head before getting up on his two feet and heading toward the new coming persons with a poised grace and elegance.
“It will be some time before we are able to continue, gentlemen and ladies, for the time being the ministry is currently doing what it can, so we shall have to work closely and keep our eyes on Blätterschplitt. We cannot afford any more slip ups.” He said continuing his conversation before heading toward the Edomites and he bowed in the traditional manner with his palms placed together and his blue eyes closed in respect. “I apologize for these troubles, Sirs and Madames. We are in the middle of one of the hotter days in the week. We’re going to have many more of the refugees coming in here.”
Andrew was disturbed greatly by what he saw, that a leader would allow such a thing happen in his country was an affront to his sensibilities and it sparked a rage inside him. Andrew was exasperated that conditions were allowed to deteriorate to such a deplorable level. He watched as an elderly man collapsed and he intended to try and help but large land rover type vehicles with a black flag that had a white griffon emblazoned on it rolled up and one of the occupants had assisted the old man first.
Andrew followed what was obviously another foreign delegation inside the building that was clearly the Green Council, one inside he slipped back into one of the corners and watched as a man that matched the pictures of Chairman Neumann greeted the foreign delegation that had entered in front of Andrew. Settling in Andrew watched and observed quietly.
Prince Elijah nodded gravely. “Well, we are here now to help. Such troubled times. Our country has known similar troubles, so we are glad to help others. We could not have survived without such help. Shall we meet then? The sooner we get organize the sooner aid can be distributed, the sooner there can be a joint plan of action. Please allow me to introduce Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Esther Offenbach and Dr. John Ballard, Director of the National Council for Refugees. I of course am Prince Elijah Shalmaneser, Vice-Admiral, Governor of Etruria Major and Special Envoy. I am honoured to be here.”
“I am Sasha Neumann, and am pleased to meet you all, and I am here to go over last minute preparations for our arrival in Rohane Alista. I’m glad you have decided to accompany and support the people of the Republic. To me there are few things more important for a public official than to take care and safeguard his constituents. His brothers and sisters, and his countrymen. The opportunity for us to overcome the Impërator has come due to the unrest in Allanea, which has proven to be the perfect opportunity to stand for the Edolian people.”
Colonel Ruthan Demetrios of the Council Police, a dark haired woman with horn rimmed glasses wearing tropical barracks dress with a peaked cap, her uniform tailored to suit her athletic figure, turned and said with a smile to Andrew as the VIPs were talking, “Hello,” she inclined her head politely to him. “I’m Colonel Ruthan Demetrios, Ministry of Police. To whom might I have the honour of speaking?”
At the same time Prince Elijah said quietly, “I agree. But it is the hope of my government that you will at least entertain the notion of a negotiated peace, for the sake of the people you love so much. If there can be no peace, then we must deal with that, and be prepared, but it is better surely when your people need above all things food and water, the most basic of human needs, and these become even harder to satisfy when the ordinary people must scramble out of fear for their very lives. Is there somewhere we can talk, Chairman?”
Andrew was trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, unfortunately that seemed to draw the attention of one of the Edomite security personnel members. Andrew pondered if he should reveal his identity yet or wait a little while longer, after a moments thought he decided to go with the cover his Intelligence Chief had worked up for him.
“My name is Stephen Peterson and I am here to speak with the one of the parliamentarian members on behalf of my organization, the Thoricians Against Edolian Oppression. It’s a fairly recent group that cropped after news reports began trickling into Thoricia about the troubling conditions here in Edolia.” Andrew said to the nice looking lady, the whole time he was talking though he kept in ear cocked towards the conversation taking place with the Chairman and the Edomite.
It was right about then that the doors opened, admitting what appeared to be yet another delegation, consisting of four people, elves all; a pair of official-looking sorts in robes, one male, one female, and behind them a pair of black-armored Mornahossë guards. The two in robes approached the rapidly growing gathering, recognizing Sasha, at least, and waited for an opportunity to introduce themselves. Sasha looked over at the latest delegation entering the foyer and his eyes widened for a moment as his eyes narrowed and he looked carefully at their sharp pointed ears. He muttered to himself for a moment.
”Menelmacari?” he almost whispered. “Welcome!” He said louder as his voice crackled for a moment and he looked over at the rest of the delegations and waved over for them to follow him. “Please follow me to the Chambers, I was merely ensuring that the refugees were cared for. It’s becoming dangerously close to the hotter time of day, and by the time noon comes, we will have a full building.” Sasha said as he bowed with his palms placed together once more. “This way, please.”
He led them down the hall which had exhausted people attempting to coalesce and some of them seemed to be emaciated, and thin, their distended bellies were only the key that something was even more off. The Chambers were comfortable, but carefully in the central building. All the fountains which once had water splashing about were completely empty, and the water fountains within the building were not functioning. The Chairman stood behind one of the desks in the room with a warm smile and he motioned with his hand for his guests to sit wordlessly, and did not sit until everyone else was seated.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please have a seat.” He said his voice slightly gravelly as he cleared his throat and readjusted his tie. His voice became smooth and composed again, and he attempted to show no sign of discomfort.
As they entered the room, the male elf leaned over to one of the Mornahossë, whispering quietly. The two guards nodded, and remained outside; there was not likely to be a threat inside the chamber, and perhaps they could be of help tending to the refugees, as both had had training as medics. The elves filed to seats in the chamber and sat down.
The New Edomite delegation did rather likewise; Colonel Demetrios rather remained in the room though, as she was not just there to be a security leader but to make an intelligence assessment on the ground as well. Prince Elijah felt a sense of sorrow seeing what the place once was, and yet admired that Sasha Neumann, unlike his so called sovereign, did not maintain his pride at the expense of his people. Esther Offenbach got her tablet out in preparation for any necessary notes or translation, maps or other information; Dr. Ballard did likewise discreetly. A strongly built grey haired man with a worn face, his kindly father look hid his steel determination.
“I would like to first apologize for our rather terrible welcome, I’m afraid I have very little I can offer to accommodate guests as hospitably as I would were circumstances different, and as we speak, there are precarious circumstances building and I am hoping that, with your help, we can settle this matter with the Allaneans in Rohane Alista with as little strife as possible.” Sasha said with a frown. “But as you might have guessed, I am Sasha Neumann, former Chancellor of the Scarlet Empire of Edolia, and the Current Chairman of the Republic of Edolia. I welcome you to our nation, and I am hoping I may come clean with everything that we must do to save lives as soon as possible.” He said with little signs of exhaustion wearing away at him, but he seemed to push these aside and he quietly offered a bit of candies, but those were a small bit of hard candies that had been saved for the rest of the week, he had no intention to offend anyone present and offered them.
Andrew cursed his luck, it seemed the delegations were making their way towards some sort of room at the other end of the building, he couldn’t very well follow without raising suspicions from the security teams that were there to guard their charges.
“If you’ll excuse me ma’am.” Andrew said politely to the nice security lady Andrew positioned himself just in time to watch the Chairman and the delegations disappear. He looked around for something to busy himself with while he waited for the Chairman to make another appearance, unclipping the water bottle of his belt Andrew moved about the bodies of the unfortunate Edolians, and offered some of the younger children a sip of water here and there until the bottle ran out, pulling out his phone Andrew sent a text for a Thorician truck with a pallet of water to be diverted to the Green Council. One of the women with the dark brown eyes and the purple blouse and a clipboard approached Andrew for a moment and she tapped his shoulder with a kind smile.
“Are you one of the aid workers?” She asked as she held a water bottle in her hand. “Can you do me a favor? I am a little busy, and I am working on helping people on the grounds here. Can you deliver this to Sasha? I know he thinks that he can take more damage than others, but he needs to be well when he gets to Rohane Alista. Can you do this for me?” She asked. Andrew nodded his head and took the water bottle, he thanked the gods under his breath for giving him another chance.
Prince Elijah nodded. “Thank you for the candy, Chairman,” he bowed graciously as though he had instead been given a fifty year old bottle of scotch. “I hope it is not inappropriate but I would like to share this with everyone--this is spring sparkling water from my country. I hope we might all enjoy some…” he nodded to one of his aides to begin pouring cups of it to be set around the table. “As a gift from me personally. One of the things that President Pahath-Moab would like to encourage is a cessation of any hostilities and a focus on emergency aid, improvement of water tables and restoration of your food economy. However if there are any attempts at threats, he would like to propose that those nations represented here should agree to defend your government--not so much as to endorse your politics per se as your affairs are your own, but rather for the sake of the ordinary people.”
“I agree, and I also consider that this situation has continued to become more and more precarious day by day. Unfortunately in the beginning of this crisis we were unable to do critical tasks which would have lessened its severity massively. Now that we’re late into the crisis with no rationing to sustain us, we’re forced to take rather extreme measures to ensure the survival of our people.”
Maglor nodded, “Likewise, thank you for the candy -- and also for the water,” he gave a nod to the Edomite, “I apologize I’ve yet to introduce myself, I am Haryon Maglor nos Fëanor of Menelmacar, and this is my assistant at the Prefecture of Compassionate Relief, Lothiriel nos Círdan,” he gestured to the other elf with him, who smiled and gave a nod, “and to call the situation precarious is indeed an understatement in the extreme. What we are looking at here, even if everything from this moment forward goes perfectly, is a tragedy of monumental, unspeakable proportions. My people have the capacity to feed yours, but the scale of the operation needed to bring the aid into Edölia and ensure its equitable distribution is equally monumental. It would be one of the largest such operations we have ever undertaken.” Sasha took a desperate sip of the water as he tried to not leave the impression that he had been doing his best to take no more and no less than what he needed, but he ignored his sense of hunger and thirst more and more as the situation continued, thus making him slowly become more desensitized to his own suffering.
Andrew sighed deeply and looked at the water and back towards the door where two armored elves now worked tending to some of the refugees while still watching the corridor, his phone vibrated, it was most likely a confirmation that his request would be answered, ”Dammit.” he swore under his breath as he headed towards the back to deliver the water to the Chairman. As he approached the two guards he hoped they wouldn’t accost him in his efforts to enter the room.
“Mr. Chairman,” said Prince Elijah, compassionately but steadily, not giving way to his feelings of compassion too entirely, for that would not do in an emergency, “Does your Ministry of Relief have any calculation as to how many people require food and water? All or merely a large percentage, and do you have any notion of what areas are the hardest hit and need relief the fastest?”
The chairman laughed humorlessly and shook his head. “Do you know how many people live in Edolia? and its colonies?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Fifteen billion,” Lothiriel answered with a frown. “Give or take a few million.”
Outside, as Andrew approached the door, the two Mornahossë stood from their tasks, blocking his path, hands going to sword-hilts. “And who might you be, and your business?” the one on the right asked.
Andrew cursed again under his breath, today was not a day that seemed to be short on luck for him.
“I was instructed to give the Chairman this bottle of water.” Andrew offered as an answer and holding up the clear liquid, as if this was proof enough to be allowed to pass.
The soldier was clearly not impressed. “Your name? And instructed by whom?”
Andrew was screwed and he knew it, his sneaking around had caught up with him, he tried to remember if the brown haired lady had given him her name but couldn’t recall.
“My name is Stephen Peterson I represent one of the Thorician charities doing work here, the nice Edolian lady over there.” Andrew pointed at the woman that was moving about the people. “Asked me if I would make sure that the Chairman recieved a drink of water.” Andrew held the bottle up again to show he was planning nothing nefarious.
“I’m sorry, Chairman,” said Esther Offenbach, looking up at him, thinking he was a rather striking man, feeling sorry for him, “But does that mean all of your citizens are equally in need of emergency water and rations?”
“To the East of us is the Great Desert, which is a badlands that is uninhabitable, and it has been uninhabitable for many years, since back in the ages of the Haven Alliance. It continues to be uninhabitable, and the lands we have are rarely fertile and usually quite well off, up until the rains did not come. We hoped they perhaps would come later this year, but still nothing.” He said with a massaging of his forehead. “This means every Edolian from the Desert to the shore is at risk of starvation and thirst, and death. There is some respite in the colonies away from here, but they have only limited resources to offer the mainland, and they have been troopers, truly.”
“I wish to stress,” Maglor noted, “That while we can feed Edölia for the time being, a view must be given to the longer term. The rains are not going to come every year, as you now know. There will be times they won’t come multiple years in a row. Yet Edölia must be able to feed itself reliably. Have you given a thought to how you would resolve this in the long term, or prevent it happening again?”
Meanwhile, outside, the Mornahossë took the bottle. “Dialagos, search him, and I will check this. Please put your hands against the wall, sir.” He opened the bottle, and drew a small device from his belt, with a long probe from its bottom end, and dipped it into the liquid in the bottle, eyeing the device’s screen for its analysis.
Andrew complied, he had little choice in the matter, he spread his hands and leaned against the wall and spread his leg, he recognized the duo as elves from there features, strangely he could not place any of their distinguishing feature as some of the more common elf types that hailed from the Armagedox region.
“Once we are safe enough to reprivatize the agricultural base we will be able to finally place subsidies that we intended for years to place upon the Farmers of Edolia, and we will have a great safeguard against famine in the future.” He said calmly. “Something, I might add, was forbidden and vetoed many times under the Impërator’s regime. His loathing of public services and subsidies was so great that we could neither prevent, nor protect against, nor even recover from the tragedy which struck Edolia.” He said calmly. “This I have to be sure that I will push through important legislation that has been vetoed endlessly by the Impërator despite our nation’s and our people’s wishes.”
The elves nodded, and Lothiriel had another question. “What, if any, is the state of desalination infrastructure in Edölia? Any long term solution will likely require vast amounts of irrigation, more than you have reserves of potable water.”
“We have four functioning desalination plants with only three completed and functioning. The fourth is still work in progress which has stopped due to strikes and lock outs.” The Chairman said with a tired sigh. “Which is why we intended to nationalize it. Now is not the time for this b-” He hesitated to say bullshit. “-bad blood.” He finished.
“I have a recommendation then,” said Prince Elijah, finding that Sasha was essentially saying “It’s a widespead problem, we really don’t know..”. “We should for the time being concentrate on establishing a clear base for distribution of rations, water medical supplies around here, and if need be establish semi permanent bases of operation for each nation contributing. From there we can become more widespread. This should give your government the room it needs to focus on the rebuilding you need to do. We have a private company that works with our Ministry of Defense which can help set up other emergency facilities. I would like to recommend though for the time being that we relay in the emergency supplies, perhaps through the Ministry of Relief, so that there is a constant flow otherwise it could become confusing. As we begin this, we can also organize a plan for air drops so that we move from the coast inland on a regular basis. We can coordinate a virtual map and database we all share. Sir,” he said, turning to Maglor, “My understanding as well is that your nation has a great deal of air mobility? Perhaps a second main base of operations inland could be established with your authority coordinating that one--guiding in other aid by air to reach the inland population, and the Allied States could focus on the coastal one.”
Maglor nodded. “Indeed, we do,” he said, “However, the initial point of ingress for most of what we bring will likely be container ports, as they’re best suited for unloading our freighters. Airports can serve as well, but are suboptimal. That said, from point of ingress to point of use the distribution network will need to be considerable, and likely extraordinarily complex. This is indeed something we can help coordinate, and provide dropships for as well.”
Meanwhile, outside, the search of poor Andrew continued apace; his ID confirmed the name he’d given, but his phone did not. Still, he was unarmed and the water wasn’t poisonous, so it was returned.
“Your water, and your phone, Mr. Whitean,” Dialagos said with a smirk. “Tilion here will escort you inside to deliver it to the chairman.”
Ändrew figured as soon as they retrieved his phone the gig was up, he had meant to secure a burner phone but the speed at which things were moving and his attempt at subterfuge the phone slipped his mind. The Chairman of Thoricia suppressed a grin as he followed one of them into the Chamber where the other foreign delegation members were.
“Indeed,” Prince Elijah understood that Neumann was under a lot of strain, and felt that things could be worse, but decided to fall onto plan B. It was turning into something like a meeting in a cafe or a public washroom, people coming in and out now. Who was this clown coming in? “We are going to set up a Forward Operational Base,” he said, as Esther passed him a note via tablet, “Which we will call FOB Manna. From there we intend to have distribution from ten flights a day, and we will also begin setting up ROWPU units which will act as mobile water purification systems. So that’s that part of the plan...but I wonder if we could possibly move on to discuss this meeting in...what’s that other country called? It’s not Roania is it?””
“Rohane Alista.” said Esther.
“That’s the one. What are you hoping to accomplish there, Chairman?”
“I imagine he wishes to accomplish freeing his people from the grip of this tyrant that dresses like a pimp.” piped in Andrew as he was led into the room. He looked at the Chairman of Edolia, he quietness had vanished in a second “My apologies for my subterfuge, I desired to see firsthand how bad the conditions in your country had deteriorated and if I may so bold I must state that I am appalled.” Andrew looked at the other members confused looks and realized they had no idea who he was and were staring at him as if we some sort of madman that had gone on a rave.
“My apologies, I am Andrew Whitean, Chairman of The Council from the Socialist Nordic States of Thoricia.”
“I recognized you earlier, and wondered why you had not decided to come in, thus I waited for you before also highlighting some of the more important plans for the time being. I’m aware that the Allaneans are on the move, and Alexander Kazansky is coming to my nation, and he intends to destroy my people. We have been ancestral enemies for a long time. His fleets are moving, but I do not know where they are heading to attack.” The Edolian Chairman said with a raised eyebrow.
The confused and chaotic style of the meeting was giving Prince Elijah serious irritation. Now this dramatic arrival. He didn’t show any obvious irritation because that was a very improper way to behave in his country. He had the feeling those with him were disconcerted as well. His feeling was that no plan would emerge from this discussion--it was like attending some kind of ladies’ tea party, where everyone had an opinoin and there was no agreement on what was a concern, and people brought up concerns willy nilly.
Fortunately he had a clear mission in mind, had clear orders and instructions, except for the meeting which apparently Sasha Neumann didn’t believe in. “So you feel that there is no possibility for a negotiated peace?” he asked, glancing from the one Chairman to the other.
“I do, but I do not suspect that the Allaneans will relent, as you are aware, if they are positioning for an attack, then it is not because I sense that they desire to play nice. I suspect this shall be a, ‘gunboat’ diplomacy meeting.” The Edolian Chairman said with a raised eyebrow. “But please, do sit down, Chairman Whitean.” Sasha said as he looked over at the rest of the persons before him.
“Now, I suspect that we should speak more formally now with regards to our plea for aid.” Sasha said honestly. “As you are now aware of the scale of our problem, and you are aware of what we intend to propose at the meeting in Rohane Alista, I am going to point out that as Edolia is in a vulnerable position, and thus will need your help to negotiate in favor of the common Edolian. The Impërator, who does not speak for the vast majority of Edolians, is attempting to assert his position using the Kingdom of Allanea as a threat.” Sasha said with his hands folded. “Thus we must be aware of what this entails for everyone who has come for an aid mission in Edolia, and we must come together to decide what we shall put forth at the meeting of Rohane Alista in order to ensure the Allaneans cannot assert their power over Edolians.”
“Our primary concern should be working together to alleviate the suffering of the people of Edolia I feel Chairman.” Andrew stated “I agree that we should do everything in our power to avoid any military conflict, such a thing would kill millions more Edolians then are going to perish. I would however like to reiterate that no matter what Thoricia will support whatever agenda you think is best for the people of Edolia Chairman.”
Maglor nodded, “I agree with the Thorician,” he answered, “This is our primary concern at this time… though I do suggest military readiness be increased as much as possible. However, given the scale of the operation required, we may need to make use of naval bases as well as container ports to offload supplies. We can discuss the specific numbers later, but I assure you they are prodigious.”
“I concur,” said Prince Elijah. “After the infamous commando raid on the girls reform school in Pantocatoria, it is clear that the Allanean government has no respect for international sovereignty and probably only respects force. This is highly dangerous--a powerful nation,” he said with a rather gloomy sigh, “Which only respects force could at any time change its spots and become a nation of slavers or satanists or who knows what. They call my people savages--they might decide that savages must be stamped out. Therefore if your nation’s sovereignty is threatened and thus your troubled people, President Pahath-Moab has promised that we will stand with you, and with your allies.”
“I will do what I can to ensure that we have enough to generate a proportional response if needed, but your idea of taking care to offload supplies from naval ports is a good suggestion. We shall do our best to gets as much supplies, food and water to as far as we need to.” The Edolian Chairman said as he pointed at a potential problem. “Now as you know that the Allaneans are likely to attempt to refuse to negotiate in favor of Edolian people, we will need some way to make plain that we will not permit the Allaneans to run rancor over the people, and I suggest that we take tremendous care in these discussions. I do not deny that the main problem seems to come from a lack of priorities on the part of the Impërator, but if he continues to insist upon our national sovereignty, and his men are responsible for crimes against the Edolian people, I may attempt to offer clemency in order for us to request his exile from Edolia.”
“I do not like the decision but I must agree with it unfortunately, the Allaneans have proven they give no fucks when it come to rescuing one of their cronies.” Andrew said “As we speak naval elements of the 1rst Thorician Battle Fleet and the 1rst Iron Armada from the S.D.R. are linking up and are headed this way with precious aid supplies, and while I hope they would have little involvement it seems to be more and more likely that force will be necessitated.” The Chairman sighed at this last statement, while the Thorician commitment was as resolute as ever he hated spending Thorician troops lives.
“If we were to offer clemency, and perhaps postpone the decision on sovereignty, perhaps permitting...temporarily...for the Impërator to remain where he is in peace, then they would have really no just cause since after all the Allaneans are also supporting an aid program.” Prince Elijah said after hearing the whispers of his advisers. “I agree, that is a good plan. But of course you would have no choice but to defend yourselves if Kazansky insists on being stubborn and prideful, and in the name of your starving hundreds of millions we would be obliged to help you.”
“I am willing to do whatever it takes if it will work, but the problem is that he wants actually to have executive authority, and as such it makes any action that parliament wishes to take all but impossible, including actions that are saving lives in the here and now, and let’s not forget he ordered my execution no short of three days ago for treason.” Sasha explained with a bit of discomfort. “While I might wish to say ‘yes, let’s let him stay if he will behave like an ordinary citizen’ this is not what he desires.”
“We’ll need to distract him somehow, of course,” said Prince Elijah. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with Sasha really...he wondered if the man was a homosexual. Oh well, it was not for him to judge those in need--the man was clearly a heathen anyway, with his odd facial expressions and fussing, and those clothes. “Does he like being flattered and enjoy the company of attractive women?”
“I am not sure to be fair, I used to think that the Impërator was gay, but I am not sure.” The Chairman admitted. “Especially because he does often mope about his dead wife.”
“Then each of our nations can in various ways beguile him, suggest that we want to hear both sides, invite him with great ceremony and pomp to visit our nations and have discussions with him. Make it clear we want to deal with him and not the Allaneans.” suggested Elijah. “We should make this meeting as inconclusive as possible then if you think he won’t go for a truce while we deal with the crisis. We should offer that of course but I’d like to see this as a backup plan.”
“I’m afraid there is not a lot of ‘pomp and ceremony’ in Thoricia for foreign dignitaries, especially tyrants, and there would be a good chance an attempt would be made on his life in Thoricia so it will need to be done by either New Edom or the elves here.” Andrew said
“There is much to be said about pomp, but for now we must prepare, once we head to Rohane Alista we will need to discuss, and as I am aware, the Menelmacari were once part of the Alliance of Greater Prussia were they not?”
Maglor barked a laugh. “Emphasis on past tense, yes,” he answered. “Their corruption and other nonsense quickly became too much for us and we withdrew. I am not speaking with Herbord right now, am I?” He smiled. “That said, we are not interested at this time in picking a side in internal strife, or indeed, recognizing either party as the ‘official’ government. I am here and not in Blätterschplitt because Menelmacar considers Chairman Neumann to be the more effective option for quickly effecting the aid that needs to be provided here. Getting people fed is our primary concern.”
“Precisely,” agreed Prince Elijah. “This is about starving children and suffering people. As it is written: What you do unto the least of these, you do to me.. And your government is the only one which is even trying to do anything about it. I am not impressed by this tale of Kazansky working with his hands. If he truly wants the good of the people, he will stand aside from this purpose of insisting on this Imperator who dresses like a whore in the place of a man who genuinely loves the people.”
“I am going to do my best to settle this situation, but as we speak we will do our best to ensure the distribution of water and food gets done quickly and timely.” Sasha said as he calmly looked over at the Menelmacari. “I’ve stated before and will state this again, if the Impërator allowed us to conduct lifesaving operations freely we would have no problem letting him play with his crown at least until Edolians are not held at ransom.”
“Indeed,” Lothiriel answered Sasha with a nod, “Fortunately there is absolutely nothing the Impërator can do to prevent us doing what we are here to do. If he is smart -- and we don’t particularly believe he is -- he will endorse it as immediately and loudly and repeatedly and publicly as possible. But we’ll see.”
“But I invite you all to sit with me in Rohane Alista on behalf of the Edolian people.” Sasha said calmly. “We shall be leaving at noon, I recommend you prepare yourselves.”
Ardenloch Naval Outpost
The Bluffs of Edenburg
February 1st, Eight Twenty AM
The Bluffs of Edenburg
February 1st, Eight Twenty AM
It was a quiet morning in the naval outpost while several of the monitors for the Edolian Navy were monitoring the sounds in the sea in defense of the Edolian people. One of the monitors shot up in alarm and he immediately contacted the Admiral.
"Sir, we have spotted an enemy sub fleet moving into positions via our SOSUS monitors." The young man said with shock and nerves running down his spine.
"Get me confirmations by airborne and seaborne anti-submarine patrols. I want you to get anti-sub destroyers and cruisers in the area. Get some helicopter carriers packed to the brim with anti-sub helis to clean the place out immediately." Admiral Montri said with a frown. "Notify all friendly subs in the area and the fleets in the area carrying humanitarian aid immediately."
"Affirmative, Admiral shall we commence the bombing?" He asked the Admiral, not wanting there to be any question of how this matter was to be settled.
"Indeed."
The destroyers then swiftly move in to attack the submarines, launching helicopters to pinpoint them with towed sonars and then prepared to sink them with missiles within a far range, while the carriers brought forth more swarms of ASW helicopters and they began to head close to fire at their targets.
