Into the Bear's Den [Kylaris]

[Lunas Legion]

Room 29 was not the most impressive name for a room, and it was not a particularly impressive room either. The view was at best average, looking over the Petrovsk skyline and in the distance the port district of Odev and the Perovo Sea. The walls were dull paneled wood along with the long oval table that dominated the room surrounded by chairs, the carpet a faded red. A minibar sat against one wall, quietly whining away, while opposite it sat a old-style safe with a large book resting on top of it.

No, Room 29 was not impressive because it did not need to be impressive; it was a room for action, not intimidation. And that was why General-Secretary Vladimir Syndrei found it far more useful whenever he found himself needing to conduct diplomacy. He never conducted diplomacy alone either. He sat at the point of the table, the window behind him, facing the door. First on his left was Yekatrina Petrova, who was something of a rising star within the Party and Syndrei's protégé. Next on his left was Josef Olovski in his usual military uniform slouched over the table. On from Olovski was Uhlman Yudentin, the 'old warhorse' of the NKVD which he was Commissar for. After Yudentin was Pytor Kolchen, Chairman of SNEK, the Commissar responsible for Kaxakh's state-owned industries and indirectly the man responsible for Syndrei's seizure of power two decades ago.

On his right sat the military triumvirate; Dimitri Miller, the loyalist Commissar for the Army, Vladimir Gauzov, Commissar for the Navy and former Naval Infantry and finally the Commissar for the Air Force, Dimitri Nikchenko, Syndrei's former air force liaison from his army days. With the sole exception of Petrova, they were all hardened veterans of politics, having had twenty years of experience in the field against a wide range of opposition from all sides, directions and corners. Yes, Avery was a newcomer and one they had no experience dealing with, but they had dealt with Asterians before. Little had changed between the various previous Presidents, little would change now. Furthermore the SVR-GRU had prepared a through briefing on the man from trawling through multiple Asterian news networks and Avery's own electoral policies. Knowledge was power, after all, and the Revolutionary Council was confident that they had all the knowledge that they could possibly need.

All they needed to do now was wait for Olovski's Kremlin Security Regiment to escort the President and whatever security detail he'd brought along here, and so they waited.

[Alinora]

Petrovsk wasn't the warmest place - both in temperature, or in atmosphere. It was bitter cold - the type that made your heart skip a beat once you were exposed to it. The people were also fairly drained of life and excitement - not that metropolitan Asterians were much better, but it was certainly odd. In his sedan, driven by two FIS agents and escorted by Petrovsk police, Avery prepared himself for his first face-to-face meeting with Kaxakh's General-Secretary: Vladimir Syndrei. It was intimidating, to say the least, for he knew that Syndrei had dealt with Asterian presidents in the past and never had they been very fond - especially with Ronald White. Avery hoped he could break the cycle, but knew better than to get ahead of himself.

His convoy stopped in front of the Kremlin: the capital building of Kaxakh. With FIS agents escorting him, the President-elect would be brought by Kaxakh Security forces into the building, and through it's maze of halls and rooms. They stopped before a door among many others in what would seem like a New Haven apartment, with the number "29" loosely glued to it. It seemed old, and informal, but Avery had no doubt that history was made in these rooms. He straightened his blazer on his gray and made sure the Asterian flag pin was straight before nodding to the Kremlin's security, who opened the door to reveal Syndrei and a few others whom he'd only known from the news, and only roughly knew their names.

"Mr. General-Secretary" the President-elect said, walking towards them while the FIS agents took position on either side of the door, "it's good to meet you at last - thank you for inviting me here, to Petrovsk."

[Lunas Legion]

"Hmph." Syndrei grunted. He was not a man for formalities or politeness; a side effect of never holding a political office before General-Secretary. "Take a seat, President-Elect. I dislike wasting time on formalities or trivialities, so let us get down to business. What, exactly, are you here to achieve, how do you intend to achieve it, and most importantly..." Syndrei leaned forwards, placing his elbows on the table. "Why should I agree to it, when the current status quo, although far from desirable, is quite tolerable for us?"

[Alinora]

...

Avery had expected the rumors and speculations about the General-Secretary to be true, but still wasn't expecting such raw anger to be caged up within the man - he knew that Syndrei was trying to intimidate him, to establish his strength and dominance even before Avery took office, but the President-elect wouldn't buckle. He maintained a calm expression and took a seat, then folding his hands and pursing his lips.

"Mr. Syndrei, me being here alone should be enough for you to put your pride aside and be willing to listen, because the way you're acting now, you already have an answer to anything I could ask."

[Lunas Legion]

"I cannot answer anything until you say something worthwhile, Mr Avery, which you have yet to do so." Syndrei shrugged. " I simply wish to conclude this as quickly as possible, as all of us present on my side of the table also have to run our various organisations, departments and quasi-non governmental organisations as well as being present here at this meeting should the interests of their area fall under scrutiny as per government policy. So, please, do enlighten us to whatever grand designs you may have."

[Alinora]

...

Avery tapped his fingers on the table for a few moments, exhaling, before he spoke. "As you likely know, a major point in my campaign was to improve relations with Kaxakh, and to ease the tensions between the CSS and the rest of the world." He paused. "In the unlikely event that you didn't know this, allow me to elaborate." An FIS Agent, dressed in a simple black suit with black shades and an earpiece, handed Avery a rolled up sheet of paper. The President-elect stood up and rolled it out flat onto the table, grabbing two small marble weights from the agent to keep it flat.

It was a map of the Kaxakh-Wazovia border. There were a few moments of silence, since everyone in the room knew what was going to be said next. Still, Avery said this. "I speak for everyone - DITO, the EC, even the Perovo Pact, when I say that we'd like to see a gradual demilitarization of the border." He used his hands to show. "DITO troops pull back from the border just as Kaxakh and CSS troops do - a mutual effort."

[Lunas Legion]

"And can you even ensure that your allies cooperate? The Izmenniks..." Syndrei practically spat the word. "The Izmenniks cannot be trusted. They may pull their troops away, but they'll just be replaced by 'paramilitaries' or 'armed police' or some other loophole left open by the wording of the treaty. Furthermore, I doubt the Perovo Pact would be willing to cooperate, although I do not believe their cooperation is necessary, so I will leave any seperate negotiations with them to you alone. Miller, how much of our army is along that border?"

"Approximately a sixth of our combat ready forces are present along the Kaxakh-Occupied Wazovia border. Half if you count forces in the other CSS states bordering occupied Wazovia, and that isn't even including allied forces along those borders, the Rear of the People's Army, NKVD Border and Internal Troops and People's Shock Troops." Miller paused. "Oh, and the Air Force, Airborne Troops, Strategic Missile Forces and Space Forces."

"So any demilitarisation of the border on our side, at least, would require a large-scale re-basing and re-barracking of our forces, although that in turn would depend on the timeframe for and the extent of the withdrawal of forces. Roughly how large of a drawdown would you be proposing?"

[Alinora]

"So any demilitarisation of the border on our side, at least, would require a large-scale re-basing and re-barracking of our forces, although that in turn would depend on the timeframe for and the extent of the withdrawal of forces. Roughly how large of a drawdown would you be proposing?"

Avery was quick to respond. "Talks with my appointed Secretary of Defense put around a 50% removal of troops from both sides within the next year." He shifted his weight in his chair and spoke in a more hushed tone. "We would also request that Kaxakh remove it's ballistic missiles from Isla Juana, in return for the same courtesy in Wazovia - off the record, of course."

[Lunas Legion]

quote="Alinora";p="30592918"]

"So any demilitarisation of the border on our side, at least, would require a large-scale re-basing and re-barracking of our forces, although that in turn would depend on the timeframe for and the extent of the withdrawal of forces. Roughly how large of a drawdown would you be proposing?"

Avery was quick to respond. "Talks with my appointed Secretary of Defense put around a 50% removal of troops from both sides within the next year." He shifted his weight in his chair and spoke in a more hushed tone. "We would also request that Kaxakh remove it's ballistic missiles from Isla Juana, in return for the same courtesy in Wazovia - off the record, of course."[/quote]

"Removing troops by percentage terms is unacceptable." Miller retorted. "As the Commissar for the People's Army, I can accept a reduction of... 50,000 troops from both sides of the border, but I cannot accept reductions in troops by percentages. If we are reducing troops, we should be pulling back the same number of troops each." Miller glanced towards Syndrei.

"As for Isla Juana," Syndrei began, "I can at most promise the removal of nuclear warheads from Isla Juana. The ballistic missile launchers there have been sold to the Isla Juanan government, and although we can apply pressure for their re-sale, they will likely remain on Isla Juana but with conventional warheads."

[Alinora]

...

Avery knew that Kaxakh would never remove all ballistic missiles, but he knew that they would meet with him on nuclear warheads. As a friend once told him during his days in the Senate, "shoot high if you want to hit the middle." He nodded to Syndrei on the topic of Isla Juana and wrote himself a quick note on a slip of paper before continuing. "On the matter of troops, I believe we can agree to an initial removal of around 25,000 from both sides - starting in March or April, and continue the pattern through the rest of the year." He paused. "How does that sound?"

[Lunas Legion]

Miller and Syndrei glanced briefly at each other before the latter spoke. "Purely for the sake of bureaucracy and administration on our side, it would be preferable for Miller's earlier suggestion of a 50,000 man reduction to be used, with the drawdown to start in February and to take place throughout the year. If that figure is unacceptable, I am willing to accept a lower figure of 40,000 or 30,000 instead. Furthermore, what are we defining as 'troops' for the purpose of this drawdown? Frontline army units alone, I presume?"

[Alinora]

Avery tapped his fingers on the wooden table. "Initially, I hope to focus on armored and artillery units - they pose a more direct threat. They can be followed by infantry, but we would like to see the tank divisions, and the artillery battalions, pulled back from the border."

[Lunas Legion]

"On our side, at least, forces will be withdrawn by division and army rather than by the composition of units. Purely for the sake of bureaucratic efficiency and administration, of course." Miller replied.

[Alinora]

"On our side, at least, forces will be withdrawn by division and army rather than by the composition of units. Purely for the sake of bureaucratic efficiency and administration, of course." Miller replied.

Avery nodded. "Whatever is most convenient, while still accomplishing the goal in mind." He shifted his weight and started to change the topic. "I would also like to re-open communication channels between DITO and the CSS, which have never been particularly strong, as well as opening trade routes between Kaxakh and the Federation."

[Lunas Legion]

Syndrei sighed. And there it was. That one, awkward elephant for diplomacy that no one seemed to remember outside of Kaxakh. "Communication channels between the CSS and DITO cannot be opened so long as either Wazovia or SDaP is a member of the latter, as opening of communications channels to an organisation containing those pretender states could be considered de facto recognition of those so-called states. It has been Kaxakh's policy to avoid all possible recognition of those states, and to affect a change in that policy would require significant concessions on your part, Mr President."

"As for economic links, I must second that to the Chairman of SNEK, Pytor Kolchen, as international trade is his area of expertise."

"Thank you, General-Secretary." Pytor nodded gratefully. "As head of the SNEK, I cannot let any singular Kaxakh-Federation trade deal be negotiated solely on that basis. I will need to consult the other members of SNEK on a SNEK-Federation deal, and exactly what such a deal would entail. As of right now, however, the collective economy of SNEK is not ready for integration into the wider world economy. The most I believe I can offer right now is parts of our surplus gas and oil production in exchange for various enviromental technologies, as Nematsu supplies us with a sufficient amount of consumer goods in addition to our own industries."

[Alinora]

...

Avery always found Kaxakh's view on the world to be frustrating and small-minded. "Wazovia is only a pretender state to the CSS - it is a legitimate nation to the rest of the world - recognized by every other country, and the Community of Nations." He paused briefly. "Grudges that have been held for decades over nothing more than spite need to be left in the past, where they belong, or else progress is a mere thought that will never be able to manifest."

[Lunas Legion]

"Those grudges also happen to be issues of national security, Mr President." Josef Olovski growled. "You Asterians never quite understand that. All of us here, with the exception of Petrova, who was too young to serve at the time, and Gauzov, who served on Yutrov, were involved with the Wazovian situation. I, personally, commanded the 32nd Guards Tank Division. The General-Secretary commanded the 3rd Shock Army, with Nikchenko as his air force liaison. Yudentin was commander of the NKVD Border Troops sent over during the latter stages of the conflict. Miller commanded 1st Guards Tank Brigade. Kolchen was an economic attache with our embassy. We were all there, at differing levels and in differing circumstances. But that isn't the issue here."

"The other Izmennik states, we could easily tolerate their loss. Strategically useful, but not valuable. Acceptable losses. But Occupied Wazovia... When when we lost control, well, the enemy were at the gates. The leadership was weak. The economy was in tatters. We were just waiting for you to try and kick the door in from your new ally, bring the whole rotten structure down. You never did, and so we're still waiting. As long as Occupied Wazovia is against us, it will never be recognised. It is too much of a strategic vulnerability for us to ignore the use of a government in exile which, one day, will reclaim its rightful territory."

[Alinora]

"The entirety of Wazovia's existence as an independent state has been spent protecting itself from you, not the other way around" Avery said rather bluntly, though not trying to sound aggressive. "It has been decades, Mr. Syndrei - decades that Wazovia and DITO could have attacked you, but we haven't - and now here I am, sitting in the capital of what many back home call the 'evil empire', vying to see this 'threat' of war be eased. Believe it or not, Mr. General-Secretary, as fearful you are of a DITO attack, the Wazovian people are far more terrified of a Kaxakh one. They fear that Kaxakh will murder them - commit genocide to an unprecedented level, and while I may not entirely believe that's you're MO, my people have never been at your mercy."

Avery stopped, leaning back in his chair and sighing. "And you all act as if you're the only people in human history to ever serve their country - gentlemen can I ask if you've ever killed another man? A woman? Maybe even a child? I can tell you this right now, I served in the Federal Army Rangers in Nuranz and killed all three, all for my country. I've had men die in my arms, I've had men die by my hand - but do I hate the Nurani people? Do I hate Badawiyans? No, because holding grudges doesn't help you get anywhere."

Once again, he stopped, tapping his fingers nervously. "Gentlemen, Wazovia isn't against you, they're trying to protect themselves from you. I've spoken with their leadership on many occasions, and they want nothing more than peace. The only reason they've ever been a threat to your national security is because you've been an overwhelmingly larger threat to their national security, and it is frowned upon to say that your nation and your people mean matter than another nation and it's people." He paused. "Also, Mr. General Secretary, tell me what you'd gain if by some stroke of luck, you manage to take Wazovia without losing tens of thousands of your own, if not completely dooming this entire planet? What is their to gain? A population that hates you, and that will actively rebel?" He shifted his weight in his chair. "Let Wazovia be Wazovia, and let Kaxakh be Kaxakh - recognize them, work with me to demilitarize the border, re-open communication channels, and this 'threat to national security' that you talk about will fade away."

[Lunas Legion]

"We are not scared of Wazovia." The General-Secretary groaned. "We never have been. It is what comes through Wazovia, namely DITO, that scares us. And yes, it has been decades since they revolted, but time means nothing. Your rulers change like the wind, Mr Avery; neither of us can count on that a decade or so down the line, a President with the idea of ending communism won't come to power and everything you propose to accomplish here. It is avoiding the potential for that position that has been the driving force behind my policies, but when your opposition changes so frequently, what is there to do but the surest option? That is what we gain, Mr Avery, security. As long as Wazovia remains in DITO, that threat will remain."

"And I think you underestimate our willingness to take losses, Mr Avery. Kaxakh has never defined success by it's own losses, but rather the damage dealt. There would be no population to rebel or land to occupy, because Wazovia would be a... I believe one of our strategists called it 'uninhabitable biochemical soup with a side of radiation'. Although not ideal, such a measure would be regarded as successful on our side."

"To put it simply, Mr Avery, the system of democracy is why we will never recognise Wazovia. We will not pass up the opportunity to achieve permanent security should one be presented, and only then can we have that 'peace' which you seem to preach about. I would remind you, Mr Avery, that we gain exactly nothing strategically here; we are satisfied with the status quo, your fallback is matched exactly by our fallback whilst I do believe part of your program involves funding domestic works via military cuts. Therefore, I am going to lay down a final premise. Nothing much, I assure you. The government of Iyakasar has requested a meeting with us to discuss our possible intervention there for the sole purpose of ensuring the continued independence of Iyakasar. I would simply request that the Federation, and the Federation alone, no need to drag the rest of DITO into this, ignores our intervention."

[Alinora]

Avery leaned back and crossed his arms, staring at Syndrei with what would now appear to be very frustrated eyes. He had been warned of Kaxakh's tough and shady negotiating skills, and had expected it, but for the General Secretary to completely disregard the legitimacy of the diplomatic process? The young President-elect let out a short chuckle, shaking his head, before he spoke. "Mr. Syndrei, it's one thing to remove nuclear weapons from national borders under the table - that is something productive - but you expect the Federation, and in fact all of DITO, to simply stand by and watch you interfere in Iyakasar, and cause more disruption, and more problems, than there already are?" He shook his head and began standing.

"I came here with the hope that you'd be willing to listen to reason, and with the hope that maybe you'd be willing to work towards a common goal, but it seems like you have no intentions of cooperating with the Federation or DITO on any level at all." He pushed his chair, and it groaned against the wood floor. "How do I know that the minute DITO begins removing it's military presence from Wazovia, you won't take the opportunity to steamroll them? To slaughter them absolutely, as you seem so dedicated to doing." He straightened his jacket and walked towards the door, but stopped as his hand was on the knob.

"Like it or not, your sphere - the CSS - is collapsing around you. Opportunities like the ones I have give you here, today, don't come around often. Give it some thought, Mr. General-Secretary." He left the room, followed by the FIS operatives.

[Lunas Legion]

"So, I do believe that means negotiations have failed?" Petrova asked as Avery and his security detail left the room.

"Of course. Avery asked for something we were simply not willing to give, and expected us to agree to something for the 'common good'." Syndrei chucked. "Of course, we don't negotiate for anything that doesn't have a net gain for us relative to the other party's own gain. Either we come out on top, whether the other side perceives it or not, or the negotiations fall through. Uhlman, your people in Room 29B have that all on tape, I trust?"

"Of course." Uhlman glanced at the ceiling. "We tested all the equipment beforehand and it was all working perfectly."

"Excellent. Do the usual with the tapes, Uhlman."