A dreary summer's night of serenity: frigid temperatures seemingly froze the darkness. Streetlamps barely light the sidewalks and the paths on the square. In the yellow, warm glow of parliament however, it was chaos and activity. A blonde, middle-aged woman with a plump figure, Commander of Freilibre Mediterranean Fleet Admiral Catherine Delacroix, was brisk walking through the corridors along with her aides. It was a busy night, not just for her, but for her nation as well.
"Admiral-" a man with another uniform, similar to hers, speaks up, "Ma'am, the situation is getting tense. We'll be updating you by the half hour."
"No," she responded, aggressively and with a certain assertive tone, "Update me every goddamn minute. I want to be in the situation room for as long as possible."
"Of course, ma'am. Uh- besides that, there's another urgent situation that needs to be attended to." the man was nervous, and hesitant
"Well? Bloody tell me then?"
"Well... it's about-" he leans in closer and whispers in her ear, "Operation Erebus, ma'am."
Suddenly, and predictably, all her cares were thrown out the window; not afraid, but angered by the mere mention of that name.
"Talk to me, what about it. This goes above all else."
They were in the middle of monitoring the 77th Mediterranean fleet's mobilization out of the strait of Gibraltar. It was already a tense situation; many nations and organizations were fixated in the crisis- now the civil war in Khataiy. Freilibre's role as a peacekeeper was in jeopardy, as it recently announced it wouldn't be sending aid to the recent Shahita civil war. The public demands answers as to why the situation in Khataiy was put above all else, the media correspondents constantly bicker about it, yet the government's yet to announce anything. A few minutes later, Delacroix was seen bursting into the High Chancellor's office,
"Right Honourable High Chancellor-" "Admiral." "-thank you for seeing me on such short notice. If you must know the truth, though... we need you back in the situation room." The High Chancellor was immediately upset, he'd been up for more than 72 hours at this point- but of course, this was Admiral Delacroix he was dealing with- if anything, anything that Delacroix brings up with someone, one has to put everything else on hold. "God, okay. The status on the fleet and the peacekeeping regiments? Walk and talk." the chancellor said, "Assemble high command, the high chancellors- everything."
Adélaïde, FACD Darkhall Building, Situation Room
High Chancellor Sohrab was immediately drawn into a high priority phone call as soon as they reached the situation room. "For god's sake, just let me speak to him-- yes the goddamn ambassador himself, I am the High Chancellor of the Freilibre Commonwealth, he's in my territory, I demand I meet with him, now!" Angered, he throws the blackberry to the ground, "That was the Qatari ambassador. He refuses to meet with me- me! The head of government... I was right about him, for Pete's sake. When did we first know that Omar Khairallah had connections in France and Qatar?"
A gruff voice, presumably the general, judging from the man's attire, interrupts, "We have the full support of the UN Security Council," he says, while putting down his landline, "-UN Peacekeeping forces are at the Turkish-Khataiy border, ready to help refugees and Turkish forces secure the area, sir."
"Finally, some good news. Any word on that airbase that Allanea requested?"
"Sir, there's been some complication. Turkey refuses to work with us in regards to Cyprus. They say our close relations with Britain make it 'challenging' to negotiate."
"Crap-- is there another option for the both of us? We needed that base as much as they did, I presume."
"Yes, sir, RAF Akrotiri, part of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, overseas territories of the UK. We'd need some time to negotiate with Prime Minister May, but this is an important strategic location."
"Of course, send a message notifying Ambassador Nizhinsky- we need as much access to intelligence from our friends as possible, and I share the same sentiments as them."
To: Grand-Ambassador Peter Nizhinsky
CC: Director Keith Herrington, FACD-JSOF, her Majesty's Government of Freilibre
BCC: Her Majesty's Foreign Affairs Office
Good day,
Unfortunately the Turkish government was adamant in protecting its own assets and stated it is not willing to give any bases in Cyprus; of course, you would know that this is a big diplomatic blow to our relations, and it jeopardizes an essential ally in this civil war.
For now, we've discussed with the United Kingdom and they have agreed on a joint base of operations in RAF Akrotiri in the south of Cyprus. We know this is not what you have desired, but you must understand my position at the moment-- we're faced with the refugee crisis and it's imperative that we keep this good work that you and your people are doing down there, safe and secured from the recent intervention-like attacks. And so, we're also committing several hundred UN peacekeepers to help escort caravans and prevent government forces in doing horrible crimes; Russian, British, Chinese, the whole lot. We hope you and your teams the best.
I'll keep you personally updated on the situation, on the ground and in the parliament about intelligence cooperation and sharing. It's looking promising, and I'll be sure to push for this to happen as soon as we can. We hope we can prevent military action that could hurt the innocents there, but-- let's face it; between you and I, both our governments want peace and safety in Syria and Khataiy- something their current governments cannot provide. Rest assured, I have our best men working vigilantly.
With regards,
Keith Herrington
Director of the Freilibre Administration for Commonwealth Defence
FACD-JSOF Coordinator and Director
Commonwealth of Freilibre
