“No-Tolerance” Policy [GO News Cycle][Closed/GO Only]

[Produzir]

Bonadeo Announces “No-Tolerance” Policy in Produese Waters
Martí Pujolriu, Noite de Produseía
^{April 1st, 2021}

Produese Armada off the coast of Sant Teodor, Aloísian Islands

— Just over a month ago, an Oceanian ship claimed by their government to be a naval research vessel went missing in the western Rosel. Several days ago, Prime Minister Bonadeo announced that the Produese Navy patrolling the eastern islets of Aloísio had seized the ship, as both Minister of Defence Carlos Gonçalo Santos do Prato and Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy Tiago Antão Lopes Carreira claimed the ship was a fishing boat illegally fishing in Produzland’s EEZ.

Bonadeo in his press conference spoke that they will release the fishing boat at the request of the Oceanian Government, but that the Produese government will now also be enforcing a strict “No-Tolerance'' policy in Produese territorial waters, all unauthorized ships in the country’s territorial waters will be seized. Bonadeo announced that authorization for leisure ships and ships from it’s closest allied countries should be easygoing, a statement likely tied to Produzland’s large cruise branch of it’s tourist industry.

The announcement as a whole comes from continued worldwide naval involvement in the western Rosel by what Bonadeo referred to as “Nations that have no business having a hand in western Roselian affairs”.

This policy will also affect several international navies that use the Port of Sant Josep on Aloísio as a major refueling station, and will force many ships to have to sail south to avoid Produese waters in the north of the western Rosel. Bonadeo also stated the policy applies to Produese overseas territories, affecting routes surrounding Santa Iria in the eastern Rosel for example.

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[Velkanika]

16:01 UTC-0, April 3, 2021
Televised National Address from President Utkin of the People’s Republic of Velkanika

Greetings, my comrades.

The government of Produzland has announced a new policy laying claim to vast swaths of the Rosel Sea as their exclusive territorial waters, and have declared that they will attempt to capture any ships that enter those waters without their permission. The area in question spans the mouth of the Rosel Sea, and encompasses many trade lanes of critical economic importance to Velkanika. Furthermore, the sheer scope of the waters the Bonadeo regime seeks to claim exclusive sovereignty over would effectively close southern Lira and the western Rosel Sea to all shipping from nations not currently a party of the RESP alliance.

This new policy, if allowed to stand, will sever our maritime trade links to Lira and eastern Nori, which would by itself cause catastrophic damage to both our own economy and those of our closest allies in the socialist world. However, this new policy does not exist in isolation.

This attempted seizure of the Rosel Sea has compounded the economic damage already inflicted upon Velkanika by the nations of the Capitalist world aligned with RESP. They have already placed an energy and economic embargo upon us when we refused to bow to the pompous kings of the Meridiq oil patches, and now they appear to seek to cripple us entirely by severing our maritime links with the rest of the world.

This latest action by Produzland violates their international obligations under signed treaties and accords in the most egregious way possible. The grossest violation is that of the Treaty of Senone, which they signed and ratified just last year. I remember it well – I signed the document myself.

It is the judgement of the Velkanikan government that the Kingdom of Produzland is in violation of all articles of the Treaty of Senone regarding the behavior of signatory nations. In order; Article One requires signatories to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means that do not threaten international peace, security, and justice. This flagrant attempt to convert international waters into territorial ones gravely threatens international security and justice by directly threatening the economic wellbeing of every other nation. It should be noted that the threat covers all nations regardless of their internal politics – Socialists, Capitalists, Monarchists, and totalitarians of the world alike are subjected to Produze whims. Article Two requires that parties to the treaty promote conditions of stability and well-being to all peoples, which is again violated for the same reasons as Article One. Finally, Article Three requires opposition to tyranny, which under that article defines the very actions of Produzland as examples of that very act. The article defines tyranny as “damage to global stability or the restriction of the rights of individuals to liberty, prosperity, and happiness; and that such action may include diplomatic, economic, or military measures.” It is obvious that Produzland has conducted economic and diplomatic tyranny under this measure via the economic warfare exercised by RESP against us, and their use of military force to seize an Oceanian Navy construction vessels under the guise of fisheries enforcement satisfies the last.

Given the egregious breadth and scope of these violations, it has become obvious that the Produze are using this treaty as a distraction to prevent interference in their geopolitical power plays, and do not intend to comply with its stipulations on the behavior of signatories. As such, the government of Velkanika will shortly inform the other signatories of the Treaty of Senone that we are formally invoking Article Six regarding the flagrant violations committed by Produzland, and indeed the economic tyranny perpetuated by their government in concert with RESP.

While it is the sincere hope of all Velkanikans that this diplomatic effort will result in the cessation of the RESP aggression toward other nations, it would be the height of naivety to take no further efforts to safeguard ourselves. The recent military actions of Produzland in the wider context of RESP’s policies toward other nations has clearly indicated that they seek to impose their priorities on other nations at the expense of the latter’s economic wellbeing and physical security against attack. Indeed, Produzland’s unprovoked military aggression toward the neutral nation of Oceania would never be possible without the backing and protection of RESP. Given the now proven hostile intent of RESP toward the socialist world, and their demonstrated willingness to attack neutral ships from other capitalist nations, it has become necessary for us to take active measures to protect ourselves against aggression.

In January when Carelia imposed their unlawful economic embargo upon Velkanika, they indicated that they reserved the right to search and seize any ships caught trying to smuggle Velkanikan goods into their territory. At the time we had respected the decision as their right under international law to enforce their laws in their sovereign territory, but this new attempt to expand that blockade across international waters changes things. The People’s Republic of Velkanika will not allow government agents from RESP nations, or any proxies they seek to use, to board any ship flying our flag or that of our allies. From this moment forwards, we consider any attempt by RESP to board or otherwise divert our shipping in international waters as an act of war, and will retaliate via all means available to us.

It is my sincere hope that the nations of the RESP alliance see reason, and end this crisis before we are forced to take further measures. This crisis is of their making, and they are ultimately the only ones who can end it.

Good night comrades, and good luck.

[Meronnia]

Press Briefing Room, Governmental Palace, Senone
6:30 AM, April 4th

"Good morning, everyone." Foreign Secretary Beaudouin, known to those particularly aware of Meronnian politics as a grey eminence, smiled as he sat in front of the microphones and placed down the stack of folders he was rarely ever seen without. "As I understand it, there are a few questions about the ongoing international discussion regarding Produese territorial waters?" He glanced around at the sleepy reporters, before pressing on.

"To again reiterate, the Federal Republic of Meronnia is a firm and unyielding supporter of the principle of national sovereignty. We believe it is unequivocally the right of Produzland to protect its territorial waters under whatever policy it seeks to enforce. This policy would be the same even if Produzland was not a centuries-long ally to Meronnia, but the fact that it is so only reinforces our resolve to stand beside our friends to the South." Beaudouin paused for a moment, letting the reporters catch up on their notes.

"Now, with that clarified, let's be even clearer. Meronnia also believes in international stability, and the cooperation of nations. When we come together in peace, we can resolve our issues with words and common understanding, and build a more peaceful and more prosperous world for all. It is the sovereign right of Produzland to enforce their own laws in their territorial waters, but we believe it is the duty of all nations to act with responsibility and understanding on the international stage."

"Now, Meronnian shipping companies have already begun the process to comply with new Produese regulations, and we do not expect to see any great difficulty in continuing regular routes through Produese waters shortly. Evidently, the People's Republic of Velkanika has felt that the recent policy change threatens their interests." The Foreign Secretary shuffled another folder to the top of the stack, but did not open it.

"The People's Republic, in such a position, has acted with a laudable degree of international prudence in invoking established diplomatic processes to resolve this sort of dispute in the Treaty of Senone. Article Six of the Treaty has been activated by Velkanika, and Meronnia as the host of the Entente des Consentants will fulfill its duty. Consequently, there will be a gathering of the Entente Council in Senone. Invitations have been issued to all four signatories other than Meronnia; the Republic of Cisparrania, the Republic of Carelia, the People's Republic of Velkanika, and the Kingdom of Produzland. Together, I'm very confident we can find a compromise that is satisfactory to all."

"Any questions?" Beaudouin paused a beat, predictably the rushed and tired press didn't leap at the opportunity. He scooped up his folders as he stepped out of his chair. "Thank you all for coming."

[Velkanika]

IMMEDIATE - IMMEDIATE - IMMEDIATE
I 040606z APR
FROM: CINCROSFLT
TO: VSS LILLYDALINA (CGN-44)
VSS MARCHKAYA (FFG-151)
VSS REGAL (DDG-72)
VSS ALERT (DDG-73)
1ST RECONNAISSANCE WING
INFO: VSS NIKA CVBG
NO. 9 PATROL SQUADRON

TOP SECRET
1. SITUATION: PRODUESE DECLARATION OF CONTROL OVER CENTRAL ROSEL SEA ROUTE THREATENS FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION FROM VELKANIKAN HOMELAND BY SUBJECTING SHIPS TO ILLEGAL SEARCHES AND SEIZURES. NINE VELKANIKAN FLAGGED MERCHANT SHIPS ARE EITHER WITHIN OR WILL SOON ENTER THE EEZ AROUND SANTA IRIA ISLAND AND ARE UNDER THREAT OF BEING BOARDED BY RESP. PRODUSIA CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO ENFORCE THEIR DECLARATION.

2. MISSION: CGN-44 FFG-151 DDG-72 DDG-73 WILL RENDEVOUS AT APPROX N40° W15° NO LATER THAN 1300z TODAY AND FORM A SURFACE ACTION GROUP DESIGNATED SAG ALPHA. SAG ALPHA WILL EXERCISE RIGHT OF INNOCENT PASSAGE WITHIN 15 NAUTICAL MILES OF SANTA IRIA. SAG ALPHA WILL REMAIN IN THE EEZ FOR IMMEDIATE FUTURE AND PREVENT RESP SURFACE CRAFT FROM CLOSING WITHIN 1 MILE OF ANY VELKANIKAN OR IRP FLAGGED COMMERCIAL OR LEISURE SHIP. 1ST RECONNAISSANCE WING WILL PROVIDE SURVEILANCE SUPPORT. VSS NIKA CVBG AND NO. 9 PATROL SQUADRON ARE AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT IF NEEDED.

3. EXECUTION:
3.A. WEAPONS HOLD. SAG ALPHA COMMANDER CLEAR TO ENGAGE IN SELF-DEFENSE OR DEFENSE OF IRP-FLAGGED SHIPPING IF BOARDING IS IMMINENT.
3.B. VELKANIKAN WARSHIPS ARE NOT REPEAT NOT AUTHORIZED TO CLOSE WITHIN 12 NAUTICAL MILES OF SANTA IRIA.
3.C. VSS NIKA CVBG MUST STAY BEYOND 250 NAUTICAL MILES FROM ANY RESP COASTLINE.
3.D. 1ST RECONNAISSANCE WING TO TRACK AND IDENTIFY ALL SURFACE CONTACTS WITHIN 400 NAUTICAL MILES OF SANTA IRIA AND PROVIDE DAILY PHOTORECONNAISSANCE OVERFLIGHTS OF THE ISLAND.

4. LOGISTICS: AN UNREP GROUP WILL RESUPPLY SAG ALPHA AT THE END OF THE WEEK.

5. COMMAND: CADM STASIUK IS ASSIGNED COMMAND OF SAG ALPHA. ALL CALLSIGNS REPORT TO CO SAG ALPHA.

1203z 4 April 2021, approximately 40°51'N 14° 3'W, 240 nautical miles ENE of Santa Iria Island

Counter Admiral Makar Stasiuk quietly drank coffee from a rather expensive Sepuran porcelain cup and took in the lunchtime view of the ocean from the flag bridge aboard VSS Lillydalina. That morning, he had been at sea observing an ASW exercise when orders came down for the exercise force to sail west. Now, he was in command of a small yet powerful task force that would shortly be challenging the Produese Navy over their new policies.

“Captains Sokolov and Oliynyk will be arriving in a few minutes sir,” his Chief of Staff, Captain Miron Isaev, said as he quietly appeared from the organized chaos of the Admiral’s staff in the cluster of rooms and tables behind the two. “Commander Chaeka will be slightly delayed. Some kind of mechanical problem with Marchkaya’s helipad is keeping her from launching helicopters, but she says she’ll be in the air within 10 minutes.”

“I’ll ask her about that at the end of the briefing. That’s the second time today her helipad has gone down.” Admiral Stasiuk took another sip of his coffee, then turned to face Captain Isaev. “What do you make of Produsia’s intentions with their new policy?”

Captain Isaev paused for a moment – the Admiral had a tendency to ask open-ended policy questions like this so while the question was not unexpected, the Captain had learned it was best to formulate as solid a response as possible. “Sir, I believe they are looking to expand their control over global commerce and show strength given the deteriorating situation in Lira. King Carlo in Parthonopia respects strength and the Produese government has made a habit of undercutting their policies with a lack of resolve over the last few years, which they have tried to compensate for by making bolder and bolder plays.”

“I generally agree with that. How does that impact our mission?”

“Well sir, I think they’ll probably back off. Shows of force have historically caused Produsia to backtrack when they’ve overreached in the last decade or so.”

Admiral Stasiuk raised his gray eyebrows before responding. “There’s some wiggle room in that statement. If they’re trying to show strength to Carlo, why would they back down again? Every time they’ve backed off in the past they’ve lost face and international clout, and now they’ve escalated things to the point of seizing foreign ships in order to show their resolve.”

“Sir, I’m not sure what they’re going to do, but personally I don’t think they have the commitment this issue to start a war over it. Even if they do, their allies are probably raising hell over how badly they’ve violated established norms. Territorial waters stop at 12 nautical miles and nations are the sole sovereigns of their ships, and things have been that way for over a century.”

“Frankly I’m not so sure myself, however the fact that they actually went ahead and seized the Planet is very concerning. They’ve already crossed that line and violated the sovereignty of Oceania by capturing a naval auxiliary on false pretenses, so the limits of what they will and will not do are now rather poorly quantified. Part of our mission as I see it is to find out where their lines are now while also making it clear that we will not tolerate their attempt to take control of the seas by fiat.”

“Sir, I completely agree with you there.” Captain Isaev was about to say more, when one of the enlisted members of the Admiral’s communications staff emerged from an office space behind them and walked up to the two of them and smartly saluted.

“Sirs, Captain Sokolov, Captain Oliynyk, and Commander Chaeka have arrive aboard.”

“As you were sailor,” the Admiral replied as both officers returned the salute. “Inform Captain Jansons that the briefing is about to begin in Briefing Room C.”

“Aye aye, sir.” The sailor turned on the spot and returned to his computer terminal aft of the Flag Bridge’s observation deck.

The next few minutes were a blur of greetings, salutes, shuffling of chairs, and the delivery of fresh coffee and pizza from the galley as the commanding officers of Surface Action Group Alpha arrived in the briefing room and got situated. Gatherings like this one were relatively common, and Admiral Stasiuk had a personal preference for feeding his subordinates before giving them unpleasant jobs. It was also a convenient way to get all of his officers together for a face-to-face briefing, where there was no chance of the enemy gaining insight on his plans and any issues or confusion could be dealt with easily.

Once the assembled officers had consumed the pizza and socialized among themselves for a few minutes, the Admiral got the meeting underway.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen we have a rather interesting job to do this afternoon. Our orders are clear on what our ultimate objective is – prevent any agents of a RESP government from boarding or diverting ships flying our flag or one from our allies. The Produese Navy has a small squadron stationed at Santa Iria composed of one frigate and three missile corvettes, and if they decide to get involved Carelia has a lot of ships and aircraft they can throw our way. Fortunately, we’re far enough off their coast that if they do get involved they’ll have to send surface ships, and intelligence indicates that the nearest Carelian ships that can contest our operation are in port. The nearest at sea are over 700 nautical miles to the west of Santa Iria, and Nika is between them and the island.

We have two objectives. The first one is to remind the Produese Navy that this is our back yard and they are a long way from home. Our orders are very clear on how to accomplish that – we shall sail through the heart of the Exclusive Economic Zone around Santa Iria and circle the island close enough for the civilian population to notice us, then work to frustrate any efforts by their forward-deployed squadron to enforce their new policy. Our purpose is to convince them that proceeding with their course of action is unacceptable to us, and that we are willing to back up President Utkin’s speech with action.

Now, I believe that the Produese Navy will come out and try to intimidate us into leaving. They will most likely issue threats and potentially try to use bumping tactics to get us to back down. Our ships outweigh and dramatically outgun the Santa Iria squadron, so we have the upper hand in a confrontation. We are authorized to shoot in self-defense or to repel an imminent boarding attempt on one of our ships, which to avoid confusion I’m going to clarify now:

Self-defense is defined for our purposes as defending your ship against being sunk or severely damaged. If they intentionally collide with you with the clear intent to cause major damage, that counts as an attack and you should respond accordingly. If they were clearly trying to bump you and something went wrong, then hold your fire unless ordered otherwise. We’re trying to convince them to not start a war, so let’s try not to start one ourselves.

If they attempt to board a ship we are authorized to defend, you are to put your ship between them and their target vessel and issue radio warnings to them. If they ignore the warnings, you can fire a warning shot once they close within two miles of a friendly vessel. If they ignore that and press on, you can open fire once they close within one mile.

Are there any questions on that?”

After a brief pause, Commander Chaeka spoke up first. “Sir, my ship is the smallest and least heavily armed for surface actions in the group so there’s a chance they’ll try to gang up on me if they decide they can’t nudge anyone else. How do you want us to respond in that hypothetical situation?”

“If that happens, the nearest friendly ship should attempt to nudge them away while the targeted ship maneuvers to avoid being rammed. If it happens close to the island try to avoid entering their territorial waters, but preserving your commands takes precedence over that.”

After another pause Captain Sokolov spoke next. “Sir, this is more of a question about the second half of our mission. Are we going to be running convoys through the Produese EEZ, dispersing to cover multiple ships, or maintaining contact with the Produese squadron?”

“We will position ourselves between the Produese squadron and our ships. Most of our merchant men are north of Santa Iria, with the sole exception on track to exit their EEZ in about five hours. We will be using our helicopters to keep track of their movements, along with Aerospace Force reconnaissance and surveillance assets that are being provided to us. That tactic will work up until they send reinforcements out here, at which point I will reassess the situation.”

“Sir, do we have any information on when and what those reinforcements will consist of?”

“A little. The Produese Navy is preparing the bulk of their ready ships for long-term enforcement of this new policy in their EEZs, and it seems likely that they will divert the bulk towards us in response to what we do today. That force will likely contain their carrier group. They remember when we occupied Santa Iria in the 90s, and that will likely cause them to dispatch the bulk of their fleet to prevent a repeat event.”

“Sir, do we have any information on a potential RESP or Meronnian response to our movements?” Captain Oliynyk said. “It seems likely that the Produese either are expecting backup or will start screaming for it when we show up. They’re way too cocky to try to do this alone.”

“None at this time. RESP’s intentions are generally unknown regarding this crisis, however Meronnia probably will not get involved as anything beyond a mediator due to our government’s membership in the Treaty of Senone. My staff intelligence officer can brief you on the rest far better than I can. I do agree that they are pretty cocky given their lack of firepower compared to us, but there is no intelligence indicating an immediate risk of Carelia, Ackesia, or Winst getting directly involved.”

“Understood sir.”

After a long pause, the Admiral took a long drag from his coffee and ended the briefing.

* * * *

Nothing of note happened until shortly after 18:50 hours, when a helicopter flying a patrol from Santa Iria suddenly appeared over the horizon and headed toward the Velkanikan task force. Counter Admiral Stasiuk was pleasantly impressed that Captain Jansons did not immediately order his crew to man battle stations at the first sight of a potentially hostile aircraft – the crew was at dinner, and it was highly unlikely that the Produsian Navy would immediately attack his force. Letting the crew eat before going to battle stations would help with morale and their performance in the most critical phase of their mission, when the Surface Action Group passed just outside Produsia’s territorial waters around a very important piece of real estate that Velkanika had invaded, and been repulsed from bloodily, in living memory.

Velkanika had been forced to back down from a naval confrontation similar to this one, over border enforcement ironically, in the winter of 1997. That conflict had escalated to a two-month occupation of the island before Velkanika withdrew to avoid a general war between the capitalist Republican Security Pact and the communist International Revolutionary Pact. Counter Admiral Stasiuk remembered that war well – he had been executive officer of a destroyer that had been crippled and ultimately written off after a Produsian submarine blew her bow off with a torpedo.

That history drastically impacted this entire endeavor. The Velkanikan government still wanted Santa Iria, and Makar knew that more than just the government and military officers wanted another crack at the island. It was a stain on their national honor that Produsia was able to use their strategic ownership of a speck of rock and forest in the middle of the sea to exert influence in eastern Rosel affairs, in what could charitably be defined as a legacy of Produsia’s old imperial past. The heart of this entire dispute was over Velkanika’s access to global trade – it made little sense to Makar that a dysfunctional, and increasingly volatile mess like Produsia should be able to threaten Velkanika’s ability to trade with the West. By all metrics, Velkanika utterly outclassed them, but Produsia had managed to maintain the capability to cut them off from their trading partners and allies in the wider world.

The Admiral was taken out of his thoughts when the symbology on the tactical plot on the flag bridge suddenly changed – the helicopter had activated a surface search radar, probably in response to visually identifying them. SAG Alpha had been sailing under emissions control, with no electronic emissions of any kind once they had entered the Produsian EEZ. The helicopter had either been vectored in to check them out when something else detected them, or had been on a routine patrol and spotted them visually. Given the circumstances and the fact that they hadn’t been spotted until they were within 100 nautical miles of the island, and that the helicopter had only just started a radar search, it was probably the latter.

After orbiting SAG Alpha once at a distance of approximately 10 miles from the nearest ship, the helicopter departed south without further incident. Counter Admiral Stasiuk ordered his ships to reform from their traveling to their “fighting” formation, a box 5 miles on a side with his cruiser and one of the destroyers making up the front right and left corners respectively, with his frigate and second destroyer again forming up right and left respectively. He figured this would give him a good chance of surviving an unexpected missile attack, as three of his ships were capable of area air defense, while also concentrating his forces for what he expected would be a series of bumping and light ramming attempts by the Produsian squadron to encourage him to depart the area and respect their government’s efforts to impose restrictions over their EEZ. Makar decided it was time for his last cup of coffee for the day, and then he would join Captain Jansons in the Combat Information Center – he wanted to get a measure of the man under pressure.

Counter Admiral Stasiuk was unaware of certain events, mainly the reaction the sudden appearance of his task force was having with his opposite number commanding the Santa Iria Squadron, Counter Admiral Jorge C. Guterres. Guterres had dispersed his ships around the island’s EEZ in accordance with his orders to enforce his government’s new policy as best he could – even with the squadron of rescue/utility helicopters he had available from the Santa Iria airfield the EEZ was mostly unpatrolled. The limited reconnaissance assets he had available was now coming back to haunt him, as he had failed to detect an extremely powerful group of surface warships rapidly approaching the island he was supposed to defend until they were within 60 miles of his command post ashore. He had received a vague warning the previous day to prepare for Velkanikan interference after President Utkin’s speech, but his first warning that anything was amiss had come at 18:39z when one of his helicopters on patrol had spotted a ship with its electro-optical tracking camera that was not broadcasting a civil locator beacon, or any signals of any kind. Ten minutes later it became clear that they had stumbled into a formation of warships, which they rapidly identified as Velkanikan, and now here he was.

The issue for Counter Admiral Guterres was multifold, and he carefully weighed his options before committing to a response. His three missile corvettes carried 24 anti-ship cruise missiles between them, which while theoretically capable of destroying the Velkanikan task force in practice would probably score maybe a hit or two, and more likely produce nothing but a large and overpriced fireworks display. Making matters worse, his corvettes were currently dispersed and only NMS Santa Margarida was anywhere near close enough to reach the Velkanikans before they got to, or more likely passed by, the island. His fourth ship, the offshore patrol vessel NMS Vitória, was significantly more useless as her most potent weapon was a single 76mm deck gun and she currently lacked any enhanced-range or guided munitions that could make it useful in a surface engagement. His helicopters weren’t even worth considering – they were completely unarmed save for some of the ASW torpedoes NMS Vitória had aboard for her embarked helicopter. If hostilities broke out, his command as it stood would be wiped out with nothing to show for it.

Further complicating things were the ambiguous nature of his orders. He had no real instructions for how to handle this intrusion – his queries to fleet command that morning about this very contingency had so far gone unanswered, and his only applicable guidance was to prevent the violation of Produsian territorial waters and to protect national sovereignty at sea. This was clearly an attempt by a potentially hostile, or at minimum a rival, nation to degrade Produsian sovereignty a little by showing that they could go where they pleased, or at least Guterres hoped so.

Counter Admiral Guterres quickly determined that he had a limited set of options, but really there was only one thing his orders and the developing situation allowed him to do: Put on a good show to avoid a national disgrace, and stall for time so he could be reinforced. With that in mind, he began issuing orders to his ships and other assets.

His helicopters would continue flying reconnaissance missions 24/7 and maintain radar contact with the Velkanikans until they left the EEZ. There would be a significant increase in maintenance from all the night and bad weather flying that would be racked up by that, but his supply situation was fairly good so he could keep that up for at least a week or two given what he had on hand. The easy part out of the way, he turned his attention to his surface warships. The only two ships in a position to challenge the Velkanikans on their approach were the NMS Vitória and NMS Santa Margarida, both of whom were about 35 nautical miles to the west of the former’s current course directly toward Santa Iria. He ordered both to intercept and ensure that no foreign ships or aircraft crossed the 12 nautical mile territorial limit. His other two warships, NMS Cabeça and NMS Rainha Maria, were respectively South Southeast 60 nautical miles out and Southwest at about 80 nautical miles. While both were within striking range of the Velkanikans, that was of little use here, and thus both wouldn’t impact events for another two hours.

Things therefore would come down to Frigate Captains Rodrigues and Branco, respectively of NMS Vitória and NMS Santa Margarida, who he radioed and ordered to close with the Velkanikans at flank speed.

19:05z, 50 nautical miles from Santa Iria

Admiral Stasiuk waited patiently in VSS Lillydalina CIC, where he stood silently behind the Captain and Executive Officer’s command consoles and observed the commanders and crew of his flagship in the warship’s nerve center. The CIC buzzed with energy and tension as the ship’s Electronic Warfare operators had begun calling out military radar emissions from just over the horizon. It had taken a few minutes for them to identify the types, which given the context of what they were doing here were hardly shocking – 2d and 3d surface and air-search radars of RESP types, approximately 70 miles distant somewhere to the Southwest. The watch officer, in this case the Captain, had consulted the ship’s guide to foreign weapon systems to check the possible classes of warship they could belong to, and came up with either a Carelian guided missile cruiser or a Meteoro class patrol ship and a missile corvette. Given the intelligence available they had been tentatively classified as the NMS Vitória and a probable Descubierta class. Any doubts over what and who the ships were exactly were answered when the radio began to buzz.

“Velkanikan warship, this is NSM Vitória on Guard,” buzzed the radio “you are trespassing in our waters. State your intentions and alter course away from Santa Iria immediately, over.”

“Can I tell them to go to hell sir?” Captain Jansons asked as he glanced back at the Admiral. “We’re not in their waters, as much as they’d like us to be.”

That earned a derisive snort from the Admiral. “In spirit, yes, literally, no. The command intent behind our orders is to generally remind them that we live here, but not start a shooting war.”

“Aye aye, sir.” Captain Jansons picked up the radio handset and set it to Guard with a chuckle. “NSM Vitória, this is VSS Lillydalina. We are sailing in international waters and exercising our freedom to navigate the world’s oceans, over.”

After a few seconds, the radio buzzed again “VSS Lillydalina, NSM Vitória, you are trespassing in our EEZ without authorization, depart the area immediately, over.”

“ESM, Conn, can I get an update on that estimated range to Echo 3 and Echo 4?” the XO called over the CIC intercom into the earphones of every man on duty there. The Admiral lacked a headset and did not catch the reply. “Update the board when able.”

Moments later, the Tactical Situation Board, which was really an electronic plot made of a few flat-screen monitors suspended from the ceiling directly in front of the Captain and XO’s command consoles, showed a revised range estimate – about 35 miles, plus or minus about 5.

“Interesting. Our reconnaissance missed them,” the Admiral said darkly. “The Air Force must be sleeping or something.”

“VSS Lillydalina, NSM Santa Margarida. You are standing into danger, alter course immediately, over.”

Admiral Stasiuk’s head snapped down as soon as he heard that. He reached down and grabbed the radio handset from the Captain before he could reply, depressed the talk button, and waited the two seconds to ensure the transmit light would stay on. “Last callsign, this is Counter Admiral Stasiuk of the Velkanikan Navy, commanding officer Surface Action Group Alpha. We are exercising our rights under international law to sail in international waters. No nation claims these waters, and we will sail wherever we please within them whenever we please. This task force will maintain its present heading and will transit past Santa Iria Island, and will remain in international waters, defined as beyond 12 nautical miles from the low tide mark ashore, while doing so. Produsian Navy, you are standing into danger. Do not threaten my command again, over.” The Admiral handed Captain Jansons the handset back. “Let’s let them chew on that for a bit.”

“Velkanikan Navy, NSM Santa Margarida, do not threaten my ship again or I will take action do defend myself, over!”

Captain Jansons queued the intercom again “Radar, Conn, go active on the air and surface search sets.”

Admiral Stasiuk did not need a headset to hear the enthusiastic “Aye aye, sirs” that echoed through CIC.

* * *

Counter Admiral Guterres had nearly ripped his communications officer’s head off getting him to reach NMS Santa Margarida so he could tell off her captain. Frigate Captain Branco was generally aggressive, but this went well beyond what he had ordered him to do! To make matters worse, the connection was generally quite poor and he was having problems getting in contact with Branco. He unfortunately did not get in touch with him before the following exchange occurred:

“NSM Santa Margarida, Velkanikan Navy. Ladies first, over.”

“Velkanikan Navy, NMS Vitória, what are your intentions, over?”

“Velkanikan Navy, NMS Santa Margarida, regulations state that all foreign ships in our EEZ must he stopped and searched, over!”

“We can’t always get what we want, over.”

“Velkanikan Navy, NMS Vitória. Please state intentions, over.”

“NMS Vitória, Velkanikan Navy. Our intentions are to pass approximately 14 nautical miles offshore of Santa Iria before protecting our shipping from interference in international waters contained within the Santa Iria Exclusive Economic Zone, over.”

“Velkanikan Navy, NMS Santa Margarida, our orders require us to search you for contraband, over.”

“NMS Santa Margarida, Velkanikan Navy, I would like to declare our cargo for customs purposes as a classified multiple of your squadron’s combined firepower in the form of anti-ship cruise missiles, land attack missiles, surface-to-air missiles, torpedoes, anti-submarine rockets, a considerable arsenal of small arms and small arms ammo, a crate of luxury Alosian wine which we must technically report as it is classifiable as a chemical weapon due to general taste, and a few hundred rounds of large-caliber artillery shells of various sizes. Given your lack of jurisdiction over any ships not flying your flag which are not currently engaged in piracy or smuggling, I suggest you stop saying stupid things on the radio, over.”

“Velkanikan Navy, this Counter Admiral Guterres, the commanding officer of the Santa Iria Squadron of the Produsian Navy. How do you read me, over?”

“Counter Admiral Guterres, Velkanikan Navy, signal is weak but we read you, over.”

“Velkanikan Navy, do not penetrate Produsian territorial waters and airspace as defined as all waters withing 12 nautical miles of the low-tide mark or we will be required to defend our sovereignty with military force. My ships and aircraft will monitor your passage but not interfere unless you cross that line at this time, however I am obligated to inform you that I cannot make any guarantees on what action I will take if you attempt this maneuver again, over.”

“Produsian Navy, Velkanikan Navy. I understand your intentions and the context they exist within, and do not intend to enter your territorial waters at this time. I am likewise obligated to inform you that we retain the right to innocent passage if required under international law. In addition, due to the actions of your captains I must insist that your ships and aircraft not close within one nautical mile of any Velkanikan-flagged shipping, military or otherwise, or we will consider that a hostile action and respond accordingly to defend our ships and crews until further notice, over.”

“Velkanikan Navy, Produsian Navy, none of my ships or aircraft will close within one nautical mile of your ships during your transit unless exceptional circumstances require it. Is this acceptable for the immediate future, over?”

“Produsian Navy, Velkanikan Navy, affirmative, over.”

[Vienna Eliot]

State House Daily Press Briefing
Executive Press Briefing Room | The State House at Annheim, Oceania

---

MARCO ROBOTO: Happy Friday, folks. I'm just going to go over the announcements pretty quickly, and then the President will be making remarks on the Produzland situation, so she can answer your questions.

So with that said, before her daily briefing, President Martinez will deliver remarks at the State House on climate change with continental business leaders. Then this morning she will be here, and then she'll be on a call with Produese leaders. Later in the day she will travel to Schloe to take several meetings. Those include one with students, parents, and teachers at the John R. Davis Elementary School in southeast La Villa, one with researchers at the National Maritime Science Lab, and one with community leaders in midtown Springfield. She will end the day in Schloe by meeting with senior MNCO officials at the Schloe Headquarters to discuss piracy prevention and other topics, before heading back to Annheim in the evening.

Vice President Romola is in Palo Alto today, where she is participating in the Palo Alto Municipal and Subsistence Agriculture Conference. She's going to make her way down to Schloe, as well, to participate in that MNCO roundtable.

In the Council, Majority Leader Miria will be introducing an agricultural jobs measure. Barring disruption from the socialists in the Labor Party, the National Council will otherwise be taking up routine measures as they prepare for next week.

Finally, the President will be signing a few bills into law today, with some potential for one or two to be tossed over into Monday depending on how the schedule shakes out. So those are the Firearm Liberty for Cannabis Users Act, a Trade Code amendment to protect transportation workers from upcoming Mu-Kal Union regulations, and a bill that will strengthen enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. Which I think, that one, I think is going to be handled Monday, most likely.

With that said, please stand for the President.

DANIELLE MARTINEZ: Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all doing well. Please, please sit down. Okay. Good morning. I'm going to speak about the recent announcement by Produzland, and the Planet.

For reference for your papers, the Planet is a research ship operated by private partners under the authority of the National Maritime Science Lab. It has a joint charter from the Department of the Environment and the Department of Defense to operate in all international waters, as well as in the national waters of all MNCO nations. It is solely a research ship, and it has no commercial purpose.

Last month, the Planet went missing in the Western Rosel. The Republican Navy eventually recovered its escort, the OSS Roswell, whose command reported that the Produese Navy had seized the ship. There was a standoff, and the Roswell retreated, as it should have, after determining there was not a threat to the life of those onboard the Planet.

Immediately, once the government determined the whereabouts of the Planet, we began negotiations to have the ship and its crew returned to Oceanian shores. We acknowledged the errors and miscommunication that led to the unnecessary seizure of our country's research vessel. And yet, recently, of course, the central government of Produzland decided to go above the heads of their negotiators and use this as something of a PR moment, for a rather brash declaration, really.

On behalf of the Administration, I'm not going to comment on what Liran nations decide to do with regard to their waters, and their sovereignty. I will say that the Republican Navy there will continue to patrol in interest of our national security, with Meridiq right there. But what's more important is this: no Oceanian abroad goes without the protection of the Republic. So we are making it clear, and I will be making it clear in a call to the Produese Prime Minister later today, that the Planet is to be returned.

Okay. So I think — I'll take questions, right? Yes, I'll take questions. Uh, you — uh, Jomny.

Q: Thank you, Madam President. So, I want to make sure, has the Produese government released the Planet yet?

MARTINEZ: No.

Q: Do you know when they might?

MARTINEZ: Hopefully, when I speak to Prime Minister Bonadeo later this morning, we'll have that arranged for. We're standing at the ready, the Navy is ready for when that handoff needs to occur.

The gentleman up front here.

Q: You mentioned that there was miscommunication in the capture of the ship, and perhaps that added to the confusion that this was evidently a fishing vessel. I was wondering if you could speak to that?

MARTINEZ: Right, and this was not a fishing ship, I want to make that clear. The Planet is a research ship. I'm not sure why they decided to claim it's a shipping — sorry, I mean, it's a fishing vessel. That just doesn't make sense to me. It's a research ship. I can show you the charter if you really want. (uncomfortable laughter)

So with regard to the miscommunication, that was a military matter. That had nothing to do with whether it was a shipping vessel, or a fishing vessel, or, whatever — it, you know, it was really, it's a, uh, it's a — the Planet — it is a research vessel. It was doing, I think, research on energy. It was doing research on energy sources? Right, on oil, or natural gas, and what not. So the miscommunication had to do with the military side of things. I don't think the Planet had anything to do with that.

Ma'am, in the middle row. Right here. Yes.

Q: Thank you. Me, right? Okay. Right. Do you have any information on the whereabouts and the safety of the crew? Are they still onboard the Planet?

MARTINEZ: To our knowledge, the crew is safe. I spoke with the captain last week and he reported that they are doing well. Currently they are on Produese land, presumably, I believe, I think they're on a naval base. They're being well taken care of. We're grateful for that. And they'll be back on board the Planet soon enough, and taken back home.

Gentlewoman up front here.

Q: Madam President, is your Administration prepared to take a more aggressive stance toward Produzland with regard to this situation, especially with their misinformation on the situation.

MARTINEZ: No, of course, and we're not happy about that. I don't think we're going to be aggressive, so per se, but, you know, we have to make our stance clear on this. I think, really, our real priority is to just get the Planet back. It's a very unique research vessel, and so we'd really think of that as a high priority.

Q: Of course. But what if Produzland doesn't want to give it back?

MARTINEZ: Then we'd get rather aggressive, I suspect. I think we'd rather not do that.

Can I ask — how about, you, way back there. Yeah, you.

Q: I don't want to pivot if we're not ready, actually.

MARTINEZ: No, go ahead. That's okay.

Q: Okay, yeah. So I was going to ask about the Medicare for All proposition that some Labor Members have been floating in the past few weeks. Can you make a statement on that?

MARTINEZ: Oh, absolutely. It's got to be the worst idea I've ever heard. It's pretty awful, that kind of socialist garbage being floated in the Council. I wouldn't sign it, absolutely not. Fortunately it's never going to pass. I think most Oceanians would hate that. So no, I'm not too worried about it. I think we could do with a little less radicalism coming from Labor though and a little more bipartisanship. That would be nice. But no, they're really just looking to agitate here.

I think we have to run. I'm sure Marco can take more questions. Thank you, everyone, real pleasure talking with you all.

---

[Parthonopia]

OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE OF THE KING OF PARTHONOPIA

---

---

From the Desk of King Carlo I

OPEN COMMUNICATION
Tolerance as a Path to Peace
3rd of April, 2021

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

Dear esteemed leaders of Lira and the world; recent, perhaps brash, certainly unfriendly, policy changes of my western neighbors draw a stark reminder of how precarious and turbulent our time is. In the span of less than a month, the political winds of this great continent reversed course, from impending war to that of peace and prosperity. When nation states were on the cusp of battle, cooler heads prevailed. As recent years have shown us, diplomacy is the true path forward for a prosperous, healthy, and peaceful Lira. From Senone to Kralovice, monumental summits were held and historic decisions made, steering all of our peoples clear from the loss and devastation that would have ensued. Peace, more importantly the tolerance necessary to ensure that peace, is vital for continued coexistence.

I reiterate the sentiments held at the aforementioned summits, where mutually beneficial compromises were brokered, to remind us all of the spirit of friendship and cooperation that was had. This spirit must be retained in order to sustain the much sought after peace we all have wished and worked for. Difficult though it may be to do so, especially when confronted with illogical or aggressive behavior, I implore that peace and diplomatic problem solving remain the first and foremost thought. In order to this, even if other nation's actions may run against this pledge, tolerance must be employed. Tolerance, akin to restraint, is necessary as a path forward to peace. Tolerance, within reason, is the only response applicable if peace truly is the desired goal. Tolerance is acceptance, of what cannot be controlled or taken back, acceptance of others' position. Tolerance is patience. Tolerance is how compromise is made.

Tolerance of saber-rattling, weight-throwing, and minor, forgivable trespasses, even, is the current, and forefront, policy of the Kingdom in regards to our boisterous neighbors, both to the west and the north.

Diplomacy as a tool for the Parthonopian people has brought this great Kingdom a long way from the fractious, impoverished, disunited, and disenfranchised myriad of states that it was a decade ago. Diplomacy was what steered fate away from bloodshed before and what can do so again. In a similar statement that I penned just over a month ago, it contained the sentence: The repugnant escalation of aggressions over the course of the past two weeks is truly despicable. This was in regards to the unstable increasing of tensions in February of this year. Tensions which were quelled and put to ease in Kralovice in March. The avoidance of what was then predicted to be an unavoidable conflict, and subsequent peace that has followed, and we all wish to continue, is entirely due to the cooperation and compromise that was had there. I wish to continue the pledge for peace that I made in Sylvakia and will do so to the best of my abilities. The recent "No-Tolerance" policy enacted by the Bonadeo regime in Produzland is the first test against Parthonopia's resolve in it's quest for peace. The answer is that Produzland's "No-Tolerance" policy will be met with a policy of tolerance; all Parthonopian and Aridite naval vessels, be it commercial, private, or military, will remain in compliance with the new restrictions.

There has been a working relationship between the two preeminent Orthurian nations, one mired in contention and controversy, but one that, against the odds, has been trending toward the positive. Multiple talks and summits involving our two nations have been held and many agreements had, even more disagreements solved. In good faith the Kingdom wishes to further these milestones and will not respond in offense to the move. This decision falls entirely in line with not only a pursuit of peace and tolerance, but of the Kingdom's, and my own, insistence on the absolute importance of nation's rights and the inalienable right to sovereignty. It is well within the rights, even if not in the interests, of Prime Minister Bonadeo, and of Produzland, to carry out their new policy, as fundamentally aggressive and opposite to previously espoused views as it may be.

If ever there were a moment to shed light on the blatant and inherent hypocrisy of the neoimperial, globalist elites' ruling policies, as it comes to the affairs of Lira, now would be the time. All that I have ever worked for, throughout the glorious pursuit of a better, and entitled, future for the people of Parthonopia, was purely for the better good; never were any actions taken without necessity, nor without the goals of peace and prosperity in mind. A nation painted as a pariah and enemy of peace, I a warmonger and tyrant, has engaged time and time again in diplomatic means. The false labels will never cease, but I would be remiss if I were not to note that the Kingdom's goal was never to project, only to protect what is ours.

Continuing on in this spirit, I can only tolerate the unruly decision and work within the new boundaries. As a stark comparison, may I point to the irrational and irate statements by the self styled President, Mikhail Utkin, of the communist Republic of Velkanika; an address disseminating assumed conclusions of the policy and vitriolic rhetoric that stands ever more firmly opposed of goals of peace than the Produese policy itself. For all of the prolifically covered and generously dissected talk and speculation of Parthonopia's goals of war and vengeance, this is a prime opportunity to prove that we possess no such intentions. Genuine aggressive pariah states such as President Utkin's serfdom, however, I am unable to speak for as far as such aspirations are concerned.

In conclusion, the Kingdom of Parthonopia accepts Produzland's new policy. Produzland is welcome to continue their policy, with no affect done upon us, nor intentions to run afoul of the provisions. As previously stated, Parthonopian affiliated vessels will remain fully compliant with the laws, either avoiding the concerned waters or ensuring to remain in contact with local Produese officials, fulfilling whatever necessary paperwork and passage requirements. I wish to personally remind Prime Minister Bonadeo that I have not forgotten my times spent with him and to dissuade any doubt as to whether the Kingdom would continue our shared agreements.

Sincerely,

Sua Maestà,
Carlo I

[Restone]

RESTONE OFFICIAL COMMINIQUE
UNCLASSIFIED
FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

It is with great concern that we speak out in these times against the actions of Produzland, and their vile attempts to control the free flow of trade, commerce, and scientific exploration within waters that they claim, but are not recognized internationally. These attempts to control free trade, and restrict access to vital seaways should be denounced harshly. If Produzland does not open up these routes and remove these restrictions we are ready to impose economic trade sanctions against them and instill a high tariff on all Produese goods. We hold that economic sanctions are the means to force change and not military action. In addition, no Restone trade fleet will be authorized to carry any Produese goods until such time as these issues are addressed.

Signed,
Aaliyah Nalu, Admiral of the Revolution

[Storsnia]

Travel and Trade Adivsory Issued for Western Rosel
Natanael Virtanen
April 4th, 2021

---

FARSUND - The Ministries of Trade and Foreign Affairs have issued a joint travel and trade advisory for the Western Rosel Sea in response to the developing situation in the part of the world. The advisory comes after Produese Prime Minister Riccardo Bonadeo announced a "No Tolerance" policy has been put in effect in Produese waters. The policy declares that any unauthorized ships found in Produese water will be seized. Following this announcement, the nation of Velkanika condemned the policy and invoked Article 6 of the Senone treaty. In a televised address, President Utkin stated, "We consider any attempt by RESP to board or otherwise divert our shipping in international waters as an act of war, and will retaliate via all means available to us". The Kingdom of Produzland is a member of the international alliance RESP.

The advisory encompasses the EEZ of mainland Produzland, the Aloísian Islands, and the island of Santa Iria in the Central Rosel Sea. The advisory advises Storsnian ships to exercise extreme caution in these areas and comply with Produese regulations when necessary. The advisory also requests that any ships boarded by Produese authorities or that will be boarded immediately contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So far, no ships of Storsnian origin have been boarded or seized by Produese authorities.

---

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[Vienna Eliot]

---

THE LIRAN CONSORTIUM
APRIL 27, 2021

NOTICE OF TREATY CONTRAVENTION: REPUBLIC OF RESTONE.
Dear Aaliyah Nalu:

This message serves as notice that the Republic of Restone is in contravention of the General Framework Agreement of the Liran Consortium as of April 28, 2021. The Secretariat understands that you are the registered point of contact for the Republic of Restone.

On April 28, 2021 the Republic of Restone released an official communiqué reporting that the party is "ready to impose economic trade sanctions against [the Kingdom of Produzland] and instill a high tariff on all Produese goods." This is in contravention of the 1998 General Agreement: Coercive Shipping Arrangements § 18.80, which prohibits making arrangements for future trade policies when those arrangements would have a coercive effect on the shipping, by air or sea, of Schedule I or Schedule II protected goods under the 1994 General Agreement: Protected Goods § 3.

If the Republic of Restone is seeking a waiver under the Cartaganca Annex, please have the party's designated agent write to this office with its petition for waiver and the requisite evidentiary support documents. Otherwise, the party should rescind its offending policy.

If you are not the appropriate point of contact for the Republic of Restone, please notify this office promptly.

Yours,
Eliza Reynolds
Director-General of the Secretariat of the Liran Consortium

[Restone]

Eliza Reynolds, Director-General of the Secretariat of the Liran Consortium,

As per the Cartaganca Annex, section 37 paragraph 4 line 2 "In cases where trade is being illegitimately limited by a sovereign power it is the right of other sovereign states to seek economic and trade sanctions against them to return the status quo." Lines 3-6 state various economic measures that can be taken to include, tariffs, sanctions, and limits on trade goods from said nation as a few examples. It is due to these lines that we have sought to warn them that we may impose such sanctions and other economic limiters. It is our view that the recent actions of the Kingdom of Produzland, and their recent 'territorial' restrictions, are in direct violation of said international agreement, and are infact an illegitimate abuse of power against the international community and puts global trade at risk. The reason we have not, as of yet, submitted for a waiver is due to the fact that we have yet to finalize these sanctions until such time as we either get a reply from the Kingdom of Produzland, or a reasonable amount of time has passed without a response. When either of these situations come to pass, and we have decided to move forward with the sanctions, and tariffs, you will hear from us with our waiver at the ready. We appreciate your continued dedication to the protection of fair and equitable trade throughout the world, and we hope that we will be able to continue to work closely with you in cases such as these to ensure that nations, such as the Kingdom of Produzland, are not hampering the status quo.

Very Respectfully,
Aaliyah Nalu, Admiral of the Revolution

[Merrain]

I. Simon Fouché, Prosecutor-General of the Alençon Conciliary District, April 9th, 2021.

It could never once just be easy, could it? Ordinarily, Simon would just issue a demand for transfer of documents from defense counsel, and that would be that. All the records of Mr. Martin’s activities, legal or otherwise, would expose the eventual truth of his treason that would lead to his conviction and sentence. All the illicit purchases, the locator data, the weapons used, so on and so forth.

But, no, the bastard had to get married the moment he set foot on that ship. Simon fumed, walking ever quicker across the expansive courtyard toward the building which contained his offices. These pirates were too smart to leave such things to chance. A man coming aboard would be married off to a random woman under the applicable marital law and be afforded all the customary protections forthwith. Simon understood the logic and the law behind such a move, but for what purpose did it serve? Toward what end was that for?

Simon slipped on the muddy ground as he attempted a shortcut between concrete walkways, nearly falling onto the ground. An arm shot out and caught his side, rebalancing him and pulling him back toward the walkway he had just departed.

“Easy there.” Armel De Groot said, releasing Simon from his grip. “I’ve seen you angry, but this is a whole other order of furious. Problem with the Delaine case?”

“Fucking bastard is married.” Simon spat. “Got a letter from abroad this morning, saying that Delaine was married to such and such lady on such and such ship just off the coast of Peletier Island. Claiming marital communications confidentiality on everything we’ve got. We have Delaine dead to rights, but now I can’t prove squat without parsing through every single document we’ve already got from defense counsel, and now they’re refusing to transfer the rest of the cache without discussing all of it in committee!”

Armel nodded knowingly, walking toward the office building, keeping Simon company. Simon knew that he understood his frustration, as the both of them experienced this sort of setback a few times during their early careers as district prosecutors.

“You can’t just revoke it? Because of his status as a pirate, I mean.” Armel asked. It made sense, really. Traitors to the people lost all but the most basic of human rights, and certainly didn't get to claim something like marital communications confidentiality.

“You’d think.” Simon snorted derisively. “No, I can’t even prove that Delaine is a pirate without breaching confidentiality. Don’t you worry, though, I’ll get him. It’ll take weeks, but they cannot prevent the inevitable. We’ll break through confidentiality, get things squared away, make the case, and be rid of Delaine once and for all. I will not have him making a fool of me!”

The pair made their way into the office building, where Simon had summoned Delaine and his defense counsel to negotiate past this ridiculously inconvenient obstacle. Normally, Simon would power through such a setback in his schedule, but the increasing publicity of this case required him to seek resolution quickly. He hated to do it, but he would have to offer incentives. Armel slowed and stopped in the center of the crossing hallways, making to turn left.

“Well,” Armel said, “maybe we better take a look at getting the National Council to put an exception in the law. Otherwise you’ll have every seafaring miscreant catching wind of this and claiming that they actually got married in Produese waters.”

“And bring in the international lawyers?” Simon chuckled. “No, no, no. I expect the Rapporteur to announce a firm position against that pretty quickly. I don’t think we’ll be dealing with any of that nonsense, Armel.”


II. Lorie Toutain, arborist in Gorault Commune, Sainte Claire, April 19th, 2021.

The wind was strong today. I felt that I would be needed in the coming days, as the saplings in the new park project would struggle to stay upright. I hoped that they would hold on long enough for me to get there to fix them up, that is, if the commune even bothered to call me over to do anything about it. That’s what happens when costs are cut and timetables are pushed up without making sure the job is done right the first time, I guess. Tale as old as time.

“Do we have the planks and cables still in the warehouse, Charles?” I asked my partner, anticipating what we'd need. He thought for a moment as he sat across from me, drinking a coffee so strong I could smell it from upwind.

“Should be there. We didn’t use them all from the last project.” Charles said. He wasn’t much for talk about work, especially when we weren’t actually working. I knew he wanted to just sit there silently and drink coffee, as he always did, watching the waves crash against the rocks on the other side of the bay. I decided to let him be. The wind continued to blow, gusting every so often against the old oaks in the park in which we sat.

A glimmer caught my eye from just off the horizon. The sun had broken through to shine on one of the Coast Guard’s new ships, glinting off what must have been the bridge windows. Bored and wanting to kill time with conversation, I decided to bother Charles again.

“You see that new boat out there?” I asked. Charles squinted at where I was pointing, taking a moment to hunt down what I was trying to show him. The clouds were moving back in, making it difficult.

“Oh yeah, that’s the Clarveaux. My cousin’s on it, actually. They must be coming back from their first patrol down the coast to Cazelle.” Charles said, finishing off his coffee.

“Really? Wow.” I said, quickly downing my own coffee to match his pace. “You think they’ll get deployed like the rest of the Navy?”

Charles sat for a moment, considering the question, not quite ready to get up and get moving.

“No, I don’t think so. Coast Guard ships aren’t really built for long trips on the high seas, and I doubt things get bad enough to call them all the way out there.” He said, fixing his hat after a gust of wind nearly blew it off of his head.

“True. Seems like most ships are voluntarily avoiding ‘Produese’ waters.” I said, using air quotes. We both were of the opinion, as was with most people in Merrain, that the Produese claim was utter crap. It felt like every time I went down to the harbor to pick up sapling imports that I heard merchant mariners bitching about the added travel time to keep clear of trouble. “Though, one of these days, some ship captain is going to have enough of it and plow right though, don’tcha think? Then the Navy will have to make good on its promise to defend our trade. Produzland won't stand for that.”

“Oh, I hope not.” Charles chuckled, in a tone I thought to be oddly sarcastic. I had never seen him like this before. “I would hate for the Produese to get slammed by the Merranese Navy over such a stupid thing. I think they’ll handle the situation quite handily… no need for the Coast Guard. The Rosel is as much ours as it is theirs, if not more, you know."

He got up and chucked his empty cup into one of the recycling bins nearby and beckoned me to hurry up with mine. Morning break was almost over. I gulped the last of my coffee and followed him out of the coastal park, ready to head inland to save what probably remained of the park saplings there. It still bothered me, though, Charles’ attitude about all this. He was never so nonchalant about such serious things like that. There’s no way he actually believes that the Navy can take on Produzland like that… right?

[Nova Sylva]

The first thing Katerina Von Steuben did when entering into the conference room was rearrange the flower arrangement in the center of the large mahogany table. Then she opened the curtains, then closed them again, moved the breakfast snacks and water pitcher from the side table to the center one, before finally taking a moment and deliberately calming herself. Twelve years - twelve years she had spent at the side of President Cernik, first as a political ally, then as an unofficial plenipotentiary, and now, finally, as the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Sylvakia. Her family had lost its entire business and almost their entire fortune in the 2008 Karpat War - but now, finally, the von Steubens were part of the center of power once more. What had been presented to her today was either a way to cement that power, or to risk losing it entirely - hence her trepidation and nervousness. Of course, the flower arrangements had been fine, as had the curtains, but people did funny things to alleviate stress.

There were two hard knocks on the door, then it opened. Her aide-de-camp, Konstantin Hamerling, came inside first, followed by the Parthonopian ambassador. Katerina brushed her hands on her skirt and then offered a handshake. "Signor ambasciatore, benvenuto. Grazie per aver fatto il viaggio fin qui con un preavviso così breve." The Parthonopian smiled indulgently, happy to be addressed in his native tongue. The two had first met ten years ago in Ancona, during Katerina's time their as the unofficial personal envoy of President Cernik. She knew he would agree to the proposal today - there was no reason that he, or Parthonopia as a whole, wouldn't. But he wasn't the only one at the meeting. A second side door opened, from which the Tia Regnessian ambassador walked through. He was followed by the Ackesian ambassador, and finally the Boagan ambassador. Each of them looked confused as to why they were in the same room with the other - but Katerina greeted them each in turn as they took their seats nonetheless. As all of the assembled dignitaries took their seats, Katerina surveyed the room. Likely the only time all of them had been in the same room together was at the annual Ambassador's Dinner in Kralovice Castle, or some other gala event. But the energy in the room wasn't celebratory - it was curious, curious and functional. They were here to work.

"Firstly, let me apologize for bringing all of you together under somewhat strange circumstances. No doubt you believed the summons I dispatched to your embassies last night was meant for you, and you alone. But this is not the case. As the issues of the world cannot be solved by Sylvakia, Parthonopia, Boaga, Tia Regness, or Ackesia alone, I find that talking to each of you individually would waste not just your time, but mine as well. As such, I've called you here today on the direct order of President Cernik, who has instructed me to approach of you, and your respective governments, with a proposal. But before I get to that, indulge me, for a minute." She turned to the Ackesian ambassador. "Mister Ambassador," she said, "Earlier this year, when Vlachavia cancelled its trade agreements, who was it that controlled them? From behind the scenes, I mean.."

"Well, the nations of RESP. Lunder specifically," he replied. He sounded like he was going to continue, but Katerina cut him off.

"Signor ambasciatore," she said, turning to the Parthonopian. "Who has, from the very start, been opposed to Parthonopian unification?"

"Proudzland. Merronia, Winst..." he looked at the Velkanikan ambassador. “Avondale has made its fair share of complaints, as well." To this, the Ackesian ambassador flustered. "Perhaps if your King Carlo hadn't murdered thousands to do so -"

"Gentlemen!" Katerina interrupted, more fiercely than she had originally anticipated. Both, however, stopped. She moved a lock of stray golden hair and began anew:

“And what alliance, Mister Ambassador,” this time she spoke to the Tia Regeness diplomat. “Is it that preaches a foreign policy centered around the destruction of your nation?”

“The IRP. Damn Socialists. Though RESP and Carolina have done there fair share, as well. Forgive me, but what exactly are you getting at here?”

"Right now, in the western Rosel, Produese ships restrict freedom of navigation. Gentelmen - if you have not noticed by now, RESP is under the assumption that it can not only dictate international affairs, but your domestic ones as well. Produese ships sail in Parth waters, turn back our vessels from trade, and all simply because they can. No solid body opposes the RESP alliance's military, economic, and diplomatic hegemon. This is why President Cernik has instructed me to speak with each of you. Every one of our nations, regardless of our differences with one another, has its interests threatened by the hypercapitalist magnates and false democracies that run RESP. And none of our nations, individually, has the power to thwart their hegemon. Parthonopia recently made a - frankly - embarrassing admissal to Produese demands. Why? Why should a nation be restricted from maritime navigation in its own waters? Why should the Matriarchy of Lunderfrau be allowed to prop up hostile puppet regimes on Sylvakia's borders? Or restrict the flow of soveriegn shipping?

“And in exchange for there hegemon, RESP signs a deal with the devil. They turn their noses in ignorance at the socialists and communists who attempt to undermine our very way of life and destroy the centuries of traditions our nations hold so dearly - and all so that they can keep their profit margins and sip champagne as they watch the world revolve around their respective interests. Ackesia, under the new leadership of Princess - I’m sorry, Queen Trinity, saw the error and discontinued its association. Nevertheless, at last count - and your intelligence services would know better - close to a hundred thousand Velkanikans stand poised to invade Ackesia at any given moment, as the TSPR mobilizes itself on Mu Kal. And RESP would sit by and watch as these godless communists destroy everything in their path.

“But I didn’t call you in here today to discuss problems. I called you here to discuss solutions. Please take a look at the binders that have been provided to you, and turn to page five.”

Most looked down at this point, to the large three ring binders set for each of them and flipped to the requested page number. Across the top, in big, bold, black letters, read the words: VISEGRAD PACT.