'You don't have a plan, do you?' 'Well - erm.'
'Teddy' she said, hands on hips. 'You've had months - months - to figure this out past "we talk about going into Krytenia" but there's nothing is there?'
'Well' Teddy replied, shifting uncomfotably in his seat as he shuffled papers and proving he did have a plan, and was just mildly floundering for a moment under the gaze of his boss' boss' boss. She knew his name though, so that was a start, even if it was a decidedly bad one.
'There is Operation Cyan, which details how we go in.' 'Does it detail trying to restore a semblance of Krytenian authority - backed up by Bostopian taxpayer cash - from what's left of a failed Krytenian state?' 'Not particularly. It envisaged more like Bostopian tax payers funding tank landings well north of the Krytenian fenland so that they don't get stuck in the bogs' he replied, tracing his finger over the dotted line on the map situated on Appendix IV where Bostopian landing craft and planes would make their way toward Krytenian beaches, ready to unload their highly trained cargo.
'And then the quick drive toward the Krytenian south-western border to cut the fens off from the rest of Krytenia, yes, yes, I know.' 'Well in this case, at least there should be less resistance. So I've modified the plan' Teddy said, with all the gusto of a man expecting a medal for uploading a highly classified document to a globally accessible machine learning program and then asking it what it would do if instead of fighting back, the civilians would probably actually be glad for some semblance of order.
'Their military isn't being paid but I still can't imagine they - or the population at large - will be rolling out the welcome mats.' 'So what is the first step, Teddy?' 'Leafletting.' 'Leafletting? Saying what? "Have you had a work-baswd accident involving your own failed Government? Are you in need of assistance? Call Newfor-'" 'No, no. We send our engineers toward Krytenian border posts with generators to at least get the other side online, hand the Krytenians leaflets and advise we'll be dropping food in. Send engineers while we're at it to restore power to the airports and other important places like hospitals and schools and work from there. We'll also just drop Bostopian troops into seats of power and persuade the relevant local Krytenians to take up their positions again, then they can persuade people to come back to work. Money is usually a general help in these matters and to be honest we have enough of it for at least some of the country.'
'So other than paradropping some troops and bureaucrats in, a soft takeover, then?' 'Largely. We'll have a Krytenian Government by for and of Krytenian people, but with some oversight from the Ducal Palace.'
'Two questions still remain though, don't they?' 'Yes...' Teddy replied, cautiously. 'What have the Mertagnians said?' 'Ah, now, that was a job' Teddy told her. 'I had to make contact with two other countries before they would accept we weren't joking about wanting to talk.' 'Two?' 'Yes. I tried Mertagne first, but it rang out. So, next bet, the Plough Islands.' 'The who?' 'Precisely. Politically neutral, sneer at anyone who isn't their particular shade of communist, but polite enough to at least talk to us, even begrudgingly. The lovely man on the other end did try to sell me a wooly jumper, but did eventually say they'd have a think and speak to Ko-oren.' 'Ko-oren?' 'Yes. They get on with the Plough Islands because of cricket, which is a bat and ball game that's... well, there's a reason Bostopia ignores it. Anyway, Ko-oren and Mertagne were allies against us in the Second Ochre Rebellion, so they actually were able to get in touch with Mertagne on our behalf. That's when my phone rang and I managed to have a chat with someone fairly reasonable from the north side of the Bekk.' 'And?'
'Well, unsurprisingly they didn't fancy Bostopian troops on their border, or the failed state leading to loads of Krytenians heading their way either. However, they, like us, don't have the resources to manage the lot, so have agreed we probably ought to split it in two.' 'In two, you say? So we take the south and they the north?' 'That's it.' 'With minimal impact to civilians?' 'For now at least, yes. Other than a big silver S in the middle of their flag so everyone knows they're the Southern part of Krytenia.' 'Seems only fair to remind them of their fate.' She stopped and thought. 'So, Teddy, when does this actually start?' 'Now, I think should be fine, ma'am. Commence Operation Cyan Careline.'
