NationStates Jolt Archive

*OOC: I am modeling this of Meiji post-Meiji Japan, hope it works.*

The Takian communications network were an unending bother to the Ortagan D-12 bureau, one of the many departments exisiting in the morass of the Ministry of Intelligence.

Daniel Wormstrom, holding the rank of commander, had served D-12 for years. The Takian assignment was the least liked so far. Here in the Litigation Quarter of Neo-Kyoto, where the embassies to Taka were grouped together, at least some semblance of order could be kept. The presence of D-12, Valinor ESS and others, and several other nations kept the area free of high Takian intelligence penetration. But outside the Quarter was a different story.

It had taken Wormstrom nearly 6 weeks to find a way to get a message through without having the Takians find it and learn of the far reaching schemes of Ortaga. And he had taken another 12 to insure the message would get through fully secure. Now he waited for Fuma's reply, to see if the Takian conservative elements would pull on one of the lines in his web.

*OOC: Basically the message reads like this: certain outside parties have taken an interest to restore more power to you....blah...blah.....can you arrange a suitable meeting......blah blah blah.....no tricks, no spies etc.*

Commander Fuma, a former captain of the Takian space armada, looked over the brief on his desk, crumpling the paper and dropping it into his personal incinerator.

"Miya?" he called out, his personal secretary sticking her head out, stick smacking on a peice of chewing gum.

"yeah boss?" she asked, blowing a strand of blue hair out of her almond eyes, he face, unnaturaly pale, betraying her Agrolian bloodline, looked at him with a rather bored expression.

"The matter on my desk, I will need you to assure that they are deserving. . . . as for today. . . "

"the matter will be taken care of, today you have appointments at. . . "

**later**

Miya slipped silently through the diplomatic corridors, her footfalls silent even on the marble floors. She wore the the traditional garb of an uchuukuukan senator, a black body suit with a white stripe down the back. She walked with her hands in her pockets, her blue hair falling over her eyes as she non-chalently walked to the door of the D-12 office. She knocked loudly, and called out

"I need to speak with Commander Wormwood, Wormstorm. . . send Wormy out."

Wormstrom watches the survelliance feed from his office.

"Well at least I will enjoy the excellent conversation," he says with sarcasm.

The man standing in his office is his adjutant and confidant.

"She was not followed?"

"No, sir. We watched her since before she entered the Quarter. No shadows at all."

"Excellent," Wormstrom smooths some creases out of his suit. "Make sure nothing happens while I am away."

"Yes, sir."

With that Wormstrom leaves, rapidly heading toward the room where Miya is waiting.

"Ah, Senator, so good of you to join me," he says, his mind working over the irony, knowing that if she is a Senator he is the Archduke.

"Tell me, would you like to join me for a light lunch? There is an excellent Valinor bistro a few streets down the Quarter, and it has an excellent reputation for privacy."

Her eyes harden for a brief second as she locks gazes with him, giving him a distinctly uneasy feeling, before she breaks contact and smiles, resuming her normal care free matter.

"Oh I don't think that would be a good idea, we've had that bistro bugged for months, if you want privacy, I know a wonderful little Takian Bath house though, very quiet, if you are serious about this proposal then you'll meet me there around noon. . . oh, and Wormy, just call me Miya, everyone else does. . . Senator sounds so stuffy, don't you agree Arch-Duke?"

She smirked mysteriously and turned to leave, waving over her shoulder at him.

Wormstrom's eyes harden, and instantly he knows what is going on, he quickly strives to clear his mind, devoiding of all but the most basic surface thoughts.

"Of course, Senator," with that he turns and leaves.

A few minutes later he sits in his office, and drums his fingers, waiting for his adjutant. The many enters.

"Sir?"

"Get me one of the Delarni Shields, I will be needing it."

The man's expression looks surprised for a moment.

"Psyker," he breathes.

"Yes," said Wormstrom. "Damn the home office! They will assign a Corpsman to the Valinor office, but not to Taka. Let us hope the Delarni are all Saharin raves that they are."

A few hours later, Wormstrom waits at the bath house, concealed in his hair the fine network of a Delarni Shield Executrix.

"Let the psyker try her tricks now," he mummers as he waits.

Miya sits quietly in the rafters, looking down at the Ortagian beneath her with a combination of contempt and ammusment. She played with a tiny metalic sphere, treating the minature Takatanium bomb as if it were simply anouther play thing.

he is blocking my reading abilities she thought to Fuma you are on your own. She watched from the shadows as Fuma entered the bath house, stripped to the waist revealing a well worn chest. A large hand sweeps his hair backwards as he enters the bath.

"Commander Wormstrom I presume" he says as he lowers himself into the steaming waters.

"I belive you know why I called you here today, allow me to appologise for Miya's rather unorthadox behavior, she is an odd girl, though most of the uchuukuukan are. . . shall we say ecentric? she is one of the best assistants I've ever had. Now, show we get down to buisness. . . what exactly are you implying when you mentioned you would like to bring us to power?"

After a few moments, Wormstrom joins Fuma in the waters.

"Refreshing," he mummers. "As to what has been offered, allow me to explain. It would be mutually beneficial to the people I represent and to your own Conservatives if you and your party were to gain additional clout in Takan affairs. And also, we feel that your policies in regard to internal and external affairs would be far more stable than the haphazard, ever-changing face of Takian foreign policy now. Finally, th recent absence of the High Prince has raised concern."

"Now, what do you feel would be necessary to help you reach a stronger political position than the one your currently hold now?"

Fuma smiles wanely at his comment, and looks Wormstrom in the eye

"I am a member of the uchuukuukan Clan, one of the five clans within the Takian Senate. . . for more than four thousand years it has been assured that no one clan gains power over any other. . . even we who are decendant from the ninja have been unable to tip the balance of power through normal methods. Though we have some friends in the okibi clan who could make use of funding, pet projects, you understand."

"The balance of power in Taka is not like what we have faced in other areas," Wormstrom says. "Internally the balance could not be broken, specialization and dependency among factions is one of the greatest ways to keep the balance. However, it can also lead to a severe chain reaction. A system were no one faction cannot gain dominance, and the others never have to temper themselves on internal conflicts can lead to stagnation."
He smiles, "As for those projects, I have no doubt that they bear merit. But is it not logical that one of your other clans will have a 'natural' counter-balance to these projects? An easier way to just slightly alter the scales to your favor is outside support. After all, it seems that is an unseen weight in your government's balance of power scale."

Fuma looked at Wormwood dumbfoundly for a moment, before bursting out with hearty laughter.

"my friend, our clans are little more than a name in this day and age, I belong to the uchuukuukan clan, yet in my day have also been a member of the okibi clan when I was a member of the Space Armada, before that the tsuchi clan as a construction worker, and when I was a courrier in my youth I was a member of the ichijin clan. I was born into the uchuukuukan clan, and serve it as a senator, but it is a fool who so closly ties himself with his clan that he feels a need to one up his fellow Takian."

Fuma smiles darkly,

"as for outside power pulling one group into power over anouther. . . it sounds almost as if you are speaking of a coup. . . and that my friend, is treason. I'm afraid that this conversation is over. . . though make no mistake, I look foward to our next meeting. . . though I belive I will be the one who picks the time and the place."

He stands and replaces his towel, walking out of the bathhouse as Miya falls from the rafters, landing catlike on her hands and feet at the poolside.

"Ya know Wormy. . . In Takian society tis impolite to use your clan as a status symbol, and even more impolite suggest power over others. . . course, can't expect you to know all of the, being capitalists and all. . . Maybe next time you should remember, we Takians are generaly peaceful. . . but there are a few things you shouldn't ever do. . . and thats one of them."

She smiles sweetly

"Don't worry about your next meeting though, it'll be set up by the time you get to bed."

She walks away, turning and blowing a kiss towards him as she fades into the shadows.

Wormstrom waits until they two are gone.

"Peaceful my ass," he mummers. Several moments later he emerges from the bath house and pulls his v-link out. A few seconds later his adjutant appears on the screen.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Inform the home office that this was, as I said, a fool's errand. We will have to revert to our prior plans regarding the Takians.

"I take it your meeting did not go well then?"

"To put it midly. I shall be returning shortly. Schedule a flight with the embassy to Silesia. I will show the home office the error of their stupidities, and how this situation should be handled. They still are measuring by Valinor standards. And the Takians are more insular, arrogant, and harder to sway than Rowald himself."

The adjutant nods, "I will contact the embassy at once."

Wormstrom puts the v-link into a pocket at his side, then mounts his 'cycle after carefully checking it for tampering and running a brief system diagnostic. He pulls the close fitting helmet on and heads back toward the officer where the D-12 branch has made its base for this operation.

"Do you think the Ortagan's expect anything?" Miya asked, appearing from the shadows.

"Of course, and they are taking the bait just as expected."

Miya's eyes widened for a moment, but slowy returned to normal, a smirk forming.

"so that would mean that you. . . "

"Want Ortaga to launch an attack against us?" Fuma asked, turning in the darkness, a soft smile forming. "What ever gave you that idea?"