NationStates Jolt Archive

Several Days Prior:

The television stations had granted an announcement by President Gregory de los Santos, they were unsure of what he was about to say and at 8:05 EST Gregory was on all the major local broadcast stations and news stations and sat with a rather neutral look on his face. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Federal Republic. I come to you tonight not with bad news, not with news of another war; I come to you with some sad news. At least on my part. I’m retiring form my position as President General for a period of several months. Recent injuries have left me unable to attend my duties without serious risk to my health. Therefore taking the advice of my doctors and what I believe myself I shall leave the office to my Vice President General Vincent Generosa. I’m sure my good friend Vince will be more than an adequate replacement for me while I’m away. It is with a sad heart that I do this however this will allow me to return at full strength in the future. I go not alone, but with the thoughts that your hearts and prayers are with me as I leave for an undisclosed nation. I thank you for your time, and I hope you all keep yourselves safe and sound.” The cameras went dim as Gregory finished with his short announcement to the nation.

Present:
Gregory de los Santos sighed softly to himself. He had been President of the Federal Republic for nearly two hundred and sixty years…in his time he saw seven different Vice Presidents come and go; Dealt sixteen wars and fifty two interventions across 40% of the Earth’s surface and now recently across the Martian surface as well; two assassination attempts, a bleeding ulcer and daily headaches were catching up to him. Gregory could no longer really take the stress anymore, his life was nothing but work and it was getting detrimental to his health. Realizing this simple fact along with his military doctors he had been ordered to take a vacation. However even during his last vacation he had nothing but troubles with a foreign nation. Instead of a vacation Gregory was going to go one step further….

He stood looking down at the open suitcase his hands inside of the pockets of his uniform pants. “I don’t want to go you know. I don’t even know where to go. I can’t stay in the country otherwise the temptation will be too great to return.” Gregory said to a black and white photo atop of a table beside of the bed he slept in for god knows how many years. The photo was that of a woman his last love…something he hadn’t known since the 1950s. Another reason for Gregory leaving office was his lack of a connection with humanity, or any species really. He felt out of place, a mindless working robot who did nothing much more than eat, sleep and run the country and while he was doing a good job at running the country it was taking its toll on him. He was no longer friendly with his own citizens, and he was ready to even snap at the closest of allies.

Reaching into the closet for the last of his possessions several velvet cases containing medals, he wasn’t like the standard life long ruler who awarded himself medals for no reason. Everything he got, he earned, and suffices to say he hadn’t earned anything worth getting a medal for years, save the Purple Heart for the assassination attempt on him. Tossing the boxes into the suitcase he closed the zippers and moved the suitcase onto the ground. He had about four of them, the other three sitting in the back of a black limousine outside in the back of the small Presidential home. Lifting up the moderately heavy bag with his left arm he moved ahead with a grumble and a sigh walking toward the door and outside. After half an hour he would be at the airport considering his choices of where to retire to. If he even decided to stay on the planet at all. Of course the airport was a military airbase and his transportation would be either an ISSAPC to an awaiting Carrier in orbit, or a C-5 Galaxy to a friendly nation. He had to decide where he planned on spending the next decade or so. Wherever it was he wanted it to be far and away from the Republic.

Stepping out onto the tarmac and crossing the field followed by several soldiers in combat armor over toward a parked Inter-Solar System Armored Personel Carrier. The suitcases would be placed onto the transport with the help of the armored troops. The newspaper tucked under his right arm as he got into the sidedoor of the transport. Making sure he was sitting down and comfortable in the back he gave a thumbs up to the pilots up front before going to his newspaper. They would take a shortcut, the Lunar Gate over to Mars before going on further out of the system. The trip wasnt suppose to take that long.

Leaving the upper atmosphere the pilots already signalled ahead to the Aelosian Homeworld of their intent and arrival schedule including the passenger in the back. A return guest so it seemed. Gregory was rather hesitant though about the whole affair the Aelosians to him didnt seem that fond of humans, then again Elves were more like humans than they wanted everyone else to believe when it came to dislike between the species. He could only image the dislike in Menelmacar he would recieve then a thought hit him...why was he going out there anyway. The elves were a paradox when it came to them being allies. ..he gave it some thought before shrugging it off. He wasnt on a fact finding mission, he just needed someplace low to lay for awhile and the Craftworld was the perfect opportunity.