NationStates Jolt Archive

The Neutral Palace, Zurich, Switzerland, June 22, NCE 202

President Starfighter looked out on the crystal window overlooking Lake Zurichsee. For hundreds of years, nations had come to this spot to negotiate treaties, make alliances, form concords. Whether to change history or simply to appear to, this place hung heavy with history.

History hung heavy in Nova's heart, too. Tiburon was one of only two to oppose the fall of the UnAPS, and for the years afterwards, the world had seen the proliferation of everything the UnAPS worked against. There seemed to be no hope, no future.

Until now.

The papers Nova held in his hand- one from the Democratic Arcologies of Feline, the other from the Federated Segments of Scolopendra- this was the hope. The light of much of the world for centuries would shine again. A new alliance was forming. The New United NationStates Anti-Opression and Tyranny Organization; the N-UNAOTO. It was now time for the leaders of these three great nations to convene at Zurich, to restart the hope of the people against the opressors.

OOC: This is the thread on the N-UNAOTO, as discussed earlier.

The bright white-blues of the cloudtops slide past as the geometrically coleopteran Scarab shuttle slowly drops through the atmosphere in what is really no more than a powered semiballistic braking curve--a landing flare that began during the short delta-v that allowed the shuttle to drop towards the planet. With the aerodynamics of a brick with stubby wings, this is the most energy-efficient way for a Scarab to approach for landing.

On board, Speaker-Rrit leans back in his seat, surrounded by an undeployed armored cocoon. In the early days, things were much simpler, much less... paranoid. Shuttles didn't need to be overarmored, and assassination worries didn't have to be in the forefront... but, then again, in the early days, there was no Patriarch and no second chance for the Federated Segments to protect the personification of kzinti culture.

Speaker sighs softly. Now they were simply being obsessive. Understandable, but annoying. He had considered sending Razak--his previous duty as Foot-to-Ass Advisor would assist in military understanding--but the Segments' interest in N-UNAOTO (such a difficult acronym...) is not primarily militaristic in nature. At least, not yet.

Clearances are requested and probably received, and landing occurs eventually. All simply background noise to the big kzintosh waiting for the summit.

The Swiss Guard, in uniforms that hadn't changed since the sixteenth century, stood at crisp attention, flanking the official limousine that had been provided. Staring off into space and clasping their lances, they projected an air of militarism.

All of which was compromised when the chaffeur stepped out of the car and bent down formally to invite the kzintosh to sit.

Speaker-Rrit sits down.

The car sped towards the Neutral Palace.

Inside the palace, the flag of the UnAPS- soon to be the flag of the new alliance- was hung up at the top of the hall, with a small circular table at the center. Two leather swivel chairs were placed at opposite ends, kinda like that scene in "Minority Report" when... oh, forget it. I don't know where I'm going with that.

...In any case, there were two "executive" swivel chairs, one of which was being used by President Starfighter, the other clearly intended for Speaker Rrit. Noticing Speaker Rrit entering, Starfighter stood up a little shakily- he had been spinning around for about 3 minutes- and greeted the Speaker.

"Hello, Speaker-Rrit. Thanks for coming. I'm President Starfighter of Tiburon, as you know. Please take a seat."

"I've informed you of the reason for this meeting, and you're probably wondering what nature the N-UNAOTO alliance will be of. Well, we haven't made a constitution yet, so nothing is final so far, but the leader of Feline and I were thinking of a political, military, and economic alliance. First off, actually, the name. What do you think about N-UNAOTO, standing for the New United NationStates Anti-Oppression and Tyranny Organization? Some of my advisors suggested U-2 as a joke, but it sounds like a pretty good shorthand form of the name..."

The Supreme Emperor chuckles a little to himself and shifts gears into a little more informality, albeit retaining the bearing required to stand out as the Hero Exemplar to Heroes--idly fingering the edge of his Patriarch's sash as he does so. "Greetings, Nova Starfighter. I have no issue with making things up as we go along. It is probably a better method to avoiding disagreements.

"Admittedly, the name and acronym are rather long." The kzintosh shrugs slightly. "It also defines us in terms of negatives; what we are against instead what we are for. This is only a matter of image; short and simple is often better."

He folds his arms and looks thoughtful for a moment. "There is one concern with a wholly binding pact like this. I have seen from other nations with 'dual-membership' in such alliances that disagreements between alliances can be most difficult. I do not expect this to be a problem with the Segments, as the Triumvirate and this organization are generally aligned, but it is still a concern."

"About the name... I intended to use it to place in memoriam the alliances which this was based off, but, for obvious reasons, I couldn't use the New UnAPS. But maybe... perhaps the Alliance of Progressive Nations? That's a short and flowing name, and it improves PR by, as you said, focusing on what we're for..."

He chuckled a bit before continuing. As the leader of a nation that had decided to broker peace between Allanea and the nations of Haven as well as the nations of Mars by allying itself to most of them, it was a problem Tiburon faced regularly. "I can see perhaps a greater problem between Scolopendra's connection to the APN and its connection via the Triumvirate to the Non-Democratic Alliance. For the most part, I personally don't see much military action being taken by the APN (unless in a severe case), and I'd suppose that any difference of opinion that the APN would have with the NDA would probably be settled diplomatically. Still, it would be pretty hard to gauge that sort of thing without our three nations forming a constitution for this alliance, so I suppose we should get on that..."

Speaker-Rrit frowns slightly. "What exactly is our goal here? The NDA should not be opposed to us except in the matter of Iraqstan; while their reliance on absolutist governments is unfortunate, they are still relatively enlightened states. If the concern is Iraqstan, my sources indicate there is an internal solution in the works."

"Iraqstan will be settled? Then I would assume the conflict with the NDA is nonexistent. I suppose our purpose is similar to the old UNAOTO and UnAPS, mainly, opposing organizations such as the GDODAD and METUS..."

He scibbles a few words on a piece of paper and then reads, "The APN's mission is to promote democracy, general tolerance to all sentient life forms, promotion of universal civil rights and political freedoms, and peace throughout the universe.

We favor diplomatic negotiations to violence, although in extreme circumstances (which shall be defined in the constitution), armed force may be necessary. During these cases, it is preferrable to use non-lethal weapons."

"How's that?"

Speaker-Rrit shakes his head again. "In favor of what? Blinding or crippling weapons? Pain weapons? Candy-and-sunshine rays?" He twitches the edges of his thin black lips up as he folds his brawny arms, bat-wing ears winking. "If we believe it necessary to use violence to achieve a political end, we should be strong enough in our convictions to use as much violence as necessary but no more to bring that goal about. Riotfoam and crowd-control masers can only do so much. I do agree that diplomacy is paramount, but anyone who fights halfway loses."

He chuckles softly to himself. I sound like Julie or Lance.