NationStates Jolt Archive


The Sabre Changes Hands (New Leadership)

Soviet Bloc
24-12-2004, 10:11
Premier Boris Chlevenkov emerged from the crimson curtains and walked onto stage, surrounded by escorts and government officials. He pushed them aside and made his way to the podium. The podium was adorned with the Great Seal of the Armed Republic, behind him hung the flag of the ARSB, its navy blue contrasting with the dark red background. He exhaled as he closed his eyes, everyone could clearly see his old age, the wispy white hair and the rugged, wrinkled face... His eye lids fluttered open and he scanned the audience with his tired and worn hazel eyes. He cleared his throat and began his short speech...

"This nation, forged of the precious will of the people and made into that rugged, handsome sword of democracy from the firepit of socialism, no longer needs me to keep the sword polished and prepared for service. My physical body is ailing and I can no longer handle the stresses of being your leader. It was an honor, on my part, to lead this nation from the licking flames of socialism to the calm, cool waters of democracy and from the cold grip of a ruthless dictator to the free republic. I could not do it without your un-ending support, and your work, as well as mine, ultimately brought this nation to a new level, a level at which this nation must progress to the next. And in order to do this, a new leader must take over, a fresh face for a fresh nation. However, the successor I will name will also be experienced, as our nation is experienced. He is an honorable man, with courage abundant, much like our own nation. And I have no doubt in my mind that Viktor Dokhturov can and will bring our nation to its next level, the new generation, the future..."

He looked to his right at Viktor Dokhturov, one of his senior aides and a man of age 42. He was young yet experienced, having served all of his life with the military from the age of seventeen until he was forty one, retiring as a major general. Viktor stood, rather shocked by the announcement, his face wore a puzzled expression as he stared blankly at the Premier.

The Premier returned his gaze to the audience, equally shocked, and continued, "It is my duty, as your Premier, to do what is necessary for our nation. And it is necessary that I stand down so that our nation can continue on its current path. Our nation is changing... For the better. And my values no longer fit this great nation."

He coughed lightly before sipping a glass of water, "My physical body is almost gone. My mind is not and I shall forever live with this nation. I exist in each and every one of you. In this seal. In this flag, I exist. But most of all, you, all of you, exist. You are the future. I am the past. We must continue. And there is no better man than Viktor. Effective this very moment, I am handing the Premier-ship to Viktor Dokhturov..." He stepped away from the podium, a light tear forming in the crease of his right eye... The revolutionary that had led a troubled nation from hell to prosperity was leaving office. He was once the hope of a troubled nation and now leaving the leadership position of the successful nation he had created.

Viktor blinked and approached the former Premier, giving him a masculine hug. He back off and shook the weathered hand of the former Premier. It was a firm grip, one that would be required to turn the helm of a nation over to its next leader. Boris Chlevenkov nodded to the new Premier and gave a wave to the audience, all of them regular people aside from the media placed around the room. They cheered and applauded the former Premier as he exited the stage.

The new Premier, Viktor Dokhturov, proceeded to the podium and gave his haphazard, unprepared acceptance speech stating that he would give a more formal version later in the day...





Six hours later, Premier Viktor Dokhturov stood in front of tens of thousands of Rostov citizens, gathered in front of the capitol building. He stood dressed in his full Premier uniform with the near fluorescent white gloves. He had an empty scabbard at his side. He saluted the audience and the audience returned the salute, as was customary for the exchange ceremony (however, this was only the second time it was done since the revolution). He did an about face, turning towards the former Premier, dressed in his Premier uniform. Surrounding him were his government aides. The National Choir began singing the nation's anthem, assisted by loudspeakers. The audience did their part, singing along, or at least humming. The two leaders, former and present, brought up a stern salute, signifying the leadership and honor they valued. Viktor took a single step forward, his polished boots clacking against the stage. Boris Chlevenkov took five steps forward and brought his right hand to his left side, gripping the gold and crimson red handle of the Premier's Sabre. With fluid motion, somehow defying his old age, he swiped it from its navy blue scabbard and brought it to bear, its slightly curved blade resting vertically, the sharpened edge facing Viktor. Engraved into its hardened steel and tungsten blade were the words: "From the People of the Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc, the Sabre of a Great Nation. We hand ourselves to you." The sabre was ceremonial, created by the nations premier swordsman and presented to Boris Chlevenkov from the people of the ARSB. It was the people's gift to the Premier, stating that they were the Premier's sabre, his fighting force... His defense and that they would defend the Premiership to its last, fighting breath.

Finally, the anthem hit its most enchanting notes at which the former Premier stepped towards Viktor and brought the sabre to a horizontal position, resting on his two gloved hands. He outstretched his hands, nodding to the new Premier. Viktor obliged, his right hand gripped the sabre's handle, his left hand sliding underneath the blade. He brough the sabre to a vertical position. Boris Chlevenkov raised a stern salute as Viktor turned towards the audience. He took the sabre and slid it into its scabbard. At once, the entire audience erupted into cheering and applaud. Viktor turned to Boris, as the new leader and gave the returning salute. Boris released the salute and turned, heading off stage as the national anthem dwindled to a close.

Viktor then made his way to the podium as a dozen lights lit up the waving Soviet Bloc flags behind him. It was time for his short acceptance speech, stating the brief overview of what was to come.

"Comrades, men and women of the Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc. Words cannot describe the honor I feel of becoming your Premier... Your second Premier. As former Premier Chlevenkov had stated earlier, I have now taken ahold of the People's Sabre, that sword created from the sweat and blood of a torn nation. As your new Premier, I intend on elevating the Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc beyond its brethren, we will enter a new age, an age of dominance. I intend on modifying our current state of foreign affairs from its current passive state to an active state, thrusting ourselves onto the international stage. Our current alliances are inadequate and most do not serve our purposes well. Therefore, we will leave some alliances... But enter many more. Our military, being recently downsized, is inadequate for our overseas promises and so I intend to turn our military into an unstoppable machine of such immense power so that any conflict we enter will effectively end through the decisive and debilitating actions of our military." He stopped for a second, trying to come up with a final sentence to summarize everything he had said. He grinned, it came to him like a crack of thunder and his voice boomed across the stage and audience as he said it...

"This is the ending of an age, but fear not, it also the beginning of another." He waved and left the stage to an over-abundance of applause.


Later, the new (major) cabinet officials would be named, they were:


Minister of Domestic Affairs Viktor Arakcheyev (this Ministry includes transportation and others)
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolai Mozhak (this Ministry includes trade, overseas deployments, etc.)
Minister of Defense Mikhail Kutuzov
Minister of Trade Ruslan Novosiltsev
Minister of Transportation Ivan Suvorov
Minister of Health Services Anastasia Selivanov
Minister of Research Boris Zhilin
Minister of District Affairs Xander Beskrovny (basically deals with Inter-District affairs)
Doomingsland
24-12-2004, 15:17
tag
Al-Sabir
24-12-2004, 16:08
"So, some new guy is running business in Soviet Bloc, eh?

Abdullah murmered, exhaling a wisp of cigar vapour.

"Correct, Mr. President. Viktor Dokhturov is the man's name. We do not have a psycological profile, but an EIO analysation team is working on that right now."

Hamid Bin-Yussuf, Secretary of State, answered, a frown lining his face as he saw the President taking another sip of liquor.

"What's the problem, Hamid? All that medical personnel assigned to guard over my health are a bunch of charlatans. Don't you understand? They claim they save my life by banning booze out of the entire complex, so that they can get a bonus, but luckily, I know some of the guards. One served loyally under my command as a F-26A driver when I was a wing commander at Red Ball Air Force Base."

Abdullah chuckled, lounging back in his chair.

"All right then, but shall we continue? Now, I've listened to the speech he held in Rostov. He is ready to leave an era of relative isolation and reform the Army into an unstoppable warmachine for foreign deployments. He also promised to leave some alliances incompatible with their new policies."

"Yeah, yeah, strong words, but are there any of our interests threatened?"

"No, I doubt it. It could even turn out to become quite a profitable power change. Soviet Bloc has always been a good ally to us and a producer of fine military hardware. Their production lines will most likely be expanded with new designs to be released, plus maybe something fresh in the series of VEPR combat suits and firearms, the fields in which they have monopolized the contracts in our Army and Marine Corps due to their astonishing quality."

"All right, issue a communiqué and support that new government. They are there to protect us."

Encrypted Communiqué to Soviet Bloc

Mr. Dokhturov,

First of all, on behalf of the entire government of Al-Sabir, I'd like to congratulate you with your new position as the head of state of the Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc. I wish you Good Luck and God Speed with your new assignment.

Second, we are eager to retain our positive, bilateral ties with Soviet Bloc and with the establishment of a new government we wish to put forward a few proposals to guarantee no rearward motion in our relations.

- Exchange of embassy facilities.

- Elimination of trade barriers and obstructing tariffs on major export goods of both nations.

Awaiting Reply,

Hakim Bin-Yussuf
Dept. of State
Al-Sabir
Soviet Bloc
25-12-2004, 08:18
Encrypted Return Communiqué to Al-Sabir


Hakim Bin-Yussuf,


I wish to thank you for the congratulation wishes and I intend to do everything in my power to bring the ARSB into a new age. I plan on conducting a speech outlining my future goals for this great nation within the next few days.

As for maintaining ties with your nation, we graciously accept. We have long valued Al-Sabir as one of our most trusted allies and wish to continue that relationship. As for the request for an embassy facility exchange, we accept without a second though and eagerly await your diplomatic officials.

As for the request to lift tariffs and trade barriers, we also accept. We feel by doing so, both of our nations will benefit from each other's goods and services and our nations may grow closer due to the economic ties we share.

Once again, thank you for the congratulations wishes and the best of luck to you...

Regards,

Viktor Dokhturov
Premier, Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc
Zapadslavia
25-12-2004, 09:03
From Socialistina Sloga-Republika Zapadslavia, a poor and isolated and more usually introspective federation of ten socialist republics, came a diplomatic extension of good will, packaged in the convenient form of a congratulation to the new Premier. In the Soviet Bloc there arrived a courier representing Foreign and Information Secretary Aleksandar Milutinov, in turn himself representing Chairman Plamen Stojakovic who represents President Bojan Javoric, chief representative of the ten Zapadslav peoples.
She bore, along with a beaming white grin of fawning diplomatic proportion, a letter of congratulation, addressed to the members of the new cabinet and bearing the signatures of Milutinov, Stojakovic and Javoric. There was also a gift made of a bottle of seventies vintage wine (red, of course) from the slopes of the eastern hills of Socialistina Republika Benivaria-Otsana and a glass decanter inlayed with Zapadslav silver and gold in both traditional patterns and the two revolutionary stars of the Unity-Republic.
Doomingsland
25-12-2004, 14:35
Official Imperial Communique

We are most pleased at your assencion to power in your great nation. Our respective peoples have worked together countless times in the development of weapons beneficial to both of us. We wish to formalize an alliance, if it would suit you.
Zakia
25-12-2004, 20:12
OOC: Feck, forgot to login as Kriegorgrad, sorry.

IC:

To Viktor Dokhturov,

My master is concerned about the change of hands regarding leadership, while we congratulate you on your newfound position of Premier, we must query into the possibility that Kriegos-ARSB relations are not dampened by these events, I apologise for the bluntness of this message but Kriegorgrad couldn't afford to lose one of it's most potent allies.

We wish you a long and prosperous reign.

Thank you.

Yours,

Grand Inquisitorial Lord Matthias, Keeper of the Seal, Guardian of the Tome
Soviet Bloc
26-12-2004, 02:34
General Reply
From the Premier's Desk
----------------------------

Comrades, I assure you, all of our individual alliances including the October Alliance will remain, I was mainly referring to the larger alliances of which we are involved. We value all of our individual allies and do not intend to replace or forget them. Our alliance to Kriegorgrad is not in any danger of being nullified and, if anything, we intend to strengthen our already incredible relations. Kriegorgrad has been an invaluable ally, both economically and militarily.

As for the request for an alliance from Doomingsland, we heartily agree. We have worked many times with your nation on developing military equipment. We have also non-directly assisted you in a few conflicts (VEPR NGCS) and we believe it to be of great interest and benefit to begin an alliance with your nation. We feel a defensive/military as well as economic (design) alliance would be perfect for our nations, aiding both of our nations militarily and economically.

And finally, to the Socialistina Sloga-Republika Zapadslavia, I would like to thank your nation and its leaders for their congratulations wishes. My cabinet officials have relayed their thanks through me, and they wish your nation the best of luck in coming days. I personally enjoy red wine and I shall treasure that gift from your nation for as long as I live. I must also thank you for the glass decanter, it is of incredible quality and workmanship and I shall keep it in my office, a lasting token of your friendship. If there is anything your nation requires, we will be happy to offer our assistance. Thank you, once again.


Regards to all nations involved,

Viktor Dohkturov
-Premier, Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc