Lord Balor To Visit Atruria (ATTN Yallak)
Talonia City, Durenheim, Atruria
1:30PM
Emperor Charles Lothar nervously paced the grounds of Talonia International Airport’s Terminal A. Terminal A was a special airport terminal, generally designated only for members of the royal family, friends, high-ranking nobles, and visiting heads of state. The Emperor went over the simple greeting in his head again. He had become increasingly tense over the past few days.
Due to his nation’s former isolationist policies, foreign dignitaries of Lord Balor’s rank and stature had not entered Atruria since the middle ages. Charles Lothar was determined that the visiting Yallakians, including their Emperor himself, be given an impressive and warm welcome to the Empire of Atruria.
He paced a little longer, inspecting the columns of his 120-man Royal Guard. They had newly been fitted in their deep blue Class A Uniforms, their ceremonial regalia, as befit the personal guards of Emperor Lothar, equipped with their officer-grade dress sabers from the Atrurian Royal Armory. The Emperor had a custom-made red plush carpet laid from the passenger exit point to the point where he would be meeting Lord Balor. He had split his Guard onto either side of the red carpet, standing still and tall, in a military manner.
Along with himself, Emperor Lothar had assembled several other important and influential persons of Atruria, to welcome Lord Balor, Emperor of the Infinite Empire of Yallak, and now technically Protector of Atruria. This reception committee included Arthur Dragases, Lord-Marshal of the Armies; Alistair Sullivan, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Tiberias Kustennin, Minister of Defense; and Sir William Aerios, Commander of the Royal Guard and close personal aide to His Imperial Majesty.
“Okay,” the Emperor declared, taking in a deep breath, while he regained a regal posture, working purposely to show no signs of agitation.
“Tiberias, my friend, did you arrange for the transport to take us directly to Fort Dragases?” He questioned
“Yes, Your Lordship, I did,” came the Defense minister’s reply
“Good. Look out the window, he’s arriving.” Spoke the Atrurian Emperor, “Troops to Attention!” as he and his aides stood up straight, preparing for Lord Balor’s arrival.
Talonia City, Durenheim, Atruria
1:34PM
The flight, though only a few hours in time had felt like days. Balor had left Yallak in the midst of a dispute with Sarzonia and this gnawed at him. I gave them my word I would attend personally and so I must, he reassured himself.
A slight jolt vibrated through the plane as it touched down in Atruria, pushing his worries back into isolation. Having to bring the first of the Imperial personnel that would help bring the Atrurian soldiers up to modern standards, Balor had taken a simple passenger airliner rather than his private plane.
The large craft slowed to a stop at the exit to the terminal, opening the side hatch and extending the boarding stairs. Two Imperial Guards emerged from the opening, unarmed in respect to their hosts, and descended the stairs, taking up positions on either side at the bottom.
Emperor Balor, not one to delay things with formalities quickly followed, his black cloak with the Imperial golden dragon emblem on it, fluttered in a slight breeze. On either side, two officers flanked the Emperor, one in the black dress uniform of the Imperial Army and the other in white and gray of the Imperial Guard.
The trio entered into the airport and headed down the red carpet towards Emperor Lothar. As they went, Balor’s oficers observed the Royal Guard standing at attention in almost Imperial discipline. They should prove very competent in the training.
A small ahem, inaudible to any more than a few centimeters away, from the Emperor brought the officers attention back to the waiting reception, as they stopped in front of Emperor Lothar.
“Greetings Emperor Lothar. I am pleased that you have accepted my offer, and more so that I have the opportunity to visit”, said Balor. The Emperor indicated with his hands to the men next to him, “This is Lord Solban, the Imperial Guard Commander and this is General Kellarn, Commander of the 4th Legion.”
“Your Majesty, we are glad that you extended this offer in the first place, and even more pleased that you have taken your time to visit us,” smiled Lothar, shaking Lord Balor’s hand as he did so and nodding in acknowledgement to both Lord Solban and General Kellarn. “If I may introduce my aides present, this is Alistair Sullivan, Imperial Minister of Foreign Affairs; this man here is Tiberias Kustennin, who I daresay you’ve had at least some contact with, this ‘un is Arthur Dragases, the highest ranking military man in Atruria, and this brave soul here,” Said Lothar, pointing at the commander of his personal guard, “is Sir William Aerios, Commander of the Royal Guard, the small corps of the most disciplined troops that have ever existed in Atruria.” Each of Emperor Lothar’s deputies nodded or waved in acknowledgement of the Yallakian emperor and the two high-ranked soldiers beside him. “Now, Lord Balor, would you like to travel directly to Fort Dragases, where the troops are stationed; the Octagon, our military headquarters; or the Royal Palace?”
[OOC: Do you think that my military size of 4,000,000 is too godmoddish for a nation of 480,000,000? Sorry, I'm sorta new to NS, not sure exactly what the norm is.]
OOC: Well the normal is about 3% of your pop at most (in total). Out of that amount you need logistics (cooks, mechanics etc) in about a ratio of 7 to 1.
Eg. If you had 100,000 infantry you’d need 700,000 support personnel. For a detail description of everything you need to know have a read through of the sticky’s at the top of the international incidents main page.
This is a list of how many people are in my forces (its actually a bit outdated now but it still gives you a picture): http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9474390&postcount=6
IC:
“We may as well head straight over to your soldiers at Fort Dragases”, said Balor. “I have brought a contingent of staff from the 4th legion and they can help you organize your forces for training as soon as we get there. Once the total numbers that need training and the type that they’ll need are known I can send for more people.”
OOC: Thanks for the help, IC post coming soon.
ooc: dammit, dude, sorry for the delay. Between school, swim team, social life, and incredibly large amounts of homework, i havent been able to come here recently at all, the post'll be up in a couple moments though...
Talonia City, Durenheim, Empire of Atruria
Emperor Lothar nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. Anticipating your eagerness to train us to defend ourselves, I have already had my defense minister organize transportation to the Fort. Just follow me please," requested the Atrurian emperor, as he motioned with his hand for Lord Balor to follow him. At this point, Charles Lothar and his aides began to move forward, towards the terminal's outer grounds, followed by all one-hundred and twenty highly disciplined,l uniform members of the Royal Guard.
As he lead the group outside, hundreds, maybe even thousands of Atrurian citizens could be seen, cheering, waving Atrurian and Yallakian flags and banners, humming and singing the Yallakian and Atrurian national anthems, and standing on their tip-toes, just to get a glimpse of the Yallakian sovereign. As several members of the Royal Guard moved quickly into a formation protecting the cadre of Yallakian and Atrurian royals and their advisors, a large motorcade pulled up.
Lead by several mounted police officers of the Imperial Light Horse, on their famed Atrurian blacks, a large, black limousine pulled up. A chauffer stepped out of the enormous car's front door and opened the back one, motioning for the two emperors to get in, while several slighlty smaller limousines pulled up for their advisors and other personnel, followed by several motorcycle-mounted members of the Imperial Constablery.
OOC: Don’t worry about it. Excuse my short reply - been at work all day.
IC: Balor was quite impressed by the show of support from the Atrurian people. He gave a quick wave before entering the limousine. He sat back into the luxurious seat and looked at Charles as the car started to drive off.
“Just to make sure we can avoid any misunderstandings and ensure a lasting co-operation could you tell me about the workings of your government? Anything of importance like how are officials are appointed, who controls the military and your current political standing with nearby nations.”
In the limousine, Lothar nodded, beginning to give an explanation. "Our government is currently an absolute monarchy with all powers executive, judicial, legislative, and otherwise, vested in myself. However, I do have plans for more democratic-minded reforms. Officials are appointed directly by myself, generally I already know and trust them or they are extremely reputable in their field of work and go through intense screening processes. The military is lead directly by me, the highest ranking officer besided myself would be Arthur Dragases, the Lord-Marshal. And finally, due to our newly ended isolationist policies we have no real diplomatic relations with outlying nations, though are working on this."
Balor was especially pleased with Lothar’s response to Atrurian foreign relations.
“That is good. At least you have made no enemies then”, he said, “but tell me, what reforms have you plans for? I can always have a basic overview of the Yallakian government made available for you to use a template too if you so wish. While it is still considered an Imperial Government, the process is still very much democratic and has served us well for a thousand years.
Now, for your military, what is their current level of training?”
In reply to the Yallakian Emperor's questions, Charles stated "While I will still retain considerable power in Atruria, I have planned to form an elected parliamentary body that will be able to rescind any of my edicts and may also pass its own laws. I also hope for a constitution, outlining what I can and cannot do, as a monarch, written up in my time. As for our military," Continued Charles, "They are all very disciplined troops, fully willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of Atruria, as our military force is completely volunteer. They are renowned for their skills in fencing and archery, and have very limited training with slightly pre-modern technology [ooc: 'Nam-type equipment]."
“Excellent", began Balor, "discipline is the backbone of any good force, and from what I saw of your Royal guard, they seem to have a lot of that.
We should be able to get your troops up to speed in reasonable time and I can probably even find some of our old surplus small arms left over after our last weapons upgrade to give to you.
And what of your air and naval forces? Is their training similar to your armies and what sort of equipment do they use?”
"Well," chuckled Lothar in ebarassment, "While we do militarily possess the manpower for a navy and an airforce, we currently have no military air- or water-borne vehicles. Despite this, many of our Armed Forces members have recieved formal training of these vehicles from foreign instructors and Tiberias Kustennin is in the process of selecting planes within our budget, to purchase from foreign companies."
Sorry reply coming in a few minutes
OOC: No problem, I was just afraid you weren't gonna see it.
“Ah, ok”, said Balor, not quite expecting that response, “it is a set back but shouldn’t cause too much of a problem seeing as they already have some training and will not be entirely new to the area.
Be sure to only purchase good quality products. It’ll cost more but will be better in the long run and as per our agreement funds will be made available to get you a sizeable air and naval contingent, somewhere around two hundred billion dollars.
Balor paused for a minute, taking a quick look at the window to see where they were.
“So, how much further is the fort?” he said finally.
"Ah," smiled Charles, "We're just about there right now," as the sleek, black, limousine they were riding pulled up through a military checkpoint and into what appeared to be a parking lot for some of the more logistical military vehicles. The limo eventually came to a halt and the chauffer in the front seat clambered out of the vehicle. Walking towards the back, he opened Lord Balor's door, then proceeded around to the other side, to open Emperor Lothar's.
Balor stepped out of the Limousine, closing the door behind him. He looked around at the military personnel busying themselves at the checkpoint, almost amused as they pretended to be working while trying to get a good look at himself and the Yallakian officers coming towards him from closer to the checkpoint.
“My Lord”, said Solban nodding to Balor as they stopped infront of him. General Kellarn was quick to follow. “Should we send for the rest?”
“No”, replied the Emperor, “let as take a look at these facilities and their troops then we can make the arrangements.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
The Emperor headed around the back of the Limousine to where Lothar was getting out.
“After you.”
The Atrurian Emperor nodded, "Thanks," as he climbed out of the car and nodded at the chauffer. Charles pointed ahead, "Right this way, sire. As you can tell, the area that we are leaving is simply a parking lot," he said as they began to move, "Up here is the main administration building, connected to both the mess hall and the armory. Further back, we have the training grounds, and further still are the barracks and housing." As they moved closer and closer towards the administration building, an aide, one of Tiberias Kustennin's, came running up towards them. Handing Charles Lothar a note, he whispered something into Lothar's ear and ran off again, nearly out of breath. "Gentlelmen," grinned the Emperor, "I am delighted to inform you that, despite our shortcomings for naval forces, the Empire of Atruria now officially possesses an air force. Several hours ago, Tiberias Kustennin, our defense minister, recieved confirmation on buying a pre-designed air force package from DMG Military Industries. Take a look at this," Lothar finished as he handed a note to the Yallakian emperor. The note read:
Atruria // Royal Air Command
75x F-15E Eagle
50x F-16 Falcon
50x F/A-18 Hornet
100x F/A-22 Raptor
50x F-35 JSF
75x F-23 Black Widow II
30x F-117
20x AV-8B Harrier
35x A-10 Thunderbolt II
8x B-52 Stratofortress
4x B-2 Spirit
6x B-1 Lancer
60x AH-64 Apache
50x CH-47 Chinook
25x CH-53 Sea Stallion
20x UH-60 Black Hawk
10x V-22 Osprey
30x RAH-66 Comanche
5x E-3 Sentry (AWACS
5x SR-71 Blackbird
5x E-6 MERCURY (TACAMO)
“A reasonable start to a powerful air force”, said Balor, “Tiberias is apparently quite good at his job. I should like to meet him if it is possible before I leave.”
“We already what weaponry they possess”, said Solban quietly to Balor stepping up from behind, “so we should head straight to the training grounds.”
“Of course”, replied the Emperor, “they will suffice for now. Send for our excess small arms to be transported here immediately.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
With that Solban moved away a few metres, pulling out his communicator with which he could make contact with Yallak. As he did so the Emperor turned to Lothar.
“We should start with the training grounds. Lead the way Lord Lothar.”
"Kustennin- that is to say , Minister Tiberias, one and the same- will in fact be joining us part way through our tour of the facility," spoke the Atrurian emperor in response to Balor's wish to meet him. After Solban and Lord Balor's quick discussion, "My thoughts exactly," smiled Lothar, as he began leading the small group towards the Atrurian fort's expansive training grounds.
Upon arriving at the training grounds' entrance, Lothar pointed out several of the different areas within the grounds. "As you can see, we have several different parts to this training camp. Over there is the trench warfare area, in use right now. On your left are the fencing grounds and our archery range. To the right is our modern gymnasium, equipped with numerous exercise and weight machines. Farther up is a shooting range, and farther on still is where tanks and other military vehicles are utilized."
“Excellent”, replied Balor upon hearing the news of Tiberias. “May we observe the current activity in the trench area?”, he asked, "it will take some time for the first of our training personnel to arri…”. Balor stopped, as if just remebering something. “Do you mind if we bring helicopters into the training facilty here?”
The Atrurian Emperor nodded his assent, "Sure, helicopters would be great here."
"Then there will be several landing here shortly. After that training can begin as soon as your first soldiers are available to do so. The first things will be the most important - sharp shooting with a modern high powered weapon, gunship support, heavy weapons and skirmish tactics", said Balor. "The best way to do this, apart from sending all your forces to Yallak to study at our academies is to learn by doing. General Kellarn here will oversee this, instructing your soldiers and then putting those skills to test in combat scenarios."
The Emperor sighed, “I am afraid that I am due to depart for the nation of ViZion soon.”
"Ah," Nodded Atruria's sovereign, "Well, it is too bad that you had such a short visit, I hope that you can come for longer and view our spectacular country. In any case, here comes Minister Tiberias. You did mention your desire to meet with him," finished Charles as Kustennin, accompanied by two aides from the Defense Ministry walked up to the two emperors.
“It is indeed. I shall come back via Atruria after I have finished in ViZion then, when I have the time to make a full tour and to appreciate your lovely nation”, said Balor to Lothar before turning to greet the newcomers.
“Greetings Minister Tiberias. You have done well in securing an air force for Atruria and no doubt with the skills you have shown, you’ll have a navy in no time. If you have the time perhaps you would care to have our technicians take a look over the DMG craft and see if we cant increase their performance – and give your ground crews a bit of experience in doing so too?”
Bowing his head, first to Lothar, then to the Yallakian sovereign, Kustennin paid hoamge to them both. After the short formality of his greeting, he nodded appreciatively at Lord Balor's compliments, "Your Majesty, your words are much too kind. Additionally, we would love for your technicians to aid us on this level."
"Then they shall, Minister Kustennin."
As he spoke a flight of helicopters arrived at the facility, slowly touching down in an open area. From them jumped down soldiers of the 4th Legion who began to unload supplies, cases of small arms and other equipment. As they did so Lord Balor turned back to Lothar.
"Well I should depart now, there is much to do that I have delayed for too long. You should visit Yallak when chance allows for it."
With that he nodded and headed off towards the awaiting, but now empty helicopters. General Kellarn and Lord Solban remained where they were, There was training to commence and it would be long and hard so they would start as soon as possible.
OOC: Do you actually want to RP the training or just assume that your forces are now under training?
OOC: Yeah, umm, I like rp'ing, but i dont exactly have the most time on my hands, so i'd like to just 'say' that they're training