NationStates Jolt Archive

Location: Bosporus Strait

The ever vigilant 1st Fleet, which was entrusted with the task of keeping unwanted naval elements out of the Black Sea, was having a rather slow day today. Such days were common since the previous month, when the safety of the region was threatened by the imperialistic forces of Hataria, and Armada One had to be called out to defend the Strait.

But the tiny Principality had managed to turn away the invasion fleet of the vast Empire. And now that the troubles in the Black Sea region were over, every day since then had been dull by comparison.

But then, something happened.

It was a hot and sunny day in the Bosporus Strait. Submarines were making their runs up and down the narrow body of water, and diving teams kept an eye out for anything that couldn’t be detected by Sonar. Two S-3 Vikings were flying over the Sea of Marmara, keeping an eye out for suspicious craft. Today they had seen nothing in the area, and were about to head back to the flagship Iron Maiden, when something caught a pilot’s eye.

“Widow 2 to Iron Maiden.”

“We copy, Widow 2.”

“Command, I have just spotted a civilian ship entering the strait.”

“We confirm that, Widow 2, we’ve just detected it on our Sonar.”

Diving crews watched as the ship moved across the water.

The S-3 pilot continued to relay information. “I estimate that this ship is somewhere between 700 and 800 feet in length, and around 100 feet in Breadth.”

The CIC replied. “That sounds a little big to be a civilian vessel. It could be a cruise ship.”

“Command, this is Widow 1. That is confirmed, it is a cruise ship.”

The ship moved towards the 1st Fleet, located near the end of the Bosporus Strait. The CIC of the Iron Maiden took a look out the window. The ship was white, with a blue smokestack. This ship wasn’t designed for combat. It was built purely for the purpose of pleasure.

“Wouldn’t mind taking a trip on that myself,” remarked Fleet Admiral Ernest Halsey.

The rest of the CIC nodded in agreement.

The ship passed gracefully through the fleet, and into the open waters of the Black Sea. The ship’s crews looked at the beautiful ship in envy.

Fleet Admiral Halsey watched as it sailed away. “I wonder where it’s headed,” he thought aloud.

30 miles off the coast, directly south of Wilhelmsborough’s capital city of Yalta, there stood a platform. An artificial island. In the beginning of its existence, the Principality had constructed nine such platforms to defend the country against attacks from air and sea.

But as time passed, they became obsolete and unnecessary due to the presence of the Black Sea Patrol and the buildup of Wilhelmsborough’s navy. Eventually, the government decided to shut down and dismantle them.

But there were some people in the Principality who saw some use in these platforms. One evening, after the structure labeled Platform #5 had been abandoned, a group of civilians sailed to the structure, and gained access to it. These civilians were part of an intellectual organization known as the Free Thinkers Guild. Their leader, one James Pease, had led the mission to land on the platform.

The morning after they took over the Platform, Pease and his Guild shocked the world when he declared Platform #5 to be an independent nation, to be known forevermore as the Free Republic of Discordia.

James Pease, now the President of Discordia, reveled in the commotion he had caused. Nations quickly moved to recognize the tiny Republic, offering it aid and money. Pease had planned to use this as a pretext for obtaining legitimate recognition from the Principality of Wilhelmsborough.

But things had not gone according to plan.

Approximately one week after the Discordia came into existence, a submarine, which had gained entry into the Black Sea, torpedoed the platform, and nearly toppled it into the water. Of the forty people on board, nineteen of those people were killed, and thirteen were seriously injured. The submarine that fired the torpedoes was never found, and the country from which it came was never identified.

President James Pease was among those that had survived the attack, but when he was discovered by a humanitarian aid worker, his demeanor had changed. He had broken under the sudden overwhelming attack on him and his people. The fact that it led to the deaths of so many of his friends destroyed him inside.

When Prince William learned that Pease was still alive, he ordered that the President be brought before him in his office in Yalta. Pease was brought before the Prince, and they met face to face in a closed door meeting.

Nobody knows exactly what was said behind those closed doors, but when they finally opened, Prince William announced that he was willing to recognize Platform #5 as an independent nation. But only if they followed some important rules, among them were that:

-All trade will be done exclusively through Wilhelmsborough.
-All travel to and from Discordia must go through Wilhelmsborough ports.
-Gambling is permitted.
-Discordia is free to renovate and/or expand the structure of Platform #5.
-If any Wilhelmsborough ships are in Jeopardy, the Free Republic must act to protect them from harm.
-Discordia is permitted its own armed security force including a navy, if possible.
*Naval craft cannot be longer than 12 meters.
*Any Discordian navy will be used for defensive purposes and must never be used for war on other nations.

With that, Platform #5 was now officially a recognized country in the world. But their problems had not gone away…

Present Day

In the Presidential office, located in the old radar tower of the Platform, President Gloria Ivanhoe of the Free Republic of Discordia poured over the many documents spread out on her desk before her.

Not long after Discordia achieved its independence, the over two hundred members of the Free Thinkers Guild, which had come over to join their comrades in independence, forced President James Pease to give up his presidency. Originally, they had flocked to him, attracted by his intelligence and charisma. But when he was put up against the wall, as he had been when the Platform had been nearly destroyed, he had been exposed as a very poor leader, unable to deal with quick and sudden changes.

The Guild was also very angry at Pease for caving in so easily to Prince William, and allowing the imposition of rules which they considered to be unfair. They did not like the fact that they were basically dependent on the Principality for their protection and trade. They viewed James Pease as a weakling who couldn’t stand up and defend his people. Outnumbered by the Guild, President James Pease quickly surrendered without a fight.

Today he is still there, and he is still a citizen of the Free Republic. But he is no longer involved in politics. He works as a janitor now, and spends his days down in the lower parts of the platform, cleaning, making repairs and generally keeping everything in order for everybody topside.

Gloria Ivanhoe, the person the Guild chose as its next president, was as different from Pease as she could be. She was a strong, intelligent woman, and a very capable leader. She could work and make decisions under enormous amounts of pressure. Ivanhoe was a fighter, someone that wouldn’t take crap from anybody.

She was also very loyal to the Free Thinkers Guild, now known as the Free Thinkers Party. Unlike Pease, she would defend her party, her people, and her tiny country, to the very end. Unlike Pease, she would speak up and complain if she saw anything that was unfair. And unlike Pease, she would make the Free Republic of Discordia strong.

But as she sat at her desk, looking over the incredible number of papers, making the country strong was not on her mind; in fact it was as far away as it could be.

What occupied President Ivanhoe’s mind at that moment was debt. Terrible, terrible debt. Since the foundation of the country, the tiny Republic had existed under its shadow. They owed millions, no, hundreds of millions of dollars to the Principality of Wilhelmsborough for humanitarian aid, the reconstruction of the platform, and for the launching of the 1st Fleet.

When Gloria Ivanhoe took control of Discordia, she set out to find ways for the Free Republic to eliminate their debt, and at the same time, create a viable economy. A hotel-casino was constructed, as well as a restaurant and a gift shop. There was also a helicopter landing pad which brought tourists back and forth from the Mainland to the Platform. The citizens, all 245 of them, worked as employees, serving the tourists that visited the Free Republic.

And did they come! When the hotel-casino finally opened after a year and a half of construction, tourists started lining up for reservations. The hotels were quickly filled to capacity, and the casino bustled with activity. Including the restaurant and gift shop, many thousands of dollars were being made per day.

President Ivanhoe’s idea had worked. Discordia now had a viable economy. Unfortunately, the construction of these facilities put the Free Republic even further into debt. It would be a long time before the casino, hotel, restaurant, and gift shop started turning a major profit.

‘By then, I’ll probably be dead.’ The President mused to herself.

She looked down at the papers and sighed. Bills for renovations. Bills for electricity. Bills for food. Bills for defense. The list went on and on, until it came to a grand total: $931,876,223.76. That was how bad the situation was in Discordia. Though the tourist industry made a great deal of money for the country, it only allowed Discordia to pay $100,000 per month to the Principality. The rest they needed for the basic needs of their country.

“What’s on your mind, Madam President?”

The President’s musings were interrupted by a voice at the door. She looked up and saw her secretary, Amanda Barrows, standing at the door.

“Debt.” She replied. “It’s all I can think of these days. This country will be paying back the Principality until the day it falls into the sea. And then we’ll owe even more money when Wilhelmsborough rebuilds it for us!” Gloria laughed bitterly. “I’m telling you, it’s a never-ending cycle!”

Barrows laughed. “Well at least you’ll have something to keep you busy until we pay it off!”

Ivanhoe laughed sarcastically. “You can be a real bitch sometimes, you know that?”

Barrows smiled with glee. “I do what I can, Madam Pres-” She was interrupted by the phone ringing. “I’ll be right back.” Barrows walked to the phone and picked it up.

“President Ivanhoe’s office.” There was a pause. “Ok, ok, I’ll let you two in.” she hung up the phone. “Madam, President, Constable Stevens and David Hirsch are here to talk to you. The Constable says it’s very important.”

“Don’t they know I’m busy?” she looked down at all her papers in frustration. “On second thought, let them in.”

Two men walked in through the door. One was Constable Gerald Stevens, who was wearing a security guard uniform purchased from an army surplus store in Yalta. The other was a young man dressed in jeans and a black shirt. He also had an expression on guilt written all over his face.

“Sit down Hirsch.” The Constable said. He wasn’t happy.

The man with the guilty face quickly sat down in the chair.

“Tell the President what you did, Hirsch.” The Constable said angrily.

The young man looked down at the ground and began to talk. “Well, I was over on the mainland, visiting family and friends, and uh, I saw that there was a special lottery was going on. $250,000,000 jackpot. Tax Free. So I figured, what the hell, I’ll give it a shot.”

“Ah-huh. So what happened?”

“I won!”

The President started. “You won? You won the whole thing? Oh my God, I…” but she stopped talking when she saw the Constable’s stone-faced expression, and Hirsch’s unhappy face. She realized that something had gone wrong regarding the money.

Gloria composed herself, preparing for the revelations which lay ahead.

“Something happened to the money?” she asked the Constable.

Constable Stevens gritted his teeth. “You can ask him!” he said, gesturing towards David Hirsch. “It’s all his fault anyway.”

She turned to David. “David, what did you do?”

“Erm…” this was extremely uncomfortable to Hirsch. “I…spent it all.”

Gloria jumped out of her seat. “WHAT!”

David lowered himself into his seat. “I’ve already spent every last dollar.”

Gloria leaned over her desk and put her face right up to David’s. “What the hell were you thinking, man! You win $250,000,000 and you don’t even inform your country about it?!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Sorry?!” her face was red. “David, the citizens of this country are mostly college-age kids who themselves have to think about paying back their student loans! So when somebody from this platform strikes it rich, we expect to know about it!”

David tried to defend himself. “Butbutbut…I didn’t spend it on anything stupid! I spent it on something that would benefit the country!”

The President slammed her fist on the table, knocking bills to the floor. “What would have benefited our country would be using that money to pay off our debt, which, might I remind you, is nearly 1 billion dollars!”

“The company was going bankrupt! They were liquidating their assets at incredible prices! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

“What company? What assets?” the President asked, not understanding.

Just as Hirsch was about to respond, Constable Gerald Stevens interrupted. “My God! Look at that!”

The President and David Hirsch turned to look out the tower window. Gloria let out a gasp of shock as she saw what had caught Steven’s attention.

There was a large white ship sailing towards them. Directly towards them.

“Where the hell did that come from?” shouted the President. “Is it going to land here?”

“Wow that was fast,” remarked David.

President Ivanhoe turned back to Hirsch. “What was fast? Wait…” revelation began to dawn on her. She looked at Hirsch with wide-eyed alarm. “You didn’t…”

She crossed her desk and ran out the door.

“Madam President!” the Constable shouted, but it was no use. He turned to David. "Alright bucko, you’re coming with me!”

Gloria rushed past her secretary, ran through the waiting room, and ran out the door, hurrying down the flight of stairs to the main platform where a crowd of tourists and civilians had gathered.

“It’s coming right for this place!” shouted a tourist.

Surely enough, the ship was approaching fast.

“It’s…it’s coming right alongside of the platform!”

“My God, it totally dwarfs the platform with its size!”

A citizen rushed over to Gloria. “Madam President, do you know what this is about?” he asked.

But the President wasn’t listening. She was watching as the gigantic craft came closer and closer.

"It’s right on top of us!” a tourist yelled.

“Madam President!” shouted a man from the communications room. "We just got a transmission from that ship! They say that they’re ready to “make their delivery.” What does that mean?”

Tourists and citizens alike started backing away from the side of the platform as the ship started to bare down on them. Slowly but surely, the gigantic ship came up alongside the Free Republic of Discordia.

“DAVID, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Gloria shouted, as the ship let loose a blast of its horn.

Dave Hirsch stood there and shrugged his shoulders. “I bought our country a cruise ship!”

OCC: When I ever declassify my nations involvment in the attack on Discordia, I wonder if Price William would declar war on my nation or thank my nations leader and its people, after all the attack turn Discordia into a puppet of Wilhelmsborough. And Peace became a janitor, thats funny. I turned a leader of a small country into a janitor. LMAO. Even funnier is that the sub that attack Discordia is still in service, still patroling the Atlantic Area. Man would the people of Discordia be pissed if they ever found out who cause all their problems. Though some good did come of it, Discordia got a better leader, one that doesn't piss off my government.

Heres a thought, if your ever interested in doing a RP where I disclose my nations involvment, through whatever means. Might turn out to be a good one. War, Peace, Alliance, or would I have to pay for the loss of lives and the damage I did to both the government of Wilhelsbourough and Discordia. Let me know what you think, it could be a good RP even its just between us, but more people getting involved would make it even better.

OCC: When I ever declassify my nations' involvement in the attack on Discordia, I wonder if Prince William would declare war on my nation or thank my nation's leader and its people, after all the attack turned Discordia into a puppet of Wilhelmsborough. And Pease became a janitor, thats funny. I turned a leader of a small country into a janitor. LMAO. Even funnier is that the sub that attacked Discordia is still in service, patroling the Atlantic Area. Man, would the people of Discordia be pissed if they ever found out who caused all their problems. Though some good did come of it, Discordia got a better leader, one that doesn't piss off my government.

Here's a thought if you're ever interested in doing a RP where I disclose my nations involvment, through whatever means. Might turn out to be a good one. War, Peace, Allience, or would I have to pay for the loss of lives and the damage I did to both the government of Wilhelmsborough and Discordia. Let me know what you think, it could be a good RP even its just between us, but more people getting involved would make it even better.

OOC: If Prince William ever found out that you attacked the platform, he would probably declare war on you for killing Wilhelmsborough citizens. If you tried to negotiate, he would settle for nothing less than a signed apology from your government, a few billion dollars in reparations, and the scrapping of the ship that did it. Yeah, I'd keep that information classified. :D

As for this RP, it's MT, with some slight deviations into PMT (LADAR, Airships). People can react, condemn, plan vacations, or help the Free Republic grow even stronger. I wouldn't be sending military ships or submarines though. We got the Bosporus Strait monitored 24/7.

Believe me, this RP will become more interesting as it goes along. It may not be that way now, but it'll get there.

OOC: Tag for interest. I think I may have some particularly wealthy citizens of my nation pay Discordia a visit.

To: Free Republic of Discordia
From: The Liberal Democratic Republic of Brydog

Dear Madam,
We wish to pay off your debts, in sign of good faith and friendship. We hope to establish relations with your nation.

Signed,
Wolfgang Joepsh Lichtenburg
President of the Republic
The Liberal Democratic Republic of Brydog

ooc: Brilliant. I loved reading it. Especially the cruise ship part.

OOC:

Brydog: Thank you for the letter. I'll get to it in eventually, but first I have to RP some more events. But don't worry, my characters will respond to your generous offer in due time.

DMG: Thank you very much for your comments! That really means a lot to me, especially coming from someone who has so much control around here. Does "Honorary Spam Forum Owner" mean that you're a moderator?

Thank you very much for your comments! That really means a lot to me, especially coming from someone who has so much control around here.

I don't know about that...

Does "Honorary Spam Forum Owner" mean that you're a moderator?

Nope, lol. It means I have posted a lot. It is just a title like "Member."

OOC: So access is currently by helicopter. Is there a specific company or are private choppers allowed?

IC:
The government of Templa had seen potential in having a relationship with this Discordia place. However, prior to initiating anything they sought to discover what they could of this place. So they sent someone to discover these things. Not a spy, oh no. Espionage was such a dirty word, they preferred the phrase "fact-finding-mission". That's where Veit Ironmark came in. A member of the Templar Intelligence Service, whose motto was 'In the Box Since 2005', he was sort of in limbo. Sure the job paid well, it was just boring as hell. Sighing he ran over his story again. His name was Gawaine Nuwolf, a wealthy businessman on vactation. Looking out the window, he saw an absolutely ginormous cruise ship. What the--that wasn't mentioned in the breifing.

The gigantic cruise ship pulled up alongside the Free Republic of Discordia. Everyone on the platform had come to see it. Gamblers had left their tables, restaurant patrons had stopped eating, and shoppers in the gift shop had laid down their bags and come outside to see what all the commotion was about.

Down in the lower levels of the platform, janitor James Pease, awakened from his sleep at the sound of the horn, walked over to an open platform and looked up at the cruise ship parked alongside the country.

"That's one big-ass ship." he remarked sleepily.

------------------

It took about 10 minutes for the Discordians to raise the gangplank up to the what was known as the Promenade Deck. When everything was properly connected, President Gloria Ivanhoe, Constable Gerald Stevens, and the man who had purchased this ship, David Hirsch, walked up the plank to meet with crewmen who had already gathered to meet them.

A man walked up to the three Discordians. "Good afternoon! I'm Tor Dyrdal, Captain of the cruise ship Norwegian Wind. Well, after this it's going to be "former Captain," but you get the idea."

The President of Discordia attempted to put on the best smile she could muster in the situation.

"Erm...Captain Dyrdal. I think there's been a terrible mistake."

The Captain looked at a clipboard filled with papers.

"Is there a David Hirsch amoung you?" he asked.

"That's me." David pipped up. Constable Stevens gave him a stern look.

"And this is the Free Republic of Discordia? Black Sea?"

The President tried to hold on to her smile. "Yes Captain, this is the Free Republic of Discordia, and that is the man who purchased the ship from your company. But you see, Discordia wouldn't know what to do with such a large vessel."

"Actually, it's medium sized." interrupted Captain Dyrdal.

The President laughed at her error. "Of course, my mistake." But then she straightened up. "However, Captain. The Free Republic of Discordia has no use for a ship such as yours. Mr. Hirsch thought he was doing us a favor by purchasing your...Norwegian Wind for my country, but it's really more trouble than it's worth. May I please speak to your superiors so that we may refund this transaction?"

"No can do. Money's already in the bank as stated in the arrangement." the Captain replied.

The President's eyes went wide for a second but she quickly regained her composure. "There's nothing at all that can be done? You can't just keep the money and the ship? Sell it twice?"

The Captain shook his head. "That's not how we do business, Madam President. Besides, Norwegian Cruise Lines is undergoing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, where assets have to be sold to pay off debts. All ships have got to go! And fast, too!"

President Ivanhoe stepped forward and looked Captain Dyrdal right in the eye. "Sir." she began. "We do not want this ship docked to our country. We have no use for it."

The Captain looked at uncaringly. "Well that's you problem then. Sell it, scrap it, burn it. It's your choice. Right now, all I'm concerned about is getting on the next helicopter to Yalta International Airport so that I can get back to my family in Miami."

The President stepped in front of him "You cannot do this!" she protested.

The Captain looked at her fiercely. "If you try to stop me from leaving, I will make sure that you are charged with false imprisonment, a crime prohibited under Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and subject to heavy fines and/or a lengthy prison sentence! Now step aside!"

There was nothing that President Ivanhoe could do. She stepped back to allow Captain Tor Dyrdal and his crew to pass.

"Thank you." he said. "Now where is your helicopter?"

---------------

30 minutes later, the skeleton crew of the cruise ship left on the helicopter bound for Yalta. The cruise ship Norwegian Wind, they just left there, a beautiful jewel, docked to the side of a utilitarian platform.

The President looked at David Hirsch with disgust and anger. She did not like it when she was told to back down, and she liked it less when she was cornered by international law.

"Well David. This is a fine mess you've gotten us into." she looked at the ship docked alongship the country. "What on Earth are we supposed to do with this damn thing?"

OOC: I'm going to assume that you're okay with my showing up, since you didn't say anything one way or the other about it.

IC:
As the helicopter descended, Veit could see that the ship was now docked to with the platform. After waiting for the rotars to spin down he exited the chopper and looked around. It was obvious that they had made an effort, but it could still use some work. Pulling in as many details as possible, he made his way away from the landing pad. Pausing, he tried to figure out where he was going to go. He knew he had to go to the hotel, but he was unsure if there was a visitor or customs center he had to go through.

OOC: I'm going to assume that you're okay with my showing up, since you didn't say anything one way or the other about it.

IC:
As the helicopter descended, Veit could see that the ship was now docked to with the platform. After waiting for the rotars to spin down he exited the chopper and looked around. It was obvious that they had made an effort, but it could still use some work. Pulling in as many details as possible, he made his way away from the landing pad. Pausing, he tried to figure out where he was going to go. He knew he had to go to the hotel, but he was unsure if there was a visitor or customs center he had to go through.

The Customs Agents at the Helicopter Platform attempted to get back to work, despite the fact that a cruise ship was parked next to their country, and there wasn't any indication as to when that ship would be leaving.

Just as the helicopter, containing the skeleton crew for the ship took off for Yalta, another Helicopter, carrying in a fresh batch of tourists landed. People and luggage were unloaded. The tourists gathered up their things and went to the three customs agents that were ready to accept them into the Country.

"Welcome to the Free Republic of Discordia. We hope that you enjoy your stay. Please have your passports ready for inspection."

OOC: These are commercial helicopters that travel back and forth between the two countries. That's what your man would be traveling on. Personal choppers are not allowed.

David Hirsch, the man who had won a lottery and purchased the cruise liner Norwegian Wind, held out his arms in a defensive posture.

"Madam President please! I had good reasons for buying this ship! Reasons that would help the country! Just let me explain myself!"

"David," the President sighed.

"Please!" he begged.

Gloria raised her eyebrows. Clearly the kid wanted to have his say. 'Oh well,' she thought. 'I'll humor him for at least a couple minutes.'

She turned to Constable Gerald Stevens.

"Constable, David and myself are going to talk up in the Norwegian Wind. Call up a squad of security guards and make sure that noone else comes on board."

"Yes, Madam President" replied Constable Stevens as he reached for his walkie-talkie.

David Hirsch and President Gloria Ivanhoe walked up the gangpank to the Promenade Deck, and entered the reception area of the Cruise Liner.

The President turned to Hirsch. "Alright, David." she said sternly. "What was your wonderful idea?"

David began. "I thought that by buying this ship we could expand our economy more! And take on more tourists!" he looked around the Reception Area. This ship has the facilities to do it! It's..it's got restaurants, a shopping area, and even a casino! It's got everything Discordia has! And more!"

The President sighed. "Yes, but how are we going to pay for all these services?"

"What?" said David, not believeing what he was hearing.

"You may have purchased this ship for $250,000,000 but it will cost even more money to maintain it. "Food, cleaning, medical care-"

"Damnit, Madam President!" David shouted. "Can't you think outside of numbers and figures for one moment?!"

Gloria looked at David in surprise.

"Can't you see past the numbers and look at the benefits?" he said, with tears in his eyes. "Dicordia has a population of 245 people, and they're all stuffed on that tiny platform. Sometimes, We have to bunk up to 8 people into a single room just to maximize the number of tourists that come here!"

The President stiffened. David had made a valid point. Space was very tight, what with all the tourists. But they needed those tourists and the money they brought to the country to pay off their debt. What choice did they have?

"And all these facilities we got stuffed onto the platform. the giftshop, the restaurant, they take up so much space! And yet as we try to save space, everything is so damn small and narrow! You can see it in the tourist's eyes that they don't like being here!"

David continued. "We can't keep things like this forever, Madam President! Sooner or later, Discordia is going to loose its mystique, our problems will bubble to the surface, and we'll just be seen as some bad joke! If we're going to survive out here, the Free Republic is gonna need to expand!"

At all once, a lightbulb turned on in Gloria's head. Creative gears, long left dorment by the responsibilities of government, began to spin again.

Gloria's attention shifted away from David as she started to consider the possibilities. She shook her head. How could she have been so foolish? This was indeed, as David said, a once in a lifetime opportunity.

She smiled as ideas rushed through her head like roaring rapids. The issue of money was forgotten. Opportunity had presented itself, and Gloria would be damned if she didn't milk it for all it was worth.

"David!" she interrupted Hirsch's rant.

'Wha-what is it?"

The President grinned a sly smile towards Hirsch. Hirsch gulped. He had seen that face a long time ago. It was the face that meant that she was formulating a plan in her head.

"Perhaps...there is more to this cruise ship than I realized." she said.

Discordia

Right next to the Presidential Tower, there was a small office which housed the office of the Wilhelmsborough ambassador, John Bradley. At that moment, Bradley was standing in the doorway, looking out upon the cruise liner in anger. Its presence came as a surprise. And Bradley didn't like surprises.

Ambassador Bradley was a man who didn't like nonsense. He believed in order and efficiency. And it was for that reason that Bradley hated his job, stuck in this pathetic excuse for a country, with citizens who were nearly all members of the liberal Free Thinkers Party, an organization which he despised.

He knew why he had been posted here. That bleeding heart Minister of Diplomacy, Geddy Lee, had had it in for him from the very beginning. He didn't like Bradley's acerbic attitude and willingness to skirt the law. However, since the man was clearly qualified for the job, they couldn't just get rid of him. But they could shift him off somewhere far off where they didn't have to deal with him. And that place was this hellhole in the middle of the Black Sea.

He didn't like the Free Republic of Discordia. And the feeling was mutual. When he walked along the platform, the citizenry ignored him as best they could. Even their bitch leader, President Gloria Ivanhoe wouldn't talk to him unless it was absolutely necessary.

At this moment however, he was walking to the President's office to meet with her, whether she liked it or not. If what he had heard was true, that the Cruise ship docked alongside the platform belonged to the country, then the Principality Government would want to hear about it.

John Bradley climbed up the stairs and entered the waiting room. He then walked right past Secretary Amanda Barrows. "Ambassador! The President isn't ready to take visitors!" she protested.

He didn't listen however. He just opened the door and walked into the office.

President Ivanhoe looked up in surprise at the sudden interruption of her work. When she saw who it was, the lids of her eyes closed a bit as her face took on an expression of annoyance.

"Oh, it's you Ambassador. Need another bag for the sea-sickness?"

Bradley's lip curled under his shaggy white mustache as he tried to maintain his composure.

"That's not why I'm here Madam President." he replied curtly.

She raised her eyebrows. "Ah, saw our new boat, did you?"

The Ambassador gave a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, it's about that boat. When were you going to inform Prince William about it?”

The President grinned. "I was planning on taking my time getting back to him on our situation out here, but it seems that I don't have that luxury now do I?"

The Ambassador frowned. "No, not unless you want the Wilhelmsborough navy out here wondering what the hell is going on."

The President rolled her eyes. "I figured they might do that." she picked up a piece of paper and read it for a second. "I've already taken the liberty of writing a message to the concerned parties."

Gloria handed the letter to Ambassador Bradley. He read the letter in curiosity. Suddenly his face blanched and he looked up at the President in shock.

"You cannot be serious!" Bradley shouted.

The President grinned a wide grin. "No sir. I assure you that I am very serious about my intentions for this ship."

John Bradley protested. "Nobody will take this seriously! They'll think it's a joke!"

The President waved her hand dismissively. "Are you going to fax that to the Prince, or is the Navy going to have to come out here again?"
------------------
Wilhelmsborough

At this moment, Prince William was in his office. He was supposed to be typing out a report on his laptop, but instead the Prince was spending his time playing solitaire.

"Six of Clubs goes on Seven of Hearts! Damn! Out of options! Ok, new game!"

Suddenly a messenger came in through the door. Quickly, the Prince X-ed out of the game and maximized the Word Document he was supposed to be working on.

"Your Majesty." The messenger bowed. "We've just received a fax from Ambassador John Bradley in the Free Republic of Discordia."

Upon hearing the name John Bradley, the Prince's eyes glazed over in annoyance. John Bradley was, by far, the biggest jerk ever to come out of the School of Diplomacy. It was beyond the Prince how a dick like Bradley could ever work in International Relations. He was coarse, rude, and difficult to work with. Everywhere he was placed; there was at least one request for reassignment. If it wasn't for the foundation of Discordia, Geddy Lee might have fired him. Instead, he sent him to work out of that small island platform, just so he could get him out of his sight. It was a fact that Lee openly admitted to.

The Prince pointed at a wire tray. "Put it into the In-Box. I'll get to it eventually."

"Erm, the Ambassador says it's urgent, Your Majesty." the messenger said, uncomfortably.

The Prince rolled his eyes. "I bet he would." But he took the fax message and started reading it.

The Prince's eyes went wide with shock as he read the message. Just to be sure it wasn't a delusion, he read the message a second time, to be sure that what he had read was real.

And it was.

He leaned back in his chair, stunned by what he had read.

"I can't believe that woman." he whispered.

------------------

Official Message to All Nations of the World

Hello!

My name is Gloria Ivanhoe, and I am the President of the Free Republic of Discordia. Discordia is a tiny nation, situated on an island platform 30 miles off the coast of the Principality of Wilhelmsborough.

Our country is home to exactly 245 citizens, who have worked hard over the past few years to make this little country respectable. It hasn’t been easy, especially with the weather, and financial situations. But it has been said that good things come to those who wait. And with that, it gives me great pleasure to make the following announcement:

Discordia is growing in size!

That's right, you read this message correctly. The Free Republic of Discordia has in fact acquired new territory. Now I know that there are many of you out there wondering: how is it possible that a nation in the middle of a sea could enlarge and grow? Well to those people, I submit this picture:

http://www.cruisereviews.com/NorwegianCruiseLine/NorwegianWind9Pictures/NorwegianWind.jpg

What you are looking at is the cruise ship Norwegian Wind. For nearly 20 years, it has traveled to exotic destinations around the world. Unfortunately however, the company that owned it, Norwegian Cruise Lines, was forced to declare Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and sell their assets to pay off their debt. One of these ships happened to be purchased by a citizen of Discordia. That generous citizen had the ship brought to our country so that we might benefit from its use.

But it is by the power vested in me that I declare the Norwegian Wind to be not just a cruise ship, but in fact a province within the Free Republic of Discordia! Citizens will be allowed to register as members of this new province, and they shall be allowed all the rights and privileges of a province, including the right to form a representative governing body, and the ability to create laws.

It should also be known that as the company Norwegian Cruise Lines is no longer in existence, the need for the Prefix “Norwegian” is unnecessary. Therefore, a name change is in order. From now on, this ship/land shall be known as the “Wind Province.”

Citizens of the world, I implore you to hop a flight on over to the Free Republic, and see how our little country is expanding. And while you’re at it, you can enjoy the many wonderful services our new province has to offer, including twelve bars, five restaurants, two pools, a disco, and a casino, just to name a few!

The Free Republic of Discordia is growing! Come visit us, and see how!

Bump.

Alright everyone, with that message, it's your opportunity to respond!

Veit took his place in line with his suitcase in one hand and his passport in the other. When it was his turn in front of the customs officer, he held out his passport declaring himself to be Gawaine Nuwolf. "Good afternoon, would you like to check my baggage as well?"

Veit's coworkers back in Templa were laughing hard enough that several had fallen out of their chairs. "Oh my god." Gasped one, "I bet the government in Wilhelmsborough just fell prey to collective apoplexy!"

TO: Discordian Government
FROM: The Office of the President of Templa

I congratulate you on your territorial coup. As my way of thanking you for brightening my day, a transfer of funds summing a little more than four point two trillion dollars has been made to your accounts.

[insert totally illegible cursive script here

"You see this?" Jackson Bell, a middle-aged, middle-income man asked of his wife as he sat at the breakfast table drinking coffee and eating his eggs and toast. Bending the paper in half to highlight the article he was talking about, he handed it to his wife Samantha Moore Bell.

Samantha scanned over the article before looking at the picture of a large cruise ships moored right next to a platform in the middle of the water, "The Free Republic of Discordia is a small nation by any standards. With a population of two-hundred forty-five and a land area that is just a platform in the Black Sea, it is one of the smallest known nations in the world. However, Madam President Gloria Ivanhoe has recently announced that one of their noble citizens was fortunate enough to come into a quarter of billion dollars which he proceeded to use to buy a cruise liner. Formally known as the Norwegian Wind, the cruise liner has been officially been proclaimed as a territory of the Republic and been named the Wind Province. It is now open to new people's for tourism and living. It went on with more detail about the ship and the nation as well as the man who had bought it for his country, but she had read all she needed to.

Seeing the picture, she was quite surprised to see its size compared to the nation itself. The subtitle under it read, "Wind Province is a new territory of the Free Republic of Discordia.

"You wanna?" Jackson asked after he was quite sure she was done reading the article.

She looked up slowly from the paper with a grin on her face. "Yeah..."


***

The commercial helicopter on which the couple had booked a pair of seats as well as a ton of cargo room (they had to, in fact, buy ten of the seats so that they could have most of the cargo room), touched down on the tiny platform nation of Discordia and Samantha and Jackson stepped out.

"Well... we're here."

"Yep, we're here alright," Samantha replied as she stared up at the boat just off to the side.

Noticing the customs and immigration line, the couple hopped in and awaited their turn as their baggage was unloaded...




[ooc: Hey guys, I am not sure how Wilhelmsborough feels about this, but I feel that it pretty much ruins the story and RP if you just send Discordia billions and trillions of dollars. He might be perfectly fine with it, but I thought I would at least drop in my 2 cents.]

OOC: The message I sent, where the reply. Im just asking.

IC: John Farrget, a Brydog State official was send to Discordia to speak to their leader.

[ooc: Hey guys, I am not sure how Wilhelmsborough feels about this, but I feel that it pretty much ruins the story and RP if you just send Discordia billions and trillions of dollars. He might be perfectly fine with it, but I thought I would at least drop in my 2 cents.]

Actually, I was prepared for the event that some nations would send aid. In fact, I already have a story plan worked out in my head in the event that money was given to Discordia, which I see has indeed happened.

Actually, I was prepared for the event that some nations would send aid. In fact, I already have a story plan worked out in my head in the event that money was given to Discordia, which I see has indeed happened.

ooc: Well, hopefully you have a plan that can deal with over four trillion dollars in order to keep the RP fun. Cheers*

President Gloria Ivanhoe sat at her desk, working on a list of laws for the new Wind Province. Now that the Free Republic had expanded, there were now a lot of citizens who had immediately expressed their interest in moving on board. Even some tourists, who themselves were greatly fascinated by this new development, had expressed interest in trying out the services and facilities in (on?) the new land.

Fortunately, the ship had enough rooms to accommodate 1700 guests, as well as enough housing for over 600 crewmen. However, since Discordia only had 245 citizens, and was originally capable of accommodating a maximum of 350 tourists, there would be more than enough room to go around.

The President smiled as she thought of her options. Perhaps she should open the country up to small-scale immigration so that open positions could be filled?

Suddenly, a message popped up on the screen.

You Have (2) new email(s) it read.

The President raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t very often that she received any mail, and whenever she did, was usually just Prince William bothering her about the monthly payments.

She minimized the document and went into her email account. Sure enough, there were two messages. Neither of which were from any nation she was familiar with. The oldest message was from a place called the “Liberal Democratic Republic of Brydog.”

Gloria clicked the link, and the message popped up. She started reading, but then she let out a sound that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a scream. The noise was loud enough that her secretary, Amanda Barrows rushed in.

“Madam President, what’s the matter?!” she shouted in concern.

The President looked at her secretary in shock and turned the laptop towards Barrows so she could see what the message.

Barrows clasped her hands to her mouth as she read. The message was short, but what it said had an incredible impact.

To: Free Republic of Discordia
From: The Liberal Democratic Republic of Brydog

Dear Madam,
We wish to pay off your debts, in sign of good faith and friendship. We hope to establish relations with your nation.

Signed,
Wolfgang Joepsh Lichtenburg
President of the Republic
The Liberal Democratic Republic of Brydog

Barrows turned to the President. “Madam President! I-I can’t believe it!”

The President had tears in her eyes. “Amanda!” she whispered. “Our financial troubles are over! We’re in the clear! We’re debt-free!!”

The two women laughed and danced around the office like young girls. If anybody had seen them, they would have thought the two were drunk.

“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!” Barrows screamed out in joy. “No more worrying about how we’re going to make our monthly payments!”

The President laughed out loud. “No more debt collectors! No more harassment from the mainland!”

They went on like that for several minutes before they finally tired themselves out. They sat down as they tried to catch their breaths.

The President finally spoke. “We’ll have to send a response to this wonderful nation of Brydog! And we should invite a diplomatic team to set up permanent shop here!”

“We could give them one of the upper-class decks in the Wind Province!” Barrows suggested.

“Excellent idea, Amanda! I’ll write them back immediately!”

To: Wolfgang Joepsh Lichtenburg, President of the Liberal Democratic Republic of Brydog
From: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of the Free Republic of Discordia

On behalf of the entire Free Republic of Discordia, I, President Gloria Ivanhoe, give you my deepest, deepest thanks. You have settled for us a problem that this country thought that it would always have to live with. But thanks to you, this blight upon these lands has been lifted. And now the future is wide open for our tiny nation to grow strong in this world!

By all means, we accept your offer to establish relations with our country! Send your diplomats over at your earliest convenience! We here on Discordia will be ready to accept you with open arms! Thank you very much, Mr. President! Discordia will never forget what an incredible thing the nation of Brydog did for this country!

Signed,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia

The President collapsed back into her seat as the e-mail was sent to the President of Brydog. She turned to Secretary Barrows.

“I don’t know how we’re gonna tell the citizens about this.” She said.

Barrows looked over the President’s shoulder.

“What about that other message you got?” she pointed out.

“Huh?” the President replied distractedly. “Oh yeah, I’d better take a look at that.”

The President clicked on the link to the second e-mail.

But as she read the next message, the President screamed! She screamed and jumped out of her seat!

“Madam President! What is it now?” Barrows rushed over and looked at the screen.

TO: Discordian Government
FROM: The Office of the President of Templa

I congratulate you on your territorial coup. As my way of thanking you for brightening my day, a transfer of funds summing a little more than four point two trillion dollars has been made to your accounts.

“F-f-f-f-f-four point two…” the President began.

“Trillion dollars?” finished Barrows.

At once, the women’s fatigue was forgotten as the screaming and dancing around the office started up once more.

Down in the lower recesses of the Platform, janitor James Pease awoke with a start. He heard a loud noise. It was coming from a ventilation shaft. He walked over and put his ear to it. Sure enough, there was screaming coming down from topside, around where the Presidential Tower would be.

Pease shook his head “Some people sure are rude.” He muttered.

One of the tourist choppers landed in Discordia and John Farrget stepped out. He looked around and found a person. "Hello, Im John Farrget and Im looking for your President's office. Im from Brydog."

Location: Discordia
Custom Agents

Gawaine Nuwolf. "Good afternoon, would you like to check my baggage as well?"

He looked at the passport. Everything seemed to be in order. He handed it back to "Gawaine Nuwolf." Strange name if he ever heard one.

The agent shook his head. "Just put your baggage through the x-ray machine. Oh, and I'll have to see your shoes as well."

--------------------------

Nearby, a female customs agent greeted a middle-aged couple that had come up to her. They both seemed amazed and a little anxious about being in the country.

As they walked up to her, the agent attempted to placate any worries they had with a warm greeting. "Welcome to Discordia! We hope you enjoy your stay!" she smiled.

--------------------------

A rather important looking man in an expensive suit approached the final customs agent.

"Hello, I'm John Farrget and I'm looking for your President's office. I'm from Brydog."

The customs agent raised an eyebrow. No foreigner ever came to Discordia asking to meet with the President. The only people who did that were Wilhelmsborough's diplomats. And by now, he could spot those as soon as they stepped off the helicopter pad.

"Was the President expecting you, sir?" the agent asked.

Nearby, a female customs agent greeted a middle-aged couple that had come up to her. They both seemed amazed and a little anxious about being in the country.

As they walked up to her, the agent attempted to placate any worries they had with a warm greeting. "Welcome to Discordia! We hope you enjoy your stay!" she smiled.

"Oh, thank you!" Jackson said as he turned and smiled at his wife. The people here seemed very friendly and hospitable. "Yes, we had a couple of questions about our stay."

"Yes, we did. Are they laws on how long we can stay... and if... er... umm... we can live here?" Samantha added, stumbling over the words. The adventuresome couple, who had lived all across the world, had sold their house in hopes of moving to this new and different land.

Official Message to All Nations of the World

Hello!

My name is Gloria Ivanhoe, and I am the President of the Free Republic of Discordia. Discordia is a tiny nation, situated on an island platform 30 miles off the coast of the Principality of Wilhelmsborough.

Our country is home to exactly 245 citizens, who have worked hard over the past few years to make this little country respectable. It hasn’t been easy, especially with the weather, and financial situations. But it has been said that good things come to those who wait. And with that, it gives me great pleasure to make the following announcement:

Discordia is growing in size!

That's right, you read this message correctly. The Free Republic of Discordia has in fact acquired new territory. Now I know that there are many of you out there wondering: how is it possible that a nation in the middle of a sea could enlarge and grow? Well to those people, I submit this picture:

http://www.cruisereviews.com/NorwegianCruiseLine/NorwegianWind9Pictures/NorwegianWind.jpg

What you are looking at is the cruise ship Norwegian Wind. For nearly 20 years, it has traveled to exotic destinations around the world. Unfortunately however, the company that owned it, Norwegian Cruise Lines, was forced to declare Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and sell their assets to pay off their debt. One of these ships happened to be purchased by a citizen of Discordia. That generous citizen had the ship brought to our country so that we might benefit from its use.

But it is by the power vested in me that I declare the Norwegian Wind to be not just a cruise ship, but in fact a province within the Free Republic of Discordia! Citizens will be allowed to register as members of this new province, and they shall be allowed all the rights and privileges of a province, including the right to form a representative governing body, and the ability to create laws.

It should also be known that as the company Norwegian Cruise Lines is no longer in existence, the need for the Prefix “Norwegian” is unnecessary. Therefore, a name change is in order. From now on, this ship/land shall be known as the “Wind Province.”

Citizens of the world, I implore you to hop a flight on over to the Free Republic, and see how our little country is expanding. And while you’re at it, you can enjoy the many wonderful services our new province has to offer, including twelve bars, five restaurants, two pools, a disco, and a casino, just to name a few!

The Free Republic of Discordia is growing! Come visit us, and see how!

Reading over the message that was part of his daily intelligence briefing, King Winston I couldn't believe what he was reading. Amuseing he thought, Do these Discordia's ever follow the laws set for the rest of us nations?

Getting out his pen and paper, King Winston I started writing out the offical stance to be taken and sent to the Free Republic of Discordia, how funny that its name would be filled with some much irony. The discord this nation has caused, is that all it ever does, he wondered.

Official Message From the Government of United Earthlings to the Government of Discordia

While we send our congratulations to you for finding a means of aquiring more room for your nation, however under International Law "a ship cannot constitute the permanent territory required for statehood to be established. What is more, military ships and aircrafts are the property of the State that commissioned them.

As such, you can not claim the following ship to be a province of Discordia. While you did not commission the ship, you do have the rights to it.

You are hereby, by the Law of the Sea to renounce the following ship as a sovereign part of your country. Were you not to do this, the following ship will be considered a pirate ship and as such under International Law we have the right to seize it. Futher more if you continue to go down the course you are following, your nation will be consider a rogue government that is threating the rights granted under International Law to United Earthlings.

Part II
However, we are willing to construct and pay for you a second platform that will be connected to the main one and under International Law you will be able to claim that platform as your sovereign territory which our govenment will recognize.

The size of the platform can be discussed, we are also willing to support you with your dealings with Wilhelmsborough government that building this platform would be good for all three nations.

However, this platform deal is only on the table if you revoke the statement concerning the ship and it being a part of your territory.

In the future, we advise you to consolt the International Laws to avoid these types of problems in the future.

Sincerely, King Winston I

[ooc: OOC comment about the previous IC post; Everyone knows that RL International Law does not apply nor is it followed by many, many, many NS Nations. Furthermore, let it be known that DMG recognizes the Wind Province as a sovereign territory of Discordia and any attempt to seize it will seen as an unwarranted hostile action and be dealt with accordingly...]

[ooc: OOC comment about the previous IC post; Everyone knows that RL International Law does not apply nor is it followed by many, many, many NS Nations. Furthermore, let it be known that DMG recognizes the Wind Province as a sovereign territory of Discordia and any attempt to seize it will seen as an unwarranted hostile action and be dealt with accordingly...]

OCC: I knew someone would bring up RL, thats why I didn't say RL. I was using NS International Law, which many many many NS nations follow. Nationstates is based on Real Life and uses similar examples ie RL United Nations, Nationstates United Nations. Wars RL, Wars NS, so on and so on. So while I was using RL as an example, I'm speaking of the International Laws of nationstates that exist that all nations agree to or that most do agree with.
Their claiming a ship as sovereign territory is seen as an unwarranted hostile action and is being dealt with accordingly.

Having a ship be sovereign teritory creates legal problems that our goverment is wishing to avoid. You would be wise to not recognize the ship "Wind Province" as offical territory, as it could create problems for you in the future. I can list the problems that will arise once the ship is offical classified as sovereign, if you want.

OCC: I knew someone would bring up RL, thats why I didn't say RL. I was using NS International Law, which many many many NS nations follow. Nationstates is based on Real Life and uses similar examples ie RL United Nations, Nationstates United Nations. Wars RL, Wars NS, so on and so on. So while I was using RL as an example, I'm speaking of the International Laws of nationstates that exist that all nations agree to or that most do agree with.
Their claiming a ship as sovereign territory is seen as an unwarranted hostile action and is being dealt with accordingly.

Having a ship be sovereign teritory creates legal problems that our goverment is wishing to avoid. You would be wise to not recognize the ship "Wind Province" as offical territory, as it could create problems for you in the future. I can list the problems that will arise once the ship is offical classified as sovereign, if you want.

[ooc: My country certainly doesn't follow the UN, just like most other nations. The UN is a bunch of crap. I hardly see how claiming a ship that they own as a territory is a hostile action. It might bring up problems if the ship were to move, but simply saying that they are violating 'the laws of the sea' that nobody knows is worthless. You should probably list why it won't work.]

OOC: Hey, those wacky hippies again! You may remember me as Moantha.

IC: Three men stepped off of the helicopter. All of them were from New Aeson, and each of them had different reasons for this trip.

The first was a Mr. Smith. He had been sent by the Council of Thirteen to provide a threat assessment. Essentially, he was to pose as a tourist, and see how likely the average Discordian was to desire terrorist attacks on other nations. Standing at seven foot three, with a braid of blond hair falling halfway down his back, and with a thick Aesonic accent, (think Norse, with undertones of Pacific Islander) Mr. Smith was anything but unnoticable. That was his second purpose, to deflect attention from the second visitor.

Claudius, on the other hand, was small of frame, and completely unremarkable, except in the way that his eyes constantly darted about, taking in everything about Discordia. His purpose was to broker a certain deal with the President of Discordia, all of the details about which he carried in a small briefcase.

The final man, named, by some strange twist of fate, Al Capone, was simply here on vacation.

"Yes" replied Farrget

Official Message to All Nations of the World

Hello!

My name is Gloria Ivanhoe, and I am the President of the Free Republic of Discordia. Discordia is a tiny nation, situated on an island platform 30 miles off the coast of the Principality of Wilhelmsborough.

Our country is home to exactly 245 citizens, who have worked hard over the past few years to make this little country respectable. It hasn’t been easy, especially with the weather, and financial situations. But it has been said that good things come to those who wait. And with that, it gives me great pleasure to make the following announcement:

Discordia is growing in size!

That's right, you read this message correctly. The Free Republic of Discordia has in fact acquired new territory. Now I know that there are many of you out there wondering: how is it possible that a nation in the middle of a sea could enlarge and grow? Well to those people, I submit this picture:

http://www.cruisereviews.com/NorwegianCruiseLine/NorwegianWind9Pictures/NorwegianWind.jpg

What you are looking at is the cruise ship Norwegian Wind. For nearly 20 years, it has traveled to exotic destinations around the world. Unfortunately however, the company that owned it, Norwegian Cruise Lines, was forced to declare Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and sell their assets to pay off their debt. One of these ships happened to be purchased by a citizen of Discordia. That generous citizen had the ship brought to our country so that we might benefit from its use.

But it is by the power vested in me that I declare the Norwegian Wind to be not just a cruise ship, but in fact a province within the Free Republic of Discordia! Citizens will be allowed to register as members of this new province, and they shall be allowed all the rights and privileges of a province, including the right to form a representative governing body, and the ability to create laws.

It should also be known that as the company Norwegian Cruise Lines is no longer in existence, the need for the Prefix “Norwegian” is unnecessary. Therefore, a name change is in order. From now on, this ship/land shall be known as the “Wind Province.”

Citizens of the world, I implore you to hop a flight on over to the Free Republic, and see how our little country is expanding. And while you’re at it, you can enjoy the many wonderful services our new province has to offer, including twelve bars, five restaurants, two pools, a disco, and a casino, just to name a few!

The Free Republic of Discordia is growing! Come visit us, and see how!

Prime Minister Brooks was sitting down in his office when his International Notification system bleeped to life.

New Announcment, it flashed across the screen.

Brookes leaned over to the monitor slowly, taking care not to spill his coffee, "Read Now", he muttered to himself slowly, as he clicked a button with the same name.

Reading slowly, he spent his time taking in the infomation presented to him.

"Well I'll be dammed" was his only reply.

It seemed that a small nation, based out of an artificial island, had decided to annex a cruise ship as it's new province. Quickly thinking out a plan of action, Brookes decided he should write a short letter, outlining the Government of Northford's position.

Greetings friends,

I am writing this as Prime Minister of Northford, an Island nation, linked only to a continent by a partially flooded landbridge.

Oweing to the fact we loosely share some geographic characteristics, I would like to take this oppotunity to welcome ourselves to your world, and with a gesture of friendship, make the following offer:

We, The Commonwealth of Northford, hereby offer a Bilateral Free Trade Agreement between our two countries. Recognising that Free Trade is important for any new country, and that the People of Northford wish to have greater tourist links with Discordia, and that the Commonwealth of Northford wishes to sell/lease Military hardware to the state of Discordia, we believe such an agreement could only have positive consequences.

We eagerly await your response.

With that PM Brookes clicked send on the mail system, sending the message to the Governmental Communications Network, which would ensure that the message reached the intended person, whether it be E-mail, letter, or Voice Message.

Prince William dialed the number to the President's office in Discordia. He was very annoyed that he had to hear the news at the same time as everybody else in the world. Right now he was calling to give the President a piece of his mind.

The President's Secretary answered. "President Ivanhoe's office!" she said cheerfully.

"This is the Prince of Wilhelmsborough. I need to speak to the President."

Upon hearing that it was the Prince, the Secretary's tone changed. "I'm very sorry Prince William, but the President is very busy at the moment, and is preparing to make a speech-"

"Now please." the Prince said.

The secretary huffed in annoyance. "Just a moment." she replied stiffly.

The President picked up the phone. "Ah hello, Prince William," she said curtly. "Have you gotten the message?"

The Prince sighed in annoyance. "Good afternoon, Madam President. Yes, I have indeed received your message regarding your latest...erm, territorial acquisition."

"How wonderful!" the President replied in false cleer.

The Prince rolled his eyes. "Yes Gloria, congratuations on your nation's expansion, a few hundred square feet further into the Black Sea."

"Why thank you, Your Majesty! Your message is greatly appreciated!' she replied, intentionally ignoring the Prince's sarchasm.

The Prince laughed for a second. "But really, Madam President. A cruise ship? We could have just given you one of the remaining defense platforms. They are still up after all. We had planned to destroy them, but then your group's decision to start your own country changed all that."

On her side of the line, Gloria smiled. "That's very nice of you to say, Your Majesty. However, if we were to take another platform, we would have to spend money turning it into a place for people to live. And then, we'd have to spend even more money to build up a viable economy on this platform. All things considered, taking over another platform will only put us even further into debt. And you know how much our country hates debt, don't you, Prince William?"

Prince William grinned. 'She's no fool, this one.'

"Yes, Madam President, I know how much you hate your current situation, but trust me when I say that it will benefit your country in the future. Now then, because you have acquired a cruise ship, it may cost more money to maintain such a craft. You may have to come to the mainland so that we can work out a new monthy payment plan."

Before Discordia had acquired aid from Brydog and Templa, President Ivanhoe would always cringe whenever Prince William ordered her to come to the mainland, to work out new payment plans. But now...

The President grinned a wide grin as she thought about how the Prince would react to this.

"Your Majesty," the President began, "I know you have a program on your computer that shows how much debt that the Free Republic has to pay. Could you check it please?"

The Prince raised an eyebrow. Usually, Gloria hated to talk about the total amount of money that her country had to pay off.

"Well, ok Madam President. I'm starting the program now."

The Prince turned to his laptop and started up the Debt Tracker Program. The Debt Tracker Program was a system designed to connect into the bank account where Discordia sent it's monthly debt payments. The program was so advanced, that it could record changes, and send updated data to those monitoring the debt in a matter of seconds.

Right now, the Prince was looking at Discordia's debt to the Principality.

He spoke into the reciever. "Alright Gloria, I have the numbers right here."

"And what does it say?"

The Prince smiled. "It says that you owe my country a grand total of $931,876,223.76. Quite a fee."

The President grinned. "Look again, Prince William."

The President frowned. "What do you mean?" suddenly a beeping came from the Debt Tracker Program. Prince William knew this to mean that the numbers had changed. Curious, he clicked on the Refresh button.

The page went white as it reloaded with the new information. And when the page finally reloaded, Prince William looked at the screen.

Then he did a double take and nearly fell out of his seat.

On the screen, the Free Republic debt to the Principality which had previously stood at $931,876,223.76., had been replaced by one number.

$0

"Gloria?" he screamed into the phone. "GLORIA! What the hell did you just do?"

The President put a hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud at the Prince's anger.

"What did we do?" she snickered. "We just paid off every last penny of our debt. You can thank the wonderful country of Brydog for their generous donation."

"But..what.you..and...wait, wait, what the hell did you just say?!"

The President rolled her eyes. "A foreign country saw our plight, took pity on us, and sent our nation enough money to completely pay off our debt to you!"

The President couldn't hold back anymore. She laughed out loud in joy. "It's over, Your Majesty! Finished! Done! You have the money that you wanted us to pay back! It only took us the better part of two years, but our debt to you is erased!"

In his office, Prince William bristled with anger. Damn that woman! "Two years living out there alone and you think you know it all don't you?" he taunted. "That debt was supposed to teach you-"

"Oh don't think I don't remember that message you sent out to the world regarding our independence, Your Majesty!" the President said, suddenly angry. "You said, that through living out here, and paying our dues to Wilhelmsborough, we would eventually learn how nations work in the real world!"

"Yes! I did say that! And you-"

"But Your Majesty," the President coolly interrupted. "Isn't providing international aid and debt relief also a way nations work in the real world?"

"Why I...wait..." The Prince was stunned at what he was hearing.

The President continued to lecture. "The world is not a completely unhelpful and unforgiving place, Your Majesty. If you look around long enough, you might find someone who's willing to help those who are less fortunate."

The Prince couldn't believe it. She was right. How could have he been so foolish to discount international aid? He put a hand to his brow. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Finally, the Prince found his voice. "What happens now, Gloria?"

The President smiled. "We're going to move forward and continue to expand! It's almost inevitable now! You wouldn't believe how much money the other country gave us!"

Upon hearing these words the Prince bolted up in his seat. "What country? What money?"

The President yawned. "I do enjoy these conversations we have Your Majesty," she said with a tinge of sarchasm in her voice. "But I really must go now. I have to address my people."

"Wait!" Prince William shouted urgently. "How much-"

"Until next time!" she interrupted.

"Hold on!"

"Bye-bye!"

Prince William heard a click as Gloria hung up the phone. The Prince slammed the receiver into the charger in frustration, and fell back into his seat.

"Damn it all the hell!" he shook his head in amazement at the nerve of the President of Discordia. "That bitch is crazy. More crazy than me I bet."

He shook his head. Slowly the Prince grew less angry. And then he started to laugh. And laugh.

"Got a lot of money did she? I wonder what sort of junk she'll spend it on. After such a long time of having nothing, suddenly being presented with a great deal of money is sure to impair her judgement!"

The President laughed giddily. "This should be very interesting to watch."

" Lula, What do you say you an I go for a little vacation?"
" A vaction Matt? You cant be Serious! elections are just around the corner!"
" Oh come on babe, it will be fun, plus I'm going to win that election."
" But still... we should stay here."
" Nah it will be fun!"
" But... where?
" Discordia of course! See? right there! their new travel booklet! Yes, that is a Cruise ship, of course its really a state."
" Why go to Discordia?"
" Well they are near Wilhelmsborough, Ive been meaning to visit Prince William, I figuere we could invite him to the Cruise Ship!"
" Matt! you know that the Prince doesnt like their new "state""
" Bah! I know Prince William would love the opprunity to chat with me about new Trade ansd Security agreements!"
" but...."
" No buts! Make it so!

To: Prince William
From: Matt Booch
Hi! how have you been Prince William, Im sure you know who I am? Im Acting President of The Peoples Freedom? Yes you helped us in the Southwest War. Yes, I was wondering if you would like to discuss some propostions with me. At the Wind Provience! Come on it would be Fun! let me know

signed,
Matt Booch

I got an important post coming up that's significant to the story. Don't post here until I've got it up.

"Oh, thank you!" Jackson said as he turned and smiled at his wife. The people here seemed very friendly and hospitable. "Yes, we had a couple of questions about our stay."

"Yes, we did. Are they laws on how long we can stay... and if... er... umm... we can live here?" Samantha added, stumbling over the words. The adventuresome couple, who had lived all across the world, had sold their house in hopes of moving to this new and different land.

"Oh my!" the customs agent replied, surprised at the question. This is quite unusual! Nobody outside of the Free Thinkers Party has ever wanted to join our country!"

She furrowed her brows in thought. "If you did live here what would you do? Would you work, or do you have enough money to-"

Suddenly, the loud speaker came on, cutting off the customs agent.

"Attention all citizens of the Free Republic of Discordia! Stand by for a very important message from the President!"

The customs agent turned to the couple. "I'm very sorry. This will have to wait.”

-----

Up in the Presidential Tower, Gloria Ivanhoe was feeling nervous.

"I don't know, Amanda. I'm worried that if I tell them the good news, they may tear the platform apart."

Amanda patted the President on the shoulder. "Relax! Constable Stevens and his security team are out in full force. It's standard procedure, whenever you make a public address."

President Ivanhoe nodded. "Yes I know. I just wonder what they’ll do if I spring this on them so suddenly.”

Barrows leaned over the President's shoulder. "You can't keep this locked up forever, you know. Just get it over with right now."

The President turned to her secretary. "Alright, I’ll do it! Jeez, you’re like my mom sometimes.”

Barrows smiled. “Let’s go together.”

President Ivanhoe and Secretary Barrows opened up the door to the outside, and started walking down the staircase. At the bottom of the staircase were a podium and a pair of speakers.

Surrounding that platform was Constable Stevens and a 20-man security team. They had all been informed of what the President was going to say. And although they were extremely happy to hear about it, they knew that other citizens might take this opportunity to cause trouble. In preparation, they had dressed in riot gear.

As the President came down the platform, she saw that a large crowd had come out to hear what she had to say. Even the tourists had come over to see what was going on. They were very interested in what was going on in Discordia, especially with the events of the last few days. And the fact that the security team had donned riot gear only heightened that interest.

The President stepped up to the Podium. Her eyes scanned the faces in the crowd, all of them anxious to hear just what was so important that they were pulled from their jobs just to listen.

‘Well,’ she thought, ‘it’s now or never.’

“Citizens of the Free Republic of Discordia. I know that life out here on the water hasn’t been easy for us. Every day, it is a struggle to maintain our independence despite the forces of weather and debt knocking at our door.”

A couple of citizens in the audience slowly nodded. Some of the tourists in the crowd looked a bit surprised, as though they were unaware of the struggle that went on.

“Some of us who came here to seek independence from the Principality may be a little disheartened at the fact that they gave up the comforts of the mainland for independence. And those same people may weigh, in their minds, the importance of independence versus comfort.”

There were some murmurs of affirmation from the crowd. She had hit the nail on the head with that one. The President waited as the Constable called for silence.

“However my people, we have a lot to proud of here in country. We have worked long and hard to grow a nation in the most barren of plots! And look!” she stretched out her arms. “You can see how our country has grown! We built this! It belongs to us! And only us!”

There was a round of applause and cheer from the crowd. The people hooted and hollered and raised their fists into the sky with pride.

The President waited, looking out upon her audience. They quieted down.

“We have worked very hard to build up this country,” she repeated, “despite the overwhelming shadow of debt.”

The citizenry groaned. They hated talking about the fact that they owed money to the Principality.

She continued. “But now my citizens, our hard work has finally paid off.”

The Discordians looked at each other. What could that mean?

Gloria explained. “Several hours ago, I received messages from the nations of Brydog and Templa. The first nation, Brydog, stated that it was interested in establishing diplomatic relations with our country. And as a sign of their good will, well…they completely erased our debt.”

There were gasps and screams from the audience. They looked at each other in shock. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. Was it true?

The President finished. “Needless to say, we’ll be accepting their offer!”

The crowd was silent for a minute as they took this in. And then, it began to dawn on them that they had heard the truth. Discordia was debt-free. One by one, the citizens shouted for joy.

And those shouts of joy were heard throughout the crowd, who found that such joy was infectious. They too started to scream for joy and jump into the air.

Quickly it spread across the entire audience until all Discordians were shouting their lungs out in joy! Citizens hugged and jumped around as the feeling, that glorious feeling one feels when a great burden has been lifted off their shoulders, swept through the people. It was so infectious, even the tourists couldn’t help but feel happy as well!

“Citizens, please wait! There is more good news that I need to tell you!”

Something more important than the eradication of debt? What could that be? The crowd quieted down and listened to the President in rapt silence.

"The second nation, Templa, also heard of our plight, and in an act of incredible, unmatched generosity, also gave money. But...” the President’s voice quivered, “what they gave us was something more generous than we ever thought we deserved!”

The audience whispered back in forth to each other. They must have sent a lot of money! But how much could that be if it were more than they ever thought they deserved? 200 Billion? 400 Billion? 800 Billion perhaps?

"My friends, not only is Discordia free of debt, we now have a surplus to the tune of $4.2 Trillion dollars!"

Upon hearing the correct answer the audience screamed! Several women, and even a couple men, fainted right on their the spot! The people couldn’t believe it! In just a couple days, their country had acquired new territory, paid off their debts, and now their country had a surplus of $4.2 Trillion dollars! $4.2 Trillion dollars! What an overwhelming number!!

President Ivanhoe looked upon her people. Her countrymen. For the first time in a very long while, they were happy. And she was glad, for their happiness meant her happiness as well.

She had to finish this speech however. It was time to take it home!

“My people!” She shouted over the growing roar of the crowd. “Today we’ve earned a respite from our work! Now is the time for celebration! Come now! Let’s party ‘till dawn!”

The reaction was instantaneous. Bottles of Campaign appeared out of nowhere. Music was blared from every corner. Everywhere one looked, there was dancing and revelry to be found. Fireworks were shot off into the air. It was a celebration!

Even the tourists, who were themselves unaffected by Discordian politics, jumped right into the celebration as the line between those who were civilians and those who were tourists was forgotten as the entire platform came together in celebration.

The customs agent turned back to the foreign couple with a big smile on her face.

"Let's talk more about immigration, shall we?"

-------------------------

OOC: Ok, now you can start commenting again. Gods, that took me two days to work out!

Are you going to reply to me?

OOC: Can I just skip customs inspections, and get to Claudius trying to get an audience with President? None of them are carrying anything besides clothes, money, suntant lotion, in Claudius's case a contract, and in Smith's case, his reading glasses.

Are you going to reply to me?

Yes, I will! In time!

The Aeson: Alright, your people have passed through customs just fine. Now let's see what you have to show me.

OO, ohki doke... there's no rush, I just wasn'tsure if it was open or not.

Claudius walked up to a random Discordian. "Excuse me," he said calmly. "I wonder if you could tell me what the process is to make an appointment with the President?" He smiled slightly.

"Oh my!" the customs agent replied, surprised at the question. This is quite unusual! Nobody outside of the Free Thinkers Party has ever wanted to join our country!"

She furrowed her brows in thought. "If you did live here what would you do? Would you work, or do you have enough money to-"

Suddenly, the loud speaker came on, cutting off the customs agent.

"Attention all citizens of the Free Republic of Discordia! Stand by for a very important message from the President!"

The customs agent turned to the couple. "I'm very sorry. This will have to wait.”

-----

snip

-----

"Let's talk more about immigration, shall we?"

One of the two Bells was about to answer the Customs Agent's question by replying that they had sold their house and property, receiving a good amount of money in return, and could probably sustain themselves on it for a good while - in the off chance it ran out soon, they would certainly be able to find a job, even if it was menial work. However, neither was able to convey this as there was an announcement that the President was going to make a speech.

"It is no trouble..." Samantha replied to the Agent's apology.

"None at all. In fact we were hoping we would get to see the leadership qualities of your president," Jackson reassured.

In conjunction with the rest of the inhabitants of the platform, Samantha and Jackson turned to face where the President would be giving her speech and wondered, like most people, what could be so urgent. Then... it them. It hit them and everybody else like a sack of bricks. After a short while of beating around the bush, the President cut right to the heart of the matter... money...

"F-f-f-f-f-our TRILLION dollars!" Jackson managed to stutter after the great news on top of great news was conveyed to the people of Discordia. While the two travelers came from a wealthy country, certainly neither of them had heard of such amounts of money or been fortunate enough to receive so much freely.

"That is IN-CREDIBLE!"

After a few minutes of celebrating with the locals, the Bells returned to their previous state, and though smiling from ear to ear, managed to talk calmly with the Customs Agent about their present situation.

"Let's talk more about immigration, shall we?"

"Yes, let's..." Jackson answered, though still overcome and overjoyed by the news - even if he didn't live there... yet.

"As we said... we want to move here."

The President had to be escorted back to her office in the tower under cover of Constable Stevens security team. The partying and revelry was simply too dangerous for a person of Gloria's importance to be in.

She walked into her office and collapsed into her chair. Although it was just a brief speech, she felt exhausted by the experience.

But as she laid back into her chair, she smiled. Though she was tired, the President never felt more alive than at this moment. She was alive with relief as well as anticipation. With the shadow of debt no longer directing the country's future, Discordia was free to move in any direction it pleased. And as the President sat there, she wondered: in which direction will this country go?

Outside the party was going on strong. A conga line had formed. Serveral people, civilian and tourist, jumped in line. Onlookers danced and cheered them on.

Suddenly there came a beep from Gloria's laptop. Curious, the President sat up and pulled the computer to her.

You have (1) new email(s)

Intreged, the President opened up her inbox. The message was sent by a nation called Northford. Gloria had never heard of this country, but nonetheless, she clicked on the message link and started to read.



Greetings friends,

I am writing this as Prime Minister of Northford, an Island nation, linked only to a continent by a partially flooded landbridge.

Oweing to the fact we loosely share some geographic characteristics, I would like to take this oppotunity to welcome ourselves to your world, and with a gesture of friendship, make the following offer:

We, The Commonwealth of Northford, hereby offer a Bilateral Free Trade Agreement between our two countries. Recognising that Free Trade is important for any new country, and that the People of Northford wish to have greater tourist links with Discordia, and that the Commonwealth of Northford wishes to sell/lease Military hardware to the state of Discordia, we believe such an agreement could only have positive consequences.

We eagerly await your response.



The President raised her eyebrows in amazement. Out there in the world, there was another country that was just like Discordia! And they wanted to ally with the Free Republic.

The President frowned. The things they were proposing, Bilateral trade and the sale of weapons, wouldn't be so easy to achieve.

Thinking carefully to herself for a few moments, the President clicked "compose message," and started typing out her reply to the nation of Northford.

To: Prime Minister Brooks, Northford
From: President Gloria Ivanhoe, Free Republic of Discordia

Thank you very much for your letter expressing interest in our nation. I am very surprised as well as pleased to know that we aren't the only nation of it's kind in the world. We most certainly would like to speek to you about opening up relations with your country.

However, the things you suggested in your message such as Bilateral Free Trade and the sale of weapons is a bit of a problem. You see, when we achieved our independence from Wilhelmsborough, a list of rules was set up between our two countries. These rules state that all trade has to go through Wilhelmsborough ports first. Even international trade has to stop at Wilhelmsborough before continuing to our port.

And as to your suggestion of selling military hardware, that could prove to be difficult as well. Although the Free Republic is allowed to have a security force, and even our own navy, that same set of rules subjected to us upon our independence states that the naval craft can be no longer than 12 meters, and can only be used for defensive purposes, never for attacking other nations. Therefore our naval "power" is reduced to mere speedboats, of which we have only six.

Prime Minister, as much as I would like to accept the proposals you have laid out, unfortunately I am bound by these set of rules to reject them. If you wish to complain to anybody about it, then complain to Prince William of the Principality of Wilhelmsborough. He was the one who created such rules (although it was our cowardly former President that accepted them).

I hope that our two nations can continue to talk.

Signed,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia

One of the more wealthy men from Kamasha had for a long time been looking for a place to invest his money. If he placed his money in the bank his riches would easily be eaten by the tax collectors. Since most nations all Ready had been industrialized he would need to spend millions to fight the other corporations all ready operating in that country. It was this problem he was thinking on that morning he read an article in the newspaper "Kamasha Times". A small platform had by some strange reason been colonised and declared it to be the free republic of Discordia. He would need to look deeper into this mater later. A country without a well developed industry would not survive long in the real world. And the ice cream produced in Kamasha was famous all over the world. A ice cream factory in Discodia would be a gold mine both for him as well as the inhabitants of Discodia. Factory Taxes would bring Discodia even more money. He would write a E-mail first thing in the morning.
occ: I can write the E-mail if you want but I prefer you do it. Its just a request that Kamasha Ice Cream can establish a small factory in the republic. And of course will they pay taxes and all that. Giving a minimum 50% of the income back to the community.

I don't know if you missed my post or haven't gotten around yet to replying to it. But here it is again, in case you did miss it. http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11521445&postcount=26.

"Yes" replied Farrget

When the President had finished her speech, the Customs Agent turned back to Farrget with a greater deal of deferrence.

"Wait a minute, it must have slipped my mind." said the Agent. "You did have a meeting schedualed with the President after all!"

This of course was a lie. But since Farrget's country, Brydog, had provided such a great service to the Free Republic, the customs agent was willing to let a few rules slide for someone of that country.

"Right this way sir!" the Agent led the Diplomat towards the Presidential Tower.

-------------------------------

A man from a foreign country walked up to a Discordian watching the festivities.

"Excuse me," he said calmly. "I wonder if you could tell me what the process is to make an appointment with the President?" He smiled slightly.

"An appointment?" he repeated. "Well if you're already here, you could just go up to the Presidential Tower and set something up with the secretary. Since she's already there, you might be able to get an audience with her."

------------------------------

No sooner had President Ivanhoe sent her letter to Northford, there was a beep indicating that she had recieved another e-mail.

"Goodness me." the President chuckled. "I seem to be popular all of a sudden!"

She clicked on her inbox and found that the message came from United Earthlings. This was a country Gloria recognized. When the Free Republic of Discordia was first starting up, United Earthlings had taken a great deal of interest in the situation. And when Prince William had finally granted Discordia the status of an independent nation, it was United Earthlings who was the first to send congratulations.

But the country had not heard anything further from that country. Until now.

Gloria clicked on the message link and started to read.



Official Message From the Government of United Earthlings to the Government of Discordia

While we send our congratulations to you for finding a means of aquiring more room for your nation, however under International Law "a ship cannot constitute the permanent territory required for statehood to be established. What is more, military ships and aircrafts are the property of the State that commissioned them.

As such, you can not claim the following ship to be a province of Discordia. While you did not commission the ship, you do have the rights to it.

You are hereby, by the Law of the Sea to renounce the following ship as a sovereign part of your country. Were you not to do this, the following ship will be considered a pirate ship and as such under International Law we have the right to seize it. Futher more if you continue to go down the course you are following, your nation will be consider a rogue government that is threating the rights granted under International Law to United Earthlings.

Part II
However, we are willing to construct and pay for you a second platform that will be connected to the main one and under International Law you will be able to claim that platform as your sovereign territory which our govenment will recognize.

The size of the platform can be discussed, we are also willing to support you with your dealings with Wilhelmsborough government that building this platform would be good for all three nations.

However, this platform deal is only on the table if you revoke the statement concerning the ship and it being a part of your territory.

In the future, we advise you to consolt the International Laws to avoid these types of problems in the future.

Sincerely, King Winston I

When Gloria finished reading the message, she was brimming with anger. How dare him! How dare him for dictating international law to their country! She shook her head. What nerve! What supendous nerve!

Gloria thought for a while about what her next action might be. Then she hit "compose message" and began to write her reply.

To: King Winston I, United Earthlings
From: President Gloria Ivanhoe, Discordia

King Winston, I believe that you are looking at this with the wrong prospective. You speak as a man who is used to having a solid dirt under his feet, and is capable of seeing land for as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, our country doesn't have that luxury. We live in a very unusual and unorthodox situation. Therefore, our country must seek very unusual and unorthodox solutions.

What I find to be most amazing is that you say turning a cruise ship into a state turns Discordia into a Rogue Nation that threatens the rights of people in United Earthlings. Perposterous! Your country has billions of citizens and encompasses most of the North American Continent! My country has a mere 245 citizens and encompasses an area not even a tenth of a square kilometer. I don't see how it's possible that we could be a threat to anybody!

Please, Your Majesty. Leave our country alone. You have no purpose dictating what we do here on the other side of the world. Furthermore, we do not need, nor require your assistence in the expansion of this platform. We can call in constuction crews from the mainland to do that work. As I said before, our country is no threat to any nation. We can't be, not with the Principality of Wilhelmsborough keeping a close watch.

Speaking of which, I have yet to recieve any message of condemnation from Prince William. In fact, I do not believe he's given any position on the "Wind Province." It makes me think. Perhaps after I send this letter, I will give the Prince a call, and find for myself what his official take on the situation is.

Sincerely,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia
Black Sea

Gloria hit "send message" and the letter was e-mailed to United Earthlings. She leaned back in her seat, much happier, now that she had replied.

Secretary Barrows opened the door. "Madam President!" she said excitedly. "There's a representative from Brydog here to see you!"

The President quickly sat up and composed herself. "What are you waiting for? Send the diplomat in! Quickly!"

To: Prime Minister Brooks, Northford
From: President Gloria Ivanhoe, Free Republic of Discordia

Thank you very much for your letter expressing interest in our nation. I am very surprised as well as pleased to know that we aren't the only nation of it's kind in the world. We most certainly would like to speek to you about opening up relations with your country.

However, the things you suggested in your message such as Bilateral Free Trade and the sale of weapons is a bit of a problem. You see, when we achieved our independence from Wilhelmsborough, a list of rules was set up between our two countries. These rules state that all trade has to go through Wilhelmsborough ports first. Even international trade has to stop at Wilhelmsborough before continuing to our port.

And as to your suggestion of selling military hardware, that could prove to be difficult as well. Although the Free Republic is allowed to have a security force, and even our own navy, that same set of rules subjected to us upon our independence states that the naval craft can be no longer than 12 meters, and can only be used for defensive purposes, never for attacking other nations. Therefore our naval "power" is reduced to mere speedboats, of which we have only six.

Prime Minister, as much as I would like to accept the proposals you have laid out, unfortunately I am bound by these set of rules to reject them. If you wish to complain to anybody about it, then complain to Prince William of the Principality of Wilhelmsborough. He was the one who created such rules (although it was our cowardly former President that accepted them).

I hope that our two nations can continue to talk.

Signed,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia

(OOC: I knew that stuff about the regulations and stuff already, I just couldn't announce it ICly. I'm cutting this post short as I need to leave the house quickly to do something.)

Prime Minister Brookes was sitting in his office when he got a reply. He really didn't care what the outcome was, because as far as he was concerned, Northford needed friends in the world, and making offers was the best way to do it.

Bleeeeep

New Message. You have 1 New Message.

Clicking 'Read Now', PM Brookes quickly read it, and took in the infomation. Deciding he couldn'y act on this alone, he called a cabnet meeting.

"Compose New Message", he clicked, maximising the window.

"To all Government Departments", he entered into the To box.

"Interesting Oppotunity", he entered into the Subject box, pausing for a moment, before he wrote out the body of the message.

"Gentlemen, I would like to call a cabnet meeting this evening. Following developments in Discordia, I think we have the most interestin oppotunity presented to us."

Prime Minister Brooks clicked send, and waited for the evening. He wanted to present his idea to his colleges, and had much to prepare.

"Thank you, sir," said Claudius, and walked to the Presedential Tower. 'Hmm. A little crowded,' he thought. 'Good thing they got that ship, eh?'

Upon reaching the tower, he walked in to the reception area, and coughed politely, before saying, "Excuse me, I'm here as a representative of the Aesonic goverment. I'd like to make an appointment to see the President."

"Excuse me, I'm here as a representative of the Aesonic goverment. I'd like to make an appointment to see the President."

Secretary Amanda Barrows looked up at the diplomatic from The Aeson.

"Well sir, the President is in her office at the moment, talking to a diplomatic from Brydog. But she has plenty of time to talk after their meeting is over. In the meantime, why don't you take a seat?"

Barrows pointed to a black leather couch. Next to it was an endtable with a stack of magazines and newspapers on it.

------------------------------

"Yes, let's..." Jackson answered, though still overcome and overjoyed by the news - even if he didn't live there... yet.

"As we said... we want to move here."

The customs agent nodded.

"Very well!" she said. "Come this way."

The Agent and the Bells walked down the steps and into an office.

"This here is where the Customs Agent board is situated. Just a minute..." She opened a file cabinet and pulled out a small stack of papers.

"These are immigration forms." she said, handing them to the Bell's. "We need information about where you came from, where you where schooled, previous occupations, party affiliations, social security numbers, ect. It shouldn't take more than an hour or so to fill out."

OOC: you don't have to create a ton of information about your characters. Just paraphrase and stick to only the important info.

----------------------------

Prince William was going through his mail, when a letter that said "The PeoplesFreedom" caught his eye. He remembered when he sent peacekeeping forces into the country in order to prevent a military coup. With the help of Ustia, the coup was crushed, and the leader captured.

Now it seemed that they wished to talk to him. Prince William opened up the envelope, took out the letter and began to read.


To: Prince William
From: Matt Booch

Hello! How have you been, Prince William? I'm sure you know who I am. I am Acting President of The Peoples Freedom. You helped us in the Southwest War. I was wondering if you would like to discuss some propositions with me at the Wind Provience in Discordia! Come on, it will be fun! Let me know.

signed,
Matt Booch

Prince William raised an eyebrow He knew that President of The PeoplesFreedom had talked about creating some trade and defense agreement. Unfortunately, Prince William had procrastinated and put it off for a while.

It would seem that it was time to get on it and see what the President had to say.

But in the Wind Province? In Discordia? How would President Ivanhoe and her Free Thinkers Party react to his presence?

Prince William shrugged. These were simply factors that would be worked out in the planning stages of the trip.

He turned to his laptop, opened up his e-mail account, and hit "compose."

To: Matt Booch, President of The PeoplesFreedom
From: William Kennedy, Prince of Wilhelmsborough

I would like very much to meet you and discuss what plans you have to propose. A meeting in Discordia is possible, but it will take a few weeks of planning, so as they are prepared for our arrival. I will contact the President of Discordia and inform her that she has two world leaders coming to visit.

I look forward to our meeting.

Sincerely,
Prince William
Principality of Wilhelmsborough
Crimean Peninsula.

After he sent the message, the Prince leaned back in his seat and started thinking about the Free Republic's new province. Ever since he had learned about it, there had been a nagging feeling in his mind, as if he was missing something obvious.

"Hmmm...The Norwegian Wind. That sounds familiar. But from where? And when?"

And then, forgotten memories hit the Prince like a punch in the stomach.

"Jesus Christ! I traveled to the Caribbean on that ship when I was twelve!!"

Location: Discordia
Custom Agents



He looked at the passport. Everything seemed to be in order. He handed it back to "Gawaine Nuwolf." Strange name if he ever heard one.

The agent shook his head. "Just put your baggage through the x-ray machine. Oh, and I'll have to see your shoes as well."


"My shoes?" Veit shrugged and complied, seemingly nonplussed about the news. Inside, he was confused. Why would his government give these people money without his knowing anything about these people? He had better get to work.

"My shoes?" Veit shrugged and complied, seemingly nonplussed about the news. Inside, he was confused. Why would his government give these people money without his knowing anything about these people? He had better get to work.

OOC: Wait, I thought he didn't know what his government did.

OOC: I feel the urge to blow up that ship so badly...but it will have to be a rogue group of terrorists or something from West Corinthia. Either way, I'm getting involved, but I won't post until tomorrow because it's time to sleep now.

Also remember, West Corinthia has never recognized Discordia as a nation. We have an active trade embargo and active duty ships have orders to fire on Discordian vessels entering West Corinthian waters.

OOC: "Oh my!" the customs agent replied, surprised at the question. This is quite unusual! Nobody outside of the Free Thinkers Party has ever wanted to join our country!"

She furrowed her brows in thought. "If you did live here what would you do? Would you work, or do you have enough money to-"

Suddenly, the loud speaker came on, cutting off the customs agent.

"Attention all citizens of the Free Republic of Discordia! Stand by for a very important message from the President!"

The customs agent turned to the couple. "I'm very sorry. This will have to wait.”

-----

Up in the Presidential Tower, Gloria Ivanhoe was feeling nervous.

"I don't know, Amanda. I'm worried that if I tell them the good news, they may tear the platform apart."

Amanda patted the President on the shoulder. "Relax! Constable Stevens and his security team are out in full force. It's standard procedure, whenever you make a public address."

President Ivanhoe nodded. "Yes I know. I just wonder what they’ll do if I spring this on them so suddenly.”

Barrows leaned over the President's shoulder. "You can't keep this locked up forever, you know. Just get it over with right now."

The President turned to her secretary. "Alright, I’ll do it! Jeez, you’re like my mom sometimes.”

Barrows smiled. “Let’s go together.”

President Ivanhoe and Secretary Barrows opened up the door to the outside, and started walking down the staircase. At the bottom of the staircase were a podium and a pair of speakers.

Surrounding that platform was Constable Stevens and a 20-man security team. They had all been informed of what the President was going to say. And although they were extremely happy to hear about it, they knew that other citizens might take this opportunity to cause trouble. In preparation, they had dressed in riot gear.

As the President came down the platform, she saw that a large crowd had come out to hear what she had to say. Even the tourists had come over to see what was going on. They were very interested in what was going on in Discordia, especially with the events of the last few days. And the fact that the security team had donned riot gear only heightened that interest.

The President stepped up to the Podium. Her eyes scanned the faces in the crowd, all of them anxious to hear just what was so important that they were pulled from their jobs just to listen.

‘Well,’ she thought, ‘it’s now or never.’

“Citizens of the Free Republic of Discordia. I know that life out here on the water hasn’t been easy for us. Every day, it is a struggle to maintain our independence despite the forces of weather and debt knocking at our door.”

A couple of citizens in the audience slowly nodded. Some of the tourists in the crowd looked a bit surprised, as though they were unaware of the struggle that went on.

“Some of us who came here to seek independence from the Principality may be a little disheartened at the fact that they gave up the comforts of the mainland for independence. And those same people may weigh, in their minds, the importance of independence versus comfort.”

There were some murmurs of affirmation from the crowd. She had hit the nail on the head with that one. The President waited as the Constable called for silence.

“However my people, we have a lot to proud of here in country. We have worked long and hard to grow a nation in the most barren of plots! And look!” she stretched out her arms. “You can see how our country has grown! We built this! It belongs to us! And only us!”

There was a round of applause and cheer from the crowd. The people hooted and hollered and raised their fists into the sky with pride.

The President waited, looking out upon her audience. They quieted down.

“We have worked very hard to build up this country,” she repeated, “despite the overwhelming shadow of debt.”

The citizenry groaned. They hated talking about the fact that they owed money to the Principality.

She continued. “But now my citizens, our hard work has finally paid off.”

The Discordians looked at each other. What could that mean?

Gloria explained. “Several hours ago, I received messages from the nations of Brydog and Templa. The first nation, Brydog, stated that it was interested in establishing diplomatic relations with our country. And as a sign of their good will, well…they completely erased our debt.”

There were gasps and screams from the audience. They looked at each other in shock. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. Was it true?

The President finished. “Needless to say, we’ll be accepting their offer!”

The crowd was silent for a minute as they took this in. And then, it began to dawn on them that they had heard the truth. Discordia was debt-free. One by one, the citizens shouted for joy.

And those shouts of joy were heard throughout the crowd, who found that such joy was infectious. They too started to scream for joy and jump into the air.

Quickly it spread across the entire audience until all Discordians were shouting their lungs out in joy! Citizens hugged and jumped around as the feeling, that glorious feeling one feels when a great burden has been lifted off their shoulders, swept through the people. It was so infectious, even the tourists couldn’t help but feel happy as well!

“Citizens, please wait! There is more good news that I need to tell you!”

Something more important than the eradication of debt? What could that be? The crowd quieted down and listened to the President in rapt silence.

"The second nation, Templa, also heard of our plight, and in an act of incredible, unmatched generosity, also gave money. But...” the President’s voice quivered, “what they gave us was something more generous than we ever thought we deserved!”

The audience whispered back in forth to each other. They must have sent a lot of money! But how much could that be if it were more than they ever thought they deserved? 200 Billion? 400 Billion? 800 Billion perhaps?

"My friends, not only is Discordia free of debt, we now have a surplus to the tune of $4.2 Trillion dollars!"

Upon hearing the correct answer the audience screamed! Several women, and even a couple men, fainted right on their the spot! The people couldn’t believe it! In just a couple days, their country had acquired new territory, paid off their debts, and now their country had a surplus of $4.2 Trillion dollars! $4.2 Trillion dollars! What an overwhelming number!!

President Ivanhoe looked upon her people. Her countrymen. For the first time in a very long while, they were happy. And she was glad, for their happiness meant her happiness as well.

She had to finish this speech however. It was time to take it home!

“My people!” She shouted over the growing roar of the crowd. “Today we’ve earned a respite from our work! Now is the time for celebration! Come now! Let’s party ‘till dawn!”

The reaction was instantaneous. Bottles of Campaign appeared out of nowhere. Music was blared from every corner. Everywhere one looked, there was dancing and revelry to be found. Fireworks were shot off into the air. It was a celebration!

Even the tourists, who were themselves unaffected by Discordian politics, jumped right into the celebration as the line between those who were civilians and those who were tourists was forgotten as the entire platform came together in celebration.

The customs agent turned back to the foreign couple with a big smile on her face.

"Let's talk more about immigration, shall we?"

-------------------------

OOC: Ok, now you can start commenting again. Gods, that took me two days to work out!

This is how.

OOC:

This is how.

OOC: *smacks head* I forgot that he was listening to the speech!

IC:

The Customs Agent placed Mr. Nuwolf's shoes and luggage through the x-ray machine. As this was being done, the Agent glanced at the passport again and was shocked to notice for the first time that this man was from Templa, the nation that had sent 4.2 trillion dollars in aid!

At once the Customs Agent stepped forward. "My apologies, sir. I had no idea you hailed from one of the countries that came to our aid!"

The Agent gestured for the man from Templa to follow. "Please, step this way. I'll show you to the Chaos Casino/hotel so you can get checked in."

The Customs Agent directed Gawain Nuwolf out of the customs checkpoint, and into the main country where the celebration was still going on stong.

--------------------------
Location: Yalta Naval Yards

"Are we ready for deployment?" asked Admiral of the Navy Vittorio Augustine.

"Yes sir." a Lieutenant replied.

"Good." The Admiral turned to his crew.

"This mission doesn't require the full resources of Armada One. We're only going to be traveling 30 miles out to the Free Republic of Discordia."

Upon hearing Discordia's name, the CIC was abuzz with excitement. They had all heard of Discordia and were all very fascinated as to how it functioned.

A Commander spoke up. "Why are we going there, sir?"

The Admiral replied. "The Prince wants us to establish a small defense perimeter around the platform for when he and President Booch of The PeoplesFreedom meet each other there."

The Commander nodded, Satisfied with the answer.

"But," Augustine continued. "We are also going there to make sure that Discordia is living up to the terms and conditions of their independence. The Prince is concerned about Discordia's sudden luck in the past couple weeks. He worries that they may become overwhelmed by their newfound power and end up hurting themselves. Our job is to make sure that they know where to stay in line."

The CIC silently nodded at this. As military personel, they knew that order had to be maintained.

Augustine gave the order to go. "Alright everybody. Let's move out. I want to be there within an hour. No, make that 45 minutes."

With that, the small task force consisting of Armada One's flagship, the Intrepid-class supercarrier Schadenfreude, as well as 2 Kirov-class Battlecruisers, 4 Seawolf-class submarines, and 8 Oliver Hazard Perry-class Anti-Sub Escort Frigates sailed out of Yalta on a direct course south towards the Free Republic of Discordia.

-----------------------

West Corinthia: Why so hostile?:D

OOC: Vasili Kotov viewed them as terrorists and rebels, and didn't appreciate them being so close to our waters.

IC: Czar Aleksei was watching the news in his tactical room, when Emissary Pyotr Chenko entered. "You requested me, m'lord?"

"Yes." Czar Aleksei answered, without taking his eyes off the TV screen. "You were closest to my father during his rule. Now with this Discordia business on the news, I think it's a good time to learn a thing or two about them."

"A group of terrorists siezed a defensive platform that Wilhelmsborough had abandoned on the Black Sea." Chenko began. "Czar Vasili quickly decided that he did not welcome their presence so close to our waters. He blockaded their platform and fired several warning shots, though we never officially engaged them." Chenko looked around nervously, and walked even closer to the Czar. Now he whispered, "But unofficially, he sent a team of Myrmidons to the platform to disrupt it. They blew up a couple boats and damaged the hull a bit, but we were never caught."

"So, we lifted the blockade, but they still cannot enter our waters, interesting. And we still don't recognize them as an independant government?"

"That's right, m'lord."

"Well, I think I have to agree with my father. The embargo will continue, as well as the current rules of engagement we have in place. By the way, where's the team of Myrmidons that originally boarded the platform?"

"Uh..." Chenko tensed a bit. "They disappeared during the uprising. We don't know where they are, no bodies or anything. We assume they were KIA."

"Oh...return to your duties, then."

"Yes, m'lord." Chenko exited the room.

The customs agent nodded.

"Very well!" she said. "Come this way."

The Agent and the Bells walked down the steps and into an office.

"This here is where the Customs Agent board is situated. Just a minute..." She opened a file cabinet and pulled out a small stack of papers.

"These are immigration forms." she said, handing them to the Bell's. "We need information about where you came from, where you where schooled, previous occupations, party affiliations, social security numbers, ect. It shouldn't take more than an hour or so to fill out."

OOC: you don't have to create a ton of information about your characters. Just paraphrase and stick to only the important info.

"Thank you very much," they both said as they took the packet of papers and a pen that the Customs Agent handed them.

Taking a seat in a nearby chair, they began filling out the forms.

Name: Jackson Brian Bell
Appearance: Male, 6'1", 189 lbs.
Status: Married, No Children
Place of Origin: Dominion Colony of Eborall
Nation of Residence: None currently, previously Eborall, DMG, and numerous others
Schooling: St. Bart's Prepatory School, Bel-Air Academy, Merriman University
Occupation(s): Writer, World Traveler, Accountant
Party Affiliations: None
Social Security Number: 2314-762-9387
Reason for Immigration: Adventure/New Opportunity


Name: Samantha Lucile Bell
Appearance: 38,
Status: Married, No Children
Nation of Origin: Dominion Colony of Wolf's Isle
Nation of Residence: None currently, previously Wolf's ISle, DMG, and numerous others
Schooling: Home-Schooled, Merriman University
Occupation(s): World Traveler, Photographer, Writer, Painter
Party Affiliations: None
Social Security Number: 2394-435-9657
Reason for Immigration: Adventure/New Opportunity

"Ma'am... we're done," Jackson said as he took the two stacks of papers and handed them back. Obviously, they had done this before numerous times as they completed the information in just under twenty minutes.

Location: West Corinthian naval base, Black Sea

Captain Aleksandr Danilov pulled up to the main gate of the base in a large, black SUV with tinted windows. Stopping at the reinforced gate, he flashed an I.D. card to the active sentry and proceeded inside.

The car passed the major dockyards, following protocol by stopping at every checkpoint. Eventually, they reached the first sub bay. This was the bay where West Corinthia was currently testing their new mini-sub. A sub which was intended for underwater recon and only fit to engage divers in battle.

Captain Danilov stepped out of the car, told the others inside to wait, and headed for the entrance to the sub bay. A hoplite stopped him at the door.

The hoplite saluted Danilov, noting the uniform insignia that identified him as a Captain, 3rd class. "May I ask for your I.D. sir?"

"Why yes, here it is-what the hell is that!" Danilov looked at something in the sky. In fact, there was nothing in the sky at all.

When the hoplite looked up, Danilov stuck a syringe filled with a nonlethal liquid into his neck. The hoplite collapsed, unconscious. Danilov motioned for the others to come out of the SUV. Sure enough, the eleven other members of his team rushed into the sub bay. They nonlethally neutralized every guard in the bay without being detected.

"Yuri, get the crane going. We need three mini-subs in the water, stat."

"Yes, sir."

"Vasili, take Ivan and go unload the supplies from the car. We need to be ready to go before sunset."

Sure enough, they were ready to go by the time the sun began to sink below the horizon. More importantly, they had departed before the next shift of guards showed up. So far it was smooth sailing. The three mini-subs were just enough to fit the 12 ex-Myrmidons and their supplies.

Location: Kydonia, West Corinthia

Field Marshal Garonov handed a report to Czar Aleksei. "There was an incident at one of the naval yards. A dozen or more guards were found unconscious in a mini-sub bay and three of the subs were missing."

"What?" Czar Aleksei started. "What security measures do we have in place?"

"The sentry who was on duty reports that the only unaccounted for officer was Captain Danilov."

"Was he the-"

"Yes, he led the mission against Discordia back when it was first founded. He and his team went missing during the rebellion."

"Do you think they could be going back to Discordia?" the Czar was trying to establish a link between Danilov and the Discordian cruise ship.

"Doubtful. We think that he's selling the subs to some foreign power. He was the perfect one to steal our new technologies."

"I don't know. It's not like mini-subs are cutting edge technology. We're not the only ones who have them, either, not by a long shot. And ours are still in development! It doesn't make sense! I'm contacting Prince William immediately."

"I don't think it's worth bothering him about. Let's at least wait and see what happens."

"Perhaps you're right. We'll wait, but I want a full investigation into the matter. Keep it discreet."

"It will be done." the Field Marshal exited the room.

Czar Aleksei sighed loudly and ordered a glass of cognac.

"Thank you," said Claudius. He seated himself on the couch, opened his briefcase, and produced a book entitled 'The Prophecies of Altamio'. He began to read, while at the same time taking in everything about the office around him.

The small task force came up upon Discordia. The Schadenfreude had contacted Discordia and informed them of their arrival. Of course, this announcement was met with protest, but Admiral Augustine had managed to silence the Discordian's protests.

The Admiral began barking orders. "Alright everybody! Let's establish a perimeter around the platform! I want divers and minisubs ready to go in 10 minutes!"

The CIC scrambled to relay his orders to the task force.

He turned to the commander. "Get my chopper ready. I've got to talk to the President. Explain what we're doing here."

"Yes sir."

OOC: Well, if there's no regular civilian boat traffic, I need to change my strategy. So ignore that for now until I change it. If a helicopter from your airport is the only way onto Discordia, I guess they'll have to sneak aboard, since they'll be caught redhanded at the airport with all the explosives they have.

OOC: Well, if there's no regular civilian boat traffic, I need to change my strategy. So ignore that for now until I change it.

[ooc: Umm... how many tourists do you think come per day? There are only 245 citizens...]

*Sits Idly*

OOC: *pushes DMG over* They're also boarding for a ship that can hold a few hundred at least. How many helicopter trips would that take? Sorry for assuming things.

No problem. By the way, what's their motivation for doing this, if they're AWOL from their country and not under any orders from anyone? I'd think that saying they just feel like doing this for the sake of causing trouble isn't enough.

OOC: They were the team that boarded the platform originally with the intent to sink it. But then they were called off and allowed only to inflict minimal damage. As Myrmidons, they feel the responsibility to fulfill their orders no matter what, and they want to finish the job. Good enough? If you really don't want me sink it, that's fine, I can still have fun trying. Except this time they don't have enough firepower to destroy the platform, just the cruise ship, since they had to get everything black market.

Farrget headed to the Presidential Tower to talk to their leader.

When the President had finished her speech, the Customs Agent turned back to Farrget with a greater deal of deferrence.

"Wait a minute, it must have slipped my mind." said the Agent. "You did have a meeting schedualed with the President after all!"

This of course was a lie. But since Farrget's country, Brydog, had provided such a great service to the Free Republic, the customs agent was willing to let a few rules slide for someone of that country.

"Right this way sir!" the Agent led the Diplomat towards the Presidential Tower.

-------------------------------

A man from a foreign country walked up to a Discordian watching the festivities.



"An appointment?" he repeated. "Well if you're already here, you could just go up to the Presidential Tower and set something up with the secretary. Since she's already there, you might be able to get an audience with her."

------------------------------

No sooner had President Ivanhoe sent her letter to Northford, there was a beep indicating that she had recieved another e-mail.

"Goodness me." the President chuckled. "I seem to be popular all of a sudden!"

She clicked on her inbox and found that the message came from United Earthlings. This was a country Gloria recognized. When the Free Republic of Discordia was first starting up, United Earthlings had taken a great deal of interest in the situation. And when Prince William had finally granted Discordia the status of an independent nation, it was United Earthlings who was the first to send congratulations.

But the country had not heard anything further from that country. Until now.

Gloria clicked on the message link and started to read.



When Gloria finished reading the message, she was brimming with anger. How dare him! How dare him for dictating international law to their country! She shook her head. What nerve! What supendous nerve!

Gloria thought for a while about what her next action might be. Then she hit "compose message" and began to write her reply.

To: King Winston I, United Earthlings
From: President Gloria Ivanhoe, Discordia

King Winston, I believe that you are looking at this with the wrong prospective. You speak as a man who is used to having a solid dirt under his feet, and is capable of seeing land for as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, our country doesn't have that luxury. We live in a very unusual and unorthodox situation. Therefore, our country must seek very unusual and unorthodox solutions.

What I find to be most amazing is that you say turning a cruise ship into a state turns Discordia into a Rogue Nation that threatens the rights of people in United Earthlings. Perposterous! Your country has billions of citizens and encompasses most of the North American Continent! My country has a mere 245 citizens and encompasses an area not even a tenth of a square kilometer. I don't see how it's possible that we could be a threat to anybody!

Please, Your Majesty. Leave our country alone. You have no purpose dictating what we do here on the other side of the world. Furthermore, we do not need, nor require your assistence in the expansion of this platform. We can call in constuction crews from the mainland to do that work. As I said before, our country is no threat to any nation. We can't be, not with the Principality of Wilhelmsborough keeping a close watch.

Speaking of which, I have yet to recieve any message of condemnation from Prince William. In fact, I do not believe he's given any position on the "Wind Province." It makes me think. Perhaps after I send this letter, I will give the Prince a call, and find for myself what his official take on the situation is.

Sincerely,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia
Black Sea

Gloria hit "send message" and the letter was e-mailed to United Earthlings. She leaned back in her seat, much happier, now that she had replied.

Secretary Barrows opened the door. "Madam President!" she said excitedly. "There's a representative from Brydog here to see you!"

The President quickly sat up and composed herself. "What are you waiting for? Send the diplomat in! Quickly!"

Never one to rush things, Winston should of been mad, no beyond mad, but a part of him understood where this Gloria was coming from. It was never easy to lead your people to their greatest potent and Gloria was doing just that. However, This ship was a threat to the national security of United Earthlings, abit a small threat but, a threat neverless. As such, the full resources of the nation would be put to use to secure peace and order in this troubled world.

From: Winston I
To: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of Discordia

Madam, with all due respect, I believe you are looking at this with the wrong prospective. Our nation has been around alot longer then yours, so believe me when I state something. I may speak as having solid dirt under my feet. But, the truth couldn't be farther from that. The nation you see today has not always been. What you see today is the hardwork and determination of me, my people, and our ancestors over the past centuries. We hope that one day your nation and its people will aquire the greatness they so rightful deserve.

Then let me be the first to explain to you the international law of which you are now part of. Under International Law, ever nation has the right to claim territoral waters and economic waters, even your nation has that right even if you choose not to use it. Our concern is that, a ship that can be recognize as a sovereign nation, could sail into one of our ports and claim its self a nation. By International law, we would have to give that ship safe access to a port and the surround territoral waters. This we cannot allow. Our national Integrity is our first concern. Anything that compromises our National Borders is to be considered a threat.

My nation has every right dictating what you do there when it threaterns our national security. You would be doing the same thing where it my actions threatening your national security.

I'm willing to comprimise, as such I issue this last proposal, reject this at your own peril. There will be no further proposals from us, just action.

If you sign a treaty of Friendship with us, agree that the ship "Wind Province" will never leave its current position and that you dismantle the propulsion system of said ship.

In exchange for doing this, we would be willing to compansate you financial for those said actions listed above.

This is our final offer, the fate of your nation is in your hands.

Sincerely, King Winston I

Important post coming up, so everybody hold on.

OOC: Grips seat.

Farrget headed to the Presidential Tower to talk to their leader.

As the Diplomat from Brydog walked through the door, President Ivanhoe stood up to great him.

"Hello sir! On behalf of Free Republic of Discordia, I hereby welcome you to-oh for chrissakes!"

From the window, the President saw over a dozen warships coming up upon the platform. She was shocked and rather frightened at the sight. But then her fear turned to anger when she saw the familiar Arm and Sword insignia. She knew who this was!

"What the hell are they doing here!" she shouted angrily.

The President looked at the diplomat worried. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Farrget, but I have to excuse myself for a few minutes.

Without waiting for a reply, Gloria ran out the door past the diplomat from The Aeson, and down the steps of her office to the main platform.

-----------------------

When the tourists and citizens saw the task force, they became anxious. But when they saw that it was approaching them, they all started to panic. Gamblers ran from their tables, and shoppers ran from the gift shop as the warships bared down on them. People rushed down below into the lower structure to avoid the naval forces as long as they could.

Constable Stevens and his security team did their best to restore order, and in the meantime, they armed themselves to the teeth for any confrontation that might occur.

And then, from the Intrepid-class supercarrier, there came a single Blackhawk Helicopter. The Discordian security forces were confused. All that power sitting out in the water and they were only sending one helicopter? Nevertheless, they cocked their automatic weapons, hid behind barriers, and waited.

The Blackhawk helicopter landed on the helipad. Discordian security prepared themselves for a firefight, if and when troops spilled out.

But to their complete and utter surprise, only a single man came out. And when they saw this man, they gave a collective gulp of fear. They knew who this man was. How important he was. This man was the Admiral of the Navy for the Principality of Wilhelmsborough: Vittorio Augustine.

As he stepped down the platform, he was flanked by two marines. Several more came out of the Blackhawk as they scanned the area for hostiles.

The heavily armed security team found themselves unable to fire. If they struck and killed a man as important as Augustine, then everybody could just kiss their lives goodbye! They lowered their weapons as the Wilhelmsborough marines walked upon the platform.

But then, all of a sudden, something amazing happened. From down the stairs of the Presidential Tower came Gloria Ivanhoe herself. And she was pissed off.

Completely ignoring the presence of armed marines around her, she walked right up to Admiral Augustine and let loose a verbal assault.

"ADMIRAL AUGUSTINE!" she shouted with the fury of a god. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

A marine tried to get between her and the Admiral. "Madam, you need to keep your distan-"

But the marine quickly shut up when the President looked him straight in the eye, and saw a rage greater than a thousand suns. And at that moment he felt more intimidated than he had ever been during basic training.

"Out of my way!" Gloria shouted. The marine took two steps back.

The Admiral was surprised at the President's tenacity. Not many people were capable of scaring a Wilhelmsborough marine with but a look.

Gloria turned her wrath back on the Admiral. "WHAT are you DOING HERE with all these SHIPS!" she shouted. "Did you not consider for a minute, JUST ONE MINUTE, that your coming here would scare THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS out of MY PEOPLE!"

The Discordian security team was stunned at President Ivanhoe fearlessly standing up against several armed when and an Admiral. But at the same time, they felt an enormous feeling of pride. Clearly they had made the right choice if making her the President. She stood up to tyranny and looked it in the eye without fear.

Slowly, the citizens and tourists poured out of the lower levels to watch as the President held her ground against Admiral Augustine. It would seem that her single act of fearlessness had defused the atmosphere of terror caused when Wilhelmsborough ships first arrived.

Gloria continued her tirade. “If you’ve come here to kick us out of here, then you’ve got another thing coming, my friend! You leave out here for two years while we work to build this place up, and then when we achieve success, you come in to tear it all down? NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”

There was a round of applause from the citizenry who were now returning to the surface in a steady stream. They were proud of their president.

It took a surprising amount of willpower for the Admiral not to loose his composure in front of the President. “Madam, we haven’t come here to kick you off the platform.”

“Oh really now!” the President replied sarcastically. “Don’t tell me you and your fleet just decided to take some shore leave!”

The Admiral shook his head stiffly. It was getting hard to hold his temper in. “That’s not it all. We’ve come to ensure the defense of this platform.”

Gloria raised an eyebrow. “My security teams are more than capable of doing that by themselves!”

The security teams swelled with pride upon hearing their President speak these words.

The Admiral shook his head. “Maybe for you, Madam President, but they’re not capable of handling the responsibility I’ve been handed.”

“What are you talking about?” the President replied with great suspicion.

The Admiral leaned in, close enough so that he could whisper. “The Prince is coming here to meet with the President of another country.”

At once, the President’s jaw fell down in shock. “The Prince is coming here?”

Augustine smiled. He had her now. “Yes he is, as is the President of The PeoplesFreedom. And they plan to meet on the Wind Province.”

“The Wind Province!”

“Yes, Madam President! The two leaders both believe that the Wind Province is capable of providing the luxuries which the main platform cannot.” He looked in disgust at a set of pipes and ventilation shafts that came out of the ground. “They will be arriving in 2 weeks.”

“Now wait just a damn minute!” the President protested. “Just like that? You expect us to suddenly service two world leaders with only 2 weeks to prepare?”

The Admiral’s face remained impassive. “You will be compensated by the Principality for anything you need to prepare for their arrival. And when this conference is over, you will be paid $10 million for your services.”
The President felt insulted. “$10 million is a merger fee for putting up with not one but two worl-“

“We will also pay for the expansion of the main platform.” The Admiral interrupted. “Any expansion you want, as long as it’s under $900 million, we will build.”

Upon hearing this, the President shut up. She had considered using the $4.2 Trillion to expand to platform, but she worried that the expenses but drain their surplus.

But now, it would seem that Discordia wouldn’t have to pay anything. The Principality would take care of everything for them. They would get a larger platform, and $10 million for cooperation. What an offer!

Admiral Augustine took advantage of her silence. “Prepare for the meeting between the two leaders. In the meantime, my task force will establish a defense perimeter around the country.”

That shook Gloria out of her reverie. “Wait, I told you that we could handle it-“

But it was too late. “Good day to you Madam President.” The Admiral turned and walked back to helicopter. There was a little bit of swagger in his step.

As the Blackhawk flew back to its carrier, Gloria turned and saw her citizenry looking at her expectantly.

“What are we going to do, Madam President?”

The President replied, with a slight block in her throat. “We will prepare for the arrival of the two leaders. The Wind Province will be set up for their arrival.”

The citizens looked at her, stunned. Gloria said nothing more, but turned and walked back to the Tower with whatever pride she had left.

She entered her office boiling with rage, but when she saw the Diplomat from Brydog she quickly composed herself.

"I'm sorry about that, sir. Everything's going to be alright down there." she took her seat. "Now what did you want to talk about?"

-----------------------

The small task force got into position around the platform. The Flagship Schadenfreude placed itself on Discordia's eastern side. It had to, since the Wind Province was situated on Discordia's Western side.

The two 2 Kirov-class Battlecruisers archered themselves on the south and the east sides of the platform. They pointed their guns to the sky.

The four Seawolf-class submarines circled around under the water and the eight Oliver Hazard Perry Class Escort Frigates surrounded the platform. When they were in position, minisubs were lowered into the water. These craft had bubbles which allowed the small crew to see everything that went on under the water, an advantage that the great Seawolfs lacked. They were also armed with a pair of torpedoes.

Along with the minisubs came several hundred divers. They were armed with harpoon guns and explosives. They also wore helmets which allowed them to communicate with their comrades and announce any incoming danger.

Such was standard procedure whenever the Wilhelmsborough navy was sent to protect or patrol somewhere. And with all of these ships, there was also the massive Radar and Sonar fields set up to detect anything coming in from a great distance away.

The Discordians, still very much angry at the sudden intrusion of the Wilhelmsborough task force, put their military force out on patrol as well. The six gunboats circled around the lower levels of the platform, weaving in and out of the middle section of the stucture where the large Wilhelmsborough craft couldn't go. The security force was on full alert. There were guards up and down the country, from the platform to the pier, wearing Kevlar armor, armed with AK-47s, and ready for action.

The Discordian state of readiness wasn't due to their belief in any conceivable threat to their country, however. They simply wanted to show Wilhelmsborough that they too were capable of defending themselves, and that they were equipped to do the job. Discordia wasn't about to let the Principality one-up them so easily, so they were on their toes, trying to prove their competence.

OOC: Well, I see now that there's no chance in hell of me successfully pulling this off.

IC:

The Myrmidons in the mini-subs were approaching the edge of West Corinthian waters. Captain Danilov contacted the other two subs. "Remember, these are stealth subs, but we probably won't get past all the ships up there undetected. We'll surface and I'll fool them into letting us by."

"Roger." came the response from the other subs.

Per regulation, the mini-subs surfaced 200 meters from the nearest West Corinthian destroyer. Captain Danilov hailed the vessel. "Destroyer Vasili Kotov, this is Captain Danilov of the West Corinthian army. I.D. number 5625 Alpha Alpha. By order of Grand Admiral Sergei, we're taking these mini-subs out for sea trials."

"Roger. Your I.D. checks out, proceed into International Waters." the destroyer came down from general quarters and allowed the mini-subs to pass.

Aboard the WCN Vasili Kotov, the Captain aboard was required to inform headquarters of the event.

By the time the destroyer was ordered to take the subs into custody, they had already slipped out into the Black Sea...

Location: Kydonia, Imperial Palace

"This is getting serious. The subs escaped our waters because we never informed our destroyers to look for them. Now we'll never find them because they're stealth subs. We need to tell Wilhelmsborough, we're allies, remember? If only to tell them not to sink the subs. It will also give us deniability if they cause an incident." Field Marshal Garonov accompanied his speech with aggressive hand signals for emphasis.

"Fine, fine. I'll tell Wilhelmsborough that we're missing some subs. But nothing more, understand?" the Czar was getting impatient.

"Yes, m'lord."

"Get Prince William on the phone, then bring me the reciever."

[ooc: Stealth Subs... ... ...]

OOC: To a degree. I did say they couldn't get past a destroyer.

Prince William sighed. Now that he had committed to a meeting with a foreign leader, he had to make all sorts of preparations: clothes, travel information, security escorts-

Suddenly, the phone rang. Prince William looked at the screen that indicated who was calling. It read:

Vasili Kotov
West Corinthia

The Prince frowned. The former Czar, Vasili Kotov, had been dead for a while now. His son Aleksei Kotov had taken over as Czar of West Corinthia.

But it seemed that the phone company hadn't yet updated that fact by replacing the late Czar's name.

Nonetheless, the Prince picked up the reciever and put it to his ear.

"Hello, Prince William speaking."

"Greetings, Prince. I'm not calling you to chat about trifling matters. To put it simply, we've had a small problem at one of our naval yards. We believe a Captain named Aleksandr Danilov is attempting to defect and bring some of our secrets with him. He hijacked three experimental mini-subs from the yard, which means he has accomplices." the Czar paused to let it sink in. "We don't know where he's headed, but it is of the utmost importance that he be returned to us unharmed. If you see him and his men, you mustn't fire."

Then the Czar thought of something else to add. "And tell those at Discordia that firing on Danilov will be considered an act of terrorism."

Location: Black Sea

"Damn, that platform is way too hot to go in." Captain Danilov lowered his periscope. "If we get any closer, we risk detection. Any chance of blending in with their patrols?"

"We'll have to watch their deployment patterns. Look for any holes, any point where we could blend in and become part of it. Do we stand a better chance going as divers?"

"I don't know."

In the middle of writing a bumper post, but I was wondering,h ave you actually made a nation called discordia? I had a look, but couldn't find one. If not, could you give me some basic boring facts on the country, that would be found on the countries page info on nationstates, if it actually existed?

@Wilhelm: *Points at post 56*

@Wilhelm: *Points at post 56*

Looks at post 56, why did it take them so long to fill out those forms? Twenty minutes, man thats slow. Then again, after filling out so many stupid forms I got it down to a science.

I would of skipped the forms and just answered those two stupid questions they always ask you.

Do you live at the same address? No, I moved and forgot to inform you and drove from out of state.

Is your phone number the same? Has your's changed, no then that makes two. :D

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW, since you forgot me last time- points at post #66. Yes, the King lives and can't be ignored.

"Greetings, Prince. I'm not calling you to chat about trifling matters. To put it simply, we've had a small problem at one of our naval yards. We believe a Captain named Aleksandr Danilov is attempting to defect and bring some of our secrets with him. He hijacked three experimental mini-subs from the yard, which means he has accomplices." the Czar paused to let it sink in. "We don't know where he's headed, but it is of the utmost importance that he be returned to us unharmed. If you see him and his men, you mustn't fire."



The Prince listened with concern as the Czar explained what had happened. It would seem that Aleksei wanted Wilhelmsborough to look out for these 3 stolen subs. Prince William prepared to say that his country would help in the search just as the Czar had finished speaking.

"And tell those at Discordia that firing on Danilov will be considered an act of terrorism."

"I see." said the Prince. But in his head, he was thinking. Discordia? What does Discordia have to do with a submarine theft? Hell, what does Discordia have to do with anything the Czar had told him?

The Prince furrowed his brows. There was more to this than the Czar was letting on. If this in no way concerned the platform-nation, the Czar would never have mentioned it. What was going on here? If the Czar wanted Wilhelmsborough to find the missing submarines, why would he request that Discordian troops not fire upon them? Why would they fire on them at all?

William was becoming nervous. he wasn't sure whether it was a slip of the tongue or simple posturing, but what he did know was that he didn't want to wrong about dismissing a possible threat. Something had to be done.

"Czar Aleksei." Prince William said with a tone of authority. "You have my word that Captain Danilov and his men will not be killed. We will return them to you alive for questioning."

Suddenly, he came up with a solution. He pulled his laptop towards him and started typing out a message.

"However, if the Captain and his men kill themselves, we will accept no responsibility. If a man has control over any one thing in this life, it's whether he chooses to live or chooses to die."

The Prince paused for a moment as he continued to type his message.

"Furthermore Czar Aleksei, you have my assurance, that no Discordian gun will fire upon the Captain and his men!"

The message was complete. Opening up his e-mail account, the Prince did a quick cut and paste, typed the address, and clicked "send."

"As these submarines are a significant asset to you, I won't be so bold as to inquire as to their importance. But please, Czar Aleksei. Tell me more about Aleksandr Danilov. What kind of a soldier is he?"

-------------------------
Location: Task Force
Schadenfreude CIC

As Admiral Augustine was going over some logistics with the commander, he was interrupted by a beep eminating from his pocket.

"What's that?" the Commander asked.

"That's just my text messanger." Vittorio replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the government-issued device.

He found that an e-mail had been sent to him. More importantly however, it was from Prince William! It must have been important if the Prince didn't have time to communicate it over the phone.

The Admiral pressed the “Read Message” button.

Admiral. This is Prince William. West Corinthian Czar says that rogue soldiers have stolen 3 experimental minisubs and have headed out into the Black Sea. They are led by a Captain Aleksandr Danilov. We are to capture him and his men alive. Do not destroy subs.

Furthermore, the czar asks that the discordians don’t fire on them or its considered terrorist act. I’m not sure whether he’s saying that they may be coming for the platform or not. I’m assuming they are. Follow instructions to letter. Do whatever you can to find them. I’ll speak to you later.

The Admiral looked up from the message.

“What’s going on, Admiral?” the Commander asked.

Augustine handed the device to the Commander, who, once reading the message, looked to the Admiral in concern.

“What are we going to do, Admiral?”

“What are we going to do?” Vittorio repeated. “We’re going to find those 3 submarines, that’s what we’re going to do!” the Admiral chuckled. “And here I was, thinking that this would just be some boring protection mission! Things are getting fun now.”

He turned to a Captain. “I want two hovercraft filled with marines ready to go for the Discordian pier! Make sure you send expert marksmen!”

“Yes sir!” the Captain saluted and went to relay the order.

“Make sure they bring cameras!” the Admiral shouted to the Captain as he went off. He turned back to the Commander.

“I want the S-3 Vikings ready to go. In fact, get the Blackhawks ready as well. If we spot anything, I want a helicopter hovering over it with a floodlight!”

“Aye sir!” the Commander saluted and hurried off to relay the message.

Then the Admiral walked over to the radio operator.

“Get in touch with the ships! Tell them to inform our underwater crews to keep their eyes open for three West Corinthian minisubs! I don’t know about combat, but tell them to keep their weapons on hand, just in case!”

“I’m on it sir!”

The Admiral watched as things started to move. S-3 Vikings were being raised to the flight deck. Marines were being loaded into Hovercraft. Augustine smiled. How he enjoyed the tension of military life!

-----------------------------------

The two hovercraft, each carrying 25 marines, were lowered into the water. From there, it was a quick ride over to the pier.

As they arrived under the platform, a group of Discordia troops came up to them. And they did not look happy.

“Hey!” one of them shouted. “What the heck do you think you’re doing here!”

The leader of the marines, a Lieutenant, stepped onto the pier and faced the Discordians.

Constable Stevens, who had heard the commotion, ran over.

“What are you doing down here!” he said angrily. “Can’t you announce when you plan on barging into our country?”
The Lieutenant, who had been woken up to lead the marines, was in no mood to argue.

“There’s been an incident in West Corinthia. Some rogue soldiers stole three experimental submarines and they may be on their way here.”

The Constable’s eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly regained his composure. “Well if they plan on coming here, then my men will be ready to fight them off!”

“Yeah!” the Discordian security team shouted in agreement.

The Lieutenant shook his head grimly. “The Czar’s been in contact with the Prince. He doesn’t want you firing upon his soldiers.”

“But they’re rogues! They’re traitors!” the Constable protested.

The Lieutenant shrugged. “They’re still West Corinthian.”

Stevens gritted his teeth in anger. “And so what if we do open fire?”

The Lieutenant looked the Constable straight in the eye. “If Discordian security opens fire open those soldiers, the Czar will consider it a terrorist act. Remember, West Corinthia doesn’t recognize you as a state.”

The Constable was silent. The Lieutenant took that as an opportunity to continue.

“West Corinthia would love to knock this platform into the sea with every one of you on it. You attacking them could give them exactly what they want. And believe me: the Principality will not go to war with West Corinthia to save your sorry asses.”

The Constable found his voice. “So what is it you expect us to do then, huh?”

“Head up into the upper levels of the platform. We’ll guard things down here.”

The Constable narrowed his eyes. “And if they make it past you and into the platform?”

The Lieutenant shrugged. “Same rules apply. You cannot use guns.”

The Constable protested. “We have the right to defend our-!”

“No guns.” The marine repeated.

That was that. The Lieutenant wasn’t backing down. Stevens and his team turned and walked dejectedly up the stairs to the main structure.

“No guns,” huffed the Discordian. “What the fuck are they thinking? FUCK!”

“No kidding.” A fellow guard agreed in frustration. “What other options do we have?”

---------------------------

Meanwhile, down by the water, the team was hard at work preparing for any potential arrival. Eight marines put on diving outfits and went below under the pier to patrol. Twenty-seven marines took patrol positions around the area.

The remaining fifteen marines however, they climbed up on the superstructure of the platform. Seeking out the darkest, most shadowy places in the jumble of pipes and support beams, they kept hidden out of plain sight, but pointed their guns to the water.

---------------------------

Meanwhile on the Schadenfreude, twelve S-3 Vikings and 10 Blackhawk helicopters took off into the air. The Sea Surveillance/Anti-Submarine jet fighters flew at a low altitude away from the supercarrier, scanning the sea with both Sonar and sight for the three submarines.

The Blackhawks also flew low over the sea with floodlights illuminating the water. They moved at slower speeds so that they would be better able to see.

---------------------------

OOC: WC, I like you, but I can't let your men knock over that cruise ship.

"Thank you very much," they both said as they took the packet of papers and a pen that the Customs Agent handed them.

Taking a seat in a nearby chair, they began filling out the forms.

Name: Jackson Brian Bell
Appearance: Male, 6'1", 189 lbs.
Status: Married, No Children
Place of Origin: Dominion Colony of Eborall
Nation of Residence: None currently, previously Eborall, DMG, and numerous others
Schooling: St. Bart's Prepatory School, Bel-Air Academy, Merriman University
Occupation(s): Writer, World Traveler, Accountant
Party Affiliations: None
Social Security Number: 2314-762-9387
Reason for Immigration: Adventure/New Opportunity


Name: Samantha Lucile Bell
Appearance: 38,
Status: Married, No Children
Nation of Origin: Dominion Colony of Wolf's Isle
Nation of Residence: None currently, previously Wolf's ISle, DMG, and numerous others
Schooling: Home-Schooled, Merriman University
Occupation(s): World Traveler, Photographer, Writer, Painter
Party Affiliations: None
Social Security Number: 2394-435-9657
Reason for Immigration: Adventure/New Opportunity

"Ma'am... we're done," Jackson said as he took the two stacks of papers and handed them back. Obviously, they had done this before numerous times as they completed the information in just under twenty minutes.

The customs agent was surprised.

"Oh my goodness!" she said. "That was much faster than expected! You've done this before, haven't you?"

She took the documents and looked them over for a minute.

"We'll run this through a background check. In the meantime, consider yourselves probationary citizens for the time being. Would you like to search for a home in the Wind Province?"

"Hehe," Jackson chuckled at the agent's surprise. "Yeah, we've been around the block a few times." The truth was that they were constantly on adventures and moving from place to place. It was fun and rewarding and didn't require too much in the way of wealth.

"Oh we would be delighted to look around," Samantha replied. "However, we might need a tour guide or a little information before picking a place. It seems like an awfully big boat and there must be so many rooms..."

OOC: Understood, it's just fun to cause an incident.

IC: "Danilov, you need to turn yourself in. Aleksei alerted Wilhelmsborough, and you know how protective they are of their little Discordian friends. I can still protect you if you turn yourself in now, tell them that you got kidnapped." Though Danilov was technically a rogue soldier, he still had friends in high places. A high-ranking government official was now speaking to him, warning him of the growing situation. "I've also been monitoring satellite images over Discordia, all kinds of ships and troops have been deployed there."

"I understand what your saying, my friend. I know we can't destroy Discordia, I knew it the moment we hijacked these subs. We'll lay low for a bit, picking up the supplies you send us. By the way, keep sending fishing boats with our food, because we aren't attacking for two more days. Anyway, we can't destroy Discordia, but the Czar will."

"How do you plan on making him do that?"

"When we are killed by the Discordians, we'll be martyrs. The Czar will have his excuse to send the platform to the bottom of the sea."

"There's one small problem with your plan. Czar Aleksei warned the Discordians and Wilhelmsborough not to fire on you. Don't mistake it for an open ticket to waltz right onto that platform, because I think they'd be willing to break the rule to save their platform."

"Then I just need to get them to break the rule. Perhaps take a hostage, but leave myself in the open as a target."

The high-ranking government official sighed. "First of all, I'd prefer if you didn't. Second of all, where are you going to find a Discordian outside of Discordia?"

"I see your point. We'll think of something, though. We still have another two days before we strike. By then, even Wilhelmsborough will have to think that we defected successfully and are not a threat."

Location: Imperial Palace, Kydonia

The Czar ended his phone call with the Prince, and was surprised to see an email pop-up moments later. He read it over quickly, then pressed 'reply.'

To: PrinceWilliam@Wilhelmsborough.com (lol)
Re: Captain Danilov
From: CzarAleksei@WestCorinthia.com

Captain Danilov served with distinction up until the Corinthian civil war. At that point, he and his team disappeared and were declared MIA.

You ask what kind of soldier he is. He is a Myrmidon. There is no more highly trained nor more dangerous unit in all West Corinthia. They are selected at birth and trained from the time they learn to walk. The very notion of Danilov taking his own life is preposterous, as such an action would forfeit his personal honor. It is for this reason that they serve both as West Corinthia's elite special forces and as bodyguards to the Czar.

The only reason I can see for why he would defect is that he must have been captured by the Atopianans during the civil war and brainwashed to betray his country. His career up till now was stellar. He's had 11 succesful operations, and was decorated with the Corinthian Star for leadership under fire. Might I remind you that is the third highest decoration we give, below the Order of Vasili and Hero of West Corinthia.

Danilov is currently facing charges of desertion and conspiracy. However, he will remain under our protection until he is captured. And I would like to add that I am not asking you to find Danilov. We are organizing a plan to find him. I am only warning you so that you know what to do with him should he show up on your doorstep asking for asylum.

-Czar Aleksei

The Customs Agent placed Mr. Nuwolf's shoes and luggage through the x-ray machine. As this was being done, the Agent glanced at the passport again and was shocked to notice for the first time that this man was from Templa, the nation that had sent 4.2 trillion dollars in aid!

At once the Customs Agent stepped forward. "My apologies, sir. I had no idea you hailed from one of the countries that came to our aid!"

The Agent gestured for the man from Templa to follow. "Please, step this way. I'll show you to the Chaos Casino/hotel so you can get checked in."

The Customs Agent directed Gawain Nuwolf out of the customs checkpoint, and into the main country where the celebration was still going on stong.


Veit--Gawaine--made his way to the hotel. He would need to secure a room while he gathered information. Noticing the approaching warships, he wondered why they were here. This would be te first thing he would attempt to discover, and in fact asked the desk clerk about it as he tried to book a room.

OOC: Sorry about not posting, Ive been busy, but I'm not about to let this thread die!

IC:

It had been a day since Lieutenant Roget and his marines had taken control of matters on the pier. But already the Lieutenant could see that things were rather grim.

When his men were sent to relieve the Discordians of protecting the platform, it was because the West Corinthian Czar stated that if any Discordians fired upon the rogue soldiers, it would mean their destruction. To prevent that, Wilhelmsborough soldiers were brought in.

The Czar had requested that Captain Danilov and his men be brought back alive for questioning, and that Wilhelmsborough not fire on them. Prince William, in an attempt to placate the young Czar, promised that they would not be killed and assured that they would be brought back alive for questioning.

What the Prince did not tell the Czar was that he would still have his soldiers fire on the rogue Myrmidon. They wouldn't be lethal shots; just to the arms, legs, feet and hands to bring the men down. They would still be alive for questioning, just a little wounded. And if the Czar complained, the Prince could just say that he promised to bring them back alive, but at no point did he promise that he wouldn't fire at them.

This was the conclusion Roget had come to 24 hours ago, when he was awoken from sleep and given the mission briefing. It had made sense at the time. But now, as the Lieutenant watched the water beat against the metal pier, he realized that simply would not fly. The Czar was very specific in his orders, and was definately not the type to accept any interpetations. If he said no shooting at the Myrmidons, then he meant no shooting under any circumstances, nor at any location, nonlethal or otherwise.

The Lieutenant lightly kicked a support beam. How could he have been so stupid? He quickly answered that question: he was tired, that was why.

But now he was awake, and fully conscious. And it was time to fix this mistake before West Corinthia went to war against both Discordia and Wilhelmsborough.

He pulled the radio out of his flak jacket and set it to the frequency of the flagship Schadenfreude.

"Schadenfreude, this is Lieutenant Roget on the pier."

The was a moment's pause. Then a voice came on. But it was not the voice of the radio operator.

"Lieutenant Roget. Why have you contacted us?" said a slightly annoyed Admiral Augustine.

The Lieutenant took a deep breath and began.

"Admiral, I'm contacting you in regards to our orders to guard the pier and fire nonlethal shots at the West Corinthians soldiers should they attempt to gain access. Sir, I'm sorry, but I don't think that it's going to work."

The CIC looked over in surprise. It wasn't always smart to question Augustine, especially in situations like this. But the CIC was even more surprised to see that he wasn't chastising him for speaking up. The look on the Admiral's face was grim. He knew that what Lieutenant Roget said was true.

"Then what do you believe we should do, Lieutenant? Doing nothing is not an option."

"Yes sir, of that I am aware." Roget responded frustratedly. "If we open fire on those men, then the Czar would launch an atttack. It wouldn't matter if it was Wilhelmsborough, he's incredibly protective of those men, even though they are traitors!

"Sir, we're in a bind. If we can't use our weaponry, then we only have one option left. We have to make these people see the light."

Everyone is the CIC did a double-take, except for Admiral Augustine. The old Admiral just winced his eyes shut tight as if he was having a terrible headache. "I understand, Lieutenant. What needs to be done?"

"Our S-3's should broadcast a message over their radios. That message should state that we to talk to them about this situation. We'll invite them to come to the pier, and when they arrive, they'll be greeted with a mediator from our country. No soldiers, and no guns. We'll try and talk them into surrender."

The Admiral was silent as he took this in. He old face looked like it had aged 10 more years.

"Very well Lieutenant. I'll get someone to write and record a message for broadcast. In the meantime, I'll get the equipment you need to set everything up brought over there."

"Thank you Admiral." Lieutenant Roget said.

But the Admiral wasn't finished. "But remember this Lieutenant. Just because I approved it doesn't mean that I approve of it. It's embarassing. It's a travesty!"

Roget sighed. "I know Admiral. I understand completely."

The Admiral put his face in his wrinkled hands. "Equipment's on inbound."

"Roger. Over and out."

Lieutenant Roget turned and walked stiffly back under the structure to inform his men of the new situation. On the way, he passed a Sergeant attempting to impress a Lance Corporal with random bits of trivia.

"Do you know what will happen if you apply an electrical charge to somebody's head?" the Sergeant coyly asked.

The Lance Corporal shook his head. "I have no idea, sir!"

The Sergeant grinned. "That person will have a seizure right on the spot, that's what will happen!"

"Wow!"

---------------------

A half-hour later, a hovercraft arrived at the Discordian pier carrying all the equipment that Lieutenant Roget and his marines would need. As the it all was unloaded, he looked at it with absolute disgust and revilement.

But he was more disgusted in himself for choosing this option. It was even worse that they would be recording this on video to be examined for "research purposes." Now he would be remembered forever for making this request.

Lieutenant Roget watched as Engineering crews started their work.

---------------------

Meanwhile a signal, was transmitted to every S-3 Viking that was patrolling the Black Sea for the submarines. The signal was sent a set of instructions to broadcast it on a frequency that a craft of West Corinthian design would pick up:

Attention. Attention Captain Aleksandr Danilov. This is the Wilhelmsborough task force stationed at the Free Republic of Discordia.

We know that you and your men are out there in those three submarines, Captain. We know that you and your men are tired, stressed, and fatigued. And we also know that you harbor ill intentions towards Discordia, though what they are we know not.

You cannot get out of the Black Sea, because the 1st Fleet will capture you. And you cannot run away or kill yourselves, because that would go against everything the twelve of you were taught. So to you I make this request: Let's talk. Come to Discordia and let's talk this out.

A small opening in the east side of the defense perimeter will be opened up for the three submarines to pass through. After that, a group of submarines and divers will escort you to the pier. A representative from Wilhelmsborough will meet the twelve of you at the pier under the platform.

This cannot go on forever, Captain Danilov. How long can you and your fellow Myrmidons remain cramped in those little ships, four people to a submarine? How long can you breath recycled air? How long until your food and water runs out, equipment starts to fail, and all of you are at each other throats?

Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but my original statement remains: This cannot go on forever, Captain.

We do not expect that you will immediately reply to this message. Just you showing up to the platform will be enough. But Captain Danilov, when you do show up, make sure you radio us first.

The ball is in your court, sir. The next action is up to you.

-----------

OOC: United Earthlings, I have not forgotten about the King's letter. The President will respond to it in time.

OOC: United Earthlings, I have not forgotten about the King's letter. The President will respond to it in time.

OCC: Ok, but she better not wait to long to issue a reply. IC that is. OCC, as long as you haven't forgotten I can wait a another day or so. When you get a chance.

"We're picking up a plane on radar!" a Myrmidon radioed to Captain Danilov.

"All subs, emergency dive!"

They dove, and began hearing a broadcast several minutes later. It was offering to talk them into surrendering?

"It's a trick." another Myrmidon said disgustedly.

"Maybe not." Captain Danilov suggested. "They know more than we thought they did. They know about the plan to attack Discordia, they even know Myrmidon values."

"You're not suggesting that we actually do this. They'll capture and ship us off to the gulag in West Corinthia! We can't legitimize our actions by turning ourselves in."

"No, we can't. But we're not turning ourselves in. Think about it. They're letting us onto the platform. If a few of us can sneak away from the talks, they can carry out the mission. We can hide the plastic explosive under the soles of our shoes."

"Don't you think they'll be watching us like hawks? Don't you think they'll shoot us?"

"If they wanted us dead, they wouldn't be offering to talk, and that plane would be shooting torpedoes instead of offers! All subs, set a course for Discordia. It will take a few hours to get there, so think of a plan for how to carry out the mission."

[ooc: Need IC information or a tour guide for Jackson and Samantha. Though they could probably find their way around as there are signs everywhere in a cruise ship, it would be nicer for someone to show them around.]

"Hehe," Jackson chuckled at the agent's surprise. "Yeah, we've been around the block a few times." The truth was that they were constantly on adventures and moving from place to place. It was fun and rewarding and didn't require too much in the way of wealth.

"Oh we would be delighted to look around," Samantha replied. "However, we might need a tour guide or a little information before picking a place. It seems like an awfully big boat and there must be so many rooms..."

The customs agent thought for a moment.

"Well, we do have a deck plan of the ship, but it's incomplete at the moment. It only has the upper five decks...But hey! Those are the most interesting ones!"

She reached into a desk and pulled out a brochure.

"This should give you a bit of information on the place." She pointed to the top deck.

http://www.cruiseweb.com/NCLIMAGES/NCLWIND-DECKPLAN-SKY13.GIF

"If you want to play a round of basketball, the Sky Deck is the place to do it."

She then gestured to the next image.

http://www.cruiseweb.com/NCLIMAGES/NCLWIND-DECKPLAN-SPORTS12.GIF

"That here is the Sports Deck. You can find pools, massage parlors, a gym, and a sports bar and grill just to name a few."

"Let's continue down the line shall we?" She pointed at the next level down.

http://www.cruiseweb.com/NCLIMAGES/NCLWIND-DECKPLAN-SUN11.GIF

"Now this is the Sun Deck. The Stardust Lounge is located here. Nice place to kick back and relax or some I'm told. Let's move along!"

http://www.cruiseweb.com/NCLIMAGES/NCLWIND-DECKPLAN-STAR10.GIF

"Here, Mr. Bell, we have the Monte Carlo casino. And down towards the end, Mrs. Bell, we have several shopping outlets. There are also a few cabins in this area.

"And finally, we have the International Deck."

http://www.cruiseweb.com/NCLIMAGES/NCLWIND-DECKPLAN-INTERNATIONAL9.GIF

"Here we have a wider variety of cabins. There's also the Four Seasons restaurant, and an Internet Cafe. There's also a Bistro, two bars, and at the end of the ship, we have The Terraces. It's a nice little place where the two of you can sit and enjoy the open view.

"And that's all!"

She looked at them. "Now then. Would you like a tour of the Province?"

"That would be excellent!" Samantha declared as she looked at the catalogue and everything the ship had to offer.

"Yes, that would be most appreciated. However, we were also wondering about living spaces."


ooc: lol, pictures are useful

"That would be excellent!" Samantha declared as she looked at the catalogue and everything the ship had to offer.

"Yes, that would be most appreciated. However, we were also wondering about living spaces."


ooc: lol, pictures are useful

OCC: You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Thats alot of words you just saved.

One of the task force's Oliver Hazard Perry-class Anti-Submarine Frigates was just coming back into position when suddenly, the SQS-56 Sonar suddenly picked up a signal. A single blip was made indicating a position. But continued tracking picked up nothing more. That was it.

But the Sonar operator knew what he had saw. In that brief second he saw three blips on that screen. They were all close together and moving in the same direction.

He reached for the phone and contacted the Schadenfreude.

"Admiral Augustine. I've just picked up three unidentified bogies on the sonar. They appeared only briefly before disappearing completely, but they looked like they were headed in the direction of this platform. I think it's the missing submarines, sir."

The old Admiral nodded. So they had gotten the message. "What is their estimated time of arrival?"

"Three hours. Maybe less."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Over and out."

Augustine turned and walked over to the Radio Operator. "Get Lieutenant Roget on the line."

"Yes sir."

----------------

"Lieutenant Roget, this is Admiral Augustine."

"Roget here, I'm reading you loud and clear sir."

"Lieutenant, one of our ships just caught a brief glimpse of our West Corinthian friends. They're on their way to the platform."

The Lieutenant closed his eyes shut. He could't believe that they had decided to come.

"When are they expected to arrive sir?" he asked.

"Less than 3 hours. You better get yourselves ready for this. How's the equipment setup going?"

The Lieutenant turned and looked up at the underside of the platform only briefly. He didn't want to look at those perverted devices.

"The engineering crew is almost finished. Generators are ready, and the marines are properly dressed for the occasion." he answered grimly.

"Good." the Admiral said briefly. "Have the citizens and tourists been told what to do?"

The Lieutenant sighed, away from the reciever. "They've been informed to shut their windows and blinds and not look down to the pier when the West Corinthians finally arrive."

"That's good. I don't want civilians witnessing such an act. It's embarrassing for all of us."

"It'll be painful to watch, that's for sure, sir." Roget agreed.

"Indeed. Well then, finish up your work and get your marines off the pier. We promised them a representative from our government, remember?"

The Lieutenant shook his head, painfully. "Yes, I remember sir. The pier will be cleared shortly."

"You have two hours. Over and out."

"Over and out, sir." Roget replied.

He put to radio back into the pocket of his flak jacket. Then he started heading back towards the center of the pier.

"Alright men. They're on their way. Let the lead out! I want this finished in half an hour!"

---------------------

Meanwhile, the rest of the task force had been alerted to the minisub's arrival. Twice as many divers were in the water now, as many were working a double shift. They were holding up the area in the middle of the defense perimeter, as well as the Wind Province and beneath the pier.

Everyone was preparing for the Myrmidon's arrival.

*bump

Captain Danilov's expression was grim. "Ok, Sergei, I think your idea was the best of all. Everyone know what to do?"

"Roger, Captain Danilov." was the standard reply.

"Alright, we're only an hour out. They said they were going to let us pass through their defensive perimeter and land on the platform. If anything, we'll have the advantage of shooting first, since I'm sure they've been ordered to hold their fire on us. Only shoot if you have to, stick to the plan." Danilov checked his KAR before loading a clip into it.

The KAR was the new West Corinthian assault rifle, a modification of the Hali-42. Unlike the rifle it was designed after, it used a 7.62 x 51mm round and was capable of fully-automatic firing, rather than just semi-auto and 3-round burst. Danilov had found the new rifles in the weapons locker of his sub, and thrown his Hali-42 overboard to free up space in the cramped mini-submarine.

When it seemed sensible, the subs surfaced. They didn't want to look like they were sneaking in, yet...

*bump

[ooc: How you gonna bump it before responding to everyone first? :p]

She entered her office boiling with rage, but when she saw the Diplomat from Brydog she quickly composed herself.

"I'm sorry about that, sir. Everything's going to be alright down there." she took her seat. "Now what did you want to talk about?"


"We wish to establish ties and possibly a alliance with your nation." he said

From: Winston I
To: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of Discordia

Madam, with all due respect, I believe you are looking at this with the wrong prospective. Our nation has been around alot longer then yours, so believe me when I state something. I may speak as having solid dirt under my feet. But, the truth couldn't be farther from that. The nation you see today has not always been. What you see today is the hardwork and determination of me, my people, and our ancestors over the past centuries. We hope that one day your nation and its people will aquire the greatness they so rightful deserve.

Then let me be the first to explain to you the international law of which you are now part of. Under International Law, ever nation has the right to claim territoral waters and economic waters, even your nation has that right even if you choose not to use it. Our concern is that, a ship that can be recognize as a sovereign nation, could sail into one of our ports and claim its self a nation. By International law, we would have to give that ship safe access to a port and the surround territoral waters. This we cannot allow. Our national Integrity is our first concern. Anything that compromises our National Borders is to be considered a threat.

My nation has every right dictating what you do there when it threaterns our national security. You would be doing the same thing where it my actions threatening your national security.

I'm willing to comprimise, as such I issue this last proposal, reject this at your own peril. There will be no further proposals from us, just action.

If you sign a treaty of Friendship with us, agree that the ship "Wind Province" will never leave its current position and that you dismantle the propulsion system of said ship.

In exchange for doing this, we would be willing to compansate you financial for those said actions listed above.

This is our final offer, the fate of your nation is in your hands.

Sincerely, King Winston I

From: Gloria Ivanhoe, Discordia
To: Winston I, United Earthlings

Is that what you are worried about? You're worried that if the Wind Province were to suddenly travel all the way into your territory you would be forced by international law to protect it? And give it a claim to surrounding waters?

Well King Winston, let me allieviate your worries. This ship/province is not going anywhere. And besides, if we were in a crisis, why would we travel thousands of miles across sea and ocean to get to your country, when the Principality of Wilhelmsborough is only 30 miles to the north?

Nonetheless, we are still interested in this treaty of friendship with United Earthlings.

We are willing to dismantle some of the engines, but only two of the four. A ship is still a ship no matter what anybody says. Also, the Free Republic is currently making plans to expand its main structure. We may need the Wind Province to move out of the way while we make our renovations.

Are you still worried that even with two engines, we still might be able to travel into your territory? Well if so, then listen to this:

The Wind Province is capable of carrying just under half a million gallons of fuel oil. Of that fuel oil, approximately one thousand gallons is used per hour. And it's average speed is 21 knots, or 23 miles per hour.

With only two of its four engines in operation, the speed of the craft will be slowed down significantly. At the same time, the said engines, will be under an enormous amount of strain trying to push this 49,000 ton ship along. That means more fuel will be expanded per hour to keep the engines running.

In conclusion the slow speeds and higher consumption of fuel would mean that, barring the engines overheating, the Wind Province wouldn't get past Sicily. And that's assuming we started out with maximum fuel capacity! This is not the case for us. We do not have a full tank.

In the spirit of compromise Your Majesty, I propose that 2 of the 4 engines be removed and we make a promise never to fill the fuel tanks to maximum. At the same time, the Free Republic will try not to move the Wind Province around too liberally, and only when we really need to.

Do reply at your earliest convenience,

Signed,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia
Black Sea

From: Gloria Ivanhoe, Discordia
To: Winston I, United Earthlings

Is that what you are worried about? You're worried that if the Wind Province were to suddenly travel all the way into your territory you would be forced by international law to protect it? And give it a claim to surrounding waters?

Well King Winston, let me allieviate your worries. This ship/province is not going anywhere. And besides, if we were in a crisis, why would we travel thousands of miles across sea and ocean to get to your country, when the Principality of Wilhelmsborough is only 30 miles to the north?

Nonetheless, we are still interested in this treaty of friendship with United Earthlings.

We are willing to dismantle some of the engines, but only two of the four. A ship is still a ship no matter what anybody says. Also, the Free Republic is currently making plans to expand its main structure. We may need the Wind Province to move out of the way while we make our renovations.

Are you still worried that even with two engines, we still might be able to travel into your territory? Well if so, then listen to this:

The Wind Province is capable of carrying just under half a million gallons of fuel oil. Of that fuel oil, approximately one thousand gallons is used per hour. And it's average speed is 21 knots, or 23 miles per hour.

With only two of its four engines in operation, the speed of the craft will be slowed down significantly. At the same time, the said engines, will be under an enormous amount of strain trying to push this 49,000 ton ship along. That means more fuel will be expanded per hour to keep the engines running.

In conclusion the slow speeds and higher consumption of fuel would mean that, barring the engines overheating, the Wind Province wouldn't get past Sicily. And that's assuming we started out with maximum fuel capacity! This is not the case for us. We do not have a full tank.

In the spirit of compromise Your Majesty, I propose that 2 of the 4 engines be removed and we make a promise never to fill the fuel tanks to maximum. At the same time, the Free Republic will try not to move the Wind Province around too liberally, and only when we really need to.

Do reply at your earliest convenience,

Signed,
Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia
Black Sea

To: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of Discordia
From: Winston I, King of United Earthlings

Yes, that’s what were worried about as should ever other nation be. Were not specifically worried about your ship but, those of other nations. We trust your government in doing the right thing. It's some of the other nations we are worried about. As such, we issue the following compromise.

A. A Treaty of Friendship is signed by both our governments/nations. This Treaty requires that the other nation provide financial assistance to the other in the form of Grants, Loans or by other means during said nations time of crisis.

B. When the "Wind Province" is docked along side the Platform, the "Wind Province" is to be considered the sovereign territory of Discordia.

C. When the "Wind Province" is out at Sea and not docked along side the Platform. The "Wind Province" is to be considered just a ship in the service of Discordia and not its sovereign territory.

This Compromise will allow our government to recognize the ship as sovereign territory, but when the "Wind Province" is out at sea and away from the platform its just like any other ship. This way no other nations could sail a ship into one of our ports and claim the ship a sovereign nation.

"That would be excellent!" Samantha declared as she looked at the catalogue and everything the ship had to offer.

"Yes, that would be most appreciated. However, we were also wondering about living spaces."


ooc: lol, pictures are useful

The Customs Agent smiled.

"We have plenty of living space available! After all, this ship is designed to accomidate 1700 passangers and over 600 crew! After the citizenry move in, there will be plenty of room left over!"

She reached into the desk again.

"As I said before, the information we have on the Wind Province is incomplete. But for someone of your skills and economic status, I do have a place you might like."

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/6821/discordiacatbaroomws5.jpg

She explained. "This is what is known as a Category BA room. It's located on the Norway Deck, deck 8, and contains a large living room, with a convertible double-bed sofa, TV, a separate bedroom with two lower beds, a picture window, a refrigerator, stereo with CD library, and a tub and shower!"

"We can work to get you the ocean view if you would like. It may cost a little extra, but with your levels of education, I'm sure the two of you will be able to find high-paying jobs in our country!"

"That sounds simply delightful!" Samantha proclaimed after the agent explained all of the amenities to be found in their room.

"Although, yes, I believe an ocean view would be a tad nicer... if it wouldn't trouble you too much," Jackson piped in before Samantha could close the deal. "A little extra dough won't be a problem." Having sold their house and put many of their belongings in storage, they had a good sum of money to keep them going... with or without jobs.

An S-3 Viking, coming back from it's patrol suddenly saw the three submarines surface. The pilot got on the radio with the Schadenfreude.

"This is Recluse-5. I've spotted the West Corinthian subs on the surface of the water. They aren't far away from the defense perimeter."

"That is confirmed. I'm picking up three targets on my scopes." said the Sonar Operator.

Admiral Augustine turned to the Radio Operator. "Get me in touch with the entire task force."

"Aye sir. You're patched in now, Admiral."

Augustine spoke. "Attention all forces, this is Admiral Augustine. Now hear this. The West Corinthian submarines are right on our doorstep! I want the underwater team ready to escort them to the pier."

There were affirmations from crews and divers.

"Good luck. Over and out."

When the Admiral finished talking, he turned back to the Radio Operator.

"Put me on a West Corinthian frequency. It's time to open communications with the rogues."

The Radio Operator was surprised but he did what he was told.

The Admiral's face was one of grim determination as he raised the speaker to his mouth.

"Attention West Corinthians. This is Admiral Vittorio Augustine of the Wilhelmsborough Navy. We have your submarines on our Sonar. An escort to the pier has been prepared for you. As stated in our message, we promise not to open fire on you or your men."

-------------

Meanwhile, beneath the waves, an escort force consisting of 60 divers and 12 minisubs took up their position behind the defense perimeter. When the submarines arrived the said perimeter would open and let the West Corinthians in. The 60 divers and 12 minisubs would then lead them to the pier.

"Should we respond?" Yuri asked nervously.

"No. Make no radio contact. We'll keep them guessing of our intentions." Captain Danilov screwed a silencer onto his sidearm and returned it to his leg holster. Almost poetically, he stated, "Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all, you see. Some of them will question their orders, others will not. Nonetheless, they won't be as prepared as they think they are."

"But we're walking right into their hands! They'll spring a trap on us!" Yuri protested.

"Of course they will."

Yuri was surprised to see Danilov agreeing with him. "How do you know?"

"Think about it. What do they possibly have to gain by talking to us?"

"I see...but why are we still going?"

"To spring the trap." Danilov smiled devilishly as he piloted the minisub.

The subs neared the WIlhelmsborough defense perimeter. They passed through it harmlessly, slowing their engine speed as they glided towards the platform.

Admiral Augustine raised an eyebrow. So they weren't responding. Must be that Myrmidon pride.

The task force watched as the three surfaced submarines floated slowly towards the pier beneath the platform.

Beneath the waves, the divers and submarines were moving alongside them, harpoon guns at the ready.

As the Admiral watched the West Corinthians approaching the Discordian pier, he thought of something to say.

"Incidently, you really should have radioed to announce your arrival. Our mediator is in the shower at the moment and won't be down for at least 20 minutes."

Lieutenant Roget, who was up in the floors of the platform above the pier, heard the Admiral say these words to the West Corinthians and hung his head in embarrassment. Things were tense. He turned to his second in command.

"Are we all ready to greet them?" he asked bitterly.

The Sergeant sighed. "Everything's prepared sir. We're ready to greet them."

The Lieutenant huffed. "Spectacular." he said in a sarcastic tone.

He watched the camera feed as the submarines came up on the platform.

To: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of Discordia
From: Winston I, King of United Earthlings

Yes, that’s what were worried about as should ever other nation be. Were not specifically worried about your ship but, those of other nations. We trust your government in doing the right thing. It's some of the other nations we are worried about. As such, we issue the following compromise.

A. A Treaty of Friendship is signed by both our governments/nations. This Treaty requires that the other nation provide financial assistance to the other in the form of Grants, Loans or by other means during said nations time of crisis.

B. When the "Wind Province" is docked along side the Platform, the "Wind Province" is to be considered the sovereign territory of Discordia.

C. When the "Wind Province" is out at Sea and not docked along side the Platform. The "Wind Province" is to be considered just a ship in the service of Discordia and not its sovereign territory.

This Compromise will allow our government to require the ship as sovereign territory, but when the "Wind Province" is out at sea and away from the platform its just like any other ship. This way no other nations could sail a ship into one of our ports and claim the ship a sovereign nation.

To: Winston I, King of United Earthlings
From: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of Discordia

Now this compromise I like. It solves your problem you have with a ship being part of a country, and it allows us to keep the Wind Province's propulsion system intact. To be honest, I was not looking forward to the idea of having the engines taken apart.

As for your clause that says that "the other nation provide financial assistance to the other in the form of Grants, Loans or by other means during said nations time of crisis," we can offer you financial assistance in times of crisis, but we are bound by our treaty with Wilhelmsborough not to use our military for offensive purposes; only defense.
I must ask that one more clause be added on condition of our Treaty of Friendship: We ask that you petition the government of Wilhelmsborough to remove the rules that state that all Discordian trade must pass through Wilhelmsborough ports. If that rule can be eliminated, then it would reduce the costs our nation has to pay for trade.

Do reply at your earliest convenience,

Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia
Black Sea

"We wish to establish ties and possibly a alliance with your nation." he said

Gloria smiled. "Of course!" she replied. "After what you did for us, we would be glad to set up an alliance with your country."

She thought for a moment. "We're going to be expanding the structure of the main platform. When it is finished we will provide you with an embassy, filled with all the modern conveniences.

"But I'm getting off track. What exactly did you have in mind in terms of 'establishing ties' with Discordia?"

Veit--Gawaine--made his way to the hotel. He would need to secure a room while he gathered information. Noticing the approaching warships, he wondered why they were here. This would be te first thing he would attempt to discover, and in fact asked the desk clerk about it as he tried to book a room.

The desk clerk, didn't know, but he suggested that Gawaine get underground fast!

Quickly, Gawaine was hustled along with a large crowd into the lower parts of the structure. Everyone was rather scared as the Wilhelmsborough marines landed on the platform.

But then President Ivanhoe came out and put their leader in his place. Slowly, the people began to pour out of the lower level as they realized that nothing was wrong.

Finally, the President and the Admiral finished talking. The Admiral and his marines left on the helicopter, the President went back up to her office, and the citizens and tourists tried to get back to their normal lives.

The desk clerk came up to Gawaine.

"I'm terribly sorry about that. It's not that often that the Wilhelmsborough navy comes out here, especially uninvited." he spat.

"Let's go back to the hotel." the two of them returned to the Chaos Casino/hotel.

The desk clerk went behind his desk while Gawaine retrived his luggage that he dropped in the rush.

"Now then," said the desk clerk checking his computer. "We have a reservation for you, Mr. Gawaine. Single, 3rd Floor, room 306. Here's your key, sir."

The desk clerk handed Gawaine a room key."

-----------

OOC: Finally! I've responded to everyone's comments! :cool:

Just before reaching the dock, the top hatches of all three subs flew open. One Myrmidon appeared out of each sub, wielding Kotov Assault Rifles and wearing black ski masks.

The Myrmidon standing out of the lead sub pulled off his ski mask. "I am Captain Danilov, formerly of the West Corinthian army."

The subs docked and ropes secured them to the pier. More Myrmidons began coming out of the subs, 10 in total. All wore the same urban camouflage scheme and had the same black ski masks. They all carried Kotov Assault Rifles slung over their backs, the bullpup design of the weapon making it look more like an SMG.

As they stepped cautiously onto the platform, they awaited a response.

OOC: Finally! I've responded to everyone's comments! :cool:

OOC: Mine too?

To: Winston I, King of United Earthlings
From: Gloria Ivanhoe, President of Discordia

Now this compromise I like. It solves your problem you have with a ship being part of a country, and it allows us to keep the Wind Province's propulsion system intact. To be honest, I was not looking forward to the idea of having the engines taken apart.

As for your clause that says that "the other nation provide financial assistance to the other in the form of Grants, Loans or by other means during said nations time of crisis," we can offer you financial assistance in times of crisis, but we are bound by our treaty with Wilhelmsborough not to use our military for offensive purposes; only defense.
I must ask that one more clause be added on condition of our Treaty of Friendship: We ask that you petition the government of Wilhelmsborough to remove the rules that state that all Discordian trade must pass through Wilhelmsborough ports. If that rule can be eliminated, then it would reduce the costs our nation has to pay for trade.

Do reply at your earliest convenience,

Gloria Ivanhoe, President
Free Republic of Discordia
Black Sea

We understand your treaty with Wilhelmsborough, which is why we stated specify financial assistance and not just assistance. Were also willing to use our influence to take that petition you asked for a step further by asking Wilhelsborough to grant you full autonomy and all that it entitles including but not limited to how you conduct foreign relations, trade polices, and raising and maintaining of an Army/Navy/Air Force- not just a security force. I think we'll both agree the time has now come for the nation of Discordia to manage its own affairs, both domestic and abroad. Further, the paying off its debt to the Wilhelmsborough and the handling of the crisis with the cruise ship both with us and other nations should prove once and for all that Discordia is not also ready but capable of handling itself amongst the international world.

Do reply at your earliest convenience

Sincerely, Winston I
King of the United Earthlings

"That sounds simply delightful!" Samantha proclaimed after the agent explained all of the amenities to be found in their room.

"Although, yes, I believe an ocean view would be a tad nicer... if it wouldn't trouble you too much," Jackson piped in before Samantha could close the deal. "A little extra dough won't be a problem." Having sold their house and put many of their belongings in storage, they had a good sum of money to keep them going... with or without jobs.

"Very well then." The Customs Agent reached into a lower filing cabinet and pulled out three pieces of paper stapled to together.

"Housing forms." she explained. "There'll be a $500 security deposit. If there's ever a chance you wish to sell your apartment, you'll get that money back." She handed the papers to them.

"I believe that room 8033 on the Norway Deck is vacant. It also faces out towards the water. What would you say to living there? Or would you like to see the rooms for yourself?"

"No that is quite alright. From your description and the pictures they seem lovely..." Samantha replied as she was ready to sign over the money involved in the transaction.

"Yes, quite more than we were expecting."

"So, shall we make the deal final?" Samantha asked of the agent.

"No that is quite alright. From your description and the pictures they seem lovely..." Samantha replied as she was ready to sign over the money involved in the transaction.

"Yes, quite more than we were expecting."

"So, shall we make the deal final?" Samantha asked of the agent.

"Yes, let's!" said the Customs Agent cheerily.

The Bell's signed the document.

"Congratulations! You are now the proud new owners of Wind Province lands!"

"Grand..." they both said with a vibrant smile. "Well... we have some unpacking to do. Thank you for all of your assistance."


[ooc: I guess I'm done with this. If they need to do anything, TG me and I'll post, otherwise I am removing this from my subscriptions.]

The Sergeant watched the West Corinthians climb out of the minisubs.

"Just ten of them?" he said worriedly. "What about the other two? They won't be caught up-"

"They might," interrupted Lieutenant Roget. "The minisubs have plenty of places to look out of. They might see what happens."

But the Sergeant wasn't convinced. "What if they don't? What if the remaining two try to escape?"

"The underwater group is close by. If the two subs try to flee, they will stop 'em. After all, they're very resourceful."

The Lieutenant and the Sergeant watched as the ten Myrmidons came together. And then, the Sergeant looked at Lieutenant Roget with a grim expression. It was time. The moment which they dreaded had finally arrived. It was time to spring the trap.

He radioed Admiral Augustine. "Admiral, this is it!"

"We read you Lieutenant!" the Admiral turned to the CIC. "Everybody get down and cover your eyes!"

The CIC quickly scrambled to do so. The Admiral sent his last message.

"Lieutenant Roget, do it now!"

"Yes sir!" Roget replied. He steeled himself and turned to the Sergeant. "ACTIVATE NOW!"

"Yes sir!" The Sergeant pressed a button.

And then it happened.

In the structure above the West Corinthians the underside of the platform suddenly lit up as dozens and dozens of lights started flashing and flickering rapidly in a strobing fashion.

The West Corinthians were bombarded with light. But these were not ordinary spotlights enveloping the soldiers. These were high-intensity lights which shined with an intensity of 6 million candlepower.

Spread out across the underside of the platform were dozens of these 6 million candlepower lights, all flashing and blinking in rapid succession. All of this intense light was slamming into the Myrmidon's retinas, impacting upon photosensitive cells designed to send nerve impulses to the brain.

With all this intense flickering light, those nerves were most likely being overwhelmed.

----------

Lieutenant Roget put on a pair of protective goggles. Even on a black and white screen this was painful to look at. He turned to his squad of men, dressed in white Hemp-Kevlar body armor, and wearing white helmets that covered the entire head and fitted with a high level of tint to protect against this bright light. They were armed, but not with guns. They had whips, nets, tazers, stun batons, and handcuffs.

"Men!" Roget shouted. "Get ready to go in t-minus 2 minutes!"

*bump

*bump

OCC: Don't forget about my post. Thanks.

The ten Myrmidons on the platform were blinded by the intense strobing of the lights.

"I can't see!" screamed one of them, as he fell to his knees.

Even Captain Danilov was overwhelmed. Clenching his eyes as tightly shut as he could, it still hurt terribly. As his hand reached up to cover his face, his finger slipped on the trigger of his Kotov Assault Rifle. A single round was fired. He didn't even know that he had fired because the light was causing him so much pain.

The other Myrmidons heard the gunshot, and blindly returned fire. 7.62 x 51mm Corinthian rounds sprayed everywhere. Some went for the ground, others for the Wilhelmsboroughans, and the rest into the air.

Most of the rounds ended up going towards the sky, towards the lights.

Two Myrmidons held cover in the subs, despite the sound of gunfire from above. They had explicit orders to hold cover until the gunfire stopped.

Lieutenant Roget watched the blinded soldiers firing in every direction with an expression of wonder and awe.

He turned to the Sergeant, who was also watching the screen through protective goggles. "I know that Myrmidons are supposed to be tough, but I didn't think they'd be able to take that kind of punishment and remain standing! I expected at least one of 'em to have a seizure!"

"Those are my thoughts as well, sir!" the Sergeant replied.

"Sir!" They were interupted by one of the soldiers. "They may be firing blind, but they just knocked out five of our lights!"

A voice came in over the radio.

"Lieutenant Roget, this is Minisub Five! I don't know what's going on up there, but one of the divers just got hit in the stomach with a stray bullet! He's bleeding badly sir!"

"Shit!" the Lieutenant cursed, as he grabbed for the reciever. "Minisub Five, I want you and a two divers to get that wounded diver out of there!"

"Yes sir, over and out!"

Roget turned to his squad. "Guys, this random spray of gunfire is too dangerous! We can't wait any longer! Subdue them now!"

With a chorus of "yes sirs," the 36 Marines dressed in white hemp-kevlar body armor rushed down a flight of stairs and opened the door which led down to the pier.

The Myrmidons were still firing wildly. As the squads were rushing down the stairs, a bullet struck one of them in the thigh. The marine fell down clutching his leg in pain.

The remaining soldiers continued running down the stairs and got down to the pier.

"Spread out! Don't bunch together in a huge group!" The Lieutenant shouted into their helmet radioes.

Doing as they were ordered, the Marines fanned out around the blinded Myrmidons, taking cover wherever they could.

And then, they launched their first strike. Ten netguns were fired into the air. The ten nets expanded to a diameter of 10 feet and fell down towards the blinded West Corinthians.

We understand your treaty with Wilhelmsborough, which is why we stated specify financial assistance and not just assistance. Were also willing to use our influence to take that petition you asked for a step further by asking Wilhelsborough to grant you full autonomy and all that it entitles including but not limited to how you conduct foreign relations, trade polices, and raising and maintaining of an Army/Navy/Air Force- not just a security force. I think we'll both agree the time has now come for the nation of Discordia to manage its own affairs, both domestic and abroad. Further, the paying off its debt to the Wilhelmsborough and the handling of the crisis with the cruise ship both with us and other nations should prove once and for all that Discordia is not also ready but capable of handling itself amongst the international world.

Do reply at your earliest convenience

Sincerely, Winston I
King of the United Earthlings

To: King Winston I, United Earthlings
From: President Gloria Ivanhoe, Discordia

Your Majesty, what you are offering goes above and beyond the call of duty. If you can get the Principality to lift their restrictions on our economy and defense, our country would be able to grow larger and stronger! We might even gain the status of a world-class economy!

King Winston, I gladly accept the terms of this treaty. Unlike the first treaty, I feel that this one benefits both of our countries. And so, I will sign this treaty.

Now we need to schedual a signing date so that our countries can make this official. Let's remain in communication so that we can set something up.

Do reply at your earliest convenience

Sincerely,

Gloria Ivanhoe
President of Discordia
Black Sea

One by one the clips of the Kotov Assault Rifles ran dry. The light was causing the Myrmidons so much pain that, before they could even think to reach for a new clip, a net had descended upon the group. Ten Myrmidons sat in a heap under the weight of the net, writhing in pain and holding their eyes as tightly shut as possible.

The two Myrmidons still in the minsubs waited for the lights to dim, cocking their rifles in anxious preparation.

The Myrmidons were writhing on the ground under the nets, the magazines of their weapons depleted. The Marines converged on the West Corinthians, tasers and stun batons at the ready.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!! PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM!!!" Shouted the 2nd Lieutenant leading the Marine squad.

The Marines pounced on the Myrmidons over the net. They pulled the depleted weapons away from the pained West Corinthians and began slapping handcuffs on their hands and feet. Of course to do this, it meant that each cuff would go through different points in the net, meaning that the Myrmidons would be further tangled up and unable to move.

As this was happening, eight marines ran up to the submarines holding the two remaining Myrmidons. Into the hatches of each submarine, two grenades were dropped. One was a flashbang grenade, designed to confuse and disorient its target. The other was a sleeping gas grenade which would spread its sleep inducing chemicals while the Myrmidons were disoriented and unable to act.

The Myrmidons in the subs tossed the flashbangs back out the top hatches before they could explode. As the sleeping gas began to spew out from the other grenades, they quickly donned gas masks. Once the distinctive crack of the flashbangs sounded out above them, they sprung to their feet and opened fire on the Wilhelmsborough marines.

To conserve ammo, the Myrmidons fired in short bursts, aiming for the heads of their targets. They had been trained for speed and accuracy, and that was their goal.

Meanwhile, Danilov had few choices as he lay prostrate under the weight of the net. Firstly, he was fully unable to either drop his weapon or move his hands, and secondly, his sidearm was out of reach. Before he could even attempt to budge, his hands and feet were restrained. All he could do was go completely limp and make the Wilhelmsboroughans carry him.

Danilov was not angry. His plan had been carried out, though not exactly as he had planned. These Wilhelmsboroughans were creative, he admitted to himself, their ingenuity worthy of commondation. He knew now why the Czar kept them so close. His part in the incident was over, but had succeeded in causing one, and that made him content. If he ever returned to West Corinthia, at least he could hold his head up high.

The eight marines saw the two flashbang grenades come right back out of the submarine hatches!

"Oh shit!" cursed the Corporal in charge. The Marines leapt back. But then the flashbang grenades went off. Two marines were caught in the blast, and fell down stunned.

And then, the Myrmidons popped out of the hatches and started firing at the heads of the Marines.

Unfortunately, in the Myrmidon's act to retaliate against the Marines, they had forgotten that the lights had not been shut off yet. Now they too were being bombarded by the flickering and flashing. And that would affect the accuracy of the renowned shooters.

Nonetheless one of the Myrmidons got off a shot which went right through a private's helmet and connected with his face. Later they would find that the bullet had gone through the right cheek and come out through the back, near his neck. But at that moment, the Marines believed that this Myrmidon had just put a bullet between their man's skull. And that made them very angry.

Three Marines fired their tasers at the believed killer, the electrodes bringing their nerve and muscle disrupting force with them.

Another marine pulled out his netgun and fired it at the second Myrmidon. However, since the marine was in close proximity to his target, the net didn't have enough time to slow down. Instead, the unfurled net slammed into the Myrmidon at high speeds, almost like being struck by a car.

The first Myrmidon slumped to the ground, paralyzed by the tazer. He had lost control of his muscles and couldn't see his enemies due to the intense light from above. As he collapsed back into the sub, he dropped his KAR into the murky water.

The second Myrmidon was struck by a net at close range. He was wearing protective gear, but the sheer kinetic energy of the object flipped him out of the sub and into the water. Regaining his bearings, he began to swim away from the dock while remaining submerged. He would only have a little over a minute before he needed to surface for air. Once a suitable distance from the lights, he would draw his sidearm and surface once more.

The three Marines, jumped down into the submarine where the Myrmidon had fallen to the floor, stunned by the combined power of three tazers.

"Damn you to hell!!" yelled the Corporal as the soldier was rolled onto his stomach, and his arms pulled back so handcuffs could be placed on his wrists. The West Corinthian's ankles were also cuffed, and a length of rope was tied to the two set of cuffs in order to restrict movement as much as possible.

Finally he was secured and hoisted out of the submarine. As this was happening, the Corporal had to get the last word in. "May you be thirty minutes in hell before God knows you're dead, you damnable Banabak!" He slapped the Myrmidon across the face.

-----------------

Meanwhile in the water surrounding the platform, a crewman of one of the minisubs was surprised to see a man fall into the water. Quickly he radioed Lieutenant Roget.

"Lieutenant, this in Minisub Three. A man just fell into the water. What's going on up there?"

The Lieutenant immediately replied. "That's the last Myrmidon! Get him!"

"Right away sir!" he signaled the underwater team. "All divers and minisubs! Apprehend that man!"

Immediately, the eleven minisubs and fifty-seven divers which had escorted the Myrmidons to the dock converged on the last solder. The divers glided smoothly but hastily towards the man, who was ill-equipped for swimming, as he was wearing protective gear which was probably weighed him down.

Some divers hitched a ride on the faster minisubs, which circled around the man, creating a perimeter to cut off any means of escape. The divers let go and swam towards the man, with clubs in hand.

A couple divers found the net that had knocked him into the water. They unfurled it and swam towards the rogue soldier with the net outstretched.

*helluva bump

The Myrmidon quickly surfaced and drew his sidearm, immediately firing a full clip at the approaching divers. Then, realizing he was the only one left, let the empty pistol hang limply on his finger. He put his other hand around the back of his head as he continued to tread water with his feet.

It was over.

OOC: School and sports have eliminated my free time.

OOC: I know. I'm feeling the pressures of college as well.

IC:

The final Myrmidon fired shots at the approaching divers. Unfortunately, the gun he was using wasn't designed for underwater use, and as a result, the power in the weapon was severely reduced.

Nonetheless, he did get off three shots that connected. One shot damaged a diver's gear, obstructing the flow of air from the tank to the diver. That diver was forced to surface.

The second shot got a diver in the back of his knee. The diver dropped his harpoon gun into the cloudy water as he gripped his shattered knee in pain.l

The final shot got a diver right in the chest. Blood started to flow from the wound as the diver stopped moving.

But finally, finally, the Myrmidon ran out of bullets. And then, he finally realized that his efforts were futile. He stopped swimming and put his hand on the back of his head. It was over.

Divers converged on the man from all directions. One diver swam under him and put cuffs on his ankles. At the same time, another diver pulled the weapon from the Myrmidon's hand, grabbed said hand, and slapped handcuffs on him.

An observing minisub sent a message to Lieutenant Roget.

"Sir! The last West Corinthian is in our custody! It's over sir!"

The Lieutenant let off a great sigh of relief.

"Thank God it's over! Sergeant! Turn those goddamned lights off!"

"With pleasure sir!"

Just as quickly as the flickering and flashing of the dozens of 6 million candlepower lights had started, they stopped.

In the CIC of the Schadenfreude, Admiral Augustine and the crewmen uncovered their eyes and stood up, returning to their stations. The Admiral immediately marched over to the radio.

"Lieutenant Roget, what's your status?"

Roget replied. "We got them sir! All twelve Myrmidons have been captured alive!"

The CIC burst into applause. The tension and fear had lifted! It was over!

The Admiral grinned, but maintained his professionalism. "I want two Pomornik LCACs dispatched immediately! Load the Myrmidons on one, and the submarines on the other!"

"Yes sir!"

----------

The two remaining West Corinthians were brought back to the platform where they were placed with the other ten, who were still tangled up under several layers of net, and handcuffs had to go through the tangle in order to cuff the soldiers. This insured that the Myrmidons remained tangled, and wherever they moved, the net came with them.

The remaining two, after they had been properly searched, were placed on top of the net. Then, another net was placed over them, and second set of cuffs were placed on their hands and feet. This may have looked like overkill, but the Wilhelmsborough Marines were taking no chances.

Finally, the LCACs arrived. There was no shortage of difficulty loading subdued Myrmidons, who were still tangled up, onto the hovercraft, but they did it, after an exhausting 45 minutes of trips, spills and falls.

As that was happening, the Wilhelmsborough marines, taking advantage of a crane near the pier, loaded the three minisubs onto the second LCAC. The process took about an hour to accomplish, each minisub taking 20 minutes to strap in, raise out of the water, lower into the hovercraft, and unstrap.

--------------

As this was going on, Admiral Augustine went over to his radio operator again.

"Tap me into a West Corinthian frequency. I have to get a hold of someone from the military, tell em that we're bringing back their men and their subs."

"Aye sir," replied the radio operator as he switched the frequencies. "It's done sir."

The Admiral took the reciever. "Attention. Attention any West Corinthian craft in the area. This is Admiral Augustine of the Wilhelmsborough Navy requesting communication with any captain or highest ranking officer available. Please respond."

The Myrmidons struggled in vain against the nets that held them. Only Captain Danilov seemed calm, as if he was counting in his head. He had been trying to watch the Corinthian minisubs being loaded aboard the Wilhelmsboroughan LCAC, counting off the seconds in his head.

The moment the first sub had lost contact with the water, a timer had been activated aboard all three. While Danilov was a renegade, he was no traitor. He was not about to hand three experimental minisubs over to Wilhelmsborough intact.

An hour after losing contact with the water, small charges within each sub blew the inner electronics to scrap metal.

In West Corinthian waters, Grand Admiral Sergei himself was on duty. Picking up the reciever, he answered the call from Discordia. "This is Grand Admiral Sergei. What news have you?"

To: King Winston I, United Earthlings
From: President Gloria Ivanhoe, Discordia

Your Majesty, what you are offering goes above and beyond the call of duty. If you can get the Principality to lift their restrictions on our economy and defense, our country would be able to grow larger and stronger! We might even gain the status of a world-class economy!

King Winston, I gladly accept the terms of this treaty. Unlike the first treaty, I feel that this one benefits both of our countries. And so, I will sign this treaty.

Now we need to schedual a signing date so that our countries can make this official. Let's remain in communication so that we can set something up.

Do reply at your earliest convenience

Sincerely,

Gloria Ivanhoe
President of Discordia
Black Sea

Were glad that our two nations could came to this agreement. Since, this treaty came about through your ability to compromise, when your ready you may pick the time and place where you would like to officially sign the treaty of Friendship we have discussed.

Our government would also like to take this time, to officially exchange Embassies with the nation of Discordia. You may contact us at your earliest convenience. To get ahold of my Embassy staff- you may contact them here- http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=455492

Furthermore, as promised in a few days we will contact the Wilhelmsborough government to discuss possible solutions for the granting of full autonomy to your new nation.

Sincerely, King Winston I

"Ah, Grand Admiral! It's good to hear from you again! I have good news, sir. We have captured the twelve rogue Myrmidons alive, and secured the three stolen minisubs. We were going to return them to West Corinthia immediately, but were unsure if any of your forces were in the area."

--------------

The Wilhelmsborough Marines were strapping in the last minisub for its trip back to West Corinthia, when suddenly there was an explosion!

"What the hell was that?!" shouted a marine. His shouts were followed by a second explosion!

"It's coming from the submarines!" another marine shouted as a third explosion was heard.

The marines quickly backed away, ready to jump into the water. But then they heard no more explosions. All was quiet again, but the marines were still on edge.

Smoke began to rise out of the open hatches of all three minisubs. The marines knew that this was bad.

"Get a fire control team over here immediately!" yelled the corporal.

Immediately, fire control teams rushed forward with fire extinguishers. They climbed up the the hatches, and emptied their contents into the submarines.

As the fires fell back, the teams jumped into the hatches and put out the remaining fires.

Lieutenant Roget, who had seen all the excitement, ran up to the LCAC.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he shouted.

At that moment, a member of the fire control team stuck his head out of the hatch.

"It was bombs sir! They must have triggered them to go off if they didn't return within a certain amount of time!"

The Lieutenants eyes widened. "Bombs?!" he threw his hat down to the ground in anger. "FUCK!"

The Sergeant, who had followed the Lieutenant stepped forward. "What's the damage?"

"Computers and electronics are all destroyed, sir."

"Damnit," said the Sergeant in frustration. "This is going to be a problem."

OOC: United Earthlings message replied to in separate thread.

Hey, thePeoplesFreedom, The Aeson, Templa, and Brydog. Are you guys still interested in the RP? Because after this West Corinthian business is taken care of, I'll have more time to RP with you guys.