NationStates Jolt Archive

11:00 AM, 120 Miles away from Super City, Maraque

The sleek Leer Jet flew towards the main airport of Super City. Aboard it, some of the highest ranking diplomats in the Confederacy. Chancellor Lucius Blackhelm sat at a small table on the jet sipping a gin and tonic, while his friend and colleague, Senator Cornelius Pureheart, sat across from him thumbing through a newspaper.

"So you new this guy Lu?"

"I did, he used to come to the Emperors Club"

"Are you sure its the same guy?"

"Hope so..."

As the two finished up their conversation, the plane began its descent towards Maraque.

As the plane landed at Super City International Airport (http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/dubai/images/6_option2persland.jpg), a slew of security personnel from the Emperor's Super Elite Imperial Guard drove up towards the jet in a convoy of five heavily armoured Maybach 62 limousines (http://www.dragtimes.com/images/1094518006-2004-Maybach-62.JPG) and Mercedes-Benz GL450 SUVs. (http://www.2007mercedesgl.com/images/gl450_01.jpg) From each came a Super Elite Imperial Guard carrying an AK-74, with shimmering black body armour and fatigues that resembled something out of a futuristic science fiction novel. From one of the Maybach's came a very tall man, wearing a Grey striped business suite with a platinum silk tie and platinum cuff links, with black leather shoes and a diamond-laden watch.

The man waited as the diplomats from the Blackhelm Confederacy disbanded from the plane, as the Super Elite Imperial Guard stood by in formation.

"Hello, I'm Thomas Stellan, security detail coordinator. I've been hired to take you to Grand Imperial Hotel, to meet with Emperor Jovan S. Norris and his cabinet. Now if you'd please follow me into the waiting limousine this way we'll be on our way. There is champagne and food inside."

Thomas Stellan led the men to the waiting limousines, escorting slowly by the Super Elite Imperial Guard. "Driver, to Grand Imperial Hotel please," Thomas Stellan said, as the 612bhp twin turbo V12 came to a start and the car began to move briskly off the tarmac and into Highway A1 en route to Grand Imperial Hotel.

The car took no effort at all as it sped at over 100mph on the completely empty highway, which would normally see mile-long traffic jams this time of the day. The sun shown through the panoramic moon roof on the top of the vehicle as the occupants enjoyed complete luxury inside the immense interior of one of the finest automobiles on the planet.

As they came upon their exit the car took a slight jerk to the right and went down a spiral, the car feeling no less dangerous now then when it was going straight. The car came to a soft, complete stop as they came to a light at the end of the spiral. The city was now upon them as the tall, glistening buildings were in view. "I don't believe you've been here in a while; a lot has changed, as you can tell," said Thomas Stellan.

The light turned green and the car yet again let off with a small jerk as the powerful engine sprung to live once again. The car sprinted down the four-lane, two-way road down a row of shopping high end clothing stores and car dealerships, among other places. There were thousands upon thousands of pedestrians walking around, many eying the huge convoy speeding down the street. A big street sign at the end of the corner said "Business Avenue."

The car took a sharp right turn into a much smaller street, but still noticably as nice as the other one. This street had a row of enormous towering skyscrapers that shimmered with such sheer luminosity that it could leave you blind. The car pulled into the parking garage of one of those skyscrapers; it could have easily been mistaken for the headquarters of a multi-trillion dollar multinational corporation, but this was a hotel; one of the largest in the world with a record 500,000 rooms; the only 8 star hotel in the world. The average stay sets you back $85,000 a night.

The car made it's way to a special private area of the garage and into a small storage area which looked like it was the inside of a palace; it was an elevator. The door closed behind the car as it made a full stop on the floor of the storage area, then a loud motor came on and the storage area started to move up. After about 60 seconds, it stopped, and the door in front of the car opened, and the driver slowly pulled into another parking garage; ten, $1,600,000 Bugatti Veyron's are seen in the parking spaces ahead, as the car turns left and comes to yet another complete stop. "We're here."

The heavily armed gunmen in the convoy came out of the cars and surrounded the car the diplomats were riding in as a man came out of a dark maple wood double door.

"Hello, you must be Chancellor Lucius Blackhelm?" The Foreign Affairs Minister said to the man he had recognized as the Chancellor.

"I am Giorgio Anetti, the Foreign Affairs Minister. If you gentlemen would please follow me I shall take you to see the Emperor." This seemed to be a codeword for the Super Elite Imperial Guard as they began to walk in formation towards the dark maple double doors as soon as the Foreign Minister said those words. Behind the door was a hallway laden with earth-tone marble and gold, a tradition of Maraquean luxury. They walked down the palatial hallway and into another room, this time a larger, more open room with a giant chandelier hanging from the middle of the dome ceiling; a giant window in front of them showing the most spectacular view of the city below. A giant round polished wood around table in the middle of the room, and Emperor Jovan S. Norris sitting at the very end.

"Welcome to Super City, gentlemen. Welcome to Maraque. I am Emperor Jovan S. Norris, and I am absolutely pleased to have you here. What is our first order of business today?"

OOC: Somebody read the Forbes most expensive cars list ;)

IC:

The diplomats were in awe of the opulence all around them throughout the Super City. The last time the Chancellor was here, it was still being built. Now, it was a sprawling display of Maraquan wealth. The men whispered amongst themselves and pointed to all of the things that they had seen around them. Paradise City was wealthy, but this made it look like a slum. After a few moments, the Chancellor spoke up.

"Emperor! I am glad to see you once again. It has been too long. I see that the city has grown since last I saw it. What brings me here are to things. First, I wish to express my sorrow about the lost lives in the attack recently. Next, I would like to inquire as to if there is any possibility of us possibly reclaiming the portion of this city that was formerly under our control."

After he spoke, the senior Senator with him began.

"I would also lie to present you a gift on behalf of the Confederacy commemorating the loss of lives of Maraquan soldiers in Divinity shortly after the plague and collapse of Exponent. Without your assistance, the Confederacy would not be the same. While you may have forgotten this favor, we have not, and wish to contruct a memorial near the airport, so that all who enter this country may see what its people do for others."

The Chancellor than spoke again.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe you two have met. This is senior Senator Cornelius Pureheart. To his right is Senator Gaius Blueblood and next to him is Senator Marcellus Darkbridge."

OOC: I haven't actually. They tend to get a lot of that stuff wrong, and as a car nut it hurts me, lol.

IC:

"Ah, of course, of course. Please sit down gentlemen," The Emperor said. "As you may know, I am not the Emperor you originally met, but his son that you met some time ago at the Emperor's Club. He resigned some time ago and I was elected."

"Oh yes, the soldiers lost in Divinity. May those brave souls rest in piece, as inexperienced as they were, they fought hard for what was certainly a noble and honorable cause. A memorial would be most appropriate."

"Thank you for your sympathies, Chancellor. It means a lot. We've been trying to combat these domestic terror cells for years, and we've caught some but we're a long way away before we stop them from killing innocent lives in the name of democracy and freedom."

"As for reclaiming the portion of the city you had before... I believe it was in the contract that you had signed with my father was that after 10 years it would return to Maraquean control, no? I am not very familiar with the contract, but from the very little I have read here," the Emperor said, showing the men the contract, "it looks as if the portion you were given was to be taken back after a 10 year period... perhaps we can make a deal.... because back when Super City was first being built, it was only a shadow of the size it is now; 91,000 square miles last time I checked, that's the size of a small country, or twice the size of New York state in the former United States. So, I personally would have no problem giving you back the portion of the city it was you had, under certain circumstances of course, given that it is still inside Maraque and bound by our laws and regulations. The only problem I see is how we're going to hand it back over peacefully, because that probably will not fly over well with the city population, council, and other bureaucratic bullshit that goes on here," the Emperor said, taking a sip of vodka a waiter brought in just moments before.

" I see..yes of course it would be well within the laws of the Maraquan people. The only possible way of handing over the city I can see is possibly not telling the people."

One of the Senators, Senator Blueblood, than piped up "What about if we do it by offering the people gas at very low prices. I'm sure that you know that Griffincrest Oil Incorporated is one of the biggest industries in the Confederacy."

The senior Senator, Senator Pureheart, cut him off "Don't be an idiot Gaius, don't you know the reputation that Griffincrest has. People will not buy it. What about...if per say, we begin by easing our way in, maybe purchasing, a port. From there, we gain the peoples respect and slowly branch out?"

"The people in this city are very hesitant to trust anyone these days, especially after the fiasco involving LifeWyze BioTech a few years back, and you'd be rather lucky if you were even able to get anyone here to consider letting you purchase a port. I wouldn't bet my life on that happening."

The Emperor leaned back in his chair.

"Fuel prices are already among the lowest in the world here; they wouldn't fall for that in a nanosecond. There has to be another incentive that will strike a chord with the people the right way that will allow them to let you reclaim the portion you lost under the contract."

"Perhaps you could go under the radar and slowly take over without notice, but that would cause much controversy and scandal once it was leaked out, and I just don't feel like it would be right to hide this against the people. There has to be a way for this to happen where the people know, and are OK with it, or else it just can't happen."

"Understandable...well, what do you have in mind?" Senator Blueblood asked.

Senator Darkbridge then cut in "What about if we buy under a different company, say Goldwater Automotives? They purchase a building, maybe open up a factory here and there, and slowly more and more Confederate businesses begin to move in? What do you think of that?"

"What do you gentlemen say about a large... no, enormous monetary compensation package of... $1.25 trillion NSD each? This way, your visit wasn't for nothing, and no back-door schemes will have to take place, and you both leave vastly wealthier men? Do we have a deal?" the Emperor paused. "I'll even throw in 1,000 square miles of the least developed areas of the city to you both..." he said, without thinking of the repercussions... "with a mutual agreement that will be discussed at a later date."