NationStates Jolt Archive

Lord Sumguy walked into the LBG headquaters, and up to the front desk. His flight into British Londinium had been pleasant, and he was feeling rather cheerful. He tapped the bell on the desk, an waited for the receptionist to arrive. "Hello, I am here for an interview, but I'm not sure what room it will be in.."

At seventy floors, the gleaming glass-and-steel LBG Tower was one of the most impressive buildings in the Kensington skyline. It's elegant atrium was dominated by a large fountain featuring a golden seal beached on a slab of marble. It was designed to convey a sense of power, respectability, civilization - and it certainly did so. Lord Sumguy was not out of place in his vaguely regal clothing as he approached the front desk.

"Twenty-ninth floor," said the receptionist. "Room 2961. It'll be right next to lift doors."

"Thank you." Lord Sumguy said, walking over to the elevator and stepping inside. Moments later, he exited on the twenty-ninth floor, and proceeded to room 2961. He opened the door and stepped inside.

Two leather chairs sat in the centre of the carpeted room, one of them occupied by a young, beautiful woman with a small microphone clipped to her lapel. The chairs were surrounded by recording equipment of all sorts, and various television and radio producers sat in a glass booth in the corner. An intern approached Lord Sumguy, hastily clipping another small microphone to the emperor's lapel, muttering an apology under his breath.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," said the woman warmly. "Before we begin, anything I can clarify for you?"

"Only one thing. In what nations will this interview be shown or written about?"

"Every nation that the LBG broadcasts to will have access to the interview," the woman replied. "And our online website, lbg.co.rsp, will have a transcript, so anybody with internet access can read it."

"Alright, shall we get started?"

"But of course," the woman said as a bright crimson light that read "Recording" illuminated.

"Welcome to the LBG's In Conversation With; I'm Dame Olivia Azzopardi, and today, our guest is the famed leader of the Hegemonic Empire, Lord Sumguy, and Prince of the Second United Kingdom," the woman said, addressing an invisible audience. "We're honoured that you could make it, Your Highness."

"Please, call me Sumguy, or Lord Sumguy if you prefer. Even though I am a prince, I have ever been a fan of monarchies or the titles that go with them."

"As you wish," Olivia said. "Your nation is interacting more and more frequently with British Londinium, so it's only natural that our audience would like to understand the Hegemonic Empire a little bit better. Could you tell us about Lord Sumguy?"

"I would be glad to. The Empire was founded a mere nine years ago by myself and the Abrahamic League after a succesful revolution against the communist regime that had ruled the ntion for nearly a decade. The revolution had started as some protests that I organized against the ban of religious worship, and snowballed into a full-blown civil war between Communists, Fascists, and the Abrahamic League. Obviously, the AL triumphed in the end, and the Empire was born. I am no longer a member of the AL and I no longer control their actions, but i digress. As of right now the nation is a highly centralized democracy, with myself holding the office of elected emperor, and controlling the intenational actions of the nation. There is also a congress which controls all domestic affairs and can override my decisions if they so choose. The people are deeply religious, with the main faith being Christianity, followed by Islam and Judaeism. Our economy is very capitalist, with almost no business restrictions, as I and cngress beleive that with a large government comes tyranny, corruption, and restriction of liberty. The Capitol city is Sumguaia, site of one of the last battles of the civil war, and it's name mean's "free land". Likewise, My title means "bringer of liberty", and to be Sumguaian is, literally translated, to be a free person. As you can tell from those names, freedom is a very important thing to us, and any invader would be hard pressed to keep the nation, no matter the power of their military. Is there anything else about the nation you wish to know?"

"Since you mention them, what role does the Abrahamic League serve in Lord Sumguy, if the civil war is over and the Empire has a full military?"

"A of right now they function mostly a charity and missionary organization, although they did send troops into Sumatripte before I was able to stop them. The AL is an extremly strong group, and if for some inexplicable reason they turned on the government, i am ony about 80% sure I would be able to defeat them. As it is, i have been doing all that I can to limit their militay power for nearly two years, using all of my influence as the organization's founder to do so. I possible, I plan on incorporating the militant wing of the group into the Sumguaian army, where they will be under the control of the government. Luckily, the leaders of the organization are all clerics of Islam, Christianity, and Judaeism, so I doubt they would do anything with a malicious intent."

"Sumatripte: what are your thoughts on the microstate?"

"Well, I do think that it should be a part of the Empire, seeing as it was ceded in a peace agreement with British Londinium to avert the threatened military action that was caused by a misunderstanding regarding the intentions of the Hegemony. I suppose we can't change the past though. I am very glad that the state is now independant, but British Londinium still exerts a bit too much control over Sumatripte for my liking."

"How so, in your opinion?"

"Mostly the Londinian military presence within the state, and the need for any elected head of state to be approved by the Londinian government. If the state were truly independant, it would be able to elect whoever the people supported most, regardless of British Londinium's opinion, and would be protected by it's own military, not that of another nation."

"Do you fear that a reintegration might cause more trouble due to the clash between native Sumgese and the Londinian immigrants?"

"That may occur, but i think such a roblem can be easily avoided by alloweing any who wish it safe passage back to British Londinium and monetary compensation for property owners who do so. All of the Londinians within Sumatripte are immigrants, and they have no history within the state, so I do not beleive there would be any significant amount of civil disorder if re-unification should occur."

"I see; and what do you think about the People's Sovereign Republic?"

"I think the people are wonderful, but I'm not sure what to make of the government. The officials profess to be well-meaning, and indeed I think most do have good intentions, but the Londinian military has commited many atrocities in both my nation and Sumatripte. Not the least of which being the disruption and desecration of the Hegemony Ball memorial service, and the slaughter of thousands of unarmed civilians during the revolution in Sumatripte. I think I will have to find out whether it is the civilian government or the military that truly controls British Londinium before I can come to a conclusion upon the nation as a whole."

"Changing gears here, so to speak, where do you see the Empire in the upcoming years?"

"Well, things are going very well so far. I really hold no ambition for the Empire other than as a member of the Hegemony, which is what i really hope to bring about change in the world with. I don't see any expansion or military action in the future, we are not a nation which thrives upon war and conflict. The economy has been growing at an almost exponential rate, and I hope for that to continue. Who knows, maybe the Empire will become an economic power strong enough to rival some of the Corporate Alliance states."

"I understand that you're the husband to the Queen of the Second United Kingdom. Could you tell our audiences about that, please?"

"I would be glad to. I met Queen Hannah when my secretaries half-forced me to go to the United Kingdom as part of an effort of theirs to get me married. Apparrently I was very depressed, and they thought i would be much less so if I had a spouse. I didn't think I would like the princess at first, but quickly fell in love with and proposed to her. She accepted, and we were married shortly afterward. We are now expecting a child, and I have never been happier."

"And do you serve an official role in that nation's government?"

"I am the Prince consort, a figurehead role. I hold no real power."

"I see...Lord Sumguy, I'm afraid that we are rapidly running out of time - is there anything else you'd like to add before we sign off?"

I'm Dame Olivia Azzopardi

OOC: So she got over the Post-Stress Traumatic Disorder of getting shelled by me?

Good =p

OOC: Wait, what?

OOC: Wait, what?

OOC: She was a witness of my general's trial, after he bombed the shit out of one of your cities, remember?

OOC: She was a witness of my general's trial, after he bombed the shit out of one of your cities, remember?

OOC: Oh, yeah. :p She recovered quite nicely, I guess.

"I see...Lord Sumguy, I'm afraid that we are rapidly running out of time - is there anything else you'd like to add before we sign off?"

"Not really."

"Thank you very much, Lord Sumguy," Olivia said. She finished by addressing her invisible listeners. "For a complete transcript of this interview, please visit lbg.co.rsp. This has been Dame Olivia Azzopardi for the LBG."

Lord Sumguy stood up, shook the woman's hand, and left.