NationStates Jolt Archive

The morning sun bathed with his life giving rays the city bellow, signalling the start of yet another day. Soon the street of the metropolis would be filled with life, the fresh morning air filling the lungs of the millions living in it.

”Another day on the job,” the foreign minister of The Principality said as he opened the door to the office of the President. They were both already awake, the matters of the country not allowing for much respite.

”Like always,” the President replied, not taking his eyes from the view before his eyes, the wonderful sunrise that could be seen only from this building. ”But it’s all worth it,” he added, a slight smile appearing on his face as he admired the city.

”It does,” Emilian spoke as he joined the other man in his contemplation. ”Only one look at all of this and I know it’s all worth it,” he said, a smile similar to that of the president appeared on his face.

With a slow, almost regretful motion, Librescu moved away from the view and headed towards his desk. His office was large, but it had a comfortable, familiar atmosphere to it. If one knew President Librescu better they would know that he often spent his nights here, working for the good of the nation.

”What do you have for me?” his question quickly came, his entire demeanour changing as he became entirely serious. There was work to be done. ”I remember you talking something about improving relations with some of our allies?”

”Indeed. In light of the recent affairs it never harms to make sure of our ties,” the minister handed over a document.

”Animarnia?”

The nation of Animarnia was a country with which The Principality had little to do with in the past. Barring the link they had with the nation in UFAN, there was little in the way of ties between the two countries but The Principality intended to change all that.

”Yes, Animarnia, they’re valuable allies to have, despite some minor complications.

The complications Davout was talking about were related to the Alexia Doctrine, an issue that was much debated every time the name reached the lips of an official.

”Very well, the president decided, knowing all too well that any further words would be wasted.

---

Shortly afterwards preparations were made. A state visit, no matter how The Principality view the other country, was always carefully prepared and planned for. This visit was no different, especially as the one leading the delegation was the Foreign Minister himself, accompanied by Anna Rayne, one of the most influential diplomats in the nation.

The Animarnian culture was different, yet similar with that of The Principality, but, in order to prevent any unfortunate events, the delegation received extensive files for study. It wouldn’t do for the visit to turn into a fiasco just because of a silly mistake.

“Remember,” Emilian started as they prepared to board the plane, ”We represent The Principality."

The flight was uneventful and soon the Damirans found themselves close to their intended destination. As expected, the Animarnians greeted them with a honour guard, the F-22 of the RAF joining up the airliner as it entered Animarnian air space.

Soon, the plane begun its descent preparing to land on the foreign soil, but not before the delegation had a chance to admire the view outside. Just like at home the views were amazing, the sight of an Animarnian city was breathtaking.

Once the plane arrived at the airport, the diplomats prepared themselves for the greetings of their hosts.

Diplomatic Termina; Lilica International, Lilica City - 19:13 AST

The view of Lilica city was breathtaking from altitude with sky scrapers and metropolis stretching as far as the eye could see; home to more than one hundred and twenty million people it was certainly something to see and certainly the jewel of the nation. Miss Tegan Harris the foreign minister waited inside the closed diplomatic terminal building of Lilica International built six years ago as part of an initiative to help increase security for foreign diplomats visiting the mainland. The area was quite vast and equipped with a full restaurant, Champaign bar, closed diplomatic train and luxury bathrooms and waiting quarters. No expanse was spared and armed security was on every entrance in case any troublemakers decided to aggravate matters. For the most part Animarnia was a very peaceful open society but like every free society it had its detractors and UFAN was a hot topic in Animarnia currently with arguments both for and against.

Miss Harris herself was a stunningly beautiful Irish spitfire; her Copper Red hair coming down to just below her chin with some of it touching her shoulders at the back. She was wearing a black mini skirt and a white blouse with the top two buttons undone to show off some of her ample cleavage while the artificial light inside the terminal made her blouse partly transparent showing off a nice white push up bra,

Flanking her 10 paces behind were the two secret service agents; former Specials Corp assigned to diplomatic guard. It wasn't that the didn't trust UFAN states but simple standard procedure and Animarnians "Everyone is a threat" mentality that had made the country one of the most fortified in the world though to look at no one would think so. Tegan watched the plane touch down on the tarmac and starts its taxi to the terminal with the F-22's breaking off and circling once before heading off to the nearest airbase of RAF Wesley. It was a few moments before the diplomats entered the terminal customs waved with all the benefits that came from being a foreign dignitary.

Tegan offered her hand in greeting with a small pleasant yet cautious smile; "Tegan Harris; Minister of Foreign affairs; Pleased to Meet you" she said with a simple nod and pushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

Departing from the airliner, the foreign minister made a casual check of his clothes. It was a habit he had picked in his youth and it was by no customary for him to perform it every time he left a plane. Next to him Anna looked unaffected by the long flight, a fact that he envied about the younger woman. Although he still had a long time ahead of him, he felt pleased about the fact that people like Anna were going to follow in his steps.

Soon, the delegates were encountered by what they recognized as the Animarnian foreign minister, Tegan Harris. None of them batted an eye to her attire and with a smile on his face Emilian shook her hand.

”A pleasure to meet you miss Tegan, I am Emilian Davout, Foreign minister of The Principality,” and releasing the other minister’s hand he introduced his companion, ”And this is my assistant, Anna Rayne.”

Having dealt with empress Mian before, Anna was not surprised by the attitude of their host. It was obvious from the files she had read that the Animarnians placed a high degree of importance on personal freedom and it was even more pleasing to see that they weren’t shy about showing it.

Anna was a blond, and despite all the jokes running around about her particular hair color she was quite capable in what she did having an elegant air around her, experience and competence giving her the edge in many of her assignments. She hoped that this would not be any different.

”Pleased to meet you miss Tegan,” she spoke, offering her own hand for a handshake.

Tegan nodded and shook the hand of the blonde with a smile "Like wise Miss Rayne" she said; "or should I call you Anna?" she asked unsure how exactly Damirans like to be addressed but since they had used her first name she figured she'd ask about using there.

Tegan took in there attire somewhat; very functional and proper; with the minister wearing a suit and Anna in a elegant dress. She had to resist the urge to complement them on the clothes and also suddenly felt rather underdressed though her skirt was mid thigh it was certainly shorter than what madam Helena the catholic nun who schooled her as a young slip of a girl would have allowed but then Animarnia was in the middle of a record heat wave and was generally warm all year round.

"If you'll follow me Minister, Miss Rayne; we have a car waiting to take you to the foreign office unless you would like to freshen up in your room first?" Tegan asked politely though the question was not directed at either delegate in particular.

Tegan politely waited for there reply while leading them through the myriad of hall ways and past a food court where travelling passengers could get snacks; a cleaning robot making its way through the building past them washing and drying the floor automatically. Coming to the terminal doors she held them open a black limousine was waiting for them with a black Audi A4 as escort at the front and rear. "You'll have to excuse the weather; we're in the middle of a heat wave at the moment; the cars have AC though so the trip won't be un-pleasent"

At the inquiry of the Animarnian minister Anna was quick to reply, her face retaining its smile, “Please call me Anna, Miss Rayne makes me sound like my mother,” she afforded herself to make a small joke, almost eliciting a small chuckle from Emilian who was all too familiar with her mother. A fine woman, but fierce as a lioness when it came to her interests.

Following the foreign minister through the various passages that lead to the exit of the airport, the diplomats politely denied the offer to freshen up themselves having already prepared in the airliner and eager to do their job.

Finally arriving at the waiting vehicles, the minister replied to the Animarnian at her comment about the weather. ”There’s nothing to excuse, we’re familiar with weather like,” he said smiling although he was a little concerned about how he’ll handle the heat in his suit.

As the doors of the limo opened the minister made a polite gesture towards Tegan whilst returning her earlier favour and invited her to enter the vehicle, ”Ladies first,” he said.

"Well Anna; I'm perfectly fine with you calling me Tegan"; Tegan bowed politely with a slight chuckle and a now far more genuine smile quite pleased that her guests were eager to 'get things going' as it were; they were almost Animarnian in there punctuality and efficacy. Which had earned them points indeed as she stepped into the Limousine she sat facing the rear; the contours of the supple leather and specialised seat foam moulding itself to her butt. The seating foam a rather new innovation of Arakawa Motors a member of the black thorn group as there security got into the Audi's

"Animarnians have a saying - its either hot; or hotter; the main land is Caribbean like for most of the year round; the further north into the new province you got though the colder it gets. The very north is often covered with snow storms", Tegan said pleasantly almost like a schoolteacher would but without being patronising "The east Islands province are sub-tropical; very humid but I'm sure you didn't come for a geography lesson" she said.

She opened a compartment and took out a bottle of scotch; pouring three glasses one of each; "So what brings you to our humble nation?" she asked offering two of the glasses one to the minister and one to Anna; keeping the last for herself.

Direct, that would be the answer that the foreign minister would use to describe the Animarnians if asked. It did not come as a surprise though, the files The Principality had on the matter making things quite clear in that direction. All for the better really as it spared him the usual diplomatic chit chat that came at a package with visits in foreign countries, a necessary evil in his opinion as it took away time used otherwise for better purposes but also paved the road for important matters.

‘The seat’s comfortable,’ he noted absent mindedly as he took a short look out the window at the Animarnian landscape before focusing again on his counterpart, a small amount of sadness lingering in his eyes as he started speaking.

”It is a troubled world we live in,” Emilian started focusing entirely on Tegan. ”Conflict lurking behind the corner at every step, wars being waged without a true purpose or reason,” the man continued his tone graver by the second. ”Security is all but a luxury and one that we work hard to maintain. And, as you probably already guessed, this is one of the chief reasons for my visit here.”

It was a direct approach. The minister knew that the Animarnians valued honesty and he intended to be just that, a honest man paying a visit to another country.

Tegan smiled as the Minister and Anna sat; resisting the urge to break out in a broad grin; "it’s a new technology; its liquid until pressure is applied to it at which point it becomes solid moulding itself for maximum comfort. I do not know the science but I'd be happy to arrange for the correct companies to contact you about sales" she spoke; her southern Irish accent coming out.

"To business" she said with a nod; valuing the up-front and honest nature of the delegates; normally it would take hours of useless prattle to get diplomats to say what they really wanted. "Security is indeed a concern for us also; which is why we have gone to such great lengths to protect ourselves Humanity is capable of beautiful dreams and such terrible nightmares; we stride to persevere such nightmares are not put upon us" Tegan spoke.

"Security is no luxury Minister; as Alexia DeLèan said on the eve of war for our own survival many year ago: - the Price of freedom is every ounce of courage, drop of sweat and pint of blood you have; paid in advance. The word's - 'never again' has special meaning to certain people in the world " Tegan spoke.

"Our President believes that joining the United Federation will help maintain our security; however many of us; the common man and minister; rich and poor do not trust the Federation to look out for our interests. Do not get me wrong Minister; Any Animarnian; regardless of rank, position, branch or job would without hesitation throw themselves into the very face of death for ANY Vetakan; they are our blood; our brothers and sisters. However there are many in the alliance to be blunt…we do not trust; I will not name anyone in particular but some of us view certain members as blind and stupid others too interventionist looking for war. It is why our president has had such a difficult time passing any legislation regarding UFAN; Trust and Pride" Tegan spoke carefully choosing her words.

"Animarnians are taught from an early age to take care of themselves; to rely on no one for our own survival except ourselves; it has made us sharp; it has also made us often too proud to accept help or to join an international organisation. Honour demands we much support our Vetakan brothers; but pride and caution demands we cannot join UFAN completely; it is as you say - a Rock and a hard place", Tegan explained.

"In short Minister; we much prefer bilateral relations than to join a specific organisation; So; the question is - What do you want?"

The small description of the technology behind the seats of the limmo was catalogued in the mind of the Damiran representatives. While the minister was an adept of the classic in furniture and cars, he knew how to appreciate innovation. On the other hand, Anna, much more pragmatic in regards to business wondered about possible avenues for the technology, similar developments being registered in the aeronautical industry, Damirans valuing comfort in their planes quite a lot. She would have to recall this and present it to a company back home; they might be interested in licensing the product.

“Indeed, there is no limit upon our potential, but also no limit upon what we can cause,” Emilian replied to the words of the Animarnian representative, feeling relieved by the ease with which his counterpart treated the subject. Although he knew that Animarnians valued honesty, the subject at hand was a delicate and sensitive one. ”We too have gone to great lengths to protect ourselves from the nightmares the world can thrust at us.”

”The words of Alexia DeLean rang true not only in Animarnia, minister, of that I can assure you,” he continued, remembering the history classes from his childhood. ”We know that no price is too high to pay in order to insure freedom. We have been under foreign rule, a long time ago indeed, but we still remember, ‘Never Again!’ our parents said and by those words we live.”

”When we have joined UFAN, many in our government debated the decision. We, as a nation and as Damirans have always upheld our obligations and responsibilities and our membership in UFAN is no exception. However, no matter how well intended an alliance is, we must always look behind the underneath and check for what is hidden,” Emilian added, wording his ideas with great care.

”As such, you might find that our opinion is not much different from your own in some of the matters you presented,” he finished this line of thought before moving towards the next issue presented by his counterpart.

”One of the core beliefs of our society is family. We have a society that is filled with competition and rivalry, but, at the end of the day, a Damiran finds refuge among his own. The same can be said about our diplomacy. The world is full of competing nations, groups and circles of interests and when the day ends there are only so many people you can rely on. We might say that even though we are warm people, we are careful who we invite in our homes. It is not everyone that gets to be named brother or sister by us at the end of the day,” came his own explanation about the workings of the Damiran society, different, yet very similar with that of Animarnia, trust and acknowledgement playing a great role in it.

”To continue the above analogy and to answer your question,” he finally answered the question addressed to him, ”We don’t want to call the Animarnians distant relatives, of which we only heard because we happen to live in the same town. We wish far more between our people and between our countries.”

Tegan nodded in understanding; knowing that these matters were delicate at best; and secretly thankful that the car carried anti bug Electronic counter measures and the windows were treated to reflect laser microphone beams. Plus with the vehicle moving it would be much more difficult for any would be spies to eavesdrop regardless of where they came from.

"it is as you say; Trust is earned; not given" she nodded; "your analogy is a good one Minister; after all to us the Vetakans are like family; they were there for us at a time when we most needed them and they have never let us down they have helped us through a difficult and traumatising event in our history and in doing so created a bond that is beyond law or blood but of…the soul if you believe in such a thing"

"Regardless of whether we call ourselves Animarnian or Vetakan or Wagdogian or Damarian; we are all one people, one voice, once entity, one soul, one mind; no matter the colour, race, gender, orientation ideology or religion; we are one"

"Well now we have set the ground rules as it were; We're willing to discus all matters; and I'm authorised by the president to sign binding bilateral agreements on, Trade, Military Co-operation and Relations" Tegan said with a smile; "So which do you want to discus First?"

Once Tegan revealed the areas of conversation she was allowed to negotiate in, the minister couldn’t help but allow a smile to appear on his face. ”It would seem,” he said, ”That our superiors are like minded, I have received a similar permission from my government in regards to the domains set forth on the table.”

Taking a look at his watch he continued, ”Probably the most important subject on the table at this moment is the issue of military cooperation. I do however believe that we can both agree that even though it unfortunately represents the single most important affair of the world today, the affairs of trade, which insures wealth and the well-being of our countries, should not be ignored.

We are known for encouraging free trade between our nation and like minded countries and it would be a beneficial mutual act for us to take.”

Even though The Principality was not exactly in a most fortunate situation, with several crises on the horizon, the minister knew that he had to think not only for today, but also for tomorrow. It was a known fact that military cooperation took you only so far, whilst trade and the benefits gathered as a result of it went a long way to insure good relations and understanding between two nations.

”There is also the nuclear protection pact that we consider a priority,” Anna added with the permission of the minister. ”The benefit of shared defences in the even of a nuclear attack against one of our countries making it important for us. And that is without mentioning further deals that can be made in this area.”

It was a rough outline of what the Damirans aimed to achieve from this initial conversation, but in all likeliness if these negotiations were to succeed, the doors were opened for much more.

Tegan nodded in understanding; choosing to address the ministers points in turn taking a moment to brush a stray strand of her shoulder length coppery hair behind her ear and adjust her glasses. "We agree; while Military Co-operation is very much on our agenda it is certainly not the only subject to discus" she said with a smile.

"Since all trade is essentially created with supply and demand we would of course need to know what it is that your nation needed firstly if we are to meet the demand" she stated and took a breath before continuing.

"As for Animarnia; we currently have a large surplus of food; such as noodles and prawns; mostly sea food which incidentally is one of our primary exports. We are also willing to supply you with Genetically engineered Oil cultured from plankton to the sum of 500,000 barrels a day for $35 a barrel; though if you have other requirements I'm sure we can come to an arrangement; Oil and food are our main surplus' this year"

"We also have a large stock pile of precious and semi-precious metals; such as silver, platinum, titanium and copper" she added; "As for Animarnia's needs; we currently require an amount of gold and crystal quartz currently being slanted for a number of classified projects"

"The President has also authorised us to offer you this" she said taking out a vanilla coloured file from her briefcase and handing it to the minister; "we are offering to construct a Plasma fusion plant in your nation to help your power grid. Each Plant has six reactors capable of 5000 megawatts a second essentially generating a combined 30,000 megawatts a second of clean safe energy" She said with a nod; "Each reactor requires several tons of sea water a year to run and is quite costly to construct as you can imagine. However the immense generation of energy coupled with the environmental impact will have you greens very happy; and Plasma fusion carries no risk of catastrophic meltdown making it less of a target for wound be terrorists" Tegan nodded.

"As for your proposed nuclear defence alliance; we find this proposal interesting and see no reason why we could not commit to this as it does not conflict with our current Alexia Doctrine; though the details would need to be hammered out of course"

The Car quietly came to a stop as the driver showed his ID to a guard outside in full military BDU and armed with a CR-20 assault rifle and DAC-99 at his hip. It was quite common for the military to guard high-level government buildings over the conventional police force. The car started again for a short drive through the checkpoint and to the main courtyard of the cabinet building. The building from the outside was a large painted concrete; glass structure that looked very high tech with slanted pains of solar glass on the outside and layers of re-enforced transparent bullet proof plating behind it. The grounds were frequently patrolled twenty-four hours a day by two man teams and one Canine walking the perimeter and checking every nook and cranny while two 'roaming' guards walked the balconies and another guard was on the door at all times.

"Gentlemen; we appear to have arrived" she said as the driver opened the door for them to exit the limousine

The rule of supply and demand was one that every Damiran knew, it was after all what stood at the basis of trade, national or international and covered very early in their years at school. It was thus fortunate that due to the small distances between Animarnia and Damirez, in comparison to those towards other nations, trade was not only feasible, but came at a relatively lower cost due to the savings made with transport.

”Well, that sounds quite interesting to hear,” Emilian replied, ”We’re always looking to expand our sources of petrol, thus placing a lower demand on our own oil resources and insuring a longer lifespan for them. A number of our private companies will probably exploit this opportunity immediately after my visit will end, so I’m fairly certain we’ll benefit from your petroleum surplus,” he smiled, pausing for a second before continuing ”As for the surplus of food that your nation seems to be having, well, there are numerous restaurant chains that might find a new opportunity by using new products, especially since it involves sea food.

We have our fair share of gifts from the sea, and I might recommend lobsters here, they’re especially tasty when cooked right,” it was no secret that having worked in his youth on a small ship that specialized in catching lobsters, Emilian had a weakness for lobsters, especially those shipped in a particular area, which he claimed were the best in the world.

”There’s also whale milk, our whale ‘farms’ yielding our food industry quite a harvest each year, without having to resort at inhumane whaling practices against the ocean mammals,” this was a weird particularity of the Damiran food industry. In the eighties, an eco geek discovered that treated under certain conditions whale milk was worth its weight in gold for gourmands. As a result a whole industry emerged tending to the whales and their well being and an unexpected solution to the whaling problem, at least for the Damiran government. ”In short, I’m sure that you will find the products offered by our food industry to be quite to the taste of your people.”[/]

Finally as he ended his comments about the various opportunities that were available on the food market, Davout took a much serious attitude. The subject that followed was of much more interest for the interests of the country as a whole, [I]”On the matter of the stock piles of precious and semi precious metals, we fairly interested in acquiring as much silver as possible for industrial use. Also, your titanium surplus will probably be acquired in its entirety, for ‘various’ projects. On the other hand, I believe you will find our exporters quite eager to fulfil the Animarnian demands for gold and crystals, given the fact that we happen to have quite a surplus of them.”

In the brief pauses he made between sentences Emilian rested his eyes on the document the Animarnians offered him. It was certainly an interesting technological exploit and it fit in the line of Damiran advancements, so it was worth to have a look over this project. It didn’t mean however that the Damirans didn’t have their own tricks up the sleeve.

”Quite an interesting project, and the energetic output makes it worthwhile to pursue, we have a few similar projects, especially given our distrust in the classic nuclear solution. We never liked those mushrooms,” an understatement if he knew one, the Damiran obsession with ABM systems forcing the evolution of newer and always better developments in the area, also why people never had much trust for power plants of that design. That was why the classic nuclear plant design had been abandoned at the first moment alternatives were provided, and the Principality had lots of them.

”As for the ABM treaty, you will find that this is not the first time that our nation was engaged in projects of this nature, and even now we have several initiatives of this kind under way,”

As the car reached the cabinet building, Emilian added a few last words and handed the minister a sealed document, ”We believe that your president might find the contents of the documents at least interesting.”

Tegan nodded along and listened carefully to what the delegate was saying. “This all sounds very agreeable; we do have a stockpile of titanium and silver we’re sure we can supply in exchange for the gold and quartz.” She said in agreement quite happy with this turn of events; “though after the stockpile has been used much of our titanium will be used for construction of new fighters. Since the RAF is getting a boost this year with the airforce hoping to retire all its F-22Bs to the national air-guard in 2 years; production of F-14A and F-16C’s will be flat out”

“Your offers of lobster is very agreeable; we have some lobster here also; farmed from Quatre Bay; along with Cockles though Crab is one of the main delicacies here though. Your offer of Whale milk intrigues us our own Eco lobby may object unless you can supply us with concrete evidence the whales are not mistreated; I don’t mean to cast doubt on you but the Eco Lobby isn’t always very bright” she said with an almost audible sigh. Tegan’s mood changed entirely when her opposite mentioned about the ‘mushrooms’ and she had to suppress a girlish giggle to remain serious.

“Well we’d be more than happy to task some of our ABM batteries to protecting Damiran airspace; the exact nature is of course naturally classified beyond top secret. However I can say that it does use multiple layers including a grass routes missile interceptor system; via Multi Acquisition Combat Rocket Ordinance System (MACROS); over all our system is 96-98% effective against a massed nuclear attack”; Tegan said giving few hints. Even to someone the considered a stable friend of the state; though they had not quite reached allied status yet such information was still classified even to Animarnia’s closest friends.

Tegan took the sealed folder with a nod; “I will run it by her; I’m sure she will be coming down later to meet with you. I know you were not expecting to meet the president this visit but she likes to take a hands on approach with most matters on Animarnian Soil” Tegan said with a nod.

She led them through the maze of corridors; each furnish and decorated in an off yellow with wood finishing and taking on a very stately home like feel despite the very modern and high tech exterior; eventually they came to there destination a large conference room. Complete with a Sixty-two inch HD LCD Screen mounted on the wall that was rumour to frequently be used to screen action movies by certain ministers. The table was Oak with plush lavender chairs around it; and the window gave a lovely view out over the metropolis that was Lilica city; the 24 hour living breathing capital of the nation.