The Southern Connection [Franerre-UST]

[callmedelta]

Valentino Soyer was the Franerri ambassador to the UST, and what a time the man was having. News was usually pretty sparse from Pareau -- his position was a quiet one, only needing to send back updates on the progression of Franerre's rail investments into the UST. That was until the combined Galran and Shysil invasion. The messages sent were chaotic at first, but as Pareau got a clearer and clearer picture of events, so did the flurry of messages sent Soyer's way slow down. That was until one week after the invasion, when a simple, final message was sent. 

UST INTERVENTION VITAL TO WAR STOP
PROMISE VOKOYO WHATEVER HE WANTS WITHIN DISCRETION STOP
Two sentences. A simple directive. Soyer set up a meeting with President Vokoyo as soon as possible to discuss a possible Union entry into the war. 

[Greywall]

The UST border had been shored up, blue uniformed soldiers strictly adhered to checkpoint procedures as thousands of refugees flooded the border to escape the war.

When Soyer arrived he was placed on a train to the UST capital, Noscovo, the city had rebuilt itself and following a recent election Vokoyo was going to lead the Union for a second term. He wasn't pleased to hear of a Frannerri diplomat coming his way, he knew what they were going to ask.

As Soyer entered the Presidental palace and subsequently the main room where Vokoyo waited, the UST president would say. "So war breaks in the North and the Frannerri have come to Noscovo. For what may I ask..."

[callmedelta]

"You're a smart man, Vokoyo," Soyer said, "So I won't disrespect either of us by playing coy. You have a golden opportunity on your hands. The Union had territory taken from them by Galra in the war, and now is the perfect time to seize it back. But if you don't take this chance, who's to say you'll have a seat with Franerre, Tafatu, and Gaelia at the winner's table when this war is coming to a close, God willing we're victorious. Who's to say that, in the event Franerre and Tafatu are defeated in the field, that Galra won't start marching south? Like I said, they've already seized territory from you when it was convenient. They've done it once, they could do it again."

[Greywall]

Vokoyo rubbed his lips with his index finger as he listened to the Frannerri speak, but almost as soon as the diplomat finished he had his response, "If you're winning, why need our help? Don't forget I am a military man myself and you never share the banquet won with wild dogs you didn't keep in pen, no you're losing. Losing enough to come down here and beg for help, from us, after we've fought a war a war ambassador i'll shalt remind you that costed us more territory than Galra's demands. What madness would possess me to join you? There still lives many a man who shed blood shooting at your people."

Vokoyo leaned back into his chair the sound of leather and wood grinding against the weight pressed against it. "You have brought an interesting prospect however, since you're losing and I know damn well you are. Now the negotiation in thus. What shall Frannerre and Tafatu give to prevent the UST joining Galra?"

[callmedelta]

Soyer weighed the pros and cons of debating Vokoyo. It seemed unlikely to change the man's opinion, and only continuing to do so wouldn't help Soyer's cause here. He simply chose to not address it, then. "Think what you may, then. As far as concessions are concerned, I cannot in good promise give anything away that isn't Franerre's to give. But what I can say is this; any Galran or Shysil land you take during this war, Franerre will do her damnedest to make sure you keep. And I can promise some forgiveness on the Union's railway debt to Franerre. And after the war, with all the devastation in Franerre and Tafatu, whose to say that Union goods wouldn't be responsible for rebuilding parts of two nations? I'm sure that would be quite the boon to your industrial sectors."

[Greywall]

Vokoyo shook his head, "I'm not interested in Shiysil, that dump has been a joke ever since your ancestors destroyed their 'empire'. Having our lands that were seized by Galra would be nice, but what would be nicer are those separatists coming to heel and having it rejoin the UST."

[callmedelta]

"As I said, I can't promise you what isn't Franerre's to promise," Soyer reaffirmed. "And if you think to try and accomplish that by force, Franerre will stand by Tafatu. Ashinara will too." This situation could very rapidly go from a neutral one to adding another front to Galra. Soyer could not let that one happen. Calmly, Soyer began his bluff. "In fact, I believe Ashinara might have already had some troops stationed in Tafatu. If you start shooting at them, Ashinara could call on their alliance with Gaelia. And then you have a whole host of nations breathing down your neck, without Kumosenkan to step in and save you. Speaking of Kumosenkan, how do you imagine they would feel if you joined this war on the side of a nation who actively seeks to genocide their entire race? They might very well see you as complicit in that. Franerre can speak from experience when we say Kumosenkan isn't exactly known for their restraint. Of course, the inverse could also be true -- I'd imagine Kumosenkan would be rather grateful if Union troops rolled back the Galrans here in Touli all the way to the coast and denied them any bases to dock from, or pushed into Eleria to take pressure off their invasion of Elenria."

"But, these are all hypotheticals, and nothing concrete from Franerre and Tafatu," Soyer continued, "So let's talk concrete. I can offer Franerri silver at below-market prices, and we can apply pressure on Tafatu to enact a similar deal on their gold. Specific numbers can be debated, but this in addition to my previous offers stand."

[Greywall]

"I could just swap Kumo with Galra, the winning side would benefit me best anyway." Vokoyo began pouring wine into two glasses and leaned over to hand one over to Soyer, "Calm down Frannerri, I'm not fucking attacking you. I just want you to remember the dangers of your job." Vokoyo drank before proceeding, "I am not involving the UST in another war, my people have bled enough and we're not risking ourselves for a side of this conflict that could lose. But I do want your silver and I want Tafatu gold, I have an economy here to sustain. Frannerre and Tafatu will agree to do extensive trade for arms, materials through the UST at increased price margins of .5% we will allow the use of our ports though that bit will be left up to let's say...interpretation rather than a legal documented agreement. Illegally in terms of neutrality. UST ships can travel the shawbalt freely, for now, that means we can buy from the SU and sell back via our border connection in Southern Tafatu. This is better than me sending troops, I get money you get resources and don't starve."

[callmedelta]

Soyer took the wine, swirling it as he thought. This arms trade meant that the UST would remain neutral, at the very least. Vokoyo's threats were most likely empty ones, but opening another front was a risk Franerre would rather not take. Besides, it's not like Franerre would have much use for her silver mines if they did capitulate. Franerre wasn't in danger of starving, being a food exporting country, but there were doubtless something in Franerre that needed importing. "What cargo are you willing to have your merchant vessels haul?" Soyer asked, taking a drink from the wine as he looked back up at Vokoyo. "The more options you give me, the better deal I can give you. Especially if you're willing to make runs to non-SU states, though I wouldn't blame you if you wouldn't take the risk."

[Greywall]

"Anything can be hauled, as long as the money is good. I need to rebuild the UST as a proper power and for that to happen I need my people to remain out of the war and make as much as possible. So I got the ships, you tell me the cargo you want. More importantly, I have this." Vokoyo simply produced the UST flag, "You know what this is? It's a cheat in this cruel game called war, Galra won't risk the near 2 million men I can bring forth with a snap of my fingers to unsettle that warfront up north by hitting any ship flying this flag. Tell those who wanna trade with you to fly these colors on the open shawbalt and they'll circumvent hostilities."

[callmedelta]

The Known Card, With So Few Left to Play

Marshal Zelgius couldn’t sleep. He chose to pace around the headquarters of his war room, running off of nothing more than grit and anxiety, wearing a uniform that he hadn’t had the chance to change out of for two weeks now. The reports coming out of the Marse just had the Marshal too worried. The six month timeframe he gave the CoN was far too generous -- the two month timeframe he gave them at the earliest might be right on the money. But what more could Zelgius do? Who else could he reach out to? Everyone already fighting the Galrans and in any sort of position to assist was already in the CoN and had ignored him…

or was that true?...

Zelgius paused his pacing…

He was struck by an idea. The Marshal ran as fast as he could over to the central table of his war room. He upended the current map on the table, its intricate detailing of both side’s units and advances, revealing the much larger map of Touli beneath. There were two nations where Franerre’s hopes may lie -- the Union of South Touli, and the Greater Imperium of Eleria. They were both gambles, but gambles were all Franerre had left to her now. He sent a hurried midnight telegram to Pareau with his idea, and they agreed with his assessment. It was out of Zelgius’ hands now, and he found himself peacefully drifting off to sleep at the thought that it was out of his hands now.

~

Valentino Soyer was not happy with his position. He had tried to get the UST to join the war once, and that operation had only resulted in a compromise. But now? What more could he entice the Union with? What more could he say that would get Vokoyo to agree to join the war? The only thing he could think of was offering a blank check in regards to Tafatu, but that was not only impossible for a large number of reasons, but would cost Soyer a job. They had been fine taking money for transport, but there was no money Franerre could give them now -- everything was going into the war machine. Trying to get someone else to put up the money was risky and entirely out of Soyer’s hands. He flipped through the pages of reports Pareau sent him about the state of the war in Touli. The recent reports about chemical weapons made Soyer feel sick, but with any luck they will have provided him the silver lining necessary to get the UST in this damn war. Not on any sort of practical grounds, but on a moral one. It was the only concrete thing Soyer had. Perhaps that, combined with some hypotheticals could be just what he needed…

Once the meeting with Vokoyo was arranged, Soyer entered the President’s office swinging, manila folder and briefcase in one hand, the other already extended out for Vokoyo’s. The Ambassador gave the President’s hand a firm shake. “Hello, President Vokoyo. I have some important, and disturbing news to discuss with you. This describes it far better than I could.” He gave Vokoyo the folder, letting him read, or at least skim the contents. The title on the first page read ‘Chemical Weapon Deployments by Galra Against Franerre.’ Inside the folder were graphic and vivid descriptions of the damage and brutality of the Galran chemical weapon attacks. “This is absolutely barbaric,” Soyer said once Vokoyo had a chance to read a bit into the report. “This report shows not only the depths to which the Galrans will sink to -- not even against the races they view as inferior, but to their fellow humans -- and the fact that they felt the need to deploy these in Franerre shows the state the Galran army is in. Powerful, yes, but overextended. Give them another front to fight on, Vokoyo, and they’ll collapse. Franerre, Kumo, and Gaelia would have you to thank for that. With all that diplomatic capital, you’ve got quite the hand at playing any of us.”

[Greywall]

Vokoyo wasn't entirely changed with the Frannerri proposition even with all the facts laid out in front of him, "I won't lie, as terrible as this is to Frannerre I still don't see why the UST would ever be interested in participating in war let alone a war fighting aside nations that assisted in the dismantling of our own country. Galra has made it clear any involvement will bring down their wrath and so far us allowing shipments to the Galran colony and their warfront greatly benefits the UST. So while i'm sorry the war goes poorly for you, the UST will not be joining the war."

[callmedelta]

Soyer did his best to look far more incredulous than he felt. He knew that would be about Vokoyo’s answer, but he still had the onus to try. “Are you really saying that you can see this tragedy laid out before you and believe that Galra won’t come to the Union and do this to your country one day? Are you really not going to take the opportunity to assert the Union back on the world stage and ensure you lie in the good graces of Kumosenkan, Gaelia, Amali, Koi, and every other nation in the Commonwealth of Nations? Are you going to stand by as the short-lived profits you earned from allowing allied nations to transit through your country vanish as no one sends supplies through your country anymore? Are you going to sit on a golden opportunity and waste it, Vokoyo?”

[Greywall]

Vokoyo clasped his hands together and leaned back into his chair, "Yes. Go home Frannerri, while you still have one. You are just paying the price for your sins against fellow Toulian states. We faced an illegal rebellion and you interfered on behalf of the rebels. Our nation was splintered and you dare to come here a second time for aid, the UST will not join you in this war. I already have begun talks with the Galrans on selling to them raw materials they'll need to finish you and the rest off. Have a nice day."