Old Scars Brought to Mend

[Sophie]

Seno Usagi, the diplomat dedicated to maintaining relations with Ulster-Gaelia was sweating. Not from heat, the air conditioner in her office was working perfectly and the room was a crisp 55°F. No, this was nerve sweat. She had the phone pressed into her ear. On the other end of the line was Reitō Doku Kumo. The empress of Kumosenkan. "You understand your mission then Usagi-Kas?" The voice of the empress rang through the phone. "Y- yes your highness. I will not fail you." Seno's voice was shaky, this was only the second time she had spoken directly to the empress. "Wonderful. I will expect a report on your success by the end of the week." The phone clicked, and the line was dead.

Seno placed the phone in its cradle and stood. She ran her hands through her long dark hair. She pulled out a small cloth and began dabbing the sweat on her brow. She walked out of her door and began speaking to her secretary. "Tanaka Kichirou-Kas. I need you to get a message out to Prime Minister Robert Moriarty immediately. I need to have a meeting with him as soon as he's available." The assistant stood and bowed slightly. "Of course Usagi-Kama. What should I tell him it's about?" He asked still keeping his head slightly bowed. "Standing treaties." She answered curtly before walking back into her office and closing the door.

[Greywall]

Moriarty was debriefing his staff following another dull parliamentary debate when he received the message. When it became clear it was kumosenkan the office fell silent. “Shit, it was bound to happen. Let’s see what they want to do.” Moriarty prepped a motorcade to take him to the embassy, the post war deal between Ulster-Gaelia and Kumosenkan was due to expire. If the empress requested this it could mean one of two things, an extension or contending the shawbalt. His motorcade would pull up to the embassy after a few minutes of dealing with traffic.

[Sophie]

Inside the embassy was cool. The air nipped as Moriarty entered. The staff inside were very welcoming to him, bowing deeply and referring to him as "Moriarty-Kama." They were quick to direct him to the diplomat's office. Seno Usagi welcomed him into her office bowing slightly. "Welcome to the Kumosenkan consulate Moriarty-Kan. I appreciate you meeting with me on such sudden notice. Please take a seat. Can I offer you anything? Water, tea, sake?" The Kumo offered him a warm smile inviting him into her office further.

[Greywall]

The warm reception out moriarty at ease, ‘good means this is a good meeting’. And nodded to his hosts and replied, “tea please. Thank you for inviting me here today. I take there is something you wish to talk about?” Moriarty almost cringed, he basically was beating around the bush but since the war of 1910 there was little reason for the UKUG to speak with Kumosenkan. The embassy came later, when kumo zeroes assisted the Gaelians in the battle of Gaelia finally lifting the brutal air campaign from Galra.

[Sophie]

Seno nodded and poked her head out of her office to request her secretary to bring them both some tea. She returned to her seat at the head of her desk. "There is yes. I'm sure you're aware the Kumo-Gaelian post-war treaties are due to expire at the end of this month. While at that time you will no longer owe us the debt of these treaties, we would like to continue these treaties and in fact, expand upon them. At the moment these treaties strongly favor Kumosenkan because at the time they were considered payment for our contributions during the great war. I have a proposed expansion of this treaty for you to look over." She passed a small stack of documents over to him. "As you can see here we would expand the docking rights treaty to allow your forces to dock in our ports and make full utilization of our services, making the agreement equal between our two nations. In this, we are also requesting continued access to the Yorknan Channel. I have been given the authority to negotiate further terms of this agreement to continue prosperity between our two nations."

[Greywall]

Moriarty read through the documents and seemed interested, “this is likely something parliament and her grace would accept without hesitation. The further cooperation of our two countries would be better than the alternative.”

[Sophie]

"I'm very glad to hear that." The woman smiled before pulling out another stack of documents she had prepared. "I actually have another proposal for you to review. Kumosenkan would like to officially invite you to a cooperative alliance. To further enhance the prosperity between our military and civilian sectors. In which we not only promise to come to your aid in case of a defensive war, we also offer to educate you in our naval doctrine. We also offer the aid of our master shipwrights to overlook your most recent ship designs and provide guidance to improve them. All we ask in return is the same we are offering to you. Aid in war, as well as your shipwrights to overlook our most recent designs. We believe this collaboration will allow the two of us to design the most feared navy ever conceived of without being a threat to each other."

[Greywall]

Yo say Moriarty was shocked is an understatement, Gaelia and Kumosenkan had been rivals since the 1900s began. But a formal alliance would create a powerful force that would be difficult to contend with.

“This is a rather big step up. But what you propose would shift the political stage significantly. I don’t see why we would turn down such an alliance. If we’re to be allies however there’s is something I must ask. The eating of sentients, it’s going to be parliaments largest opposing topic. We are also pursuing restoration of ties to our northern neighbors and we would respect their opinion on such a treaty. But if your people have uh...needs. We have the largest tuna fishing fleet I. The shawbalt, we would be willing to sell tuna half off to Kumosenkan to quell this if possible.”

[Sophie]

Seno laughed a bit, but behind her professional exterior, she was irritated at the implication he was making. "I assure you that practice is long outdated. We haven't harvested a sapient for their edible parts in over a century. Anyone who is caught practicing that barbaric act is prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Though if the offer still stands regardless Kumosenkan would be more than happy to purchase as much half off tuna you're willing to sell us. I personally must admit the Gaelian tuna has been my favorite part of our two nations' collaboration. My husband makes the best Ginger Soy Braised Tuna on the planet. Sorry for getting so off-topic." She laughed again. "As far as your partners in the north we have no objections to you forming your own alliances as long as they aren't direct enemies of Kumosenkan. Please, take this proposal to your parliament and whoever else needs to sign off on it. The Empress is ready to execute the alliance as soon as you are. May the prosperity between our nations grow." She offered Moriarty a bright smile and a bow.

[Greywall]

Moriarty now felt ashamed for bringing up the entire thing. He would take the proposal to parliament and Queen McDonald.

A few days would pass and he returned to the embassy with a briefcase. Inside was the approval of parliament and her majesty the Queen for an alliance and trade partnership with Kumosenkan. As well as some black op requests from the naval department, a certain proposal that even Moriarty felt was insane.”

[Sophie]

Seno Usagi happily welcomed Moriarty back into her office, and this time around had tea prepared in advance of his arrival. The two of them sat down at her desk and they took a drink of the Hōjicha tea. "I'm more than thrilled to see you have returned so soon Moriarty-kan. I do hope you come bearing good news for me." She offered a genuine smile and took another sip of the warm tea.

[Greywall]

“The United Kingdom has agreed to extend a formal alliance and trade partnership with Kumosenkan. With this treaty our military forces will coordinate and assist one another, trade between our nations will be incentivized to tier 1 held only right now by lusatia and kaireil. Tier 1 trade meaning lowest possible tariffs and each nation allowing companies to interact with one another for the general benefit of the economy. Port entry is also approved UKUG ports will harbor and resupply Kumosenkan ships. And the final topic, this is top secret from our naval department. This is a proposed warship we had on file back in the war, of course the immense cost made its construction impossible by ourselves but we think both Kumosenkan and Gaelia can build this.”

He handed a black file forward and inside was a massive warship design.

imgur.com/kpxy9ue

“This has no name yet, but at a massive cost it could be unmatched in the open sea.”

[Sophie]

Seno's face lit up. The first directive she had been given by the empress directly was a resounding success. The Gaelian Kumosenkan alliance had been officialized. "Thank you again. The Trans-oceanic union will truly be a force to be reckoned with."

She pulled the black file and looked it over. The confusion on her face was as plain as day. "This is quite the ship. I can certainly pass this along to the right people. I'm certain Sugiyama Yoko-Sama would be more than interested in constructing a flagship as mighty as this to further signify the unity of our nations. As well our shipwrights likely could improve upon the design further. Thank you again. I look forward to the further solidification of the bond between our nations."

[Greywall]

Moriarty would thank Seno and take his leave, moments later a work crew arrived to install a direct line of communication to the Prime Minister and Parliament would ratify and pass the Trans-Oceanic Union.