The Brewing Storm

[Sophie]

Ninomae Kyou was informed of Franerre's insistence at an earlier meeting. Her schedule was genuinely filled for the next seven days and the only thing she could push out was in six. Franerre was informed that their meeting was scheduled for six days at exactly one pm. Before heading home for the night Kyou thought it best to seek advice from her closest friend. It was not exactly a short drive from the capitol building to the palace but it gave Kyou time to look over her notes. Franerre had not ever been a point of interest for Kumosenkan before they joined the COG so their files on them were brief. Kyou arrived at the palace and was quickly welcomed inside by the Empress herself. "Ninomae! What a surprise I didn't expect to see you again today. Is something wrong?"

"Not exactly." The emissary responded, her tone a bit conflicted. "I wanted to talk with you about Franerre. They've requested a meeting with us and that duty has fallen to me. With our current cover for closing the border, I had no reason to decline them. I wanted to go over strategy with you. If that's alright."

"I think that would be wise. Please come in, I was just about to have dinner with my daughter, why don't you join us?" The Empress offered with a genuine smile. The two walked further into the Palace and eventually reached the dining room where the Princess was already sitting in wait. Upon seeing the two, Riko stood out of her chair and bowed. "Mother! Emissary Kyou. It's so lovely to see you both." The girl was still rather young, only just turning 13 a few months ago. Her humanoid half was almost an exact duplicate of her mother at that age, but her body was reminiscent of her father being that of a Red Knee Tarantula. She was much shorter than Reitō but that is to be expected as Riko is only 13 years old.

Reitō walked over to her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. "C'mon kid. It's just Ninomae you don't have to act that way to her." She took her seat across the relatively small table from her daughter and offered the chair next to her to Ninomae. Ninomae hesitated for a moment, this was only the second time she had been in front of the princess in an unprofessional setting and the first time since certain other events. Though still she sat in the chair offered to her and asked with a catch in her throat. "Um.. what are we having tonight?"

"Katsu Curry!" Riko answered with clear excitement in her voice. "The same thing we have every Ramielday."

"That's your favorite, right Riko?" Ninomae asked offering a smile to the teenager.

"Yeah! Mom makes it herself for me every year on my birthday. Her curry is the best."

"That's so sweet of her." Ninomae laughed, imagining the Empress slaving over a hot stove to make her daughter a decent meal. She quickly composed herself and turned to Reitō. She spoke in a somewhat hushed tone. "Is it alright to discuss what we talked about while Riko is here?"

Reitō nodded. "Yes, Riko knows not to share anything she hears me talk about with anyone in a professional matter. I'm actually glad she can sit in on this. She should learn from the best how to handle delicate situations like this." She smiled at her daughter who, while confused, was very intrigued to hear what was going on.

"Right. Okay then. Like I was saying an envoy from Franerre is on their way to Fuyonouso to discuss the border closure. They are currently under the impression it's closed due to greatfern activity. I looked over the notes from both Takanashi-kan and Sentoko-kan. It seems that greatferns in that area have gotten better equipped. I mean brand new. The current plan as lined out by Takanashi-kas is to, if pressed, cite the new equipment as the reason for border closure. Claim that the greatferns may be stealing franch equipment, implying that they may be the ones supplying them with the new gear." Ninomae laid out everything bluntly to the Empress.

Reitō sat with that information for a minute while she pondered. "I'm not sure that's the best strategy. I think we should play dumb, but sympathetic. Act as if the border closure is simply out of our hands and there's nothing we can do. After all, they're not cut off from Elenria, everything simply has to go through us. That's the way I'd play this. Only start bringing up the equipment if they start to push you, or become hostile. Understood?"

"Can I ask something?" Riko spoke up as the maids brought in their dinner, placing the very well crafted plates in front of the three. The Empress took a bite of the curry and nodded. "Why did we close the border with Franerre? This is only the second time I've heard of them."

"To put it simply," Reitō responded, "they joined a faction we have good reason to be suspicious and wary of. They've never been so close to our borders. With the greatferns and Eleria we have enough to worry about in Elenria. Closing the border is a precaution, a strong precaution, but a precaution." She answered her daughter before turning to Ninomae. "Would you like to continue, or are you satisfied with my answer?"

"More than satisfied Reitō, thank you. Let's enjoy our dinner." She smiled and took a bite of the curry letting the flavor spread over her tongue.

---

Six Days Later

It was noon, and Emissary Kyou should have been enjoying her lunch break but instead, she had to prepare the meeting room for the Franch envoy herself. The Capitol servants were all already overworked. The room was small and nothing special. There was a table with enough seating for four. Both Kyou and her personal secretary would be the only Kumosenkan representatives present for the meeting. With the room prepared just before one pm, Kyou stepped out of the room to a prepared waiting area where the Franch representative was told to be waiting.

[callmedelta]

Ambassador Fraraignée sat patiently in the waiting room, the electric light glaring off of his large glasses. With his short hair neatly trimmed, his sharp look completed by the immaculate suit shirt and jacket, Fraraignée looked perfect. As always. On the floor at his legs sat a singular briefcase, neatly organized with every document Fraraignée deemed necessary to bring to the meeting. The documents were purely for his Kumosenkan counterpart's convenience, however, as Fraraignée had them all committed to his perfect memory. If there was one thing that was not perfect about this meeting, however, it was the timing. The ambassador hated waiting, and his normal hatred was made exponentially greater by the simple fact his Liege, and the entirety of Franerre along with him, were waiting as well. As he waiting, Fraraignée recalled the points High Embass Poirot deemed it acceptable for him to use. Kumosenkan's constant need for food, one that Fraraignée understood well as his stomach growled irritatingly, that could perhaps be alleviated by Franerre, provided funds could be produced to increase food output. Pearls, the oldest of Franerre's tools, always on the table. Fraraignée's recollections were interrupted when the Kumosenkan entered the waiting room. Fraraignée checked his watch, and it was indeed one p.m. exactly. The Franch Kumo, Franerre's ace in the hole, picked up his briefcase, saying "Ah, is it time to begin?"

---

"Are you sure about your choice in ambassador, Jacques?"  the King asked, watching the plane take off, bound for Kumosenkan.

"Of course, Dante," Poirot answered, "Fraraignée graduated top of his class from the University of Alcasse, and I even vetted the man myself. He is calculating, efficient, and driven."

The King sighed. "I hope this plan of yours works, Jacques. Three days isn’t enough time to properly screen anyone, much less...someone such as him in this situation."

"I hope so to, your Highness. I don't know what to do if this doesn't."

[Sophie]

Kyou was a bit taken aback at the scene of the Kumo diplomat from Franerre. She wasn't aware of any Kumo who lived on the continent of Touli outside of a handful in Elenria."You must be the Envoy from Franerre. I'm rather surprised they sent a Male  Kumo" She put an unintentional emphasis on the word male. She hadn't dealt with a male Kumo in a professional capacity other than giving them direct orders. "Regardless, welcome home for however long you're here. Please follow me and we'll get this meeting underway." She walked back into the room and sat on the opposite end of the table facing the entrance. She was flanked by her secretary who was holding a stack of papers and several different folders.

She looked the man up and down and let out a soft sigh. "My name is Ninomae Kyou. I am Emissary to the Empress of Kumosenkan as well as the Minister of State. You may call me Kyou-kama." She demanded the honorific rather bluntly, not wanting to mince words with the Franerre diplomat.

[callmedelta]

Fraraignée noticed Kyou's reaction to the fact he was Kumo, though he made little reaction. It was to be expected, after all, though he did not expect the emphasis on male. "This place is not my home, though Kumosenkan is beautiful country that I am happy to return to," the Ambassador said in rough, accented Kumosenkan as he followed behind Kyou. It was clear the man knew how to speak the language, though it seemed like he was out of practice. "I am honored by your presence, Kyou-Kama, and that the Empress thought this meeting so important for a Minister like you to join me. I am Takoni Fraraignée."

[Sophie]

"Yes, well. Fraraignée-kas let's get straight to business shall we?" Kyou sounded almost bored as she spoke. "As I understand it you're here to discuss reopening the border. It's my genuine regret to inform you that until the greatfern presence in south-eastern Elenria is contained the reopening of the border is extremely unlikely."

[callmedelta]

"I am aware of that fact," Fraraignée said, "But is there any way Franerre could know when the border will be opened again?" The Ambassador opened his briefcase, and in one smooth motion, retrieved a small folder of papers. "In the middle time, however, Franerre proposes these additional measures that would be passed if the border were to be open again." Inside, the folder detailed more stringent measures for the searching of Frnach shipments into Elenria.

[Sophie]

The Emissary dragged the papers in front of her. The measures seemed decently adequate if dealing with greatferns were actually the primary concern for closing the border. "I'm afraid I can't give a definitive answer. The greatferns are getting braver and expanding so we must take drastic measures to ensure they stay contained." Kyou's secretary handed her a few documents of her own and passed them to the Franch Kumo. "As you can see here the greatferns have gotten more aggressive, and have continued their campaign against civilian targets. Just last week they detonated an explosive device in a town square killing twenty civilians and maiming even more. I'm afraid the measures you've provided simply aren't enough to contain the threat. With our current projected estimates, based on previous campaigns against the greatferns, we should be able to begin limited reopening of the border in about three months. That is our current best-case scenario."

[callmedelta]

'Three...months?' Takoni thought, swallowing. Fraraignée scanned the documents his Kyou-Kama provided. They went into great detail on how the Greatfern presence had increased near the Franch border, and, unless the Franch Royal Gendarmerie Abroad had totally failed in monitoring the Greatferns, they were almost completely falsified. "If the Greatferns are so strong on the border, then it is only smart to allow Franerre to help. It is in Franerre's interests to have the border closed for as short a time as possible." Fraraignée paused, debating the pros and cons of revealing the own report of the Greatferns the Gendarmerie had given him, but decided against it for now. 

[Sophie]

"Your help is not necessary," Kyou answered waving him off. "The border situation is already a zoo with trying to coordinating over a hundred thousand Kumosenkan troops and Elenrian territorials. Turning it into a multinational affair is simply off the table. Including the border force, we've deployed enough forces to prevent them from expanding any further and hopefully can initiate an aggressive push to root them out of that area entirely. I understand that the border closure hurts Franerre significantly. It's a very unfortunate side-effect of necessary action." She tried to make her tone sound remorseful, but it was clearly absent of any genuine sorrow.

[callmedelta]

"Even if you do not need Franerre's..." Takoni struggled to find the right word in Kumosenkan, "...physical help, we are still able to provide intelligence about the Greatferns. Here," Fraraignée procured another folder from his briefcase, which was almost half empty by this point, sliding it over to Kyou-Kama. Inside was a very detailed report of a Greatfern cell that did not exist. "This is a gift, and should provide reason to accept Franch help, as long as the border is reopened."

[Sophie]

Kyou overlooked the documents. The reported cell didn't overlap with any of the cells they knew of. Still, if the information was good and Kyou chose to overlook it because of her own doubts, then she would surely be punished. "Thank you. We'll check out this information and if it's as good as it looks it should help us close in on the greatferns and allow us to open the border sooner. If you have any more intel on them feel free to send it our way, but this alone won't open the border. Not until the threat as it stands, is eliminated or significantly reduced."

[callmedelta]

Takoni paused. If there were any time to reveal the full extend of Franerre’s knowledge of Kumosenkan’s lies, it would likely be now. “In that case, there was one other document related to the Greatfern status in Elenria that I have the authorization to turn over.” Fraraignée took the second to last folder of paper from his briefcase, and turned it over to Kyou-Kama. Inside was a vast report of all Greatern activity on the Elenria-Franerre border dating back one year. Despite the timeframe of the document, it was rather slim for the size it should have been. There was very little Greatern activity on the border, and while there had been a slight uptick in activity (the bombing Kyou-Kama had mentioned was accurate), it was nowhere near enough to justify all of the troops Kumosenkan had expended. “A woman of your caliber should easily note the conflict between Kumosenkan’s claims of Greatern activity on the border and Franerre’s, Kyou-Kama. I, as well as my superiors in Pareau, find it exceedingly unlikely that our reports are so inaccurate. Rather, we believe Kumosenkan is lying about the Greatfern activity.”

[Sophie]

Kyou frowned at the Franch Kumo. "I wonder who would know better about the activity of the greatferns. Kumosenkan, whose territory the greatferns reside within, or Franerre, an underdeveloped country attempting to overstep its bounds and make demands of a superpower." She stood and placed her hands firmly on the hardwood table. "The greatferns have new equipment, and I mean brand new, so it couldn't be stolen from TAKPOE bases. Someone from the outside is funneling equipment directly into the hands of Elenrian terrorists. They are emboldened and expanding, so we have to secure our shit. It takes a lot of soldiers to secure a border so you'd best learn to live with a hundred thousand or so on your border, unless, of course, you'd rather feel the full force of the Kumosenkan military. The border is closed. It's going to stay closed for as long as we see fit. It is our border and we have every right to close it. Next time you want to try and accuse someone of lying I suggest you get your facts right because your intel is either ancient or just plain wrong. We set up this meeting as a courtesy to you. We have no obligation to you or Franerre as a whole. Stay out of our way, and keep to yourself. The border. Is. Closed. You should probably learn to know your place rather than stepping up to the plate in the big leagues. If you try, the game will be decided before the top of the third inning."

[callmedelta]

Fraraignée opened his mouth, a scathing response prepared for the Kumo woman across him, before something in Kyou-Kama’s statement stuck out to him. ‘Brand new equipment?’ the Ambassador thought, ‘then Franerre is not arming the Greatferns, someone else must be. Is it possible this was all a misunderstanding? Even if I am wrong, this may convince Kumosenkan to reopen the border’ “Are you sure the Greatferns are being armed with brand new equipment?” Fraraignée said, “In that case, Franerre is not arming the Greatferns. The vast majority of the equipment Franch arms manufactures make is lisenced Nevarran pre-Staol War era equipment. Even the most modern equipment made is only from around the mid-Staol War. If modern arms are being smuggled to the Greatferns, than it is not Franerre who is doing it. The equipment can not be coming through Franerre’s border, either, or else the Gendarmerie would have caught it. So there is no reason for the border to close.”

[Sophie]

Kyou shook her head. "No, brand new as in recently produced, not state of the art new designs. I have no reason to believe anything you say. The border will remain closed until all of the terrorists in Elenria are put back under control and those that are aiding and funding them are rooted out and dealt with. Until the time has come that we can confidently say the situation is fully under control, we will not consider reopening the borders." Kyou checked her watch. "I'm afraid that's all the time I have for this meeting. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Kumosenkan, I trust it won't last long." Kyou walked over to the door and opened it waiting for the Franch diplomat to exit.