Common Grounds across a sea (UKUG-Eleria)

[Greywall]

Taking place after the Lusatian call for international peace, Sir William Howell brought back news of his promising encounter with Eleria to Queen McDonald and was given the go ahead to begin diplomacy with the isolated empire on Touli. A telegram would be sent by unsecured means from Edinburgh to Eleria by whatever way possible.

Howell would arrive by a UKUG corvette the H.M.S. Beckett, the vessel entered Elerian waters and transmissioned their arrival and destination. "This is H.M.S. Beckett, we are conducting a diplomatic operation for the United Kingdom of Ulster-Gaelia and are requesting to dock." 

[DrMedic]

A reply was quickly issued over radio, a surprisingly welcoming voice crackling over the transceiver as one of the Elerian cruisers outside port turned its turrets away from the approaching vessel, elevating its guns to their maximum. "This is IEN Resolute receiving you Beckett, and welcome to Eleria. Feel free to make use of Northshore Pier, we've been expecting your arrival there." 

As the man was speaking, the coastal batteries along the shoreline followed the cruiser's example, the great guns slowly raising to their highest point. In sequence starting from the bow, each of the cruiser's turrets fired a single gun at a time, creating a rolling barrage, punctuated by one of the coastal guns. The salute was sixteen shots in total, twelve from the cruiser, four from the coast. The rhythmic thump of each shot was heard throughout the mouth of the sound and the surrounding land, the Imperial salute welcoming the Gaelic vessel.

[Greywall]

The captain and Howell exchanged looks at the Elerian welcoming, “damn, should have brought a destroyer” Howell laughed.

The H.M.S. Beckett would dock and let Howell depart with a small entourage, all of them wearing formal Gaelian business attire. He would follow Elerian instructions to meet with the Imperator or should he be occupied a representative of the Imperium.

[DrMedic]

A motorcade was waiting at the port, the Imperator's personal car quietly idling as it awaited its guests. The vehicle was both tailed and led by a pair of half-tracks on each side, all four of which seemingly fit for parade rather than combat. Ready to greet the minister and his companions was a group of soldiers, clad in white from head to toe with polished rifles resting over their shoulders. As the trio de-boarded their vessel, an officer in similar white dress approached them, giving a proper salute. 

"You are Minister Howell then, I assume? I'm Colonel Chester Flannigan, it's my pleasure to welcome you to Iomairt."

[Greywall]

Howell would shake the colonel’s hand, “thank you colonel Flannigan. This is quite a welcoming committee, I am looking forward to my time here.”

[DrMedic]

"The Imperator seems to hold you and your nation with a great deal of reverence sir, he wants to ensure you know that you are welcomed with open arms. Whenever you are ready, please feel free to step into the car and we'll be on our way to the palace. If you would like, I can have some of my guardsmen retrieve your luggage and bring it to the palace."

[Greywall]

Howell would enter the car with his entourage, as they drove through the city they were simply thrown off by the sheer might of the Elerian capital. The city was a massive settlement that was far more developed than they expected, “Eonia pumped a lot of resources, money and blood into this city. Now it belongs to the people it enslaved to build it with.” Howell was impressed, no Gaelian had stepped foot officially in Eleria since the first civil war against Eonia.

His assistants looked in awe at this jewel in the corner of the undeveloped corner of the world, “it’s bigger than Sepedia on the other side of the continent by a clear margin.” They would arrive at their destination and Howell would tell his group to conduct themselves professionally and follow his lead.

[DrMedic]

An admiral followed the Imperator from the front door of the palace, pleading with him. "But your Majesty, surely at this point we have more than enough-"

"Don't 'but your Majesty' me, I've told you several times already, so has Marina, we aren't going to invest in any battleships at the moment. We see little reason to throw so much time and money into constructing a warship that doesn't fit our doctrine in the first place. The resources we'd have to spend into designing the thing is already astronomical, let alone building it, and even then, it'd be such a valuable thing that we couldn't send it into combat against anyone without great risk of crippling a sizeable portion of the fleet." Laurence said as he descended the steps to the palace, growing frustrated by the admiral's pleading.

"If we want to press further eastward though, would it not be prudent to invest in the capability to shell out coastal fortifications? It would make it much easier for us to get a foothold and occupy the territory, let alone helping us expand our reach further upon the seas." The admiral reasoned.

"How about we focus on developing what we just conquered instead of conquering more territory that we'll have to develop? Please, if you want to talk to anyone about the navy, it should be the Imperatrix, not me, she knows much more about the navy and its management than I do. This is an air force uniform, Admiral, not a navy one, surely you must remember that, or perhaps you should go back and spend a little more time in the academy as a midshipman." He replied, dismissing the admiral. He heaved a sigh, taking a brief look at Marina for any input, with her only replying with a silent shrug. Brushing it off, the pair greeted Minister Howell with a salute as they were in uniform. "My sincerest apologies for such a display, the determination of our admiralty is something I hold in high regard, though it can be quite a pain to contend with at times. Welcome to Iomairt, Minister Howell, it is a pleasure to see you again."

[Greywall]

Howell grinned and shook the Imperator’s hand, “Imperator Laurence, it’s good to see you again.” He said with a bit of confidence as if he was seeing an old friend, he turned to the Imperiatrix and bowed in respect with a softer voice, “your grace, it is a pleasure to see you.” His assistants bowed respectively, “Now I think we can a bit more progress here rather that bit of fuss we had in dear old Lusatia. Love those Lusatians but they are a natural bred race of diplomatic hopefuls im afraid.”

[DrMedic]

"I know nothing about them, and to be frank, I don't know that I could care less to. They don't bother us, we don't bother them, it's best it stays that way. The United Kingdom though? That's a very different story. Please, follow me, we have much to discuss." The Imperator and Imperatrix led the way into Whitecliff Palace, leading the way through the unstaffed halls and into the throne room, where Laurence pulled out chairs for each of them to sit in, allowing his wife to take a seat first, whilst he sat last.

"Now then, I had expected you would want to meet, though I'm not exactly sure what about. Would you perhaps care to enlighten me?" He asked.

[Greywall]

“The UKUG has a very strong interest in expanding relations across the Shawbalt with key countries in mind. We have strong allies in the Aegis pact, a wealthy trade network in our colonial system, plans to expand diplomatic missions in caragel, and as far as I know things are improving by the day with Rombarda. We have a clear vision for a world where everyone can make their people wealthy, develop their countries and keep each other safe. Eleria is at the top of this list of nations, we are looking to invest in greater Eleria and develop your empire. We can flush pounds, industry and knowledge that can greatly advance your country. In exchange, of course there’s monetary exchange or resources. But those details can be hammered out with how much investment Eleria is interested in.”

[DrMedic]

"You mean to say you wish to help us develop our nation as we see fit?" The Imperatrix asked, eager to hear more about the offer.

[Greywall]

“We have the industrial capacity to develop your empire as needed, as long as Eleria pays we will develop territories.”

[DrMedic]

The Imperator raised an eyebrow, exchanging a gaze and a nod with Marina before pressing further. "And what is it you'd like us to pay with? We aren't an incredibly wealthy country, such as the United Kingdom seems to be at a glance, the most we could offer is raw materials, some luxury goods, and aid in a conflict. Even then, I'd imagine your air force may very well even surpass our own, and that is by far our strongest branch."

[Greywall]

“We could take a combination of Elerian capital and resources, raw resources are desirable in the continent and we could easily flip those to pay for the development.”

Howell paused for a moment, “it is currently an objective of the realm to continuously improve our Air Force. We would be interested in a military exchange program between our air divisions.”