A Chance Meeting (Ashinara/Franerre)

[callmedelta]

Jean-Paul and Luca both stared at the new entry. Luca was shocked the officer in question happened to be a woman. As a rule, the Foreign Affairs Administration had recruited from a diverse a pool of Franerri men and women as possible, to find the best fit for whatever culture they happened to be sent to. As a result, people in the Administration happened to paradoxically be some of the most liberal and most conservative, of which Luca fell into the former. Even so, a woman as Chief of the Army? The only other nation he could think of with a woman in the same position was Kumosenkan, and the fewer comparisons drawn to them, the better. Most of the admittedly few professional military men Luca had seen had fallen into two camps. The former were men like Jean-Paul, unrefined and rough around the edges, but generally fine people when you got to know them. The latter were officers, usually men with a sort of distinguished air and natural charisma for leading. Special Officer Petliura, while not exactly the peak of traditional femininity, didn't appear to be either. Luca didn't know enough about the military to test her knowledge of the subject, and he felt like Jean-Paul may not necessarily be the most...diplomatic in this situation, either. Not like any of them had the time to be testing each other's knowledge now, so the point was moot anyway. 

Luca shot a glance at Jean-Paul. He appeared to be going through the same process Luca was, though given the man's more conservative nature he was likely even more concerned, or displeased, even. At the very least, Jean-Paul knew to bite his tongue and let the diplomat do the diplomacy. Luca ran a hand over the coin in his pocket then stood, offering the hand to the woman. "Luca Valentino, Franerri Foreign Affairs Administration. It's a pleasure to meet you." Luca gave the woman a soft smile.

"Jean-Paul, Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Bromsole Battalion." Jean-Paul's reply was curt, his tone neutral. Perhaps the best Luca would get from the man. Once handshakes had finished, both Franerri men remained standing.

"As I had started to say, what I'm about to say here is between us, the heads of your military-" Luca nodded towards Special Officer Petliura "-and your Hetman. In my opinion, the best case scenario on Ashinara would involve the potential for a defensive alliance between our nations, in case of an invasion, primarily by Kumosenkan with other nations being a secondary concern. If this isn't the best case scenario, I don't know what it." Luca took a deep breath, making sure his voice remained calm, before continuing. "I wasn't sent with specific terms for such a treaty. For that, we would need to know the rough capabilities of the Ashinaran army and navy, and those are things not given out lightly. Franerre would be willing to offer much the same, should you be willing to entertain the idea. There is even some disagreement in Franerre over such a treaty-" Luca avoided the urge to shoot Jean-Paul a glance "-but I believe amenable terms can be reached, especially seeing how today has gone so far. I understand that is a large commitment, but I believe it could be done, if not right this moment."

[aimway921]

"Such an agreement would certainly be beneficial to both of us. There is more to it, however. Now, just as you are counting on our confidentiality to keep this between ourselves, heads of military and the nation's sovereign, I expect the same of you about what we shall tell you now."

Tagomych offered everyone to sit back down, before continuing.

"Ashinara is not happy about colonialism done by the great powers against Touli. An observation of Elenria gives us a clear case for why it is only destructive for the local populations. Worst of all, current conditions only mean that such colonialism may only expand.

With that in mind, Hetman has been thinking for a way of stopping and reversing the colonialism. An idea of an all-encompassing international alliance between all Toulian nations who would cooperate to kick the colonials out of the continent has been floated around."

Sonya Petliura finally spoke up for the first time, with a gentle yet commanding voice.
"We cannot, however, go public with such intentions just yet. Firstly, as much as UKUG is also a colonizer, history has shown that they are not as harsh on their colonies as the others - that is, however, not what matters here. At this moment they are our benefactor, and we cannot risk offending them to the point of cutting off relations. Second - we are not ready for a war. We have Kumosenkan's colony between us, and Galra's colony on your eastern flank. Our only chance for now is to quietly consolidate power. Which is why I propose any military aspect of a treaty your are currently formulating stays out of public knowledge."

[callmedelta]

“It is scarily similar how both you and Director de Angelis think, Minister Tagomych,” Luca said. “The head of the Foreign Affairs Administration,” he quickly added for clarification.” Luca took a deep breath and rubbed at the coin before continuing, though he felt relaxed enough to let the excitement into his voice. “Franerre has been selling arms to the Yaiji Empire, Uglax Peoples, and Xapesh Federation in hopes to prevent any of them from falling to colonialism. We’ve stayed away from a full alliance due to each nation’s relative lack of development and the inability of each prospective member to reinforce each other should the need arise. If we could find a fix for that problem, there is still the hurdle of them actually agreeing, only to see them drawn into a war that would get themselves and Franerre conquered.”

“As for your ties to Ulster-Gaelia, I understand the decision. Franerre made the same choice when it came to Lusatia, and the people nearly hung the Foreign Minoster at the time for it. It is but a necessary evil of diplomacy. Your overall assessment is correct; whatever route we take, it must be quiet. As for exactly what that route is, it will require some further discussion.”

[aimway921]

"In that case," Tagomych said, "I believe we may have come to an agreement. A trade treaty in which we outline the lowered taxes and tariffs, as well as how exactly we shall interact with each other's industries. In it there shall be a secret clause about developing closer military ties, which shall only be known to us, our nations leaders and the military. As for the further details on what we'll be trading, I believe it would be wise to assemble a conference consisting both of your and our experts in the industrial and agricultural sectors. Same can be said for the military cooperation discussions - although I believe Pan Jean-Paul and Pani Petliura can begin on that right now, if you so wish."

[callmedelta]

"Those terms are completely agreeable," Luca replied. "I'll need to send someone back by boat to inform Pareau of the outstanding news. I would love to deliver the information in person, but I feel I would better serve my county here by learning more about Ashinara to help deliver them a more complete view of Ashinara when whoever they send back arrives. Perhaps we could even assemble a preliminary treaty, though I can't give you the best figures as to Franerre's capability. You could also send someone back to Pareau in my stead. Normally there would be some paperwork done, but I'm sure it can be waived given the accentuating circumstances."

Luca turned to Jean-Paul. This was a military matter, meaning the ball was entirely in his court. Jean-Paul looked towards Pani Petliura. Was he sizing her up again? "Like I said, I'm only a Lieutenant Colonel," Jean-Paul said after a few seconds, "I was expecting to give the technical specification of Franerri small arms for export, and perhaps give a vague outline of the Franerri military as a whole should a situation like this occur. If you want to talk big picture military cooperation, I'm sure you could have a discussion with either General Zelgius or General Ranulf. One or both of them would be at whatever conference you have, I'm sure of it. If you want an overview, I can give you that now." Luca wasn't sure how much of that was true, but it would be good enough for the time being.

[aimway921]

"I would prefer to have the treaty made in full at the conference," Tagomych replied. "As much as my job be bureaucratic in it's nature, I'm not a tremendous fan of that, and would prefer not to re-do already done paperwork because some variables have changed."

Petliura nodded at Jean-Paul's words. "Any information you give me right now would serve to speed up the conference. And we shall still consider the possibility of Franch weapon imports, so go ahead and give me the rundown. If we are to be the beginnings of a Touli-wide international coalition, as Pan Tagomych here proposes, I'm a strong proponent of standardized military equipment for the ease of logistics."

[callmedelta]

Luca simply nodded at Minister Tagomych, letting the military man and woman sort out what they needed to. "As far as weapon imports go, it would be easiest to explain with the weapons themselves, which are currently in storage at the hotel room we are staying in. As far as strategy goes..." Jean-Paul paused as he lifted and opened his briefcase, withdrawing a map. He looked over to the Minister's desk and, finding it clear enough, rolled out the map, which still fell about half off the desk. It was a large map of Franerre. It didn't have any sort of special markings that would indicate military formations, but it was very well detailed. Jean-Paul began to trace a finger over the Elenria-Franerre border. "Franerre has two great lines of defense. The first is the Bartels line, on our border with Elenria. The River Taln makes most crossings extremely costly-" Jean-Paul's finger shifted north, outlining the territory around the city of Elenrerre "-but that luxury doesn't extend to Elenerre. So, this is where the majority of the fortifications are concentrated. The second-" Jean-Paul placed his finger on the Galra-Franerre border "-is the Galetea Line. We expect much less trouble from Galra than Kumosenkan, so the Galetea Line is not as strong as the Bartels Line." Jean-Paul's finger turned inward from the border, towards Franerre's major coastal cities. "Desterque. Alcasse. Pareau. Elenerre. All of them are major ports, and Kumosenkan will have naval supremacy. That is a fact. I don't know what matters, if any, the navy has to delay them, but I know that in case of an invasion any major port large enough to maintain the volume of material flowing in to support a naval landing will be sabotaged by the army. That's about all I can tell you on the grand picture, I'm afraid."

[aimway921]

Sonya looked over the map, thinking over what Jean-Paul has said.

"I would not be too worried about a land invasion from Kumosenkan too much. A case study of their Hawaiian invasion of 1910, points out that while they have a supreme navy, their ground forces are lackluster at best. Overconfident, they were never able to truly capture the islands from the Gaelics, and the battle ended only when the defenders ran out of supplies and were forced to run Kumo's naval blockade in order to retreat. As such, what we truly have to worry about is their navy cutting off our trade routes and thus starving us out.

I'm afraid I do not possess such intelligence on the native Inselni troops of the Elenrian colonial forces that are bound to work with Kumo, however. They are a wildcard."

She then traced her finger over to the Galra border. "Rumors have it that Galra Army is the best fighting force in the world. Wether or not that is true, I do not know. What I do know, is that they are a colonial Empire just like Kumo. As such, the threat that they might wish to expand their colonial holdings is equal to Kumo. Underestimating them could be deadly."

Sonya's gaze then fell towards the southern part of the map. "You share a border with 3 more nations - Eleria, Shiysil and Union of South Touli. What can you tell me about them?"

[callmedelta]

"I get your point about Galra," Jean-Paul said, "But in our opinion, the threat posed by Kumosenkan is much greater than that of Galra. Elenria and Franerre have had many wars in the past. Alcasse, for instance, used to be Elenrian territory a thousand years ago. We also used to hold the port of Yixia here." Jean-Paul pointed to the port closest to Franerre on the island of Elenria Faun. "We were forced to cede the port back to the Elenrians after Kumosenkan invaded. There's no reason Kumosenkan couldn't simply take up their puppet's old territorial claims as a casus belli. A thousand years may seem like a long time to you or I, but that's only a few generations for the Inselni, and their grudges run deep."

"All of that being said, you still may have a point." Luca was somewhat surprised Jean-Paul conceded the point, though he could tell he grit his teeth doing so. "If Kumosenkan's ground forces are as comparatively weak as you say they are, greater efforts should be devoted to defending the ports and the Galran front. As for Elenria's own territorial forces, I can't say I know much about that. I do know, however, that there are a few active resistance groups in Elenria. If the Elenrian army is distracted on our front, then it would be an opportune time to strike against them. As far as I know Franerre isn't actively supporting any resistance groups, but that would change the instant the war began."

"If you want a real wildcard, that would be Eleria. An expansionist human supremacist empire on a technological level compared to us, as far as we are aware." Jean-Paul pointed to the large Elerian island whose name currently escaped Luca. "They started here and conquered the tribes on Touli's mainland until they got to their current size. They could try to carve off a piece of Elenria, could try to step into Franerre to 'protect any humans' in the region, but I think they'll stay neutral. If they didn't, Kumosenkan might have the firepower to dislodge them, might not being so far inland."

Jean-Paul swept his hand over the last two nations, Shiysil and the Union of South Touli. "I don't see these two nations being a factor at all. Their militaries are weak enough that if they tried to carve off a piece of Franerre, Kumosenkan would be able to dislodge them. If Franerre were to win the war and they did take some clay, I think we could push them out, but it'd be a bloody affair."

[aimway921]

"Human supremacists?" Sonya raised her eyebrow at the description of Eleria. "Pan Tagomych, please make a note of that. I believe tensions with them would be inevitable given that we ourselves are not humans."

"If that is the case", Tagomych said, as the two Southern nations were described, "then it would seem that they might be in the same situation as we are. I believe it would be vise to open diplomatic relations with them."

[callmedelta]

"That would be a perfectly reasonable course of action," Luca cut in, "If you didn't know the situations of the two nations. the UST's government has been a bit erratic. They're content with allowing Franerri arms shipments through to some of the inner tribes, but that's all the headway we've been able to make. Shiysil, on the other hand, it a bitter nation. They used to have an empire, before the colonizers came and carved it up. Last we were aware, they've allied themselves to Galra. I'm afraid I can't tell you more, but judging by the fact that neither of our organizations seem too worried about them, I wouldn't be either." Luca looked at Jean-Paul. That last statement was more of an educated guess on his part, but as the pair's eyes met Luca could see he'd been correct. At least to Jean-Paul's knowledge.

[aimway921]

"Perhaps we can make a more... Direct attempt at contact," Tagomych replied, in regards to the UST. "Summer is just around the corner, the ice sheets of the Luraric Sea are melting. We would be able to sail with a diplomatic mission directly to their capital. As for Shiyshil, if they truly align themselves with a potential foe, we should keep an eye on them." At this point Petliura cut it - "At the very least, always monitor the activity on the border. As a matter of fact, we should do that will all your borders. That brings me to the next point - we're about to receive a shipment of several aircraft from UKUG. We can use them to periodically... 'Take a peek' at what they're doing just behind the visible horizon of what you'd normally be able to see just from the ground."

[callmedelta]

Luca looked at Jean-Paul. He had no idea what any sort of 'modern aircraft' could do. The FFAA had purchased some aircraft, but they were for reserved for higher ranking members of the Administration and emergencies. "What exactly can these Gaelian aircraft do?" Jean-Paul asked, the hesitation in his voice clear. He must have been just as clueless as Luca. He hated being in a situation like this, with so little knowledge. And while the Ashinarans had been cooperative so far, that was born out of a mutually beneficial relationship. Perhaps it was just him, but Luca wondered what those aircraft, especially if they were modern ones, would cost Franerre. "And depending on what they can do, are we sure we want to reveal a potential trump card so early?"

[aimway921]

"Quite simple, actually," Sonya replied. "Just fly along the border at say, 1,000 to 1,500 feet altitude - and observe. A two-seater aircraft would be best suited for such a role - so that the pilot can be focused on flying the plane, whole the passenger observes what's going on on the ground and take down notes. Maybe even try to take photographs, thought I'm not sure how quality of photographs taken at such distance and speed would turn out. But I'm sure that's a trouble the scientists can figure out - make better film or better cameras... I'll be honest, I'm no expert in that field, so as I said, best to leave it to the scientists."
Giving a small pause, she continued. "Of course, the range of we could see would be limited with such an approach - I'm guessing maybe 40-50 miles - but that's still better than the roughly 10 miles one could see from a 50 foot tall observation tower."

[callmedelta]

"From what I'm hearing, that's quite an improvement," Jean-Paul said, "I still think it's better if we wait for a discussion with the army heads back in Franerre, though. I just don't know enough about planes in general to say if the help they'd give would be worth the effort. You still didn't answer my question about a trump card, either. Imagine, if Kumosenkan or Galra is imagining having the skies all to themselves only to see a squad of Gaelian fighters gunning them down. If there is any part of their plan that hinges on air superiority we've foiled it."