Quote:The Empress arrived to the office and found the Chancellor of the Empire and Her Foreign Minister already there.  The two ministers stood as the Empress arrived and lowered their view as she entered and walked to the comfortable lounge chair next to the cold fireplace in her study.  The Empress had just finished a weekend of planting trees in the Green Mountains, and was still wearing her dirty coveralls and muddy shoes which she didn't take off before she tracked mud all over the hardwood floors.  She kicked the small rug out from in front of the chair so she didn't grind mud into it too, and then  sat down unceremoniously in the chair.  The Chancellor caught the motion just in his peripheral vision, but did not move until he was bade to do so.

"Sit sit, you two," the Empress said.  The Chancellor and the Foreign Minister instantly complied to the brusque, but not rude imperatives of the Empress.  "Now, tell us what the problem is."

"May it please Her Imperial Majesty," began the Foreign Minister, "I'm not quite sure how to put this, but, this Kundrati thing..."

"...Legion thing," the Empress corrected her.

"Er, yes, this Legion thing," the Foreign Minister, Lady Waltrip stammered,  "I am not sure what Her Imperial Majesty is asking of me..."

The Empress sat back in the chair.  "It's quite simply Madame Waltrip.  We need to you to travel to Lucid, talk to a man there, and he will give you the name and description of another person who is waiting for you in Athosia.  You give him the letter the IBSI agent in Lucid gave you, and then you return.  Very simple."

"And Her Imperial Majesty believes he's from the Legion?"  

"We are not certain who he represents," said the Empress.  "He wasn't exactly carrying any papers with him."

"And why does IBSI think he might represent the Legion?" asked Lady Waltrip.

"You'd have to ask them that," the Empress said.  "He could be Legion, he could be a hot dog vendor, we'll find out though soon enough."

"May I ask Her Imperial Majesty how we will know who this individual represents?"

"You are full of questions, Good Lady Waltrip," the Empress answered with a smile.  "Look...  who cares.  Your job is to hand him the letter, that's all.  It's probably a lot better that you don't know too much yourself."

"But surely Her Imperial Majesty is aware," said the Foreign Minister,  "that I'm going to have to answer for this.  People will start asking questions.  What am I supposed to say?  I went into Athosia, handed a letter to some random person, and now we're at war or something?  What is in this letter?" she finally thought to ask.

"Lady Waltrip.  Just hand him the letter.  We shall take care of the rest of it, if we need."

"But Her Imperial Majesty can't just conduct Foreign Relations like this.  There are procedures, precedents, there are our allies we have to think of..."

"Lady Waltrip," interject the Chancellor.  "Please remember your place here."  Lady Waltrip had been Foreign Minister for two Sovereigns, and knew well enough that this admonishment from the Chancellor was the polite reminder for her not to push too hard.  The Empress slung her muddy trouser leg and boot over the other, and rested her hands on the wide arm rests in her chair as she appeared to be reclining.

"Anya, We are asking you to trust us, but if you must know, it is our desire to end the embargo."  Lady Anya felt the breath leave her lungs at the announcement.  She looked directly at the Empress, and then over to the Chancellor.

"End...  Did she say end the embargo?"  The Chancellor grimly nodded.  "Against the Legion, right?"  Chancellor Koenig rolled his eyes.  

"Of course against the Legion," he said matter of factly, as if it was common knowledge.

"But the Deputies will revolt...  They won't sit for this," Lady Anya Waltrip.  "They'll have our heads."

The Empress said "Only if we fail," in a very confident tone.  "If it all falls apart, we just say it was the fascists that blew it up.  But if it succeeds, we can finally get out of Artania once and for all."

Lady Waltrip turned back to the Empress, who looked more like some punk kid than even a 23 year old woman, let alone the Empress.  "Has Her Imperial Majesty talked with other nations?"

The Empress shook her head.  "Nope.  But we have the sense that Kalistan is providing cover for these other nations to sit on the fence with regard to the Embargo.  And as a result, we are the target of convenience, while all these other free riders get cover without paying any of the reputation costs.  Meanwhile, if we can get some concessions out of the Legion, say, getting them to actually admit what we know they are doing, get them to give up their WMDs, and get them to at least try to start negotiations with Etxea, even if they don't work out, we will have accomplished more peacfully than they were able to accomplish with war.  Whatever other nations want, we will get what we want, and that is our first, last and only concern at the end of the day."

"Her Imperial Majesty certainly understands that our friends will be quite angry with us," said Lady Anya.

"If they are going to hate our Empire as they do now, they may as well have a legitimate reason to do so," said the Empress.  During her short reign she had come to grips with the fact that despite the expressed desires of countless Sovereigns to be friendly with other nations, the nations themselves have more or less adopted a 'hot and cold' posture toward Kalistan.  When it benefits them, they care what Kalistan thinks.  When they can get benefits elsewhere, they will go to even Kalistan's rivals without regard to Kalistan's opinion on the matter.  "So, nothing will be different, we suspect either way.  We may as well get something for Kalistan for once."

Lady Waltrip looked back at the Chancellor.  "And you're going along with this Michael?"

The Chancellor of the Empire responded, "It is Her Imperial Majesty's command.  Of course I am going along with it."  Lady Waltrip couldn't believe what she was hearing and sat dumbfounded.

"Lady Anya, do you have reservations about complying with Her Imperial Majesty's fiat," asked the Chancellor at length.  Lady Anya took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled.

"No, No reservations at all."  She paused.  "But you two better know what you are up to, because this is going to cost this Empire either way."

"Lady Anya, you are correct," said the Empress.  "But if we don't show we have any skin in the game, nobody will ever take us seriously on anything.  We'll be just like a half a dozen other countries who are going to complain about how we aren't embargoing them any longer, but haven't done any sanctions or anything like this themselves, except providing cheerleading support.  Hopefully it encourages concessions from the Legion.  Maybe this is the best chance we have to get rid of their WMDs.  Maybe this is the best chance the world has to get them to settle up with Etxea.  Who knows.  But its a gamble, and it is one we are taking."

"And why would Her Imperial Majesty demand the third condition, about coming clean of all the terrible things they are working on?  How does the world benefit from that?"

"Oh," said the Empress.  "That one is just for us, to prove to ourselves that we aren't crazy."  The three sat for a moment, as Lady Anya felt the meaning in that sentence rattle around in her mind.

"Will there be anything else, Your Imperial Majesty?" asked the Chancellor.

The Empress shook her head but didn't say another word.  She nodded to the Chancellor, and he and the Foreign Minister rose, lowered their head and backed away from the Empress.  She sat in her chair for a long time after they left.

Quote:[Legionaria Presidents Office, 0300 Hours]

Lazar was contesting with anger and contentment, for he had two issues infront of him

Kundrati had accomplished the impossible, reproachment with Kalistan. He had thought it impossible yet had by simply revealing the most simplistic of their internal workings and swearing a dismantling of their WMDS gained billions in free aid for their impoverished. The masses were enjoying qualities of life they'd never had before, and they all believed he himself had delivered to them on a silver platter, of course he had gone and destroyed much of it in the chemical and biological departments, but while the missile silos sat empty and derelict the rockets themselves were placed in deep storage ready to be re-activated the moment the time called for them. It would be a juvenile delusion to assume no other nations were not pursuing nuclear programmes of their own, the legion had spent 30 years to accomplish this herculean task set before them, and if the child empress of Kalistan was foolish enough to believe that, then that was his own gain, they would remain ready for action the moment nuclear war was upon them.

Having fulfilled two conditions, the final though having ultimately failed was not disregarded, Kundrati did indeed approach Etxea and offered a far more generous offer than the murderous traitors deserved: Amnesty for all Military former and current, and the choice to emigrate to any country permanently while the legion reestablished control. This olive branch was slapped aside, as the new hawkish scum of the island of dregs refused, and Lazar felt rage boil in him as he regarded their hubris. This pissant state of scum dared to refuse him? He slammed his fist on the table and flicked his cigarette into the trash. Very well, if they wished to defy peace, he'd reap upon them such suffering they'd wish they'd have accepted his generosity. Lazar phoned his command;

"This is comrade colonel Javic of Jildrath defence reporting"

"Colonel Javic, this is Lazar"

"O-Oh, Comrade! Excuse my tone, I had no idea....Did you have need of me sir?" He quaked

"The vile scum of Etxea have defied our will for far too long, we offered them peace as you well know and the satanic negotiator's on their end sought to blackmail us, its time we showed them true Kundrati resolve. Order your rocket batteries of all calibers within range to commence firing the everyday from now on. 0400 hours to 2200 hours, target anything with the living it matters not. We will make them kneel, Glory to Sladek and the Legion."

"G-Glory Sir! It will be done!"

Lazar hung up the phone gritting his teeth

Damned to Luthori and all their puppets, the Legion had all the trade they needed now to dedicate more funding to the army, the economy had already begun recovering to pre war levels, the time when Sladek had raised them to their glorious heights of power, and now it was time to begin the birthing pains of reunification, for the Legion, For the final victory.

Quote:CONFIDENTIAL
Office of the President
Triadic Republic of Narikaton, Darnussia, and Himmelshtein

Remarks prepared for delivery to the 10th Assembly of the Friends of the National Institute of International Affairs (Von Vilingen House)
President Henkjan Alexander Dolidze‑Naaf
2 April 5635 – Hotel Himmelblau, Doressa, Kozaria

---

Distinguished colleagues, honored delegates, friends of the Institute—Thank you.

To speak in this room—under the protections of the Von Vilingen House—is to enter a rare kind of space in our world: one where ambiguity is not a liability, but a method. One where things can be said with the quiet understanding that they matter not because they are loud, but because they are listened to.

Let me begin with a reflection. Many a generation ago, the Dual and—eventually—the Triadic Republic rose and remained to global prominence through a deliberate philosophy of external affairs. We were deliberate, strategic, often reticent—but never idle. In those years, we honed a foreign posture premised on what was often called precision neutrality: engaging not to entangle, but to balance; to preserve our core interests by remaining just far enough from the heart of any firestorm to avoid being consumed.

But time, as ever, complicates. And what begins as calibration can become contradiction. We find ourselves, today, implicated in many theaters—some distant, some far too close. And in too many of these, we have played both harp and hammer. We have promised peace while sustaining the means for its postponement.

Some bragged a term for this: diplomatischer Pluralismus. Another, less flattering one, might be strategic indifference.

I do not come here to condemn the past. I have been shaped by it—as many of you have. I have occupied desks where the only maps that mattered were trade routes and capital flows. I have read cables late at night with language designed to be read twice and understood once. I have—at times—defended decisions that I now revisit in private silence.

But this is not penance. This is responsibility.

Today, Terra is not merely unstable. It is increasingly conditioned by our responses to instability. We are not just reacting to conflict. We are defining the terms of what counts as peace.

And I fear those terms have grown thin.

What I propose is not a pivot, nor a doctrine. I offer instead a disposition—an outlook—one I call humane regional equilibrium.

This is not idealism. This is realism with a conscience.

We cannot extricate ourselves from the region. Nor should we. But we must ask: what do we want our presence to mean? Is it deterrence, or dependence? Is it partnership, or performance?

Humane regional equilibrium begins with the premise that influence without responsibility becomes indistinguishable from interference. It suggests that security, to be enduring, must be legitimate—and that legitimacy cannot be bought, only earned.

It urges that we be steady in principle, not just posture.

It recognizes that the lives impacted by our decisions are not abstractions. And that when a family flees its home, when a ceasefire frays, when supply lines stretch into siege lines—those events do not occur despite us. They occur with us.

We must not act out of guilt. But neither should we act without conscience.

The Triadic Republic has always prided itself on being a stabilizing force. But stability is not a blank check. It is not peace if it cannot hold under the weight of truth.

Let us therefore be difficult to provoke, but impossible to misread.

Let our ambition be not to dominate, but to outlast—through principled presence and moral clarity.

I thank you—for your patience, your candor, and your willingness to listen beneath the noise.

Let us proceed.

---

A certified true copy;

Affirmed by:

(sgd.)
Marisa Schletter
Chief Presidential Secretary

Dated 02 April 5635

Quote:The Chancellor put his papers together.  "Alright, that concludes the Science discussion.  Thank you Mr. Lincoln.  And next on our agenda is Lady Waltrip.  Foreign Policy..."

Lady Waltrip looked at her papers.  "We are looking at sending Her Imperial Majesty to Hutori.  She would like a personal visit with the King and Queen of Hutori.  We may have some business there, but the visit would primarily social and personal.  We are thinking of arranging it for early fall.  Uh...  Naval Exercises, Captain Buenaventure went over the military side.  We are still working toward starting the Frigate program and KalMilInCo is still in communication.  The Empire is calm and all is staying on course.  Likatonia remains inert, and shows no sign of returning to the Legion's orbit.  Athosia and Baltusia remain inert.  We are proposing cultural exchange with Xsampa.  And we are keeping an eye on developments in Indrala.  Dovani is quiet."

The ministers nodded along, but they were really waiting for updates from two countries specifically.  "First to Egelion.  They are beginning an investigation to the bombing.  Lady Nicole seems to have been injured, and she was treated in their medical facility.  Her son Prince Artemio was also wounded, but likewise has been treated for his injuries.  Both appear to be ok.  We have offered IBSI resources to assist with the investigation but more importantly, to help them set up their own state intelligence agency."

"What is your read on whether they will accept the offer, Lady Waltrip?" asked Director Simmons, from the IBSI.

"I'd say there is less than a 50-50 chance that they will accept the offer," answered Lady Waltrip.  "They didn't ask for it.  We always try to be helpful with our neighbors, but I suspect there is a bit of hesitation to ever accept things we offer.  We have the offer on the table, that's really all we can do."

"Is there any indication of Legion involvement?" asked Chancellor Koenig.

"We have no evidence of that," said Lady Waltrip.  "They lack internal cohesion to the degree that they have no operational capacity this far east.  They may be able to sneak a few dozen of their so-called super soldiers, which are really just tall guys who work out a little bit more than average, into Etxea, but I would be very surprised if they ever accomplished anything on this level of sophistication so far from home."

"And what of the sanctions regime?" asked the Chancellor.

"Well," Waltrip said with an exasperated sigh...  "They have met Her Imperial Majesty's conditions, technically."  

"Lady Waltrip, how do you mean?"

"The Legion is kind of a letter of the law kind of group, not a spirit of the law.  We know this:  its all they have ever been.  They aren't committed to peace, as Her Imperial Majesty is.  They remain committed to death.  That hasn't changed at all.  But they did technically, and extremely unenthusiastically, met the barest possible minimum requirements for the ending of the embargo.  So we have ended it."

"I see," said Koenig.  "Is there any indication that Her Imperial Majesty may have us reinstitute those sanctions?"

"There is zero chance of that, Sir Koenig." said Lady Waltrip.  "Ending Anantonese Involvement in that hellhole known as Artania is Her Imperial Majesty's priority.  She wants nothing to do with that rotten country anymore.  They are currently and stupidly bombing Etxea now, so Her Imperial Majesty has decided that she will likely never visit.  The Legion are exactly the monsters we always knew they were."

"How will this affect the humanitarian aid?" asked Minister Brennan, of Food and Ag.

"There is a final shipment headed to Davostag," said Waltrip.  "It will probably be the last one, given the dramtically worsened security situation in that part of the world.  The shipment is nearly in port, and that will bring our total humanitarian assistance to about 2.3 Billion, and then an additional 93 Million to Davostag for administration of the fund.  But Her Imperial Majesty can't justify helping a nation who decided to return to war.  It makes us look bad:  She's out and hopefully now that their people have gotten a taste of real food, maybe they will demand it from their government, which will reduce their resources for bombs and munitions."

"Anya, just so we are clear, the Empire did not send them any direct monetary aid, is this correct?" asked Director Simmons.

"That is correct Director," answered Waltrip.  "We did not send a single Imperial Ruble to the Legion.  It was all surplus medical supplies from ODEN and trade credits to Davostag to purchase food which are redeemable with recipts, of course."

"Was any of that aid fungible?" asked Koenig.

"Well, Chancellor, in so much that not having to pay any money for food for a while allows the Legion to put money into bombs, sure.  But our reports show that they weren't spending much on food or medicine for their people anyway:  They were feeding dead corpses back to their people without their people knowing it.  So its not like they had to buy that meat on the world market.  This had a negligible impact on their budget.  But perhaps now more people will demand these things from them, and it might lead to destabilization of the Legion when we cut it off.  Especially if they insist on prosecuting this inane and infantile war."

"I should say, I was opposed to offering aid to the Legion in the first place," said Director Simmons.  "They are currently claiming credit for everything."

"They claim credit for everything anyway, Director," said Waltrip.  "Have you ever known that guy to tell the truth?  He's so slimy I had to soak my hand in bleach after I shook his hand.  He's the scummiest piece of s--t I have ever had to sit in a room with."

"Then why did you agree to the deal, Anya?" asked Simmons.

"Because we told her to," said a familiar voice from near the door.  The Ministers all turned toward the very familiar voice, and without even thinking rose to their feet and stood staring silently and looking at the table.  Nobody saw her or heard her enter the room, or take a seat in the corner of the Cabinet room, and nobody was sure just how much of the Cabinet meeting she had heard.  "Please take your seats.  You people never get tired of questioning our fiat, but we assure you, our interests are met by that deal, whatever your opinion on it is.  Lady Waltrip did her duty, and that is all you need to know.  Do you seriously believe she would have done that if she had not been commanded to do so by ourselves?"

When the Empress had finished speaking, the Ministers returned to their seats.  "So Please Her Imperial Majesty, we had no idea she had arrived," said Director Simmons to the Chancellor.

"Are we not permitted to attend the meetings of our own government?" asked the Empress, rhetorically.

"Of course Her Imperial Majesty may..." the IBSI Director was cut off.

"We did not require a response, Director.  But thank you for your permission."  The Empress turned to her Foreign Minister.  "Lady Waltrip," she emphasized, to remind the IBSI Director that the Foreign Minister, as a member of the Peerage, was also entitled to being referred to formally, "you may continue, please."

"As I was about to say, Her Imperial Majesty prefers things as they are because it is in her interest to not have anything to do with the Legion or with most of Artania any more.  This was a buy out more than anything.  We aren't even really sure they have fully dismantled their WMDs:  We have no independent verification.  Additionally, we do have documents:  We were planning to hold on to those, but I am advising that we release them in total, so people can see what they are up to.  We don't believe its everything--Lazar is a liar, and nobody was under the impression otherwise.  And yeah, he made an offer.  The offer was apparently amnesty in exchange for Etxea rejoining the Legion lock stock and barrel.  It was a deal Etxea couldn't possibly accept, and I believe that was Lazar's goal all along.  He seems to believe he doesn't have to negotiate anything with Etxea.  But he never intended to actually seek peace that wasn't absolutely on his terms.  He always intended to meet the letter of the requirement, but not the spirit.  Her Imperial Majesty wanted out of the conflict though, so the 2.4 was a small price to pay."

The Ministers, keenly aware that they were now being observed, said nothing for a moment.  Chancellor Koenig finally broke the silence.  "Thank you for your report, Lady Waltrip.  And next up, Dr. Zearing with Tourism."