Cat and Mouse in the Snow

[Cozulul]

While hosting a charity event for the organization "Tomorrow's Youth", Biryndra Ommos was called in for a meeting at the Capital building in the city of Samarinda, the Capitol of Cozulul. The Council had received word from The Empire of Letonna that The Emperor Titus himself was planning a visit to discuss diplomatic issues with The Chancellor, Biryndra Ommos.

Council Member Chetinonrilit of the northern province named Valael, couldn't believe that The Empire of Letonna had responded. For awhile Biryndra and her council thought there was no hope in restoring the broken relations between FRoC and EoL. Today however, History has been deferred, everything could change.

The Council didn't want anything to go wrong, so they started planning a special ceremony complete with a parade in the Capitol city for the arrival of The Emperor of Letonna. This would all be paid by the tax payer's money of course.

"This is a special occasion" said Council Member Byrd, hailing from the group of islands to the east of the mainland, "Nothing can go wrong, everything needs to be perfect, just like our society."

Biryndra interrupted, "Our society isn't perfect. If it were, than we wouldn't be here!"

A loud uproar of laughter from the council erupted consuming the room.  

[McMasterdonia]

The Queen stood on the run way of The Royal Airport, and watched as the Emperor's plane touched down. Southern McMasterdonia's capital city, and the home of the official Royal Palace of the Queen of Southern Mcmasterdonia.  Libertad City was located on the beach of McMasterdonia, far away from the freezing cold of the Isengard mountains.

"Your majesty, welcome to Libertad, might I present to you, Queen Matilda, ruler of southern mcmasterdonia, princess-elector of the Mcmasterdonian Emperor, Queen of the eastern islands and Queen Protector of the Mcmasterdonian people"
"Welcome to Libetad Emperor Titis, please this way, I have a car waiting for us."

The Emperor and Queen Matilda stepped out onto the road to the waiting car, crowds all up the road and down the street cheerinig at the Queen and the Emperor

"Your majesty, do this many people usually turn out for such a gathering" asked Titis
"Indeed. The people are like a family, each one cares for me, as I care for them. Your visit gives them hope of friendship between our countries, an alliance of two great families if you will"
"I see, we best get to discussions then"
"The new world is ripe for the taking Emperor Titis, its time we agreed on how to take it"

[Letonna]

   The Emperor and Queen Matilda were walking through very finely guilded and adorned halls. Walking at a slow pace, with Letonese and Mcmasterdonian ministers and advisors close behind, the two began formal discussion.

   “Matilda, I sense this meeting is more about a border dispute. I could have had a ambassador or general tidy up this little border tiss. “

   “Your perception is keen Titus,” replied the queen. “this is true, I had more I wanted to discuss with you. There are a lot of similarities between our two nations. Disregarding customs and geographical locations, the peoples core interests boil down to a single desire: Conquest. In recent weeks I’ve been making arrangements behind the scene for our people’s common goal to become more realistic. I’ve made similar arrangements with the FRoC, TRoF, and your own nation to the west.”

   Emperor Titus remained silent. He expected some sort of alliance against some poor nation in the common interest of conquest and colonialism. However he never would have anticipated that behind the scenes of this cold war, Queen Matilda was really negotiating with other nations to make an international union of force.

   “How certain are you that these other nations would be willing to cooperate with us? I don’t exactly have the best relations with Cozulul. And Funkadelia has his own war going on at the moment.”

   “Ah yes but aren’t you to soon have a visit to Cozulul? And are you no also no feeding the TRoF resources and military support?”

   The Emperor remained silent again. He was suspicious of this union of nations. No doubt the promise of conquest, glory and riches would entice many of his more blood thirsty members of the military and populace.

   “What exactly will this union expect from me? Resources? Military? Political favors?”
   “This union will expect nothing short of everything you have to give, and in turn this union will grant you anything you could ever accept.”

   Emperor Titus glanced around the walls as he thought deeply, his gaze went over large fancy paintings of long dead generals as he debated to him self. The Queen was cleaver. She knew how to talk him into a corner, giving him all the basic details without any of the more distracting facts.

   “How long do I have to consider?”

   “I’ll give you a few weeks. But keep in mind if you fail to come to a conclusion or decide against joining us, you may have more than a border ‘tiss’ to worry about. As a sign of good will I’ll pull out most of my forces in Isenguard.”

   A wave of her hand and a half hearted glance to one of her advisors and a man following scurried away. The two kept walking with ministers and advisors in tow, discussing this possible union…

[Cozulul]

A few days later, Emperor Titus traveled to The capital city of Cozulul, Samarinda. The International airport was filled with many people waiting to see Titus. Biryndra Ommos and The Federal Council met Titus at airstrip where The Republic Limousine awaited them to get in. The Limousine would take them to the main street in Samarinda which led to the Capitol building. A cross section of the street had been closed off along with the entire main street. This is where the Parade would begin marking the ceremony of The Emperor's arrival.

As soon as The Chancellor, The Council, and The Emperor got out, they were motioned to a large horse drawn carriage pulled by 6 horses. In front of the large carriage was the Cozululian Navy Marching Band to play the anthems of both countries. Above, an air force fly by dispersing smoke of the colors of both countries flags.

"You really went all out on my arrival didn't you?" remarked Titus.

"We try to make all of our distinguished guests feel that they are special and that they are cared for." said Biryndra while smiling.

"Well, this is still a lot. Are these people really this excited to see us?" Titus retorted.

"Of course they are!" Biryndra said half heartily.

The parade wasn't terribly long, before they knew it, it was over.


The Emperor and his diplomats, The Chancellor, and The Council entered the marble building to discuss the future of both of their nations.

After awhile of discussing the two nations future, Titus brought up what Queen Matilda told him about the so called "union".

"I was afraid you were going to bring that up," commented Biryndra "My council and I have already decided that for the well being of our almost perfect nation, we must refrain from this barbarianism! It is out right disgusting her plans they are! We will not be apart of it!"

Appalled by her outburst, The Emperor tried to calm her down, but it was almost impossible, it was almost as if Biryndra had a hatred so deep and so evil towards Queen Matilda that he regretted even bringing it up.

"You know that if you go against her she will declare war!" Titus exclaimed. "I would be forced to attack a country I was hoping to be allies with."

"Than I guess that is how it must be.... I am done speaking with you Titus." Biryndra calmly said.

"Is there anyway I can convince you otherwise?" Titus asked.

"Leave NOW!" Biryndra couldn't hold back her anger. "GUARDS!"

And just like that Titus was sent back to EoL. 

Biryndra now knew that there was no one she could call an ally anymore. It was time to fight for what she, her council, her country believed in. She knew she would challenge Queen Matilda if the time came.

[McMasterdonia]

"Your majesty, we've received word that Emperor Titis was ejected forcibly by Chancellor Biryndra from The Federal Council of Cozulul."
"That woman is foolish, she will let her hatred of me determine the fate of her people. Have we heard from Emperor Titis yet?"
"No your majesty, we have not"
"Very well." with a wave of her hand, the servant was dismissed. The Queen sat down on her throne, in deep thought.

The Emperor she thought would not refuse her, how could he deny this opportunity to forge his place forever in the history books. The new Empire would be powerful. Like none ever before it, it would stand the test of time and forever unite the most powerful families and nations together.

The future was unclear, but with a sense of hope and the unwavering support and love of her people, Queen Matilda knew together they could transform the world.

"Inform Emperor Titis that he has exactly one week, not a minute longer to reach his decision. If he pledges his allegiance to this common aim, promises to give all he could ever give, all that he could ever want for his people he will receive. If he does not, I promise to bring down the fire and glory of my empire upon his head, and upon that of his people.

One week. The game of cat and mouse in the snow is over, its time to see who really has the heart of a lion. Who really has the courage to stand up and to fight for what is ours"

[Letonna]

      It was a rainy stormy day in Letonna City. Emperor had just signed treaty bringing him, his nation, and his military under the jurisdiction of a union of commonily aligned nations. He was unhappy he had been deadlined and forced to consider the consequences in such a short amount of time. He scowled as he looked out his large window over the city as wind and rain pounded the thick glass. There was certainly no way a rebellion or any armed resistance could ever grow in Letonna now, and his generals were more than pleasured to chase the last few scraps of rebel bands accrost the Mcmasterdonian border and back. Still, this kind of comitment made the Emperor uneasy. He had heard that the queen had been pulling more strings with other nations while he debated, secluded in his high offive above the city. Just how far she was willing to go, just how much blood she may be willing to spill, and just what her hidden motives were, if any, were anyones guess.
     

[Cozulul]

Biryndra and the council were in disbelief when they heard about Titus signing into the "union". Biryndra thought that he just wasted his power, just giving it away to Queen Matilda seemed out of the ordinary. Non the less, she knew that today was the beginning of dark times.

Sitting in the Council room Biryndra started to talk in the microphone facing the camera:

"As you all know, a storm is coming. A storm so powerful that our very existence is at stake. This is why I am ordering the construction of underground bunkers, numerous walls, underground storage units, and tactical defense towers. I know that in usual circumstances that this would take quite some time to create, that is why I am asking, for the survival of our people, that everyone joins in to help construct these buildings. These buildings will be created all over the capital city of each Province. This is the best way to ensure safety and survival. I am sending each council member home to oversee production of their provinces. As soon as the construction period is over each citizen is required to undergo intensive military training. I will be back on air in a few weeks to see how everyone is doing. We cannot let fear win. May God watch over all of us."

The cameras turned off, everyone was sent away. Every Council Member back to his/her province. Biryndra felt alone in such a huge world. Giving her people encouragement when she couldn't even encourage herself. She felt outright horrible. The only thing she could do was wait...

[McMasterdonia]

Queen Matilda sits in her throne room, relatively pleased with how her negotiations have gone. Only the weak Federal Republic of Cozulul had reacted negatively towards these negotiations. She had just been handed an intelligence report from the Federal Republic of Cozulul. Her tea cup chimed as she sat it down on the table, sighing to herself feeling satisfied, taking an additional sip of tea she picked up the report and began to read

*pffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttt* the Queen choked on her tea as she laughed at what she was reading

"what a crazy bitch" the Queen thought.

It was clear Biryndra was trying to force the international world into an armed race, a cold war, all because she did not agree with the future orientated policy Matilda and EOL had been taking.

The Queen giggled to herself, what a fool. It was clear Biryndra's re-election prospects were becoming more dire by the day.

[Letonna]

Emperor Titus sat in his throne room overlooking Letonna City. In the background it was stormy and rainy as usual. His military forces were returning home after  a week of successful raids on Diamond Coast. In the time that had passed since he had last spoken to Matilda, he had been thinking. If The Republic of Funkadelia can have a military conflict with such support from this growing union, why couldn't he? True this intervention had been to help persuade ROF to join them for future indevors, but that would those future indevors be? Conquest of some sort no doubt. Titus was certain he wanted to fair just as well, if not better from this arrangement than his other partner nations.

There were two large unaligned islands of equal distance to the south of Union, Letonna, and Southern Mcmasterdonia. They were home to some unorganized farmers and settlers, likley shipwrecked or exiled from some country at some time nobody really remembers. They would make easy targets, and bountiful colony. Signing away on a military order for his now returning navy, he would route them south to those islands for observance, blockade and preparation for invasion. although likely to be no military contest, he wanted to test the limits of his international relations now that he had more flexibility, and was no longer a force to be dismissed. He sat back in his luxury chair and watched the rain and hail bounce off his window, and day dreamt of conquest and glory...

[Cozulul]

Weeks later, and as promised, Biryndra had sent letters to each council member asking how the construction was going. Each replied with good news, everyone was cooperating in each Province. Soon, every citizen would undergo extensive military training in case of an attack by the newly formed "union".

Reading an intelligence report from Biryndra's most trusted spies, she received a tip that Emperor Titus was planning on setting up a blockade on the Islands off the southern coast of Union. She knew she couldn't just let the unorganized farmers just stand there defenseless. She have her military advisor, Omvesir Ingon, to send a few unmanned drones to do surveillance work on the coast of the islands, in the worst case scenario, Omvesir told her that he would send out bombers to take care of most of the ships. Omvesir, Biryndra's friend, knew how important defending basic human rights were to her, he knew he couldn't fail her. 

So now, the drones were sent out... 

[Eluvatar]

ERN Cruiser Ulmo
13km offshore from Letonna-Mcmasterdonia border
August 11th, 2012

Captain Ioagneis Fulpagneo of the Ulmo frowned at the communique in front of him. Was fleet command off their rocker? How could he possibly hope to evacuate all Coalition of Carth citizens from the entirety of McMasterdonia and Letonna?

Nevertheless, he'd best make the attempt. It was time to set a course for the largest port in mcmasterdonia.

[Myroria]

The Myrorian government saw fit to send one of its two carrier groups to aid in the evacuation effort, as well as aid the overworked and stressed mind of Captain Fulpagneo. Myrorian rear admiral Gothren Dreloth arrived in the early morning hours of August 12 with his flagship, the HIMS Ivorheart, 4 cruisers, 1 destroyer, and 1 frigate. The Ivorheart had a deck with plenty of helicopters on it to aid in the transport of Coalition civilians and many officers praying they'd have enough space.

[McMasterdonia]

The ERN Cruisser ULMO made port at the Coastal Capital Libertrad. The seat of the royal court of Southern Mcmasterdonia and the Empire. The sandy beaches stretched out for as far as the eye can see.

(click to show/hide)

The crystal clear waves knocked gently against the dock, as the first of the ships, ERN Cruiser Ulmo stopped at port.

Lord Igmund, Marquis of the Libertrad port made his way down to the Libertrad port. Igmund was a flamboyant, but loyal man, he bounced as he walked down the jetty humming loudly to himself. Captain Fulpagneo stepped off his boat, and bowed politely to the Marquis

"OH happy days!" shouts Lord Igmund as he throws his arms up in the air "Welcome to port Libertrad Captain, I have a letter from her majesty Queen Matilda the first of her name, ahem" he clears his throat and begins to talk loudly

"By order of her majesty Queen Matilda, the first of her name, Queen protector of the McMasterdonian people, you are hereby prohibited from entering onto our land or for making port at our dock.
We do not have any of your citizens, as we have not let any of them in.
If any are here, they are in violation of immigration law and will be required to pay the relevant fines before they return home. As it stands, immigration officials cannot find a single illegal immigrant in our borders.
Former citizens of the North no longer wish to return, as they have since taken up our citizenship and customs, and have married Mcmasterdonian natives. It would be undesirable for these people to be forced to return to their homeland, as it would tear their families apart.
You are therefore in violation of Mcmasterdonian sovereignty and have illegally entered our national waters. You have 24 hours to restock your supplies, limited to within the designated Docks area. After that you will move your ships to no closer than 50kms off our shore, and will return to The North. The affairs of Southerners do not concern our Northern Friends."

The Marquis clapped his hands together and shouted "Enjoy your time here Gentlemen", turned on his heels humming to himself, as he returned to the dock yard.

[Letonna]

     Late afternoon, and rainy as always in the Letonnian capital, Emperor Titus was looking over his reports. The one that caught his interest the most was a intelligence and military movement report of Myrorian ships and Eluvatarian military vessels were some distance off his shore, and some of which had already docked in Mcmasterdonian ports. Supposedly, they were demanding the peaceful release of 'coalition citizens'. coalition conspirators more like it. Nevertheless, his hands were tied. Refusing the release of these civilians would no doubts immanently spark international war. Titus grabbed his pen, and wrote "Allow coalition ships to dock. They have 48 hours, and are permitted no further than 120 kilometers inland. They are barred from interacting with or taking any Letonnian citizens. If they exceed the 48 hours, they will be declared military insurgents and will be treated as such. Have a few battalions of long range artillery and infantry standing by, we well as observers. " He signed the report and placed it in his out bin for his aide to collect. It would appear his ally the Mcmasterdonians already refused port entry and evacuations of anyone. He feared how the coalition will react to this snub...

[Letonna]

      The Imperial navy sat anchored off the coast of the two smaller islands off the coast of Union and Mcmasterdonia. Peoples in Letonna and various sea captains refer to the islands as the Asclapo islands, however this name is unknown to be official or not. The fleet had just received an expansionary force, also known as a "Forceful Exploration and Rehabilitation" detachment. Ariel renascence turned up no defensive military structures, and it was estimated that there should be little to no resistance from the native populace. When the final order came from military command to invade, a wave of clumsy lumbering landing craft were off towards shore. there was an eerie quiet as the craft sailed away. There hadn't been a naval invasion that there wasn't usually loud cannon fire, artillery explosions and aircraft whizzing over head in more time than anyone could remember.

       Later that day, sunset was falling over Letonna. Emperor Titus had just finished reading over the military progress reports for the Asclapo Islands. The Northern most Island has been taken, and preparations were being made for the southern one. There had been only 28 casualties when a landing craft hit a large underwater ledge and sunk, otherwise a complete success with no resistance. News of this spontaneous show of power and colonial ambition would likely bring some sort of political outcry for northern nations followed by some thrown together trade sanctions. The wealth that a new colony could bring to Letonna would eventully make up for the immediate costs and losses (or so he hoped). What worried him more was regional retaliation. He knew Union had made no claims, intentions, or concern to any of the Empires actions so far, and Mcmasterdonia was in league with him. Unpredictable nations would be Cozulul and Delfos, more importantly Cozulul. They had already made it clear they take hostilities to anyone who associated with Queen Matilda. But were they crazy enough to rush headlong into armed conflict without any official aid or ally? there was no way of immediantly telling...