Telum Treaty Summit (Madrid, Spain - 29-30 June 2022)
-
Madrid, Spain
28th June 2022The day had finally arrived, Madrid had armed and embellish itself for the occasion. The biggest police deployment in the history of the Kingdom of Spain had started a few days ago, but that day they had to prove the previous work had been useful. The hotels where the delagations were staying had also been meticulously registered and secured, so no terrorist attacks could take place. Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the capital city, IFEMA was ready to held the summit and would receive the visit of the Spanish President, Jesús Aguilar, to verify the place was safe and ready to held the most important summit in the Spanish European Union's history. The Royal Palace was also being prepared for the first dinner with the other leaders of the Treaty of Telum and their couples, if they had a couple of course.
That morning, Jesús Aguilar woke up sooner than expected, with his wife Rocío Giménez trying to retain him: "Don't leave yet, cariño... Five extra minutes, please, that's all I ask for...", she said in vain. The President kissed her and spoke: "I can't, darling, I have to get ready for the summit. I have got to visit IFEMA and I have several bilateral summits, with our ambassador to the Treaty and some of the attendants". Rocío nodded with resignation, gasped and kissed her husband back before Jesús exited their bed and dressed up. His wife warned him not to wake up the kids, and then kept sleeping while Aguilar left their bedroom and headed to the private residence's living room, where he ordered "everyday's breakfast", that was a Mollete de Antequera with Iberic Ham, grilled tomato, an orange juice, a small cup of coffee and a little Colacao. The service already had the breakfast ready, so they brought it in less than 2 minutes alongside the daily newspapers.
At the same time, but in the Palacio de la Zarzuela, the Royal Family was getting ready for welcoming their guests to this Telum Summit. While the King would be more involved in the summit matters, and would welcome alone in Torrejón de Ardoz Airbase the delegations from the invited countries: The Most Blessed State of Inquista, the Confederacy of North Diessen, the Empire of Inimicus and the Union of Duxburian Dominions. Then, at 19:40, the King and the Queen would welcome the delegations to the Royal Palace, where a group photograph would be taken before having dinner all together at 20:30 Spanish Time. The King was less nervous than the President was, and he also had a tight agenda as he was meeting some of the foriegn leaders in the Palacio Real. Meanwhile, Letizia was also getting ready to welcome the couples of the guests, that alongside the First Lady of Spain, Rocío Giménez, would have a paralel agenda.
At 12:30, the Acting Spanish President arrived at the IFEMA Convention Centre, where the summit would be held the following day and that Thursday. He was welcomed by the IFEMA Director and the Spanish Ambassador to the Treaty of Telum, with whom he had just met a few minutes ago in the Palacio de la Moncloa. Together, they supervised what the result of days of hard work to get everything on point looked like, before being met by the Acting Minister for Home Affairs, Ana Beltrán, who shew the Head of Government and his guests what the security service had prepared to keep them and their guests safe, which truly amazed the President. After the visit to IFEMA was over, he gave a Press Conference in IFEMA, where he explained what he had seen and confessed he was "slightly nervous, but excited".
-
Emperor Artabanos of Inimicus and Confederal President of North Diessen Nestor Karaman arrived in Spain on the same flight. It had been a quiet enough affair: Artabanos had ensured quite literally no one else was on the jet, and the pilots had been given a stash of banknotes so they would not interfere with the Emperor's and President's business during the flight. The other members of the Inimician delegation, comprising Imperial Consul Christopher Strathclyde and Vice-Chair of the Imperial Defence Council, and Commissioner for Drone Warfare, Boris Mancov. For once, Artabanos felt He would not have needed to carry His hip flask with Him. Whenever He travelled or spent time with Karaman, He was at ease.
"Where are we landing again?", Nestor asked, having fully trusted the Inimician delegation to be read up and ready to do all the actual negotiating.
"Some air base somewhere, I think", Artabanos answered. He felt like He had spent the last month in the presence of the Spanish royals and President, which, He had to admit, He was not all that negative about. They always carried great hams with them to give out as presents. This time, though, He would also get to meet the Duxburians, with whom He had not had formal talks since the accession of the Duxburian Union to the Telum Treaty in the first place. The DU was one of two giants close to the Inimician border, and one of the only nations that Artabanos truly feared and was never at ease about.
The only sign of life from the jet's cabin for the whole duration of the flight came as the seatbelt signs switched on, indicating a prompt landing in the Kingdom of Spain. When the summit would conclude, Artabanos had planned for Himself and Nestor to spend some time on the Adventuranza coast -- intentionally in that sector, of course -- which was, perhaps, what He was looking forward to most of all. Of course, if the Inquistan Archbishop got word of all of this, she would likely insist on joining them, and while that would normally be something Artabanos would be happy to allow, this time He would have to keep things quiet. Which was, after all, something He was excellent at.
The Imperial jet touched down on the tarmac, and from the small windows Artabanos saw Strathclyde and Mancov had already arrived before them, and were chatting to some of the Spanish delegates. Mancov, stylish as ever, had cloaked himself in an azure cape, with silver frills and cords all over his suit. Strathclyde, dull and grey as ever, was wearing his standard smoky beige suit. What a representation for the Empire, those two, thought Artabanos as the doors to His jet opened. "All straight?", He said to Nestor, adjusting His tie.
"A hundred times straighter than You are", Nestor answered and winked, before following Artabanos down the steps and into the welcoming embrace of the Spanish delegates.
-
Erik Drammen < - > Wesley GreeneWith a light bump and then a sustained roar, the plane touched down at Dominion Center and Wesley Greene was on Duxburian soil for the first time in what felt like ages. However, he would not be staying for long - he was only clearing through, before flying onward to Spain with Erik Drammen. Wes was still kind of confused why the Master-General of State invited him to the big Telum summit, he was just a councillor, a 31 year old councillor with few achievements to his name. Granted, any Duxburian councillor was far from a nobody on the world stage, but he would feel totally inadequate in a room full of heads of state...with a king and an emperor and all. However, the Master-General wouldn't have invited him and only him without a reason...he was just dying to know that reason...
Deep in thought, he almost walked right by the door to the restricted terminal for government officials...oops! Wes awkwardly backtracked and was waved right through with no need to show his federal ID. What a blessed timeline this was, where security actually knew who he was! They used to have absolutely no clue and he had to repeatedly explain how he was the Councillor of the Duxburian Union and also that he was actually over the age of 20 and could do x or y thing legally. Wild times.
Erik Drammen, formerly the Master-General of State, was waiting at the gate. He was sporting a new pin on his suit, made of solid gold, bearing the original seal of Acennan Aelir in the Early Aelirian language. Such a thing could only be worn by a Grandmaster-General of State. Erik had insisted on the promotion, knowing that the Steward didn't plan to attend the Telum summit and didn't want it to look like a snub. He was basically like, "If you expect me to run the Domain of State, go to the highest level summits myself, and run the entire federal government's day-to-day affairs, then I am doing grandmaster-level work and need grandmaster-level recognition." It wasn't even hard to convince Dante Maximillian to grant this, given his need to keep Erik happy. Thus, Erik Drammen became the first Grandmaster-General in the Council of Masters for hundreds of years, a sufficient level of prestige to avoid being his own version of disappointing at the Telum summit.
Wesley Greene popped up at the gate and walked up to Erik to greet him. They had never really met, like actually met in a 1 on 1 setting, so he needed to pre-empt Wes, who had noticed the pin and was clearly intimidated by what it represented. "No no no no no," Erik gestured with hands out-stretched, "Forget the formalities, I'm Erik, just call me 'Erik'. Likewise, I'm sure you'd prefer if I call you 'Wes' instead of 'Councillor Greene'."
Dropping rank formality got Wes visibly more relaxed, and they shook hands on it. "It's great to finally meet you properly," Wes said. "This is the first time I've even been home this year, Europolis has me so busy..."
"I can imagine," replied Erik. "Let's talk about how we can make you even busier!"
Wes was puzzled, not sure if it was a joke or intended to be serious, but Erik was gesturing toward the plane, so something to discuss in the air, he figured.
The plane was downright luxurious, it looked more like a flying hotel than transport. Not only that, but there were 2 others identical to it parked at gates nearby. As their plane taxied to the runway, he noticed the others getting in motion, as well.
"They're decoys," Erik explained. "This is how an Aelir or Steward usually travel, with tight security."
"Isn't it obvious that we're going to Spain?"
"Oh, they will accompany us to the beginning of Spanish airspace, then the rest of the journey is secure. The point this time is just to keep a terrorist guessing as to which plane contains government officials. Any other time, they'd be flying to alternate destinations."
"Makes sense." Wes sat down on a large couch and Erik sat down opposite him. Wes instinctively took out a bug detector device and started waving it around, then realized he looked silly with that in front of Erik. Erik was amused with the councillor's training and also impressed with the sophistication of the device itself. He had seen that exact device before, in the hands of Councillor Devoy.
"'Trust No One But Yourself' was the motto of Acwellan Devoy...I know him very well, I also disagree with his worldview. You need friends you can trust and confide in. That said, it's definitely smart to check for bugs in a confidential environment. There are indeed none, you can trust that nothing said on this plane leaves it."
"I'm sorry for being so awkward," Wes laughed sheepishly.
"No worries, that's not even awkward. Standard operating procedure among many of the types who meet on planes like this." Erik could see why Wes was so well-liked - he was genuine, raw with inexperience, but also smart and exceptionally competent. He could work with this, yes.
"So, how are things in the European Council? I know it's been a rough experience at times, this is your chance to tell me anything. And I really mean anything. If something is not working, I can change it."
"I mean I love the Council, but what makes it difficult is when Steward Maximillian tells me I can't do things like introduce legislation or vote on specific acts. People may think I'm lazy or not dedicated or whatever, when in reality, I am simply not allowed to do this or that. I can handle the overt insults, being misgendered as a woman because my name apparently isn't masculine enough for westerners, and the annoying favoritism used by the Speaker, but being gimped by my own side is the real hardship. There are days when everything is fine and days when I feel like I just can't do this, you know?"
"Every job is like that..bad bosses and annoying coworkers!" Erik chuckled. He was hearing what he expected to hear. Erik rarely asked a question he didn't already know or suspect the answer to.
"But really, in all seriousness, I do have a potential solution to that. I could change the structure of the executive branch so you don't need to report directly to the Steward."
"You can do that!?" Wes was intrigued.
"Indeed. What would happen is the Domain of the European Councillor would move to the Domain of State...the office would lose its standalone independence, although it doesn't exactly have any independence anyway, and reporting to me instead of Maximillian would mean you're free to do whatever you'd like in the Council. No restrictions, full stop. Instead of having our national interests dictated to you, you would have a hand in shaping what those interests actually are. You're very close to the people, I trust you to make the right decisions about how to represent them. Joining the Domain of State would also mean that you'd no longer just be our Councillor, limited to what you can do inside the chamber. You'd also have power outside the chamber, able to create, coordinate, and convey policy platforms and initiatives between the European Union, the Duxburian government, and the people. I call this role, 'Councillor-General'. It has never been tried before and I would be very excited to try it with you as a partner. However, whether you want to do that is entirely up to you."
Wes sat there taking all this in. "The Steward would allow this? Isn't that a huge shift in power that could threaten him?"
"Oh...it most...certainly...IS," Erik said. The way he said it and his facial expression got the message across to Wes.
Erik could also read Wes' body language. "Relax, Wes. I am not couping the Steward, nor am I 'using' you for political purposes to that end. I would not insult your intelligence that way. My number one priority is that the government functions properly - the Steward has been an impediment to that. So of course, I will pursue options that un-gunk the flow and restore both our internal and external affairs to normal working order.
I wanted you to come and experience the Telum summit regardless of whether you accept or decline Councillor-General. You're still the face of our country as Councillor - a face our friends and allies are familiar with. They don't know me, they don't know the Steward, our government has declined to the point where nobody knows or understands us and we do not know or understand them. This summit is the beginning of the healing process, a chance to re-engage and re-humanize with our friends. Duxburian civilization needs me and it needs you."
This was heavy stuff and Wes requested the rest of the flight to weigh his options. He wanted full privileges in the Council and to able to create policy, wanted that very badly. However, he was also worried about becoming a rook in a potentially dangerous power struggle between the #1 and #2 Duxburians. Even if Erik could assure that he wasn't a pawn...he was still a piece on the board, a rook or bishop perhaps. He must tread carefully, although he also recognized that Erik was providing a path to gain powerful allies and thus also, political protection. If Erik was taking advantage of him, it was in a mutually-beneficial way with a lot of potential upside.
Wes had plenty of time to think about it, Spain was a decent distance away.
When their plane landed at Torrejón de Ardoz, Erik Drammen was not the only one wearing a shiny new badge.
-
The Archbishop crossed her legs as she looked out of her limousine window, examining the sights and scenes of Madrid around her. Since joining the Treaty of Telum, the Archbishop had not yet had the chance of meeting all of the allied leaders face-to-face at once, but she had crossed paths with President Aguilar and Emperor Artabanos quite a few times in the past months, and had met President Nestor Karaman of North Diessen just recently.
Archbishop Kligenberg found the arrangement of the treaty quite comfortable and convenient in her worldview, particularly as the Archbishop and the Inquistan Orthodox Church maintained close relations with both Spain and Inimicus. A deepened and enhanced relationship with North Diessen was also certainly advantageous, given the recent opening of the Artabanos Canal, but the alliance with the Duxburian Union probably proved to be the most interesting and understated part of Inquista's recent foreign policy.
Inquista and the Duxburian Union have always historically maintained a distant but understanding relationship, with the two states respecting and acknowledging their own respective boundaries and spheres of influence. However, since joining Telum, Inquista and the Duxburian Union have signaled a new type of understanding and a new type of polarity between Saint Dominico and Dairghazburo, which were now more on the same page than ever before. The Archbishop was excited to get acquainted with some of their highest-level dignitaries.
Mikaela rummaged through her purse, pulled out of her phone, and read through the day's news headlines on Twitter. The Archbishop suddenly realised that she was the only head of state in attendance that was a woman, and that she was the only one who wasn't part of Telum's gentlemen club. This fact did not scare Mikaela at all. In fact, it made her feel special.
"Wednesdays are for the boys," Mikaela noted to herself, looking at the date, and excited with the upcoming meeting with 'her boys.' The Archbishop had no idea what the agenda of the summit entailed, but she was looking forward to whatever would present itself.
-
28th June 2022
Palacio Real, Madrid, SpainAfter some bilateral meetings in the Palacio de la Moncloa between Jesús Aguilar, and his allies of the Treaty of Telum to welcome them to Spain, the Spanish President departed to the Royal Palace, where the King and the Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, were waiting for him. The leaders of the Treaty of Telum arrived one by one, going upstairs when indicated by a Royal Guard that was performing ceremonial gestures with every leader. The stair was long enough to space them correctly between one and the other, so the Royal Family was able to greet their guests and take a picture with them. When everyone had arrived, Felipe and Letizia headed, alongside the Telum leaders, to the Salón de Alabarderos of the Royal Palace, where the first family photograph of the summit was taken.
The dinner's menu was huge, with a lot of dishes to serve. Firstly, there was a coctel formed by 13 different dishes, which were spherical olives, red tuna brioche with mustard, sea bass ceviche with leche de tigre, air bag of picaña and lobster with oil and pink grapefruit soup, shrimp omelettes, marinated sardines with romescu sauce, glazed veal tacos, smoked salmon gildas, garlic prawn croquettes, kikos with guacamole, cod fritters and gazpacho with basil oil. Then came the main course, that was a hake with menier sauce, tapioca and trout roe. To conclude the dinner, a very peculiar dessert was served: a light coconut foam with mint and passion fruit granita. After the dinner, the delegations went back to their hotels, except the President, that headed back home. During the event, some music was played, like the famous composition Suspiros de España.
29th June 2022
IFEMA Exposition Centre, Madrid, SpainA new day started in the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain, Madrid. At 9:20, Jesús Aguilar was the first leader of the Treaty of Telum to arrive at the IFEMA Exposition Centre, where the summit was going to be held. The media expected the President's arrival, who was greeted by a lot of cameras and journalists with questions. He talked to the press for 5 minutes and then entered the building, where he was welcomed with a cup of coffee and some 'sobaos' from Cantabria, that were also offered to the leaders and their delegations when they made their entrance to the enclosure, where the Guardia Civil and the Policía Nacional were securing every single inch. The security was extremely high, and even an AWACS plane from the Spanish Government had been deployed to ensure security at the summit.
When all the delegations arrived, a welcoming ceremony took place in the photocall. Jesús Aguilar, who was the host of the summit, welcomed the leaders one by one and took a photograph with all of them. When the ceremony was over, the leaders came back to the photocall and the official family photograph of the summit was taken. At the same time, but in Atocha Railway Station, Queen Letizia, President Aguilar's wife Rocío Giménez and the spouses and husbands of the delegation's members were waiting for a private high speed rail service that would take them to Segovia, a city in Castille and León where they would take a bus to the Granja de San Ildefonso and the Real Fábrica de Cristales, before going back following the same route to the Reina Sofía Museum, where lunch for them would be served.
Back to IFEMA, the leaders entered the Telum Treaty meeting room and took their seats. When everyone was seated, Jesús Aguilar made a public address to the journalists covering the event:
"Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.
First of all, I would like to thank you for making this Telum Treaty summit possible, and for the great effort involved in travelling to the Spanish capital, Madrid, at the start of what looks to be a promising summer.
This summit will take very important decisions, which will define the future relationship that we, the Allies, will develop and maintain in the coming years, strengthening our cooperation and taking into account not only the complex geographical situation in which we find ourselves, but also the incredibly challenging situation we live in and the threats we face. Together, we have not only demonstrated that the Telum Treaty bloc is more united than ever, and the past attempts to destabilise it, which have failed, have allowed us to learn of each other's loyalty.
I hope that Spain will live up to your expectations, that you will enjoy this summit and that together, we will provide our citizens and the world that is watching us today with a response of unity and cooperation.
Thank you all very much, and now I would like to invite our friends from the press to leave the room, the meeting will resume in a few minutes."
The press left the room within minutes, the doors were closed and Aguilar opened his microphone again: "well, enough formalities. Welcome to Madrid, my dear friends! I hope that everything we have done so far has been to your liking. Would you like to do any remarks before we get into the matters that will mark this first session of the Telum summit meetings? If not, just propose a topic to discuss, you are in command!"
-
"I did tell you the food would be good", said Artabanos as the Inimician Emperor and Diessenar President were making their way by motorcade to the exposition centre, "This is why I made sure Felipe and Letizia took several of those hams with them when they last came to Telum. Yes, before you ask, yes, we'll make sure to enjoy some more of this stuff during our beach retreat this week."
The two leaders entered the exposition centre and were soon blinded by the array of cameras Aguilar had apparently allowed inside. "I knew I should've worn my pink tie rather than this bland blue", thought Artabanos as He took His seat. The desk in front of Him was covered in reports, papers, graphs, and other documents that would illustrate the military and economic contributions of the Empire of Inimicus and, in particular, the Artabanos Canal, which He would no doubt forward as a crucial avenue for discussion today.
Meanwhile, Nestor appeared to have been assigned a seat on the complete opposite side of his Inimician counterpart. His desk, conversely, only included a white notepad and plain pen. Realising his underpreparation, the Diessenar president swiftly took out his phone and scrambled texts to his government aides -- such as they were -- to supply him with whatever they knew. Not long passed, however, before he was interrupted by Aguilar's welcome speech.
Following this, it was Artabanos -- of course -- who turned on His microphone first, and spoke: "Thank you, Jesús, for having us here. I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say we thoroughly appreciate your extensive welcome. Well, my taste buds certainly did, that's for sure. Anyway, Inimicus is greatly appreciative of the opportunity to strengthen our ties at this summit this week. We have, with your permission, a number of things we would like to put on the agenda, so to speak. First off, you'll naturally all remember the fantastic opening party Nestor and I hosted this month -- apologies to you for missing it all, my Duxburian friends -- for the new, Telum-controlled link between the Persian and Caspian. President Karaman and I have drafted up what we believe are fitting regulations for the passage of Telum military vessels through this canal, so we would be happy to discuss these with you.
"Second", said Artabanos, before wetting His throat with some of the suspiciously clear water that had been placed in front of Him, "You will all remember the utterly disgraceful bombing raid Simon Bridges orchestrated mere miles from Jesús, Nestor, and Me, under the guise of exercises. I propose we discuss how we actually respond to, and, where possible, prevent, such things from happening. How can we protect our skies? If Bridges can bomb John Peter Key's backyard, he can also bomb Mine. We know how erratic his government can be, and this is a threat we cannot take lightly."
"Third, eh, we should discuss, eh -- I had another point for you all, My friends, but it seems to have escaped Me. Must've been something to do with ships, I imagine. Perhaps some Straits? I'm sure our Duxburian and Spanish friends will take this up sometime today..."
-
Erik Drammen was giving Wes Greene final prep as they approached the exposition center. He also had to silently raise Wes' stipends after watching him gorge on all that Spanish cuisine last night. Wes played it off as being super interested in trying all the different dishes (all delicious!) but Erik knew what it was like to be poor and Wes gave off a lot of obvious cues that he was not getting enough food in Europolis.
Erik was super embarrassed that the voting representative of one of the most powerful countries in the world could be allowed to struggle with affording food. Wes had been councillor for years now, Erik wondered how long this had been allowed to go on...he was embarrassed with his lack of knowledge about the councillor in general - his past and his house were a complete mystery. His declared Duxburian domicile was an apartment on the first level of the city of Niko. The House of Greene brought up zero results. He hoped to learn more as the summit progressed.
The Duxburian motorcade pulled up and it was time to get out. In typical Duxburian tradition, both were dressed modestly, just regular dark suits. Dressing to impress was reserved for events hosted on home soil, events away were a time for visual modesty. "Oh and you'll have to surrender all your personal defense effects at security," Erik reminded Wes. "The Spanish aren't messing around for this summit, security is super tight."
At the metal detector, Wes removed his 'Wellan .45 caliber, several knives, including one hidden in a shoe, pepper spray, and his main writing pen, which also contained a tiny flip-out knife in the shaft. Wes had a sheepish look on his face the whole time (Hey, his job ranked as one of the most dangerous in the region!), but if the guards were seeing something unusual, they made no indication of it. Motionless, poker faced, cold professionals. Wes retained his handcuff pickers, lock pickers, and other metal non-weapons. Erik surrendered his .9mm Executive Defender pistol and carried no other weapons.
Once through security, they were greeted with the FLASH FLASH FLASH of a giant media circus. This was Wes' time to shine! He led the Duxburian delegation through the sea of reporters, all smiles and waves for the cameras. As Erik took his seat at the table and started to set up some kind of big screen thing across the desk, Wes needed to block them from bothering him and thought up ways to satiate the media's thirst for anything to roll. He commanded their attention by switching from the standard ÆϟIRIΛӢx̄ ΛϟŦx̄ language to his seldom-heard English. In the Council, he always spoke ÆϟIRIΛӢx̄ ΛϟŦx̄ with a translator, the wider world had never really heard him utter English.
Wes couldn't discuss policy talking points, but he could smile, wave, and talk about what he was wearing - the new badge for his new rank, his suit pants designed to have an integrated pistol holster, his "exotic" wristwatch that could display time in MΛΓ⸘ΛӢ ΛȻxӢŦx̄ format (||.||:|.0:V.||) or in MΛΓ⸘ΛӢ M•ΔxRӢx̄ format (¦¦:|0:★¦), but not in arabic numerals. The large group of reporters continued to press him on divulging anything about Telum, so he finally said he'd enlighten them about Duxburian summit goals, BUT...he switched out of English and into the ÆϟIRIΛӢx̄ ΛȻxӢŦx̄ language and talked about a random cooking recipe, which made Erik bust into laughter as the reporters tried to save face by nodding along as if they understood what he was saying. "What a troll! BWHAHAHAHA" If Spanish media didn't know that there were multiple Aelirian languages, they knew it now!
However, this innocent moment also got Erik thinking. ÆϟIRIΛӢx̄ ΛȻxӢŦx̄ wasn't something just anybody could speak - it was a very rare language with few remaining native speakers, mostly concentrated deep in the city of Niko. Above ground, it was mostly being kept alive by a dwindling number of history enthusiasts like himself. Erik listened carefully to Wes' accent and tones, deducing that he spoke like a native Hellsgater, residents of the 18th and lowest public level of Niko. That must be where he was originally from - a dreary, neglected, ancient community, barely scraping by life at the bottom of the world. It suddenly made sense why he might be poor and also why he didn't seem to have any family - he might really not have one.
That brought Erik's thoughts to another place - The Hellsgate. It was a big tourist attraction leading to natural hot springs. In ancient times, people really thought it was the entrance to hell on earth. Satanic graffiti all over the site dating back thousands of years was worth the price of admission alone. On the corner of the block in front of the Hellsgate though was Greene Orphanage. Erik remembered passing it many times. Was that why he couldn't find the House of Greene? Nah, that was crazy. The Councillor of the Duxburian Union couldn't be an abandoned kid named after an orphanage. Wes was too well-educated, healthy, and happy to have come from that. To rise from Niko city level 18 to Niko city level 1 was an unthinkable, insurmountable gap from untouchably nothing to the Duxburian elite. Who could even do that? Alan Davey of Azrekko was the only person he could think of who had bootstrapped himself from abject poverty to political power...oh...Alan Davey was Wes' best friend, too...fascinating...
Anyway, he wouldn't probe Wes about his heritage here, lol. Maybe not ever. Imagine not having a real surname in a society like this, Wes would dig a 22nd level of Niko just to bury those feelings. Yeah, no...back to installing the screens. Erik wished he could remember what Wes' face was like when they met and he said, "I'm sure you'd prefer if I call you 'Wes' instead of 'Councillor Greene'"...oh man...no,...screens.
Wes stalling for time was successful - Erik finished setting up the desk screens for both him and Wes without the media being able to get to him. They were hologram interfaces for the ʎ•ϟ•ӢØŦØ note-taking program, very expensive, cutting-edge technology they wanted to show off. Their notes would float holographically above their desks at eye level, they could re-arrange the position of content by touch in the visible area, and swap content between desks with hand gestures. Erik would be sitting in the main circle, Wes a row back, so it was important that they could communicate in real-time without being able to look at or talk to each other.
The tech did have some limitations, though - notes still had to be typed with a conventional keypad and the holographic displays weren't very powerful. Only they needed to actually see anything and they'd be sitting right at the displays, so it would work in this space. They had tech support if something were to happen, but no other staff to backstop their policy info. Wes handled all of that himself. He even got a glass of water for Erik (NOT to be put near the holographic display!), a task that would normally be handled by not-name brand dignitaries. Erik was growing more confident in his theory watching Wes' work ethic.
The press left the room, signaling that the summit was going to start now. They turned on their screens, bringing all the pre-existing notes to life. Wes fed ideas to Erik, feeling kind of odd swiping the stuff across, but attention was focused on Aguilar's welcome speech. Artabanos opened the summit, logical given that the treaty's namesake was in Inimicus. Both Erik and Wes really wanted to meet him, but there hadn't been opportunity to really mingle yet, perhaps later. After Artabanos concluded, who would speak next?
Erik hit his mic switch.
"ʎxӢΔx̄, ฿ϟx̄ЖЖØ ⸘Ø 7x$x̄v$ V•Γ ⸘Ø⅄Γ •$¶iŦ⅄ϟiŦxϟ. This phrase is a customary thanks to the host for their hospitality. The Union of Duxburian Dominions is grateful for this chance to strengthen its relations with our friends. We haven't really gotten to know each other or been very close in the past, to the point where my country may be somewhat of a mystery to you, which we do deeply regret. I'm Erik Drammen of the House of Rike, Grandmaster-General of State, here in place of Steward Maximillian, who sadly could not attend. I am definitely interested in hearing about the Artabanos Canal's regulations and would like to congratulate President Karaman and Emperor Artabanos on this wonderful achievement! A new canal is a pretty significant feat of engineering and definitely something to celebrate.
I would support better syncing our canal and strait policies overall. The Union of Duxburian Dominions operates the Suez Canal, which currently admits and charges vessels purely on the basis of their size and load. We would be open to matching rates and military access policies or at least admitting Telum member-flagged vessels at a discount. We also have half of the narrow Varian strait, which we currently do not tax or regulate much at all. We recognize California's rights to the other half of the strait, making taxes ineffective there, but we're still open to ideas.
It's unlikely that too much can be done about the bombing and similar provocations, other than patrolling Telum airspace more vigorously, deploying more anti-air capability, and ensuring that potential aggressors remain adequately deterred. To that end at least, the Steward would likely be in favor of increasing Inimicus' nuclear deterrent should it apply for an arsenal limit increase. Inimicus can clearly show cause for needing more nuclear warheads and remains likely to clear the stability, peacefulness, etc. requirements needed to carry a majority in the ENAA. I do have to underline that ENAA decisions are on the hard merits of the application and cannot show favoritism to any nation and this discussion does not represent any kind of commitment or guarantee of an affirmative vote.
On non-military matters, my colleague Wes Greene here, whom you all know as the Duxburian Councillor and now Councillor-General, wishes to pursue more technological collaboration within Telum. Traditionally, most such programs are limited to university-level exchange and cooperation, but we want to pool general resources and workforce brainpower to research and develop brand new tech. Duxburians are working on things like temperature inversion solar panels that can gather energy even in total darkness, solar power-assisted electric vehicles, milimark wave KVL delivered by KLE (your countries would call this "5G ultra wideband WiFi delivered by power line" I think), nuclear fusion energy, carbon capture plants, better rechargeable batteries, and yadda yadda yadda. Alone, it would take us years to decades to advance these projects to the point of real-world mass deployment, but together, we could discover breakthroughs more frequently and build out faster.
I'd also like to invite Telum to participate in our RippleX network, which allows institutions and individuals to transfer any amount of any type of money basically instantly at virtually no cost, without regard to traditional barriers and technological shortcomings. The Union of Duxburian Dominions no longer has balkanized physical clearinghouses, slow ACH, or expensive wire transfers - we have near-instant and near-free RippleX, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Access can be limited and transfer limits can be set if your country needs that level of financial control. You don't have to accept RippleX of course, but your citizens might be engaging in similar blockchain activity under the table already so you might as well steer them towards something in a safer and better regulated environment?"
Erik finished his opening speech and yielded the floor.
-
The Archbishop was carefully maintaining her summer figure, and was deep in preparation for her upcoming wedding, which would entail fitting into a tight wedding dress, and thus opted to only eat a light salad for lunch. Once the summit forum began, Mikaela felt somewhat out of her depth, wishing that she had Chief Secretary Firoux or someone similar to guide her through these discussions. Once Grandmaster-General Drammen was done speaking, the Archbishop smiled and nodded in approval, before then pressing a button and speaking into her microphone.
"I also just want to thank you, Jesús, for organising this summit and for having all of us here. Artie, Nestor, it's great to see you guys again - you were both such great hosts, and I had sooooo much fun at the canal opening party! Erik, Wes, I am so glad to finally meet you in person!
After seeing the Artabanos Canal myself, I deffo think it's pretty cool, and it like, totally makes sense that it's named after you, Artie. Great stuff. We have tons of canals in Saint Dominico, but they're much smaller and much older in comparison! Some can barely fit a gondola, nevermind a whole mega yacht. North Diessen and Inimicus deserve so much kudos!"
"Fellas, boys," Mikaela began, doing her best to fit in like a young man at his fraternity's weekly poker get-together, albeit she was certainly the prettiest frat bro at the fraternity, whose freshly painted and perfectly manicured nails glistened in the light as she placed her hands on the meeting table. "Erik over here is like, super-duper right. We deffo need to keep the rules and regulations of all Telum-aligned straits and canals in sync. Passing through one should just be like passing through another. All my BFFLs and I have our moon cycles in sync, and it just makes things soooo much easier and convenient. It means we can all rely and count on each other whenever we need something, because we're all going through it together."
The Archbishop paused, her mind now drifting to chocolate as her dieting stomach rumbled. Mikaela quickly returned back to reality. "Since we're all good allies, we can also count on each other to use these straits and canals pretty responsibly, so hopefully our ships should get less hassle, right? Inquista will stand by and support any straits claims that you guys make, we just ask that these claims don't interfere or mess with any Inquistan business.
You guys, when I heard about that bombing in the Duchies, I was like, 'wow!' I couldn't believe it. T-B-H, there isn't much we can do about it, like my Duxburian friend pointed out, except just be prepared. At least we know what they're up to. We should all prepare for the event that we could be bombed ourselves. This is a big concern for us in Saint Dominico, especially, obvi. As an ally, I would advise that my nuclear friends apply for larger licenses from the ENAA when they're allowed. However, as an ENAA judge, I will say that the ENAA will look at all the applications fairly. I am a pretty fair judge myself, and trust me, if you've seen the Inquistan X Factor, then you'd know that. The people that I selected to be part of my team always did pretty well on the X Factor, just saying.
O-M-G, I am like, super down for further technological collaboration and for joining Ripple X. We have to always be one step ahead of the game, whether its militarily or economically. My former record label manager always told me, 'those who innovate, dominate.' What's true about the music charts is also true about our militaries and economies, and that's that they need to be on top. Ripple X is deffo something that I know many people in Inquista will appreciate.
I just wanna also say, I really appreciate our commitment to getting things actually done and resolved. Inquistans don't like mess, and we especially don't like drawn-out mess, which creates so much uncertainty. Artie, and Nestor too, deserve credit for bringing stability back to North Diessen so quickly. I know the strait crisis between Spain and Yosai was a mess, and I very much appreciate that Jesús managed to take the wheel and get that resolved. It's also been somewhat underreported how the mission in Dromund Kass also came to a successful end, so big cheers to the Duxburian Union. You did it, you did it you guys! It's important that we finish whatever has been started, which is something that I wish my former boyfriends knew a thing or two about, let me tell ya."
-
Aguilar listened carefully to what the foreign leaders had to say before it was his turn to speak. He wanted to be the last to speak, not because he liked to be on that difficult position, but rather because of his host condition on the summit. During the previous days to the summit, his cabinet and himself had prepared a list of things that he had to bring up during the important event; so he felt confident and prepared to speak when his turn came. Dastis handed the list to Jesús, who thanked him back, and the President proceeded:
"If you do not mind, my dear friends, I will firstly address the concerns of the Spanish Government and then comment on the points that you have introduced to our summit agenda.", he said, making a little pause to then begin listing the points he was going to bring up: "as you might now, these past months have been complicated for the Kingdom of Spain, and not due to political instability, but rather global challenges and geopolitical disputes that directly involved Spain and that took place in our backdoor. Spain is not paranoid about its national security as someone we know is, however there are quite a few topics we would like to bring up to this summit. However, we need to acknowledge that these nations that we first made "happy" will want more and more, trying to de-stabilise us and challenging us where and when possible.
First, the most popular topic: the Straits. After we conceeded the Strait of Adventuranza, now requalified as a sea, to Yosai and therefore ECON, we have lost control of a very important waterway, that helped us to reinforce our policies and keep some sort of strategical advantage to them. However, as Mikaela said, I had to take the wheel and make a decision that reduced our geopolitical influence, but that brought stability to a very tensioned region, yet it seems that the relationship with my southern neighbour will be complicated for the years to come... We fear that this sets a bad precendent, and that if a nation were to claim a half of the Strait of Gibraltar, nations would come on their aid to fight us. That is why the Spanish Government would like to discuss what we should do if this was the case, as we would be willing to go to war for the Strait: our military experts have told me a military operation there would have great results and that securing the Strait control, with our current power, would be easy. Fighting is about will, and the Gibraltar division is being trained for some of those purposes. But maybe we could have a Telum approach to that?
Second, I would like to bring up military equipment cooperation, as we could reduce our dependency on foreign powers that are not members of the Treaty of Telum. The Duxburian Union, for example, has one of the most advanced armies of the region, if not the most, and the same happens with Inquista, and Spain would look forward to buy some more equipment from them that we actually do. Inimicus is also a nice producer of drones, and I know the Emperor will be glad to tell us about his drone fleets, are they called like that? By the way, it is a pretty cool and innovative idea. What are your stances on this topic? Do you think that we could add up this topic to the renewed Treaty of Telum that we might get from this Treaty? Also, Spain would be looking forward to increasing its nuclear warheards, and we plan to fill in an application to the ENAA as soon as we deem it convenient, but it will not be later than December this year.
Third, I believe we should go a step forward on joint bases: at the moment, only Spain and Inimicus share bases together, and I would like to make an offer to all of you today: as you know, one of the most valuable bases of Spain is in Rota, next to the Strait of Gibraltar. My Government and myself would like to offer Rota to become the first ever joint Telum military base, allowing us to strenghthen our presence in one of the most relevant areas when it comes to geopolitics, enhance cooperation between armies and coordinate joint answers or trainings if they took place. Rota is a very huge base, so it would also be a nice training facility; and the Inimican soldiers deployed there speak great things about the hospitality of the people of the town in the Andalusian region of Cádiz.
Now that I have brought up these points, and that I believe I am not forgetting any... -said Aguilar, drinking water at the same time he checked the list Dastis gave him- I would like to comment on the points you have introduced to our summit agenda. I will begin with the remarks done by Emperor Artabanos, from whom I expect to hear the conditions President Karaman and himself have drown up for the passage of Telum military vessels through their canal, which by the way is a magnific achievement and proves the capabilities of Inimicus and North Diessen. The second point you have commented on, that shameful "diplomatic bombing" is nothing more than the diplomatic skills of a former spy, now an enraged kid who seems to get more angry when things do not go on his way. Apart from the solutions Erik has suggested, we could draw up some sort of plan where our national air forces could have a common plan to respond to these threats?
Moving on to Erik's words, the Kingdom of Spain is willing to help with the projects you have mentioned and also interested in taking part on them. We also have some military projects on the works, although they are not propelled by solar energy. My Government should increase funding on science, research and innovation; and once that is done, we will be ready not only to take part on those projects but also develop some others that could be as attractive as the ones you have put over the table. In addition, you can also count us into RippleX: the sooner we start getting used to blockchain and these sort of innovations, the better. Also, Inquista, with whom we share a currency, is joining too, so Archbishop, maybe it is time to start thinking about a digital EMU?" Aguilar asked, laughing slightly.
"Oh, and about the Strait of Varia... Maybe we could contact California and tell them about our idea, and invite them to join the Treaty? We may get a "no" as an answer, but at least we would have tried". Jesús Aguilar then finished his intervention, as he had already commented on the Archbishop words that concerned him and the alliance.
-
Artabanos sipped His water during the speeches by the other leaders, wishing for something stronger. Talk of Straits, fending off Reitzmic and Duchian silliness, and other people using His canal, always made Him thirsty. Nevertheless, a prolonged silence seemed to indicate it was time for Him to respond, and a traditionally curt nod from the Inquistan Archbishop certainly did. He spoke: "Yes, of course, My friends, the Canal was constructed for all of us. The press have left the room, haven't they? Just making sure I don't need to go on with that nonsense about it benefitting the Diessenar Peoples. With all due apologies to Nesto-- I mean, President Karaman, of course. From now on, My friends, military and civilian vessels flying under the colours of any of our nations shall enjoy free and prioritised passage through the Canal, and shall further enjoy maintenance and resupplying opportunities in the many military shipyards that have been build along the canalside.
"If that isn't benefitting the Diessenar Peoples, I wouldn't know what will." The Emperor looked at Nestor Karaman, who confirmed with a short smirk his willingness to throw his entire nation, his entire existence, at Artabanos's feet. "On to the Straits. I understand, Jesús, your intentions to seize as many shorelines as you can, and Inimicus will fully support you in so doing. But, well, last time this happened, and I got involved, I was forced to sack My Defence minister and appoint him to some other post to keep him in My circle. You will understand that the Imperial Navy is reluctant to assist you in the near future. However, all is not lost, and indeed we have My sacked Defence Minister to thank for that.
"You may have noticed...", Artabanos continued, taking another sip of His lukewarm and far too weak water, "...the Empire's recent investments in, and development of, new generations of war kit. I'm talking drones, electronic warfare capacities on small ships, things that could jam Simon Bridges's erotica stash from 1000 miles away, that sort of stuff. We have also -- the press is really gone, right? Good -- we have also managed to develop a tactical nuke we can drop from our most advanced type of drone. So we can assist you, Jesús, without putting any boots on the ground - or on the seashore. Isn't that fancy?
"And this brings Me to the excellent point the Archbishop raised. Indeed, it may be desirable for the Empire to lodge a request with the ENAA for an expansion of its nuclear weapons license. You can never have too many nukes, am I right, Erik? I thought so. But, and this is where the problem lies, I have never won the Inquistan X-factor. Inimicus has never won EuroVoice - which is why it hasn't participated, on My insistence - so applying for an expanded licence, and having it refused, would be worse than not applying for one at all. This is the conundrum we face.
"Finally, I thank Erik for the offers of taking part in various Duxburian-led schemes. It's good to finally see the DU on our side - I still remember when the High Steward wouldn't let My yacht through the Persian a few years back. And then what would have happened at the Canal opening party? In all seriousness, the Empire is all for development of new tech, as I said just a moment ago. We've been actively working on modernising every inch of our armed forces - and I certainly have the receipts to prove it; My poor Chancellor is having to balance so many wonky books these days. We're ready to commit; at any time."
The Kingdom of Spain
