There was a marked change in the atmosphere in Valtheim, eighteen months earlier the mood at Serenity's coronation had been bittersweet due to the circumstances that had surrounded her ascension to the throne but today the backdrop was joyous, the crowds had been gathering since the previous day along 'Lighthouse Avenue' the main road from the gates of the Marble Palace, past the Lighthouse roundabout and down into the centre of Valtheim itself, it was famously a mile between the Palace and the home of the Senate in Liberty Hall but the distance between the Palace and the Temple of the Brave was longer than that. This was planned to be every bit the celebration that was expected, all the pomp and pageantry, all the uniforms, medals and everything else. For the international guests arriving on the day the responsibility of meeting them at the airport fell to a familiar face - Roslyn Williams, the former Royal Liaison Officer which in simple terms meant she'd done a lot of the admin work for the Achkaerinese Royal Family and had managed a few visits during her time in the role, these days she was one of the country's younger Senators but with her replacement still learning the ropes she'd been happy to put the metaphorical old hat on one last time. Her job was fairly simple in this instance, meet the guests, greet them and get them into the waiting cars headed to the Temple.

First up was Mktvartvelo, Roslyn smiled as she saw Ketevan and her husband make their way towards her "Brzdmtsveli." Roslyn said, hoping she'd gotten the pronunciation right, it had always been a title she'd had a problem or two getting right, "Mr Chiaureli welcome to Achkaerin, we're glad you could make it. If you'll go with this steward we'll get you transported to the Temple." as if on cue a smartly dressed man walked up from behind Roslyn and proceeded to escort the pair a waiting car.

Next was the Rokkenjiman's, in essence the family of the bride though given the parentage of one of the Anselmo's they likely stood on both sides of the aisle. "Your Majesty." Roslyn said addressing Asuna first "Your Highness's, honoured guests." she smiled "It's great to see you today. If you'll go with this steward you'll be taken to the Temple." Roslyn had just enough time after the Rokkenjiman's had been escorted away to send a message confirming Kikyo's presence before Akasha was walking up to her and not alone "Your Majesty." Roslyn said "Welcome to Achkaerin, if you'll please go with this steward they'll see you transported to the Temple."

When she spotted the Morelander's Roslyn took a deep breath, East Moreland was a valued ally no was the most valued ally Achkaerin had, and the reasons for that were obvious enough, when push came to shove the two nations weren't in the habit of leaving each other in the lurch. "Your Majesties." she said addressing both David and Stasya "Welcome to Achkaerin, if you'll please follow this steward they'll take you a car that will take you to the Temple." she handed the Morelander Royals over to one of the stewards and turned her attention back for whomever was next.

---

The Temple of the Brave was one of the most visited buildings in Achkaerin, it's name derived from the name given to Achkaerinese military personnel - 'the Brave', the temple was a functioning place of worship that was non denominational in nature, its grounds contained the memorial gardens where those lost in conflicts were remembered, while inside the Temple itself sat the current book of remembrance, the book in which the most recent Achkaerinese losses were recorded - the previous books were kept in the Temple's archive which was a building separate from the Temple itself. Waiting for the cars to arrive was Peter Azurewind, the former Emperor and his wife Renee, the nature of the day's choreography included various processions of the Royals from the Palace to the temple and theirs had been the first carriage to leave entirely to be at the Temple to meet the international guests. Peter stood wearing a suit while Renee wore an elegant purple dress. They watched as the cars carrying those from the airport as well as an additional one that had brought the Fusanese guests pulled up and one by one the various groups made their way up and into the entrance way of the Temple.

"Welcome." Peter said "Welcome to the Temple of the Brave, I know it seems a little odd having a wedding here of all places but there's a very good reason for it. Empress Serenity is a Namist and Princess Euphemia is a Rosari so we don't want to cause trouble for either of them by requiring one to take part in a ceremony not affiliated with their faith. The Temple of the Brave..." by this point they were inside the large central worship space, the stone arches stood impressive around them, the seating laid out either side of a large, central aisle with smaller aisles to the left and the right with the altar at the far end under a newly fitted stained glass window. "... Is a place of worship for all faiths, today however is a first for the place in terms of what is going to happen which is first will be Serenity and Euphemia's wedding ceremony which will then lead into Euphemia's coronation as Elemental Queen after which we'll all head back to the Marble Palace for the reception. We have some time until the wedding ceremony begins so if you wish to look around, socialise and so on please do feel free to do so, we have got people on standby to assist you. I hope you enjoy todays festivities."

Once Peter had finished speaking the various groups of guests were left somewhat to their own devices for a few moments until one by one they were approached by one of the locals. In the case of Ketevan and her husband this was Kenneth Bauer, the head of Achkaerin's Football Association and Viscount of Djana-Ville, he led Ketevan and Vazha down one of the aisles to the seats that had been set aside for them. "These are your seats Brzdmtsveli he indicated the two that were reserved for them "Not a sporting occasion but just as joyous and it definitely beats being stuck in meetings about refereeing consistency." he smiled "How was your journey getting here?"

The Rokkenjiman group was perhaps the trickiest to handle over the course of the day, getting them from the airport to the Temple was easy enough but now came the carefully planned element of matters to separate Kikyo from the rest, to make it look like a flight share that had seen her arrive with the Anselmo's and nothing more than that. Responsibility for the Rokkenjiman's had gone, to no one's great surprise, to Nettie Taylor, the one time Rokkenjiman Premier had found a new lease of life in Valtheim "Ms Hase." Nettie said addressing Kikyo first "May I introduce you to Pippa Lonsdale" she indicated a young blonde haired girl maybe just a couple of years older than Kikyo "She's Achkaerin's Youth President." that was the cover established, as Pippa took Kikyo off to one side Nettie led the remainder of the Rokkenjiman's down the aisle and pointed out their seats which were situated right next to the Mktvartvelian's the message didn't need saying but it was clear enough sort it out. There was also one other surprise as sat in the midst of the Rokkenjiman seats was Sasuke "You didn't think we wouldn't invite him did you?" Nettie said with a slight giggle.

Pippa had taken Kikyo off and was eagerly showing her around the different parts of the sanctuary, it might have seemed odd given that Pippa's father was leader of the Republican Party but like her father Pippa knew all she had was a dissenting voice and that said she didn't object to the existence of the Monarchy just the power it wielded in affairs of state. "So rumour has it that our Empress turned your Youth Diet into a collaborative effort." Pippa said.

Akasha and Nasser found themselves in the company of Constance Silvermist, she showed the pair where their seats were "You will be right here." Constance said indicating the seats which were situated just behind the Rokkenjiman's "I understand Setri's growing reasonably well these days, not bad all things considered."

King David likely wouldn't have been surprised to see an Ayanami given the job of showing him and Stasya where their seats were, given that the two families were distantly related, but Rosa was less familiar with the Morelander King than the rest of the family was. She was also pretty much freshly off the plane from Bakkermaya for the wedding, after greeting the King and Queen she led them down the aisle towards their seats "You might recognise someone." Rosa said, knowing the Morelander King's liking of lesser known bits of historic trivia, indicating the newly fitted stained glass window - it was of a woman wearing chainmail armor and carrying a shield and sword, it was Anezaki Ayanami, raised a Namist, then Queen of East Moreland and then died in battle for a nation that was at the time Christian. "Your seats are here." she continued pointing them out.

By comparison to the others it might have seemed out of place for Eijiro and Mayumi to be shown through by Hannah Nikaido but given it was the Fusanese this made sense, Hannah was Prince Simon's partner in the skies, she flew his wing so given that Simon had other responsibilities on the day she'd been asked to do this. Her dark blue dress uniform and medal were on show as she pointed out the seats to the Fusanese Royals and then took a breath "Simon says he'll see you later, he's a little annoyed that he can't be doing this though personally I think he's more worried that you might get to hear the story of how I saved his life."

---

OOC- Anyone can still turn up if they want to just assume you've been there all along

	Penny Banks
Titles	None
Education	Graduate Achkaerin Police College High School Qualifications from Five Queen's High School, Gowu
Positions Held	Sergeant, Achkaerinese Police Force, Diplomatic Protection Bureau
Family	Mother - Geraldine Banks Father - Martin Banks
Links to Important events?
Biography	Always knew what she wanted to be when she grew up - someone who helps people. She joined the police straight out of high school and after graduating was assigned routine patrol duties (as per standard procedure) she made sergeant after five years on the force and was transferred to head up a specialised traffic unit, she headed that unit for a further three years before being headhunted into the DPB where she still serves.

By James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent

The Head of the Diplomatic Protection Bureau Chief Superintendent Jason Norton (pictured above) has spent the day being quizzed by the Senates Foreign Affairs Committee. The DPB is responsible for the security of Achkaerinese embassy's, Achkaerinese government premises and patrolling the embassy district in Valtheim. The Committee focused on the Time of Avaritia in Xerente, a nation that the Achkaerinese Government has issued a travel advisory to in light of the potential for foreign citizens to come under attack during the event. When asked what steps the DPB were taking the Chief Superintendent answered stating: "At the request of the Diplomatic Office we've increased the security presence on the grounds of our embassy in the capital and at the two consulates we have elsewhere in the country, we're liaising with the Ministry of Defence and providing regular updates, at this time we've had no reports of any actions being taken against Achkaerinese tourists or our diplomatic presence. We did as a precautionary measure recommend the scaling down of staff numbers in country to guard against potential harm, something we're glad to see that the Foreign Office implemented. We as always will look at what happens during this period of our operations and make improvements for the future."

The Chief Superintendent was also asked what protocols the DPB was operating on to which he answered: "The clue is very much in the name, we're primarily responsible for protection, our job is to guard, abroad we're always liaising with host governments so that we're aware of any potential threat and based on information received we take action, as we have in Xerente, if we get to the point of a confrontation then much like militaries we operate on graduated responses, what we don't do is jump straight to hostile action, at least not without reason."

To the Nations of Mundus

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Serenity Azurewind and Her Royal Highness Princess Euphemia Anselmo, to be held at in the Temple of the Brave in the city of Valtheim. We advise arriving via Valtheim International Airport if travelling from abroad. The ceremony shall be broadly split into two parts, the first being the marriage ceremony itself and the second being the coronation of Princess Euphemia as Elemental Queen - a title that can be traced back to over a thousand years ago and establishes the position and authority that, upon marriage to the Empress, Princess Euphemia will attain. We hope you can share this joyous occasion with us.

Signed

Kurt Ayanami
Head of Royal Household

---

OOC - Don't feel the need to post a response to the invitation if you don't want to, just turning up is perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned.

In light of information that endangers foreign citizens within the Federal Alliance of Xerente, the Achkaerinese Government advising all Achkaerinese citizens within the Federal Alliance's borders to leave, to facilitate this Achkaerinese Airways have agreed to lay on extra flights to ensure the extrication of all Achkaerinese citizens and any other foreign citizens who cannot otherwise leave. The Achkaerinese embassy will remain open with increased security for the time being, we will review these measures as the situation develops.

Achkaerinese aid supplies and a small number of personnel had hit the ground as part of the IHC effort and then the very Safraen themed deja vu had overtaken the situation. As far as the command level officers back in Valtheim along with others were concerned this had to go down as some sort of record, but the similarities between Kritamala and Safraen were there for all to see - broadly speaking humanitarian crisis potentially turning violent and with soviets to boot, the feeling of nostalgia was palpable. The senior officer as far as the Achkaerinese were concerned was Kara Dyer and she wasn't happy this had been intended to be a supply run, establish a working relationship with the locals, facilitate the supplies and if necessary make use of experience and expertise to provide treatment and vaccine programs in respect of the Kaiju virus, and now here she was standing around an airport with a sat phone in hand while the shot callers in Valtheim decided what course of action they were going to take.

"Captain Dyer this is Command." the voice came over the phone
"Go ahead." Kara answered
"Defensive posture, treat soviets as hostile until further notice." the voice said
"Understood." Kara said, she hung up the phone and put it away, she wasn't anticipating actually getting into a fight with the soviets after all as far as she knew they weren't close by. Looking around she spotted her squad's second in command Holly Burrows "Keep rolling out the supplies as per normal, don't let the medics go off on their own and let's have a checkpoint about three hundred yards down the road, fortify the supply entry point."
"And if the Soviets come knocking?" Holly asked
"We try not to cause an international incident" Kara said "Treat as hostile."
"Simple enough." Holly said
"That doesn't mean we go hunting them down." Kara said.
"I'll sort that checkpoint out." Holly said, Kara sighed she didn't know what she was more worried about - being stuck in a potential combat zone, what Holly might do if someone lit the match or Holly's recent life experience causing her to set the whole thing off.

If there was one thing Lodjan ceremony could be relied on for it was doing the serious and theatrical blend to a very high level, there were enough nobles in the room who understood the pomp and pageantry of an occasion like this and how it to a fair extent involved putting on a show. With Katyusha next to him Jack listened to Maria, he'd been around Lodja long enough, in fact living on the isle at one point, to understand what was being said. Then came the slightest of impacts to the back of his lower leg, just above the ankle, as Katyusha gave him a gentle kick - Jack had to marvel at how she did things like that, she knew how it would look if Olimpiada didn't have a dance partner and he doubted it would get to that point, in fact Jack was more than willing to bet that there were a fair few men among the international guests who would at various points like to have a dance with the new Crown Princess, glancing around the group he smiled, no takers so far in which case he'd be Spartacus so to speak - and judging by Katyusha's gentle kick to the ankle she was really happy if not borderline insisting that he do so, they'd have plenty of time later to dance with each other after all.

Taking a step forward Jack looked at Maria "It's been a while since I've danced any of the traditional Lodjan dances so I'm a little rusty, but I'll volunteer."
"He's being modest." Katyusha said "He's quite good at them."
"I had a good teacher." Jack said, at which Katyusha blushed not a shade of red as bright as her hair but a mixture of slight of embarrassment and a little bit of pride, Jack turned his attention back to Maria and waited.

Birthday Surprise

If there was a day of the year that Serenity didn't like that much it was this one - her birthday, she generally didn't like being the centre of attention. In terms of Royal Protocol it was a big day in of itself, which was something Serenity was still getting used to, she'd been around it when her father had been on the throne, she knew what it involved but it also felt a whole lot different when it was for her rather than her father. Presently it was mid morning, Serenity had headed downstairs still in her nightclothes for breakfast, what she hadn't expected was to find her customary blueberry muffin already there waiting for her alongside a birthday card from her older brother Simon. With a chuckle she placed the card to one side and peeled the paper away from the muffin before devouring it. She had to wonder where everyone else was, then Euphy joined her.
"I smell a setup." Serenity said as Euphy perched herself on the table.
"Guilty." Euphy said "I may have talked your dad into taking everyone off somewhere for a couple of hours."
"I get the impression there's no may about it." Serenity said
"Well yes." Euphy said "I just wanted you to myself for a bit." she smiled and put a bow wrapped small box in front of Serenity, who proceeded to open it revealing a silver ring with what appeared to be green fairy like wings lined with gold on it.
"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Serenity asked
"I've been wanting to ask for a long long time." Euphy said "So Serenity Azurewind... marry me?" There was a split second of silence between the pair before Serenity pounced kissing Euphy "I'm taking that as a yes."
"Of course it's a yes." Serenity whispered

Liosa made the notes and put that page aside before glancing at what was next "The next three sections working backwards are what I would call largely bog standard, they're diplomacy, sports and then some education matters. The only suggestion I would make here is in relation to the sports thing, pick a single competition, a single sport and do something within that rather than something complicated."

Diplomacy

X. Member states agree to maintain active embassies with each other and to have their ambassadors present themselves promptly (within 24 hours) upon receipt of an official summons by another members government.

X. Member states agree to settle disputes arising between them by peaceful means when at all possible using the Council or the Secretariat as a mediator if required.

Sport

X. The members agree to an annual sporting competition held between them.

X. The rules of competition shall be deferred to the respective international sporting authority.

X. Sporting franchises in non member states or non member states themselves may be invited to participate in the Aegis Cup by Council.

Youth

X. Member nations agree to take part in annual student exchange programs

X. Member nations agree that all children have the right to an education and shall do all that they can to raise the standards of that education and to support the children in achieving that standard.

X. Member nations agree that they shall develop for those in secondary education who do not wish to advance to tertiary education a life skills curriculum, this curriculum shall last for two years and consist of teaching skills specifically targeted to ensure that young people do not end up homeless, jobless, in debt, starving or otherwise in poverty and/or at risk.

X. The members agree to the creation of the Aegis Youth Conference, this shall be an annual event held over a five day period chaired by the Commissioner for Education and Youth. Each member nation shall be entitled to send twenty delegates to the Conference (aged 11-21).

X. The venue for the Aegis Youth Conference shall be determined by the Council with the consultation of the Secretariat. The costs for the conference shall be borne equally among the members, while exhibitors and other guests pay at their own expense.

Serenity read through the three sections put in front of them "I guess we can discuss which sport when we get to logistics, but as Liosa said this is mostly standard stuff, I don't personally see any issues with this."

Right on cue Lìosa Càidh walked into the room. Carrying under her arm what looked like a university textbook or three, given how thick they were, each was a copy of the 2020 edition of the Cross-Straits Union Treaty. Setting them on the table she took a moment while Asuna explained what was going on and where they were, some she knew from discussions weeks earlier but more recent things she didn't, her eyes lit up with glee - as  the principle author of the treaty that governed the CSU she'd always known it was somewhat incomplete, somewhat not living up to its potential.

"Ok." Liosa said looking at the three monarchs in the room "From what Asuna's said your plan is to take the CSU treaty of 2020, rebrand it, amend it and use it as a foundation. That's quite doable and fairly straightforward. The treaty of that time is 110 articles long however I suspect it's going to be significantly reduced by the time you're finished. I recommend you start at the end and work backwards, section by section. The reason for that being that what is in later sections - what you add, what you take out and so on will impact what's in the first two sections which is the administrative stuff."

Serenity nodded and flicked to the last article which was the fourteenth in the treaty. "We really don't need all of this." Serenity said "This is the membership provision which we've said should read something like:

X. Any nation may join the organisation provided:
a) They have approval from the majority of members of at the time of their application.
b) A founder nation has not vetoed their membership (OOC - must be used within 48 hours of application)
c) They have signed the Uppsala Convention

X. A member nation may withdraw from the organisation by giving written notice of their intention to leave the organisation in a letter. The letter must also include a departure date no earlier than six months from the date of the letter being served.

"That's one tier membership." Serenity said "I don't believe we've ever said we want a two tier organisation or treaty."

Dear Mr. Grugner

For many years Riviere Corporation has been at the forefront of technological innovation and research on Mundus, we're a reputable company, we've partnered with many institutions and entities in that time ranging from small fledging companies to our peers and to national governments whether foreign or domestic. Having read your list of requirements we believe that our expertise and experience in the field of drone technology can be of help to you. In 2017 the Republic of Frystjörd, a small island nation, requested our assistance in providing internet access for their nation, there were a wide range of circumstances that I won't go into that prevented certain approaches, the chosen method on that occasion was to utilise a number of drones to beam the signals around the nation and it was successful. In Frystjörd we had to not only supply the drones but also train those who would be working with them how to operate and maintain them. What I'm hopefully communicating is that we're familiar with the specific drone requirements you're asking for and we've dealt with circumstances that I believe you're alluding to.

As the potential uses of the drones in the farming arena include crop fertilisation, animal tracking, land security, plowing, planting, harvesting and weather monitoring we would intend to teach in a flexible manner with two main priorities - firstly the farmers have to be shown how to use the drones for different tasks and do basic maintenance. Secondly we would seek to train from among the local population a specialised maintenance and support body for times when things go wrong unexpectedly whether that be with the drones themselves or the software involved. We view this very much as a teaching relationship along the lines of a mentoring dynamic, rather than have farmers congregate in a lecture theatre we would rather take a more practical approach and demonstrate how the drones can assist them on a program by program basis.

In addition we would be interested in investing in one of the innovation parks, we're prepared to invest up to $700 million in this initially. This would allow us to maintain a presence in the event of issues with the drones while also establishing our first Albion Technology College - Riviere Corporation has several locations across Mundus and has consulted or been involved in many projects across many different spheres, we have in each place a technology college where we give back to the community through supporting small businesses, helping people start their own businesses, offering apprenticeships and education courses. For us knowledge is not something we seek to hold onto or deny others it's something to be shared. Our presence will embody the principles we have in other locations, it will be the locals that make up much of the employees (our standard operating protocol is 75% minimum), it will be run in accordance with all local rules and regulations, we will be open to collaboration with local businesses and we will ensure that it is not only a professional establishment but a creative and fun establishment.

If you would like to ask any questions regarding this please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Yours sincerely

Catriona Rowan
CEO Riviere Corporation

Serenity stood and walked around the table to perch herself in front of Asuna, misconceptions bred trouble and Thatcher had just assumed a number of them, as she walked around the table she recalled Asuna's words that had pulled her and Eijiro to this meeting 'If I should be able to convince the Kingdom of Tytor to agree to a new agreement between us, something that looks to the future, to see a Cross-Straits which is written equally by all of us, would that be a position you two would be willing to work from?', the unilateral attempt to change the agenda by Thatcher was not only disrespectful, it was undiplomatic, disappointing and numerous other things. Absent any willingness, on Thatcher's part, to engage on the agenda as set by Asuna they'd needed the wiggle room to get Rokkenjima off of the sticky wicket and that was only ever going to happen with Tytor's help and that was now help that had not been offered. Tapping the table Serenity waited for Asuna to get up and join her before putting her arms around her niece, right now she was more concerned about the effect on Asuna than anything, Eijiro had been there before and Serenity herself had her own battle scars.

"No one wanted it to end like that." Serenity said "But we can't do anything if Thatcher misconstrues something, likewise neither myself or Eijiro had any power to effect the changes needed, that power rested with you and Thatcher and if she says no to it then fifty percent doesn't beat fifty percent. Eijiro's right we need to think about what we do now. You didn't write your proposal for fun, I didn't come here for fun, I came here to help you out of a hole and get something signed, if experience counts for anything I think I know what I'm doing in that respect. The metric used when looking at membership of organisations is do you need the organisation or does the organisation need you? if it's the former then you're fine but if it's latter it's an indication that it's time to go. We're not going to force you to make an either/or decision in fact as Eijiro says there are ways you can still have both. I'm still your aunt and I still love you very much that's not going to change. We can do something or we can do nothing. I'd rather do something rather than nothing. So do we talk or do I go pick Euphy and the girls up and do homemade pizza and movie night? Or do we do both?"

Serenity sighed "Asuna" she said "History bears out many truths when it comes to international organisations, and I speak as the person on Mundus who has the most experience of running them, the more unwieldy an organisation becomes the harder it is to maintain is one. Equally another is that all organisations are founded for a purpose, so what happens when that purpose no longer exists? It must find new purpose or it must be let go. The difference here is sentimentality does not trump practicality. You want a solution? At our previous meeting a month ago I gave you the means to solve the problem. And if we're not going to have the conversation that we were brought here for, the conversation that you as our  host invited us to have and opened, then this meeting is effectively over." all the while she'd been speaking and listening she'd been scribbling away on a piece of paper. "This I will sign." she put the paper in front of Asuna and Eijiro.

The Aegis Accord

between the First Empire of Rokkenjima, the Holy Empire of Achkaerin, and the Empire of Fusan

Rokkenjima, Achkaerin and Fusan;

Desiring to strengthen the bonds of peace and friendship traditionally existing between them, and to uphold the principles commonly shared between them,

Desiring further to encourage closer diplomatic, cultural and defensive cooperation between them and to promote conditions of tranquillity and prosperity in their countries,

Reaffirming their faith in the purposes and principles of the Uppsala Convention, Declaration of Universal Rights and the Fair Seas Concordat, and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and governments,

Recognizing that they have the inherent right of individual or collective self defense,

Considering that they have a common concern in the maintenance of international peace and security in their own regional spheres.

Having resolved to conclude a treaty of mutual cooperation and security;

Therefore agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

The Parties undertake to settle any international disputes in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace, security and justice are not endangered and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any manner inconsistent with international law and norms.

ARTICLE II

The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being.

ARTICLE III

The Parties, individually and in cooperation with each other, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid will maintain and develop their capacities to resist armed attack and assist in times of crisis

ARTICLE IV

The Parties will consult together from time to time regarding the implementation of this Treaty and, at the request of either Party, whenever the security of the Parties or international peace and security is threatened. For this purpose there shall exist a council consisting of representatives from each member.

The Council shall be assisted by a Commission which shall be the administrating body of the Accord, it shall be led by a Chief Commissioner who shall be the chief administrator of the Accord and Commissioners responsible for specific portfolios. The full list of Secretariat portfolios shall be:

(list to be determined)

ARTICLE V

Each Party recognizes that an armed attack against either Party in the territories under the administration of East Moreland, Dartfordia or Rokkenjima would be dangerous to its own peace and security and declares that they would consider action to meet the common danger in accordance with their existing domestic and international commitments.

The Parties hereby proclaim that an armed attack against any signatory to this Accord shall be considered as an attack upon them all and, should such an attack should take place, each signatory shall pursue the rights of individual and collective self-defence to aid the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, in concert with those of the Accord, such actions as deemed necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the territorial integrity, peace, security and harmony threatened in such a manner.

The Parties hereby commit themselves to mutual aid amongst each other; the Accord shall see that resources are collectively ready to alleviate conditions brought upon major disasters, whether they be man-made or natural in cause. Mutual aid may come in the form of humanitarian relief, rebuilding infrastructure, and the establishment of an Action Plan to establish the resources and actions which will be made ready for scenarios such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or other forms of upheaval which may place unforeseen strains on our governments and societies. Each Party is expected only to provide that assistance which is within their capabilities to provide.

For the purpose of contributing to the security of the Parties and the maintenance of international peace and security all nations shall share intelligence of known or suspected threats to the security of the others.

ARTICLE VI

The Parties will consult together at the request of one of their number to discuss matters pertaining to the exploration of space. Such meetings shall occur as soon as is possible between the appropriate persons, whether that be in person, virtually or in a hybrid format.

Nothing in this article shall prevent members from engaging in space exploration projects and agreements with nations outside the Accord.

ARTICLE VII

Parties will allow citizens of the other member nations to apply for a fast track visa for purposes of trade, recreation, business or education.

There shall exist within the jurisdictions of each of the members a free trade area, the FTA shall operate with no tariffs or restrictions (other than those deemed necessary by the Commission) on goods or services moved and/or traded between member states of the Aegis Accord

ARTICLE VIII

The Treaty shall create a Cultural Association. This Association will organise an annual festival to be held in each member nation in turn annually.

This festival must be focused on the sharing of the unique cultures of each nation and promote friendship between people. The host nation will provide opportunities for a minimum of 100 young students from each of the other nations to attend.

ARTICLE IX

This Treaty shall be ratified by the First Empire of Rokkenjima, the Holy Empire of Achkaerin, and the Empire of Fusan in accordance with their respective constitutional processes and will enter into force on the date on which the instruments of ratification thereof have been concluded.

This Treaty shall remain in force until the opinion of the Governments of Rokkenjima, East Moreland and Dartfordia it no longer serves the best interests of the Parties.

However, after the Treaty has been in force for ten years, either Party may give notice to the other Party of its intention to terminate the Treaty, in which case the Treaty shall terminate one year after such notice has been given.

IN WHITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty.

DONE at the City of Shinkyo, Fusan, in the English, Achkaerinese, Faej, Fusanese and Rokkenjiman languages equally and authentic, this [date], 2024

Signatures

"There's nothing in there you don't have." Serenity said looking at Asuna "The only thing from your redraft from a moment ago that isn't in there is the idea of Parliament, that won't fly because I'm not about to give any of you a say over Achkaerinese policy, you haven't earned that and considering certain events in Rokkenjima it would be irresponsible." she paused again "We had a productive conversation a few weeks ago, the conversation we're having now was prompted by a matter that came up during that original conversation. That problem isn't solved by taking the relevant subject matter off of the table. If we're going to have a world where Rokkenjima has both Aegis and the CSTO then today you and the Prime Minister need to make the change that will enable that to happen so we avoid the scenario's we've discussed or we need some other means of ensuring it. We're not making you choose, there are ways you can have both, you know that, you've had them explained them to you, so stop suggesting the onus is on me and Eijiro when it isn't. Make the change that you need to have made in the CSTO and get your nation out of the position of thinking you have to choose. I used to get annoyed and largely frustrated with your mother for not looking at the whole board and being foolishly stubborn, don't make the same mistake, here you actually can have both, you and the Prime Minister just need to make one amendment to the CSTO, make that and this moves forward."

OOC - going to note my slight irritation that Serenity is presumed to be in a room when there's a reasonable chance that Asuna's comments probably affect that.

---

Serenity took a deep breath "Let's make this very simple." she said "Assuming this conversation is going to be a pick up from where we left off two years ago, there is only one question that is relevant - what changes does Rokkenjima, as the sole member of the body, need to make to the Cross Straits Union in order for Tytor to join it? Figure that out get common membership across the bodies and merge them all together in one treaty and one body as has been proposed and accepted by the majority of the membership on multiple occasions, that's if you want to persist with the present. I do however think that anything agreed here is still only going to delay the inevitable at best unless significant and radical change is implemented. You don't have a membership queue waiting in the wings, you have a current model that is dysfunctional and you have a record that doesn't stack up. To put it another way the Cross Straits of 2024 does not look like the Cross Straits at all, by its very nature it cannot, change it, do something better or give it the dignified death it has earned."