Benson listened carefully to what Andrew had to say, " Allow me to be clear and frank. We have no intention of trying to muscle in on the Illumic. Its a waterway far away from our home and the only reason we would have to get involved normally would be a threat to say our global shipping, but thankfully you and the Morelanders have that in hand, just as we do in the Alucard thanks to the TUNA Agreement. However you have to remember that Zimalia is an Illumic nation too and while non-Illumic forces sit welcome in your waters it is hard to deny Zimalia the right to invite them to sit in the skies. Now Rokkenjima may have complied with your requests this time, but we all know they have a vast array of weaponry they like to wave in people's faces that could threaten Zimalia without even setting one foot in the Illumic so to speak. So while you may hold one set of reigns it is clear the Rokkenjimans aren't yours to control fully. Hence why Zimalia needs protecting. It's aircraft fleet is ancient and poorly maintained, I think if I am honest, that it couldn't even hold back the East Moreland boy scouts if they elected to invade. My understanding is that the Rokkenjiman prescence in the Illumic is a long standing agreement that I suspect you would even like rid of. Your nation is militarily capable, is friends with the Morelanders, one of the more capable militaries on Mundus, I suspect if push came to shove you'd probably have Zimalia under your control in what....a week? Then add into it the fact that the Rokkenjiman behemoth is also on your side and you must understand that Zimalia will naturally feel threatened and is well entitled to look for help defending its airspace, especially because the Morelanders have violated it not once but twice with no international outcry. At least with our aircraft there, and those of the Alanders and Tamora their airspace was secure. Now from our point of view our move is purely defensive and I would invite you to visit our squadron and confirm for yourself what I tell you. We only issued our aircraft with air to air missiles and accompanying pods and the like, our squadron clearly is on a defensive posture.
Now this brings me to the first problem. You say you are happy to assist Zimalia with security, well why would they trust you? You're best buddies are the Ironsides, I believe your even some kind of guardian figure to their Princess Rhiannon? Now that being the case we've a Morelander monarch who has twice issued orders to his military to invade Zimalian airspace, and Lords know how many other violations those special forces of theirs have made. Forgive the turn of phrase but that in their eyes likely puts you on the side of the devils. I think one reality you should also look at recognising is this whole crisis dragged Zimalia to world attention like little else has, suddenly you've the Tamorans all over it for their cultural imperialism and economic gain. They too have a decent military and are likely to look to defend their investment. Add to that the Alanders have many people in what I would perceive as the dangerzone should an attack come, they are going to want to know their humanitarian workers are as protected as one could be in that situation. I think therefore you are going to have to expect some foreign forces in Zimalia as a counterweight to your Rokkenjiman guests."
Benson turned his thoughts to the four point plan. "I am pleased you will help us fund the hospital. At present I know the Tamorans are doing a lot there and the Alanders have some good public health education. What I want is to ensure that the Zimalians though don't become reliant on the foreign involvement for good, which brings me onto point two of your plan. I disagree that Zimalia is unable to provide the engineering and construction for the project, I know Zimalia looks a shit hole from the outside but it does have many luxury hotels which were built by Zimalians, the problem is the corruption that can take place on their projects, as such I propose an alternative point two. We appoint a pair of project managers, one each, who will oversee the project but the Zimalians will provide all the labour. Then as to point three, I agree with you they may at the start lack the health care professionsals. We therefore agree with your measures but also believe we should use organisations such as the Mundus Health Organisation and the Global Childbirth Initiative.
Now point four refers to what I was saying earlier. Before I issue orders for my birds to come home I need to know that Zimalia will not be attacked without them giving just cause. As such I would like to see that you would not permit Rokkenjima to use facilities in Seaforth to undertake any military operations against Zimalia, be that information gathering, be that surveillance or actual attacks. I do not want to see a single Rokkenjiman ship from the base you host in Zimalian territorial waters, nor do I wish to see one aircraft undertaking any activity in their airspace either by directly flying into it or gathering data from within it. If I have that reassurance I would feel confident to bring the aircraft home."
