An opportunity for business and improving relations (Tamora and Quintelia)

[Markus]

Alaverdi, Kingdom Attica, Empire of Tamora.
Department of the Navy HQ


The last few days have been hectic for the Department. As was recently announced in the press, Djerb had decided that the shipbuilding capability of the empire was to be expanded. What did not reach the public was that Djerb wanted it done fast. Tamora was not a democracy, when the Emperor gave an order there was little room for discussion especially when it involved military affairs. Djerb’s decision surprised many in the Empire since the navy had been from the moment of its founding in 1968 a low priority. Before 1958 the Empire did not have access to the sea and it took another ten years before Djerb decided a navy was necessary and formed the Imperial Tamoran Navy.

However, it would seem that Tamora’s plan to expand its infrastructure did not go unnoticed by other Mundus powers. Shortly after TINS informed the public that Sarafian Shipyards would be expending thanks to a government contract, Quintelian sources contacted the Tamoran government to inquire about a potential collaboration on the matter. The normal response from Djerb to such an inquiry would be to inform the interested party of the Imperial law that explicitly states that foreign investments are not allowed in the Empire. However, this was Quintelia:  a member of OPEN and a country that not only did it not succumb to the pressure of sanctioning Tamora but actually provided assistance at the height of the tensions between Tamora and Slava Lavosk, and provided aid during the Royal Seleucid food crisis. Such actions earned the respect of many in the Imperial administration and the government agreed to a meeting to discuss the details of any future cooperation in this sector. 

Mekabiz Gilani, the Head of the Department of the Navy, was sitting at his desk waiting for the Quintelian delegate and his entourage to arrive. As soon as they entered the office, he got up and greeted them:

"As-salamu alaykum! My name is Mekabiz Gilani and I am the Head of the Department of the Navy. Please have a seat and tell me if there's any refreshments you might need. Ms. Bahrami here can bring them to you."

After waiting for the guests to take their seats, he did the same and resumed talking:

"First of all allow me to thank you in the name of the government for the help your nation has provided during the Seleucid food crisis. The Seleucid are friends of Tamora and the Tamoran people do not forget those who help our friends. " afterwards, he waited to see if the guests had any topics that wanted to approach first or preferred to get straight to business.

 

Spoiler:  Department of the Navy HQ • show

Like most Tamoran buildings, the HQ of the Department of Navy was not very impressive on the outside.



Imperial institutions did not adhere to the local customs (in this case Attica) when it came to the dress code and instead followed what is considered proper in Djerb. Because the Quintelian delegation were considered VIP guests, Leily Bahrami, the receptionist,  would personally lead the Quintelian guests to the office of the Head of the Department of the Navy.

[Major Jaws]

As soon as the plan to expand the Tamoran shipyard reached the ears of the Quintelian Naval Officers, they immediately sent a letter to the Tamoran Naval Office. Upon receiving a reply allowing them to come and talk a few things over, a delegation was made as to prevent the Minister of Defense from joining due to his laziness and fairly low intelligence. The Quintelian delegation consists of: Admiral Empedrad, who was promoted after serving in the Phuebran War, Admiral Tamagal, one of the longest serving admirals, Captain Palo, the new captain of the strike fleet, and Engineer Malano, the lead engineer of the navy. The group of experts arrived in a plane, with their vehicles delivered the morning before and a few media personnel arriving earlier. Although in friendly territory, the delegation still rode armored and bulletproof SUVs on their way to the Tamoran Naval HQ.

"If we could have some of the oghi King Lapu once told us about, that would be nice." Admiral Tamagal started. "Well, Quintelia is always ready to help any nation in need, as long as they haven't made any threats to us. If Tamora or Royal Seleucid ever gets into another trouble with food again, God forbid that happen, we will assure you that we will help." Tamagal replied on the praise. "Now, shall we go straight to business? Now, as we all know, Quintelia has a decent-sized fleet capable of deploying troops to anywhere in the world within a few weeks whilst still having the ability to guard and patrol our waters." Tamagal continued as Empedrad nodded along. "While your navy is... eh; it could be better. And that's the purpose of the shipyard upgrade I imagine. What I propose is that we Quintelians can use the shipyard in a joint effort to expand our fleets. Skilled Quintelian workers could be employed to help. The details could be smoothed out later, but that's our main concern for now."

[Markus]

“The fact that King Lapu remembered oghi pleases us greatly.  Leily, please be kind and bring these gentlemen some oghi.” Mekabiz didn’t drink alcohol since his religion shunned such drinks. Normally, imperial intuitions wouldn’t even allow alcohol on their premises but this institution was in Attica and here  drinking alcohol was common so Mekabiz grew accustomed to seeing people drink alcohol. Also, he knew Quintelians are not shy about alcohol and prefer it to non alcoholic drinks.
 
“Indeed your navy is a formidable force. Our navy serves a different purpose, it’s not meant to deploy troops anywhere in the world. “  Mekabiz had felt that the needed to defend the prestige of the Tamoran navy.

“The first step Djerb is taking is upgrading our shipyard in order to be able to build much larger ships.
We are interested in a cooperation, Quintelian expertise would help in this area since it would save us both time and money to not reinvent the wheel as they say and use some of your knowhow. Furthermore, Quintelia has proven to a reliable partner in a time of need so Djerb has no security concerns.  But I have to say that often the devil is the details. While as I said, we want to be able to build much larger ships our target is 20,000 tons at the maximum. I don’t know exactly if that is enough for you since you have  a navy that aims to deploy anywhere on the globe. So maybe you can clarify that for me.”

Just as he finished speaking, Leily and a colleague brought the Quintelian guests the oghi while offering a similar non alcoholic drink.

“Gentlemen, let us drink for King Lapu, Emperor Abbas and our two Empires” Mekabiz said as stood up as a sign of respect before proceeding to drink a bit and then resume his seat waiting for the guests’ input on the shipyard issue.

[Major Jaws]

"Well of course, Lapu is one of my drinking buddies and he always talks about how he was thirsty for alcohol in Djerb until he drank the oghi. He said it felt like drinking water after crossing through a desert." Admiral Tamagal replied as he stood up and took a sip. "Well, it's good, but Lapu might have exaggerateda bit." He continued as the others sipped and nodded along. "Anyways, before we talk about alcohol and Lapu destroying his liver, shall we continue the discussion?" Admiral Tamagal asked before continuing. "Now, that you mention tonnage of ships and all those details, I think talking to Engineer Malano would be a better choice."

"So, 20,000 tonnes maximum for a ship? I think a small aircraft carrier could be built with 20,000 tons, or five frigates, or a few patrol ships. So I think 20,000 tonnes would suffice for you Tamorans, assuming it's in metric." Engineer Malano started as he fumbled about in his briefcase. "However, for two nations, one having an ever-expanding navy and the other trying to build their own navy in case a neighbor or a global superpower threaten them? I don't think so. So, what I propose is to extend the expansion to accommodate both our nations, with one side of the shipyard building a Tamoran ship while the other one is building a Quintelian counterpart. We can shoulder any additional expenses should the expansion require additional funding. A few Quintelian companies have also pledged to give discounts for both of us. Quintelians and Tamorans should work alongside each other, however, as a someone who has a strong opinion on the topic, I shall request that no slaves will work in these shipyards and that every worker will be paid wages."

[Markus]

Mekabiz smiled politely at Admiral Tamagal’s reference about King Lapu crossing the desert.

“I agree that our two navies have different priorities and therefore different needs so expanding the shipyard to accommodate both our nations is a sensible idea. However, it’s not just the extra cost that we need to discuss here it’s also our know-how and our ability to build a much large shipyard with our current workers, engineers and equipment. When we initially thought of this programme we set out to build it on our own with our own expertise. Djerb understood from the start that this would mean longer construction time for the shipyard, higher costs and not the best quality, at least not at first. Building an even bigger shipyard with our current technical expertise stretches us to the limit and further exacerbates the problems mentioned before. We would be going in uncharted territory with such a large shipyard and although Djerb is patient I don’t know if Lungsod is. “

“I can suggest an alternative. You already mentioned Quintelian companies that are willing to provide discounts. How about one of those companies or whomever you prefer takes an active role in building the shipyard to Quintelian quality standards? Some sort of arrangement can be found where the Quintelian side takes a lead role in the technical part and they provide the knowhow to build a … world-class shipyard. That would mean Quintelians would be working on the site creating a good deal of jobs but especially high skilled jobs , Quintelian equipment being bought and used for the site etc. On our side, we would fully support the cost of the project so Quintelia would not have to pay a dinar for the shipyard. And for the purpose of the construction of the shipyard as well as any ships built there we will lift all tariffs on Quintelian imports.

How does that sound?”

After a couple of moments, Mekabiz also adds “Yes, and we will make sure no slave labor is used on the site as long as Quintelia is partner in the agreement.”

[Major Jaws]

"Well, I must say that the second option you gave me sounds more agreeable. It will actually cost less for us as we can pay those companies in favors for when they get into hot water." Admiral Tamgal answered. "Plus, as you said, lifting tariffs would be great to hear, and that sounds more than agreeable."

"Now that I heard no blood of slaves would drip for this undertaking, I, as a representative of the Wewazkangz Tribe, thank you for this. I do hope that there would be less slaves in Tamora and see more freed men." Engineer Manalo remarked, as the other delegates looked on with nervousness as the Engineer may have offended Mekabiz and his culture.

[Markus]

“I do not know anything of the Wewazkangz Tribe but I do know a lot about Tamora and its rich history. The Prophet of our faith called slavery “the hell bellow us” that reminds us of what we risk in the afterlife if we anger the one true God and go against his commandments. He has further thought us not to linger much on the issue of slavery as “slaves as long as they do not go against their masters can do no evil” and thus they are sure to avoid hell in the afterlife.  Slavery was part of Tamora and our religion from the very beginning and it will continue as long as we endure. So worry not Mr. Malano of what you cannot change and focus what can be achieved. And I will also add that I too wish there will be less slaves in Tamora and more free men. I have always said to my wife that if we cannot have children we will buy an orphan slave girl, free her and raise her as our own. Because unlike in other countries , here in Tamora we don’t punish people who buy slaves in order to set them free.”

Returning to the admiral, Mekabiz said:

“I believe we have a deal then, right? It will take a little time on our side to make the necessary arrangements. You see this kind of a deal is not something we do in Tamora and is an exception we allow because of King Lapu’s and Quintelia’s  great standing with Djerb and we will have to get the proper authorizations and imperial decrees. It’s mostly bureaucratic stuff. “

[Major Jaws]

"Well, if you may, the Wewazkangz Tribe has existed for a few millennia." The Engineer began. "And we have ruled over what we call Quintelia now for several centuries. We have, or rather my ancestors, were also enslaved by neighboring tribes: the Esihas, the Castes, and the worst of all, the Manananggal Tribe who would actually burn down our farms or towns or even our lungsods. Thousands of our ancestors were enslaved and shipped off to God knows where, never to return. Meanwhile, my ancestors were kind enough to give them a choice: to be a citizen in The Lungsod or to go back to their tribe." Engineer Manalo continued his story. "Now, of all the surviving tribes, we were the largest tribe that didn't practice slavery in all of our history. That's a reason for me going against slavery, and I thank you again for considering my request on not including slaves in this project. I'm sorry that I rambled on for a bit." He finished as he finally let someone else speak.

"Well, we do have a deal now. I think I can inform my King as soon as I return and as soon as he's sober enough. I think he can handle all the bureaucratic stuff." Admiral Tamagal said, as he reached his hand out to be shaken. "Now, I will not be staying for long, however, these gentlemen can give you a tour of some of our frigates and other ships that are conveniently docked in your ports if you have time."

[Markus]

"Excellent." said Mekabiz referring to the deal. "It's been a pleasure".

"Sure, I would love to see the Quintelian ships. Maybe they can provide some inspiration for our future ships."