Sigmund thought "what would make the gap disappear?" it was a question he hadn't really given much thought of in the discussion or at least not in the way that King David had worded it. "We're a nation that is heavily reliant on the old agricultural, forestry and fishing industries. As the 21st Century begins to progress we need to do likewise. I know we have a spot of what you'd maybe call a "Brain Drain" with younger folk leaving. We've also still got some loyalists of the former royals wandering our nation causing problems from time to time. We need to do something about them. I think the issue is though that no nation will ever be perfect though. Now in terms of us being here and taking steps towards that we'd like to be able to utilise some of the networks you've established to be able to build up our own diplomatic networks. Do you have any ideas that could aide us in that regard?" 

The Seleucid Minining Company had been present in Waddan since the two nations began their relationship several years ago. When the workers were informed that a pocket of gas had potentially been discovered there was the natural expectation that a significant number of workers from Seleucid would come in and assess whether it was viable. The company had a small airfield that allowed them to bring the diamonds and precious metals back without a complicated overland journey and this made it easy to esnure that 300 Seleucid soldiers had been brought in with their equipment. The workers had been paid to stay at home and so it would take a while for the military build up to get noticed. At the same time the Waddan Blue project had brought an "expo" of Seleucid engineering into the country and while hundreds if not thousands of boxes had been brought in to showcase products and goods very few of them were actually full of engineering products and instead were full of military equipment. It meant that around 800 Seleucid soldiers had infiltrated the country and unbeknown to the Waddanites the aircraft carrier Epiphanes its escort and the Balas with 600 more troops on sat off the coast. When the time came they'd be ready. 

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More than ever, the day which not a long time ago was unthinkable or at least unexpected had arrived, and Azavrelia prepared to receive the Mundus Games. The ceremony started with the Azavrelia National Orchestra welcoming the Mundus Games. As soon as the last ended, the Azavrelia National Stadium was suddenly  covered by diverse number of lights and colours as a swath of dancers and performers invaded the scenario.


The opening ceremony started with 100 drums sounding in crecendo accompanied by an all-female polyphonic choir. The core of the opening ceremony was the unity between tradition and modernity.  The first performance was a depiction of the  “Pirveli Katsebi”, which some may describe as the creation myth, combining acrobatic dancing with horsemen, symboling, according to the well-known legend, the birth of the Mktvartvelian people. The performers wore a large variety of folk costumes and dresses, and folk music played an important role during the ceremony.

Many of the dances and performance depited other national myths and legends, particularly those associated with the Order of Simartlea, the national religion in Mktvartvelo, as well as festivities, both secular and religious including one slightly similar to the Khishsuli festivity and their well-known whirling and twisting movements and dances, which was performed by young dancers from the Azavrelia Ballet Academy, one of the most prestigious of its kind in the country. Still, the performances attempted to avoid anything that could be seen overtly political or a show of banality and trivialization of real traditions. Even when some of the performances may depict stories or historical figures from more controversial historical events such as the Abydos invasion or contemporary history, those chosen were light-hearted ones, even if the foreign public was likely to ignore those references anyway. In a general way, the ceremony focused to be entertaining rather than educational. As the ceremony advanced, it included references to past Mundus Games or important achievements in sports by sportpeople from many countries, and technology played an increasing role in show, compared to the early choreographies where basic elements were used prominently, such as fire and torches, giving way to a wide use of LED technology and a variety of fireworks.

Youth was prominent during the ceremony, with hundreds of children participating, sometimes in highly skilled coreographies. One of the most celebrated choreographies, at least for the local public, was one involving a large number of performers and dances attempting to give life to a huge, colourful and sinuous snake (considered a sacred animal in Mktvartvelo). Finally, the moment came when a young woman in a wheel chair approached the podium and was offered a bow and arrow by women wearing white tunics. The woman looked up, as the final bearer of the Mundus Games torch lighted the arrow. Then, the archer shot the flaming arrow toward the flame cauldron. She did not miss, lighting the cauldron to the joy of the local public. Finally, a performance of a veteran local artist, singing a dreamy and cheerful traditional rural song, well-known for the Mktvartvelian public, was followed by another wave of fireworks just before the speaker announced the official welcoming of the Azavrelia 2022 Mundus  Games.

After the speeches of the authorities, including the Mundus Games authorities and Brzdmtsveli Ketevan, who expressed the welcome to both athletes and visitors, withing the best of luck for the formers and the happiest experience for the latter, officially declaring the Mundus Games as open. After that, the traditional parade of the athletes by alfabetical order followed, with a final musical performance by another well-known artist closed the night. The time in which it was the turn of the athletes to speak through their achievements and feats have finally arrived.

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Hisato Watase, Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency, held a press conference earlier today with regards to the Imperial family, for whom he has been charged with aiding since June 13, 2014. The steward first went through the standard array of topics, mostly relating to travel plans for the various members of the family, however, this was, by comparison to other news he had to share, unimportant. He read a statement to the press, saying "Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress, have requested that I relay the following information to you. With great joy and hope, I announce that Her Majesty, Empress Mayumi, is pregnant with His Majesty's child. The couple has been aware of the pregnancy since last month, and the honourable Court Physician, Dr. Haruto Uchiyama, has stated that the child will be born sometime in late December or early January. The Imperial family as well as the Tachibana family are overjoyed at this announcement and are eager to welcome the new Prince or Princess. On behalf of the Imperial government, I wish to offer my sincerest hope that the mother and child enjoy good health."

Shortly following the statement being issued, crowds of citizens flocked to the gates of the Imperial Palace in Tenkyō to offer their best wishes to the couple and making offerings at shrines in the area around the palace. A similar display occurred at the palace in Shinkyō as well. Shrines and temples across the country have been reported to include prayers for the potential future heir to the throne in their repertoire, mostly those shrines backed by the Imperial family.

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The DNSA has announced that, having reviewed data collected by both orbiters around Nergal as well as its recent Sky-Sailor mission, it has determined the optimal landing site for the 2024 mission to Nergal by the Sojourner spacecraft. This comes after photoreconnaissance performed by the vehicles indicated a site roughly in the center of Candor Chasma in the Valles Marineris canyon system to be optimal for a crewed landing. The DNSA also noted the potential presence of water ice just below the surface as a reason for their interest in the site, which, if present, could potentially support longer term missions to the red planet, not to mention that the soil could harbor evidence of past life on the planet. The agency also noted Melas and Coprates Chasma as potential secondary landing sites, given their unique geography and in the case of Coprates, evidence of seasonal flows along its slopes.

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