On behalf of my brother I have been asked to thank you for your correspondence. With the ongoing Ostlake Games, Tsunami disaster and various other issues he is unable to deal with this request. However with the two of us having undertaken a pilgrimage last year he has asked me to meet with you.

My brother greatly appreciates the news of the general public of Rokkenjima supporting closer relations with East Moreland. If I am being honest and to prepare you for your visit I must make you aware the general public here are losing faith in the East Moreland and Rokkenjiman relationship, and I am afraid to say sending what people here will view as a child to meet with our representatives will do little to stop this decline. One thing you do however in your favour is that you are known as someone who has undertaken a traditional pilgrimage and thus in the eyes of the faithful, which is the majority of East Moreland, your own standing is less of a concern to Morelanders. Likewise while we have strong trust in Evanthe Rhodes we are unsure why a representative of the government of Somerset would be involved in bilateral talks between our nation. While we have excellent relations with Somerset and in turn Seaforth we believe these should not be used to influence talks between our two nations. Therefore should you choose to have her accompany you there may be times in talks she would be asked to leave or certain topics may not be addressed.

Should you still deceide to attend I shall meet you in Silverhills at your convenience.

May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Nation Know Peace

Princess Freya.

The Ekra-Bagder was made for missions such as this. It was designed specifically to get into an area quickly and deploy a combination of manpower and equipment, generally it was full of Red Legionnaires, a few RHIB's, refuelling pods and a basic field hospital stored in crates, today however the Red's had been replaced with members of the Royal Medical Corps, many of whom were enjoying the unique expereince of the ride in the engineering marvel. The thought however of what would great them upon arrival concerned many. "Two minutes out" The Air Loadmaster called as he straightened up on the approach, about 1km off the coast of Voltox he cut the throttle allowing the Ekra-Badger to slow and then gradually sink into the water. He guided the vessel to a stop in shallow water turning so the rear of the aircraft faced the shoreline.

"Wait here, begin getting things ready to unload, Sergeant Mayweather you're with me." Major Alice Bradbury of the Royal Medical Corps instructed her unit. She was a rather short woman with blonde hair tied back into a rather serious bun, she had a pair of blue latex gloves tucked into her epalets ready for deployment. She splashed ashore, the water coming up to her knees, she wasn't sure whether this was left over from the tsunami or normal here but once ashore they began looking for someone who knew what was going on at which point she presented herself to the authorities. "East Moreland military as promised, we've a small field hospital, some basic supplies. Might I suggest you let us find the most seriously injured and get them to hospitals either in mainladn Heyra or East Moreland?" she asked unsure of what actual damage had been caused.

If it helps what the computer says you are in NS has zero impact on what you are here. We all find the stats and ratings on NS a little too unstable, unrealistic and unpredictable to use in RP.

The High Priestess of Helus,Skye Maddix, the highest ranked member of the Priesthood within the Cult of Helus, has announced today that she is planning to visit Seaforth. The 40 year old succeeded Joanna Ironside to the position two years and has focused on building up a strong youth programme in East Moreland as well as dealing with religious maverick Jinny Denman. Since inheriting the position she has overseen each Temple establish a youth programme similar to the Scout organisation and over 500 of these youth clubs have been set up. It was while visiting the Temple of Jekar at Ostlake prior to the games that she spoke.

The various youth groups across East Moreland are keen to help Seaforth, I've seen groups collecting funds, tins of food, donations of blankets and various other items. One Temple in Keepton had managed to collect together hundreds of educational books, boxes of pens, paper and the like, I was very very impressed. I've spoken with many of our young people and they see the tragedy of Seaforth as a way of them beginning to live out the Code of Canley, something that for a 12 year old to do is a challenge. I'm proud of them wanting to do the right thing. What we must now investigate is how we get all this stuff over there and to the people who need it. To do that we need people on the ground and I wouldn't be much of a leader if I sent people where I would not go. I'll be speaking to the authoritse in Seaforth in the coming days to arrange a visit, not some pomp and ceremony one, I intend to turn up in trekking gear, a rucksack and sat among crates of the donations our youth have collected. This will be a working visit as I don't wish to take away the valuable time of the Seaforthian government. I've never visited Seaforth, how can I represent the people of the faith if I don't get my hands dirty in their homeland."

The exact dates of the visit have yet to be confirmed but it is likely Maddix will be keen to go sooner rather than later as the Feast of Rolaf falls on the 29th of June leading many to think she may make the unpresidented move of conducting prayers in Seaforth this year. One Priestess in Keepton said, "The feast of Rolaf is a day to remember the dead, Seaforth going through this tragedy means sadly they have a great deal of remembering to do. As such there can be few better places for the guide of our faith to be."

---

Minister of Defence, Sir Harry Samuelson, has confirmed that following reports of a tsunami in the Mhroish, which is likely to have hit the island of Barnacle/Nursashima that the Ekra-Badger has been dispatched. The Ground Effect Vehicle which is equipped as a rapid reaction vehicle and has capability to deploy as a field hospital is likely to arrive within a few hours and will be the first of what is expected to be many CNN vessels to arrive. The Minister also confirmed that the CNN rapid deployment exercise has been cancelled and instead, "nations have been encouraged to continue the journey towards the Mhorish and prepare to aid in efforts that the islanders may need. There is likely to be significant damage and some people may be in the need of evacuation, experience tells us time here is critical and the Ekra-Badger means we can land at the islands, gather up casualties, head back to the mainland and then get back to the island before any other boats have turned up."

It is expected that a large contingent of the East Moreland Navy will be making their way from Portworth the the scene in the next day or so. It is also expected that once the initial observation of the situation has been carried out that the King will formally ask JET to launch their humanitarian operations.

"So our already stretched Security Services are now expected to come and set up in two whole new countries?" Henrietta raised an eye brow. "That's quiet an undertaking your asking from us to see a railway that we get zero benefit from. And these train marshalls who is providing them? Even if this is a direct high speed route we've people on our territory that we've no say in, I'm assuming you'll be happy for us to insist that anyone passing through would have to meet our nations security cleareance, assuming we give the green light to it? That being the case we then have extra checks to do on travellers."

She then turned to the second point, "We welcome better relations with all nations of Alba Karinya but this can't be done at the expense of our sovereignty. The fact this is part of repairing some kind of union between the two of you, well thats all well and good but what your asking for is around a stretch of our territory to make it happen and at the moment this all sounds like its making your life easier while ours becomes more difficult. How do you expect me to take a proposal that sounds this way to the King?"

"Warriors can be beautiful" Tim was thinking of the visions he'd had in his life, among them was the goddess Marissa, the goddess of beauty, fertility and new growth, in the great battle against the Underlords she had taken up arms and fought, the most beautiful creature in all of creation in the midst of bloody battle. "Some would argue the skills of the sword are a thing of beauty, watching someone really skilled is like watching a beautiful dance. Making a warrior beautiful is not a concern, making someone something they are not is a problem." He grabbed his napkin and took a pen out of his pocket and set about sketching, he held up a picture of a bald headed soldier in battered armour only across his shoulders, his chest and stomach a criss cross of scars, two ran in jagged lines across his face. "It is believed Jekar became such a good warrior by dying so many times, each time learning more and perfecting eventually the art of war. Each scar shows one time he died for us. To remove them takes away the hardships you and I know battle brings"

The Morelanders had selected the castle at Rockhampton as the venue for meeting the new King of Seaforth, it would have less media glare than a meeting at Northfort and Ostlake was already filling up with people for the upcoming games. Beside the King knew that Andrew had almost had the crown thrust upon him, unlike himself the new King hadn't had years of preparation for the role and the things it brought with him. Rockhampton may have been selected for the fact it'd be quieter but that didn't mean there would be any less ceremony for the arrival. A pair of fighters painted in bright Red ready for the Ostlake Games were already circling Rockhampton barracks airfield ready to escort the new King's aircraft in, meanwhile on the ground members of the Rockhampton Rifles stood ready to provide a honour guard. Three members of the Ui Cennesliag military of secondment to Morelander forces had been roped into being on standby to play the Seaforthian national anthem when the King set foot on Morelander territory.

Up at the castle itself Princess Rhiannon was getting into mischief, she'd sneaked into the kitchen with her new pet Fennec Fox, Goldie, she'd been caught red handed feeding the little fur ball some chicken put aside for lunch for the King, his party and the guests arriving. "Please don't tell my Daddy" she pleaded with her security agent who had discovered her sneaking around when she should have been getting ready. "He'll stop my sword lesson again.....and Goldie was sooooooo hungry" she pleaded holding the tiny four month old fox up towards Agent Abby Kenwick as though to prove her point. The tiny fox sat cupped in the upreaching palms of Rhiannons hand and almost seemed to mimic Rhiannon's own pleading face.

"Goldie has to eat his own food ok.....that means those worms and stuff we got you. Once he's bigger he can have chicken ok?" Rhiannon nodded that she understood. "Now, give me Goldie and you go meet your father outside then I don't have to explain what your fox was doing outside his pen again." Rhiannon handed Goldie over and gave Abby's legs a hug knowing she'd not be telling. She hurried outside and across the courtyard to where King David was waiting along with Minister of Defence Sir Harry Samuelson.

"Rhiannon where have you been" David said slightly annoyed.

"I went off exploring and lost track of time....sorry Daddy" She said as sweetly as she could manage, she noticed how her father and Harry both had their ceremonial swords strapped on "Can I fetch my sword and wear it....then we'll all be the same." She sounded hopeful, she was keen to one day be like her father and wear hers all the time. David had suspected she'd lose interest after nearly two years worth of lessons with Sir Charles Townsend but if anything she was getting more and more committed to the study.

"No....you know when you can wear it" David had often had to tell her about trying to sneak off to official functions with the tiny metal blade trapped to a belt over a dress, "It's something to be earned" Rhiannon had forgot how many times her father had said that to her now. "Today is important anyway. Seaforth are old friends, some of our best friends ok. They have a new King."

"That's sad then cos the old one will be dead." She said glumly.

"Not in this case.....Seaforths been a bit strange" he began to explain as they got into the car that wound down the hillside and through the forest before heading out into the countryside surrounding the airport.

"So King Andrew is like what Auntie Joanna is?" Rhiannon asked refering to Matilda's elder sister who was her Sword Mother on the Osman side of the family. David confirmed that was right and didn't have time for more questions as they arrived at the airfield. As he got out of the car the band played the East Moreland national anthem and the Rifles commander presented his honour guard. The King spent a few minutes inspecting the men and chatting while Rhiannon had been waiting near the car with Will Buckley, Davids security agent. She'd found a stick on the ground and was using it to swing and stab in the air, Will spotted and made her put it down the wet stick making her hands dirty. Before they could be cleaned the aircraft of King Andrew began to arrive and the King waved his daughter over.

"You remember what to do?" David asked his daughter who nodded.

As the Seaforthian aircraft stopped at the appointed spot the band began to play accompanied by the Cenneg pipers, David waited for the Andrew to approach and then nudging Rhiannon who stepped forward. "King Andrew welcome to East Moreland and thank you for being my Sword Father" she said extending her right hand for a tiny handshake, she noticed her hand was covered in mud and without thinking wiped it down the side of her pretty blue dress making her father roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Can't keep her out of mischief" David shook his head as he approached, "But yes welcome to East Moreland" David extended his own hand and then introduced Andrew to Sir Harry before taking him for a walk past the Rifles who presented honours, the words Seaforth hung off their colours indicating they'd fought in the Eugenics war. They entered the car and began the steady drive back to the castle. "How have the first few days as King been?" David asked as they entered the dark tunnel made by the overhanging forest trees.

Five minutes ago East Moreland's Instiute for Maritime Studies at Portworth detected an underwater earthquake some 350km east of the islands known as Barnacle / Nurashima. Research bouys in the area indicate that a tsunami event is likely to the west of this. We are therefore issuing an immediate warning for North West Ardia, South East Alba Karinya and the islands themselves. It is likely that the tsunami, which we can not yet predict the size of, will make landfall in the islands inside of the next hour, while some two to three hours later it may, depending on size hit land in Alba Karinya or Ardia.

As a result of this the CNN have agreed to cancel the rapid deployment exercise and have instead placed the fleets converging on the area on standby for aid operations. 

In response to the statement given by Empress Beatrice to her own nations media King David III of East Moreland made a surprise appearence on the EMTV Morning show. The hour long chat appeared to be unplanned however it did bring up many talking points

I did not sign a treaty with Empress Beartice. I signed a treaty with Rokkenjima. One day myself and the Empress will be dead, the documents we sign live on, therefore when I put my name to anything I always write King David III of East Moreland, and I make sure the words East Moreland are bigger than my name because I am the person privledged to sign on their behalf. It is important to note that despite my personal lack of confidence with the Empress we never stopped co-operation with Rokkenjima. In her statement she said her people are "working with LISA and allied partners in "eradicating any lingering subversive elements" Whether she admits it or not much of that information they will be using has been generated by the outstanding work of the East Moreland intelligence community, some of which in the last few weeks. If we had lost trust in Rokkenjima would we have put our assets at risk in order to help them? That's the question the Empress needs to think about. Unlike her I have put my personal feelings aside because I know that the average Rokkenjiman is a nice person who just like the Morelanders wants a stable world to live in, to have opportunities for their children and be able to put enough food on their table. One day I'm gone and my daughter will be Queen of East Moreland and she too will respect the people of Rokkenjima, mainly because they have in her opinion the best strawberry shoe laces on Mundus and she likes the Cherry Blossoms, her personal feelings with Adrianna I hope will be positive, but that matters little because at some point her child will take the crown and so on. Us rulers are mere dust eventually, our nations last forever.

The supposed collaboration with Borlanders was the straw that broke the camels back, lets assume for a moment we trust these documents, even if we do the camel may not have a broken back buts its got a serious case of severe slipped disks. The East Moreland and Rokkenjiman relationship has been on a downwards trajectory for a while and the Empress has now sent this into a vertical nose dive. Let me explain. During the Marseille conflict Henry Cole asked CTO to put forces under his command, and we did, we sent thousands of combat soldiers into a warzone under the command of a Rokkenjiman.  During that whole conflict which saw Morelanders fighting and dying as they fought on the ground to push into the capital to link up with Alanders and Real Marseille, meanwhile the sum total of Rokkenjiman combat operations was Rokkenjimanstrikes on targets included the munitions storage facility, barracks, and two remote sites utilized in the launch of missiles. Fast forward to the Cultist genocide in Royal Seleucid, Rokkenjima voted in favour of establishing a no-fly zone , shortly after Tim Carpenter risked life and limb to bring a dossier of evidence of a widespread genocide. How many Rokkenjiman planes took to the skies to help with that.....none. Meanwhile East Moreland and Achkaerin were undertaking the most complex air bridge operation Mundus has ever seen, East Moreland planes flying 11,000km, refuelling multiple times from tankers who had refuelled multiple times just to make their rendezvous. Yet 7,000km sat Rokkenjima. While East Moreland, along with allies Achkaerin, conducted the most complex and ambitious military operation  mundus has ever seen an alleged ally, who often boasts of ruling the seas, contributed not a single ship. Instead they were floating them around the Illumic while their allies died protecting innocent cultist's in Royal Seleucid. That does not sound like someone acting with honour. The use of rokkenjiman bases could have decreased flight times by 50% allowing double the number of flights which in turn means more lives saved.  At that time we see Nettie Taylor say "Given present controversies (investigations into the Andean Genocide) it was believed that refraining from involvement would better allow East Moreland to conduct operations without any opportunity for accusations of misconduct to be made." putting their misfortune above the needs of thousands. While every part of our government was busy rescuing civilians and children being gunned down what was the Rokkenjiman government doing? They were using the might of the Rokkenjiman dipolomatic service to challenge a CTO Resolution that instigated investigations into the Andean Genocide. This is a track record that has gone on for many years now and has seen Achkaerin withdraw from the CTO. I would have followed but I gave my word that we would use the CTO to stand for those who can not defend themselves, and we have time and time again, even Uppsala, a non CTO member, it was us that lead a CTO force into the region supported by more non-CTO nations than CTO ones in order to again do what we hope was the right thing. We stand by our word again and again, when Rokkenjima withdrew its embassies in Transvaal it was our own embassy which welcomed any and all Rokkenjimans with open arms. Yet meanwhile the Tri-Partite agreement was always rather one sided. We had several times where Rokkenjima took action in the Illumic without informing us before they informed the press. Yet still we did not walk away because we had given our word and that means something.


Beatrice says I may wish to paint her as a devil. I've not done that, you see I know a little about Christian mythology, the devil is a great powerful creature in possession of nearly as much power as their God but he chooses to do evil actions with it. I have two reasons for not believing Beatrice is the devil, first she does not do evil, the second because she takes no action with her power. Beatrice is therefore focusing on the wrong thing, this is not about one incident, its the sum total of a growing distrust, growing feeling that we shoulder an unfair burden.

This is nothing personal against Beatrice, she has in the eyes of East Moreland through her inactions and her words failed to live up to what I would consider someone of good standing to have. Once upon a time my sister acted in a way that we believe was not befitting someone of good standing, what happened then? I sent her to serve in Blue Legion, a unit our army once had that provided those who had lost their honour to redeem themselves. If I did that to my own sister then why would I go any easier on Empress Beatrice?

We shall stand by as many of our obligations as we can, I expect Rokkenjima to do the same. We shall continue to work on a scenario where East Moreland will make decisions about what we do based on the Code of Canley, in he future that may see us having to co-operate with Rokkenjima and when that time comes I will gladly do so. There may be times when we disagree with Rokkenjima, it's happened in the past. When those days come I will once more do the right thing for our nation and the people the situation will impact. For the next 360 or so day the Empress needs no visa to visit East Moreland, she is therefore free to open any avenues of diplomacy she see's fit with our nation.

The organisation is probably dead. We don't really need it anyway. There have always been coalitions of the willing. Since I have been King our nation has stood up and done what needed to be done. Safraen experienced tragedy and we pulled off the longest airborne assault Mundus has ever known to make sure innocents were supported. Backed by Achkaerin and Dijel we held the capital against USR advances while re-establishing law and order. The willing stepped up. Then again when Safraen was targetted by the Soviets the same nations pushed back those who wished to see Safraen become Communist, we pushed them clean out of Safraen and when we reached the border with Meche what did our forces do.....they crossed that border to open a second front to where CSTO forces were engaged[/url], no need for a request we just pushed over the border and carried our drive on. We, and nations like Ui Cenneslaig, Achkaerin, Mountjoy, and many many others will continue to do the right thing when the times come.

Probably not. I know first hand lots go on in government behind closed doors. The issue is simple though, assuming she did not collude as the documents say, why wasn't more done to support us. Beatrice will have know the exact location of various Borlander assets as such as those working for Ms.Hadley would have known things, that should have been handed over quickly, and to allow Princess Adriana to keep a teddy bear of the Borlanders was a move that is always going to cast doubts. Should Rhiannon of ever walked through the door with a teddy bear dressed as Stalin during the times of rivalries between Rokkenjima and the USR it wouldn't have lasted longer than 10 seconds.

I never say people can't change, I believe Beatrice has good intentions, but good intentions don't get things done. If she does have good intentions then I hope she looks carefully at the relationship between our nations, realises its not about the relationship between me and her, and then looks at our nations track record, even moving Mundus to try and free her daughter.....giving up an oppurtunity to kill Kyle Barren because our forces would have had to kill Adriana, and we'd given our word to do everything possible to bring her home. I'd ask her bearing all this in mind what exactly has East Moreland done to break the Tri-Partite because I can't think of any other nation on Mundus, including Dartfordia whom is connected by marriage to Rokkenjima, that will have done more to support them.

King David today used his time in front of the Representative Assembly to formally pass his best wishes onto the newly named King Andrew III of Seaforth. The King who has only just recently returned from humanitarian operations in Seaforth was giving the Assembly an update of the situation as well as taking his monthly questions from the Assembly Members. The King, who was keen to finish early to get to Ostlake for the upcoming Military Games said. "I am a little shocked that Joshua is not the King of Seaforth, it will seem odd but I know Andrew is a capable man. The Rhodes family are blessed with many suitable leaders and I know King Andrew will be a superb choice to succeed Joshua. It is my hope that the new King will formally visit East Moreland soon as there is a need to rectify formal diplomatic treaties between us. With the descruction of the original Tri-Partitite and the CIS there is no formal tie between us. In my eyes however those ties have never ceased to exist, I therefore formally announce that with immediate effect the old scenario of tariff removal and visa requirements be restored, furthermore as Seaforth starts to rebuild 1/4 of our foreign aid budget ($12.1bn total budget) will be diverted there to be used on improving the standard of life for all civilians. I also ask the newly crowned King to indulge me in a small favour that I wish to see become a tradition. When every Morelander child is born they are nominated a sword and shield mother and father by each parent. Six years ago I used my selection to choose people who in hindsight were bad choices. Now my daughter Princess Rhiannon does not have the full compliment, that is a situation I must rectify, with the former King of Seaforth holding the title of Shield Father I am in need of a new Sword Father, I therefore ask the new King of Seaforth to show the world we are still allies by accepting this role."

The King did not require a vote on the matter of naming a new Shield Father however he did ask for the Assemblies approval, 92% of the Assembly approved, a 2nd vote on the aid budget saw 89% approval. Prime Minister Henrietta Quinn stated, "We had a large number of Seaforthian's come this way when the tragedy struck them. They have been good neighbours to us all and I think the strong bonds between us where seen today in the vote.

---

Last year the Ostlake Military Games saw the first events for injured veterans when teams competed in rowing and hand-biking, this year the events for the Legionnaire Legacy Games, which will run alongside the main games, will see many more. King's Cross Medal winner, former Royal Marine Commando Seregant Joe Townshend gives us a run down of the five sports featured this year.

HANDBIKING

"Does exactly what it says on the tin, its cycling but for people with no legs. Its the event I compete in and I'm looking forward to representing the Navy once more. The sport puts a lot of strain on the upper body and rhythm is the big key, lose it and it can take valuable seconds to get it back. We'll be competing over the distance of 10 miles so at some point lactic acid is going to hit those muscles and then it becomes a battle of just how well you can handle pain. The winner will be the person best able to grit their teeth and keep the rhythm.

ROWING

"This event will see King David competeing after his back wounds. I understand he's just back from Seaforth so it'll be interesting to see just how prepared he is. The distances will be some 3000meters and a lot of them will face similar problems as the handbikers when it comes to lactic acid. There is a much wider range of disabilities in this with each competitor being given a rating 1-10 depending on their mobility, crews will have to fit in with a total score for the crew depending on the race. The event can be impacted by the wind and Ostlake gets a lot of it.

WHEEL CHAIR RUGBY

"I looked at competing in this, then found out its called Murderball as well and so chickened out. The sport is face paced and high impact which means you're likely to see a broken bone of two. Its a sport where you're more likely to need a mechanic for the damaged chairs as you are a physio for the damaged bones. The teams that do well are more likely to be the ones where they are able to handle injuries the best. It'll be a crowd favourite as the sound of the clashing metal always brings a few "oohs" and "aars".

SWIMMING

"They'll be a whole swimming programme this year and its one of the most popular sports used for rehabilitation, expect to see these medals fiercly contested by a whole host of abilities. I began trying to get involved in swimming following my injury, the level of competition was so high that despite hard work I got nowhere near it and so settled for hand-biking. I've heard rumours a few world records could also be under threat so if you catch any of the Legionnaire Legacy games this will be the one."

WHEELCHAIR MARATHON

"Another event I looked at, tried and found it wasn't for me, this is the most demanding wheelchair event I can imagine and the shoulders of the people who win it will be things of mechanical excellence. This will be the final event for the Legionnaire Legacy games this year and I want everyone to get down to the lakeside and watch those competing do their thing. I'll be there cheering on the Navy but its a wide open race and likely to be settled in the last few hundred meters.


The Games will be shown live alongside the Ostlake Games and Princess Freya, one of the Patrons of Legionnaire Legacy says, "We've pushed for even more events next year. It seems odd as we've not even had these ones yet, but we sold out tickets within hours for the rugby, handbiking, rowing and swimming. I know the people of Ostlake will be out en mass supporting the Marathon events and I hope the weather stays clear for it. The Legionnaire Legacy programme is something I'm very proud of being part of and very thankful for it existing. My brother found himself on the receiving end of their support and it helped us all through worrying times, the veterans having their own games shows that they are still battling and for that we can be very proud."

Pilot Officers Cuthbert Lockwood & Hope Meadows

6 Squadon, they were the first specialist ground attack squadron in the Royal East Moreland Air Force and had earned the affectionate nickname as the "Flying Can-Openers" they'd been the first to get hold of the fearsome Dragonbane with its mighty canon and then the first to get the Dragonbane's little baby, the Dragonbane II. It was a squadron with a rich heritage and even the guys in the Army loved them, after all hearing that 6 Squadon was flying above you meant safety and that was something the "Snake-Eaters", as their official nickname called them, were exceptionally proud of.

The Squadron awaited its two new recruits, it would be left to Wing Commander Coleman to train them, along with the other pilots designated for potential ground attack roles. He stood waiting patiently in the briefing room as he heard a gaggle of voices from outside, it was the same every year the fresh faced recruits would arrive and being straight out of Officer Training think they knew it all. The door at the back of the old turf covered tunnel shaped room opened and one at a time the trainees entered to see Coleman and his Lead Instructor Flt.Lt Kelly Sheppard stood at the front, one at a time they fell silent and made their way into one of the seats placing pads of paper on the tables attached to the chairs arm. Coleman waited for the last one to be settled before he began. "Over the next 12 weeks we will determine where your future lies, those of you who meet the physical fitness standards, pass the academic tests and show they are capable of potentially flying a multi-million pound aircraft will progress, those that don't will be packed off back to Ostlake and from there your future decieded. That may see some of you moved onto other aircraft platforms, generally cargo aircraft or things like the Spotter, others will be offered other placements. Those who succeed will do a further 10 week course on our jet lead in before six weeks on their front line platform. You will live, eat, sleep and shit ground attack flying by the time we've done. This is Flt.Lt Sheppard who will oversee you day to day, it will be her report I will use to determine whether you get to stay a pilot. Best of luck" He turned as Sheppard saluted him and then made his way out.

Sheppard was in her late 30's and had almost a decade of combat experience under her belt, she'd become an instructor two years ago and this group through would be her final batch before she herself returned to front line duties. "There are twelve of you, three instructors including me, you will each be assessed by your instructor and those fortunate enough to not get me as their instructor you get your ride along checks done by me. You will refer to me as Ma'am, Flt.Lt or Helus, as for as far as your concerned I have the power of the almighty. Next time you arrive you will do so in a manner of elite air force officers not a gaggle of school children." She cast eyes around the hall. "Lockwood, Cuthbert.....seriously that's a name" the room chuckled before steely gazes from Sheppard shut them up.

"Erm....yeah" a skinny young looking officer stood nervously, "All my friends call me Bertie, or Lockie" he raised a hand as though getting Sheppards attention.

"I couldn't give a shit what your friends call you. You're now Lockwood which sadly means your mine" she shook her head as though disapproving of him already. "Meadows, Hope" she read out the next name.

"Yes Ma'am" a short haired woman stood up at attention, her flying suit arms tied around her waist. Sheppard cast judgemental eyes her way.

"You graduated?" the chief instructor asked but didn't wait for the answer, "Uniform says you wear flying suits zipped up when on duty, now once your out of training that'll be for whicever poor sap gets you to determine when your on duty. To me anytime your breathing your on duty. You breathing Meadows?" Again there was no wait for a response. "Zip it up" Hope looked forlorn, she'd hoped to make a good impression and was just chewed out in front of her new comrades. "You two fuckwits are mine and we're doing walk round checks in five minutes. Get your gear meet me in Hangar 2." With that she turned and left as the other instructors called their own trainees over.

The pair hurried into the locker room, grabbed their flight pads and headed over within about a minute. A single DragonProp sat there with a few ground crew going over it. "Morning Sir...Ma'am" an engineer saluted as he approached, neither of the two new officers was wearing head gear but returned the salute. "Jekar sake" the engineer hung his head, "Pilots don't salute, you don't wear headgear idiots" he said the last bit under his breath as he stuck a screw driver into his belt. "Flt.Sgt Osbourne, I'm your flight engineer so you essentially see me to get your bird. This is Crew 2 so get to know them well, they'll be fixing your planes so be nice ok." he smiled and extended a hand to each of them. "Sheppard's good, she'll bust your balls.....or lady balls" he corrected himself looking at Hope who just smiled, "But she makes good pilots."

"Yes but you can't polish a turd" Sheppard had appeared behind them, "Gossiping again Ozzy" she teased the Flt.Sgt.

"Just preparing them for the efforts to come.....you doing flight checks?" The greying NCO asked as he spotted the flight board in her hand.

"Indeed we are." She tapped a pen on the clipboard which held the aircrafts "Pinkie" a slip that had to be signed following flight checks each day. The pilots would walk round their aircraft and check it, once happy they'd sign the pink form and the aircraft would be under their command. On return the pilot filled in a yellow form which was then handed to Osbourne detailing any issues discovered during the flight. "You fix that hum on the radio."

"Yeah.....we taught it the words" the two laughed at the old joke before Osborne summouned his crew over. "Afternoon on the Dragonling folks, move to Hangar 3." the crew began packing up tool boxes and pushing them out the door leaving just the aircraft and its associated gear, "Best of luck getting out of here" the final words caused the ground crew to laugh as Osbourne followed them out to where the training jets where opposite.

"Today is simple, there are 68 checks that need to be completed before this thing can leave the hangar. Lockwood you get first chance, no help from me, only this" Sheppard tossed a flight manual onto the bench, "First mistake you make you sit down and Meadows gets a go. We finish for the day once both of you have done a successful pre-flight check." Lockwood looked comfortable as he took a pen out of his pocket and headed over to towards the aircraft, he had the swagger of someone who had done this before. He'd been an Air Cadet in his youth and had 20 hours of flying through that youth group so he was certain something as basic as a pre-flight check wouldn't be too hard. "Sit the hell down" Sheppard bellowed before he'd even laid a hand on the aircraft. "Meadows your up" She stood and began walking towards the aircraft "Fuck me....your dead sit down." The two trainees looked at each unsure how they'd failed so quickly especially with them both having been experienced Air Cadets. "Rule No.1 assume the Prop is live. You've just approached the thing from the front, always approach from the back, do a visual check the engine safety is on and then get started." The two nodded, it was a rookie mistake and showed both of them that everything they'd learned in their younger days was out the window.

What they'd thought would take them no more than 20 minutes lasted six hours as each minor mistake was rewarded with a seat on the bench and a chance to read more of the manual. As Hope finally got to fire up the engine, Sheppard gathered on the wing brace, Lockwood on the other side. The satisfying roar of the prop filled the hanger and Sheppard reached in and gently pushed the throttle forward allowing the throaty roar to fill the air. "Thing of beauty" she yelled over the sound as the two cadets couldn't held but feel a tingle up their spine. "Cut it" Sheppard motioned with her thumb across her throat. The engine went silent, "Now put all the safeties back, fill in the yellow and hand it back to Osbourne. Tomorrow I want this thing out the hangar within 30 minutes ok" the two nodded and did as ordered before making their way back to barracks.

"Think we've drawn the short straw there" Lockwood said as they stood at the fork in the path that seperated the male and female accomodation. "Think tomorrow we'll get to fly?" he asked.

"Well she knows what she's doing, ten years in combat shows that. I think we've drawn the best straw, she'll make us better pilots and thats why I'm here. But hell yes to flying tomorrow" the pair high fived before heading off to memorise the checklist once more.

Details of the treaty had been faxed over and the King had left it to Prime Minister Henrietta Quinn to go and face the webcam. This wasn't a method of diplomacy she especially liked but it seemed that was the way Bretonnia wanted to do things. She gauged the room where she could see the Heyran's lurking in the background. "This is poised to be the shortest conference of my career" she began, "Lets be clear I'm thrilled for the pair of you that your nations have come to this agreement. Anything that promotes co-operation for peaceful ends between our neighbours is good news. What however concerns us is that you see fit to negotiate between yourselves Article 11 which effectively is not concerned with just you two. What you are essentially asking for is control to be handed over to the two of you of territory belonging to East Moreland. Allow me to explain, East Moreland is considered by our people Holy Land. I believe with Bretonnia being rather friendly with the Ecclesiasticals they'll be well aware of the importance the faithful place on this concept of a Holy Land. That is no different to those who follow the Cult of Helus and their views of Morelander territory. I'm disappointed on two fronts. First the fact that our friend there from Bretonia is only too aware of our willingness to work cooperatively on the aspects of transportation, after all our Alpine tunnel is due to start soon. Secondly I'm disappointed that you have shown little regard for our nations sovereign territory as you carve a route through it without consulting us about the concept at all. Our territory is not open for others to do with as they wish, not now, not ever." Henrietta paused. "As it stands you will not be given one millimeter of East Moreland territory, instead you will be given two minutes to convince me why I shouldn't now, having made our feelings on this manner of doing this project clear, terminate this link and go enjoy a sunny day in Northfort?"

The king had to smile, just six months ago he'd gained his Masters degree in history and couldn't imagine ever being bored by the stories of another nation. He felt his heart sink slightly seeing a cinema, to him the excitement of history was the stories, the way someone who knew them well told them and made them seemingly come alive as you watched the passion and emotion of the topic pass across their face. He could watch a film any time but settled down in the seat waiting for the show to begin.

To Minister Ebrahimi

Myself and my wife Queen Oksana thank you for your invitation and are delighted to accept your offer. We are, as always , committed to friendship with all nations and while spending time with my wife enjoying your hospitality I am sure that we can find many ways for our nations to advance our relationships. It is my hope that Albactana and Royal Seleucid can become firm friends and despite modern differences between us return to our common ethnic heritages to form a strong kinship that will bring peace, prosperity and happiness to all our people.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Best Regrads

King Akakois.

The Kingdom of East Moreland is saddened that Rokkenjima have seen fit in one fell swoop to dismantle a treaty binding three nations together. While East Moreland and Rokkenjima have in recent months had many issues we had begun to work through these while Evanthe Rhodes was Empress. This has seen a variety of discussions that have taken place and East Moreland operations supporting Rokkenjiman intelligence aims. This therefore leaves us slightly dismayed at accusations that our nation has acted in a manner described as "open hostility and disrespect East Moreland has shown the First Empire" . While it would be true to say our trust in Empress Beatrice has been tarnished we have never stopped trusting the people of Rokkenjima. Our nations diplomatic doors remain open and we hope the Rokkenjimans remain true to the spirit of what established the original Tripartite in regards to maintaining minimal forces in the Illumic. There is unprecedented regional co-operation in the Illumic region after the formation of a solid Alba Karinya Organisation and these nations are more than capable of policing these waters, added to that the glorious return of Seaforth, a nation we shall always count as an ally it is our hope they too will join with us in helping ensure the safety of our home waters. 

Our nation is further dismayed that this dissolution happened with no warning, in the past we have seen Rokkenjima take several actions against the spirit of the Tripartite by making military moves without warning as determined by the agreement. Our ambassadors we're given no warning of this cancellation and had hoped for better communication. We have therefore had no chance to discuss this cancellation with Dartfordia, meaning that our two nations now share no formal bond. This is something that our nation would like to put right and therefore plan to formally offer Dartfordia continuation of the terms of the Tripartite between our nation.

Furthermore we shall be suspending with immediate effect our intelligence operation in aid of supporting Rokkenjima as it is clear our support is no longer required.