Prime Minister's Office, Tsargrad
May 4, 2024
8:59 AM

"Ambassador Hayata to see you, ma'am," the prime minister's secretary said, poking his head through the office door.

Thatcher looked up from the email she was composing and held up a forefinger to indicate that the secretary should wait before ushering the ambassador in.  The woman could stew for a bit.  Thatcher went back to her email.

In all, Thatcher had the ambassador wait a solid ten minutes before she closed her email, changed tabs to Instagram, and hit the intercom button.  "Show her in, please," she said.

The ambassador entered the office.  "Ambassador," Thatcher said by way of greeting, a grim look affixed upon her face, "Please sit."  She gestured to the chair positioned before her desk, the tone of her request suggesting command more than anything else.

Once the unfortunate diplomat was safely seated, Thatcher laid into her.  "So," she said, turning the computer monitor so as to have it visible to both women, her voice quivering slightly with barely suppressed anger, "So.  What the heck is going on here?  This time yesterday, Tytor and Rokkenjima were collectively enjoying a budding romance, a clear symbol of the ever-strengthening ties between our two nations.  And then I come into the office this morning to find this waiting for me.  Care to explain why this decision was made so abruptly, and without so much as a warning to my staff?  Do you have any idea how absurdly difficult things like this make my job?  Do you understand just how much of a PR disaster this is?  We have established channels for communicating these sorts of developments, for crying out loud!  It would have taken your government all of five minutes to use them.  So why, in the name of everything holy, was I not informed before this went live?"

HTMS Agility, Sea of Kyne
May 3, 2024
9:57 PM (local time)

"Mr. Waverly-Edwards?"

Thomas looked up from the sonar screen he was monitoring.  It wasn't his usual job, but he'd received permission to try his hand at some of the other systems that featured aboard one of His Majesty's frigates.  "Sir?" he said, standing to salute the first lieutenant.

"Cap'n's compliments, and he'd like to see you in his cabin at your convenience," the lieutenant said, returning the salute carelessly, "If you'd come with me?"

"Aye, sir," Thomas replied at once.  He stopped just long enough to motion the sonar operator whose station he'd been occupying back to the screen, and then followed his superior officer out of the room.

The captain's cabin was halfway down the ship from sonar, but Agility was small enough that the trip didn't take very long.  The lieutenant poked his head inside to inform the captain of Thomas's arrival, and then ushered him inside.

The captain was seated at his small desk directly opposite the door.  The desk was unusual for such a cramped ship, and it took up a much larger percentage of the cabin's floor space than was strictly comfortable, but the captain had insisted.

"Ah, Mr. Midshipman," the captain said as Thomas entered the small room, "Good, have a seat.  Coffee?"

"Uh, no thank you, sir," Thomas said, glancing at a clock on the wall as he took the proffered chair, "I just had some, er, about half an hour ago."

"Suit yourself," the captain said, pouring himself a cup from a pot that was plugged into the wall to his left.  "So, I don't suppose you know why I've asked you to come see me?"

"No, sir."

"I thought not.  You haven't been online at all in the last, oh, four hours, have you?"

"No, sir.  I didn't think there was wifi on board.  Security risk and all."

"Oh, there isn't.  I was just checking.  Heard from your girlfriend lately?"

"No, sir, not since we left port.  What is this about?"

"So.  I was just forwarded a message from High Command.  They asked me to alert you to... well, this."

The captain passed a sheet of paper across the desk to Thomas, who was surprised to see a print-off of an Instagram post by Asuna from four hours earlier.  He read it quickly.  Confused, he read it again, then twice more.  A dull weight landed in the pit of his stomach as the import of what he was reading hit him.  He looked up at his commanding officer, lost for words.

The two professional sailors looked at each other for a long moment.  Finally, the captain broke the silence.  "Heck of a 'Dear John' letter, isn't it?" he said quietly.

Thomas nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak for the moment.  This didn't make any sense.  Last time he'd spoken to Asuna, there'd been no hint that their relationship was at all in danger.  He started to wonder if this was due to something he'd said or done, or if he was somehow deficient in any of a dozen different ways.  Feelings of inadequacy, of self-doubt began to well up inside him, and his right hand clenched involuntarily on the paper.

"Don't," the captain said, interrupting his internal self-castigation, "This sort of thing happens to the best of us.  If you beat yourself up over this, it won't help anyone, especially not you."

"It's not usually quite so... public, sir," Thomas replied, and was surprised at how steady his voice was, "I mean, it's not, is it?"

"No, usually not," the captain allowed, "Though in a ship this size, news generally spreads quickly.  I wanted to make sure you were the first to find out, so you don't get blindsided in the mess or something."

Thomas smiled weakly.  "Thank you, sir," he said.

"When does your watch end?" the captain asked, standing.

Thomas followed suit.  "Well, I have the evening watch, sir," he said, "So not until eight bells."

"Hm, so not for a couple more hours," the captain said thoughtfully, glancing at his wristwatch.

"Yes, sir," Thomas said.  There was a pause, long enough for Thomas to begin to grow uncomfortable.

"Well, carry on, Mr. Waverly-Edwards," the captain said at last, "You may return to your post.  Chin up, all right?  Show some of that Navy grit."

"Aye, aye, sir," Thomas replied, and recognizing his dismissal, he turned and left the cabin.  He could already tell it was going to be a long night.

"I am not a judge about Rokkenjiman privacy laws, or any laws passed in your country for that matter", Prime Minister Brdzeni Kvirkvelia replied, "as long as they do not openly target our nations, citizens, or own interests". He appreciated the directness of the envoy from Rokkenjima and although he was surprised by his early rhetorical aggressiveness, that didn't make him to lose his calculated smile. "Let's not enter in subjective considerations, as that will lead us nowhere", he continued. "But I am afraid you are wrong, Imperial Liaison, we couldn't care less about Rokkenjiman laws. We respect your nation's national sovereignty, indeed, and therefore they are merely your problem and, by extension, your citizens' problem, and not us".

"But first, excuse me the lack of courtesy, I almost forgot about it", the Prime Minister said as he pressured a dark button in the nearby glass table. Veriko immediately returned with a box, which was showed to the guest as he was offered a gift. "I am certain you have must gained yourself a reputation of a man of the world, allow me to offer something which has not probably reached the ears and tongues in the southern lands yet, despite entrepreneurial efforts in the last decades as I have been told. Our ancestral Kliavina, or as some exporters called it, plum brandy, is quite a mirror of our national character, blunt but colourful". As usual, Zurab accompanied the Prime Minister with a wide smile, while the minister remained silent. "Prepare two glasses in case our guest would like to try it, Veriko".

"Yes, Your Excellency", Veriko replied.

"As I was saying..." , the Prime Minister continued, "I would encourage to face your mission more as a diplomat and less as an Abstergo commercial representative. I have been warned, of course, that such difference may not always be clear, but I resist to believe that's the case. Indeed, it's only natural that you find confidence in their latest technological advances, they don't certainly go unnoticed, both here as in any country of the world. But I am convinced as well that my understanding is not wrong".

"About this important corporation, Abstergo, with their undeniable achievements either at the financial or at the technological level", he continued, "I can give you my word that I could not care less than I do as Prime Minister. My main concern right would be rather to reduce the misunderstanding and unnecessary tension between our governments. I am convinced that the last thing that Rokkenjima either wants or needs is having our nation as an adversary. I can say that the feeling can only be reciprocal, of course. For that reason, I offer you that we both immediately remove these series of sanctions and counter-actions that our governments have been forced, with or without reason, to throw at each other during this weeks of misunderstandings. After all, they do not serve to the interests and well-being of our nations, including the sanctions aimed against either Rokkenjima or Mktvartvelian companies".

"In relation to Abstergo, let's simply allow to take their own decisions", the Prime Minister added. "They are free to do business in this nation, in accordance to the law, if they wish as long as the additional actions aimed against our economy or our companies are removed. I simply recommend, in order to bury the hammer of the misunderstanding, that allow them to decide if they wish to fight against the ruling about one of their products and services, without interference with their other business activities or products they already had in the market, in the ordinary courts, as it is their legal right and of any company, either national or foreign, in the same situation. It may seen than they have certain misconceptions about our nation, from a legal and administrative point of view, but I am certain that such an important and well-governed corporations will not lack the best advice and the best lawyers that our nation has to offer, isn't it?".

Matilda wouldn't miss this opportunity to come herself, but she did bring the Owners of the 'Himmelsee Werke' and the owners of "Poseidon Warft" along with her. While to most non Uburzians, these companies made Airships and Fisherboats respectively, they where of course also the two large military providers inside the Empire.



"I'll hope to meet some of our contacts with smart wars. with Troyes and Kalasin we need to upgrade the empire with more modern tech, as much as i hate to admit, both of us can't provide it all."

Leonhard Himmel walked in his purple toga along the other two, before his competitor nodded:

"At least thanks to you Matilda and the Prince Regent most other Elder Senators see the necessity. Not to mention the whole topic for this meetup is equally important."

Richard Smutje gave Matilda a nod as the three then approached the currently unoccupied morelanders.


"Ah, Thompson!" former Admiral Mathilda Eidmeier laughed seeing him: "To bad you never let me bag you while i was still active."

Both of her companions groaned and shook their hand:

"You're as bad as Abertone's Emperor" they both groaned at their Speaker of the Elder Senate

Rudolph was smiling seeing the borlanders little game, had they not raided that group in time, at least some of his people would have been caught with their pants down. He might have one or two Pawns that now needed sacrificing, though for now, he sent a message to the Morelanders via a Facebook group for retired veterans they kept an eye on:


"Hey, seems like someone is trying to scam me! You should look into where that money is being sent. I'll go back exterminating rats in my cellar."


Afterwards, he turned over to Apep, one of their new Tech Members:

"Find out where they release the data to. I want the whole dump and every name they expose. If they make themselves enemies, they made us friends that need vanishing."