An Offer to Noobia

[DaveIronside]

To:-  President Akubundu Achebe

Following the recent natural disasters that have befallen your country I wish to send our condolences to those effected. East Moreland is a major contributer to the Joint Emergency Team, a major non-governmental aid organisation. We are hoping that other nations with assets used by JET will also respond shortly. In addition to the JET assets we are currently mobilising we would like to utilise elements of our Air Force to bring in supplies, as well as troops belonging to the Royal Army Medical Corps. We shall also be contracting our Ui Cenneslaig allies asking for them to join us in bringing supplies in through the border you share with them.

I hope that this offer will be of help and our military assets being committed can be in Noobia in 24 hours.

May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Nation Know Peace

King David III of East Moreland

[fuwapanzer]

President Achebe,

We have heard reports of the severe natural disasters that have recently affected Noobia.

I offer my condolences to those who have perished, and I hope that no more casualties will follow. This is the reason why I have sent this message.

As I write, the Unified Aerospace Forces are currently preparing to begin delivering vital supplies, such as fresh food and clean water. We shall also be sending personnel from the Unified Ground Forces Medical Division to assist with first aid and issues regarding health. I hope that my fellow allied nations will be doing the same.

I wish your citizens good luck, and godspeed.

[Aurelius III]

President Achebe,


We have recently heard of the natural disasters that have recently ravaged the country of Noobia. I offer condolences to those who have perished and very much hope that casualties will not follow. As I am writing this out, we are planning to send  120,000 Lbs. of food aid, and 50k First-aid boxes.  We will also send the 1st,3rd and 7th Army Medical Corps to help in your hospital.


May Your people be prosperous and the Great Ukari Watch over you,

Restoç Çaérbrénofghh
Minister of Foreign Exports and Aid.                                                                                                                                                         





 

[Achkaerin]

President Achebe

Firstly let me express, on behalf of Achkaerin, our condolences to all those affected by the present situation in your country. As a member of JET I write to you to inform you that Achkaerin's JET assets have been authorized for use in assisting you and these are presently en route to the area. In addition we are deploying military assets with experience in humanitarian crises to the area, we hope you will be willing to allow them to assist your people at this time, we believe that JET assets can be in place within 24-36 hours, with military assets taking between 36 hours and just over four days to arrive in the region.

Signed

Hannelina Porter
Minister for Foreign Aid

[KrisNord]

The nation of Ui Cenneslaig stands ready to support the neighbours of Noobia and as such thorugh the CNN and JET have begun to formulate plans to ensure smooth operations.

At present there has been no confirmation of acceptance of any of these offers of support none the less we are preparing so when permission is granted operations can begin swiftly.

As such the following measures are being put into operation.

1. The port of Claith will begin accepting shipments of relief supplies. These will then be taken by rail to a military base just outside Rosskilde.

2. Priority for docking will be given first to ships carrying perishable items, then to CNN vessels, then to JET vessels and finally to any other ships.

3. Air transports may land at the Air Force base at Ballymana in the same priority as for the docks at Claith. Members of foreign militaries other than the CNN will however be confined to the base itself..

4. When/if the border opens with Noobia road and rail links will be utilised to take supplies over the border.

The first vessels may begin landing in 12 hours time. The first aircraft may begin landing in 24 hours time.

Signed

King Finley

[Markus]

To:-  President Akubundu Achebe

Please allow me to offer out deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Furthermore, we would like to offer aid to alleviate the problems in your Nordic city of Matudi, which has been so affected by the disaster, and with your permission we would like to set up an aid operation center in Kunami. Should we have your permission, we will use that aid center to coordinate our aid efforts in Matudi.

Our organization is a modest one and the total value of our aid is 10 million dinars (usd) but we believe every bit helps in these desperate times.

Respectfully yours,
Imam Afrand Oshidary
Red Lion and Sun Society

[Orioni]

Presidential palace
Outside Pharse, Noobia

President Akubundu Achebe was greatly annoyed by all this international attention. Why did the international community wish to send all this aid and equipment? The people of Matudi had always fended for themselves. And they would surely continue to do so. The governor of Tudu province had assured him that everything was under control.

To: the international community
From: Ministry of foreign affairs, Noobia

It is with great surprise and astonishment that we have read your diplomatic communique.

Please allow me to make two important clarifications.

• First let me clarify the actual situation as it is: there is no humanitarian crisis in Noobia. Furthermore, there is no crisis at all. That gracious types of support that you so generously offer is therefore not needed. Our hospitals have more than enough stores of medicines. Furthermore, the people of Matudi are doing just fine. They certainly don't lack any food or other sustenance.
• Second, it is regretful that this misunderstanding has been allowed to stand. The international community must not be so naive as to believe these lies on social media or other fake media sources that seek to undermine the stability of the Noobian nation. Specifically, it is well known that the revolutionary news rag TNT spreads all sort of lies.

Noobia hereby politely refuses any aid from foreign governments. We recommend that you share it with nations in actual need of such assistance.

Signed,
President Akubundu Achebe
of the
United Republic of Noobia

The foreign ministry had done as instructed. There was nothing further to do. With a clear conscience, president Achebe went to bed. He had a peaceful night without dreams or a single thought about the people of Matudi.

3rd floor of The Noobia Tribune headquarters
Capital city of Pharse, Noobia

The online news section of The Noobia Tribune flashed one red headline: BREAKING Journalist murdered for speaking truth to power.

Since he was promoted to editor of TNT in 2009, Mr Chikelu Kaodilina always prided himself on maintaining journalistic standards. The newspaper's aim was to promote free and democratic reporting. Even if this included going against his own government. This wasn't the first time he lost a journalist under suspicious circumstances. And sadly it wouldn't be the last time either.

But Chikelu remained determined to publish the truth. The city of Matudi was in serious need of assistance. But president Achebe seemed reluctant to accept any aid. Why was he so afraid to appear weak? What benefit did he get from not helping his own people?

Everyone at the Tribune knew their present was corrupt to the core. Which was evident from deforestation grants, all those faulty ferries capsizing without investigation, lofty economic plans that go nowhere, corrupt railway plans, and so many other stories they had published throughout the years.

Achebe and his cronies needed to go. But how?


Mr Chikelu Kaodilina, editor of The Noobia Tribune

(OOC: Alright. So who does one recruit here to instigate some regime change? This can go both ways: support Achebe in return for concessions, or plant your own puppet in return for concessions. I'm quite certain you all have a light and a dark side. A nice condemnation about human rights issues perhaps?)

[Achkaerin]

The Marble Palace, Valtheim, Achkaerin

If there was one thing the Emperor of Achkaerin could do without at the moment it was stressful and high stakes situations, they could easily have a bad effect on his health especially in the wake of his multiple sclerosis diagnosis but whether he liked it or not that was the state of play that Peter as well as his advisors and government ministers were faced with. What had been broadcast as a humanitarian crisis now seemed to have taken on a more sinister nature, first the point blank refusal from the Noobian Government - a matter that raised eyebrows and questions, followed by the CNN's report that showed there was a crisis, which naturally raised more questions and then of course there was the death of the journalist who had broken the story, which was convenient to put it mildly.

"Ok so we've got a humanitarian crisis turned intriguing." Peter said "So the most pressing question - why?"
"It could be as simple as pride" Nettie Taylor, Peter's foreign affairs advisor, said "Maybe Achebe doesn't want to appear weak by needing international help."
"You don't play games with people's lives." Peter said
"It could also be something far more sinister." Nettie said "We've seen this sort of thing before."
"We've checked that Achebe isn't related to Kadassa right?" Peter asked injecting a little humour, he sighed before looking around the table again "What's the state of our aid operations?"
"JET personnel and supplies are making their way into Ui Cenneslaig" Adam Sheppard the Minister of Defence said "Military assets are in motion according to timetable. But obviously we can't put the operation into action without the approval of the Noobian Government which we don't presently have."
"With the CNN images there's a foundation to encourage Noobia to think again." Nettie said "A response is in order."
"When will our first ship arrive on station?" Peter asked
"The INS Stardust will be on station in twenty four hours." Adam said
"I'll tell you something else." Michael Williams said from where he sat "If the journalists are right and this reporter was killed for publishing the truth then it raises the question of the local police's integrity."
"Stacked deck?" Peter asked
"Reads like it." Michael said
"Kumiko?" Peter asked turning to his most trusted advisor his chief of staff Kumiko Arkwright

"They're right." Kumiko said "This whole thing has a rather unwelcome smell to it."
"Recommendation?" Peter asked
"Break the challenge down into its respective components." Kumiko said "We've got three situations there's the people that need help, there's the government apparently blocking that help and then there's the journalist death."

"Ok then, Michael you could handle the aid side of this right?" Peter asked
"Yes." Michael said
"Hand Rion the other two problems and keep me informed." Peter said "Adam you know what to do."
"I do." Adam said

[fuwapanzer]

The Presidential Office
Gebäude der Bundesregierung
Metria City

President Ebston Feish paced rapidly in his cramped office. His mind racing over what he should do. The message sent by Achebe was strange, and quite suspicious too, even more so after the journalist’s death. Just as he was about to bang his head onto the desk in frustration, the Minister of the Armed Forces swiftly arrived.

“Good, you’re here.”

“Sir, the President of Noobia has-“

“Sent a message, I know. That’s why I’ve called you.”

“We’ve been given permission to keep our aircraft in Ui Cenneslaig until further notice. I decided I’d come here and ask what we should do. Should we return our planes or put them in Ui Cenneslaig?”

Ebston took a sip from the bottle of water on the chestnut oak desk, and replied.

“They’re ok with our planes, right?”

The minister nodded in approval.

“Good, we’ll keep them there. While that happens, I’ll be trying to convince Achebe to let us in. It still boggles me why he’s not letting any aid in, when they clearly need it.”

“The death of the journalist makes it all the more suspicious, too.”

The two waited in silence, then the minister spoke.

“Thanks for your time, sir.”

He exited the office, and left Ebston to think about what he would say to Achebe.

[Markus]

Djerb, Imperial Enclave, Empire of Tamora
Imperial Palace - Emergency meeting on the Noobian crisis


Attendees:

Emperor Abbas
Head of Foreign Affairs Alya
Head of Intelligence
Various advisers


"In conclusion, the Noobian president is in a tight spot. He has an emergency on his hands, has refused help and the CNN have humiliated him by going public with satellite pictures. He doesn't want to appear weak and doesn't want foreigners snooping around which is understandable considering he's corrupt to the core. He is an a situation where he could use help especially since the things could turn more dire if his opponents take advantage of this and use the incident to push for his removal" finished the briefing one of the security advisers.

"Then we contact his people and offer our support" said Abbas.

Since Alya knew her staff would have to do the contacting, she spoke:

"We need to also come up with a proposal to handle the media fiasco. Right now it's not looking good. The man told our NGO and others that the natural disaster didn't happen. "

The head of intelligence took his turn:
" We have come up with a short plan to address this or at least mitigate the damage and avert attention from him:

1.We recommend that the Noobian president counteract publicly the CNN statements as exaggerations meant to create panic and a reason to interfere in Noobia's affairs.
2. Admit publicly that a disaster did happen and that some corrupt official or several have misused funds for such emergencies and that is why they misinformed him of the scale of the tragedy which is significant but not to the degree CNN say. Also, this is a perfect opportunity for him to lay the blame on his political opponents as the ones being corrupt.
3. Allow access of JET publicly but in practice do everything possible to disrupt and delay their operations. Criticize them publicly for not doing a good job and thus claim they weren't there to actually help but only for show.
4. Allow us to send some ships in the north, they should be able to arrive in a couple of weeks. When we do, he would no longer disrupt JET and thus help create the impression the situation is improving because we got there."

" It could work" said Abbas.

Alya added: " I will contact some of our connections in Zimalia and ask them to confirm to the Noobian president that we are trustworthy in these matters. Afterwards, if the Noobian president is receptive then we can talk about cooperating on economic matters and have the country open for our missionary work."

Abbas then addressed one of the councilors at the table:

"What can you tell be about Noobia? "

 "In many ways similar to Zimalia, they have resources and an underdeveloped agricultural sector. These are areas where we worked well in Zimalia and we can mirror some agreements we have there."

"Good! Alya, have our people explain to the Noobian leadership that this can be an opportunity to develop relations between our countries and also improve their personal prosperity. Also, if push comes to shove we are willing to support them even more just as we did with the Zimalian president. "

The Head of Intelligence also spoke:
" I suggest we also stress to the Noobian president that his southern neighbor, the UC which has a huge military, can be become a security risk to him. This crisis as it is now is just a media scandal but CNN and others could use it as an excuse to remove him from office. That should make him more receptive. "

"I agree. Alya, have your people send them our offer of cooperation, tell them of the risks they face , suggest how to handle JET and see what they say. Keep me updated.

That is all."

 And with that the meeting adjourned.

[Orioni]

10:00 hours
Presidential palace
Capital city of Pharse, Noobia

“What do you mean the governor doesn’t have any news yet? It’s already been three days,” exclaimed a fuming president Achebe. Enraged, he looked around his office for something to throw and settled on a half-empty bottle of sparkling water. His secretary was quick enough to duck out of the way.

“Please, Mr president,” pleaded his secretary Robert Pigalle, “You must understand that the governor of Tudu Grace Somieur has her hands full with handling the actual cyclone aftermath.”

“I know that, you idiot,” replied Achebe, “And I know damn well the whole country has seen those satellite images CNN keeps repeating the story at the top of every hour. A story which I told you to bury. What concerns me much more is the impact this journalist’s death will have on our investments, not whether those fishers have a dry bed tonight or not. Get me Grace on the phone! Tell her this is bloody urgent.

“Yes sir, right away.”

“And we need to move our foreign funds to a less hostile location. Someplace like Temora or Zimalia, for example. Gilbert [Anambra, the foreign minister] tells me they don’t ask too many questions over there.”

(OOC: I can only respond to the available information to Achebe or other specific characters. The CNN press article is public knowledge. Your backroom discussions or military planning are not.)

15:00 hours
8 km south of Matudi
Tudu province, Noobia

TNT editor Chikelu Kaodilina had flown to Matudi to attend Latasha's funeral. At the local TNT office, he met up with Adimu Kobo. The two men shared a jeep ride out of the city.

“Police aren't sharing much information. Do you have any clue as to what it means?” asked Chikelu with a grim look on his old face.

“What means, Sir, is something quite disturbing,” replied Adimu. “We know the regime is corrupt. We just don’t know how deep it goes. Latasha and I had talked about possible corruption among the police. Because there are always some bad apples. Not just the usual traffic cops that ask a bribe when you drive around town. But real criminals.”

Chikelu turned his head and looked out of the jeep's window. The road into Matudi was almost deserted. No sign of any police checkpoints. At least he'd save some money by not having to bribe the cops. The suburbs looked completely destroyed. Pools of water mixed with broken branches.

After an hour of driving along the muddy road, they arrived in Latasha's village. The funeral turned out to be a large, confusing, and frightening affair. Large, because the funeral was for a young and beloved local journalist. Confusing, because of infrastructural and logistical problems. And frighting, because the body of Latasha was mostly unrecognisable. Or so he had been told by her relatives. It was a closed-casket funeral.

After the funeral, he hung around in the local village, speaking to the young woman's father. He was old and looked broken. Both emotionally and physically. Chikelu gave him some money. It wasn't much money. But it would have to do.

[Achkaerin]

In Valtheim Peter was leaning against the wall in his study watching the television as the news played through Consul Williams's response to the Noobian situation it was exactly as intended a point made to try and get the much needed aid in country, but Peter still had the sense that the whole thing smelled rotten to the core and the more he thought about it the more he became aware that they were treading a familiar road, not one he particularly enjoyed traveling down either.

"You wanted to see me?" someone asked from the doorway of the study, Peter looked up and saw Rion Ayanami stood there
"Yes I did." Peter said
"I'm guessing it's about Noobia?" Rion asked "Where do we stand?"
"We're not suspending orders so we're continuing with positioning." Peter said "Ships still moving into position and assets flying into Ui Cenneslaig. But obviously they can't go anywhere without the permission from the Noobian Government or..."
"Or the situation meets the exemption criteria under standing government policy." Rion said "Which is why you handed me the job."
"What have you got?" Peter asked
"I've had a team flown in to Noobia on a commercial flight." Rion said "I've told them to investigate the situation in particular the journalists death. They're also going to look around and assess the ground situation in the affected area we get film, photographs, reports and we add the supporting evidence to what the CNN has provided."
"This sounds like what Tim Carpenter did in the Cult of Helus Genocide." Peter said
"That's where I got the idea." Rion said
"Keep me informed." Peter said

In Noobia there had been a few unfamiliar faces at the funeral, this was Rion's team a four strong group of two men and two women they'd flown in on a commercial flight and after acquiring their transport, courtesy of the embassy in Ui Cenneslaig bringing the vehicle across the border to the airport they'd arrived at, they'd driven up to the affected province. As the funeral wound down and the large crowd slowly dispersed over time the vehicle sat motionless, inside it sat Anthony Vilani he was keeping watch and keeping the engine warm just in case something went wrong. In the village the other three members of the team were doing their thing - first up was Elena Walsh, she was paying her respects at Latasha's grave, something she preferred to do without a watching audience, at that point she was running perimeter cover for the other two members of the team Hazel Nairn and the team leader Colin Quinn.

"That's your guy." Elena said over the com channel that they were using when she saw a man walk out of a building.
"Details?" Colin asked
"Chikelu Kaodilina" Anthony said looking at his laptop, it sat on the passenger seat in the car "He's the editor of the The Noobia Tribune. So he was Latasha's boss."
"Suggestions?" Hazel asked
"Approach with care, given the situation he's going to be guarded about talking to people he doesn't know." Elena said
"We're clear right?" Colin asked
"I can't see anyone snooping around." Anthony said
"Nor me." Elena said

Colin made his move and approached the editor making sure to do so from in front and not hide his presence, Hazel did likewise.

"Mr Kaodilina" Colin said "May we have a moment of your time?"

[Aurelius III]

The king sighed, as he drank some tea, as his day had been tumultous enough, and he hoped nothing would happen. Then, his foreign aid minister, Restoç Çaérbrénofghh, opened the door
"What is it" the king said, a little annoyed at this intrusion
"S-s-orry your highness, I had to bring this news!" Restoç  stammered
"Very well then. What is it?" the king said, his annoyedness replaced with an urgent voice
"It's Noobia," Restoç  told Aurelius "They've stopped any nations from giving help!"
"Who signed the order?" asked the king
"Achebe! And, he says there is nothing wrong in the region, when there clearly is!"
"Very well then. It is clear that he must be scared of looking weak on the international stage. We have reports of journalists killed for spreading the truth about the humanitarian crisis. We must get the supplies in, but we can't. What have other nations done?"
"We're not sure,your highness. WE shall present to you once we know."
"Very well then. But do It speedily, and I want the reports here and a cabinet meeting called by 2:00 PM, alright?

[Aurelius III]

The king and his cabinet were reading the news report by L'avante-garde news about the situation in noobiahttps://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=1530.msg13638#msg13638
They had already come to a conclusion, which the king read out later
"It has come to us, that the aid has been banned, even though it is needed. WE shall send planes anyways, in order to deliver the Cargo. If our planes are attacked, we will respond with fury, the likes of which noobia has not seen, and will expose to the world their corruption."
Meanwhile, the king sent out a heavily encrypted note to the planes, asking them to also take photos of the region, to show the world the corruption of Noobia.

[Markus]

To:  President Akubundu Achebe,


The Empire of Tamora would like to offer its support in these difficult times. As representative of a country that is not opulent we understand just how many challenges your presidency faces and the lack of resources available to meet all the needs. We are also aware that those opulent countries jumping in to offer help are one of the reasons why your country poorer in the first place as they take the best minds your country has to offer though emigration.

We were disappointed that CNN has chosen to make those satellite images public and thus change the focus from helping those affected to that of speculating just how affected the region is and attempting to paint a bad picture of your presidency. Such discussions should have taken place in private allowing your presidency the time to make an informed decision rather than have to waste valuable time dealing with the press.

We know that your presidency has done everything in its power to develop the country and we want to be a partner in developing Noobia together. You can count on us to support you in these difficult times and I have attached and annex* with some proposal that might help you in the current crisis.

Please let us know if there is anything we can help you with and we will do our best to provide it. In the interest of a prosperous cooperation in the future, we look forward to your reply.

*OOC: points 1 through 4 that can be found here.

Respectfully yours,
Alya Safavid
Head of Foreign Affairs

[DaveIronside]

OOC- I'm just going to throw this in as a piece of advice on military matters and a heads up by rights before you engage in military RP you need a military section of your factbook if anyone needs help with that PM me.

1. RADAR extends outside your own countries borders. It is highly likely that Noobia will get a good 10-15 minutes warning you're approaching their airspace unless you've done something to mask your approach.

2. General practice when an undocumented aircraft approaches your airspace is to task fighters to intercept.

3. The North coast of Noobia is the impacted area as far as I know. The nearest nations to Noobia in terms of "as the bird flies" are probably Kedwen, Ui Cenneslaig and Krimeon. That gives around a 2,500km flight to the impacted area.

4. To get from New Derusima to the effected zone is 4,500km. The aircraft being sent has a range of around 7,600km. So you need to work out how they are getting back as they're some 1,400km short on the trip.

5. Assuming a similar kind of aircraft from Montagnes they would have a 10,000km journey to reach the effected zone. So again you would need to work out how to even get there in the first place.

6. Personally I would not RP past crossing into Noobia airspace as if Orioni determines they are shooting you down you've got all kinds of issues.

If anyone wants to ask me anything about military RP stuff feel free to pick my brians as I have a few suggestions around some problems if people are stuck.

4.

[Aurelius III]

OOC- I'm just going to throw this in as a piece of advice on military matters and a heads up by rights before you engage in military RP you need a military section of your factbook if anyone needs help with that PM me.

1. RADAR extends outside your own countries borders. It is highly likely that Noobia will get a good 10-15 minutes warning you're approaching their airspace unless you've done something to mask your approach.

2. General practice when an undocumented aircraft approaches your airspace is to task fighters to intercept.

3. The North coast of Noobia is the impacted area as far as I know. The nearest nations to Noobia in terms of "as the bird flies" are probably Kedwen, Ui Cenneslaig and Krimeon. That gives around a 2,500km flight to the impacted area.

4. To get from New Derusima to the effected zone is 4,500km. The aircraft being sent has a range of around 7,600km. So you need to work out how they are getting back as they're some 1,400km short on the trip.

5. Assuming a similar kind of aircraft from Montagnes they would have a 10,000km journey to reach the effected zone. So again you would need to work out how to even get there in the first place.

6. Personally I would not RP past crossing into Noobia airspace as if Orioni determines they are shooting you down you've got all kinds of issues.

If anyone wants to ask me anything about military RP stuff feel free to pick my brians as I have a few suggestions around some problems if people are stuck.

4.

oof. Guess I'll have to delete that post.