There weren't many days that
Peter was lost for words but this was certainly one of them, he had a copy of Leopold's declaration in his hand, he'd read it and now looked around his study at his various advisors and other officials "There are days that you amaze me Rion." the Emperor said "That intuition of yours to get Jack to visit somewhere away from Gaia."
"Well Leopold didn't do a very good job of hiding that something was in the offing."
Rion Ayanami said
"What do you recommend about Jack?" Peter asked
"Keep him where he is right now." Rion said "It's easier to protect him there than on the move."
"Ok." Peter said "Thoughts on this declaration?" before making his opinion on it clear by tearing the copy he was reading in half
"It's a load of rubbish."
Nettie Taylor said "Leopold's promising nothing, there's no mention of any changes to the People's Council not in the makeup of it, nor the relation of it to the Crown. We might as well replace the Conclave with the Provisional Government and Klara with Leopold because that's all this is, the same system at the sharp end just different names. And frankly Leopold has burned his bridges and his hopes with the attack on East Moreland's embassy."
"And I'll tell you something else." Peter's daughter
Serenity said "If Leopold prevails Isaak never sits on the Lodjan Throne. That whole thing is set up deliberately to allow Leopold a path to throne as the oldest closest living relative, he's twenty one years older than Klara."
"Mr Attorney." Peter said "Tell about the ship."
"Yes Your Majesty."
Robert Westbrooke said "The false imprisonment of six members of the Lodjan Conclave aboard it was already sufficient to designate the
HDMS Morelander as a pirate vessel, we've now got even more grounds with the attack on the East Moreland embassy. The actions of Leopold also amount to breaches of the Uppsala Convention so irrespective of whether anyone agrees with his cause, he is behaving in a criminal manner."
Peter sighed and nodded "Adam where are we?" he asked looking at his brother in law and Minister of Defence
Adam Sheppard"The
INS Kyogre has been conducting trials in the Krimeon, we're testing out the capability of operating Dragonbreath's from the ship." Adam said "We're proposing ordering the ship down into the Alucard in case we need to execute a full evacuation of our embassy. We're not recommending pulling the trigger on that yet because of the message it would potentially send. The
INS Rhyth Icerider is already in the Alucard we'd like to divert that to the area just to cover all possibilities."
"Ok. Let's just hope any potential drone carrier vs drone carrier doesn't get too confusing" Peter said "Press statement to be released outlining all that, divert ships as discussed, tighten up embassy security and keep Jack where we know he's safe until we need to move him."
As the study cleared, Peter walked around behind his desk and worked on his tablet for a moment bringing up a video call with his ambassador to Lodja,
Emalet Silvermist, Peter took a moment before smiling slightly "Are you ok Emalet?" he asked
"I've had better days." Emalet said "I'm ok though, no penetration in this wing of the Palace."
"Well that's good." Peter said "I'm initiating the first stage of the sunstrike protocol." this was the first stage of closing an embassy, it involved heightened security, preparation for evacuation and beginning secure data transfer."
"Understood." Emalet said
"I'll get Rion to send Zoe down there." Peter said referring to Emalet's older sister.
"Thanks." Emalet said "Anything I need to do?"
"We're sending you a summary of what's been agreed as our course of action communicate it with our allies embassies and the Queendom." Peter said
"I will." Emalet said
In the Lodjan Duchy of Quadalgho,
Mika Schilling hung up her phone, she was the Justicar assigned to guard
Prince Jack while the Prince was in Lodja, the news coverage of the attacks in Gaia was everywhere to be seen and it had Mika in a heightened state of awareness. She'd just received the 'stay put assets on the way' order it was at this point that her colleague
Jess Nillson came in from outside. "There's a little unease and a lot of shock out there." Jess said "Understandable. What's the word?"
"Stay put for now, there's a ship on the way which we'll be able to evacuate to if required." Mika said "And let's hope things don't spread to here."
"And if they do before help arrives?" Jess asked
"We put Jack, Katyusha and her family in the cars and run for the Aosta border." Mika said
"Sounds like a plan." Jess said
Secure Communication to the Government of the Queendom of Lodja, the embassies of East Moreland, Ui Cenneslaig, Tytor, Rokkenjima, et al
On behalf of Emperor Peter I extend the condolences of Achkaerin to Queen Klara and the families of the victims of what can only be described as these terrorist attacks. The Emperor also instructed me to make you aware of actions that will be taken by Achkaerin in response to these tragic events. The
HDMS Morelander will be designated a pirate vessel subject to appropriate action should it be encountered by an Achkaerinese vessel, be advised that the Achkaerinese has the
INS Rhyth Icerider in the Alucard and the
INS Kyogre and its three escorts en route to the area, they have orders to assist in locating the
HDMS Morelander. Leopold Hamsik will be recognised as having been party to acts that breach the Uppsala Convention and be regarded as a terrorist. Security at the Achkaerinese embassy in Gaia will be tightened, this message is in advance of a press release in the next few hours that will go into further detail.
On a personal note I would like to extend my thanks to those who ensured the safety of those of us who were inside the Palace when all this occurred.
Signed
Lady Emalet Silvermist
Achkaerinese Ambassador to Lodja