OOC- Dave has given me the OK with this.

62 men and women had gathered in the basement of the Fleur de Lys nightclub close to the beach front in the city of Troyes. For the past few weeks they'd all been taking trips over the border to Aosta where they'd meet up with members of the Empire's Special Forces. Many of the 62 had served with Real Marseille during the fight against Materna but their skills had become a little rusty, after all many of them weren't exactly career military types. One of the 62 was Jean-Pierre Cantona, the founder of Real Marseille and the first President of Marseille, he had persuaded his former comrades in arms to reform the paramilitary group and now with weapons supplied by the Empire of Aosta. Jean-Pierre hoped that they wouldn't be needed but as he checked that he had several spare magazines for his weapon he couldn't rule out it either. They'd tried everything to get the city back for their homeland and even with international support it seemed that Seaforth were intent on keeping hold of their little slice of Albion. "Friends today we shall take back to last piece of our homeland. When we kicked out that damn cult and restored our nation as a Republic all should have been well but as we've seen Troyes failed to get that and now we must toughen our hearts, strengthen our spirits and prepare once more to go into the fire if needed. We promised that we would free all of Marseille and now we must finish the task. You all know your duties for the day and I pray that we meet again with our mission complete." He headed round the room and shook hands with each of them. The last three people he made his way to had stood to one side and not mixed with the others.

Lt. Mirko Russo, Sgt Ruben Clemente and Leading Rate Sara Zanetti had flown in that morning as tourists and stood in civilian clothing, accreditation given to them as journalists while in reality Russo and Clemente were members of the nations elite commando force Zanetti was a radio operator with the Navy. They were here to ensure that high command back home had a clear picture of what was happening. "You all set JP?" Russo asked Cantona as they shook hands.

"As much as we ever can be. You're sure everything is in place?" The former President enquired.

"Yes sir. We've had confirmation just a few hours ago.  We've got your back." With that reassurance the members of Real Marseille placed their rifles in gym bags and stuck pistols into holsters concealed under their jackets before they headed out. At first they made their way in ones and twos leaving at short intervals from the nightclubs back entrance. They made their way down towards the military base that dominated the harbour. There were the usual protests there with Cantona recognising several old friends who had fought alongside him years ago. They stood there with flags and plackards demanding the Seaforthians go home. It was once all the group had got themselves in position that the plan swung into action. There were four roads that lead to the base and now a large box truck full of bricks had swung across each blocking access by road to the base. Cars beeped their horns as traffic began to back up in the streets around the camp. The drivers exited the vehicles and their passengers stuck huge knives into the tyres other members of the group hurried forward and pulled on ropes sending banners unrolling down the side of the truck announcing that the Seaforthian base was now closed and that Real Marseille were in charge of the road blocks. Some of the crowd having seen the banners began cheering.

WIth the base now effectively stopped by the road a flotilla of four fishing boats appeared and dropped anchor in attempts to block the entrance to their dockyard. All that was left was an aerial approach and that would be next to impossible for the folk of Real Marseille to stop. While the locals did their work Zanetti kept the Aostan government up to date and then when the boats had dropped anchor the next stage of the plan swung into action.

At 11:45am on 12th April 2024 the people of Real Marseille have determined that we can wait no longer. Today we have taken action to restore the city of Troyes to the control of Marseille. As a result we have today claimed an estimated 95% of the city for the newly established Republic of Troyes. In addition we also assert our rights to all waters, as laid out by the FSC and all air-space as recognised by international law. We hereby also declare that on the 1st July 2024 a referendum will be run in the city giving people a choice as to whether to remain their own independent Republic or rejoin with Marseille. Until that time Jean-Pierre Cantona will serve as interim President.

Almost instantaneously a group of Aostan naval vessels made their way into what Cantona had described as his new territorial waters. The HIMS Rothari lead a pair of Destroyers (Perctarit and Godepat) and the same number of Frigates (Liupert and Raginpert) took up positions on the main naval route into Troyes and then transmitted their own message

As of 11:50 am on the 12th April 2024 the Empire of Aosta formally recognises the Republic of Troyes and Mr.Jean-Pierre Cantona as their provisional President. In an agreement confirmed by both nations the Imperial Navy of Aosta is to take up a role of maritime security for the new Republic until such a time as they can take responsibility for doing so. We wish this new nation the best and look forward to a bright future as neighbours

Each year since the 1780's the Imperial Family have paid a sum of money to any faith with an estimate of 10% or more of the population in order to help ensure access to places of worship. This year the Empress Serena has announced that the portion allocated to the Catholic Church will not be given and instead will be given directly to "Street Organisations that help the poor." Making the announcement the Empress said, "The Catholic Church has vast sums of financial reserves, it will not miss the $15million that we would have given them. That money instead will be given directly to organisations and charities that work directly with the homeless and poor. Catholics across the Empire in many ways have two allegiances, first to the crown and also to the Pope via their faith. I am confident that $15million is a drop in the ocean for the Catholic Church especially if we glance back just a relatively short period of time when they were giving nations vast sums to fund projects there. Those of the Catholic faith can rest easy knowing that this years Religious Protection Fund payment will be distributed with their faiths own ethos in mind and I intend, wherever possible, that the charities being given the money be ones connected to the Church."

Meanwhile the $15million given to the Bene Gesserit faith will continue to be paid. "Since the faithful of that religion outed themselves we have seen their numbers swell. At present there are just over 8million Bene Gesserit in Aosta and I suspect the number could be rather higher. We have seen that community engage massively with educational based projects. One of the favourites I have heard of is travelling libraries visiting remote rural areas to allow children to borrow books and I've even seen adult literacy classes being run. Our nations literacy rate of 97% is good but not perfect and anyone helping in that regard I am more than happy to celebrate."

The announcement was meet with mixed reactions. One Catholic we spoke to in Ovado said, "The money didn't go far if we're being honest, a few coats of paint, some new upholstery in Churches here and there. The Empress is right to say that the Church won't miss the money and if it helps the homeless I'm sure Jesus would approve." Meanwhile some criticised the fact that one faith recieved the payment and not the other. "The Bene Gesserit faith has some fat cat rich benefactors around the world. I am sure the Fremen family could have easily found $15million to give to their group. It seems unfair to deny Catholics the same support as the Bene Gesserit when Empress Serena is supposed to be everyone's Empress."

The Empress has however reassured members of the Catholic faith that funding that goes into faith based schools is still secure saying, "The Empire will ensure all children aged between 4-18 are guaranteed a quality education that as far as possible is of their choice. The Catholic schools in the Empire are excellent facilitators of our nations curriculum and so long as parents want their children to attend them I will ensure that they have the tools and resources to do their job. It is even my hope that in the coming months we may be able to divert more money towards are educational systems and ensure every Aostan leaves school with a world class education that gives them opportunities to better not just their own lives but the fortunes of the Empire."

Funding for the Folk Faith Temples will be untouched. Currently 74% of Aostans describe themselves as members of that faith and 62% of those describe themselves as having "Strong" faith. Empress Serena is due to attend this coming weekends Ceremony of Decline at the coastal town of Excenex.

To the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit Faith.

As Empress to over 8million of your faiths people I believe that it is important that the Empire of Aosta and the Theocracy seek to pursue a path of friendship. I believe that it is vital I show this significant portion of my people due respect and a visit to your city of Seitch would be a very public show of respect for your faith. I therefore ask that you accept my request to visit the city and meet with yourself.

With Respect

Empress Serena III of Aosta

Today Emperor Franco Tornincasa IV was turning three. The nation was having a low key celebration because even though Aosta had a long history of celebrating its Imperial Family however Franco had never really been embraced by the people. His father had died along with his mother in a helicopter crash and while people were sympathetic to the orphan boy it was hard to feel attachment to a child who had been out of the media glare his whole life. For the time being his uncle, Prince Lorenzo, and his aunt,  Princess Brigida , were left to run the Empire. Today they were both making their way to the Imperial Palace to spending some time with their nephew on his special day. The Palace plaza had been sealed off and a party was being held, bouncy castles, games, rides, all things an active three year old would love. Lorenzo had been in Ovado for the last few days dealing with a variety of financial arrangements that the government was working on. Meanwhile his sister Brigida had been out in some of the Principalities that made up the Empire talking with them about various security measures. She was now en route via the streets of Ovado having flown to the nations main airport just twenty minutes ago. The car she was travelling in had stopped at a junction as her Imperial Carabinieri motorbike out-rider cleared the turn for them. Just as the final citizens car cleared the junction Brigida found herself thrown back into her seat as something impacted the car and a moment later all she saw was black.

It had only been thirty seconds at most when Brigida came too now lying on the tarmac in the road. The sound of occasional gunfire was the first thing she noticed. A Carabinieri officer was knelt beside her glancing over the rear of the car. Noticing the Princess stirring he turned back. "You ok?" He asked but Brigida heard him as though she was underwater. He asked again as he pointed at her and then made the thumbs up gesture. Brigida nodded slowly not sure if she really was. While they had been sat at the junction some kind of explosion had gone off in front of the car and then they had begun taking gunfire. Thankfully for the Princess the car was well armoured but the explosion had blown in part of the windscreen and now she could see the driver was dead.

Two more blue uniformed members of the Carabinieri  had now arrived on their own motorcycles and having parked in cover began unfolding their submachine guns. They moved over towards the Princess and while one kept watch the other checked her out for injuries. Apart from a probable concussion there seemed nothing wrong other than a few minor cuts. Sirens now filled the air as more and more help arrived, first the local police, then an element of the Palaces own emergency response team and while the fire from the office building across the road did itensify it was largely just inaccurate waste of ammunition. Three of the soldiers from the palace entered the office and around two minutes later a crescendo of gunfire could be heard and then over the radio calls of a need for a medic as the attacker had been shot. The lull in the shooting gave the Princess chance to get out of the area and while she was still complaining of problems hearing her new vehicle, a Carabinieri patrol car, took her to the units base in the capital where they had their own medical facility.

She wasn't the only casualty to arrive at the base as a few minutes later the shooter had been brought in. Along with the shooter his backpack, rifle, a hangun and a small rocket launcher had been discovered in the room he's tried to defend against the soldiers. The man had been shot several times in the torso and was in a bad way so the military medics took him straight to an operating theatre there would after all be questions to answer.

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Meanwhile as soon as news reached the Palace of the attack on the Princess the party was over. Prince Lorenzo issued orders for everyone but his own family and the young Emperor were to leave. The huge palace emptied quickly and with the gates now locked a group of camo clad soldiers patrolled the plaza. They had lost one Emperor recently and Lorenzo did not intend to lose another quickly.

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With an attack on the Imperial Family having taken place the overly protective arm of the Carabinieri  were tasked with the investigation and it didn't take long for them to discover that the man they had found had a heavily customised rifle. Everything about it seemed to be made to measure and it almost caused an arguement among the investigating officers about test firing it so nice was its construction. The weapon itself came from a company in Drenovia and as such their first move was to inform the Princess that they may need help from their southern continental neighbours. With that in mind a now hearing restored Princess requested the Drenovian ambassador come to the Carabinieri Base.

The government of the Empire of Aosta are seeking to promote the economic development of countries known to have low GDP's. It is our belief that by supporting the growth of nations trying to develop their own economies both they and ourselves can prosper. As such we are extending the offer of a line of credit (not to be repaid) with our government as detailed below.

2020 - $450million
2021 - $400million
2022 - $250million
2023 - $150million
2024 - $70million

These figures however would be reviewed annually and subject to change. Conditions will be attached to how this money may be spent.

1) The funds may be used to pay for goods and services from businesses based in Aosta
2) The funds may not be used to pay for military equipment
3) Any funds not spent by the anniversary of this agreement will be forfeit.

It is our hope that should this agreement be accepted it can form a firm foundation on a strong future relationship based on trade and commerce between us.

We hope this offer is accepted in the spirit of friendship that it is offered.
Best Regards

Prince Lorezno
Regent of Aosta

To:- His Majesty King Finley of Ui Cenneslaig

Since the death of Emperor Franco Tornincasa III it has fallen to myself and my brother to take care of the Empire for his son and new Emperor Fanco Tornincasa IV. The two year old Emperor is some way off fully inheriting the reigns to the Empire but as regents we have agreed that it is now our duty to ensure the Empire he finally leads is in a much stronger position internationally than the one our brother left. With this in mind I would be excited to meet with you and flesh out the beginnings of a strong relationship focused on co-operation across the Alucard and methods of improving trade. I hope that you would therefore permit me to come and visit you in Claith at your earliest opportunity.

Best Regards

Princess Brigida Tornincasa
Regent of the Empire of Aosta

Dear Queen Klara

I would like to begin by extending my congratulations on the recent birth of your son Prince Isaak and wish your growing family every happiness in the coming years.

As neighbours it is clear that now our Empire has reached a lengthy period of stability that we should look beyond the six provinces that make up our lands. With this in mind I think it is important that we seek to build productive relationships with our immediate neighbours and with this in mind I would love to come and visit your nation if this is permissable.

I hope to be able to meet with you, or your representative soon.

Best Regards

Princess Brigida
Regent of Aosta

The two Regents have today confirmed that they are extending the Empire's Protection Laws. These laws were a series of rules that were brought in following the armed rebellion in Rosignano in 1990. The rules governed several aspects of life within the Empire including gun-laws, proscribed organisations and military service. It had been expected that the rules would have only lasted a short amount of time however 30 years later they are not only still in place but they have just been amended to extend their reach. The announcement came just after midday and will see the following implimented.

1. Gun ownership will no longer be permitted at the age of 21 but rather at the age 25 unless the individual has prior military service. Licences will still be granted in the same way meaning so long as you have a signed doctors certificate, can prove you have secure storage for your weapon and complete a Shooting Safety course you may buy weapons.

2. Individuals will be limited to three weapons. This reduces the number by one.

3. National Service will be extended to all six provinces. Currently only those born in the Imperial governed provinces had to complete National Service. This had lead to some mothers crossing provincial borders to give birth meaning their child would be exempt. Additionally service is extended from 12 to 18 months. Another significant change is an increase in the number of exemptions such as additions to key jobs lists and medical conditions.

4. National ID cards will now be issued at the age of 14 and not 18. It will be a criminal offence when requested to do so by a member of the Police or Military Police to not present your ID Card. This shall be punishable by up to 6 months in prison and a $1000 fine for the first offence.

5. In order to operate an aerial drone weighing more than 1kg it must be registered and an individual must have undertaken a recognised piloting course. Previously there had been no restrictions on the use of drones within the nation.

Prince Lorenzo confirmed that it was felt that as the nation was preparing to look beyond its "Imperial sphere" that there would be oppurtunities for "outsiders who wish to do us harm" to take root in the nation. It was therefore felt by the two regents that a tightening of certain laws would ensure the safety of the nation to a greater degree. It was also confirmed that the Princess  Brigida fully supported all measures and had he been needed to confirm or deny the new laws Imperial Chancellor Duke Basilio would have also voted in their favour.

Those aged between 21-25 who already own guns may maintain the ownership however will not be permitted to buy new weapons until they reach the age of 25. Anyone owning more than three weapons will be given six months to prove that they have reduced the number that they own. To aid in this process several gun clubs across the nation are offering schemes were they will buy excess weapons. As it was realised it will take time to issue the new ID cards to those aged between 14 and 18 this law will not fully come into force until September 1st however anyone suspected of being over the age of 18 and unable to produce their ID card will be dealt with by the Police until that date by being taken to their home address and made to prove their identity or imprisoned until their identity is confirmed. The government admitted it may be more difficult to enforce the new drone rules as to date no register of sales of the devices exists. From Monday the 13th April 2020 however all stores must only sell drones with a national ID card and will record the name and address of the purchaser.