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David had never been a Naval man but he had rather enjoyed the Festival of Sail, the last two years being the exception. First there had been the surprise wedding of his sister Freya and Alex Redfern, then last year the Grand Preacher of Cabbagelandiet's wife had dropped dead on board the Lodjain Royal Yacht. The King was crossing his fingers that this year there was just a chance to look at some pretty boats, let his daughter eat some ice cream while pretending to be a Viking Warrior and then host some kind of BBQ. As usual the streets approaching the Portworth Naval Base were busy, people enjoying the streets stalls outside of the Festival Grounds. The crowd inside the base was supplimented by groups inside the neighbouring civilian industrial port and the luxury marina the other side. As King David flew in onboard the royal helicopter he could see the huge beach parties already setting up. Rhiannon knelt on her seat looking through the window, mainly just pleased to be outside the Palace and free from the silly mask her father had made her wear for the last few months. Stasya sat opposite looking forward to the attention that was sure to come when they landed.
The helicopter began its descent towards the bases helicopter pad and even before the rotors had shut down Admiral Kensington, the bases commanding officer had opened the door. "Welcome to Portworth Your Majesty" he yelled over the whirring noise of the engines spinning down.
"Thank You" David said returning the man's salute before shaking hands. Will Buckley was helping Stasya down onto the helipad while Rhiannon, her face already covered in blue "war paint" and her tiny wooden practice sword tucked into a knotted rope belt strained at her belt harness. Stasya had picked out a pretty dress for the Princess only to be told that a dress wasn't what warriors wore and so instead she was wearing a pair of dark trousers and a long blue t-shirt over. David grabbed his daughters hand and could see her already looking around for the Vikings who would already be making their way into the harbour with the other ships.
David made his way through the crowds stopping and occasionally speaking to a familiar face, all the time Rhiannon straining to pull him towards the VIP box, her logic being the sooner her father made his speech then the sooner she could become a Viking Shield Maiden for the day, the concept of a timetable completely lost on her. As he finished speaking to one of the former captains of the REMNS King Robert he spotted an Air Force officer patrolling through the crowd, Archduchess Sophie Harrison-Ironside (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=91.msg250#msg250) had been assigned to one of the security teams for the first two days of the ceremony and spotting her uncle gave a formal salute while smiling. Bandit her patrol dog took casual sniffs of the people passing by his finely trained nose seeking out anything that shouldn't be there. "Good Morning Your Majesty" Sophie said as her uncle headed over. Rhiannon wanted to run a hand through Bandits fur but hesitated, he looked a little like a wolf and wasn't sure if it was safe. "He's ok" Sophie said looking at the young Princess and reading her mind. "Bandit" he pulled gently on the dogs lead and the dog reached his wet nose towards the hand. He'd been trained to work among crowds and wasn't phased by Rhiannon patting him on his head.
"Good Morning Flying Officer" David returned her greeting. "Everything ok?" he asked
"All secure sir" Sophie nodded realising her uncle was busy and pointing Bandit back towards the crowd. Naturally Sophie was getting a bit of attention herself, people asking for selfies and as her commanding officer had instructed her she was carefuly to politely refuse stating, "I'm sorry, I'm on patrol. I hope to see you when I'm off duty." and with that the human and dog combo had gone.
The VIP area as usual was a temporary grandstand with a fancy box at the front covered in red and white fabric the Ironside coat of arms embroided into the front. Seats behind had been covered in alternating rows of red and white cloth to make them appear more fancy than the simple plastic seats they in reality were. Name cards had been placed on each seat along with a schedule of the days activities.
"Morning Your Majesty" Harry Samuelson (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=91.msg335#msg335) the nations Minister of Defence waved at the King as he watched the distant shapes of the flotilla preparing at sea. He wasn't a naval man by any stretch of the imagination but he did enjoy the opening of the Festival of Sail. He and the King engaged in conversation as Stasya made sure to present a fine image for the photographers gathered at the foot of the box.
"No. You can't go up there." Press Secretary Malcolm Tucker (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=91.msg341#msg341) was telling some of the photographers. "You know His Majesties views, you invade his daughters privacy and I get to own your soul, add to that you never get invited to anything again. So no you can't get an up close picture of the Princess." he was scolding some of the photographers. A man approached spoke quietly to the man and Tucker jotted something down before heading up into the box. "Your Majesty, EMTV have asked if you can delay your speech for two minutes, their having some issues with the sound equipment." He explained. The King nodded that it was fine and then Tucker knelt down next to Princess, "Now if any of those men" he pointed down towards the photographers, "Get on your nerves today and bother you and your Viking buddies you let me know OK." Rhiannon nodded she didn't understand it, around the Palace it seemed everyone was frightened of this man but he was always nice to her. "Your Dad looking?" he whispered and Rhiannon shook her head, "Sweet?" he reached a hand into his pocket and brought out a white paper bag and offered it to her, she looked inside and spotted a blue and pink UFO and took it popping it into her mouth after checking David wasn't looking, she liked the way the rice paper melted on her tongue releasing the sherbert inside that tickled her tongue. "Our secret" Malcolm popped one in himself, winked and headed off back to handle any press requests.
Soon the VIP's were settling in and a ear piercing siren blew, the bases air raid warning, it wasn't however indicating any incoming attack rather sending a message far out to sea everything was set to go. A red flare could be seen going up showing the REMNS King Robert had picked up the message and was beginning its journey into base. Around it at sea bobbed a carefully arranged mass of boats ranging from single windsurfers, to old row boats and then the things ranging from ancient looking historic ships to state of the art vessels. Alongside the REMNS King Robert the Sunseeker was jointly leading the ships towards the neck of the harbour where the crowds welcomed the ships. It was here the Sunseeker dropped back slightly to allow the home ship to be first into port as was tradition. As always it was the historic ships such as the HTMS St. Joseph that the real naval fans liked to see but there was also something impressive about things like the SIGB Nestland a beast of an old battleship.
The King Robert crew were all on deck as the ship began to pull alongside soon a gangway was put into position and a group of soldiers came marching down and once at dockside formed into a hollow square, an Airman, a sailor, a Legionnaire and a Marine. It was only then that a large number of bugles began to play and a huge figure encassed in metal appeared at the top of the gangplank and clanged his way down to stand in the centre of the hollow square, he towered above them and began walking with them towards the VIP Box. It was Louis Blanche, world Medeival MMA Heavyweight Champion and Mundus Games Gold Medalist, he'd become a superstar in the country and now dressed in his fight gear made an impressive sight as he approached the royal box, a straight cavalry sword held high in one arm like it weighed nothing. "He's way cooler than Vikings" Rhiannon whispered recognising her hero from the pattern on his buckler strapped to his arm. She had posters of him on her wall along with those of Little Mix.
Blanche's military escorts stopped as the Knight took three more steps forward and with relative little effort knelt. "Your Majesty" he spoke loudly, "I have the honour to present your sword, may I approach." The sword now rested horizontally on the palms of his outstretched hand.
"You may" King David responded and waited for Blanche to climb the steps and present the blade pommel first, his head bowed. David took the sword and thanked Blanche for the job well done. The Knight bowed then stood to one side. The King stood the sword held in his right hand resting on his shoulder. He stepped forward checked the microphone was on and the green light on the camera before him.
"Ladies and Gentleman, honoured guests, old friends returning and new friends we are to meet. I wish to welcome you to the Festival of Sail 2019. This is a week where East Moreland celebrate our men and women who serve us on the ocean waves. Often in East Moreland's history the Navy have been an often overlooked part of our nations heritage. This year is a year things have and must change for them. 2019 marked the end of an era, a foreign prescence in the Illumic. In the past we were happy to hand our regional defence to foreign powers but during my reign that will not and must not be the case. The Navy have shown that they are more than capable of taking the battle to the enemy and the display of a Transvaal aircraft carrier being brought over by a Seaforthian crew demonstrates that. Our Navy in the eyes of many was an untried and untested force yet on that day a few years back they did the unthinkable and captured an enemy flagship showing that truly the Illumic nations can get the job done.
Today also marks the beginning of another era. An era where it is possible to navigate around Mundus on ships powered only by the sun. The Sunseeker from Achkaerin left here a year ago and todays returns having been powered by nothing but the rays from our sun. An impressive piece of technology and one that I hope we can make the best of to ensure a better environment for our children in the future. I'm sure we'd all like to congratulate Eleanor Hendry on her achievement and welcome her to Portworth.
But as one era starts another must end. After numerous years the Rokkenjiman presence in the Illumic has ended. In that time they worked alongside our men and women in ensuring the safety of the seas to our East and it was answering our commitments to the tripartite that saw the joint Seaforth and East Moreland strike on the Transvaal aircraft carrier. While there are no Rokkenjiman naval service vessels here this year I hope you will all take the time to visit their cruise ships, locate the ex-servicemen and woman who I am sure will have been pulled into civilian service by their love of the sea and thank them for their service.
This year the Festival for me is very special. Almost six months ago my daughter was diagnosed with Lukhemia and we feared the worse. Today she sits here listening to her father prattal on while she wants to go play Viking and eat ice cream. I can feel her eyes staring at the back of my head saying "Shut up Daddy" and so I will cut this short. I wish to place on record my thanks to all those working in medical professions across Mundus helping the sick and needy. This year the Festival's nominated charity will be Augustin Children's Cancer Trust, a charity set up in the name of a Prince of Neu Urburzis who was a great comfort to my daughter in her time of need. It will seek to help those children across Mundus suffering with all forms of cancer so please give generously. With that and before my daughter becomes a Berzerker I announce the Festival of Sail open." With that the King returned his sword to his scabbard and saw Rhiannon already heading out of the VIP area her security agent in hot pursuit.
Rhiannon bounded down the steps, long blonde hair streaming behind her and an exicited smile on her blue painted face. She made her way along the dockside towards her favourite Red sailed ship the Alanders museum ship called the Drakken. Over the last three years she'd become friends with the crew who set up a mock viking village next to their ship and engaged in mock battles. They had been expecting her and the men had formed a shield wall as they saw her coming. Rhiannon stopped short and smiled at the familiar faces and pulled her sword from its sheath. "READY!" A Viking warrior yelled and his men reached down pulling helmets from their hiding places and put them on, each bearing a metal Crocodile head as decoration. "Behold the Princess who fights Crocodiles" he added before the group laughed and waved for Rhiannon to come join them where they presented her with her own miniature version.
David would have prefered to have gone with Rhiannon but he knew that he would have to spend the first day of the festival essentially on a PR run and so he took hold of Stasya's hand and headed back towards where the VIP's would now be enjoying a champagne breakfast of fresh salmon and scrambled eggs. He probably wouldn't get much chance to eat himself but planned on heading off towards the festival ground soon after.