Sandip Shah had spent much of his youth dealing with crop dusting planes. He'd never ran an airport before, but in truth it wasn't like they'd had much happening since he'd been given the job of managing the ins and outs. He'd just about managed to get the radio systems back up and running after some moron had taken much of the copper wiring around the place, no doubt to try selling for scrap. The first plane had been a little one from Ares Foundation after Major Shashi Mhasalkar had approached Sandip seeking permission for the aid to land. It hadn't been difficult for the army officer to convince the younger farm boy and so when Caprice Ares had arrived he made sure it was to him she was pointed. He was unsure now if he was still really anything to do with the army. It had seen its chain of command collapse as news had spread of the despotic dictator Imtiaz Bachchan's death. Then in the few days that followed more of them had simply just wandered off into the countryside and now it was hard to work out if the army were actually still working for the country at all. "Miss Ares....I hope thats right?" He asked her as he was shown to her aircraft. "I am Major Mhasalkar, please call me Shashi, welcome to Kritamala and thank you." He moved her away from the aircraft and ears that could listen in "I must say your people were pretty intriguing with what they were saying. I do have access to materials you'd find interesting but I also need to have access to materials in your possession that would make me interested. What do you have that may make me your friend" He asked.

"Shashi" Caprice repeated the name. Clearly she hadn't expected this Major to simply just hand over vast amounts of military equipment. She had come prepared for just such an arrangement. She turned to one of her "associates" a large bearded man called Edwin who passed her an envelope. She opened it and checked inside before handing it to the Kritamalian. "That is a small token of our thanks for agreeing to meet." The envelope contained a gold necklace chain made of heavy links. "We figured that it would be much easier to deal perhaps in goods rather than money at this stage, after all I'm not aware of what currency you'd like to get paid in. The jewellry was worth a pretty penny and Caprice had stashed various other consignments similar to this in the various aid packages that they had brought in. "It is my hope we can set up something regular. I know some businesses that would....just as an example....be interested in buying re-purposed tanks, remove the gun and they make surperb bulldozers for nations like Wadden I've heard. It would just be a pure accident that the gun ends up going for scrap metal processing in Royal Seleucid and then goes missing because of their lax controls over such things." She hoped that Shashi understood what was happening. "Its incredible how you can repurpose lots of old military equipment for newer purposes for lots of markets. It is though a complex happening so I'd propose that I ensure that you get a good monthly payment in a manner that suits you. In addition I'd give you a bonus for each shipment we successfully get to market. Now I'd assume that you'd require a kind of staff of your own, people you can trust. I'll give you a monthly budget for that too. This partnership goes well and we can make some serious money together. Do we have an arrangement or do I take me shipments elsewhere?"

KRONET ISLAND - The South West Islands of Drenovia, Summer 2022.


No-one was 100% sure how many islands there were in the region to the South-West of Drenovia. Some only emerged at low tide, others came after underwater tectonic going ons. There were around 40 of them however that were sizeable enough to have some sort of settlement on them. At one point as Christianity had tried to spread its way into Albion. During the 13th Century the islands had become home to those seeking to maintain the Druantian Faith. Once the mainland was re-taken though not all the islands remained inhabited and lots of them fell into use seasonally. Then with the much more modern discovery of oil and gas the islands had once again become significant. There were a few though that had no such discovery and so those had remained largely uninhabited. Kronet Island was just one such example. When wealthy entrepreneur Vjeko Ivanković had offered a good sum of money to have the exclusive rights to the island, minus any gas or oil found there, for the next 200 years the government on behalf of the King had accepted. In his proposal Vjeko had said that he intended the island to become a "testbed for new social and agricultural technologies." The paperwork completed he told his followers. Vjeko had for about a decade now determined that the modern orders following the Druantian faith had begun to be corrupted by the way the 21st Centuries materialism. He had been using the money he had made from his families old mining business to invest in what he saw as ethical business across Mundus and it now allowed him to fulfil his dream, establish the Order of The Path. It was to be a new religious order that would return Drenovia to the gods true path. The harsh lifestyle of manual labour, shunning wealth, physical discipline meant few seemed drawn to the idea, beside the original seven Orders would, if he was discovered, have him shut down before he could even get things established. This was therefore to be a task he would not see the end of, a multi-generational growth of the Order away from prying eyes.

---

27th December 2023


Borivoj had always found life on the mainland hard. It had always been too busy for him and it seemed that keeping his head above water was difficult. He'd found himself living on the street and at one point trying to steal, beg or other acquire money for drugs was his sole motivation. Then he had meet Vjeko. The businessman had helped him turn his life around through focusing on the Druantian faith. It had now been almost four years since he had last taken any drugs and he felt the best he'd ever been. When the idea of the island community had been floated Borivoj had jumped at it. While he'd been clean and felt great there was a constant voice of temptation in the back of his mind. The island would mean there would be no way of falling of the wagon and so it was probably best for him. There had been ten voulenteers at first but the harsh living meant that now just seven of them remained. Three had given up and returned to the mainland. Vjeko was a frequent visitor with the supply flights. Each one brought fresh food they couldn't yet grow on the island, pieces of machinary, medicine and anything else they may need. The aircraft had radioed in that it was due to land and the seven men eagerly made their way down to the small pontoon they had constructed to make the docking process much easier.  The aircraft touched down on the water and then made a long arc to the pontoon. The door opened and Miroslav appeared. "Gentleman good afternoon. I bring your supplies, and the future." Miroslav was Vjeko's most trusted adviser and kind of a fixer for anything they needed. There were voices inside the plane and then a young woman, must have been in her early 20's with raven black hair was brought to the door. She was helped onto the pontoon and looked nervous. "Escort her to the Temple" Miroslav said to one of the island dwellers who dutifully did. One by one the six girls were brought ashore. Katenka was last and as she was brought ashore she would have noticed several things. The first was the island wasn't large. You could just about make out the coast to the North and South of them from where they were. The fact the island had a slight bulge in the centre meant it was impossible to see to the Western coast but if it hadn't been there then it would have been just about visible. The girls were taken to a large wooden building in the centre of the island. It had beautiful intricate scriptural carvings along both flanks of the heavy wooden doors and across the lintel. Inside was a series of wooden benches facing an alter where a stone staue of the God Druantia was standing but seemed to be only half completed. There was a table next to it and a series of tools you'd need for stonemasonery sat upon them. A wooden plaque sat to one side and in gold leaf writing the words "Commander of the Household of the Order of the Path" were written. There was space for probably hundreds of names but so far only one was written stating "2017 Vjeko Ivanković" One man stood guard at the only entrance while the other men set about unloading the plane while excitedly talking. The girls tried to ask their new guard questions but were meet with only silence. It took three hours for the plane to be unloaded and in that time another smaller plane had landed this one the private aircraft of Vjeko. He greeted each of the men with a hug and pat on the back. Once he'd completed a quick chat with the men he ordered them to meet him at the Temple in an hour.

At the appointed time the men gathered outside the Temple. Each now was wearing a long robe made of red dyed wool a handful had golden patterns around the neck. They had small hand axes tucked into their leather belts. Vjeko was the last to arrive. His robe was red too but the sleeves black with a golden stag head on each arm. Unlike the others he carried a short sword in his belt and walked with a staff made of dark wood. "Commander" each man placed a hand on their heart and bowed as he approached.

"Looking very smart" he smiled at them. "Today we take the next step in our project. I am sorry we have had to do it this way but our problem is until we make this island a home away from home there are few people willing to come here but I am working on that. You know you are the vanguard of this movement and I thank you for putting your trust in me. Now lets go and begin" He pushed open the door and entered with the six men making a double file behind him. The man who had been on guard was sat on the rear set of benches and jumped up.

"They've been no trouble Commander" the man said as though making a battlefield report.

"Excellent. Take your post now Lead Swordsman" Vjeko addressed him. The man who was much older than the others walked down to the front and began lighting candles, six of them in total. Each was placed in its own silver candelstick holder as Vjeko made his way down to stand by the statue. He touched it and bowed his own head. The girls sat in a group on the left hand side unsure what was happening but huddled together as if giving support. Vjeko turned to face them. "Some of you may be ignorant of the truth.  Some of you may worship Helus, Allah, Sessifet or even Jesus but all these, if they even ever existed, was crushed by the one true God Druantia. Now he is all that remains and we are his servants. We are committed to restoring the world to the way he wished it, green, lush and beautiful. But even those who follow Druantia have lost their way and so we are forming a new path here in our isolated slice of Drenovia. Sadly only a handful have accepted the truth and those fine men are here today." He gestured to the side. "Sadly to date no women have joined the Order of the Path and so these dedicated men can not undertake one of the most sacred duties our faith has, to help repopulate Mundus with true followers. As such I have done what I can to save your lives. By rights you should be stuck with those others back somewhere in the Alucard and I fear they will be used for spare parts. You are going to become the first wives of our order." The girls began to cry. "NO..." he yelled above them, "You must not be worried. One of our basic teachings is to not take unnecessarily. You will be cared for, you will be safe and you will be protected. You will live here, work here and in time raise families here. Today may begin with fear and worry but will lead to happiness." One by one each girl was told to come to the front, a few needing to be dragged. Once each was there Vjeko would inspect the girl and then the men seemingly calculating something in his mind. Then he would summon one of the men forward and there a short "wedding" ceremony took place. Katenka refused to stand when she was pointed to however the Lead Swordsman gently raised her to her feet and took her to the appointed place. Borivoj was called and gladly stood. He'd admired the girl when he first saw them and did his best to give her a reassuring look as the ceremony was taking place. As part of it there hands were bound with a coarse rope and Borivoj had to almost pull her to the bench. He tried speaking to her quietly but she all but refused. The last ceremony done they were dismissed and all headed to their homes which were organised in a circle around the Temple. Inside his home Borivoj made sure to lock the door behind him. He knew escape was impossible but they'd been given very strict instructions. "I am sorry but for now you must remain bound" he said. He took her into a room with a double bed in the centre and only a small amount of furniture. "We shall talk in the morning" he said, kissed her on the cheek. "Dear wife" he smiled and then left locking that door behind him.

Having a functional grasp of Rus was a move by Caprice that her father had approved of. It meant that they could effectively sell things to both sides of the old World V's USR conflicts, and even better acquire things from both sides. Caprice had wandered into her father's living room and thrown him a copy of the Free Mundus News and smiled. "Dad, I've got a plan."

He had been sat watching the morning news on TV and now turned it off and gestured for her to take a seat next to him as he leaned forward to the coffee table and poured her a thick black coffee from the cafetiere. "Tell me of your scheming" He smiled as he watched her put in just a splash of cream and one brown sugar cube.

"Kritamala. There a nation in a mess, poor children dying of curable diseases, poor quality of life. I think I read average life expectancy of 50. Its tragic" She mockingly wiped a tear away from her eyes. "A nation with an army that's either going to disintegrate or make a power play. When the USR collapsed we got a gold mine of stuff. We've still a load of AK's kicking around to see from that one. When the Soviet of Safraen went we topped up on a few tanks they left behind before the CIS rounded them up. Obviously all recycled for their scrap metal by now. This is another play. They'll likely have in Kritamala compatible kit. So if their army go for it and take power they may be in the market for some stuff. Now if they don't make a play for power then they'll likely have stuff to sell as some of them are maybe going to face trouble down the line if the community want revenge. A few rubles.....or whatever they spend in their back pocket would help them flee and if they just happen to trade some kit for it who am I to argue."

"Its a good point" Albanus said. "How though do we make contact?"

"That's simple" Caprice said, "We've a whole charity dedicated to helping children. I get a few of our transport planes, fill it with baby formula or something. We head over there and make some deals. Based on that we can either fly stuff out or come up with some other plan. I'll go, I'll take Osvaldo with me and a few other steady guys." Osvaldo was a solid dependable member of Albanus' foot-soldiers. He'd been a soldier in the Paracambian army before doing some private military contracting and then from their finding himself employed by Albanus. As a result him and his family had a nice house, plenty of luxuries and that meant Osvaldo had a strong sense of loyalty and gratitude to Albanus. He also knew his way round weapons better than most so would be handy to have.

"OK....I look forward to seeing our charity doing so good."

---

It wouldn't take Caprice long to sort out the plane, paper work etc. The government of Bakkermaya were only too keen to see some kind of childrens milk and various other supplies heading to what could be a crisis. The company also had five of its own aircraft so it wasn't exactly difficult to get things ready. All that was left was to see if Caprice's shift on the CB Radio had unearthed the useful contact she hoped she had. If it went well they'd make some serious money, if it didn't they'll have some nice PR of giving kids food, it was win win as far as she was concerned.

Božo was proud of his new gold braid, "You'd think they'd just made him Commander of the Household." his friend Marko mocked as the two others on guard duty joined in.

"As long as I'm one rank above you" Božo said proudly as he turned and while facing Marko pantomimed brushing something from the newly attached braid. It was a rather beautiful morning in Zaklopača, a small village about 20km north of Opatija, the capital of Drenovia. It was famous for only thing, being the Headquarters of the Order of the Stag, one of the seven orders that made up the Union of Drenovia. The orders had long storied histories with origins dating back to the time of what was known as the "Southern Crusades" a period when Christians had pushed into the South of Albion. In response to this Christian incursion it was rather ironic that the Drenovians had taken inspiration from the very "invaders" they faced. While people may be more familiar with the Knights Templar or Knights Hospitaller the Orders of Drenovia had long outlived them. They maintained a key position within Drenovian society with almost every family having connections to at least one of the seven. The Order of the Stag was the 3rd oldest on the Orders and maintained a staff of around 2,800 people to ensure worship, education and in Božo and his friends case, an armed militia. It was considered an honour to serve in the unit of 400 soldiers and while the gate guard duty was the most pointless part of the job it was nice in summer. The HQ looked across a valley, the wildflowers adding bursts of colour and on days such as today if you peered carefully you could see the odd heron swooping in and out of the valley. Something caught Božo's eye, her thought it was perhaps the heron and so he lifted the binoculars to his eyes to have a look. There was something down in the valley more than a heron but in among the bushes and wooded copse he couldn't see anything. It was five minutes later that another distant motion grabbed his attention once more. This time it was clear that it was a group of people. All wearing black and moving around in the tree line. "Looks like the Greenwoods are out and about." The Order of the Greenwood were another of the seven orders and they shared the valley, once upon a time they had even been a single Order but in the 1300's they had split. A rivalry remained but it was nothing serious. Božo knew they controlled some of the farmland on the opposite side of the valley so seeing them on manouvers wasn't entirely unusual. As Božo put away the binoculars his friends allowed a car off their base, he glanced at the car as it drove past and onto the main road into the village, it was one of the kitchen staff having completed her shift for the day. Božo gave a casual wave as she passed. He watched the car drive towards the village and noticed what looked like a convoy approaching. "We expecting a visit of some sort?" he asked his comrades, one of whom checked the clipboard.

"No" came the response. Perhaps though it was just the regular army heading off on exercises or something but as they got closer it was the speed they were moving that surprised him. The lead Growler was moving far in excess of the speed limit and behind it a pair of Scout cars masked two more Growlers. The five vehicles screatched to a halt and the scout cars main guns trained on the barrier to the base. Four soldiers jumped out of each of the Growlers with rifles levelled. Despite being a miltia of sorts the guards from the Order of the Stags only carried pistols.

"Don't move, get face down." A Sergeant from the Royal Foresters yelled as he pushed his way into the guardhouse and lifted the barrier. By now several flatbed trucks and more Growler's rolled into the base. The Sergeant was going through Božo's pockets before sticking him in a pair of plastic tie handcuffs. The young man kept asking questions as he was manhandled and put into the back of a van. He sat in the darkened rear of the vehicle alongside his fellow guards, Marko had a bloody nose and a black eye. The group jumped in shock as a burst of gunfire could be heard. They were left there for about an hour until a group of soldiers appeared and pulled them out pushing them into the base. Inside they saw the large lawn that stood outside the residence of the Orders leader, Gabrijel Biškup Commander of the Household of the Order of the Stags. On the lawn it seemed everyone who had been on base at the time had been rounded up and cuffed, hundreds of them ranging from Priests, to cooks, to the guards and librarians. Everytime someone spoke a members of the Foresters appeared next to them, told them to shut up and if they protested too much give them a prod or two with the stock of the rifle. It was then that Queen Jožica appeared. She was not dressed in a regal attire but instead in a set of combats, a set of webbing bristling with the equipment of a soldier. Her combat jacket had a hood that was worn up, a style unique to members of the all female Order of Krešimira who styled themselves on ancient bow carrying huntresses. She even had a leather quiver strapped to her leg, minus the arrows. As well as being the Queen, or at least 2nd Queen, she was a Quaster in the Order she belonged to making her a senior officer of sorts.

"Order of the Stags. I have here a royal warrant" She held up a piece of paper. "This warrant suspends your Orders right to exist. Should it not be rescinded within a week then your order will permanently cease to exist." There were shouts of protests, questions and some yelled "no" among the crowd on the lawn. She held up a hand and the Foresters encouraged silence. "We had hoped to acquire Gabrijel Biškup as we have reason to believe he has set you on a path towards heresey. I personally do not believe that all of you are guilty, but some are for sure. Steps will be taken to rid your Order of such evil and I shall be the person to clense you." Foresters saw her signal and moved into the crowd grabbing six individuals. "These men" She gestured to where they had been made to kneel, all of them were members of the accounts department. "They have taken millions of dollars and sent them out the nation, that money is to be used for the good works of an Order, that can't be happening if the money isn't here. They will be facing court martial and if guilty severly punished. Anyone with any knowledge of similar activities is urged to speak now or you'll face similar hardship when discovered. Now as for Gabrijel Biškup we need to know where he is." There was silence for a while as the group looked nervously at each other. After about a minute a woman stood, she was a member of the teaching team.

"Gabrijel Biškup has gone to the Charterlands Your Majesty" the woman spoke up. "I have no desire to see our Order disgraced, I do not know anything other than his destination."

"I believe you" the Queen smiled reassuringly. She gave a Forester a hand gesture and a corporal headed over, cut the womans cuffs and escorted her away to be questioned further. "See if you co-operate you have nothing to worry about. Unless you have something to tell me of use you'll be staying here until we check each of you." It was clear such a process would take many hours. Meanwhile at the opposite end of Mundus Gabrijel Biškup was entering the offices of the Colony of Reform.

"This sounds like exactly the kind of thing we would be interested in."  Đurađ smiled. "I'd be happy to make such an arrangement, may it be the first of many between us." He said. "Perhaps, if it is possible once we have this matter confirmed I can come and visit the Emperor and we can extend what I hope will become mutual co-operation to other fields."

"All of that sounds in order." Đurađ replied. "Now you say you're interested and I have zero issues with your conditions. The people we are talking about are the scum of Mundus and I have no concerns that our justice system will have been thorough enough to ensure all the t's have been crossed and i's dotted. Therefore you are of course more than welcome to review the cases before accepting the prisoners." The King waited a moment, "Now assuming that the Emperor goes for this I would expect something in return, any suggestions?"

"It is an abomination that you would consider such a thing." The Commander of The Order of Oak, Pero Zorić, voiced his concern. King Đurađ merely sat back in his chair as the various leaderships of the seven Holy Order discussed what he had brought them here to discuss.

"Don't be so wet Pero." Davor Grgić, the leader of the Huntsman's Order responded. "The nature and manner of execution was never important. Just the fact that their remains are given back to Druantia. Now so long as His Majesty can ensure that then I would not object to his suggestion." There were various other nods around the room.

"By giving our consent to this" Pero retorted, "we are allowing the worship of a false God." He was turning red in the face.

"You're showing your stupidity Pero" Davor shook his head. "If Druantia destroyed all Gods how can any be false, they simply don't exist. Its therefore not our problem that these people don't appreciate the folly of their actions. If this helps us gain some manner of access to their nation and therefore allows some chance to extend our programmes there then we are doing Druantia's work. Plus the idea may actually act as a deterrent for some."

The King very much doubted that but was growing bored of this theological wrangling. "Gentleman....and lady." He nodded an apology to Mila Pavlović who was the Commander of the only Order that was all female, the Order of Krešimira. "we have begun going in circles. I have other meetings today and while I do not need your approval on any matter you all know only too well on matters that may be influenced by our faith I have always consulted with you all. So please let me call a vote and then we can all be about our business." Pero would have liked the conversation to continue but he was well aware that he was likely to be on the losing side and so perhaps it was best to allow the vote to end his rear guard action and the King do what he would probably have done regardless of Pero's words. The King called for the vote, "Those for.....against...." he counted the raised hands then stood. "5-2 in favour.....I thank you all for your time and wish you well for the rest of the day. May the God guide you and keep you."

The others stood and each, speaking over each other, gave a blessing to the King while bowing and watched him leave. Đurađ was pleased with how it had gone, he actually had expected it to be more even, or that he'd actually be on the receiving end of their disapproval but with Zdeslav Pavić of his own order having the need for a favour of his own and the others often falling into line behind the senior of the orders he was perhaps guilty of having lacked confidence. He walked back to his office two doors down past Ewe, one of three clerks who manned his office. "Ewe please contact the ambassador from Eboracum I have an offer for him. Its no hurry but if we can squeeze him in first thing tomorrow morning that would be appreciated."

"Of course your Majesty" Ewe pulled a folder from the top draw of her desk and flicked the alphabetically coded cards down the side to find the Heptarchy. "Good Morning, this is Knight Ewe Modalik of the Order of Krešimira, I'm clerk to His Majesty King Đurađ and would like to arrange for the ambassador to attend the Palace to speak with the King on a matter he wishes to discuss...........thanks wonderful......8 am for breakfast if the Ambassador is free........excellent I shall let the King know, he'll be delighted. Goodbye."

To the Members of the CNN

Having seen your press release this morning about a humanitarian operation in the Matildas. As this is likely to impact issues surrounding the "Rainbow Route" through the Krimeon we would like to ask the CNN ships enroute to the Commonwealth of the Unfied Iwi to also aid in monitoring shipping in this region. In addition we are capable of sending a variety of civilian and merchant shopping to aid in the situation and as such would like to ask that the CNN keep this under their supervision. We look forward to working alongside you should this matter be accepted.

May The Gods Watch Over You and the Seas Be Calm

Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles.

Having consulted with the nations involved in the Sovereign Union of Nations the Project Zarptica teams are delighted to have permission to put their aircraft forward for your consideration.

The Zarptica is a highly capable fifth-generation fighter aircraft that is designed to operate from aircraft carriers. The Zarptica features a canard delta wing configuration, twin engines, and the AESA radar. These features give the Zarptica excellent maneuverability, range, and survivability.
The Zarptica is also equipped with a variety of advanced weapons, including beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, the Sukom anti-radiation missile, and the Helina anti-tank missile. This gives the Zarptica a significant edge over enemy aircraft and ground targets. In addition to its combat capabilities, the Zarptica is also equipped with a suite of electronic warfare (EW) systems to jam enemy radars and communications. This makes the Zarptica a valuable asset for both offensive and defensive operations. The Zarptica is the perfect choice for any nation that requires a CATOBAR carrier-capable aircraft. The Zarptica's advanced capabilities and modular design make it a cost-effective and reliable solution for any navy.

The aircraft specifications requested are

Length: 16.30 m (53 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 11.20 m (36 ft 9 in) (unfolded), 7.6m (24 ft 11 in) (folded)
Height: 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in)
Empty Weight: 13,000 kg (28,660 lb)
Internal Fuel: 7,000 kg (15,430 lb)
Weapons Payload: 6,000 kg (13,228 lb)
Max Takeoff Weight: 26,000 kg (57,320 lb)
Range: 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km)
Combat Radius on Internal Fuel: 1,000 nautical miles (1,852 km)
Thrust/Weight Ratio on Full Fuel: 1.02
Thrust/Weight Ratio on 50% Fuel: 1.25
G-Limits: +9/-3
Maximum Speed at Altitude: Mach 1.6

In addition to this specifications we would like to outline that the Zarptica is equipped for buddy in flight refuelling. Also as the project involves four nations providing input this project would make, if selected, an ideal opportunity to form working relationships with several other nations.

King Đurađ has today confirmed that he is to take a third wife and his choice is one that could likely cause controversy. The King already has two wives, Queen Terezija whom he married in 2008 and Queen Jožica who he married in 2012. There was however religious condemnation when he originally married Queen Jožica as she was already promised to another noble man and the King effectively helped the then 18 year old daughter of Lord Luca Franić break an oath. Many believe this is the reason why Prince Hrvoje was born with Myelomeningocele, a spinal condition that has left him with longer term health issues. The King has often stated that he hopes to extend the size of the royal family and many have for a while speculated that he would take more wives. It was revealed today however that he has, over the last few months, been persuing a relationship with Princess Alice of Holmvik. The 20 year old is the daughter of Holmviks exiled King Sven and was born in Drenova. In 2000 King Sven faced a rebellion in his homeland and was ousted and spent three years in Drenova before leaving for the Ecclesiastical State and then disappearing. He left Princess Alice in the care of Duke Izak Branković, a friend of King Đurađ through their membership of the Drenovian Order. Duke Izak has raised Princess Alice since he abandonment and she has been raised as a follower of the Druantian faith. It is understood that the Priesthood have agreed that the King can ignore the usual tradition of asking a womans next of kin for permission to marry but must instead gain the permission of Duke Izak, which has been given. The date for the wedding is not yet confirmed.

The announcement of the marriage could cause problems however as King Đurađ recently made an agreement on scientific and communications matters with Holmvik who have actively been looking for the exile King since his escape 23 years ago. A spokesman for the King said though that KingĐurađ had little concern saying, "Alice meet her father twice, all before the age of 3. She is a Drenovian of royal blood, all be it a foreign and extinct crown, but royal none the less. Our faith teaches us that therefore means her bloodline contains power and I am thankful that she has agreed to join my family as my wife. I believe President Haugen is a wise man and will realise this in no way is us slighting his nation. Alice will be a Queen of Drenovia and mother to my children and I am confident that will not make Holmvik any less friendly towards us."

The document was short but covered everything that Đurađ could think of. "If President Haugen think he can get this through his nations legislature then I am happy to sign this and get things moving." Đurađ couldn't help but find it amusing that Haugen would have to go back crawling to his people to get the funds and permission, like a child asking their Mummy and Daddy for more pocket money. It made him wonder how Holmvik could even function effectively but thankfully that wasn't his problem.

"You're going to have to forgive me."  Đurađ IV spoke up following Aldwin's mini presentation. " I'm not a man of science. I know my way around a plane and thats about as technical as I get. These nodes, are we talking about something the size of say a shoe box or something the size of a house? Would a team in Drenovia be able to access the data they produce at the same time as your own researchers or would we have to, like the Cenneg radio telescope network, have to book a time slot? The idea of sticking something down on the bottom of the sea sounds a rather technical process and how long would these systems last? The price of $300million sounds a figure I can't afford to just splash out because something sounds good, but it needs to be something I can see an investment in. So for my $100million, assuming we split this three ways, exactly what do I get in return? All this being said I don't want you to think I am anti this project, far from it, the idea sounds impressive and I'm all for impressive science, I just often don't understand it."

King Đurađ IV had opted to travel without either of his wives, making it his first overseas visit without either of them. He had rather high hopes for this meeting despite Holmvik being Republicans. The flight in the royal jet was, thankfully, uneventful and the sight of the military welcome was something he approved of. He shook Max by the hand and enjoyed a quick chat with the royal who was also an Air Force officer. He hoped to perhaps have further conversations later.

As they arrived at the Palace he was only too happy to go along with the media circus, it was part of the job of the monarchy to cultivate a certain image and so mingling diplomatically with others. He was sure his wives would have liked the flowers but he himself saw them as pretty pointless but he did his best to thank the young Princess for the gift. "Thank you for such a warm welcome. I'm looking forward to getting our talks underway."

The RSOC will maintain a registry of military aircraft. Each nation may station ten fixed wing aircraft and three rotary wing aircraft in the region that fulfil combat roles. In addition they may maintain a further ten fixed wing aircraft that undertake none combat roles. No limits shall be placed on non combat rotary wing aircraft. Should the officer commanding receive a specific request for additional aircraft to be stationed they may agree to temporary extensions to limits for a period no longer than 7 days, however repeat requests shall be permitted. Any request approved must apply to both nations.

Hugo was pleased it seemed that the resolution seemed close at hand. "Here is what I believe will be the final version of the article. I assume we all agree."

"As a compromise might I suggest the following be included in the resolution in place of Article 5."

The RSOC will maintain a registry of military aircraft. Each nation may station ten fixed wing aircraft in the region that fulfil combat roles. In addition they may maintain a further ten fixed wing aircraft that undertake none combat roles. No limits shall be place on rotary wing aircraft. Should the officer commanding receive a specific request for additional aircraft to be stationed they may agree to temporary extensions to limits for a period no longer than 7 days, however repeat requests shall be permitted. Any request approved must apply to both nations.

"I believe that this will allow both parties to undertake necessary air patrols to prevent issues such as say piracy or smuggling but also give some ability to respond to search and rescue operations and humanitarian efforts should it be required. The agreement puts in place clear protocols that would, under emergency situations, give the ability for this to be flexible. It falls some way short of a full no fly zone however I would make it clear that the ROSC would likely be operating air assets to monitor the situation in the region and therefore would expect both nations co-operation."