"Casting that into the part of my mind I rarely visit," Evanthe paused, "look, I'm sorry, I didn't think I would become so overwhelmed so quickly, and perhaps there's an aspect of me that feels I owe something to Joshua and by extension, Seaforth. I do feel as though there is an air of hypocrisy though; if we look at Rishiri the vast majority of the population is Rokkenjiman, we've spent countless billions on building the infrastructure not even taking into account the former QAMB's construction and subsequent demolition; I don't recall Rokkenjima demanding tariff-free trade in the Illumic back then. Sure there's certain differences, the means by which the land is held, yet there's enough parallels that yes, questions and pressure should be raised."

"Let's put that behind us though," she continued, "and when we return to the room I'll tap into my inner Anselmo a bit more than I have in quite some time. So looking at things, the way Seaforth views the situation, can largely be boiled down to prestige; I should know, Rokkenjima was quite well known to be adverse to the closure of QAMB to the point Beatrice tried to resurrect it elsewhere in the region. There's little logical reason for Seaforth to hold a military presence so far from its home soil especially as it has friends who would, I'm certain, allow them to position their military forces if the need ever were to arise, on bases on our territory. I'm sure we're both old enough to remember the NOYDB movement's antics, what, from damming up rivers, pumping heated waters outside their territorial waters and the ever-infamous Garbage Fleet and disposal of pig excrement via river into Elpidia. I do believe that Rishiri has mentioned that there is a surplus of waste building up that needs to be addressed, it just so happens that we have some barges stationed there; a tour of the Seaforthian coast just as tourism season kicks off would give ocean viewers quite the spectacle to behold."

"Furthermore," Evanthe said as she read some notes, "if I'm not mistaken there is a bit of power sharing between the Rishiri-Somerset grids, we could see power reduced to Somerset in peak hours, to keep the lights on in Rishiri, by instituting rolling brownouts and blackouts when Somerset demand "exceeds the capacity" of the Rishiri power grid. While these are a couple of proposals I'm drawing up, naturally, I'd also be open to any creative ideas you might have since, as our mutual friends once put it, what happens within one's borders is nobody's damn business," she said with a wink. "I think, by that response, you'll know who to call."

Achkaerin's reputation for delegation size may have on occasion seemed to be a case of oversized but on this rarest of occasions it was entirely appropriate, though this was perhaps not quite the delegation that was expected. Leading the Achkaerinese was Princess Cerys, not a familiar name in summit surroundings but she had a degree in robotics and cybernetics and was just finishing of her postgrad in applied cybernetics and if that wasn't enough she had her eyes on doing a doctorate in the field of artificial intelligence, it was safe to say that her reputation as the family academic was safe. From the government side she was joined by Minister of Defence Adam Sheppard and Attorney General Robert Westbrooke, the military side was represented firstly by Captain Sarah Culshaw and Flight Leader Irma Quartermain, the pair dressed in their uniforms from the army and air force respectively worked with this technology as shot caller and operator so their insights and experience were going to be valuable to the likes of Cerys and Adam in this, then of course there were the two military heavyweights Admiral William Rankin (accompanied by his yeoman Petty Officer Trinity Larsen), William was the Judge Advocate General, the other military heavyweight was Lieutenant Commander Melissa Bird, she was the military's equivalent of the Attorney General she was known as the Designated Officer and her duties included larger scale decision making about this sort of technology's battlefield use. Finally there were 'the big four'  as they were collectively known within the Achkaerinese defence industry Timothy Cross of the Achkaerin Rifling Company, responsible for manufacturing most of Achkaerin's small arms and land based equipment, Darren Eagle who ran the Achkaerin Aeronautical Development Company, responsible for manufacturing the drones and missiles that were perhaps the most obvious symbols of this sort of technology's advancement, Edward McKinlay, who ran McKinlay Naval Solutions and had advanced the development of autonmous vehicles both on the water and beneath the surface, and last but by no means least was Catriona Rowan, out of everyone on the Achkaerinese delegation she had the most hands on experience with AI and led the company that collaborated on quite a lot of the autonomous vehicles produced in Achkaerin, she was also probably the most underdressed person in the delegation sporting black jeans, a blue t-shirt and a black leather jacket in contrast to the suits and uniforms being worn by most and the dress that Cerys was wearing.

"I believe this is the first time we've formally met." Cerys said greeting David with a smile before making the quite long list of introductions, some of whom David would know and some he likely wouldn't, though the sheepish look on Trinity's face when she got introduced didn't go unnoticed, it was understandable she wasn't used to such surroundings. After the introductions had been made Cerys looked at David again and nodded before the Achkaerinese headed inside and looked around, quite the gathering by the look of it.

The Palace today confirmed that Archduchess Sophie Harrison-Ironside has completed selection for the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing. The unit is considered an elite of the Air Force and provides logistical and protection support for members of the various East Moreland's special forces including Red Legion, the Royal Marine Commando's and Parachute Regiment Pathfinders. The 26 year old niece of King David is currently serving as a Force Protection K9 Officer in the REMAF where her responsibilities include providing security to Air Force establishments as well as providing security onboard aircraft such as medivacs. The JSFAW have strict entry requirements which include an individual to complete a run of 2.4km in 11 minutes 11 seconds, reach level 9.1 on the beep test, complete 20 press ups in a minute and then 35 sit ups in two minutes. There is then a break of an hour and then the test repeated. Those passing the test then undertake a two weeks of fitness training culminating in with candidates having to pass Red Legions basic fitness test of 2.4km run to be completed in under 9mins30 seconds, followed immediately by 45 press ups and 55 sit ups to be completed in two minutes each. The Archduchesses exact times are not known but with a track record of athletic excellence it is probably no surprise she has completed the requirements. While the work of some of the nations Special Forces are highly secretive much of JSFAW's work is common knowledge with the manning of the Royal Flights being a key priority. With her experience it is likely she will become an "Aviation Commando" which means she will be involved in such tasks as Air-Loadmasters, Winchmen and gunners who ensure the aircraft of all kinds can operate safely on operations.

The Archduchess has also confirmed for the first time that her lengthy relationship with star rugby player Rollo MacAllister has ended. Speaking during the launch of a new range of sportswear she was asked whether Rollo would be joining her in promoting the products to which she replied. "Myself and Rollo realise that we have spent very little time together over the past two years. With his rugby career, my military duties and the various projects we're both keen to be involved in maintaining an actual functioning relationship is going to be next to impossible. As such we've gone our seperate ways but remain on good terms. Rest assured at the rugby world cup I'll still be cheering him and the rest of the Honeybadgers on while wearing my No.6 shirt proudly." The Archduchess is now on leave for a month before reporting back to base for her new posting and has confirmed she will be using the time to help support several royal projects. She has also confirmed that her K9, a husky named Bandit, will also be joining the JSFAW.

---

The Palace have today confirmed that in the days leading up to the Festival of Greenflowers the King and his 11 year old daughter Princess Rhiannon will undertake a symbolic hike. It is well documented that past and present members of Red Legion undertake an act of voulentary rememberance known as The Vigil the evening before. This sees the Legionnaires complete a hike in which they attempt to march just under 100km in 30 hours however some older Legionnaires take shorter routes with 67 year old Steven Holbrooke being the oldest to take part last year hiking 40km. This year however the King and Princess will walk the route with the intention of doing it in 4 days. The pair will aim to arrive at the battlefield where the Battle of Greenflowers took place on the 21st of May, two days before the festival. Explaining to the press Royal Press Secretary Malcolm Tucker said. "The Battle of Greenflowers is the birth of East Moreland and the possibly the most important moment in our nations history since. The King is a well documented history buff and that is rubbing off on Rhiannon. The King aims to help her understand what those men and women experienced. Naturally King David is not a Red Legionnaire and while Rhiannon is an honourary one I don't think either of them are up to keeping up with a Red Legionnaire of the modern day. They also do not want to interfere in the units tradition of hiking in the evening before the Festival and standing guard over the battlefield. As a result they'll take a little longer and complete it a few days before. The King hopes to be self sufficent and enjoy some wild camping with his daughter who is excited to be doing the trip."

The Princess has also had her first social media account established. Mr.Tucker explained "While I think King David would prefer her to stay off social media its a reality of the modern era. While the account will be in her name it has been made very clear that it will actually be our office running it until she's of age to be responsible herself however we will naturally be taking guidance from her on what to post. We will naturally be ignoring all personal messages. We've seen the poor use of social media by some others and hope to avoid those mistakes."

Ghyslain Lyon stood from his seat and headed towards the front of the aircraft. There the Emperor Lucius had been on a video conference with his four year old son, Felix, and his mother Astrid. The boy had just been holding up a piece of paper to his father upon which on his own he'd successfully written his full name. Lucius smiled and applauded his youngest son and Glyslain waited for his half brother to finish the call. "Felix doing well?" He asked as Lucius turned to face him.

"Very well" Lucius beamed, "I think he'll end up being the most intelligent of the brood" He chuckled.

"I hope so" Ghyslain nodded, "We'll be landing in a few minutes."

"Thank you" The Emperor found his blazar, closed his laptop and joined Ghyslain who was not just his half brother but also his Imperial General, an equivalent of many nations Ministers of Defence. He had tried to get Lucius to also include his heir Henrik but after he failed to achieve everything his father had set for him in Lodja he wasn't trusting him with this. The two siblings would therefore be representing the Empire. After landing they waited for their transport to the venue and greeted the King. Lucius gave a firm handshake to the two Morelanders as he introduced himself. "I'm delighted to be here. I've heard of many technological marvels that have come out of this place so I look forward to seeing what we come up with." He moved on allowing the King to welcome the other guests. He moved between each of the other delegations and found himself a drink while they waited for the meeting to come to order.

"Excuse us for a moment." Serenity said looking at Andrew before taking Evanthe and leading her out of the room. This had just gone from bad to worst case scenario and beyond "Can we please try not to change the landscape of this before we get there? Right now we are dealing with a peaceful protest, there is no cause for alarm, there is nothing that would justify escalating this or presenting a front that is not united. He's not going to agree to the referendum, which I don't blame him for because rule number one of referenda is don't call one unless you know the result. Worse he's not minded to give the base back, which we know Sauzee's not going to budge on. This can only end with the removal of Seaforth's military presence. I don't like being in the position we're in, we've both got ties here and neither of us want an armed confrontation against each other." Serenity took a moment "How many times did Seaforth kick up a fuss about QAMB? Illumic self determination, removal of foreign military installations in the channel - is the Shaw deserving of any different? Why does Seaforth get to have a military presence in your backyard, when you don't get that in theirs? Is the Shaw any less secure than the Illumic? No it isn't, in fact it's historically safer. So before we get ourselves into a situation where our nations butt heads, where we create a chasm that you and Emerson can't fix and Euphy probably withholds sex..." she paused realising what she'd just said and who she'd said it to.

"Don't... Look before we get anywhere near that let's take a breath and remove emotion from the equation, we came here to explore the diplomatic avenues to resolving this situation in a manner that is peaceful. He's not swung at either pitch, the second of which is the best we could offer because his concessions are unreasonable, the return of the base and removal of Seaforth's military is non negotiable from the Marseilles side and Sauzee can't speak for all of Albion so tariff free access to the continent is a bit of a pipe dream, we're both experienced enough to know that. And we both know that Troyes is a Marseilles city and regardless of what Aosta and Abertone have done and said that fact remains true, as does the fact that Seaforth has overstayed in Troyes, we can stand here and go on about how much we don't like certain actions that have happened but from where I'm standing as the non Rhodes in the room they've not done anything that Seaforth hasn't done before. This isn’t an ASDN or Seaforth choice, this is a Marseilles or Seaforth choice and to choose Seaforth is to back a violation of international norms that sets a precedent we dare not set. remember if there was no occupation of Troyes would this even be a discussion? How many times have you and I and various governments across Mundus talked about self determination? About imperialism? How many times has Rokkenjima been accused of being imperialist? Granted most of them came from fallen regimes but what you've just said in there is aiding and abetting it."

Taking a breath Serenity pulled Evanthe into an embrace "Look I know it hurts being back here, all the memories of Joshua but, and I hope you'll forgive me, I need the Evanthe Anselmo who I watched study, who always did her homework at the first opportunity, the person I used to debate stuff with on the sofa years ago because I will not allow Achkaerin and Rokkenjima to get into a fight and I will not abandon Troyes and I most certainly will not tarnish the memory of Jocelyn of Rhodes. That is my word an Azurewind and you know the regard that is held in. So do we call Asuna and start preparing for a fight with each other neither of us want or do we call Sakura, Reid and start putting the pressure on. Let's do what we came here to do and let's do it together."