East Moreland support the Lijiang bid

"This is bullshit" Redfern moaned as he checked the equipment spread out before him on the table in the ruined school some 35km South of Rockhampton. "Who the hell left the GPMG? And we're four claymores short. I know its a bloody crisis but since when did we become Lodjains." he complained to the assembled "military" under his command. In truth it was three Red Legionnaires, two Marines, one Air Force pilot and then a few guys who had stepped forward as "experienced" soldiers. At the mention of the Lodjains a cough came from the side of the room. "Sorry" Alex said shyly as Stasya Ironside stood there. They'd grabbed her and run when the attack began, King David had been the opposite side of the Palace and had been taken out early in the attack. Many who had escaped that side of the Palace had said they'd last seen the King with a rifle in his hand alongside his protection detail firing at incoming attackers. It gave Alex a reassurance that at least the King had gone down fighting and in some ways even if those rumours weren't true they would have needed to have been started in these difficult times. Redfern had split up what had remained of the Palace and scattered them across the countryside. He had suspected the scattered nature of East Moreland settlements would have helped the people survive but that hadn't been the case and every small village or town they approached on the march North had seen destruction and seemingly just adults dead, for some reason these Skitters wanted the children for those harness devices. They had become mindless slaves and frankly a liability. Redfern and his advanced guard of Tristian Rowe and Sebastian Johnson had been given direct orders to either evade or kill any children they'd come across if they saw those harnesses. Now though the problem was where was the missing weaponary. There would be no shortage of guns at Rockhampton and the equipment could be replaced easy enough but first they had 35km of Skitter infested country to cross and that was now suddenly harder.

"We've five people missing too." Sebastian interjected. "Luckily none of the military bods but I bet they've taken the stuff. There is a rumour going round that somehow people in that shithole of Vaguzia have survived better and we should be heading West not East." He shrugged his shoulders.

"We told Rhiannon and Saxby we'd see them in Rockhampton. We're going to Rockhampton and I don't care if Vaguzia was Skitter free and full of beer and steak, we get the Queen." The room nodded. "Then we turn the caves into a fortress and work out how to get these things off Mundus." A young boy walked into the room and Stasya took him by the hand and lead him away. Eight year old Prince Richard had been doing well keeping up but it was hard for him. Most of his friends had been killed and now he just had his mother really. He still would wake up in the night screaming for his deceased father and then complained he missed his sister Rhiannon. The Red's had managed to find a small dagger in the ruins of one of the Northfort Palace buildings and had given it him as his "sword" and that had gone some way to making the Prince feel better but it couldn't replace his father. Stasya tried her best to reassure him but even after eight years of being a mother she had little maternal instinct. She was though pretty ruthless when she had to be and when she had found out about Alex executing children he had expected complaints instead the former Queen had helped distract the others in the group so they were not aware of the issue to the majority of the group the children were already dead when the group found the settlement, Stasya had even told the people the Skitters executed the children once the work was done. It was cold but it had cemented a desire to fight in almost every Morelander in their column of around 60 people.

"We'll have to make do" Alex said as he redistributed the kit. "We keep everything within our group now" he gave each person a weapon and a share of the ammo. His two frontmen, Sebastian and Tristian got the best rifles and a Anti-Tank weapon and having refilled their water bottles from the schools kitchen sink headed off into the night. They'd be heading towards a village called Elthorpe and from there they'd find the river and that would take them to Rockhampton, the big concern was much of the trip would have little cover from the air and so they'd make the journey at night, rest up during the day. Alex cursed they'd got no night vision goggles but the distinct hum of the Skitter ships meant they'd be largely un-needed anyway. "You've got twenty minutes" Alex told everyone else and the rest of his group of survivors began packing their gear ready for the hike.

"She better be there" Alex said to himself as he watched his two scouts disappear into the nearby woods. Stasya heard him and unsure whether he was meaning his wife Freya or his niece Rhiannon left him to his thoughts.

Centralia added

"I would be willing to sign this." King Heydar acknowledged. "I would though like to define the observation force as being transported in Seleucid vehicles and permitted to carry only communication and side arms."

King David had spent much of the day dealing with the various reports and messages that had been coming in. He was now back in his office with his Chief of Household, Quinn Germaine, sat opposite him taking notes. "First make sure everyone who sent telegrams is thanked for their messages if they sent the usual thoughts and prayers. Thank Tytor for their offer of using embassy space however for the time being we'll be making use of the Ui Cenneslaig one under the CNN terms. Let Sir James know though that I expect a symbolic guard in place on our embassy if he thinks its safe to do so. We'll not yield to terrorists."

"That everything Your Majesty?" Quinn asked as she finished scribbling down the instructions the King had just given her.

"For now yes, thank you" David waited for her to go before making his way back down to the bowels of the Palace where the briefing centre was. Many now dishevelled looking senior offices and aides were still answering phones, tapping away on laptops and drinking giant cups of coffee. Seeing the King they all stood but David just motioned for them to take a seat. "I just came to sit" David took his place at the head of the table and surveyed the various images on the large screen at the far end. It showed the smoking wreckage of the embassy and David just watched the smoke drift off it. He picked up his own phone and called a Quinn, "Is Redfern in the building."

"He is Sire"

"Send him down to the basement please" Five minutes later in walked Alex Redfern and took the seat next to the King. "Alex I'm aware that we'll need some people outside we can trust to put a ring of steel around Klara. We don't know which Lodjains we can trust and while I'm sure the Cenneg are doing a good job I want our input if anything happens. Can you get a team in within the next 24 hours?"

Alex looked down at his watch doing some mental calculations. "I'll have some of our people woken up immediately." He said with almost a relish.

---

Red Legion Seasonal Training Base, Nya Aland

Sebastian Johnson was wandering through the long grass which made up the shoreline vegetation from the Alucard to the pebble beach. He had a steaming tin mug of black coffee in his left hand and a single smooth pebble in his right. He loved the view this time of year as the sea was as flat as a mill-pond and the Alander spring was in full bloom. He casually tossed a stone to his left and heard it ping off someones helmet "You're dead" he said as he continued his walk along the pebble beach. He reached into his jacket pocket, took out another pebble and winged it with more force further up the beach, another ping followed by an "ouch" made Sebastian chuckle, "You're certainly dead." He turned and spotted the boat house and two boats placed on top of each other with the upper most one being upside down to form a kind of coccoon. There was a small gap between the two wooden hulls and he expertly threw a coin between them and instantly heard cursing, "Dead" he said with a chuckle and took a sip of his brew before throwing his final stone off towards the pile of old fishing nets. He heard the familiar sound of it hitting something metallic and announced the death of the final trainee. He turned and saw the other three now looking gloom having emerged from their hiding place and turned back expecting to see the forth scrambling out from their spot behind the nets. No-one had emerged and so he wandered over and kicked where he expected a boot to be but instead found it was just a sack stuffed with pebbles. Further up the pile there was the kevlar helmet he'd thrown the stone at but no one underneath it. He heard a click off to the left and turned to see a Legionnaire kneeling underneath the quayside with a rifle aiming at him. "Shit the bed you're a cheeky sod" He found himself smiling. "You're still dead though." Sebastian motioned to the rooftop of the HQ Block where one of the other instructors was sat with his own rifle. "Get cleaned up, grab breakfast and get a shower." The trainees had been dropped off in kayaks 5km out to sea and had been told a high value target was due to take their morning walk along the beach and that a hit was required from a distance of no more than 25 meters. The team had come ashore during the night and taken up what they had thought would be good ambush positions. Usually Sebastian got all four of them but this morning had been different. He was about to go grab a bacon sandwich with everyone else when his phone rang. "Redfern, hows things?"

Alex briefed him of what had been going on knowing full well the base in Nya Aland was often difficult to keep up with current affairs in and during Selection didn't much like contact with the outside world. Sebastian was rather shocked but not surprised by Redferns instructions. "I'll be in Lodja ASAP........ Stasiuk Plaza Hotel.....Roger that." He trudged back to his room grabbed his go bag and made his way to helipad. An hour later he was en-route to Gaia and wandered into the reception of the hotel three hours after Redfern had phoned him. "Sebastian Johnson, I have a reservation" he introduced himself and was shown up to a room on the third floor.

---

Leublin, Lodja

Keir Peters was vastly over-qualified for this job and was frankly rather annoyed he'd been sent to do it. "If you put the plate there it's going to screw up the centre of gravity" He cast his eyes at the work that the fitters on the Kolisev transport plane were carrying out. The aircraft was being retro-fitted as a VIP transport aircraft and the aim was to ensure it was comparable with the conditions of Ironside One. The Lodjains just didn't seem to understand how half of the re-design was supposed to go. Keir was only supposed to be giving advice as a Royal Protection Agent but his experience as a pilot was also proving to be useful. He was about to start moaning about the state they'd left the avionics bay in when the base became chaotic. "Turn on the radio" one of the Lodjain fitters instructed and the usual mix of awful pop music wasn't playing but instead the news. Keir's Lodjain wasn't fluent but it was good enough to know that he had just heard the Queen had escaped a failed assassination attempt and then that his own embassy had been hit. Keir had left the hangar as an officer shut down the work for the day and found himself in the officers mess watching the 24 hour news, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He tried phoning his buddy Tristian Rowe who he knew was based on the Isle but got no answer and began feeling nervous. Several hours later his phone went "Redfern" he replied. He had expected some kind of orders to come through and as soon as Alex had told him what was going on he had requisitioned one the bases helicopters and flown himself to Gaia. He arrived at the Stasiuk Plaza Hotel about an hour after Sebastian and having dumped his gear in his own room made his way down the corridor and knocked on the door. "Evening Seb." Keir greeted his former comrade before accepting one of the beers. "We hitting the mini-bar, Red Legion expenses have changed a lot since I left."

"Just think one day we'll be on the same expenses that allow us to have smart designer suits like you Royal Protection boys." the pair clinked beer bottles together and waited for the next arrivals.

---

With Queen Stasya staying in East Moreland or travelling with her husband for the time being it was a good time for Tillie Brekenridge to get some time off. She'd been loaned the penthouse apartment of Queen Stasya in Gaia and along with her partner Lindsay Easom had been enjoying the first three days of a two week break. They'd picked Lodja for their vaccation for two simple reasons, first it was the Penthouse of a Baronettes and socialite and therefore it didn't disappoint, amazing views of the city square, sadly none of the coast, its own hot tub and a bath-tub you could do laps of. It was also a good chance for Tillie to get some more practice in with her Lodjain which was already pretty damn good. The pair had spent the morning recovering from a few cocktails the night before and the first they knew of the attack was when Redfern phoned Tillie. "Hi Alex" Tillie said as she accepted the call. Alex briefed her on what had gone off and Tillie's silence betrayed the fact that this was something serious. "Who else you bringing in?" ........."Good.".....she reached for the pad and pen and noted down the hotel name and room number. "Alex, we could do with some electronic analysis on this and well I just so happen to have next to me a certain Major in Cyber Legion." Alex knew most of the key agents in the Royal Protection Agency well and was aware of what that meant. Tillie laughed and turned to Lindsay, "You've just been seconded to me, now quiet literally your ass belongs to me........Yes Alex we'll get there."

It was a quick shower, change and exit from the penthouse for the duo. They walked past what remained of the East Moreland embassy and both resisted the urge to stop and gawk and instead head to the Stasiuk Plaza Hotel where Sebastian and Keir were waiting. She knew Keir and recognised Sebastian by sight and so after some brief introductions the four sat with mini-bar beers as Alex Redfern joined them via the wonders of the internet.

"Welcome to the Dream Team" Alex began, "Or the three random people I knew in Lodja and their girlfriend. We need someone out there capable of contributing to the operations to secure Queen Klara and find King Leopold. "Go see the Cenneg, offer what assistance you can and Keir I'm putting you in charge of the Red Legionnaires in country, get a plan together to get after the Morelander and find out where Prince Isaak is. Happy hunting."

	Tillie Breckenridge
Roles	Royal Protection Agent Cyber Security Officer
Year of Birth	September 24, 1993 in Portworth
Positions Held	2014-2017 Officer in the Royal Signals Corps 2017-2019 Officer in Cyber Legion 2019-present Royal Protection Agency
Education	BSci(Hons) in Digital Communication Moreland Highers in Computing (B), Maths (C) and Physics (C)
Family	Currently in a 4 year relationship with Lindsay Easom
Links to Important events?	WHat have they done
Biography	Was always a bit of an outsider at school as she didn't fit into any particular "clique" She enjoyed building computers, kickboxing and photography. In 2013 she won the East Moreland Universities kickboxing championship and signed up to the Army as a Reservist. Upon graduation she was commissioned into the Royal Signals Corps and found herself in a unit responsible for working out programmes and systems to intercept electronic data that could be used by front-line forces. When in 2017 King David ordered the formation of a specialist cyber warfare unit she was headhunted to the unit and gained a fast track promotion to Captain. She found herself in 2018 educating Red Legion about the finer arts of computer hacking and various other aspects of cyber security. As it was believed at some point someone with her skills may be needed on a Red Legion operation she undertook the Combined Special Operations Course which is seen as a half way house towards joining Red Legion. Her handiness with firearms alerted the Royal Protection Agency that she may be a potential agent to work with Princess Rhiannon however instead she has found herself attached to Queen Stasya. In 2017 she began a relationship with former Air Force officer Lindsay Easom who had also been brought into Cyber Legion.

Henrietta had to admit that the Lijiangian Lord had done his research. CETO was a project dear to King David's heart and tying the return of the art-work to it was clearly designed to try and sway the monarch. She thought for a moment or two, "I will suggest to His Majesty that he accepts the offer, however in the end the art works are his and therefore any decision beyond what we had agreed prior to your arrival is something he will need to consider. Please give me a few minutes to go and make a phone call." She excused herself and phoned the King as they'd discussed.

"How's it going?" the King asked as he answered.

"Fine, as suspected some are clearly from Lijiang and Jocelyn is preparing those for transport, there are however several pieces that are disputed and as expected they want them." They had discussed this issue and David had been wary of perhaps the Lijiang delegation chancing their arm at getting the whole haul but having been reassured that it was just 23. "They have a rather unique solution we didn't count on." She outlined the proposal and could tell from the silence on the other end there was a rather surprised King too.

"Henrietta can you let them know I'm considering the matter seriously. Take them for lunch at Zac Braithwaite's place." Zac Braithwaite was a well known Morelander chef, famed for his TV Shows of farm to fork cooking and his restaurant was a favourite of the King. "I'll have an answer for them by time you have desert."

"I'll not turn a chocolate cheesecake down" Henrietta replied, "I'll speak to you soon Your Majesty." She put her phone away and returned to see Guangtai and the others. "Lord Guantai His Majesty is considering your offer and has instructed me to take us all for lunch while he makes his mind up. If you'd care to follow me." They made their way to the rear of the gallery where Henrietta had a car waiting. The trip to the restaurant was a short one and having had an aide ring ahead the chef was waiting in person in his whites as they arrived.

"Prime Minister" he extended a hand to Henrietta, "Your Grace" he bowed to the guest from Lijiang. "I'm excited to showcase my food for you. Please come inside" He held the door open to allow them to enter and a young smartly dressed girl in white shirt with a red tie escorted them towards the rear of the restaurant and into a private room which had a large window looking directly into a well ordered kitchen. "Today we have for you some salmon and eggs, then a game pie which sadly we've had to change slightly from a traditional recipe, and then because we know our Prime Minister has a sweet tooth a Chocolate Cheesecake. I hope you enjoy the food." He bowed and left only to reappear seconds later in the kitchen where it was clear he'd barked a series of orders at his staff who instantly began pulling pans from stacks and setting about the tasks at hand.

"Game Pie is one of our nations great traditions. We used to be a nation that hunted extensively for wild meat, however that's become more farmed these days as we try and protect the environment. We've had to reintroduce some species such as Wild Boar which has been a great success. A proper Game Pie has venison, rabbit, pheasant, pigeon and boar but sadly with the Yellow-Tongue virus that hit we've had a ban on the hunting of Deer and Boar so Zak here has switched the recipe to rabbit, pheasant, pigeon and bear." Henrietta did her best to make conversation with the guests, comparisons of cuisine, the project in Mugu for the Cultural Centre and even the rugby world cup. Braithwaite's staff served up each course in turn and ensured drinks flowed. It was when the Cheesecake was being served that an extra body entered the room.

"Lord Guangtai" King David placed the guests dish down in front of him before extending a hand. "I hope Henrietta, Jocelyn and Maddie have been taking good care of you." He walked round to Xiuli and Zenchai and introduced himself before taking a seat at the opposite end of the table. "I wanted to come as discussions between us have gone in a direction that neither me and Henrietta anticipated, in a good way" he smiled and he politely refused a serving of the cheesecake from a young waiter. "You see I would very much be delighted to see an Ironside Gallery in Lijiang, and I'm thrilled you would even consider it. I am minded to accept your proposal however I would have two conditions. The first is that Lijiang are members of CETO. That way I can be assured of the long term safety of these art pieces. The second is that I would like something in return." The King reached into his jacket and produced a picture printed onto some paper, he unfolded it and slid it to Guangtai. "I would like to commission a traditional Jian Sword I hope I pronounced that correctly. I would like you to find me a smith who could make one using as many traditional methods as possible, naturally I'll cover the costs, but what I would really like is that when I visit you can find someone who can give me a lesson in its use, as you know East Moreland places great value in swordsmanship and I find it interesting to discover other disciplines of swordsmanship. If you join CETO, arrange for me to buy a sword and have a sword lesson then you may take the art-works home with you in the way you outlined. Do we have an agreement."

The BIKINI State is a nationally used alert status used to convey the level of threat to East Moreland and its military personnel. The levels were initially kept secret when introduced as a concept in the 1950's however with so many Morelanders having completed military training as part of the nation's programme of compulsory national service it was determined that they would be made public in the 1970's. The word BIKINI is not an acronym and was infact randomly chosen as part of a security code for radio communication. Today most government instillations display the level prominently as it often influences the manner in which security services deal with the public and thus by making it publically known it is considered more likely the general public will act to support and comply with the military forces that often patrol urban areas.

There are a number of different levels and it is not always the case that the levels will be utilised in order.

Code	What it means?
Red	East Moreland is at war. Forces are engaged in combat and it is likely that attacks on East Moreland will take place.	HIGHEST LEVEL OF THREAT
Black Alpha	A known specified threat against East Moreland targets either at home or abroad is expected to be acted upon in the near future.
Black	There is a threat in place to East Moreland targets either at home or abroad.
Orange	There is an increased level of security as it is believed to be a potential threat to the nation or nationals.
Green	No suspected threats or dangers.	LOWEST LEVEL OF THREAT

For much of the last two decades the Bikini State has fluctuated between Black Alpha and Black. Despite East Moreland's combat troops seeing action in Marseille, Safraen and Academica these actions did not see Red deployed as they were classed as "Peacekeeping" rather than direct combat operations.

To His Grace Duke Stanely Keynes, Royal Overseer

I am honoured to receive your invitation and I am excited by your suggested itinerary. I am fascinated by the unique way your nation is organised and look forward to finding out more about it therefore me and Queen Stasya would be delighted to accept your invitation. Due to the lengthy manner of the extended visit and the current situations in Lodja however I would request that you permit me a larger than normal party. Traditionally I have always liked to keep my party for state visits minimal and I do not wish to have you think a larger than normal party is any slight to you or your people who have extended this warm invite. I believe that we can make strong foundations between our two nations during my visit and I look forward to meeting you in person soon.

I would ask for one slight addition to your itinerary however. It is my understanding a small Cultist population exists in Eskdale and as my visit will extend to a Friday I would like to join with members of this community if possible to take part in the weekly service. If this is not possible I understand and would instead like to have some time for private prayers included in the itinerary.

If this is acceptable myself and my wife shall visit as soon as possible.

May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Nation Know Peace

King David III of East Moreland.

Following what appears to be an attempted coup in Lodja by King Leopold the King of East Moreland has issued a statement giving his support to Queen Klara. On his way to meet with members of the Representative Council the King stopped and briefly spoke with the media saying. "Several years ago I was able to meet a young and driven Queen called Viktoria, she was someone who after 90 years of rule be the previous Queen was committed and desperate to drag Lodja into a brighter future. We worked side by side and I was proud to call her my friend. Together with our friends King Piripi and King Finley we formed the CNN, an alliance not born out of anything that tied us together other than mutual friendship between monarchs all of whom wanted to see their nations prosper. Sadly that bright spark was snatched from the world by someone desperate to obtain and further their own power. Today we have seen history repeat itself. A young Queen, one who has already put in place so many changes for her people. One who has worked hard to ensure her people were on a path towards an ever brighter future. She now has seen her attempts halted through the use of violence again from someone close to her. Just as last time the people of East Moreland will stand side by side with our Lodjain allies and make sure that Leopold is brought to justice. His fake Lodja will be dealth with."

It is understood that several ships are making their way towards Ui Cenneslaig where it is likely a fleet to support Queen Klara will be formed. As of yet no details are known as to what support King Leopold has in Lodja or whether his attempt was supported by groups outside of Lodja. The King was asked about Queen Stasya's reaction however he explained, "The only reaction that is needed is one of supporting our friends. The Queen supports that aim and will not be making a statement on the matter." The Queen is friends and former colleague of Queen Klara's Ladies in Waiting prior to marrying King David and it is not known whether the Queen has been in touch with them.

"I think perhaps you misunderstand where this going. I am pretty confident in my assessment that should you apply for membership of any of those organisations it would be a struggle for you to get the votes for membership. You see I will probably not be alone in thinking that we are not admitting Awhaele but we are in fact admitting Achkaerin. As such I am laying the foundations for a fall back as I would hate to see this visit end without some success and it may take a considerable amount of time for the paperwork to make a bid for these bodies to be completed and then of course any requested information or discussions. What I am putting forward could theoretically come into force in just a few days as far as I'm concerned. While a lot of our relationship will be governed by the East Moreland and Achkaerin agreement this essentially affords your nation a special status. Now if by some miracle you do get membership of these organisations points 1 and 2 are mute as their is provision in their charters to cover that, 3 would also fall in line with those charters, point four can continue anyway even if you become a member of those bodies and would be part of promoting co-operation between East Moreland and Achkaerin forces. The final point is something that can also remain in place if you join those organisations and in fact gets you something none of those nations have been offered. Now if you prefer to not go through with this proposal of mine and chance your arm at an all or nothing approach to joining the AKO, MICA and the like then of course that's your right."

It would appear there would be very little they could agree on to ensure Awhaele would gain admission to the various local bodies. Even David wasn't convinced in backing their membership if they applied as they had suggested. He did however believe that as outliers to the region a friendship would be necessary. "I think we're going to struggle to find a path forward where I can be assured of being able to retain the idea of Illumic Regional Determination while at the same time having you be able to abide by the agreement." It was a result he hoped wouldn't be reached but it was now in his view inevitable unless Queen Siora could pull a metaphorical rabbit out of a hat. "I think that should you put a proposal before any of the regional bodies it may struggle, however I would not want Awhaele to be isolated I therefore propose the following"

On the ??/??/2021 the Kingdom of East Moreland and the Island province of Awhaele have agreed to abide by the following conditions.

1. East Moreland shall establish a consulate on Awhaele manned on parity with embassies typically run by East Moreland.

2. Awhaele shall establish a consulate in Northfort.

3. Goods which have 100% of their manufacturing process conducted in one nation may be exported to the other without tariffs.

4. The Awhaele Regiment shall undertake annual manoeuvres with the East Moreland military in order to promote military co-operation.

5. A total of 100 work visas for Awhaele based businesses shall be made available for businesses employing less than 50 individuals. Chamwick shall put aside a multi-use facility to be utilised by these businesses. A work visa may be denied on grounds of nation security.

"Its brief but many of the major items of a treaty will be covered by the existing East Moreland-Achkaerin treaty, this however will offer some oppurtunities unique for your people. Now obviously we need to consider the idea of how this would fit in with your arrangement with Achkaerin."

Following the recent attack that has taken place in Lodja the Kingdom of East Moreland believes that we should consider the moving of assets towards Lodja should the situation require it. As such I have today issued orders for an East Moreland Task Force from all branches of our military to assemble in order to be made avaliable for working alongside their Lodjain comrades. We furthermore will be doing all we can in order to assist in any operation to rescue Prince Isaak and the various Lodjain Ministers who have been kidnapped.

The East Moreland task force will depart home waters as soon as possible however will not enter Lodjain waters unless granted permission.

May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Enemies Find Death

King David III of East Moreland.

110km East of the IMPS Poseidon

The REMNS Chamwick was on yet another routine between Portworth and Achkaerin transporting some of the last few Achkaerin nukes for disposal. The carrier was on its first of such runs that had been publicised as a variety of training exercises for future humanitarian operations. Each run would see one of the carriers or amphibious warfare ships accompanied by a destroyer and pair of Frigates with often a sub or two milling around just in case. The crew of the Chamwick had set off expecting to pick up various pieces of hospital equipment and run it back to Portworth and Captain Frazer had been rather surprised when he had been briefed on his arrival about the extra bits and pieces of cargo he'd be carrying. The nuclear equipment had been loaded in secrecy and only the senior officers, three Red Legionnaires and a pair of Marine officers had been told of its presence.

The crew were rather enjoying the run, it had been the first chance to get the ship out on a long run and the aviators were enjoying the chance to get some flight time in away from the Illumic. This morning it was time for some routine patrols to run a few drills and a pair of Dragonskin fighters were about to intercept a returning Sea-Dragon when the distress call came through.

"Chamwick Actual this is Dragon One did you just get that distress call?" the pilot of the lead Dragonskin called in.

"Roger that Dragon One, we heard it." Onboard the ship Frazer was already sending word back to East Moreland and also to Rokkenjima. He was though now in a bit of a pickle and requested to speak to Admiral James Thompson   just as his instructions in Achkaerin had told him too should anything happen that was a problem. Frazer took the call in his ward-room.

"Admiral Thompson you know what we have onboard and you also will have been told of the situation. We may be the nearest military vessel and we have onboard Marines and some Red's, they may be of use but obviously we don't know the situation fully. What do you want us to do?"

"Captain" the Admiral understood the Captain's desire to help out but things needed to proceed. "The cargo needs to get back here ASAP. I want you to take a more Northern route avoiding the Poseidon however if requested by the flag state you may detach a Frigate to help in operations, stick some of your Marines and the Red's onboard and then haul ass back to East Moreland. You have discretion to reveal to your crew your mission if you think its needed."

"Thank you Admiral." Frazer ended the call and headed to the bridge, it was too early to perhaps declare what the cargo was but he called the people in the known together and briefed them. About forty minutes after the distress call had been heard Sergeant Lister of Red Legion was taking a helicopter ride to the Frigate "Melissa Gunningham" as he arrived with his two Red comrades and a further 10 Marines to supplement the small detachment on the Frigate he watched as they turned away and began heading towards the distress call.

The Feast of Jekar is seen as the 2nd most important festival in the year of the Cult of Helus and today members of the Cult across Mundus celebrated with sword ceremonies, competitions and feasts. The day is dedicated to the God of War and Swords and is used to give thanks to the "Scarred Legionnaire of Helus" who convinced Helus to intervene in the war between humanity and the Underlords. The day is now used to mark a celebration of those who have been loyal to the Code of Canley and also pay tribute to those who have served various good caused through the year. As with most feast days the day began with the King visiting the Temple of the God in Northfort. The King was accompanied by 7 year old Princess Rhiannon and the pair were attired in traditional tunics, Red for the King and Red and White for the Princess. The King took part in the morning ritual which saw the Royal Blacksmith, Maxwell Power, use the Temple's grinding wheel to put a new edge on the sword held by the statue of Jekar and the King's own blade. The Queen meanwhile visited the Sisterhood of Helus' Temple in Northfort where she presented it with its first sword for their own statue of Helus-Jekar which they believe is merely a personification of the "Goddess Helus'" warrior side. Just like the King she had opted to wear traditional red tunic marking the first time since her coronation she has been seen in public wearing the attire.

Following the time in Temple the King and Princess Rhiannon made their way to People's Park next to the Palace where a huge fayre was taking place including charitable stalls, craftsman and oppurtunities to take part in swordsmanship events and practice. Princess Rhiannon joined with school mates to take part in a demonstration of traditional sword fighting techniques before being presented with a ceremonial wooden training sword for being the "Most Improved Under 11" at the Townshend Sword Academy, considered one of the most prestigious places to learn traditional swordsmanship. The Princess has been studying with Sir Charles Townshend, who is the leader of the chivalric order known as the Court of Canley. Princess Rhiannon was watched by her father, step-mother Queen Stasya, aunt Princess Freya and her mother Matilda Osman. The Princess was permitted a brief conversation with the media after the presentation and said, "I like learning with the sword because its important to know. Sometimes though I make mistakes and that hurts a lot but then I know not to do it again. I'd like to say thank you for my new sword and I want to get another next year."

The King, Queen and the rest of the Ironsides then retired to the Palace where it is understood that they hosted a feast and ball for members of the armed forces nominated to attend by their commanding officer because of work they had done to support communities. One person invited was L/Cpl Robert Weathers who was nominated because they had helped set up a homework club for students at a nearby school where the Royal Signalman supported students with science work. L/Cpl Weathers said, "I'm honoured to get an invite to the Palace on a day like today. I've always been proud of serving the military and doing my best to follow the Code of Canley and to celebrate at the heart of the faith is exciting."

Across Mundus there were other celebrations in which the various East Moreland embassies played a key role. In Meybad, Royal Seleucid, the embassy lead an attempt to try and replace swords that had been confiscated during the food crisis of 2019. Blacksmiths across East Moreland had donated new blades that could be distributed, a total of 476 were given out however as Ambassador Edward Stackhouse explained, "We believe well over 2,500 swords were confiscated during this crisis which we know of. Many more family heirlooms were also taken and we believe the number could be as a high as 10,000 today we went a small way to trying and restoring some families honour." Meanwhile in Paracambi the embassy staff had arranged for a Medieval MMA tournament among members of its embassy and the Bakkermayan one with 22 year old East Moreland guardsman Andrew Preston coming out victorious. Following his victory he said, "We wanted to celebrate with the local people and thought putting on a demonstration of the skills Jekar told us we needed was a good way of letting them see some of what we're about. To celebrate the feast of the beach though rather than the hills of my hometown Roberton is odd but fun."

Tomorrow there will be a large military parade through the streets of Ostlake where the King and Queen are expected to take the salute.

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With scientists in Fleur having developed a vaccine to tackle the Yellowtongue virus which has been plaguing Ruminant species across the Kingdom for some time. The virus has impacted the deer population in the Northfort Royal Palace parkland as well as various farmers herds around Ostlake and Rockhampton. The new vaccine is said to be around 85-90% effective following scientists in Fleur taking advantage of an OsmanTech mapping of the virus. The company has now switched to mass producing the vaccine as it is estimated that around 400million doses will be required to vaccinate the majority of East Moreland livestock. Olivia Cole, the Kingdom's Science and Techology Minister toured the OsmanTech facility today and said, "It is vital that we now pump this thing out as quickly as possible and get it to our farmers and then see how we can perhaps get it into the wild populations. East Moreland as a nation relies a lot on wild game as a way of life meaning at present lots of traditional hunting has stopped because of the risk of this disease. We are now thankful that our joint co-operation on tackling this with Fleur has lead to them working out a path towards getting things back to normal and now its time to forge ahead and complete the journey we've been on side by side. The co-operation between Fleur and East Moreland has shown just how powerful large scale collaborations such as this can be in tackling problems and I know in the future we will look to build upon this fruitful and successful collaboration of work."

It is expected the first dose will be given next week however no details of how the vaccine will be made avalible has yet been confirmed causing many farmers to complain about the Agricultural Ministries lack of communication.

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