Gianatlan perspectives - Part 1 - Terminal mission
25 November 2024 -15:48 h
âFĂźr den Antrag âMaĂnahmen zur humanitären Hilfe in und Entsendung von Friedenskräften nach Terminienâ mit âJaâ gestimmt haben 355 AbgeordneteâŚâ [1]
The parliamentâs speaker, Sabine Meischel, couldnât finish her sentence immediately, as a significant number of parliamentarians applauded loudly. Some even cheered. 355 votes is more than a comfortable majority to pass the motion for an aid mission in Termina.
âBitteâŚLassen Sie mich das Ergebnis fertig vorlesen. 355 Ja-Stimmen. Mit âNeinâ gestimmt hat kein Abgeordneter. Enthaltungen: 87. Damit ist der Antrag angenommen.â[2]
Christin Herzer, state secretary in the ministry of defense, raised herself from her seat in the rows reserved for the members of government. Now her official work begins. She has just a short time to get from the Kingâs Palace to the the ministry, take the elevator up to the third floor, turn right and eventually meet up with her colleagues from the civilian branch of the Bundesarmee, who have already drafted some ideas on what the next few hours, days and weeks will look like. A general idea is present in her head as well, but she canât decide over the heads of the armed forces let alone minister Recke.
It is almost half past 4 when she finally arrived at her destination. A small group of six people will now start to decide on which steps the government should take next.
âWelcome dear colleagues. As you can guess, we finally have the approval to actually start our workâ, Christin started the meeting. âWe are not having an ideal situation going on in Crabry at the moment. Quite the contrary. We have thought, with the situation in Nicholasia[3] being somewhat calm and under control, things could go up again. Now, we all donât know, whatâs up in Nasphilitae, Esfalsa is seemingly asleep, Jakub has some domestic issues, though nothing out of the ordinary, and the USI recently focused on itself. All well, one could have wagered, but instead the long-time stable Termina has been hit by a bus. What seemed to be some democratic quarrels, one could simply shake oneâs head over, has actually become a heated situation. So heated, President Voroshilov of Kliegme decided to get the CE into a war. I must make clear, we are not part of this. Today we are talking, as far as possible, about all non-military means of help, that still just our military can provide. Initial questions or remarks?â
She waited for three or four seconds and continued: âIf thatâs not the case, Iâm all ears to hear about the first draft.â
Of course, with the Bundesarmee at the table, military means were still being discussed. After all, the allies decided to shoot their shot as well and it was heavily doubted, whether Kliegmeâs government would be satisfied by a supposed ally âjumping around doing nothing of value for the Ententeâ, but in the end, Christin reminded her colleagues, such debates should not be held at that moment, since parliament did not give any mandate to actually fight in the area. âWe all have our opinions, but the milk is spilled to a certain extent.â
At around 9 PM, the meeting, which was only shortly interrupted by a dinner break, ended and the circle had created a paper, which will be put on the ministerâs desk right the next morning. State secretary Herzer was mostly satisfied with the result, even if it was dependent on a few outside factors.
26 November 2024 - 09:30 h
Thorben Recke, Gianatlan minister of defense, took another sip of his Bruuman coffee and let out a sigh of refreshment. âI seeâŚâ, he frowned when he read parts of the paper his state secretary had given him. âCan we even contact the individual city states? Itâs difficult enough to get anyone from the Guild on the apparatus stillâ, he mumbled. Another sip of coffee. âI can let her call the Kliegmean foreign minister at least though. Talk about some logistics for that camp in Eastern Kliegme. Christian[4] should also contact the ZaakiesâŚâ
He placed down his cup and pushed a few buttons on the computer before pulling a headset over his head. A few calls later with the people he just thought about, he could put it away again. He didnât necessarily like that headset. It felt cheap, but it does its job. âNow itâs map timeâŚâ, he says while opening a common internet map service. He took a look at the city states Termina is officially comprised of, especially the ones creating problems. Those at the centre of the conflict. He only mumbled one more question to himself that day: âCan the CE even bring this to a positive ending?â
27 November 2024 - 13:48 h
âAh, itâs you. Thanks for calling backâ, Christian Strunk, former WF Speaker gone foreign minister, answered to the Izaakian ambassador in Gianatla. âSo, does your government provide some good news for me?â
He knew, he couldnât realistically hope for anything like that, but as the saying goes: Hope dies last. âI understand. With that in mind, I assume you have some contacts to the Southerners? Uh-huhâŚYeahâŚA shame. Well, I think, it would be good, if the Gianatlans also showed some presence inâŚnow, donât getâŚhaha, donât get offended yet!..No, no, Iâm not disrespec-âŚYes. I understand. Of course the WF would be preferable, but my hands are bound as much as yours are. YeahâŚIf you hear anything new, please ring me immediatelyâŚAlright, bye.â
The plan was easy. As humanitarian helpers, Gianatla hoped to get a foothold in all territories of the TCC. Strunk and eventually the rest of the government had to realise sooner or later however, this is not how the confederacy works. Some states are more frightened than ever of the CE after the invasion by Kliegme started. The Southern states pretend, an indirect vassalisation by the USI might be better. And then there are neutral states like Point Rain, who fear for their partially immoral business model, if they let in foreign peacekeepers. Only having Kliegme as an operaitve headquarter cannot be enough in the mid-term. It also doesnât help with geopolitical goals, that should obviously also be reached. The minister takes a chocolate treat out of his desk drawer with his one hand, while the other clicks âNew E-Mailâ in the emailing program. The chancellor will need to decide, if the original plan shall be stuck to or if everything needs to be redrafted.
4 December 2024 - 14:22 h
Pictures of the first cargo plane and soldiers landing in the North-Eastern parts of Kliegme and on the island of Mipha go around social media. Chancellor Sanddorn did not change the initial plan, but added a piece to it. âWhy is there no peace conference on the agenda yet? Has no one seen the potential of a conflict with the USI here?â Thatâs what she asked. Christin Herzer felt stupid for this fauxpas, at the same time she didnât understand, how the chancellor can talk about peace already. Has she not noticed, too many actors are already involved and want anything but peace? Anyhow, itâs useless to think about that. The focus must lie at successfully starting off this humanitarian operation and at understanding the city states.
For her and all the aforementioned deciders it is clear: This mission will take long and it will only be successful, if a certain goal is reached, which is written down on paper easily, but is very hard to achieve: Neutralising the internal threats of Termina by convincing or coercing the non-aligned or Southern-aligned city states to neutrality.
TO BE CONTINUED
Translations and annotations:
[1] "For the motion âMeasures of humanitarian aid for and deployment of peacekeeping forces to Terminaâ 355 members of parliament voted âAyeââŚ
[2] âPleaseâŚLet me finish reading out the result. 355 Aye-votes. No member voted âNayâ. Abstentions: 87. With that the motion has been approved.â
[3] Austral translation of the colloquial term used in Gianatla to refer to the country Nicholas and Great Britain
[4] Christian Strunk - foreign minister of Gianatla