North and South

[Markus Wilding]

The following message would be sent to the Swedish foreign ministry:

 

 

To whom it may concern,

 

I have been instructed by Director Wilding to obtain an audience with Swedish high government officials. It is my hope that we can discuss matters of mutual interest, preferably looking beyond past incidents. We can host a representative in Vienna, or I can head directly to Stockholm to discuss these issues and topics.

 

Regards,

Foreign Minister Finn Powers

 

[Lysergide]

Diplomatic Reply from Sverige

 

We have had our differences in the past, combined with distrust, and actions taken to effect the other, but with the current situation regarding the French repossession of her old territory that she had gifted to a nation, that is rightfully Frances as per agreements of the treaty that would give that territory back to France should that nation fall. We are willing to allow you passage to Stockholm to discuss this matter, as it seems you have already made attempts to stall the aggressive actions of these vultures attempting to take advantage of mutual ally France.

[Markus Wilding]

Within a day of receiving the response, Finn would depart Vienna and fly to Stockholm, reading up on his Swedish again - last time he spoke to a Swede, he accidentally mixed Norwegian into it.

[Lysergide]

At the airport, a man wearing a dress trench coat, with an army badge being a part of it. It was rather obvious by the way he was dressed and stood that he was a part of the Sverige military, but he didn't have any ranks, badges, or campaign ribbons placed anywhere on him. His officers cap hung low on his head covering his eyes as the rain continued to drizzles down, water droplets forming on the bead of his hat before dropping to the ground. He stood there waiting there patiently, while other members of the diplomatic team could be seen sitting inside of the limo, enjoying a glass of wine among themselves.

[Markus Wilding]

As Finn exited the airport, he lit a cigarette and looked around. Not many others looked like they were here for him, so that left only the man in the trench coat. "Heh," he said as he knocked off bits of the cigarette, "Not often I get an honor guard. Do you have a name, or do you just stand out in the rain for fun?"

[Lysergide]

The man lifted his head slightly, his officers cap still pulled down covering his eyes as he took the man standing in front of him. He replied with a rough tone his voice of a man that had done a lot of yelling in his life. "Honor Guard? You seem to have me confused with a Rifleman, I am Field Marshall Sigmund Karlson, Overall Commander of the Imperial Army of the Kingdom of Sverige. I stand in the rain because it is quieter than listening to a bunch of boys talk among themselves in a car while waiting to play the role of diplomat. The King had chosen me to over see these talks, which I feel is a complete waste of my time, but he feels that a military commander should meet with a diplomat from a military nation, such as is Alvonia."

[Markus Wilding]

"Heh, I know the feeling. Apologies for the confusion Field Marshall, I wasn't briefed on the Swedish military in detail before I came here." Exhaling away from Karlson's face, Finn put the cigarette back in with an odd grin. "I like you already. You're speaking my language. Not that I expected you to know this, but I was once military. Irish Army, well before the current state organized itself. Let's get out of this rain and get the meeting with these kiddos over with."

[Lysergide]

"We won't be going with them." The Field Marshall would start walking away from the limousine and heading down the dark airport runway, making a motion for Finn to follow him as he made his way away from diplomats. He would then place his hands behind his back and hold them together as he talked in a voice that would force Finn to stay with him. "This meeting is going to be conducted in private, and anyone that knows of this meeting will be silenced and removed from the picture on Sverige's end that do not need to know about it. I hope that the Alvonian Government will be willing to do the same on their end."

[Markus Wilding]

"$*@&," Finn muttered in English as he followed Field Marshall Karlson, while tossing the cigarette away at the same time. "I'll be upfront about this - the two guards I have with me, the pilots on my plane, and Director Wilding are the only ones in Alvonia that know about this. The Director and myself have an agreement that whatever we talk about that's written down, that gets filed away in a back room nobody's going to go poking around into. The pilots, they'll get a nice check every couple of years to keep their mouths shut. These two...they're loyal. They know not to ask questions. Let's drop the cloak and dagger bull%*$&, my job here is simple. I realize we've had problems in the past, but I don't see that as any reason we can't work together. I'm asking you consider a non-aggression pact and a free trade agreement. You wanna go higher than that, feel free to let me know, but I'll be happy to walk away with that in my hand."

[Lysergide]

"Excellent that this meeting will remain a secret." He pulled his hands forward in front of him, pulling what looked to be a remote on it, flipping a switch, he then pressed a button on it. As the button sprung back up a huge explosion happened behind them as the limousine exploded behind them as they continued to walk away from the scene of the crime, more apparent that they were walking towards a building instead of in no direction. "Then Sverige can claim that it has been silenced on our end. I and the King know of this meeting, it is why you came to a small airfield, and why we have covered up your jet landing as a prototype flight for the Sverige Airforce. We are prepared to discuss whatever you wish with an open ear. We are returning to the playing fields of Europe, and we don't have much faith for people with silver tongues." As he finished speaking they building would be more visible that it was a small airport caretakers housing unit, that was well kept with a rather large screened in porch. It could be seen that there were two soldiers standing in front of the short steps up to the porch in full battle armor, with thermal goggles over their faces to allow them to see anyone approaching easier in rain that was increasing in strength.

[Markus Wilding]

"Well, this is infinitely more interesting that I thought on the flight over here." Finn followed the Field Marshall wherever he went, taking note of the rain now falling harder. "And here I thought I'd have to be all diplomatic about this. Well, with those niceties out of the way..." Finn reached into a back pocket and popped another cigarette out of its pack, lighting it and taking a deep breath. "Alvonia needs allies. I'm sure that's stupidly obvious to anyone looking outside, but diplomats and statesmen I talk to don't seem to realize that. France is a worthy ally, yes, but I'd much prefer getting both sides of the marriage. Our mutual interest is France, right? Say whatever you want about our foreign policy, but Alvonia doesn't turn her back on her friends. Give us a chance, and we'll fight to the death defending your country and your people. And before you speak about the Eastern Bloc, our attitude is changing with them. They're not going to be a problem for Alvonia anymore."

[Lysergide]

[OOC: Sorry, meant to get back to this sooner, but other things drew my attention, such as being sick and many happenings in the world.]

 

He walked up the steps in short order before walking past one chair and a small table and pulling out the chair on the opposite side. He took off his coat, and placed it on a hanger on the wall, and put his cap next to it, revealing his slicked back hair. He sat down at the table, pulling out a lighter and lighting a couple of candles that were on it, illuminating the porch well enough for those that were on it to see each other well, but not well enough for people in the distance to see that there was lights on the porch. "We have no doubt of the military credentials of Alvonia, or their willingness to fight and defend allies, that is evident from its rather obvious attempts at enforcing its will through military action. Yes, we do share a mutual ally with France, though it is an untested treaty on both of our ends if we are both being honest with each other. As far as turning back on friends, I don't really think Alvonia has much of a choice on whom it can or cannot turn its back onto."

 

He pulled out a small metal pack from his pocket and opened it revealing it to be a holder for cigarettes. He pulled one out, packed it lightly against the table before lighting it and taking a small drag of it. "We aren't really as concerned with the Eastern Bloc, as you seem to be. There are divisions within it, as there are divisions in any treaty organization. My Government is prepared to entertain talks of a military agreement with your nation, more out of protection for your nation than for a mutually beneficial military treaty, however your problem now is to persuade me to give this agreement the final thumbs up."

Edited September 24, 2014 by Lysergide

[Markus Wilding]

"Like I said, the Eastern Bloc isn't going to be a problem anymore." Finn exhaled again, throwing smoke of his own around the porch. "You want convincing? Try some of the best trained, battle-hardened soldiers in Europe right now. I can't promise much, and I don't intend to because %*$& that. Forget about politics, forget about numbers even - allying with Alvonia gets you protection, and if my understanding of international politics is right, you've got nearly every side covered. Of course, this protection goes double for France, unless some moron comes through the Med or something."

 

Finn took a moment to take a long drag, then set his own cigarette aside. "Can't say I know what you want. I just know what I'd want in your spot - someone you can trust to back you and your friends up. Well, you're looking at him."

[Lysergide]

"Well, I don't question your ability to fight, and to run blindly into fire and soak up bullets, the question is more do you have the ability to retain the line, and hold a calm disposition in the face of overwhelming numbers and not surrender. I want you to tell me more about your government, who runs it, what kind of men they are, who we can rely on, who we cannot rely on. Another thing that should be brought up is if we move forward with a treaty, we feel that some issue of standardized munitions should be brought into effect. The ability to stand on the firing line with allies, and be able to hand ammunition between each other is worth an army in the field of battle. You must remember, you are a pariah, and we would be taking you under our wing of protection. You need to sell us on more than just the military capabilities of your nation, we don't know you, and we wish to and must in order for us to move forward." He took a long drag of his cigarette before blowing the smoke to the side so as to keep the air between the two men clear.

[Markus Wilding]

"The government?" Finn smirked. "The big man himself is Director Wilding. He doesn't talk about it much, but he served in the Austrian Army before the Great Collapse, was an officer, I think. The rest, they're decent people. They're loyal to Wilding, some to a fault. The Czechs and Poles we have in the government, they're definitely going to fight until someone puts a bullet in them. It's been their land that has been affected the most by our adventures." Finn tossed his finished cigarette and tapped out a new one, keeping the flame from his lighter protected from the rain and wind. "Standard munitions? I know for a fact that we have similar sniper rifle rounds, tank rounds too, but the rest I'll be first to admit I don't know about. Standard Wehrmacht rifle round is 7.62x51 mm, 9x19 mm Parabellum for service pistols, few odd ones here and there but those go to heavier weapons or snipers. I'm sure we can find some kind of compromise along the way."

[Lysergide]

"So you are a government that is elected, not appointed? Or am I misunderstanding the terms given? As far as the lost territory, given time anything can be recovered. We feel that national integrity is the up most importance to the survival of any state. The Munich Agreements showed how quickly a stable regime could be destabilized." As he flicked his ashes on the ground a sound broke through the rain and wind of a high powered rifle.

 

"Seems that even the most curious will try to eves drop on private conversations, you would figure that when elite military units are stationed in an area, that people wold be more wise than try to sneak into the area. As far as standardized munitions, we have tested and tried many munitions, and during the repulsion of the Asiatic hordes, we found that what we use as the standard caliber rifle round, 6.8mm to be a far more efficient and lethal caliber than the tumbler rounds of NATO, and the larger caliber that you currently use. While your caliber has the stopping power, its increased weight and higher recoil prevents it from being an excellent round." He took a quick drag before continuing.

 

"We would recommend your government look into it as an alternative. If you so chose it, we would be more than willing to help you modify your current existing weapons for this caliber. As far as pistols, its is more a personal preference for what we have chosen to use with the .357 Sig. Pistols aren't a deciding factor in war, and we feel that they aren't as necessary to standardize. We must say we are impressed with your most of your equipment, however we are curious as to why you continue to use an antiquated as the Gewehr, it isn't built for the pace of modern wars, and it lacks the fundamental range that our sniper rifle offers with the .338 Lapua. As far as our vehicles, we seem to be of the same train of thought at the very least. So what is your opinion on this matter?"

[Markus Wilding]

"You're thinking of the local leaders, mayors, governors, the Reichstag members. Everyone else, the high government gents like myself and Köhl, Director Wilding appoints us." Finn exhaled a puff of smoke away to the right, and chuckled. "Heh. I don't remember talking about lost lands. Yeah, I hear you on that one." Whether Finn reacted to or even noticed the rifle firing was anyone's guess. "The Poles in the senior government aren't happy at all we gave it up. Said it was 'abandoning' our brothers and sisters; which it was. Director Wilding and Dressler think we can take it back one day." Another long drag. "I think it's a lost cause."

 

"6.8mm, huh? Never put much stock into it. Read a lot of reports that it was only slightly better than the NATO. The Wehrmacht's going to want to run its own trials on it, of course, it's worked well for them so far. Old guard, you know." Finn laughed at the mention of the old rifle. "Yeah, that was the bright idea of some Schwarze Korps major. Never served a day on the front lines. Worked damn well in the civil war, though-" Finn caught himself. "Right. Forgot that wasn't televised. Probably saw the leader's execution a while back. Anyway, main reason that's been pressed in is the fun explosive bullets. These guys love them." Finn gestured a hand back to his guards on "these guys".

 

"Trust me, I'm bringing it back to somewhat of a coherent thought. I'll bring up the idea of changing up the rounds with Joachim Köhl when I get back to Vienna, but don't be surprised if you hear the protest cries from Vienna all the way out here."

[Lysergide]

"I can assure you, that the 6.8 mm is the proper caliber round to be using, the older large calibers of the Great Wars are dated, and should be regulated to support roles at the most. The accuracy and the stopping power is unmatched for the size of the round, and the capacity to carry more ammunition per a soldier in wars that are decided by speed and how much lead you can put down range, is a very important factor." He flicked his cigarette off the porch before yelling for one of the guards to come up. The Guard came up and stood at attention next to the Field Marshall.

 

"If you would so wish, you may test this mans rifle, or you may have your own guards test it. If you find the rifle which is similar to your own, but chambered with a different caliber, we are more than willing to send a crates of the rifles back with you, as well as plenty of ammunition to conduct testing. I can promise it is a superb caliber, and this is coming from an officer that had long before been of the school of thought that a larger caliber was a better caliber. I was sold on this caliber however, compared to the 7.62, or even to the 7 mm Mauser which is a personal favorite of mine. Standardized munitions is a very important factor in these volatile times, as we feel that there will be conflict in the future, and the best one can do to fight it, is to prepare for it. As far as your explosive rounds, I can simply offer that the .338 Lapua has explosive rounds as well, as an alternative, with a higher accuracy at a mile than a 12.7 mm anti-material rifle."

[Markus Wilding]

Finn made a motion with his head for Jacek, the shorter of his two guards, to look over the rifle. Jacek, after being allowed to take the rifle, looked it over and checked the safety, then went through the usual motions of checking and appraising new rifles. Words were exchanged between Finn and Jacek in Czech, after which Jacek returned to his normal position. "Jacek isn't really one to fire off a magazine in the woods somewhere, especially not with an unseen sniper around, so we'll be taking back a crate and seeing how it works out there. Again, like I've said, anything else we need to work through the Chief of Staff, Köhl. I'm sure with a little convincing I can get him to see the validity in changing calibers. I'm sure the Korps is going to like having a new toy that can still make people go boom."

[Lysergide]

The Field Marshall would nod as the Guard retrieved his rifle back from the Alvonian Soldier and returned to his position standing in the rain down the steps and and off the porch. "Well then I will be more than willing to accommodate you with with a few crates of each of our weapons to test and compare to yours. We are confident that you will find them to be a match, if not superior to a few of your own. I feel that we could work together in co-operating our two nations, however as a Conservative Nation, we must feel inclined to tell you that we feel your nation should become more reserved, calm, collected, and be prepared to talk to us in situations that would require the use of military action, or aggressive negotiations."

[Markus Wilding]

"We talk to people and play nice when we have to. I don't have any business negotiating with people that want to arrest my nation's soldiers or feel the need to mobilize every time someone in Vienna sneezes. Wilding doesn't like fighting, that doesn't mean he'll back down though. Me, I like aggressive, as you probably already know. Military cooperation and that we can handle. Anything else?"

[Lysergide]

"I believe we can work together amicably. I will sign a defensive agreement with Alvonia. I think our two nations can work together quite well and begin the long process of setting up stable relations, borders and bringing peace to a very hostile and tense Europe. So with this I officially say that we can be allies and I give it approval. Are there any stipulations you wish to discuss yourself as far as how this relationship will work?"

[Markus Wilding]

Finn's smile reached across both sides of his face upon hearing the Swede's words. "Music to my ears. Only question I have is when can we get these guns loaded onto the plane. I'm sure the Wehrmacht would love to test these out."

[Lysergide]

"They will be on your plane before you make it back there. Also if you need it, with our long coastlines, we know that you have a prior navy, we are willing to allow you naval basing rights in our docks." He would lean back in his chair and throw the cigarette off the porch.

[Markus Wilding]

"You know," Finn said, "this is sounding a lot like the [post='3315072']meeting[/post] Wilding arranged with the Yugoslavians. I suppose we'll have to see how easily the Kriegsmarine can make it out of the Yugoslavian docks."