The Pact of Carbon Nanotubes

[Triyun]

August Imperator Jia had extended an invitation for the leaders of Ceylon to come visit the United Federation of the East in Hong Kong. The Jewel of Southern China was chosen as the site because it was thought to make the Ceylon feel the most at home with its extraordinarily advanced infrastructure. The meeting would take place at the legendary Peninsula Hotel, overlooking Victoria Harbor and the skyline of Hong Kong Island. The legendary fleet of the hotel's green Rolls Royces would be sent to pick up Laura Leclerc and her delegation from the Airport.

Edited July 2, 2011 by Triyun

[Lynneth]

[b][Private][/b]

"An invitation by the August Imperator?"
"What an unexpectedly delightful suprise."
"Are you going to accept?"
"Of course. I've never met the man before, and it would be very interesting to do so. Do you think I should wear the N2?"
"Hm. It would be the prudent choice. I'd say yes."
"Okay, and delegation...Hrm, Wickremesinghe should come."
"Really? He'd insult Jia."
"He'd have fun, Alex. The poor man isn't made for boring foreign relations."
"Yet perfectly fit for it. Somehow."
"Indeed. Would you like to come, too?"
"Me? Oh, no, nonono. I'll be busy here with you gone, coordinating our projects."
"True. Now, other than Ranil, I think I'll be bringing just some low-level diplomats, a few guards perhaps. Nothing unusual."
"A gift perhaps?"
"That's a good idea. Now, what, however?"
"He's a practical man, he'll like a practical gift. Give him an N2."
"He might take that as bragging...but the good kind. 'Look what you could have'."
"I suppose. Now, get yourself ready, Laura."
"Yes, yes."
"And no bragging."

_____________________________

Around three hours after the invitation had been sent, a message that CEO Laura Leclerc had accepted would be sent back.
The following day, a private plane took off from Colombo's international airport, heading straight for Hong Kong. With RdlL an ally, they didn't have to worry about going over neutral or hostile territory.

Some time in the early afternoon, the plane would land, of course only after having been confirmed as the airplane of Sostra Holding's CEO, Chairwoman of the Board of Executives, Laura Leclerc.
Her entourage consisted of Ranil Wickremesinghe, two other diplomats and two guards carrying the CAR 21, rechristened such from 'SLAR 21' due to the change in names.
Of course, with the green Rolls Royces waiting already, they would soon be on the way to the Peninsula Hotel.

[Triyun]

When the delegation arrived, they would be escorted to the elevator which would take them to one of the suites near the top floor where the Imperator was waiting. Upon opening, the Imperator came over to shake their hands. He was dressed in a pressed navy colored military uniform with field marshal insignia on them.

"Madame CEO, I hope that is the right word. Welcome to Hong Kong and the United Federation of the East." Jia said.

[Lynneth]

Laura took Jia's hand, shaking it firmly.
"Thank you, August Imperator. We haven't yet established a proper term yet, but Chairwoman would be the most accurate one as of now, what with me being the Chairwoman of the Board of Executives of Ceylon."
Laura was wearing a dark grey pinstripe suit, with the N2 under it. This made her look somewhat bulkier and sturdier than she actually was, resulting in a less feminine appearance. This, however, did not concern her at all.
The suit itself merely has the Sostra Logo on the left side of the chest, where Generals would hang their uniforms.

"Thank you for the welcome. I'm honoured to finally visit the UFE - and you, of course," responded Laura to him.

[Triyun]

"Chairwoman it is then. Please take a seat." he said gesturing for her to sit down at the conference table. "The United Federation of the East would like to thank you for coming to this meeting on such short notice, but more importantly we would also like to thank you for your assistance in dealing with the Korean Threat, particularly to space access for the region as well as your assistance in bombarding them. It did not go unnoticed.

I am a man who believes in rewarding those who have helped his causes. Therefore the UFE would like to propose formally upgrading our treaty, and ending the admitted degree of suspicion we've had towards Ceylon since the end of the German Civil War... as you may imagine we have little reason to worry about Austrians these days anyway." Jia joked.

[Lynneth]

"Thank you." Laura sat down, her aides doing the same, if an appropriate number of chairs was available for them. Otherwise, they'd stand at the sides of the room, watching mostly.

"Imperator, I thank you for this opportunity. I would gladly upgrade the treaty between our two nations, to end the period of the relatively cool relationship between our two nations, and bring a new period of prosperity.
Regarding Korea, they turned out to be a threat to us all. We are glad that we could aid you in ending it. As for Austria, I have heard you are married to the Empress, so please accept my - rather belated - congratulations. Now, as you know, there's still a number of people who originally hail from Germany, but the vast majority are naturalized, or have become citizens. Any of those who would be suspicious, potentially planning something that would be detrimental to Austria or Ceylon, are under surveillance at all times. I believe that within mere years, any sort of nationalist remnants will be gone, and we will all be able to relax in that regard. They have integrated themselves well into our society."
Leaning forward a little, she looked directly at Jia. "Now, about the treaty: What did you have in mind? I would think that a pact of mutual defense would serve our two nations best, the clauses from the Treaty of Amnity of course continued as applicable. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

[Triyun]

"Thank you for your congratulations.

I am pleased to hear that those who would do harm to the Austrian State are now under surveillance. If you see areas of cooperation in protecting it, I am eager to undertake those.

In regards to the treaty. I would propose either a mutual defense pact or mutual defense and optional aggression pact. To me these treaties mean about the same thing. If someone truly wants to enter a war with a Mutual Defense Pact, they'll find a way to call any war defensive. I leave that choice up to you." he said.

[Lynneth]

Laura nodded.
"While I don't exactly share your views on the similarity of these treaties, Imperator, either choice is a most interesting one."
Leaning back for a minute or so to think, Laura asked for a glass of water, emptying it in seconds. "I believe that the pact of defense would be most suitable for the time being. There is, after all, always the option to add a clause of optional aggression later-on if both signatories agree."
She nodded, smiling. "You wouldn't happen to have an appropriate document prepared, would you?"

[Triyun]

Jia handed her a draft, "I always find it terribly annoying when someone reads out loud to me so I'll spare you the ordeal and let you read it on your own." he said casually.

[quote][b]I. Non-Aggression and Intelligence Cooperation[/b]

A. Signatories to this agreement agree not to enter into military action against one another. B. Should a dispute arise between the signatories in this agreement then these disputes will be resolved peacefully through private channels. C. All parties will agree to cooperate on matters of espionage and not engage in espionage against any other signatory. D. If information is obtained by one signatory that is damaging to the security of any other signatory they are obligated to share this information.

[b]II. Military Cooperation[/b]

A. Signatories agree to defend one another in the event that one comes under attack. This includes financial, political, and military assistance to the best of the signatories’ abilities. B. Should signatories choose to engage in offensive warfare they may request assistance but first must inform designated representatives of the other signatories prior to the conflict, over private channels to request assistance, unless presented with urgent national security threats. Assistance in such situations is not mandated. C. These designated representatives are required to maintain operational security once informed of the planned military action whether they agree to participate or not.

[b]III. Amendments and Cancellation[/b]

A. This treaties contents may be modified by unanimous consent by the representatives of all signatories. B. Any signatory must give 72 hours notice to the other signatories if they wish to withdraw from this treaty, after which their treaty obligations are no longer in effect. C. All treaties between the signatories prior to this that cover areas not specified in this treaty are considered binding.[/quote]

[Lynneth]

Laura took the draft, looking over it. "I do agree, it's quite annoying. As if I couldn't read myself."
After she'd finished reading it, she nodded. "This is acceptable. I'll sign it in the name of the Corporate Republic of Ceylon."

[i]Signed on behalf of the Board of Executives,
And the Corporate Republic of Ceylon[/i]
CEO [b]Laura Leclerc[/b]

[Triyun]

"I am glad we could reach an agreement so easily." Jia said with a smile leaning back in his chair signing the document.

[quote]
[b]Signed:[/b]

Yuan Jia, August Imperator of the United Federation of the East[/quote]

"I confess this took less time than I anticipated. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?" he asked the Chairwoman.

[Lynneth]

"I'm glad that this took so little time, as well.
There is, however, one other thing. To celebrate the bettering relations between our nations, I would like to give you a small present, something of a personal token of the future friendship between us.
Yadda yadda, I'm not good with this stuff. Anyways, here it is." She motioned for the two guards to step forward. One had been carrying a heavy, reinforced suitcase, which he now put onto the table, right in the middle between Jia and Laura. Opening it - in full view of any UFE guards as well as Jia, to show them that nothing dangerous was within - he removed one of Ultor's latest inventions from it:
An [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=90657&view=findpost&p=2721415"]N2 Nanosuit[/url], looking like it would fit the Imperator quite well.

"The suit is fully operational, upgraded and requires little to no maintenance aside from renewing the hydrogen cell occasionally. You should be able to integrate it into your battle networks rather easily, if you wish to do so.
Features are, amongst other things, enhanced strength, speed, a specialised mode in which armour-efficiency is almost doubled and, for great justice, experimental active camouflage, capable of hiding the wearer from all visible light, though not thermal at the moment.
I hope you like it, even if Ultor still hasn't finished the camo-upgrade fully."

[Triyun]

Jia examined the gift smiling, "Thank you madame chairwoman. It is too bad, they let me go out on few missions these days, and I was just on one, I would have enjoyed testing it out." he said examining the armor. "I was in the airborne rangers you know. We've begin introducing some similar concepts on our latest armor, but this looks magnificent, I suppose they'll at least let me test it at the live fire range." he said enthusiastically.

"I am afraid, I've got nothing equivalent to offer you... unless you want one of the Rolls down stairs." he said.

[Lynneth]

"I'm afraid I'm not into cars. But it's enough that you like it this much," responded the CEO, smiling.
"I was in the SpecOps, once upon a time. Didn't have the luxury of advanced armour like that, just some fancy non-newtonian armour, this dragonscale stuff and some other additions, pretty standard for many militaries nowadays. Ah, the old times, dangerous as hell."

"But, I believe that was everything for now."

[Triyun]

"Indeed." Jia said nodding. He extended his hand and gave the chairwoman a firm hand shake, "It was pleasure doing business with you Madame Chairwoman, feel free to enjoy Hong Kong for as long as you want. Its said to be a food lovers paradise, if you want to try and of our famous restaurants feel free to send my office the bill."

[Lynneth]

Laura shook Jia's hand with similar firmness, smiling.
"Thank you for your offer, Imperator. I don't know yet whether I will take it up, but perhaps I can rearrange a day or two on my schedule. It was most pleasurable doing business with you, and I'm looking forward to meeting again."

With this, the meeting was formalls over and, over the next five or ten minutes, things would be packed, Laura would instruct Jia for a moment on how to put on the suit and use it - despite a manual being with it, but who reads those - and then the Ceylon delegation would leave the building, to either visit a restaurant or two, or go back home.
The Chairwoman wasn't sure yet.