Lunar Diplomacy

[Lynneth]

[b][Message to New Panama's government][/b]

"To whom it may concern,

in the name of the Speakers of the Republic, I would hereby like to invite you, or a designate representative, to the Republic's capital, Von Braun, to discuss with us the current and potential relationship between our two nations.
Naturally, we will provide transportation to Von Braun once you have arrived at Paramaribo International.

With regards, "
[i]Clement Rohee[/i]
Bureau of Foreign Affairs

[King Timmy]

Dear Mr Rohee,

We thank you greatly for the invitation and we will emphatically accept it. I will leave immediately for Paramaribo.

Your Sincerely,

[i]Jose Narino
[/i]New Panama Chancellor

Jose boarded his government A-380 and took off immediately from New Panama city. It was not a long flight to Paramaribo international where the pleasantries would be under taken. Being nervous about the flight to space however, Jose would not say much other than hello.

[Lynneth]

Once Mr. Narino arrived in Paramaribo, one of the Republic's largest cities on the planetary surface and short greetings were exchanged, he would be brought to a monorail station which would bring him and anyone he had brought with him - as well as the singular guide from the Bureau of Foreign Affairs - to one of the three launch loop stationsOnce there, he would be a brief summary of the happenings, namely entering the launch capsule, then strapping in. Once this was done, thecapsule would be accelerated at a relatively comfortable 3 g along the launch loop until escape velocity was attained. Then the capsule was released, soaring into a semistable low earth orbit and beginning to orbit the planet rapidly, until a Yeoman freighter approached and matched its speed. The freighter's sophisticated capturing mechanism allowed it to snatch the capsule up with ease, afterwards engaging its engines properly to accelerate at 1.3 g, towards the moon.
The travel-time was roughly 10 hours, an incredible improvement upon the more than three days the Apollo missions had required for their lunar missions, and likely the fastest any civilian craft in the solar system could go - aside from perhaps [i]Explorer[/i] class research ships.
During the acceleration, the Panamanian representative would easily notice the ship's acceleration pushing him into his seat (or onto the floor, if he was standing at the time, looking at the screen at the front), while during deceleration, he'd find that the capsule was rotated briefly, so that he could once more stand relatively comfortably while the vessel was slowing down for the second half of its journey towards the moon. For the last half hour or so, however, he would have to sit down and strap in again in order to allow the freighter to maneuver around the moon and towards the drop-off point more easily. Once at that point, the capsule was released, automatic systems taking over to guide it gently to a spaceport adjacent to one of the lunar launch loop's circle stations. At this spaceport, the capsule was connected like an aircraft to allow for easy transfer from the capsule into a proper atmospheric environment, the interior of a lunar construction that quickly went underground. From within this spaceport, Narino would be guided to a lunar monorail, the natural, nonatmospheric and low-gravity environment making it far faster than anything situated on Earth. The journey from here to Von Braun took mere minutes; and at the rail station in the Lunar Republic's capital, Alexander Leclerc was already waiting for the ambassador.

"Welcome to Von Braun, Mr. Narino, welcome."
Leclerc smiled, though the entirety of the journey might have been something of an experience for the Panamanian, especially if it was the first time a man from his nation had been in space. Yet, the Lunarians acted like they'd done this many, many times, treating the entire thing far more casually than a first-timer ever could.
"If you'd like to take a break and relax after your journey, just say so and I'll personally bring you to one of Von Braun's finest hotels."

[King Timmy]

"My word, that was certainly an experience I will never forget Mr Leclerc, indeed it was not what I was expecting at all. I could get used to it quite easily I feel. Thank you for the warm welcome." Looking around he saw that the two diplomatic assistants he had brought with him had not fared so well on the trip. "I myself would be able to commence immediately however it may be better if you could show my assistants here to a hotel and allow them to rest. They can join us when they feel able to do so."

[Lynneth]

"Of course." Leclerc waved over two guards who were standing nearby, instructing them to help the diplomatic aides to their hotel, which they did immediately.
"Now, while those two rest, we can move on to the meeting rooms. Please, follow me."

With that, Alexander started walking away from the monorail station, moving to a tram system nearby that would bring the two to the foreign affairs district of Von Braun, one of the many hundreds and hundreds of [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=90657&view=findpost&p=2731935"]habitat domes[/url] that had been constructed below the lunar surface over the years. Once in the district, they moved simplyinto one of the office buildings, and into one of the meeting rooms within. Standard controls, checks and security stations on the way were bypassed by virtue of Leclerc being the second most powerful individual of the Republic.
Finally, they were in the meeting room, holographic screens at one of the walls activating to depict both the Lunar and Panamanian flags, side by side.
"Please have a seat, Mr. Narino."

[King Timmy]

Jose was amazed at the structures that had been constructed both above and below the lunar surface. He would never have imagined anything this large to be feasible within his lifetime but none the less here he was. As he entered the meeting room he took the seat that had been offered to him.

"Mr Leclerc I am truly amazed at what has been accomplished here, it is easily the greatest wonder ever achieved by the human race. But I am assuming you did not ask me here to simply show off the city. So where should we begin?"

[Lynneth]

"If I wished to show the city off, I would have taken a longer route. There are over a thousand habitat-domes like this under the lunar surface, as part of Von Braun, plenty to see." He paused for a moment and smiled, then continued. "I would first like to express my gratitude that you could find the time to come here, for these talks. Now, as you know, the Republic and Panama have been neighbours for quite some time, but we've had little actual interaction with each other. I would like to change that, with a pact for cooperation, perhaps even mutual defense. What do you think?"

[King Timmy]

"I must say that he pleasure of attending is all mine, we are most honoured by your offer to attend. I can also say with all honesty that we would certainly be interested in such a treaty, both economic and defensive co-operation between our two nations would be highly valued. What exactly would such a treaty entail?

There are other matters we would very much like to discuss as well. The situation between the Biscotti and most of their neighbours has the potential of developing from a flashpoint into an all out war. This is not something we would like to see happen again in South America. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

[Lynneth]

"As for the treaty..."

[quote]A Mutual Defense Pact between the Lunar Republic and New Panama

Preamble:
In the spirit of mutual friendship and economic bonds, the Lunar Republic and New Panama do hereby enter into the following agreement;


[b]Article I:[/b] Sovereignty and Non-Aggression
Both signatories agree to respect the sovereign territory, waters and laws of the other. Furthermore, neither signatory shall take action to undermine the authority of the other, and both shall refrain from making hostile actions against each other.


[b]Article II:[/b] Intelligence
Should information pertaining to a credible threat against one signatory become known to the other signatory, they are obliged to share said information.


[b]Article III:[/b] Mutual Defense
In the event that a third party commits an unprovoked hostile action against one signatory, it shall be treated as a hostile action against both signatories and dealt with as such.


[b]Article IV:[/b] Trade
Both signatories agree to a mutual reduction of tariffs and to enact measures to promote trade between each other.


[b]Article V:[/b] Sunset
In the event that one signatory wishes to withdraw from this agreement, it shall provide notice (OOC: 72 hours) in advance.[/quote]

"As for Biscotti, I don't think that will be a problem for any longer..." He looked at his HoloPC. "I got notice that Biscotti petitioned to join the Lunar Republic, abolishing their government, it seems. They'll be made a protectorate. Peace is in South America again, I hope."

[King Timmy]

"I see. Let us hope that peace prevails in South America. In addition this treaty seems perfectly reasonable to me." And with that Jose looked down at the treaty and signed it.

"I hope this is the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship between our two nations. We would like to begin by commencing our own operations in space, with your co-operation at first with the aim of becoming self sufficient with regard to space operations in the future with our own launch facilities. We have three potential sites along the equator owned by various corporations in New Panama for such a launch site and would very much like your input into what form of launch facility we should aim for building."

OOC: Sorry for the long wait

[Lynneth]

[quote name='King Timmy' timestamp='1330966230' post='2933980']
"I see. Let us hope that peace prevails in South America. In addition this treaty seems perfectly reasonable to me." And with that Jose looked down at the treaty and signed it.

"I hope this is the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship between our two nations. We would like to begin by commencing our own operations in space, with your co-operation at first with the aim of becoming self sufficient with regard to space operations in the future with our own launch facilities. We have three potential sites along the equator owned by various corporations in New Panama for such a launch site and would very much like your input into what form of launch facility we should aim for building."

OOC: Sorry for the long wait
[/quote]
Alexander signed the treaty for the Republic with a smile.
"We'd be glad to help you establish a start for space operations. The most efficient launching methods currently availbale are of course the one we are using at the time, being launch loops and the verne gun. However, if you do not wish to dedicate a 2,000 km stretch of land parallel to the equator, or detonate 10 MTon nukes to send material into orbit, we would either suggest a space elevator - which is very expensive - or one of several other methods. There is, for example, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_propulsion"]laser propulsion[/url], the use of powerful [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_gun"]rail guns[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarTram"]maglev[/url] launch systems, amongst others. Many of them are useful, but which you can and want to use depend on terrain and politics."

[King Timmy]

"As it happens we have one site suitable for a maglev system and we have a proposed design from New Panama Tech." He passed a document across the table. "It uses two parallel launch tubes using both Generation 1 and Generation 1.5 systems to allow both manned and unmanned launches. The proposed site uses [url="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=6.433333,-72.283333&spn=0.1,0.1&t=m&q=6.433333,-72.283333"]Sierra nevada del Cocuy[/url] and although it is not on the equator it has a suitable peak size for both generations of launch system which would be built at the same time. The plan has already been approved by both the department of the environment and funding has been approved by the national council all we need is the experience of the Lunar Republic to assist us with perfecting the designs, the construction and possibly maintenance of such a launch system."

Edited March 7, 2012 by King Timmy