Exploring the alliance

[king of cochin]

PALACE DURBAR TRANSCRIPTS

HH RAMA VARMA

KP VARMA (E)

GEN. MAHESH VARMA (A)

VICE ADM. KP MARAKKAR (N)

R: Good morning Gentlemen. First of all, Admiral Marakkar, what is the status of Ratnagiri Naval Base?

N: Your Excellency, the base is finished. We are now readying the base for commissioning. We only need the order of when you shall be coming there.

R: For that I have to consult Dragonisia, it is in their real estate after all. Gentlemen, you have been summoned here for another matter which i have been pondering. Now that we have a fully functional navy we need the ability to project power and to extend our diplomacy we need access to a naval base in the Pacific Ocean. For Indian Ocean purposes Ratnagiri is sufficient and the Kingdom is not concerned with Atlantic at the moment. So Gentlemen, do you have any suggestions?

A: Sir, coming from an army back ground i am not sufficient to comment on this. I shall let Marakkar speak on it.

N: Your Excellency, our Admiralty staff had indeed thought about it in this direction and had figured that since we were Dragon Bloc members perhaps we could home port out of Beijing Corp, a good ally of ours. But since the dissolution of Beijing Corp, we are stumped.

E: Sir. We had recently signed a Mutual Defense Pact with the Hanseatic Commonwealth. Perhaps we can negotiate a home port deal with them.

R: Interesting. Admiral Marakkar what is your take on that?

N: Your Excellency, the various ports of Hanseatic Commonwealth will be ideal for this endeavour.

R: Good. Mr. Varma, ready a diplomatic mission immediately to fly to Hanseatic Commonwealth. I shall personally draft a message to Lady Sarah Tintagyl.

E: Yes Sir.

[king of cochin]

FROM:

The King of Cochin

TO:

Sarah Tintagyl,

Hanseatic Commonwealth

M'Lady,

Hearty greetings to you from the Kingdom of Cochin. I hope you are well.

I am sending a diplomatic mission to you on a matter which i hope will be of mutual benefit to us. My Kingdom seeks home porting of our naval ships at Naval bases in your nation as that shall ease our operations in Pacific Ocean.

It shall also help in view of our MDP as we shall be able to respond to any threats to your nation on a prompt fashion. We merely seek to refuel, resupply and repair our ships at your Naval facilities. In that fashion we also hope to contribute to the economy of Hanseatic Commonwealth.

I hope you will find this agreeable. The mission shall include Secretary of External Affairs, KP Varma and our Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. KP Marakkar.

Thanking you,

Yours,

Sd.

Rama Varma,

The King of Cochin.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

FROM:

The King of Cochin

TO:

Sarah Tintagyl,

Hanseatic Commonwealth

M'Lady,

Hearty greetings to you from the Kingdom of Cochin. I hope you are well.

I am sending a diplomatic mission to you on a matter which i hope will be of mutual benefit to us. My Kingdom seeks home porting of our naval ships at Naval bases in your nation as that shall ease our operations in Pacific Ocean.

It shall also help in view of our MDP as we shall be able to respond to any threats to your nation on a prompt fashion. We merely seek to refuel, resupply and repair our ships at your Naval facilities. In that fashion we also hope to contribute to the economy of Hanseatic Commonwealth.

I hope you will find this agreeable. The mission shall include Secretary of External Affairs, KP Varma and our Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. KP Marakkar.

Thanking you,

Yours,

Sd.

Rama Varma,

The King of Cochin.

Your Highness,

This is more than agreeable and your diplomatic mission will be well received in Brisbane when they arrive to hammer this deal out fully. I can already assure that the deal will most likely go through as an defense for the Commonwealth will be greeted with open arms as well as perhaps bolstering up the economy around Vladivostok and the Russian Far East. I look forward to meeting your representatives and assure you that everything will be well, though I am disappointed that you were not able to make the conference yourself, I would have very much liked to dine with you. No matter another time perhaps.

Sincerely,

Sarah Tintagyl

Lady Protector of the Hanseatic Commonwealth

[king of cochin]

The executive MERAT of RCAF Executive Fleet was waiting at the Executive hangar at Palghat Air Force Base. A group of people are seen nearing the aircraft from the adjacent waiting lobby. A courtly gentleman wearing White mundu and White and Kasavu shirt addressed the group of 7 men dressed in executive suits and 3 men wearing Naval tunics.

"Gentlemen, I wish you best of luck. Give my regards to Lady Sarah and convey my regrets that I could not be visiting her with this mission. I am sure she will understand. God speed, gentlemen."

With that the 10 officials boarded the plushly appointed jet aircraft. The King boarded his limousine and teh cavalcade headed back to the Royal Palace.

[king of cochin]

The diplomatic team from Cochin arrived at Brisbane where they were welcomed with due protocol.

On meeting Sarah Tintagyl, KP Varma, chief diplomat said,

"Greetings Madam. As you may have been informed by our King we seek home port perks for our navy at some of your naval bases. This is in order to expand our influences in the Pacific Ocean region."

Vice Admiral KP Marakkar, who was tasked with presentation of the discrete naval aspects of the mission, said,

"Madam, we are planning to station one Carrier from Royal Cochin Navy in the designated port at all times. We also seek refueling, resupplying and repairing facilities at your naval assets. We also hope to conduct some naval exercises and familiarization exercises between our navy and yours."

Concluding the pitch, KP Varma said, "We hope you are agreeable to these proposals. With these measures our two nations can come even closer and we shall be in a better position to promptly respond to the MDP."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

When the diplomatic mission was received in Brisbane, they were greeting with the utmost respect my the platoon of Hanseatic marines at the airport where they were quickly rushed into limousines to be taken to City Hall for their audience with the Lady Protector. Arriving in the spacious office, their feet echoed softly across the wooden floor, while around them maps of the Pacific and of Europe hung down. A small fire burned in the fire place, and the smell of hot tea wafted through the air. At the back of the office, behind a large mahogany desk, Sarah Tintagyl rose to her feet and walked over to the Cochin diplomats.

"Gentlemen, please, its much too nice of a day to be cramped in this stuffy office. We'll go to the conservatory and have lunch there and we can talk about Vladivostok in much more detail."

She took them outside, where they sat in the shade of palm trees from the hot Australian sun above as servants brought out pitchers of lemonade and sandwiches.

"Madam. As you may have been informed by our King we seek home port perks for our navy at some of your naval bases. This is in order to expand our influences in the Pacific Ocean region."

Vice Admiral KP Marakkar, who was tasked with presentation of the discrete naval aspects of the mission, said,

"Madam, we are planning to station one Carrier from Royal Cochin Navy in the designated port at all times. We also seek refueling, resupplying and repairing facilities at your naval assets. We also hope to conduct some naval exercises and familiarization exercises between our navy and yours."

Concluding the pitch, KP Varma said, "We hope you are agreeable to these proposals. With these measures our two nations can come even closer and we shall be in a better position to promptly respond to the MDP."

Sarah nodded listening to the ideas placed in front of her and shot down the rest of the lemonade in her glass rattling the ice. "Well to start out with Admiral, the Hansa, though you may not expect it does not maintain an actual navy at the moment. It is indeed a shock that we can maintain our Commonwealth without the use of naval forces, but at the same time it is because of allies as Cochin that we are able to act as a stabilizing force in the region. As such, the added defense of your navy is exactly what we are looking for in a port sharing agreement, so naturally you will be able to construct a navy in Vladivostok. I would ask only that you pay Hanseatic tax in the region for your ships and that while in port your sailors abide by the laws set in place, but those are small matters. But you have my go-ahead that Vladivostok is more than opened to a foreign seaport."

[king of cochin]

KP Varma, the patrician diplomat was relaxing for the first time in a long history of diplomatic engagements. The charming manners of the Hanseatic Head of State was such as to put anyone to ease. Thus enjoying the lemonade and gentle Brisbane breeze he said, "Madam, we are more than willing to pay the tax for operation of our ships. We seek to bring added revenue to your ports through the regular refurbishing works that will have to done on our ships while in operation."

Marakkar responded in this way, "M'Lady, you have my personal guarantee that none of our sailors shall break any Hanseatic laws while they are on shore. However any shore presents some unique possibilities to sailors who are land bound after long tours at sea, and thus they may seek to provide business for local taverns and such. Surely we shall try to restrict them, but if there is any serious infraction of the law we shall try any offenders with the full scope of Royal Cochin Martial Law."

At this Secretary Varma, rose and toasted Sarah, "Madam. We are thankful for your gracious cooperation. I shall convey the message to my King. On another note I have just been authorized by my King to invite you to the inauguration of our Naval Base at Ratnagiri in Dragonisia. We are planning to conduct a Fleet Review also. The Kingdom of Cochin will be very grateful for your presence at this occasion."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Sarah smiled and raised her glass to toast along with the diplomats. "It would be my honor to attend the service, indeed eventually I would like to have an audience with your king himself so we can talk in greater detail at the continuing bettering of our relations on a diplomatic level. Gentlemen, I have always believed that peace is not achieved through conquering or domination, but through friendship. The Hansa allied with Cochin and then with the rest of Asia and Oceania will bring stability and peace to the entire region and I look forward to working with all of you." Finishing her glass again, Sarah leaned back and stretched on the chair. "Now gentlemen, will this be all or are their other thing you would like to talk about?"

[king of cochin]

A very happy and pleased KP Varma replied to Sarah, "That is all for now M'Lady. I once again convey our King's regret at not having come here personally. Personally I am sure that shall be rectified in the near future. We now bid farewell to you and your wonderful nation."