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Unexpected Visit


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The Nosferatu had completed its flight across the Indian Ocean. As he got close to Promised Land airspace he identified himself to the Air Traffic controller, "This is Maelstrom Vortex, Chairman of the state of Dragonisia. I have a dossier that I need to urgently discuss with your national leadership. This is a red class alpha priority." From the old days of the Australian coalition, the Red Class Alpha priority was reserved for such a high level of security required it meant face-to-face talks with the leader of the states.

"Request clearance to land at the nearest airstrip to your Head of State."

Edited by Maelstrom Vortex
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The air traffic controller had any trace of sleepiness erased at the sound of those words. Not that he had much in him--he wanted to give his employers no reason to let him go.

"Stand by for confirmation, please," he requested, asking the flight to be put into a holding pattern, then switched to another chennel, calling up the chain of command for confirmation of the code. less than two minutes later, he recieved confirmation--whatever this was, it was important. The airplane was to be directed to the government airfield outside New Jerusalem. And so that was what the man did.

"Confirmation received. Transmitting coordinates for airfield now."

Upon arrival, the Chairman would find that, save for two individuals, the place was deserted. It was as he requested, leaders only.

General Davies hung back, while Anthony Harlem stepped forward to greet his friend...

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"Mr. Harlem, good to see you and Mr. Davies. I have something I want you to look at. It was presented to me from the Republic of Somal. I want to know a few things. Did you authorize it? Did you know of it? And if you didn't.. Who is responsible.. and may I meet them?" Was the short, quick flurry of questions as he presented a dossier filled with the information from Somal's observation systems which caught the bio attack in progress.

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Anthony blinked. He'd been about to ask what the emergency was, but he should have known Maelstrom would get right to the point. Beckoning a bewildered Davies over to look at it when he was done, he opened the file. His eyes immediately narrowed as he began reading, and his face became a hardened mask.

"I recognize the man here. That's one of my agents, all right," he said, pointing to the photo. "And though I didsagreed with the empire's and Somal's entry into the war, I didn't order this attack." If the Chairman's current body had any method of detecting lies, he would find no trace of them in his friend, only a deep anger that was hidden behind the mask of self-control.

"Davies, you know anything about this?" Davies was also a study of self-control. No visual clues were given to his state of mind as he read the dossier. Though he knew most of the details already, it sickened him to know that hundreds of people had died because of a miscalculation. Though he was coming to suspect that Orlov had his own agenda, and that it didn't necessarily have the best interests of the nation at its heart.

Finally, he nodded. "I recognize the strain of the flu that was used in the attack. It was a particularly virulent strain, supposed to be for study on trying to prevent outbreaks, not cause them. It's a miracle more people didn't die." Again, no lies. He'd ordered an attack, but he had not meant for that to be used. And certainly not on civilians. No one was supposed to have died from this. "Believe me, I am not a man to order attacks on civilians. If I had ordered the attack, it would have been on the military supplies, not...that," he said, gesturing at the section that detailed where the attack had originated. Again no outright lie, though it obviously wasn't the whole truth.

"The agent in question should be brought in and interrogated, don't you think, sir?" Davies asked of his superior. A jerky nod was the only reply to that query.

"Do you wish to be present for the interrogation?" Anthony addressed Maelstrom.

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"I would appreciate that.. yes. We have other business to attend to also. This is part of the reason I suspected the information from Somal was true. He presented a second dossier to Harlem.. this one on the agent that the "White Hat" had identified based on her illicit memory centers in the Government net. "This woman is operating as a security agent in one of our deepest labs. One that is related directly to my personal health. Other research goes on there, but not research likely useful to Promised Land due to the fact that Dragonisia, as a State, is not as advanced as Promised Land. That leaves very few explanations as to her presence there.. except until you trace her immigration records.. which lead back to here. Then it clicked. There's only one thing down there that could really be a concern of your state."

He looked to Harlem, then Davies... letting them fill in the holes. "Someone's being naughty."

He looked directly at Davies and asked a bit more of a direct question based on his statements about his involvement in Somal, "Did you knowingly release a bio-weapon you thought would be inert save for complicating a conflict and mistakenly killed many people? Keep in mind, if you deceive me Mr. Davies.. you are deceiving one of your closest friends and the leader of a people who absolutely love your state for what they've done for them."

Edited by Maelstrom Vortex
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On the second issue, Davies, having no clue what it was about, simply blinked. Anthony stared at the photograph with a simple frown that was still undecipherable.

"Just a minute..." he strode back to the vehicle that had brought them there. He'd been working on a few things even as he was coming to the meeting, using his personal computer. He beckoned the others to follow.

As Anthony worked on the computer, Davies answered Maelstrom's question, shaking his head as he spoke. "No. I did NOT release, nor give the order to release, this or any bio agent for malign purpose. But I have my suspects on who might have. Nothing concrete right now."

A few minutes later, Anthony had pulled up the public records on the woman in the second folder--and a few mildly classified documents as well. He gestured for the others to gather around the screen.

"You're right. This woman did immigrate from Promised Land. But your 'white hats' apparently didn't go back far enough. She wasn't born here either, though she lived here for several years. Records indicate she was a refugee fleeing a conflict in Asia (OOC: I'm thinking the point where Sumeragi's second nation was crushed/OOC) and before that..." he stared closely at the screen, as if disbelieving of what he saw "...nothing. Someone has erased any history she might have had prior to coming here." His frown grew deeper, and he began typing again, only to give up in frustration. "Dammit!" He slammed his clenched fist on the dashboard of the jeep, getting only a bruise for his trouble.

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"Well, if she was yours, I was simply going to return her to you. Since she's not yours, I'll just have her brought up under treason charges.. which carry a penalty of death." He let out a yawn.

He got a bit closer to Davies.. and sniffed at him faintly near his neck.. somewhat like an animal checking out his scent or suspecting something unusual. He spoke softly so not as to blow out the man's eardrum, "When you find out, I want to meet the person who gave this order and committed this act.. personally."

He flipped out a billfold and flipped out about 20 images of dead Native African citizens and showed them to Davies, "There are some souls that want them.. held accountable..." He held up his right hand making an arc of electricity jump between two talon tips using the electric eel apparatus that had been infused into him during his 'change' so many years back.

"It is disturbing to know someone in your own intelligence operations is destroying your data. If I were you, I'd hop on that promptly." He spoke one last time to Davies. Then, he turned to Harlem, "I request you to fly with me to the Tasmanian Desert at the crater where Hobart formerly stood. We're going to meet a representative from Greater Aotearoa and discuss the fate of the Tasmanian Isle. That and you get to be co-pilot on one of wildest two-seater aircraft the Empire has to offer." He affectionately patted his Nosferatu. "I've peanut butter sandwiches stored inside for an in-flight snack."

Edited by Maelstrom Vortex
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At the word that the agent in question was going to be executed, Anthony displayed no reaction. If she had been stupid enough to get caught in such a way, she would have to figure out her own way out of the mess she'd made. But any trace he did feel for her would be covered up by the rage he felt. Someone had messed with the files on one of his agents, and if they had done that, they probably had done more than that. That confounded traitor was still loose and working mischief!

Davies was a bit unnerved by having Chairman Vortex lean in so close. He nodded, wondering if Vortex suspected that he had ordered the attack after all. He nodded, perhaps a little too quickly, when the Chairman demanded the right to personally meet the man who had ordered those deaths. "Of course."

The photgraphs of the dead only drove home the awful truth that though he hadn't ordered this kind of attack, if not for his order, it wouldn't have happened. He jumped when the electricity arced between two of the Chairman's digits.

Any nervousness by now could very easily be explained not by any guilt, but by such proximity to Maelstrom Vortex. "Believe me, we've been working on it for some time. We know there's a mole or traitor there somewhere, but whoever it is, they're good at hiding their tracks."

He sighed in relief when the Chairman turned away from him.

Anthony was shaken out of his building anger when Maelstrom addressed him. That, and this stomach growled. "Oh? In that case..." he closed the laptop and hopped out of the jeep.

"I suppose you want me there because the island was once ours?" Anthony said as Davies drove off into the distance. Despite the distraction Maelstrom had provided, he was still brooding over what he'd found.

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"That is correct, You have a right to have a say in the fate of the isle. The Tasmanians who live there, truthfully, would live a better life under Greater Aotearoa. We've been countering problems with bureaucracy internal to our state that have stagnated our ability to grow. Problems I'm still working through, but I'm optimistic will resolve in time. That said, letting Greater Aotearoa peacefully expand and complete a puzzle they've been working on for some time seems like a good offering for the residents, the Empire diplomatically, and Greater Aotearoa in their overall strategic goals. I'm just wondering.. if you're comfortable with the idea of having them next door again."

He said all this while first helping Harlem into the co-pilots seat in the rear.. then.. himself climbing into the front seat. "Hold your thoughts while I make a quick broadcast."

"Please send your representative to Ground Zero of the Hobart crater. You will find a table is set up and waiting for us there with a coffee machine and 3 chairs. We'll be there in about.. 2-3 hours tops. Hope to see one of you soon. Maelstrom out."

"Okay, now that we're alone. Speak your mind." He would throttle up the plane as the $@pit closed. He ran a check of his instrumentation. Everything was working fine. He taxi'd down the runway.. clearing himself with the tower. He then punched the speed to max and took off, heading east south east towards Tasmania.

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"To be honest, it does make me a little nervous to have them next door like that. Even with the changes to his regime, it's still LeVentNoir we're dealing with. It's probably best that you invited me. I want to see what kind of concessions he's willing to give..."

He relaxed in his seat as Maelstrom checked his instruments and piloted down the runway. Absently, he checked his own; on the extremely off chance something happened to Maelstrom, he wanted to make sure everything was in order.

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"It won't be long. We're going to be hitting 1950 Kilometers per hour. So eat that sandwich quick." He chuckled. "It's in side compartment next to your left arm on your seat."

He grinned, though Maelstrom wouldn't be able to see it from his postion. "Heh, thanks." He immediately opened the indicated compartment and withdrew the sandwich. It was plished off in about 90 seconds.

OOC; So, when does the meeting thread start?

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"Please send your representative to Ground Zero of the Hobart crater. You will find a table is set up and waiting for us there with a coffee machine and 3 chairs. We'll be there in about.. 2-3 hours tops. Hope to see one of you soon. Maelstrom out."

We will have our Representative there. LeVentNoir and a pair of his Dukes will be at ground zero of the crater.

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