A letter to the Kaiser

[Silhouette]

[i]To: The office of Kanzler Martens
From: The desk of Iestyn Conway, President of New South Wales

Dear sir,

It has come to my attention that my nation is sorely lacking in allies outside the immediate region. In my quest to expand my nations horizon, I find myself looking to the most unexpected place. We have never been on particularly close terms with the nations of Europe, however, this has largely been due to the inherent instability in the region. Now that the political climate appears to have stabilised, we feel that we, as a nation, are ready to extend a warm hand to Europe, and better our relations, and I thought to myself that there was no better place to start than with the most historically infuential nation on the continent. At your leisure, I would be honoured to entertain yourself or your duly appointed representative over lunch, and discuss what the future holds for relations between our respective nations.

Respectfully yours,

Iestyn Conway,

President of New South Wales[/i]

[Kaiser Martens]

When he began his daily duties, the Chancellor was presented this message. Not far sat the older Martens on a throne-like sofa, sipping from some beer. The Chancellor looked then at a map nearby to examine the location of this distant location, and read the letter outloud. He sits down himself behind his desk and rubs his chin.

"Hmm. This is interesting. What do you make of this? Why would they look for us of all people? We are so far away, and we can only remain stable for so long..."

Old Martens replies, "The most influential nation? I wish that were still true. Yet in some ways perhaps it still is. Maybe they wish to benefit from being allied to us. Many nations' economies crave for warfare as their savior. And then they also maybe see the potential. Or then maybe they just want allies that they know won't shy away from battle." He shrugs.

The Chancellor nods and answers, "We have little to lose and plenty to win. This could be our ticket to long term stability. Do they seem to have anything against those who consider us enemies? Maybe it's that. I'll ask the FA department."

The "Kaiser" smiles and nods. "That is good. We cannot realistically remain closed. Let's see what we can do for 'em."

-------

An answer was sent fairly quickly,
"Our nation's situation is an unusual one. We have plenty of defensive treaty partners, yet we have few allies. A stable continent at the price of hipocrisy and fear. We would be very interested in establishing sincere relations with a sincere nation, and after sending this, I will be on my way." - Kanzler Martens

Hours later, he got into his best suit - all black, even the shirt - and into a modified plane that looked a lot like the Raptor, a personal design of him designed to travel long distances without needing to refuel, it had not entered production due to its steep price and low priority. The Odal-painted aircraft takes off at once and heads for its destination, in ten hours it would arrive. He'd be notified of any replies as he was on his way while still on the plane.

[Silhouette]

[i]We shall be awaiting your arrival with anticipation, Kanzler. Assuming you are travelling by air, plaese forward the following code to Sydney ATC. They shall prioritise your aircraft in the approach pattern.

[/i]Ten or so hours later, and with no great fuss, a black town car, a chauffeur, and a department of state official were waiting on the tarmac at Sydney Airport for the young Martens to arrive. The exploits of the elder Martens were almost legendary. At one point, a statue of the Kaiser had stood in the old capital of Fort Sil, but at some point or another, it had disappeared. Needless to say, the dignitary was intrigued as to whether the Kanzler would live up to their expectations. The three Dragon Guard sniper on the roofs of the terminal buildings wondered the same, as did the dozen plain clothes agents inside the terminal and baggage handling areas.

The aircraft was easy to identify in the end. A modified fighter daubed with runes. A number of marshals, (also security personnel) waved the craft to the reserved blacktop, and, even before the turbines had wound down, a ladder was being rushed to meet the opening canopy.

[Kaiser Martens]

NOR-013 would be the code given to the plane. It would reach the destination without issues and would have a simple, easygoing landing. The plane was quite an impressive sight to behold. Perhaps it would give the impression that all of the Luftwaffe had been issued machines like that...but...not yet: The growth plans still demanded more time before mass production of similar equipment. Potential.

The cockpit opens and Martens steps out, descending. He definately looked a lot like Kaiser Martens, only much taller, slightly over 2m...and his eyes were not red. He removes his helmet and moves forwards, in typical Martencist Fashion, as mentioned earlier, his suit was completely black, as were the shoes, ties, jacket underneath...only a small German Flag pin seemed to be different. He didn't look like a President or Chancellor, he looked like a Leader.

His lastname carried many things. Indeed there were great expectations, and it was yet to be seen by the world and himself if he would play his cards right in order to be able to fill the shoes of his Grandfather. He had a number of achievements already: The reestablishment of the Western Border, the solution to the Slavic Issues, the stabilization of German politics, a great economic recovery of the country, and more...but it still all paled in comparison, and it was yet to be seen how he'd fare when the Valkyries again rode. Of course, one would need to take the context into consideration. Martens' exploits happened when he controlled the strongest nation in the earth. The young Chancellor however has the strongest nation as a neighbor which keeps eyeing Berlin - or so the Government believes.

He fixes his tie and suit a little and salutes the personel respectfully, in the North German fashion and briefly, then leaves the helmet behidn inside of the aircraft and keeps his sunglasses on, aviator glasses.

[i]"It is a honor to be here. The message was a pleasant surprise."[/i] His manner of articulation is similar to Kaiser Martens', although many wouldn't notice this, as Kaiser Martens did not have an unusual voice to begin with.

[Silhouette]

The dignatary returned the salute, although it felt wrong to be doing so, then introduced himself. "Greetings, Kanzler, I am Robert McEnroe, and the honour is all mine. President Conway was unsure of when you would be arriving, so was unfortunately unable to be here in person, however, his office is only a short drive from here." He motioned to the car behind him. "However, sir, I understand you have had a long flight. If you feel like freshening up, we have facilities available for your use. Otherwise, we can depart immediately."

Regardless of the Kaisers choice, when they departed, they would be met by five identical vehicles. And they were identical, down to tread pattern on the tyres. A priority route had been cleared ahead of them by police, for this was one foreign visit that they were taking very seriously. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong. The shame of having a foreign national die, not to mention the implications, would be far too great.

[Kaiser Martens]

"That's fine. I had some good sleep before I headed this way. Just some cold water will do the trick. It was a good flight."

He speaks then as if he were an everday citizen, rather than a leader. He seemed to be a simple person as opposed to the typical dictator who will speak as if he were on a throne or otherwise entitled to the truth at any given time in any given situation. He will head for the vehicles and then wait as he is taken to meet President Conway.

[Silhouette]

When the car eventually pulled up outside Conway's offices, he was already waiting. Despite the urgings of his secretary, he was wearing not a suit, but a long sleeved blue shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, tucked into grey slacks, and a pair of boat shoes. It was a Saturday, and he didn't care who he was meeting, he was going to dress how he wanted. He hurried forward to meet the Kanzler as fast as his loose boat shoes, and decorum, would allow. He held out his hand, positively beaming at the foreigner.

"Welcome my man, welcome. I'm Iestyn Conway, President of this great nation, and it is an absolute pleasure to have you as my guest. Would you like a drink? I know it is only early, but I am sure you've had a long flight. Do follow me Dierek, can I call you Dierek?."

All things taken into account, he was acting like a man who had taken rather too much coffee over the course of the day. Even in the beckoning twilight, if one looked closely, they would see an odd gleam in Iestyn's eyes. He was a man with a grand plan, but only a very few people knew exactly what his plan was.

[Kaiser Martens]

And then, it was even harder to tell what role may Germany have in the plans. The only way to know was to drop by, which is why the Chancellor had shown up. "Hello. That is fine, and I will call you Iestyn in return. A great nation indeed. When one is in the middle of Europe, one tends to forget that great places exist elsewhere while embroiled in the old continent's troubles AND beauty alike. I come from Germany. I never do decline a drink. Unless I can no longer speak." He grins and they shake hands vigorously, not seeming to be at all annoyed by the somewhat informal attire. It was better when people showed themselves as they are, after all.

[Silhouette]

Conway's office was different again. A large mahogany desk sat in one corner, and three filing cabinets in the other. The rest of the room was dedicated to what appeared to be a low poker table, surrounded by six cushy armchairs.

"Please, take a seat sir. What can I get you to drink?" He walked over to his desk, and opened a panel on the front, revealing a small liquor cabinet containing several very expensive looking crystal decanters. He waited for the Dierek to respond, before filling two glasses with liquor and returning to the armchairs. Rather than sitting directly opposite the Kanzler, he took one of the seats at an angle. All the more to make the meeting seem less formal.

Looking the Kanzler up and down he commented.

"You know Dierek, it is awfully hot. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to lose the jacket and tie you know. You can relax in my office." He took a sip of his drink.

"Now, I imagine that you are wondering why I came to Deutschland, of all places, and the answer is quite simple. I find I can not place my trust in the nations of Asia so much any more. Why, Marscury is in the midst of a civil war, Cochin and China have an aggressive stance towards the alliance we are a part of, and, Acca Dacca, well, they have a rather aggressive tendency that is not becoming in close friends. That is why I have invited you here today sir. A military alliance carries very little weight, if we are being honest, but a close friendship, that, sir, is a goal worth achieving."

[Kaiser Martens]

He sits down and says, "Oh I'll have to go with a beer or I'm afraid I'd have a hard time flying back home. Heh. Thank you."

He crosses one leg over the other and listens carefully, taking mental notes of what he says. He does loosen the neck of his suit. "An unstable continent. I see. Yes...military alliances...I have signed so many of them...but how many are reliable? Most of them are just documents signed out of convenience. When we were extremely weak, before I was around, that was acceptable to hold back greater forces. But now I think that the time to make proper friendship is at hand. We have already started on a couple of other cases. What do you have in mind? Which are your short and long term goals? You seem like a reasonably, healthily ambitious individual."

[Silhouette]

"Well, we need not sign anything concrete, that would rather blunt the point of this talk. However, perhaps a trade agreement of some kind, and the sharing of relevant intelligence information, at some point in our future." Conway looked around, almost as if he expected to find someone eavesdropping on their conversation,. her leant in a little closer. "Now that you bring it up, however, We have been searching for a location for an Air Force base, overseas somewhere. And while we would be unable to provide a similar arrangement on the mainland, we have a base in Pakistan where your presence would be welcomed in exchange. It would, of course, be nothing more than your government graciously permitting us use of your land, ratehr than a change in ownership. But certainly, if we were ever to sign one of those cumbersome military agreements, it would be no use without the ability to deploy forces quickly and efficiently."

[Kaiser Martens]

"The more concrete the treaty, the more it seems to want to make up for the lack of concrete friendship. I concurr. We'll set you up a base. Nordheim or Iceland would be good options, as they are the most defensible territories. You say Pakistan for us, hm? That would be useful. We'd be able to train our soldiers to work in environments different from the one we have at home. And yes, it is better to use this "gracious allowance" method, less cumbersome and less interference from the outer world."

[Silhouette]

"Indeed. Due to some constrictions in space, are unlikely to be able to host more than about five squadrons at Ormara, however, we can still accommodate up to 5000 additional personnel, and, perhaps even a berth for a naval vessel. As for our own facility, Iceland would be more than acceptable. Close enough to provide aid, while far enough away to limit the opposition. I am also more than happy to remove or trading tariffs for most goods, however, you understand that any restricted goods, such as pharmaceuticals or precious and heavy metals, would still need to be taxed a small amount. And agreement which would of course be two way." He let a smile appear on his face as he drained the last of his drink. "In any case, I think that we can seal this with a handshake when the time comes, although, we shall keep a voice transcript for our records, and yours, should you wish to take away a copy."

[Kaiser Martens]

"Iceland will do then. Wonderful. The market-related issues will be dealt with through my Economy Assistant...I only grasp the basics myself. We are a somewhat closed economy, however, as of lately we have slowly allowed certain things to get through. We won't outright open without taxes, but friends do get some preferencial treatment anyway. I have always preferred the good old handshake."

[Silhouette]

"Well then sir, for now, our business is concluded, unless you wish to add something. You must join me for dinner though, and, if you wish to rest, or indeed stay for a while and enjoy the beauty my nation has to offer, I have a room and a staff at your disposal."

[Kaiser Martens]

"No rest for the wicked. I must be at France later. Western France, that is...I forget the new nation's name. But I do have time for dinner. I wish I had more time though, I have been trying to catch up diplomatically, as this is the most neglected area!"