Procinctian Demilitarization and Peace Celebration

[Vedran]

Damien Mahavony, despite being a little unsettled by the ballroom replica, kept this knowledge to himself - most of the delegates were from nations too young to know - and he went around, being the diplomat, making small talk and getting to know some of the other delegates, his bodyguard following him diligently. The two economic advisors went to talk about a few things with Catalina, mainly to ask about how the island was doing and what were the main areas of concern currently. After politely asking permission from Mahavony, the Deputy Minister's assistant proceeded to rock out to The Animals' "It's My Life"

[sandman9913]

"If you want to legitimatly talk about that we must talk in private Miss."

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='Vedran' timestamp='1297319853' post='2627786']After politely asking permission from Mahavony, the Deputy Minister's assistant proceeded to rock out to The Animals' "It's My Life"[/quote] It took a minute for the band to get the right song before the Deputy Minister's assistant could rock out, beginning with Talk Talk's "It's My Life", No Doubt’s "It's My Life", and Bon Jovi’s "It's My Life” before finally playing The Animals' "It's My Life".

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='Vedran' timestamp='1297319853' post='2627786'] The two economic advisors went to talk about a few things with Catalina, mainly to ask about how the island was doing and what were the main areas of concern currently. [/quote] Catalina’s conversation with the economic advisors consisted of dry figures concerning income from [i]Procinctia Publishing Press[/i], [i]Procinctia Armament[/i], and tourism in Procinctia. Procinctia’s leader was pleased to report how much she was able to save by eliminating military expenditures; enough money to build a bank, factory, harbor, and school with several clinics scheduled for the end of the month.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Generalissimo

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='sandman9913' timestamp='1297320074' post='2627790']"If you want to legitimatly talk about that we must talk in private Miss."[/quote] Catalina grinned conspiratively, “If it’s a little too private then perhaps we should what until after the party, I’m sure we’ll both be alive to talk about it then. What’s the worst that could happen between now and then?”

[Lynneth]

A Sri Lankan representative arrived to the party - if a little late.
[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Corp/Ranil_At_UNP_Office.jpg"]Ranil Wickremasinghe[/url] was part of the opposition in the government, but nontheless an influential diplomat.
Being an advocate of unrestricted arms, even to the point of allowing citizens to purchase army-quality assault rifles, the man not only wore standard-issue body armour (dragonskin/kevlar coupled with non-newtonian fluids) but also carried a [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Corp/Gvozd_by_KaranaK-1.png"]SLAR 21[/url] on his back.
Wickremasinghe was also one of the more paranoid members of the opposition factions, having brought a full dozen Vanguard Industries-sponsored [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/It__s_just_Buisiness___by_adonihs.jpg"]Mercenaries[/url] (Read: [url="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EliteMooks"]Elite Mooks[/url]) with him as bodyguard, each of them trained just as well as anyone in Sri Lanka's armed forces.

Between landing and arriving at the ball, not much had happened, most certainly nothing of note.
It was thus that he entered the scene, looking for the buffet. "Where's the buffet?"

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1297351864' post='2627982']
A Sri Lankan representative arrived to the party - if a little late.
[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Corp/Ranil_At_UNP_Office.jpg"]Ranil Wickremasinghe[/url] was part of the opposition in the government, but nontheless an influential diplomat.
Being an advocate of unrestricted arms, even to the point of allowing citizens to purchase army-quality assault rifles, the man not only wore standard-issue body armour (dragonskin/kevlar coupled with non-newtonian fluids) but also carried a [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Corp/Gvozd_by_KaranaK-1.png"]SLAR 21[/url] on his back.
Wickremasinghe was also one of the more paranoid members of the opposition factions, having brought a full dozen Vanguard Industries-sponsored [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/It__s_just_Buisiness___by_adonihs.jpg"]Mercenaries[/url] (Read: [url="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EliteMooks"]Elite Mooks[/url]) with him as bodyguard, each of them trained just as well as anyone in Sri Lanka's armed forces.

Between landing and arriving at the ball, not much had happened, most certainly nothing of note.
It was thus that he entered the scene, looking for the buffet. "Where's the buffet?"[/quote] Catilina gestures dramatically around the room, “The buffet, Mister Wickremasinghe, is at forward-back-left-right walls with additional entrée tables scattered throughout the room. That’s right, the buffet is everywhere! Not that I’m trying to outdo a Slavorussian Imperial gathering. . .

Before you start on the food,” Procinctia hands Ranil’s bodyguard an unloaded pistol, “May I present the Procinctia Armament .51 caliber Rocket Revolver, I hear you’re a collector. Procinctia has almost achieved your longtime ideal concerning private gun ownership; outside of mandatory possession, we don’t have laws restricting gun ownership. It’s the right to bear arms that makes us secure enough to demilitarize completely.”

[TheShammySocialist]

Inigo Wells still had his doubts about going to this celebration, as Sham Dawkins could not attend. A rather quiet man, he was a sound mind, and was about to be named to a post inside the Caspian Foreign Office. A specialist in information breakdown and interpretation, he was going to be appointed to lead the foreign policy unit, which would give direction to the Clique on where it should focus its diplomatic efforts abroad. A personal friend of Dawkins, Wells was doing this as more of a favor to his friend, rather then anything else.

As Caspian diplomatic protocol dictated, if there was an open invitation to events like these abroad, a representative had to be sent, it was common courtesy. As his car pulled up to the venue, he was thoroughly impressed, although he was a little apprehensive about the lack of security. Wells target-shot as a hobby, and was a proficient shot with his old Kabul State Armory (KSA) [url=http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2009/06/88957,xcitefun-deserteagle.jpg]HP-5H[/url]. He carried the large pistol on a chest holster, underneath his dinner jacket, along with a line of five magazines that were strapped to the chest holster line.

He thanked the driver, and proceeded into the building, and towards the ballroom, his stomach growling as he caught a glimpse of the buffet on the other side of the room. Accustomed to spending the last few weeks in a country that was still stabilizing, Wells felt rather safe at the moment, as the Caspian Clique was still in the process of stabilizing. He put on his best smile before stepping fully into the ballroom, trying to not make obvious his straight path for the buffet with a slow stroll.

Edited February 12, 2011 by TheShammySocialist

[Lynneth]

[quote name='Generalissimo' timestamp='1297370412' post='2628245']
Catilina gestures dramatically around the room, “The buffet, Mister Wickremasinghe, is at forward-back-left-right walls with additional entrée tables scattered throughout the room. That’s right, the buffet is everywhere! Not that I’m trying to outdo a Slavorussian Imperial gathering. . .

Before you start on the food,” Procinctia hands Ranil’s bodyguard an unloaded pistol, “May I present the Procinctia Armament .51 caliber Rocket Revolver, I hear you’re a collector. Procinctia has almost achieved your longtime ideal concerning private gun ownership; outside of mandatory possession, we don’t have laws restricting gun ownership. It’s the right to bear arms that makes us secure enough to demilitarize completely.”
[/quote]
"Ms. Martinez," Ranil began, his accent utterly disfiguring the spanish surname in a way that all dignity was gone for a few moments, snatching the gun from his bodyguard's hands and examining it before continuing with a terrifying accent. "I must absolutely thank you for giving me this magnificent weapon. I had in fact planned to purchase one after clearing things with Customs. You wouldn't believe the crazy things they're doing, but restricting gun imports is one of them. This is a diplomatic present, so I'll have little problems getting it back home. Once this is over, I'd be honoured to invite you to Sri Lanka and discuss the right to bear any sort of weapon with you over some coffee. But, if you don't mind, I shall go on to decimate this buffet."
He began eyeing several of the tables. "It looks delicious."

[sandman9913]

"Ms.Martinez I assure you that its not that private but others must know."

[sandman9913]

OOC:Forgot my Minister of Economics is at the Trade Federation meeting sorry

[Beauty]

"After some diliberation, The Republique is sending a group of 15 diplomats to attend the celebrations."

Edited February 10, 2011 by Rotavele

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='sandman9913' timestamp='1297377055' post='2628363']"Ms.Martinez I assure you that its not that private but others must know."[/quote] “Feel free to speak freely. I wouldn’t worry about it, so long as it’s nothing overtly classified,” Catilina gestures offhand to the other deletes in the ballroom “there are no secrets amongst true friends. What's the worst that could happen?

[quote name='sandman9913' timestamp='1297377610' post='2628379']OOC:Forgot my Minister of Economics is at the Trade Federation meeting sorry [/quote]Don’t worry about it too much, CNRP has a fluid timescale, it’s easy to be in two places at once. This thread is set, for example, after [i]The Majesty of Winter[/i] (A Soiree at Peterhof Palace) so Catilina can attend both.

[quote name='Rotavele' timestamp='1297379181' post='2628411']"After some diliberation, The Republique is sending a group of 15 diplomats to attend the celebrations."[/quote] République Du Fleuve’s diplomats will be welcomed to warmly to the most memorable engagement they will ever attend.


[i]Out of Character[/i]
[b][size="6"]Invasion Update[/size][/b]
Tomorrow is going to be a bad day to be at this party for guaranteed survival! [b](It's a Trap!)[/b]

Edited February 12, 2011 by Generalissimo

[TheShammySocialist]

Wells looked around the ballroom, as he took a first sip of his second glass of wine. Bearing a plate of assorted food, he stood looking around, feeling rather awkward, being more of an internal analyst, rather then a full-fledged diplomat.

He spotted the hostess, and quickly made a beeline for her. "Good evening Miss Martinez, I am Inigo Wells, of the Caspian Clique. I must say, I am enjoying the wine, where were you able to procure such fine nectar?" The wine had begun to make him feel giddy, if not maybe a little bold, and was loosening up the his stiff personality.

[Vedran]

Minister Mahavony came to terms with the replica of the Slavorussian ballroom, instead choosing to admire its beauty and attention to detail, having never been in the actual ballroom itself. It was quite grand.

Damien went to go get something to munch on from the buffet when he encountered Mr. Wickremasinghe. Seeing him pigging out, and the rifle on his back, was enough for Damien to consider him at least a little eccentric. But he made conversation anyway. "Hello, sir, how are you? I am Damien Mahavony, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arctica. And Ambassador-at-Large for this region."

Edited February 12, 2011 by Vedran

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='TheShammySocialist' timestamp='1297474557' post='2629855']
Wells looked around the ballroom, as he took a first sip of his second glass of wine. Bearing a plate of assorted food, he stood looking around, feeling rather awkward, being more of an internal analyst, rather then a full-fledged diplomat.

He spotted the hostess, and quickly made a beeline for her. "Good evening Miss Martinez, I am Inigo Wells, of the Caspian Clique. I must say, I am enjoying the wine, where were you able to procure such fine nectar?" The wine had begun to make him feel giddy, if not maybe a little bold, and was loosening up the his stiff personality.[/quote] Catilina lightly whiffed the aroma of Clique’s glass from conversational distance, “That container of [i]‘wine’[/i] was salvaged from the old South Moore embassy/betting house/[i]Legitimate Italian Business Center[/i] here on the island. What you’re drinking is a limited vintage bootlegged bottle of moonshine pseudo wine custom brewed by the ‘[i]legitimate Sicilian businessman[/i]’ statesman Don Brando of the defunct and possibly Mafioso country of South Moore. Bartending, more than politics, was my craft before becoming Procinctia’s head-of-state.”

[TheShammySocialist]

"It definitely tastes like vintage," said Wells, as he eyed the glass, before taking another sip.

"Very warming properties," he added, after smacking his lips a little. "I want to thank you for extending an invitation to this event, Miss Martinez. The Caspian Clique extends its gratitude to you for this event, we are looking to open our relations with other parts of the world, and this event certainly helps in that endeavor."

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='TheShammySocialist' timestamp='1297522097' post='2630314']"It definitely tastes like vintage," said Wells, as he eyed the glass, before taking another sip.

"Very warming properties," he added, after smacking his lips a little. "I want to thank you for extending an invitation to this event, Miss Martinez. The Caspian Clique extends its gratitude to you for this event, we are looking to open our relations with other parts of the world, and this event certainly helps in that endeavor."[/quote]It’s always good to meet someone with an appreciation for quality, Catilina smiled cautiously, “I’m delighted to have the Caspian Clique here. I can’t say with certainty, from a sino-modernist ‘realist’ theory of international dealings, that Procinctia is the best place to start. Is it better to start small as an opportunity to develop relevant proficiencies through appropriate experience whilst still small leaving a wide margin of error?
That is, of course, the attitude of the impersonally pragmatic Chinese communists.
I believe, in contrast, a view of international relations carried by interpersonal relationships.”

Edited February 12, 2011 by Generalissimo

[Lord Zephyr]

A man and a woman in a suit and dress with a noticeable amount of cat fur on them walked up to Catilina, "Pardon us ma'am but have you seen an orange calico cat running around? And do you have any animal that might be anywhere near here that might be hunted by a predator that you have any attachments to? Because if you do it might be dead soon. You see Mao is an avid hunter and hunts anything from common house mice to... " They looked at each other for a second, "try not to laugh at us because we're completely serious when we say deer and even a bear one time."

OOC: Seriously, my cat has brought me raccoons an has tried to fight and was about to win against my neighbors pitbull before we stopped him.

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='Yawoo' timestamp='1297555516' post='2630689']The transport and landing vessels, listening for the S.O.S. messages then broadcasted "Hulio" to the CSGs and the invasion began. First, the CSGs launched multiple cruise missiles aiming at Procinita locations deemed of a military or startegic nature. Fuel depots, ammunition depots, bridges, ports, airports, and major government buildings were all targeted in the barrage that lasted ten minutes.[/quote] "I'm General Mao is just. . ." The lights flickered and the music stopped. A brief moment silence was followed by whine too familiar to soldiers, Catilina voiced the obvious, “That’s almost sounds like a cruise mi-” [size="5"][b]*Boom*[/b][/size] The entire ballroom shook violently. [size="5"][b]*Boom*[/b][/size] For ten continuous minutes all present were downed by reverberations from explosions as wineglasses shattered, tables rattled and windows cracked. As the blasts died down Procinita’s administrator tremblingly rose to her feet, “Do to unforeseen this calibration has postponed indefinitely. I would suggest leaving this building, immediately, before the next barrage. Headcount, is everyone still in one piece?”

Edited February 13, 2011 by Generalissimo

[Lynneth]

"Gah! My food!" screamed the Sri Lankan diplomat as a chandelier came down crashing onto the table he was just eating at.
Shouting to his bodyguard, who immediately activated their flashlights just in case total darkness broke down over the building, the Sri Lankan group attempted to move towards the nearest exit in a quick and efficient manner.

As they were moving, Ranil shouted to Catalina, "I and my guards are still fine. We're going to try and get out of here as quickly as we can before the building collapses!"
However, as narrative dictates, they either had all the time in the world, or would be crushed mere meters from the exit. Which of the two it was they would hopefully find out soon enough.

[TheShammySocialist]

"I'm still here, moving to the exit now," called out Wells, who had drawn his pistol, after hearing someone mention that the explosions were from cruise missiles. "What in name of Turkmen did I get myself into?" he muttered, as he made for the exit, along with a number of other delegates. He had activated the tactical LED flashlight on the underside of his pistol, following Ranil's example.

[Vedran]

A plate of Hors d'œuvre's Mahavony had been reaching for cracked right down the middle, followed by the table, startling him greatly. A second hit brought him and everyone else to the floor. Among Arctica's delegation, the Deputy Minister's bodyguard was first to rise, then helped him rise, as the advisors and assistant scrambled to their feet and towards the door.

"Damn it," exclaimed Mahavony. "Who would want to attack Procinctia?"

"Quickly, sir, we have to leave."

"They had to know there was a diplomatic meeting here. They had to plan the strike to coincide with this event."

"NOW, sir!" The man carried Damien towards the exit.

"They can bring the building down around us, but I will not leave this island. If I die here, they will face the consequences! C'est des conneries!"

[iKrolm]

Major Nerio Resendez stumbled as the first explosion shook the building, dislodging dust and debris from the ceiling. Remember training: What's the procedure for an attack on a diplomatic exchange in a foreign nation where you are the diplomat? €/&$, there was no such procedure. Nerio shook but remained standing as a second explosion rocked the building, then tried to scan the room. And €/&$ing North Americans; he was a good ten centimeters too short to scan the room properly.

First things first: the building itself had not come under direct attack, so far or else he wouldn't be standing here. Another explosion rocked the ballroom, then another. Car or truck bombs possibly, the explosions felt too big for mortars-a chain of explosions interrupted Nerio's train of thought, setting the chandeliers swinging on their chains. One more explosion shook the room and Nerio grimaced as a chandelier came crashing down on the other side of the hall. OK, there was definitely the roar of a subsonic cruise missile before that explosion, but Procinctia didn't maintain any more cruise missiles than they maintained enemies. Hell, Generalissimo wasn't even at the celebration for someone to fail to assassinate. (Or [i]was[/i] he? Nevermind…)

Step 1: Take cover. The banquet hall hadn't been hit yet, but no guarantee that would continue Nerio though as he worked his way to the edge of the room and away from falling ceiling hazards-more explosions rocked the room-and towards a spot without windows to crack and shatter.

Across the room he saw the Sri Lankan delegation switching on flashlights and making their way towards the exit. Another man-Nerio wasn't sure where he was from-pulled out pistol and flipped it's light on too. Wait until you have someone to shoot at, please? More explosions, moving closer threatened to bring the roof, and then the explosions were moving away again leaving the ballroom still standing. Definitely cruise missiles, no way to tell what they were targeting until he could get a clear view of the city-he stopped for second. He'd automatically jumped in to tactical thinking mode, even though this wasn't his country. He was a guest, trainer, and military attache from Selenarctos but he'd lived with Procinctians, even fought alongside of them long enough that he felt a part of this country too. Another series of explosions interrupted his thoughts again, the longest yet, the silence.

The silence continued for a full thirty seconds, just over ten minutes after the attack began by his watch, then Catalina Martinez raised her voice to say “Do to unforeseen this calibration has postponed indefinitely. I would suggest leaving this building, immediately, before the next barrage. Headcount, is everyone still in one piece?”

Step 2: Contact Manila, inform SecDev of the situation, request instructions. Oh, and Step 1a: figure out what the situation was. A hostile attack on Procinctia of course, but from whom and why? He hadn't brought a cellphone to the evening's festivities: despite their progress, Procinctian cell service was could still be unreliable even without a missile barrage and SevDev hadn't paid for a satellite phone. No radio either, he'd be reliant on Procinctian sources for news and communications. Administrator Martinez seemed like the best source for both.

Working his way through those making their way to the exits, Nerio soon reach Catalina. "Ms. Martinez, are you injured?"

[TheShammySocialist]

Wells looked around at some of the bodyguards who looked uneasy as soon as he pulled out his pistol, and he said, into the darkness, "No worries, safety is on, just using it as a flashlight."

He put his hand on the barrel, to hold it like a flashlight, although he heard one bodyguard mutter, "Jumpy Civvies."

As he made his way to the exit in the dark, he held his flashlight to the floor, and he put the light on the stairs out of the ballroom, so that people could have sure footing. He held the door open, and stood there, as he held the light on the stairs, trying to be as helpful as possible.