Her Imperial Ambition

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Angelika scowled as she sat in her study in Boise. She loved getting letters from her sister, but not when the writing was demanding, not asking for a favor. The writing spelled out in so many letters that given the situation in Austria with the Ultra-Nationalists from Athens, Maria would not be able to conduct diplomacy properly and was asking, with very choice words, that Angelika remember which nation birthed her and which nation her loyalty was expected to belong to. Of course, she couldn't really say no, the Hapsburg treasury was keeping her afloat in her ventures throughout North America and Maria had sent her to Idaho-Montana, even engaged to Franklyn, she was still nevertheless a subject of her sister.

"Over three thousand miles away and big sister still calls on me."

Looking back down at the letter she continued reading, outlining the favor, Maria entrusted her with. A meeting had been scheduled in Berlin between the Germanic Triumvirs and the new Norsvean leadership over the possibility of Austrian expansion overseas. It didn't list where, but the idea was to finish the proposed alliance of the Germanic countries, Austria, Germany, and Norsvea, along with the hiring of German mercenaries to fight in the Austrian army. Austria was too small to raise an army itself, but it had the money, with the recession coming to an end, to field a military of mercenary soldiers. "Money is thicker than blood and water combined." Said the letter and Angelika began to think that the amount that Maria had traveled was starting to go to her head. Her sister, a conqueror? It was probably the most surprising thing that could come from Vienna...well...just as much as Angelika transforming into a reactionary.

However, the Princess felt extremely guilty that she wasn't home while the Athenian rebels lay waste to the south of her country. Maria had always been there for her, Angelika couldn't just abandon her and so that night she left Boise and boarded a plane bound for Berlin, sending a letter ahead to the Norsvean and Germanic Leadership telling them of her arrival.

[quote]
[i]Your Excellency,

I assume that you have already received the letter addressed to you by my sister, the Duchess Maria, explaining the matters of our meeting as well that she is unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances in the south of our country. My plane should land in Berlin a few hours after you get this message and we can proceed with our meeting as planned. I have been briefed by my sister on the subjects of discussion, on completing a Germanic Nations Pact between Austria and the new nation of Norsvea, along with the purchase of Germanic mercenaries who will be briefed by Austrian commanders at a later date. Your Excellencies have my most sincere thanks meeting on such short notice, but I am positive that this meeting will only bring the nations of Austria, the Union, and Norsvea closer together and the greater global community will only benefit from our friendship.

Sincerely,

Princess Angelika von Hapsburg[/i]
[/quote]

[Kaiser Martens]

"Of course both have permission to land. I will be waiting for you at the Reichstag. I am glad that the time has come to explore new horizons. It will be a honor."

The Einherjar and Valkyries awaited at Berlin as honor guards, virtually lining up a path from the Airport to the Reichstag itself, each with Germanic Union banners. It seemed to be a surrealistic show of power, but otherwise the city was as busy as usual.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

When Angelika arrived in Berlin, she was surprised to see the amount of pomp and ceremony displayed to her, especially when Maria had described that the meeting would be relatively small. Nevertheless, she accepted the greeting warmly and was taken by town car to the doors of the Reichstag, where the flags of the Germanic Union fluttered proudly in the breeze, in testimony to a country that had been through so much in its long history and still had managed to survive the test of time. Angelika could see why, on her drive through Berlin, the city was a proverbial barracks. Militarized architecture drifted up to the sky while runic symbolism dotted the signs to doors, streets, and other places throughout the city. However it was the sight of actual pagan temples that astounded her the most, it was as though she had stepped through a portal and had woken up in a world where the Goths had not only sacked Rome, but had survived Romanization as well.

"I see why Austria and Germany have had such a rocky history, no two cultures are more different." She said to herself as an attendant opened the doors to the limousine and led her into the Reichstag itself.

Once there, she was escorted up to the Chancellor's Office where the leaders from Norsvea and the Union would receive her. Inside Angelika was greeted by a woman of imposing stature, someone that seemed to resonate strength and power, Lady von Glucksburg was everything the Nord would desire in a female. For the Austrian Princess, whose dainty fingers gently extended her hand forward in friendship, there was an immediate mixture of strength, beauty, power, and thought as the two women stared at each other.

"Lady von Glucksburg, it's a pleasure. Princess Maria Angelika von Hapsburg of Austria at your service, hopefully this will be a very constructive meeting." Angelika looked around, but the Lady was the only one in the room. "Though if the Norsvean delegation hasn't arrived yet, could we possibly begin our discussion on mercenary purchase or should that wait until later?"

[Bacharth]

Kansler Vidarr von Gothenburg had arrived hours after he received word of Austria's intent. However, when she arrived, he had to take a phone call, and had left to a smoking area near the conference room. Torre was reporting more riots in Universities across Sweden, and had suggested sending the Home Guard in to watch the riots and make sure they didn't get out of hand. Once off the phone, he informed the General of the orders, and then went back inside.

"Apologies for that intrusion, the university students have been getting out of hand lately. Protesting the educational reforms, even though my advisors have promised me they'll help in the long run...oh you both don't need to hear about that." He ran his hand over the back of his head, pawing at the grey hair. Even at the age of 39, he was starting to show signs of aging that he shouldn't see for another few years.

"Where are my manners, it is a pleasure to meet you Princess Angelika," with that, he bowed a deep bow. He was glad to see the Habsburgs in control of Austria again. He preferred the visage of a leader being chosen by God or whoever as the leader of the people, even if they were bound by rules and a parliament.

[Kaiser Martens]

"I was about to tell you to begin right now, but it seems that we are running like clockwork." She extends her own hand forwards and shakes the Princess' firmly with a degree of grace and elegance that one could not and should not expect to see from the many rulers and staff members of the other gender. "Different? Princess, you might wish to go ahead and visit other countries. Have you ever been to Italy, Greece, Russia, and lands beyond our continent? I assure you that while you might feel a bit shocked to see former churches without their crosses and many weapons, you would soon come to realize that in fact, finding another country more similar to Austria would be impossible." That she said, in fact, using standard German as spoken in Austria, to further carry the point across. "I would bet you my position on it."

She turns to look over at the approaching chancellor. Her own clothing was on the one hand simple and unremarkable, yet on the other hand seemed to suit her well. She had a black business suit which had prepared specifically to fit her and just her comfortably, and a small silver necklace with a Valknut could be seen hanging from her neck. She seemed to have shoes, but they were in fact boots, only mostly concealed by the pants - this might become more noticeable when she is sitting, and she has a rather thin pair of glasses on her face, while finally her long hair was tied in a rather elaborate pattern to again resemble a series of Valknuts.

"Kansler. Good to see that you have arrived. We were about to begin without you. Congratulations on your recent expansion, I hope that you bring to Norway the stability that its people require."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Well when I mean different, I don't mean in linguistics and sounds, its just a bit of a shock I guess to such a military minded culture that I feel the south has been pulling away from since the Communists. I assure you Lady von Glucksburg, I meant no offense and I am sure that you would win that bet. But I'd be willing to take the spot of the German Triumvir if you would be willing to take my crown and listen to my sister and her demands twenty-four hours a day." Angelika said with a chuckle as she sat down on one of the chairs near the center desk.

"Though now that we are all here, Kansler, it is a pleasure meeting you as well and my sister, the Duchess sends her regards to Norsvea. I would like to present the two proposals from Vienna for your governments. First, Kansler von Gothenburg, in the interest of consolidating the Germanic and Scandinavian countries of Europe, the Duchy of Austria would like to request the signing of a mutual defense pact and trade agreement between our peoples. While involved in the Zurich Pact, an alliance between our Germanic and Scandinavian brothers and sisters would only serve to solidify Central and Northern Europe further, if the Zurich Pact would ever come undone. Though from what I've seen in European news, I doubt that will ever come to pass."

Angelika leaned back in her seat and reviewed the next thoughts in her head. "The second proposal, to you Lady von Glucksburg, Austria, given its current military situation, population size, and economic troubles has not been able to field an army sufficient for our international desires. Her Grace would like to purchase the services of German Mercenaries to fight for Austria in coming wars that the Duchy has planned for the future. I can't disclose information on who or when, as I don't have the information myself, but they will be paid handsomely from the Hapsburg Treasury as well as from the Austrian military budget after our recession begins to turn. I know that the German people have a knack for war and with the recent peace in the world, their skills might be getting rusty, service with Austria may change that for those men and women."

The Princess smiled at both leaders and nodded. "But those are Vienna's proposals, hopefully we have an agreement of sorts?"

[Kaiser Martens]

"Oh, that. That is a side effect of our - and by our, I mean all three of us - rather turbulent history. Although soon we will continue to downsize our military, as we have been doing sometimes ever since the end of the Francogerman War. The time of constant European war has come to an end. At last as far as Zurich is concerned. By now, the whole thing has become a tradition even if we're not going to keep fighting the French." She smiles in a bittersweet manner. "I feel sorry for them, really. They were troublemakers but they did not deserve to have their nation cut up like a cake. Oh well. I assure you your sister could not possibly be worse than our own Martens." She says with an acid tone and then moves over to sit down in a large office-style chair behind her desk. There's of course other chairs and even a sofa nearby.

"It won't. But still we would like to ratify that Norsvea can take the place of Sweden in our Tripartite pact, and, with Norway gone, I believe that inviting Österreich would be the most suitable course of action at this point." She looks around the data on her laptop, soon a black wall nearby in fact turns out to be a screen, showing the pact.

( http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=97245&st=0 )

She leans back. "That is an excellent idea. A large number of people from our former armies have been missing the chance to kill things as of lately. I am sure that our gigantic manpower and trained veterans' pool would be more than suitable for the task. Additionally, if you wish, we can use people from Southern Germany only so that if caught they can most easily pass as Austrians. I do not need to know the target as long as we have the gold."

[Bacharth]

"We would be willing to sign a defense treaty with Austria; however, if we are looking to include Austria in the Germanic Brotherhood pact, what we call the Treaty of Aarhus, it would seem a little redundant to have both an MDP, and be in an MDoAP pact with Austria," Vidarr looked over the Treaty of Aarhus, and his diplomatic limitations.

After the question about Norsvea taking the place of Sweden, Vidarr spoke up, "Norsvea is the successor state to Sweden, and even the old Norsvea, if we could somehow get recognition on that from the old government. What's left of the Distopyans though is just a corporation, so recognition from them wouldn't really mean anything." He sighed after the last few words. The extremist Distopyans had luckily died off or calmed down after Erik Betrakte died and the Kingdom of Crimea was abolished. He pulled his chair closer to the table and reached down to grab a pen and some paper from his bag.

"If you're wishing for some military advising as well, Riksmarshall Meschkat is about to retire. He was the leader of the Gothic military, and knows that area best, and could probably help set up defenses. He managed to keep the Swiss from storming Bavaria and Tirol, even though they really weren't storming anything," he said with a chuckle.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"The treaty looks accessible enough," Angelika said with a nod. "Though the intertwining of diplomacy around the world would be enough to make my head spin. I know some nations are tied to so many blocs, so many individual treaties, so many everything I'm surprised that they can keep their heads on straight. But a treaty on culture, I believe is very binding and necessary. However, I have to get conformation from Vienna before anything and my signature means nothing to make something official. When I leave here, I'll be returning to Vienna for a few days, I'll be sure to fax my sister's signature and her stamp of approval on the treaty."

With her first objective completed, the tension in Angelika's body slowly began to drip away. She was in the presence of allies now. "As to both your offers of mercenary fighters. Once the actual payment can be sorted out, Her Grace's government will send a few military advisors to the recruitment stations, to see who and what we're dealing with. Other than that, I think both the offers are ones we'd be foolish to pass up, Herr von Gothenburg, if you general is looking for a country to serve, he only need to come south. I can't say that all his time will be taken up by fighting, but I'm sure that he'll find Viennese culture to his liking."

[Kaiser Martens]

"Yes. I agree too. That is why we went for this, we wanted to have a top-priority treaty with nations that we have actual bonds with, close bonds - Nations that we would defend one way or the other. We would not trust any other nations with something like this. Just do send us your replies, hopefully with signatures, later when you are ready."

"If your state, Herr Vidarr, is indeed officially the successor to the last, then a new signature will not be needed - having that fact confirmed, will be enough."

"Princess. We would need to know just the amount of warriors that you are expecting. If we just set up something without a limit, you might easily get many more than what you could ever need."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Depending on Austria's actual desire that number might fluctuate. What I suggest, if possible, is that the Union send their mercenary commanders to Vienna, along with whomever else would have a say in the matter and talk with my sister personally. I'm afraid she's been quiet as to the reasoning behind these moves, she likes secrets, why I don't know, but I'm not privy to direct information, merely a messenger. After that can be assessed then we can proceed with purchasing the correct amount of soldiers for our plans. Whatever they might be," Angelika said with a smirk.

"Other than that, is there anything we three need to discuss or have we covered all the proposals set forth?"

[Kaiser Martens]

"That works well. We will pass the news onto our private sector and then the ones interested will contact your Government. Keep in mind that at this point, you will not be dealing with the Germanic Union Government nor with its Reichswehr, but rather with the mercenaries being private entities. In any case, our monthly training and traditions ensures that these will be the best men that money can buy. Then, getting the weapons is a relatively easy task. We might like to bring back into operation some of our weapon factories leftover yet unused from when Austria was our territory - that will make arming easy."