04-15-2020, 10:06 PM
Senate Building, First Floor, 459 Liberty Square, Geminus
Alice Lancaster ran down the hallway towards her brothers office, boots stomping on the ground. Normally running was against protocol while in the Senate Building, but these were not normal circumstances. Certainly not normal in Xiomera, that's for sure.
Her brother was sitting at his desk, reading the intelligence report from Xiomera. She locked the door behind her. "I was about to call you, but I figured I should wait, knowing that you would be coming down here soon. I take it you've been briefed?".
She nodded, sat down, and opened her briefcase. "It looks worse that I thought. They have powerful support, but we're not sure how powerful. If we could just have more Intel, we may be able to know how to move forward. I take it we're supporting Yauhmi?".
Will nodded. "Of course. In fact, if you want to stay here, I will call Crown Prince Texoccoatl, and see if he will accept our support". He picked up the phone and dialed.
When his phone rang, Texoccoatl was a bit surprised. He quickly answered the ring. “This is Crown Prince Texoccoatl,” he said, curiously.
"Your Majesty, This is Chancellor Lancaster. I am calling to offer Eiria's help in this... Disturbing turn of events".
The Crown Prince was happy to hear the voice at the other end of the line. Apparently, the junta hasn’t isolated me as much as they hoped. “Chancellor Lancaster, thank you so much for calling me. I am glad to hear that the friends of Xiomera are standing by us in dealing with this illegal usurpation of power. I am still trying to figure out how to respond, honestly. I am, for the moment at least, stuck here in Laeral and the junta has cut off all means I have to reach anyone in Xiomera.”
"It is a huge relief to hear you are currently safe. However, I'm a bit confused. You mean you have no means to contact anyone in Xiomera? How did they manage that?".
”Well, my phones, as well as the communications equipment on my plane, are all government-controlled. I’m guessing that ASI has cut off access with their damned surveillance program.” Texoccoatl laughed wryly. “At least I can still get phone calls, although I have no idea how long that will be possible.”
Will frowned. "Well, that is unfortunate. Depending on what city in Laeral you are in currently, we may be able to get you a burner phone. We keep a few on hand in embassies".
”I am currently in Minsheng province, in a very small town. I will be traveling back to Laeralsford though. I will also be trying to speak with President Liu, as well as with our ambassador here to see where his loyalties lie. I should be able to retrieve a phone if you have one available. That would be a tremendous help.”.
"Okay, I'll contact the embassy. Do you have any idea of who may be in the junta, and what resources they have? Any information you can provide would be excellent, so we can know what we're working with".
”At a minimum, we know that our entire military General Staff is part of the junta, or at least, they’re not opposing it yet. The generals have formed this ‘Provisional Government’. I am surprised that Cuauh'ez, the commander of our special forces, joined them. He is in charge of the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors and Shorn Ones, and I always thought he was loyal. He may be waiting for an ideal moment to act.” Texoccoatl paused. “So, until someone opposes them, the junta has control of our military, our police and our Civil Guard, as well as ASI and Military Intelligence. They have as many ‘resources’ as they could need, unless we can splinter support away from them,” the Crown Prince said worriedly.
The Chancellor took notes in on his pad. "That is very unfortunate. Well, I am surprised they all agreed to this plot. However, they can't possibly all agree on what to do now, could they? With all of the Leaders of all of those groups, there's bound to be infighting. Would it be enough of an advantage for us to be able to exploit?".
”There would undoubtedly be, if we can place pressure on them by causing them trouble,” Texoccoatl said. “The more they argue and disagree, the more they will clash and their arrangement could possibly even disintegrate. We would have a very short window however. They will certainly move quickly to convene a new Great Selection, no matter how farcical it is, and appoint a new Emperor. Once that happens, disrupting the coup becomes much harder.”
"But will the people support this false government? They've just gotten a taste of freedom and suddenly that's ripped away from them? I can't imagine everyone would be completely happy with this".
”The people, for the most part, will not support this coup. They wanted us to take the path we took. But obedience to authority is deeply ingrained in Xiomeran culture and tradition. Being unhappy with the coup is one thing. It will take more than that for the people to overcome their fear, and their conditioning to obey the people in charge,” Texoccoatl replied somberly. “The longer that things drag on, the harder it will be. We need to begin encouraging resistance to the coup immediately.”
"Indeed. And we will put all of our resources into that. We have a certain... Affinity for the more clandestine parts of espionage. We will do everything in our power to make sure your mother is restored to the throne of Xiomera". He sighed. "Both you and your mother have made incredible progress in reforms towards democracy, and both you and your mother are pioneers of Xiomeran history. The last thing I want is to see all of your progress and sacrifice be undone by some traitor to his people and his country".
”I am grateful for your support and anything that you can do to help us. This is going to be a huge challenge, but I am confident we can defeat this coup.....especially with people such as yourself on our side. Will your government be making an official statement?”
"We likely will, but we may not say we are outright supporting you. We wouldn't want to tip them off. Many politicians will fully support you publicly, and we are likely to have a majority, from both parties, if we decide to vote to support you. I do have some authority without the Senate, however. I take it that we have permission to send agents into Xiomera?".
”Absolutely. The junta will try to claim otherwise, but as Ambassador-at-Large to the IDU, I have full plenipotentiary authority to represent the legitimate government of Xiomera, especially as long as my mother is....unreachable,” Texoccoatl said. “You have my permission to send any agents to Xiomera that you believe can help us topple the junta. I am glad that you will be helping us.”
”You as well, Chancellor Lancaster. Please call me whenever you have a question, and thank you again.”
The Chancellor hung up the phone and turned back to his sister. "Well, it seems almost the entire Xiomeran Military is against us. I'm not very confident about our odds, if it is just a splinter of Xiomera and us against this provisional government".
Alice Cursed. "Metdì. Well, I'm sure a few other nations will join. A few other democracies maybe, and Kerlile. Jesus, is this how bad things are that I am thankful the Kerlians are on our side? This'll be interesting, to say the least".
"Indeed".
Alice Lancaster ran down the hallway towards her brothers office, boots stomping on the ground. Normally running was against protocol while in the Senate Building, but these were not normal circumstances. Certainly not normal in Xiomera, that's for sure.
Her brother was sitting at his desk, reading the intelligence report from Xiomera. She locked the door behind her. "I was about to call you, but I figured I should wait, knowing that you would be coming down here soon. I take it you've been briefed?".
She nodded, sat down, and opened her briefcase. "It looks worse that I thought. They have powerful support, but we're not sure how powerful. If we could just have more Intel, we may be able to know how to move forward. I take it we're supporting Yauhmi?".
Will nodded. "Of course. In fact, if you want to stay here, I will call Crown Prince Texoccoatl, and see if he will accept our support". He picked up the phone and dialed.
When his phone rang, Texoccoatl was a bit surprised. He quickly answered the ring. “This is Crown Prince Texoccoatl,” he said, curiously.
"Your Majesty, This is Chancellor Lancaster. I am calling to offer Eiria's help in this... Disturbing turn of events".
The Crown Prince was happy to hear the voice at the other end of the line. Apparently, the junta hasn’t isolated me as much as they hoped. “Chancellor Lancaster, thank you so much for calling me. I am glad to hear that the friends of Xiomera are standing by us in dealing with this illegal usurpation of power. I am still trying to figure out how to respond, honestly. I am, for the moment at least, stuck here in Laeral and the junta has cut off all means I have to reach anyone in Xiomera.”
"It is a huge relief to hear you are currently safe. However, I'm a bit confused. You mean you have no means to contact anyone in Xiomera? How did they manage that?".
”Well, my phones, as well as the communications equipment on my plane, are all government-controlled. I’m guessing that ASI has cut off access with their damned surveillance program.” Texoccoatl laughed wryly. “At least I can still get phone calls, although I have no idea how long that will be possible.”
Will frowned. "Well, that is unfortunate. Depending on what city in Laeral you are in currently, we may be able to get you a burner phone. We keep a few on hand in embassies".
”I am currently in Minsheng province, in a very small town. I will be traveling back to Laeralsford though. I will also be trying to speak with President Liu, as well as with our ambassador here to see where his loyalties lie. I should be able to retrieve a phone if you have one available. That would be a tremendous help.”.
"Okay, I'll contact the embassy. Do you have any idea of who may be in the junta, and what resources they have? Any information you can provide would be excellent, so we can know what we're working with".
”At a minimum, we know that our entire military General Staff is part of the junta, or at least, they’re not opposing it yet. The generals have formed this ‘Provisional Government’. I am surprised that Cuauh'ez, the commander of our special forces, joined them. He is in charge of the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors and Shorn Ones, and I always thought he was loyal. He may be waiting for an ideal moment to act.” Texoccoatl paused. “So, until someone opposes them, the junta has control of our military, our police and our Civil Guard, as well as ASI and Military Intelligence. They have as many ‘resources’ as they could need, unless we can splinter support away from them,” the Crown Prince said worriedly.
The Chancellor took notes in on his pad. "That is very unfortunate. Well, I am surprised they all agreed to this plot. However, they can't possibly all agree on what to do now, could they? With all of the Leaders of all of those groups, there's bound to be infighting. Would it be enough of an advantage for us to be able to exploit?".
”There would undoubtedly be, if we can place pressure on them by causing them trouble,” Texoccoatl said. “The more they argue and disagree, the more they will clash and their arrangement could possibly even disintegrate. We would have a very short window however. They will certainly move quickly to convene a new Great Selection, no matter how farcical it is, and appoint a new Emperor. Once that happens, disrupting the coup becomes much harder.”
"But will the people support this false government? They've just gotten a taste of freedom and suddenly that's ripped away from them? I can't imagine everyone would be completely happy with this".
”The people, for the most part, will not support this coup. They wanted us to take the path we took. But obedience to authority is deeply ingrained in Xiomeran culture and tradition. Being unhappy with the coup is one thing. It will take more than that for the people to overcome their fear, and their conditioning to obey the people in charge,” Texoccoatl replied somberly. “The longer that things drag on, the harder it will be. We need to begin encouraging resistance to the coup immediately.”
"Indeed. And we will put all of our resources into that. We have a certain... Affinity for the more clandestine parts of espionage. We will do everything in our power to make sure your mother is restored to the throne of Xiomera". He sighed. "Both you and your mother have made incredible progress in reforms towards democracy, and both you and your mother are pioneers of Xiomeran history. The last thing I want is to see all of your progress and sacrifice be undone by some traitor to his people and his country".
”I am grateful for your support and anything that you can do to help us. This is going to be a huge challenge, but I am confident we can defeat this coup.....especially with people such as yourself on our side. Will your government be making an official statement?”
"We likely will, but we may not say we are outright supporting you. We wouldn't want to tip them off. Many politicians will fully support you publicly, and we are likely to have a majority, from both parties, if we decide to vote to support you. I do have some authority without the Senate, however. I take it that we have permission to send agents into Xiomera?".
”Absolutely. The junta will try to claim otherwise, but as Ambassador-at-Large to the IDU, I have full plenipotentiary authority to represent the legitimate government of Xiomera, especially as long as my mother is....unreachable,” Texoccoatl said. “You have my permission to send any agents to Xiomera that you believe can help us topple the junta. I am glad that you will be helping us.”
”You as well, Chancellor Lancaster. Please call me whenever you have a question, and thank you again.”
The Chancellor hung up the phone and turned back to his sister. "Well, it seems almost the entire Xiomeran Military is against us. I'm not very confident about our odds, if it is just a splinter of Xiomera and us against this provisional government".
Alice Cursed. "Metdì. Well, I'm sure a few other nations will join. A few other democracies maybe, and Kerlile. Jesus, is this how bad things are that I am thankful the Kerlians are on our side? This'll be interesting, to say the least".
"Indeed".
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