07-18-2021, 11:14 PM
(Joint post with Eiria)
Xomaxtli Hill
July 18th
Yauhmi was sitting in the newly restored courtyard of her estate. The sun was a pleasant, warming presence. It gave her comfort. She was hoping to provide a different form of comfort to the person she was about to call.
She picked up her phone, hitting the speed dial for the Eirian Chancellor’s office. After a brief conversation, her call was transferred. “This is Yauhmi, nantzintli of Huenya. Could I speak with Queen Sophie, please?”
Ava Christiansen, Chief of Staff to the Chancellor and de facto manager of the Eirian Executive Wing, picked up the phone, her eyebrows shooting up as she listened. "Of course, Your Majesty. One moment, please." She put in the number for a redirect to the Aurian Queen's new residence, quickly scribbling a note for her secretary to give to the Chancellor. Yauhmi called Queen Sophie. Patched her through.
---
Sophie Laurent sat on the couch of the apartment she had been granted, idly staring at the TV screen. She was partially spaced out, exhausted from the stress and shock of the past weeks.
The phone on the kitchen peninsula rang, snapping her out of her stupor. Can't anyone be alone for a little while? She stood, stretching, before walking over and picking the phone from its receiver. "Hello? Sophie speaking."
"Good afternoon. This is Yauhmi, nantzintli of the Huenyan Federation. I suppose I should explain my new title - it’s the equivalent to being a dowager queen or a queen mother in some other countries. I hope I am not bothering you at this difficult time.”
The Queen immediately donned her court tone and mask, swiftly regaining her professionalism. "No, not at all. It's a pleasure to meet you, even if it is over the phone. How may I help you?"
"I was hoping to help you, actually. First, the business side of things,” Yauhmi said in her characteristic brisk tone. “The Huenyan Federation wants to offer you whatever support we can in regaining your rightful throne. Our Vice-Speaker, Tiacihitli, will be making a statement shortly to that effect. We can provide some tangible support in terms of resources, and people. Also, we would like to offer our assistance in terms of making your cause known to the greater world, and rallying free nations behind you to reverse this coup. We can also provide assistance in investigating who is behind it, and why, should you wish it. As you might imagine, we have a particular dislike for coups, so we want to do whatever we can to assist you.”
Yauhmi paused a moment, adopting a more personal tone. “That’s the official stuff. Unofficially, if you’re willing to listen to my rambling, I have advice that might be helpful to you. From experience, both in terms of time and of tragedy.”
Sophie blinked back a few grateful tears, steadying herself. Oh my God, everyone's helping us. We have a chance! "Well, I'm always one for rambling, and I'll take any advice you can give me. I'm immensely grateful that Huenya would aid our cause. And I'm personally glad so many leaders with experience in this kind of situation have reached out. Honestly, I had started to lose hope as we left Auria, and now... I'm starting to get my faith back." She thought for a second. "Apologies if this is blunt or rude, It's not my intention to be either. But does Huenya expect anything in exchange? I'm a bit worried that I've been taking out debts I can never pay back."
"We do not expect anything. It will be enough for us to restore balance to things in our neighborhood. Also…to counter a possible threat. It is our belief that this is not an isolated incident, and that other powers in Caxcana are behind this coup, or at least supporting it. Powers that are not friendly to Huenya. So helping you is the perfect combination of enlightened self-interest, and just being the right thing to do, period. It’s always nice when things work out that way. Feel free to be blunt, incidentally. I don’t tend to sugarcoat things, so it doesn’t bother me when others don’t either. Directness is so much more helpful.”
"Agreed. An opportunity to speak candidly in public rarely comes to royalty, as I'm sure you know all too well." Sophie got herself a glass of water, trying to drink as quietly as possible. "Would your support put Huenya in the awkward position of angering said other Caxcanan powers? I wouldn't want to endanger you or your people."
"If I am going to praise the virtues of being direct, I suppose I should do so myself. It’s the Xiomeran Empire that we suspect is behind this. And we can’t become any more of an enemy to Calhualyana than we already are.” Yauhmi laughed in a tone devoid of humor. “So, you don’t have to worry about that. She can’t despise Huenyans any more than she already does.”
"Ah. And you are correct in your suspicions. According to Eirian intelligence, many of the armed mobs used Xiomeran weapons." Her voiced hardened. "They saw a chance they couldn't refuse. A chance to flank both you and the Eirians, an opportunity to use Auria as a springboard to dominate Caxcana." Sophie's tone grew more hateful with each sentence, leaving her thoughts on Xiomera unspoken. "How can we beat them? Xiomera, I mean. They are a superpower."
"Ah, now we get to the good questions. The Empire is, admittedly, very powerful. I should know, I helped build them into a power. I regret that now, but hindsight has seemed to hate me as of late. Well. They can be beaten. That, we accomplished with Huenya, so I know it is possible. But I would definitely not recommend you take the route we took. It damaged Huenya pretty badly, and Auria doesn’t need to suffer that fate. You could defeat the coup plotters with armies and bombs and weapons, if you rallied other countries behind you. But here is what I recommend, from painful experience.” Yauhmi paused for a moment, before jumping in.
"Instead of using force right away, or trying to, gain the support of other countries to put pressure on both the coup plotters and on the Empire. Sanctions, blockades and the like. Put the screws to whatever fake government rises up in Auria, and on the Empire. Once this whole venture becomes unprofitable, Calhualyana will either withdraw support voluntarily or be forced to, without a shot being fired.”
“Once that happens, and once the people of Auria are angry enough to rise up against the coup regime - and I can’t imagine everyone loves this coup in Auria, so many will be disgruntled already - the coup will implode and you can return home. Do not mistake my recommendations as a soft approach. Your people will suffer from it. But they will suffer far more if a full-scale war happens on your soil. Ask any Huenyan how well a civil war works out. Or any Lauchenoirian, for that matter.”
Yauhmi continued. “You’ll be tempted to go roaring back into Auria with whatever soldiers and supporters you can muster up, because your people will be suffering. The coup plotters may even try to force your hand prematurely, so they can capture or eliminate you. Don’t take the bait, no matter how hard it is to resist. When you do finally go back into Auria, make sure it’s the right time, and that you have a nice big army behind you. And a bunch of fighter planes, bombers and warships, ideally. Then you can just roll up the remnants of the coup without quite so much damage.” Yauhmi paused for breath, and to let Sophie ask questions.
The Aurian monarch thought for a bit, writing on a pad of paper next to her. "I'll have to talk to the Eirians about a potential blockade. You're right: Eiria was one of our biggest trade partners. With a blockade in place, by the Eirians no less, it will cripple any kind of economy Auria will have left. I'm sorry to ask this, and I don't want to seem ungrateful, but what kind of assistance is Huenya able to provide? I'm need to know what all we have, and what we still need."
"We can provide similar assistance as that I outlined: a trade embargo and assistance with any naval blockade. Our navy is relatively small, but we can assist the Eirians. We can also impose trade sanctions to increase pressure on the coup plotters. While our own economy is still, erm, rebuilding, we can still work with other nations on an embargo. We have some things in the pipeline that should make it easier for us to accelerate the rebuilding process.” Yauhmi made a slight noise of satisfaction. “We will also allow Huenyan territory to be used as a base to assist in any operations. Lastly, we have been working with Eiria on joint research. If worst comes to worst, we can help you find ways to counter Imperial technology.”
"Okay. I'm especially glad to hear that last point, since I was very worried about that. Aurian military technology leaves a lot to be desired, and against an enemy like Xiomera, that would be a significant disadvantage. I'm also quite worried about Xiomeran intelligence disrupting any attempts to mount resistance, but the Eirians have offered to help with that." Sophie stopped, the reality of the situation hitting her again like another crashing wave. "I never thought Auria was going to be hosting a proxy war..."
"I don’t think any of us expected this,” Yauhmi replied gently. “But now that we know what we’re facing, we can defeat it together. We will do whatever we can to help, and I am sure the Eirians will also. The situation may seem hopeless. And your enemies will do whatever they can to make it seem hopeless, to try to discourage you. But I’m pretty good at overcoming seemingly hopeless situations. You will be too. And once the world realizes the threat that Calhualyana’s ambitions pose, I am confident that you will have plenty of help.”
"I'm glad to hear that you think so. And you're not wrong either. I was contacted by the Lauchenoirians also, they extended their support, sympathy, and advice as well. It would seem that Xiomera's finally losing any influence they had on Lauchenoiria, which is a relief. It's nice to have so many allies in this." She traced the rim of her empty water glass, eyes on her notepad. "This is one of the only times I'm thankful for the media being so persistent. All of the free air time is amazing for our cause."
"The media can be problematic at times. But in a situation like this, they will be your best ally. The media loves a cause to rally behind, so take advantage of that. Keep yourself and your cause front and center, and use the media to keep the pressure up on other nations to act against the coup. The media, especially DTNS, have no fondness for the Imperial regime or Calhualyana after they threw Antoine Broussard in jail. They’ll need little encouragement to go after both the coup plotters and the Imperial regime hard,” Yauhmi said. “I recommend you have a press conference ASAP and reveal that the coup plotters are using Xiomeran weapons. With the antipathy the media already has for Calhualyana’s regime, that should be all you need to do.”
"That's a very good idea. I'll draw up plans for that immediately. Inviting some international press will bring a lot more rewards and pressure on the coup plotters and Xiomera." Sophie thought for a moment. "They're taking an awfully long time to set up a new government. They're cutting into their legitimacy, and for what? Why are they taking so long?" She mused to herself, almost forgetting she was on the phone. "I don't really see a reason for them to wait like this."
"That could mean two things. Either they’re delaying to keep their enemies off guard and off balance, shrouding their plans in mystery…..or they don’t know what to do next now that they’ve actually pulled it off,” Yauhmi said with a slight snort of amusement. “There could also, I suppose, be power struggles behind the scenes keeping them from getting organized. The cause of their delay is the first thing that Eirian intelligence should begin trying to find out.”
"I'll pass that along. When more solid info is available and as things progress, we should hold a joint meeting with our supporters, to get a joint plan in place. So I don't have to serve as a messenger service." The Queen said, using a joking tone. "Well, I must thank you again for your support. I wish I could be there in person to thank you and your government, and I promise to do so if... When Auria is restored. We won't ever forget the assistance and aid you'll provide us."
"Think nothing of it. We are pleased to support a neighbor. We’ll participate in any meeting you have to plan things. If you need anything before then, feel free to contact either myself or Vice-Speaker Tiacihitli at any time. I look forward to meeting you in person in Auria once this coup is reversed.”
"As do I. Thank you again for your call, Your Majesty." She placed the older phone back on the receiver, making a few notes on the pad before placing her pen down with a content sigh. Yet another supporter. We may just be able to do this.
Xomaxtli Hill
July 18th
Yauhmi was sitting in the newly restored courtyard of her estate. The sun was a pleasant, warming presence. It gave her comfort. She was hoping to provide a different form of comfort to the person she was about to call.
She picked up her phone, hitting the speed dial for the Eirian Chancellor’s office. After a brief conversation, her call was transferred. “This is Yauhmi, nantzintli of Huenya. Could I speak with Queen Sophie, please?”
Ava Christiansen, Chief of Staff to the Chancellor and de facto manager of the Eirian Executive Wing, picked up the phone, her eyebrows shooting up as she listened. "Of course, Your Majesty. One moment, please." She put in the number for a redirect to the Aurian Queen's new residence, quickly scribbling a note for her secretary to give to the Chancellor. Yauhmi called Queen Sophie. Patched her through.
---
Sophie Laurent sat on the couch of the apartment she had been granted, idly staring at the TV screen. She was partially spaced out, exhausted from the stress and shock of the past weeks.
The phone on the kitchen peninsula rang, snapping her out of her stupor. Can't anyone be alone for a little while? She stood, stretching, before walking over and picking the phone from its receiver. "Hello? Sophie speaking."
"Good afternoon. This is Yauhmi, nantzintli of the Huenyan Federation. I suppose I should explain my new title - it’s the equivalent to being a dowager queen or a queen mother in some other countries. I hope I am not bothering you at this difficult time.”
The Queen immediately donned her court tone and mask, swiftly regaining her professionalism. "No, not at all. It's a pleasure to meet you, even if it is over the phone. How may I help you?"
"I was hoping to help you, actually. First, the business side of things,” Yauhmi said in her characteristic brisk tone. “The Huenyan Federation wants to offer you whatever support we can in regaining your rightful throne. Our Vice-Speaker, Tiacihitli, will be making a statement shortly to that effect. We can provide some tangible support in terms of resources, and people. Also, we would like to offer our assistance in terms of making your cause known to the greater world, and rallying free nations behind you to reverse this coup. We can also provide assistance in investigating who is behind it, and why, should you wish it. As you might imagine, we have a particular dislike for coups, so we want to do whatever we can to assist you.”
Yauhmi paused a moment, adopting a more personal tone. “That’s the official stuff. Unofficially, if you’re willing to listen to my rambling, I have advice that might be helpful to you. From experience, both in terms of time and of tragedy.”
Sophie blinked back a few grateful tears, steadying herself. Oh my God, everyone's helping us. We have a chance! "Well, I'm always one for rambling, and I'll take any advice you can give me. I'm immensely grateful that Huenya would aid our cause. And I'm personally glad so many leaders with experience in this kind of situation have reached out. Honestly, I had started to lose hope as we left Auria, and now... I'm starting to get my faith back." She thought for a second. "Apologies if this is blunt or rude, It's not my intention to be either. But does Huenya expect anything in exchange? I'm a bit worried that I've been taking out debts I can never pay back."
"We do not expect anything. It will be enough for us to restore balance to things in our neighborhood. Also…to counter a possible threat. It is our belief that this is not an isolated incident, and that other powers in Caxcana are behind this coup, or at least supporting it. Powers that are not friendly to Huenya. So helping you is the perfect combination of enlightened self-interest, and just being the right thing to do, period. It’s always nice when things work out that way. Feel free to be blunt, incidentally. I don’t tend to sugarcoat things, so it doesn’t bother me when others don’t either. Directness is so much more helpful.”
"Agreed. An opportunity to speak candidly in public rarely comes to royalty, as I'm sure you know all too well." Sophie got herself a glass of water, trying to drink as quietly as possible. "Would your support put Huenya in the awkward position of angering said other Caxcanan powers? I wouldn't want to endanger you or your people."
"If I am going to praise the virtues of being direct, I suppose I should do so myself. It’s the Xiomeran Empire that we suspect is behind this. And we can’t become any more of an enemy to Calhualyana than we already are.” Yauhmi laughed in a tone devoid of humor. “So, you don’t have to worry about that. She can’t despise Huenyans any more than she already does.”
"Ah. And you are correct in your suspicions. According to Eirian intelligence, many of the armed mobs used Xiomeran weapons." Her voiced hardened. "They saw a chance they couldn't refuse. A chance to flank both you and the Eirians, an opportunity to use Auria as a springboard to dominate Caxcana." Sophie's tone grew more hateful with each sentence, leaving her thoughts on Xiomera unspoken. "How can we beat them? Xiomera, I mean. They are a superpower."
"Ah, now we get to the good questions. The Empire is, admittedly, very powerful. I should know, I helped build them into a power. I regret that now, but hindsight has seemed to hate me as of late. Well. They can be beaten. That, we accomplished with Huenya, so I know it is possible. But I would definitely not recommend you take the route we took. It damaged Huenya pretty badly, and Auria doesn’t need to suffer that fate. You could defeat the coup plotters with armies and bombs and weapons, if you rallied other countries behind you. But here is what I recommend, from painful experience.” Yauhmi paused for a moment, before jumping in.
"Instead of using force right away, or trying to, gain the support of other countries to put pressure on both the coup plotters and on the Empire. Sanctions, blockades and the like. Put the screws to whatever fake government rises up in Auria, and on the Empire. Once this whole venture becomes unprofitable, Calhualyana will either withdraw support voluntarily or be forced to, without a shot being fired.”
“Once that happens, and once the people of Auria are angry enough to rise up against the coup regime - and I can’t imagine everyone loves this coup in Auria, so many will be disgruntled already - the coup will implode and you can return home. Do not mistake my recommendations as a soft approach. Your people will suffer from it. But they will suffer far more if a full-scale war happens on your soil. Ask any Huenyan how well a civil war works out. Or any Lauchenoirian, for that matter.”
Yauhmi continued. “You’ll be tempted to go roaring back into Auria with whatever soldiers and supporters you can muster up, because your people will be suffering. The coup plotters may even try to force your hand prematurely, so they can capture or eliminate you. Don’t take the bait, no matter how hard it is to resist. When you do finally go back into Auria, make sure it’s the right time, and that you have a nice big army behind you. And a bunch of fighter planes, bombers and warships, ideally. Then you can just roll up the remnants of the coup without quite so much damage.” Yauhmi paused for breath, and to let Sophie ask questions.
The Aurian monarch thought for a bit, writing on a pad of paper next to her. "I'll have to talk to the Eirians about a potential blockade. You're right: Eiria was one of our biggest trade partners. With a blockade in place, by the Eirians no less, it will cripple any kind of economy Auria will have left. I'm sorry to ask this, and I don't want to seem ungrateful, but what kind of assistance is Huenya able to provide? I'm need to know what all we have, and what we still need."
"We can provide similar assistance as that I outlined: a trade embargo and assistance with any naval blockade. Our navy is relatively small, but we can assist the Eirians. We can also impose trade sanctions to increase pressure on the coup plotters. While our own economy is still, erm, rebuilding, we can still work with other nations on an embargo. We have some things in the pipeline that should make it easier for us to accelerate the rebuilding process.” Yauhmi made a slight noise of satisfaction. “We will also allow Huenyan territory to be used as a base to assist in any operations. Lastly, we have been working with Eiria on joint research. If worst comes to worst, we can help you find ways to counter Imperial technology.”
"Okay. I'm especially glad to hear that last point, since I was very worried about that. Aurian military technology leaves a lot to be desired, and against an enemy like Xiomera, that would be a significant disadvantage. I'm also quite worried about Xiomeran intelligence disrupting any attempts to mount resistance, but the Eirians have offered to help with that." Sophie stopped, the reality of the situation hitting her again like another crashing wave. "I never thought Auria was going to be hosting a proxy war..."
"I don’t think any of us expected this,” Yauhmi replied gently. “But now that we know what we’re facing, we can defeat it together. We will do whatever we can to help, and I am sure the Eirians will also. The situation may seem hopeless. And your enemies will do whatever they can to make it seem hopeless, to try to discourage you. But I’m pretty good at overcoming seemingly hopeless situations. You will be too. And once the world realizes the threat that Calhualyana’s ambitions pose, I am confident that you will have plenty of help.”
"I'm glad to hear that you think so. And you're not wrong either. I was contacted by the Lauchenoirians also, they extended their support, sympathy, and advice as well. It would seem that Xiomera's finally losing any influence they had on Lauchenoiria, which is a relief. It's nice to have so many allies in this." She traced the rim of her empty water glass, eyes on her notepad. "This is one of the only times I'm thankful for the media being so persistent. All of the free air time is amazing for our cause."
"The media can be problematic at times. But in a situation like this, they will be your best ally. The media loves a cause to rally behind, so take advantage of that. Keep yourself and your cause front and center, and use the media to keep the pressure up on other nations to act against the coup. The media, especially DTNS, have no fondness for the Imperial regime or Calhualyana after they threw Antoine Broussard in jail. They’ll need little encouragement to go after both the coup plotters and the Imperial regime hard,” Yauhmi said. “I recommend you have a press conference ASAP and reveal that the coup plotters are using Xiomeran weapons. With the antipathy the media already has for Calhualyana’s regime, that should be all you need to do.”
"That's a very good idea. I'll draw up plans for that immediately. Inviting some international press will bring a lot more rewards and pressure on the coup plotters and Xiomera." Sophie thought for a moment. "They're taking an awfully long time to set up a new government. They're cutting into their legitimacy, and for what? Why are they taking so long?" She mused to herself, almost forgetting she was on the phone. "I don't really see a reason for them to wait like this."
"That could mean two things. Either they’re delaying to keep their enemies off guard and off balance, shrouding their plans in mystery…..or they don’t know what to do next now that they’ve actually pulled it off,” Yauhmi said with a slight snort of amusement. “There could also, I suppose, be power struggles behind the scenes keeping them from getting organized. The cause of their delay is the first thing that Eirian intelligence should begin trying to find out.”
"I'll pass that along. When more solid info is available and as things progress, we should hold a joint meeting with our supporters, to get a joint plan in place. So I don't have to serve as a messenger service." The Queen said, using a joking tone. "Well, I must thank you again for your support. I wish I could be there in person to thank you and your government, and I promise to do so if... When Auria is restored. We won't ever forget the assistance and aid you'll provide us."
"Think nothing of it. We are pleased to support a neighbor. We’ll participate in any meeting you have to plan things. If you need anything before then, feel free to contact either myself or Vice-Speaker Tiacihitli at any time. I look forward to meeting you in person in Auria once this coup is reversed.”
"As do I. Thank you again for your call, Your Majesty." She placed the older phone back on the receiver, making a few notes on the pad before placing her pen down with a content sigh. Yet another supporter. We may just be able to do this.
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