04-06-2023, 07:14 PM
"Alright, what have we got?"
Prime Minister Timothy Gargant drew the gazes of every man and woman seated at the long table in the conference room commandeered for this emergency meeting. Unbuttoning the front of his suit jacket, the 52-year-old took a seat at the head of the table. A number of officials had also taken their seats, with most chairs at the table having already been filled. It took all of two seconds between the Prime Minister sitting down before General Aaron Davis leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together. The African-Acadian man fixed Gargant with a neutral gaze, all-in-all maintaining the image of a decorated, professional military officer.
"Sir, at 1400hrs local time, one of our ground-based radar stations picked up the launch of a Ballistic Missile over Lake Wallace." Began the General. "Using telemetry data, we determined the missile's launch point to be from Kerlile's northern coastline. The missile continued to be tracked by both our ground-based radar stations and AWACS assets tracked the missile as it crossed into our EEZ and landed just six kilometres south of our coastline."
"Any chance of the missile being armed?" Was Gargant's immediate question, his expression going grave the longer the General spoke.
Davis shook his head. "If it was, it was a dud. Which fits our intelligence that Kerlile's missile development program hasn't been progressing particularly well. That said, I've already ordered that crews be dispatched to ascertain the level of risk and dispose of any warheads it may have carried on board."
"Right." The Prime Minister nodded his head in thanks to the general before casting his gaze to the table at large. "Now, do we know why this missile landed in our waters?"
It was Christine Belle, Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs who spoke next, sitting back in her seat, arms crossed. "Relations between us and Kerlile have been deteriorating recently. More so than they have already. They're not happy that we're party to the more recent round sanctions against them. Diplomatically, they've cut us off."
"So you think this could be a provocation?" Gargant prompted, to which Belle nodded.
"Potentially." She said. "They've made it clear in no uncertain terms that we are one of their nuclear development program's potential targets. They may be trying to intimidate us into relaxing sanctions."
It was here that General Davis chose to intercede. "To be entirely fair, we don't yet know why the missile actually came down on our side of the lake. We can only speculate at this time, sir. If we can recover the missile, that may shed some light as to what happened."
"At the same time, General, we can't deny that relations with the Matriarchy are tense." Bell added, though she was clearly addressing the Prime Minister more than her military counterpart. "We should, at the very least, be on the look out for other incidents."
"Yet at the same time, we can't risk provoking Kerlile into further aggression." Gargant finished for the both of them, crossing his arms and staring gravely down at the polished mahogany table in front of him. Of course something like this would happen when things between Acadia and Xiomera were heating up. Not only would he need to worry about happening half a world away, but now things happening in Acadia's backyard.
With a deep breath out through his nose, he straightened in his seat, turning his gaze towards Davis. "General, see what you can do about recovering that missile. In the meantime, do what you can to tighten security along the Wallace Coast. Monitor for any incursions, but make sure to keep our assets on our side of the lake."
The General nodded once. "Of course, sir. Combat Air Patrols and ABM defences will be up within the hour."
With that, The Prime Minister turned to Director Belle. "In the meantime, see if you can get in contact with anyone on Kerlile's side. We need to figure out what the hell happened here, hopefully without escalating to all-out war."
"Understood, sir. I'll do what I can." Belle replied, mirroring the General's earlier nod.
As the meeting drew to a close and the members of the room left to attend to their own issues, Gargant pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. Something he really didn't need when he would be addressing the public about this in the next hour or so.
He really needed a vacation.
Prime Minister Timothy Gargant drew the gazes of every man and woman seated at the long table in the conference room commandeered for this emergency meeting. Unbuttoning the front of his suit jacket, the 52-year-old took a seat at the head of the table. A number of officials had also taken their seats, with most chairs at the table having already been filled. It took all of two seconds between the Prime Minister sitting down before General Aaron Davis leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together. The African-Acadian man fixed Gargant with a neutral gaze, all-in-all maintaining the image of a decorated, professional military officer.
"Sir, at 1400hrs local time, one of our ground-based radar stations picked up the launch of a Ballistic Missile over Lake Wallace." Began the General. "Using telemetry data, we determined the missile's launch point to be from Kerlile's northern coastline. The missile continued to be tracked by both our ground-based radar stations and AWACS assets tracked the missile as it crossed into our EEZ and landed just six kilometres south of our coastline."
"Any chance of the missile being armed?" Was Gargant's immediate question, his expression going grave the longer the General spoke.
Davis shook his head. "If it was, it was a dud. Which fits our intelligence that Kerlile's missile development program hasn't been progressing particularly well. That said, I've already ordered that crews be dispatched to ascertain the level of risk and dispose of any warheads it may have carried on board."
"Right." The Prime Minister nodded his head in thanks to the general before casting his gaze to the table at large. "Now, do we know why this missile landed in our waters?"
It was Christine Belle, Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs who spoke next, sitting back in her seat, arms crossed. "Relations between us and Kerlile have been deteriorating recently. More so than they have already. They're not happy that we're party to the more recent round sanctions against them. Diplomatically, they've cut us off."
"So you think this could be a provocation?" Gargant prompted, to which Belle nodded.
"Potentially." She said. "They've made it clear in no uncertain terms that we are one of their nuclear development program's potential targets. They may be trying to intimidate us into relaxing sanctions."
It was here that General Davis chose to intercede. "To be entirely fair, we don't yet know why the missile actually came down on our side of the lake. We can only speculate at this time, sir. If we can recover the missile, that may shed some light as to what happened."
"At the same time, General, we can't deny that relations with the Matriarchy are tense." Bell added, though she was clearly addressing the Prime Minister more than her military counterpart. "We should, at the very least, be on the look out for other incidents."
"Yet at the same time, we can't risk provoking Kerlile into further aggression." Gargant finished for the both of them, crossing his arms and staring gravely down at the polished mahogany table in front of him. Of course something like this would happen when things between Acadia and Xiomera were heating up. Not only would he need to worry about happening half a world away, but now things happening in Acadia's backyard.
With a deep breath out through his nose, he straightened in his seat, turning his gaze towards Davis. "General, see what you can do about recovering that missile. In the meantime, do what you can to tighten security along the Wallace Coast. Monitor for any incursions, but make sure to keep our assets on our side of the lake."
The General nodded once. "Of course, sir. Combat Air Patrols and ABM defences will be up within the hour."
With that, The Prime Minister turned to Director Belle. "In the meantime, see if you can get in contact with anyone on Kerlile's side. We need to figure out what the hell happened here, hopefully without escalating to all-out war."
"Understood, sir. I'll do what I can." Belle replied, mirroring the General's earlier nod.
As the meeting drew to a close and the members of the room left to attend to their own issues, Gargant pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. Something he really didn't need when he would be addressing the public about this in the next hour or so.
He really needed a vacation.