[h1][center]1901, Year of the Prophet[/center][/h1] [i]The world keeps moving. Treaties are signed between Great Powers, like the pact between the Deltoran and Soroyan Republics. New machines are developed, automobiles and tractors and steel steamers and guns. Empires expand in the fires of war, like the current contest between Zellonia and Kalpia over hegemony in the Western Sarelian Islands. The trend itself is nothing new, the world has been moving this way for hundreds of years. But now, for the first time in over a century, Survaek is watching. Now, Survaek is part of the change, not as a victim but as a mover and shaper. The changes that began inside the Grand Empire are now pouring out. Whether or not the other powers like it, and whether or not the Empire of the South can quite match their technological advances, they must admit to the new situation. The Grand Survaek Empire is a modern nation, and Emperor Shayaer Khaitis is a modern monarch.[/i] _____ [center][img]http://img.xooimage.com/files47/a/0/4/cemalwestve8-782b80.jpg[/img][/center] Foreign Minister Aedis Haerk was still learning to get used to the cameras. It wasn't that they were new to him, but the sheer number of photographers assailing him since he arrived in Anvegad was something he never could have imagined back home. Cameras were still somewhat cutting-edge for the Imperial Press Service in Survaek, but no one seemed to give a second thought to their omnipresence here. Was it like this everywhere in Varia? No matter, Haerk would endure the constant flashes of light and enjoy his automobile ride back to the Port of Avenhold. His three-week stay in the Empire of Avengad had been a smashing success by all accounts. It would be the first major treaty to inaugurate the Grand Survaek Empire's return to the World Stage. [center][b]THE HAERK-EBERSTARK TREATY OF 1901[/b][/center] Parties to the Agreement: The Empire of Anvegad, The Grand Survaek Empire Article 1: The free travel of citizens of each party to the other shall not be restricted, except for as anti-criminal screening and investigation requires. Article 2: The free trade of goods and services between the two parties as carried out by citizens and their private interests shall not be restricted, except for pre-existing state bans on items including but not limited to: prostitution, firearms, and non-medical opiates. Article 3: Each party is to establish a set of preferential tariff rates regarding the flow of goods and services from the other, and said tariffs are not to be raised except by future agreement between the parties. The exact rates are detailed in a separate document. Article 4: The Grand Survaek Empire immediately pledges the sum of $8 billion ($8,000,000,000) to the Empire of Avengad, in return for which the latter party immediately pledges the shipment of fifty (50) modern heavy artillery cannons along with requisite ammunition, maintenance supplies, and training crews. Article 5: Any article of this treaty may be amended by future agreement between the parties. Violation of any article, in the absence of the consent of both parties, will nullify the treaty in its entirety. Signed: [i]Wilhem Ebenstark, Foreign Minister of the Empire of Avengad[/i] [i]Aedis Haerk, Foreign Minister of the Grand Survaek Empire[/i] _____ [center][img]http://i1.imgiz.com/rshots/8206/yazilmayan-tarihimiz-yazilmayan-tarihimiz_8206011-71130_854x480.jpg[/img][/center] “Good show, boys!” applauded the man behind the camera with a grin. By his tone one might have thought he was a General or a Colonel, but he was only a Lieutenaint-Major. Ishui Gvardiu was his name, a young commander from one of the more prestigious families of New Byrnis, capital of the island of the Far North. He was short, stocky, and a little on the heavier side, but he carried himself with the pride of a tall and majestic warrior. For he was not only a commander, but an inventor. “So when are we going to get one that actually shoots, sir?” asked a skeptical corporal, letting go of the ammunition chain. Without his hands' support, the belt's feeble connection to the model “gun” broke, and the string of bullets hit the ground with a series of small metallic clangs. “Yes, sir, now we all want to see what five-hundred rifle rounds per minute actually looks like,” chimed in a soldier standing behind the model. “Patience!” was the Byrnian Lieutenaint-Major's reply. “The machine's still in development, but the best minds of the Surv-Akur are working on it best they can under my supervision! I reckon you'll see the first functioning pieces in less than a year, if everything goes as planned.” “And what will it do for us, then?” inquired another corporal, still holding the gun's handles as if he could shoot it. “Wonders!” Gvardiu replied immediately. “Mow down entire lines of enemies, stop whole companies dead in their tracks, force garrisons to hunker down behind their walls without firing a single well-aimed shot. And that's just what one gun can do! Imagine a whole battery! I'm not exaggerating when I say the Ishui Model 11 Heavy Automatic Rifle will revolutionize the battlefield!” Some of the soldiers chuckled, but others let Ishui Gvardiu's words sink in. If indeed he and his teams could pull this off, then the scale of destruction the Surv-Akur could cause would surely go beyond what anyone sitting here could imagine. __________ SUMMARY: -- Grand Survaek Empire signs treaty of free trade and heavy artillery purchase with Empire of Avengad. -- An eccentric and mechanically gifted Surv-Akur commander shows off a model of his project-in-development, a gun that will fire five-hundred rifle rounds per minute using long belts of ammunition.