[hider=Diplomatic Relations] Cindorayi Empire: Neutral - Cold People’s Republic of Cindorayi: Neutral - Warm Grand Protectorate of Lithla: Neutral - Cold Union of Kor: Neutral - Warm Famsidian Union: Neutral - Cold New Auslassia: Neutral - Cold Unified Soto Guilds: Neutral - Cold Dominion of Isalka: Neutral - Warm Rafinid Technocracy: Neutral - Cold Greater Union of Veluca: Neutral - Warm Pokash: Neutral - Cold [/hider] [b]January 2057 (Veluca) Collab with Vicker.[/b] Most of Veluca was a dark and poverty stricken urban hellscape. Most but not all. Like in any society, some did better than others, it just happened that the gap between those people was bigger here than anywhere. Drachma Heavy Industries did what it could to help gather talent where it could and so, a luxurious lifestyle and work environment for its elite engineers and corporate officers was provided. Between here and the embassy however, Princess Lucina didn't even have to see the dirt and the grim of the 'real' Veluca, only the gilded land of the rich and the powerful, those closest to the Holder and this clique of oligarch. The limos and cars parked themselves in the VIP area of the parking under a great tree, insuring the Princess, her diplomatic escort and the Kobold special police escorting her were well posted. There was even a red carpet! The inside was as luxurious as the outside, however the kobolds couldn't help but give outsiders their particular brand of hospitality. It was subtle, but people gave side glances to the foreigners, smiles dropped, conversations halted when they walked too close. They were polite, but boy were they distrustful. The secretary however, did do her job and show a polite smile. "Miss Lucina? Yes, Mister Drachma was informed for your arrival, he should be there-" No real republican would call a royal any different than any other citizen though, no matter how good the business was... "Now! Your imperial majesty, it is a pleasure as always!" ...No REAL republican. "I hope your travel went well? I heard things are a bit chaotic due to this whole nuclear business above our head. It's like people fear the sky will fall down on their heads! Amusing... considering that likelihood seems much lower now than a couple days ago is it not?" Indeed, the Cindorayi Empire would certainly be much less able to wave around the menace of retribution from the sky now that their network was crippled... and it did make a good place to segway into the order the Princess had for Drachma and DHI as a whole, something Drachma guessed was of military nature. As always really. "My trip was uneventful but comfortable to say the least. But on to the business at hand, as you know I have an order for your company." said Princess Lucina, glancing around the room. Upon noticing the number of kobolds within earshot she asked. "May we continue this conversation in private?" "Ah, looking to buy new rescue shuttles maybe?" the kobolds answered with a sly smile. "Please, follow me to my office." he said as he turned around and led the Princess down a hallway, and into his “office’. The 'office' was of course, gigantic, towering over the main building as to look at every departments from one side, and at the magnificent park view outside but all through one way windows. There was already a comfortable vulpine chair for the princess, the oligarch instead sitting on his own before turning around, the chair elevating itself so he may be more at level with the princess. Drachma continued. "The hegemony of the Empire over space crumbling, what a time to be alive... My government has of course passed a few orders of their own you'll understand, now is a time of opportunity for us all! But I'll always be able to make place for you madam. So, what can I help you with your majesty?" Saying this, Drachma laid back in his chair, awaiting for her words. Looking around the fairly large office even by her standards, Princess Lucina replied, “I would like you to produce a few different items for me. First, a space station extension capable of docking 5 small ships. Second, a storage extension. And thirdly, 3 small ships. Would you be able to tell me what the cost of this order will be?” The reptile showed a corner of a smile before lifting open his laptop and writing a few numbers. "Roughly 2.3 billion. Might I ask, within what delays would you like this delivered?" Saying this, he rose his eyes above the screen, waiting for an answer. “If possible I’d like them in orbit in four months, unless you can get them up there sooner.” she said as she observed him intently. The lizard stopped typing on his computer to seemingly lick the back of his teeth. "I'll do what I can, but I guarantee that it will not be up sooner. As said before, my government has placed obligations on me that take priority. I should be able to deliver this within the specified delay though. And if I can't, be sure that as per our usual contract you shall receive a hefty reduction of the pricetag as per our policy of 'on time' delivery. This is a special case, I'm sure you understand." It wasn't every day that the Empire's defensive network collapsed. The space ambitions of Veluca were well known. The princess nodded her head knowingly, the Princess had assumed that they would have ambitions in space. Especially now since the Cindorayi Empire's grip had loosened. "In that case, I will extend the delivery date to 5 months. I shall have my people send over the blueprints for the ships and modules in the next couple of days. But I expect to see same high grade level of craftsmanship that I have seen in the past.” "Your grace does me too many favors." The kobold got up from his chair, almost jumping down due to his small size, before politely bowing and showing the door. "It shall be done. Might I ask if you planned to leave our nation so soon or was there any business you wished to attend to? The Holder’s 6th son’s wedding is this afternoon if you would like to join us." Princess Lucina returned his bow, “I do have some other matters to take care of, but I will be there.” she said as she left the room. Kobold weddings were a complex and large affair taking a bit of their old colonial masters (mainly Cindorayi), their liberators (Aldabetan) and the kobolds own strange roots to blend into something unique. Rather than in a church, the marriage would take place in the male's newly acquired residence, something that could lead to crowded apartment parties but that in this case was conducted in a big country house, or perhaps a small manor, in the countryside of the nation. Who the persons getting married were wasn't important as much as who their parents were, namely it was the 6th son of Holder Vermillion Cray who married the 18th daughter of Bernank Dal Prett, powerful banker of the Union. And where these two men were, people congregated as a vast amount of people who had nothing to do here spoke with one another, including a few foreign dignitaries all standing heads above the reptilian majority. "To the groom and his wife!" Bottles of champagne were open as the male in military uniform and the female in a white robe waved at the crowd before it mixed up to converse about one thing or another. When Princess Lucina approached the man in the highest office of the country and the small clique surrounding him, there was as usual a silence of the conversation as the group opened for the Princess to face Vermillion, who honestly looked a lot like any other kobolds without the large blue silken belt across his chest telling of his position of Holder. "Ah, Princess Lucina, what a pleasure to see you here, are you enjoying your evening?" "I am Mr. Cray. It is quite interesting to see your countries' customs in practice." the Princess replied. Vermillion had a polite smile as the cynic in him took this as a lie. Then again this was probably mainly due to having spoken to a Cindorayi recently and a little because Kobolds had little respect for their own traditions themselves. They saw them as colonial remnants, not really 'real' one could say. So a foreigner with actual history calling them interesting, even if true, only sounded like mockery to them. "Thank you, maybe I'll get to see yours one day." He answered politely to make small talk. He knew how foreigners loved the stuff, even if he hated it. "I'll make sure to invite you to the next wedding in our family. I think you will find it a little more instinctual than your ceremonies." she said with a small smile. "But that is besides the point. My congratulations to your son on his marriage, I trust he is happy with the arrangement?" she continued with a steady but slightly inquisitive tone as she nodded to the happy couple. Vermillion actually had to turn around to look at his son and his wife sharing cake together as she smeared some on his face and they both laughed before answering. "Well, we don't 'arrange' marriages here so I unless I am mistaken, he'll enjoy his new life and his many children! Still, if you ask me kids these days marry too old, I was 6 when I met my wife and we married in the same year! I guess times were different back then, 20 years ago. But look at me, rambling like the great grandfather that I am." He laughed. "I have 52 children, mostly girls, and... over 600 grand children, I actually forget the names of some at times. Still, they bring me happiness and remind me why I work so hard for the prosperity of my nation. Its all for them." His smile got more contemplative as he looked at his glass of champagne. Slowly around them, people excused themselves to go mingle somewhere else, leaving the holder and the princess alone together. "My apologies, I meant that I hope he is content with how it turned out." she said sincerely. "But I do have a proposition for you to help keep your nation safe, and by extension your family." replied Princess Lucina "Oh?" He widened his eyes with some surprise. A lot of people had such proposition these days... though he guessed having a man, his thousands of kinsmen and hundreds of millions of countrymen grateful to someone was a way to extend one's lifespan. "Well, the Union is always welcome of new ways to thrive with its neighbors." He said, interested. "As you may know my country is severely behind in civilian technology in comparison to other modern nations, especially in our production methods. So my father bid me to ask you to assist us in modernizing our civilian industry, and bringing our civilian technology up to date. In return we are prepared to share some of our advancements in defensive technology, including all research needed to develop a prototype shield generator." She said watching Mr . Cray's face intently the entire time. She thought she caught a glimpse of the gears turning in his head when a small smile appeared on his face. So they had made their move. Vermillion had expected this, the island had been isolated for so long. Only what he didn't know was who they'd chose to be their patron. They could've gone with the more distant, but still monarchist Cindorayi empire... but they went with the Union instead. Very interesting. "Direct and final. There may be some kobold in you, princess... Well, if you would lend me a better shield in exchange for a better hammer, how could I refuse? We generally try to make our people focus on our nation, but I'm sure I can lend a few experts to show you how to streamline your production lines and so forth... It's a deal!" The kobold extended a small scaly hand to the wolf girl to shake. Princess Lucina took his hand and gave it a firm shake. “May your nation stand tall and strong for many generations to come." [b]Late January 2057 (Research, Classified)[/b] The National Research Station, where all projects that have been determined worthy of federal funding are moved to. The station is located in an old Mine under one of the many mountains near the capital. Inside is what seems to be a maze of sparsely furnished hallways, offices packed with clutter, and laboratories whose walls are pockmarked with craters of various shapes and sizes. In one of the more tidy laboratories we find Emperor Wolfgang, and his head researcher. The researcher gestured to a few prototypes laid out in front of them, “Projects 1-094, and 1-107, have completed working prototypes of their projects. While projects 1-085, 1-067, and 1-099, have made some progress and expect to be completed within the next three to four months.” reported the researcher. The Emperor just responded with an encouraging nod. So the researcher continued, and gestured to the first prototype. “This is project 1-107” he gestured to a small box on a pedestal. “It is a prototype of a higher capacity energy storage unit, this prototype increases our capacity by 5% over the previous model. ” The researcher then gestured to the next prototype and continued “and this is project 1-094” he said gesturing to a set of soldier’s combat gear on a stand. “This is a set of the military’s standard combat gear, however we have added a miniaturized shield generator to the rear of the vest.” the researcher turns the stand around, and sure enough on the back of the vest the scientists integrated a small shield generator and removable battery pack into the rear of the vest. “The shield can be activated by a keypad on the user’s wrist. In our ballistics tests the shield can stay active for a maximum of 3 minutes under continuous small arms fire. However anything larger than a .50cal round will reduce that time significantly.” “Interesting,” replied the Emperor, “i’m sure every warrior of our great country will thank you. However the progress on the next two projects is what really intrigues me.” “Of course your majesty.” the researcher gestured to a table by the door, and both men walk toward it. “As you are aware project 1-085, is our own version of the cindorayi’s railgun. Our science officer in orbit disassembled the captured gun on the station, and sent down detailed photos, and his notes. While these have been helpful we have had a few setbacks in reconstructing the weapon.” “Project 1-067 on the other hand is coming along splendidly. Our research into Metamaterials is progressing, however while a prototype is in the works it will take a couple of months before the team is happy with it.” The Emperor turned to him and said “is there anything that team has requested?” “That team has requested a model aircraft to test with.” he replied. The Emperor thought for a moment before saying “Scrap the model, get them one of our recently decommissioned V-10 fighters to test on. Those things have been in service since the War of the Fangs and should hold up well to a modification like that.” “Yes your majesty.” the scientist replied before continuing on. “And finally, project 1-099 is coming along as predicted, however it will not be finished until late July early August of this year. They had a little trouble fitting all the armaments into the design specifications.” “Very good, keep me apprised of 067, and 099’s progress and any requests they make.” the Emperor said. “Those two projects will allow us to reach out and strike fear into our enemies.”