[pre]July 13, 2020
6:05 AM Aivintian Standard Time
GAP Headquarters, Kalistad, Grindoligarch[/pre]
Mikhail Volkov began to dial slowly and precisely, with the understanding that depending of the young King’s demeanor and their conversation were many lives and potentially the fate of the Monarchy itself. Having received Agent Walters’ recommendation for action he’d elected to reach out himself in order to make the decision as to the direction Grindolgiarch would take in this upcoming conflict. Of course, that would depend on the interaction he hoped to schedule with this call. Taking a deep breath and fixing his posture, assuring the listening device was securely in place to record the call, Mikhail hit the call button.
“Who’s this?” a gruff voice asks, suspiciously.
Mikhail responded smoothly and calmly, “Hello, this is Mikhail Volkov. I’m the International Representative of Grindoligarch. May I know who it is I’m speaking to before I state my intentions?”
“A trusted supporter of the true leader of Aivintis. Anything you want to say, you can say to me.”
“Quite simply, I’d be interested in arranging an in person meeting with King Thaddeus. The nation of Grindoligarch, of which I serve as a representative of, would be interested in establishing an understanding of the new King and potentially the establishment of relations among potentially other treaties with Aivintis.”
“This could easily be a trap.”
An audible, yet quick sigh over the line, “I would come to a location of your choice, with only two people in my security personnel. I’d shed the security personnel before coming into contact with your liege, assuming you’d be willing to shed the majority of your own personnel as to avoid some risk on my own end. I’ll permit searching of my person and will assure that I will not be armed.”
A pause, presumably for the man to converse with his associates.
“Here’s our offer: We will send you a location deep within our own territory, where you and two security personnel will be permitted provided you are relieved of all weaponry save handguns. From there, you will follow an unarmed representative, who will make sure this is true, to an undisclosed location to meet with the King, four armed guards, and another unarmed representative. After the meeting, you will leave first. Do we have a deal?”
“Absolutely, though I must request that you ensure all guards present can be trusted in the case of sensitive information.”
“Your request will be honored.”
“Once you communicate the location I should be there within a few hours. I appreciate the ability to speak with your King personally. Though I must ask, you never provided your name. May I know who I have arranged this with?”
“Count Archibald Klein of Derrim.”
“Well, I look forward to the upcoming meeting.”
“As does the King.”
A ring on the other line as Volkov hung up the phone, releasing a small sigh of relief.
[pre]July 13, 2020
11:33 AM, Aivintian Standard Time
Undisclosed Location[/pre]
“Hello there,” calls a voice from across a clearing. A man in full regalia and a heavy silver crown appeared through the woods, flanked by four soldiers with woodland camouflage, face paint, a green beret, and a cloth face mask. Each had a pistol strapped to their thigh and an automatic rifle in their hands.
Volkov dressed in a sharp grey suit and matching tie, flanked by two similarly dressed men, walked out into the clearing- lead by the representative. With a quick readjusting of his tie and a quick clearing of his throat Volkov returned the greeting, “I must say, this is rather unorthodox as far as international meeting go. It surprises me for a multitude of reasons that you’d choose this location and whatnot, but that isn’t important I suppose… armature psychoanalysis aside I’m here for a reason. Do you have any questions for me before I ask a few to you?”
“Haven’t you heard? There’s a war brewing. Can’t be too careful after two Magisters were assassinated. Do I have questions? Well I suppose for starters ‘Why are you here?’”
“I’ve heard, still it’s interesting. I’m here to gain an understanding of the King’s, your, intentions with your nations- especially considering the troubles to come, in order to establish a standing or to better comprehend if Grindoligarch should attempt to form any agreements or arrangements with your nation, and if so what would be the safest at this time. Anything else before I ask some questions of my own?”
“Ask away.”
“What are your goals for Aivintis? If you had the ability to change your nation unimpeded that is.”
“Monarchy restored once again. Me and my leadership have been working nonstop on several reforms that abolishes the oligarchy completely, changing Magisters to Ministers, dividing up government functions amongst multiple Ministries and even having a legislative and judicial branch. The power of government leaders will be reduced and the power of the monarch will be increased. Counties will have their own governments. We have a grand plan for Aivintis indeed.”
“And if your power is consolidated into your monarchy and vassal counties, what is your personal goal? What do you want as the Monarch?”
“I want to successfully oversee the transition into this new state and deal with any issues that may arise from the transition, and then I want to focus on increasing unity between counties and strengthening our military and economy. These last goals will also pass to whomever I choose as my successor.”
“Fair enough… And what other nations does Aivintis have alliences or treaties with, and by proxy you personally have?”
“Unfortunately, Aivintis has observed an isolationist policy for years since the Third Civil War. We have no allies. We are looking into requesting help from Asendavia and potentially more.”
“And as for potential imports and exports?”
“Imports would be a large variety of products that will most likely vary depending on how this go. Exports will be the same as always - timber, machine parts, automobiles, the like. We are a highly industrialized society with a backyard of trees and plains and rock, don’t forget.”
“And are you interested in focusing on international trade and coming out of this isolation?”
“Yes, I am eager to reach the international market. Isolationism was never a good idea.”
Volkov nodded slowly, “Before I say anything more, I’d like to be reassured that the people here can be trusted- especially considering your current nations state of affairs.”
“They can be trusted.”
“I suppose I’ll ask two things of varying importance. Firstly, let’s say we, Grindoligarch, happened to be one of the founding members of an upcoming international trading organization- would you be interested? I assure you it would help you in your goals to reach the international market and gain a greater influence in international affairs.”
“I would be more than interested in using a rising trade organization to insert Aivintis into the global market. In fact, it would be the perfect opportunity.”
“Alright…” Volkov closed his eyes for a moment considering his options before slowly nodding his head, “One last important question, how much are you willing to sacrifice to win this conflict? I’m not asking for you to sacrifice anything, I just want to know what you’re willing to do for your nation.”
“Whatever it takes.”
“One convoy. That’s all it would take and I can win you this war before it even starts. Want me to explain?”
“Yes, please go on.”
“I’m sure you’re familiar with the call for help sent out by Florence?”
“I am.”
“Grindoligarch prides itself on their secret service agents. Long story short, we replied and gained their trust- to a degree. We currently have our own veteran troops moving in to “reinforce” their own. We have arms and planes being smuggled in under the guise of assisting them. And we have training officers currently holding high positions in their encampments. All we need is one last thing and we can stop them before they get a chance to do anything. We had an arrangement per say, if we could sink and hand over the contents of a trading ship without and suspicion they have assured us in their trust. We sink the ship, gain their trust, use a wire to gain the evidence against them, and simultaneously strike down Florence while our troops in combination with some ambushing troops of your own clean up and arrest their military bases.”
“With Florence on trial for his crimes before the first move has even been made, he will lose a lot of support. My men are working on securing a… weapon that would take out large areas of people. We use that after Florence loses credibility, and he’ll barely have any troops to reinforce Maven. We could march right on through the front door.”
“The weapon would prove to only worsen your cause, firstly prisoners taken from the military based would prove useful if we lack sufficient evidence of Florence’s crimes and would allow for further investigations to other members and a sizeable PR boost. Past that, I have agents who will be able to meet Florence and take him on the spot once evidence has been gained- past that we’ll be sure to have contingency plans.”
“All it would take, is to sink the ship to gain his trust, either record or simply investigate his plan, and arrest or kill him on the spot while our troops wipe out the military bases from inside.”
King Thaddeus raised an eyebrow. “I did not say the weapon would kill them.”
“If you’d rather a neutralizing, non-lethal gas attack via drone or something similar that can be arranged as well. But please, do elaborate.”
“I would elaborate, but I am not in the business of revealing specifics of my plan to people who take so quickly to backstabbing.” He glanced at one of his guards, and back at the representative. “Here’s what you will do. You will meet up with one of my shipments during a storm, and you will arrange its ‘downfall’ however you like. Then you will act as spies and report to me with as much evidence as you can. Convince him to hold off and wait for his army to grow before taking action, but gain evidence that he plans to take action. When we have enough evidence to convict him, we will launch a specialized attack on their largest camp with this new weapon, which will neutralize a large portion of their forces, simultaneously releasing the information to the public and costing him support. You will frame the Count of Frosthollow as the spy so he does not become suspicious of you, and when he makes his next move - a defensive one, most likely - you will take out his guards and arrest him and his main supporters while we storm wherever he’s held up. Note that this plan can easily be changed the moment we suspect treachery on your end.”
Volkov slightly smirked, “Is it backstabbing if we went into it with the intentions to work with one side already? Regardless, I’m stating, we can likely bring you evidence of his treason, kill or arrest him, and clear out the military bases in a single swift maneuver. We have people who can meet with him in person who he will likely trust, we know the location of his workplace and home, we currently have troops in his military bases who are better armed and trained, and planes or drones that can be deployed within a few hours of request. Why give him a chance to react when you can do it all in one movement? And yes, we have incapacitating agents as well that we can use- though we try not to use them in the outdoors lest the weather is well suited.”
“Hmm. Please explain your plan in depth.”
“That depends, once we get the evidence do you care if Florence is alive or dead?”
“It would be best if he and the majority of his high ranking officers remain alive for trial.”
“We can attempt to keep the officers alive from the military bases or other areas of Maven Hall, but Florence specifically?”
“Florence must be alive for public execution. I don’t have much intelligence on his leadership, but I’m assuming he has advisors of some sort. I’d prefer them alive.”
“We sink the convoy as per their wishes to gain their trust and begin smuggling the contents somewhere that will soon be reclaimed. Around the same time, prior to the meeting we will simultaneously set up a device hidden in the air vents which will allow us to distribute an incapacitating agent throughout the building. We will have multiple listening devices positioned outside of the building on the exterior wall and hidden on our agents. The recordings will be streamed as to not risk the evidence. Once we have the evidence needed we will send out a signal and three things will happen simultaneously. A neutralizing gas will be distributed throughout the building as a combination of your police and my own agents in the area will storm the Maven Hall with gas masks. The agents upstairs will attempt to distract Florence as the gas incapacitates him- multiple snipers will be utilizing infrared to be able to kill anyone in the building if need be. Meanwhile my troops in the military camps will simultaneously begin incapacitating the other troops while your own ambush troops push in, we will try to minimize casualties but will be prepared with offshore drones and aircraft. We will organize the plan to correspond to a shipment of arms to their bases in order to be able to deploy more troops and potentially a few tanks or armored vehicles.”
The King listens thoughtfully. “I like the plan,” he says, “but currently I have no men inside the city that will risk their lives to storm the Hall. That part is up to you.”
“How many would you need? I can get, maybe a thousand, into the city without raising too much suspicion by the time we’re good to go.”
“That’s probably enough, especially if they are close enough to Maven Hall.”
“Alright, can I get an estimate on the number of troops you could get in place for the military base ambushes? And would you like my troops disguised as your own for the Maven assault?”
“Yes, if your troops can wear official Aivintian Special Forces uniforms and Crown armbands, it can give the illusion that we have somehow snuck past their defenses. As for an estimate, it depends how many you need.”
“150 thousand distributed well along with our own 100 thousand plus would make it an easy and sure victory.”
“Then that is how many will be there.”
“I’ll have Agent Shepherd here”, he nodded to the member of his security to his left, “Send you the location the the military bases and provide you with a way to get the signal to attack. In the meantime, just arrange for the ship to be prone to incident with minimal casualties, then cause some reason that you are not able to provide immediate support or retrieval to allow us to begin moving the equipment. Oh, and once things clear up- I’ll send you the information regarding the trading organization.”
“Sounds good. Keep me updated.”
Volkov nodded, formulating potential stratagems and angles of attack for the ship. As he and his personnel began to depart he turned and stated, “Agent Shepherd will reach out regarding the specifics of my request but I will need a little bit of info; designs of guard uniforms, pictures of all of the containers and any identifying markings, and knowledge of the quantities and quality of all goods being transferred. But, we can get to that later- Shepherd here will work out the kinks. It was a pleasure King Stuart, I look forward to talking over a few drinks when this is all said and done.”
