Wa alaykumu s-salām, Emir Ali Yusuf. As a lord to a lord, I greet you and wish that peace be upon thee as well.

Please forgive me if I appear as oblivious to the recent developments if your realm, I was away with my fleet and my scouts appear to be less competent than expected. The issue presented by Your Highness is, forgive if I say it, quite typical for Crete. You take what you can, si o no? But Your Highness is being perceptive to turn your gaze to the south looking for help. The Greeks in the north are arrogant and xenophobic to help you. Bien, even worse for them. For us in Circulo de Oro the security of the northern borders with the desert is very important, especially for safe trade of artefacts from the ruins that are most probably ubiquitous to your realm. And for this reason I will treat the succession problem in the Emirate of Akhisar with utmost attention.

Certainly, Your Highness knows how to bargain: the prospects of a vassal to the north is something the Kingdom would benefit greatly and secure our own source of artefacts. I suppose you might have heard of my ambitions to finally unite Crete under one ruler, the Emperor, the position of whom I humbly envision for myself, and abolish the old tradition of the Councils that do not befit the Empire. Achieving it will be hard, but keeping the power subsequently and managing the Empire successfully will be the real challenge. I tell you what, Emir Ali Yusuf of Akhisar Emirate: support me after the rightful restoration of power in your demesne, and you as a loyal vassal will be rewarded with the whole of desert, turning the Emirate of Akhisar from being an oasis-based local realm to a Sultanate spanning over the whole desert. It appears, Your Highness knows how the things work in the desert, so it is only logical to appoint you as the ruler of those lands with inheritable rights.

Still, let us not put the cart before the horse - we have a succession to restore and a war to win. I agree to the request of Your Highness and will mobilise the troops to the northern borders. If you have any people still loyal to you - gather them near the Dos Piedras gulch on the border with my Kingdom. My troops can use some scouts to ensure our actions are swift. I suggest not using aviation - it will give us away. Also, since it is your brother we are talking about and your future subjects, Your Highness can call shots on how to treat them. If I were you, I would simply kill those openly in opposition to give the rest a message and crucify some of them in some public spaces for the message to be loud and clear. But, it is up to you. Ruling over a graveyard is not that beneficial after all.

I am looking forward to your reply,

Estimado Emir Ali Yusuf,

Your wishes will be considered during our small intervention. We are thus starting to prepare the operation "Scimitar of the desert" or "Cimitarra del desierto" in Iberian. Right now I am giving orders to mobilise an army of 100.000 men strong. Larger army is unnecessary - the desert is unforgiving with supplies. This army will move to Dos Piedras. Your brother most certainly will notice the move of such numerous force and will likely send some men to do the recon and deter our advancement. This is exactly what we want him to do.

In the meantime, one of my trusted centurions, Adrian Seth, will join up with Your Highness in Wadi-Gihon with a strike force of 500 elite troopers. Aided by your scouts, they will infiltrate the oasis and take your brother hostage. For this to work, of course, your brother needs to be present in the vicinity of the oasis, not leading his armies personally. From what I understood, however, he is not the type and does not have guts to do things straightforwardly, even stealing the throne from Your Highness. Besides, facing our army might be quite opportunistic and dangerous for a recent usurper.

However, if he does show up with his army, then Your Highness with your trusted men and Senor Seth will de facto seize the control of the oasis and, being the legitimate ruler, can denounce your brother. Perhaps, some hombres will lay down arms. The rest shall be encircled and given and ultimatum to surrender and swear fealty to Your Highness (or dealt with in the way you prefer). To support this option, I would ask you so send some of your scouts, maybe a few dozens, from Wadi-Gihon to Dos Piedras to assist the movement of the army. This is to be done discretely lest your brother learns of our true intention.

I in the meantime will be in the orbit rendering recon support and standing ready in case your brother raises the fleet. If suggested course of action is acceptable, let me know por favor. Soon your throne will be rightfully yours again.

Estimado Emir Ali Yusuf,

The plan is almost ready to commence. My retinues are mobilised and are en route to Dos Pietras. Surely, your brother will notice these re-locations and will have to make a move. You will be met in Wali-Gihon by my entrusted warband leader, Centurion Adrian Seth with 500 warriors under his command. Combined with your terrain knowledge, he will lead the infiltration operation to regain the control over Akhisar. With luck, it will be over in no time with not many of your subjects dead. The provision required by Your Highness will be delivered by the centurion through the mountains. From there, I suppose you all know what to do.

You can expect our air superiority if your treacherous brother decides to raise the birds after all. Still, that is unlikely. You should also be prepared if your brother manages to escape. While I trust Centurion Seth's skills, your brother might simply foresee what is to come. In that case having reclaimed the throne you will be able to hunt him down like a dog, especially with our backing.

The show is about to get started, and you certainly have the best seats. Please, enjoy it!