The clock was ticking towards midnight in the Kremlin Dome.
Spread before him were piles of papers, files and reports. The day-to-day business of the Coalition. Reports of the latest Trade Endeavours. The resettlement reports of the Colonial Survivors. And the Intelligence files on the Omega situation.
Alvin Katz was the popularist leader of the Coalition, dubbed the Ikon in the wake of the Volkahnist state that had seen such vast changes in the Coalition and had blown out the dust in the Kremlin's halls, breathing a new life into it. One that was undoubtably Katzist.
The old guard were gone, McIntosh, Karchov, Ares, Thornvoldsson and Quintella. Great ministers of state whose day had set, making way for the new dawn. And a revigoured Coalition, with its eye on the horizon and the benefits that lay there.
He'd spent much of the day in meetings, reviewing the dismal failure of the Cloaking device prototypes, and inspecting a new second Generation XKR fighter due to have it's trial flights that summer. The advancements that saw the revigoured Coalition had a sharpened sword.
Which brought him to the long night.
It was a night of change, as the pressures of the State Duma, and the Coalition Military for a break in the Omega-War had come to a head. The demands on what to do about the failing Coalition-Hessian Alliance that had soured and stagnated since the failed Revolutionary Congress the past Christmas.
Katz leaned back in his chair. The Coalition had dismissed the Red Hessian Ambassador in the wake of the debacle. Hoping the Hessians would grasp the level of displeasure the Coalition held the attempted subjugation of the will of the Coalition People to that of a centralized committee run by pirates and terrorists.
He sneered at the thought, reclaiming his composure again. He was a man of state, and it didn't do well to dwell too much on the slights and oversights of a military run organization that failed to grasp the delicacies of what the Coalition considered decorum.
"It is almost time," Mendel was sitting smoking a cigarette in a chair across from the Premier. The Coalition's head of Public Relations had been maintianing a low profile in the wake of the Revolutionary Congress, knowing that the wrong speech at the wrong time could collapse the situation against the Coalition. For the moment his silence, and with it, the Coalition's silence, had been a matter of security. There was no point in provoking all of the Coalition's enemies who had gathered into a single potential alliance. It was better for the Revolutionary Congress to die it's abortive death.
"I won't need you for this," Katz stated, dismissing the Commissar. There were just some conversations that needed a personal approach. The unassuming manner, and calm, well spoken tones that Katz brought to the table were far better than Mendel's sarcastic fire branded speeches.
Katz reached forward to activate the console built into his desk, watching the Coalition communications network screens go live, connecting to the two Revolutionary Leaders, one in Dublin, the other on the edge of Rhienland.
The connections flickered and resolved into holographic projections of the figures that stood in his office, before his desk.
"Comrades," Katz stated with a simple nod of his head. "I know we have never had a direct three-way conversation before, but a summit of this... nature... has been long in coming, and I fear may be too late for some." His eyes locked on the Leader of the Hessian Movement.
"We could meander through small talk, and pleasantries, but they are for the cameras and press... the propaganda reels are not privy to this conversation. There are no aides, and no military advisers, we are the civilian leaders of our movements. And this means we can dispense with the customary rituals and traditions, in favour of more direct contact."
"Relations between us three need to be free of constraint, and open to our honest interpretation... which is why I pull no punches when I say this..." he turned towards the Leader of the Red Hessians. "Who ever put together that farcical parody of a Conference last Christmas is an idiot, and did considerable damage to our Alliance. What I need to know, today, is if this wound is mortal?"
He raised a polite hand to ward off comments until he had finished.
"Because there are those in my government asking me why the Coalition is fighting in the Corsair war, if we are to be insulted and slandered by friends. The pressure is to a point, Comrade, that we have dispatched a peace envoy to the Corsair Empire to discuss the possibilities of a peace plan. Because, frankly, I wonder if the Hessian Cause is truly in the best interests of the Coalition and it's people."
He turned to the Molly leader, "My apologies, I would have spoken of this earlier with you, but this descision has not yet been made, and I felt it only fair that you have your input into it as well."
Meisnerr knew perfectly well the stakes that he was facing back home should this meeting fail. He also knew that he could not simply give in to the Coalition's demands, the failure of the Revolutionary Congress to secure a Sirius wide trade pact was still blamed by many Hessian generals on the impulsive speech of the SCRA representative that in the eyes of these people made a mockery of the effort. Meisnerr himself knew that what the SCRA did was selfish, but he would definitely not discuss that with them today. He knew that now the future of the Volksrevolution relied on whether he can convince Katz to the scale of the stakes that are at hand.
"Herr Katz, I do not know what happened to us in recent months... what happened to the values of spreading the revolutionary word! I was always of the mind that the alliance between our forces was not some kind of a personal affair, but rather an alliance based on ideology above all else. This was the reason why, over all these years we supplied you with resources and weapons and helped you with your technological developments. We helped put you on the map, and we even supported you yourself, albeit silently, during Volkhan's insurgency.
By abandoning this alliance you will also abandon any principles that you hold dear to the People's revolution. And for what? Petty conflicts and an attempt at siding with the worst pirate scourge this side of the Sirius sector against the forces of the working class? Only to be inevitably stabbed in the back and further throw the Omega sector into disarray?"
Meisnerr stopped himself and took a deep breath. For all the talks of ideology and camaraderie, it all came down to this - a negotiation, like one would have with a random force of mercenaries. And in the face of all that, he would still try to convince Katz to keep the alliance out of pure ideological reasons, without offering him materialistic gains. For he knew that an alliance based on materialism was one that would never thrive nor prosper.
"I heavily urge you to reconsider your present politics. The doctrine of the Volksrevolution is the core of the Red Hessian Army's strategy - one that has helped the Coalition for years under the assumption that such help will eventually be reciprocated through the formation of a greater revolutionary tide that will sweep the house governments clean and establish a true worker's state.
But you have to know the powerful forces that sit on the Red Hessian Revolutionary Council, the ones who have been voicing their issues over the seemingly one sided exchange of technology between our forces for months on end. Their flag flies in the face of all that we have accomplished in the past. If the alliance breaks, these forces will prevail and the Red Hessian movement will never be the same again. All notion of an international revolution will be gone forever from Rheinland along with any remaining support that is present towards the Coalition's forces after the Unioners restarted their campaign of discontent. Is that what you want for our ideology? For it to be burned and hurled through space like it meant nothing in the face of petty politicking? For Rheinland's workers to once again slip back into mindless paranoia against all auslanders?"
He sighed once again, scowling further. Without his ideology the Red Hessian movement would slip back into being erratic and unguided, fuelled by personal ambitions more than a grandiose cause. After the loss of Casablanca this ideology now rested firmly on whatever the next action of Premier Katz would be.
"I will not beg or even ask nicely for you to regain your senses. But know this: if the forces that stand against the doctrine of the Volksrevolution ever learned of your alleged dealings with the Corsairs, I would no doubt be currently sitting at an emergency Revolutionary Council gathering, where they would be discussing how exactly we would expel all Coalition forces from our bases, and there would be nothing anyone could do to stop them.
This is something that we must not let happen! The Volksrevolution must carry on, and it can only happen through the continued operation of this alliance."
He looked deep down Katz's eyes and made sure that he was as clear as day on what he was about to say.
"No matter the decision here, both our movements will survive. The question only is at what cost? You can stop this by restarting your operations in Rheinland and giving our people some ammunition to defend the ideology. Or you can throw it all into the wind, so that nothing will be the same ever again. Whatever happens next, it's on you and you alone."
Katz met Meisnerr's gaze, a level look that at first weighed the content of what the man was saying, then stripped it down to the political content.
"A one sided technological exchange that was due to an incompatibility of our two technologies, one our scientists took two years to over come," Katz responded. "The XKR fighters should be a pinnacle of Hessian and Coalition co-operation. The offer of them has always been open, as have Kalashnikov weaponry. Your compatriots would do well to remember that just because a gift is not accepted, does not mean it wasn't made."
Katz stood slowly, "The CPW-Karl Marx was placed at Red Hessian disposal at a time when you had no heavy Capitals. Your scientists had full access to her, and our shipyards during your development of the Jormungand class battleship. The Coalition pressed on, knowing and offering every ounce of support that was available to us. Cloaking technology, which I admit, is a dismal failure. Access to our hfuel reserves. Access to our manpower. We also forwarded promising recruits to the Red Hessian movement, those not ready for the kind of commitment that the Coalition requires, but those who were ready for the Volksrevolution."
"The Coalition have always provided when asked, whatever we had to spare. So do not blame us for something that is beyond our control."
Katz folded his arms, his eyes hard.
"My forces are stretched across Sirius." at a gesture of a finger, a holographic map of Sirius and Gallia appeared in the center of the room. Red flashing icons indicated enemy activity, Green, the Allies. "I have the Gallic threat that is like a steam roller smashing it's way through the Tau's and Bretonia... The Molly representative here can attest to that threat." Katz nodded to the massive wave of ships and resources spilling into that area. "I have had to all but give up any attempt a Kusari revolution after the recent overthrow of Kogen... our timing is not right there. As for Liberty... well now."
Katz turned, "you want me to throw all in for Rhienland, then I am going to need my fleets and resources freed from another theatre of war. The Corsair war costs the Coalition in man power, resources and energy. We are a wall between them Dublin and Cambridge. But we are surrounded."
The map resolved to show Omega 52 and the surrounding systems.
"We have Cadiz blockading our front door step. Mindelo in Omega-50. With the Hessian loss at Casablanca, Omega-47 is now a threat. Omega-3, the Freeport there is under daily threat, a threat the Coalition cannot protect it from. The weight of arms the Corsair bring to bear is only held in check by my people's resolve. And that resolve wanes when the question comes, why our efforts are unappreciated?"
Katz nodded to the map, "A non aggression pact between the Coalition and the Corsairs would radically shift the map. Freeing up my forces to actually make a difference in Rhienland, an area we have long held a disadvantage in... You state that my forces avoid the RM, you couldn't be further from the truth. Mere days ago a bomber wing of the Coalition trapped and destroyed cruisers and battleships of the 2te, here... we engage the enemy in Omega-11, and in Stuttgart... I fear your Hessian intelligence staff seem to have overlooked the briefs that show the Coalition effort in those areas."
"Casablanca was a calculated loss! I knew it was going to happen the moment I... the moment we took the base. It was a straight wedge into the Corsair scourge's supply line to Dublin, it had no effect on their operations against your men, and you know it. If anything, it gave time to the Mollys to organise their own defence against whatever anaemic Corsairs are yet to crawl out of the Zoner jungles."
Meisnerr took a deep breath to stop himself again. A back-and-forth argument was not the best scenario for these talks.
"We can spend all day comparing who of us did what to whom... even though this is exactly the kind of thinking we must avoid. It is ideologically unheard of for you to make peace with what is essentially the worst anti working class, barbaric, "rule of the strong" style scourge this side of Sirius. It will destroy our ideology from the top to the bottom. Nobody will ever take a revolutionary alliance like this seriously, and you will have nobody but yourself to blame."
Meisnerr turned behind him and directed a monitor toward the camera that showed Hessian intelligence on Corsair fleet movements. All the brown blips were centred around Omicron Gamma and Omega-47, spread only further away from the upper Omega systems, forming a clear defensive line. The upper Omega systems itself were completely clear save for the, still significant, Cadiz defence garrison. Unlike the Coalition's high tech, the Hessian movement continued to largely rely on cheap, easy to manufacture technology, coupled with its great numbers.
"A Coalition peace with the Corsairs is not just ideologically wrong, but also strategically. Regardless of what misinformation you have heard from your civilian leaders, the upper Omega systems are well in Hessian hands. The Corsair scourge is licking its wounds by raiding weakened Bretonia and its royalist armed forces! Even the Mollys are free to catch a breath, or so it seems."
He pressed some keys on the datapad connected to the monitor. The brown blips now disappeared, and red ones took their place, spread evenly across Omega-3, Omega-5, Omega-7 and Omega-11, as well as reaching deeper into Rheinland in smaller quantities. The bulk of the Hessian forces was clearly centred around Omega-11.
"Take your forces away from defending already safe targets in the Omega systems. Your borders cannot be breached by your typical Corsair, and they won't be able to do so for a long time. Show that you are ready to reinforce the Hessian wall on the border of Rheinland, the one that keeps Omega-52 largely safe from that direction. Show those of us who cannot think in purely ideological terms that the Coalition can provide more than just isolated incidents of support, so that we can silence them once and for all."
Meisnerr turned to the still quiet Molly representative, expecting him to respond and move these talks along. It was clear that a third party was needed to convince the SCRA of just what the repercussions would be for the Sirius revolution if this alliance terminated. The 3rd postulate of the Volksrevolution disallows any actions from the Red Hessian movement that would allow the Corsairs to strengthen themselves. Meisnerr hoped that the leaders gathered here understood exactly what that meant, should one of the parties decide to help the Corsairs' goals of piracy and murder.
Katz held up a finger, "sorry, if I may interrupt."
He leaned back against the edge of his desk and nodded to the map, "The Coalition has enemies beyond the Omegas, just yesterday a collected Pirate and Blood Dragon task force used experimental Jump Drive technology to penetrate the defenses of Omega-52. Not just into the system, but out of it as well."
Reaching behind him, he transmitted the details of the Raid.
"Our lines, as they stand, mean nothing. I have word that the Corsairs are building a similar facility using stolen or leaked jump drive plans at Casablanca... yes Meisner, not only was your calculated loss a set back, it's delivered a state of the art facility into the hands of the enemy. For now, cloaked ships remain impractical at best as a threat... but we cannot ignore the new reality that these jump drives present. I need forces freed up from the Corsair fronts to deal with our own security, and to put together counter attack strike teams to try to even out this imbalance. You seem to think the Coalition an abundant source of unlimited ships and men, we are not. We are finite, and we have many enemies... enemies I might add, that you would foster, coddle and supply. Why is it, you feel no shame in dealing with Monarchists such as the Blood Dragons, and counter revolutionary pirate forces, calling them your allies, and the Coalition cannot earn a ceasefire and a respite that your Hessians want to escalate?"
"It strikes me that you're forces are being beaten back, and you are hoping to throw us on the fire. We may have been an alliance at one time, but so far I see no logical reason why the Coalition wouldn't want to negotiate a separate Peace."
"So... the Coalition was an ally for as long as the technological pipeline was open, and now that it is closed through your own actions, you see no more reason to uphold your ideology and just move to another pipeline? You insult me with your wild accusations, knowing full well that it is the Red Hessians who stop the majority of advances on Coalition territory by simply being there and bearing the brunt of mutually hostile forces. My men aren't being beaten back, they are stronger than ever! The Military is grasping at straws trying to contain our advance. The Corsairs are huddling their homes and raiding distant targets! You have no idea what you are getting yourself into if you let Vogt push me out of my command. The alliance will be gone forever, and you will be left with a bunch of backstabbing Corsair pirates as a crutch in the completely hostile Omega systems. And do you think the Mollys will continue supporting your cause while you openly let Corsairs advance into their home system?
Petty squabbles such as this are the reason why New Berlin isn't flying the red flag yet, and why the Coalition's forces are stuck bunkering down against unlikely enemies, deep in the confines of Omega-52."
If Katz wanted to make Meisnerr angry, then he managed to do it to the limits of his ability. Meisnerr knew the stakes, he just wasn't sure if Katz knew them as well.
"Once again Katz, realise the political mistake that you're making. There are many forces out there ready to get you, and once you do this there will be nobody left to steer them away from you. Nobody will beg you not to make a fatal mistake, nobody will force you to not make one either. We're here in your support as we have always been, but if you turn on us...
...we will not be there the next time."
He looked at Katz, now calmed down but still frowning. Before an answer came, Meisnerr turned around with another question, now rubbing his chin curiously. Realising that he can't really get anywhere by pleas of ideology, he decided to start thinking like a capitalist.
"What are your real reasons to betray this alliance? What did the Corsairs offer you that we can't? What exactly do you want to get from us?"
Katz gave the man a cold look, a flash of something passing behind the eyes.
"What do we want, Herr Meisnerr? Want?" Katz lifted a mug. "I want you to recognize the fact the SCRA have been there. We are standing beside you at your right hand side, if you would only care to look at the men standing beside you."
He straightened up.
"I want your acknowledgement of the sacrifices my men have been making on a front you claim we are absent from..." He grabbed a stack of papers an threw them across the room.
"This is just some of the work, YOU AND YOURS claim my men didn't do, my men are there, in this theatre of battle. Doing there part, fighting and dying..." Katz was livid. "What more do you want! You want to know what the Corsairs offer us? Go ask the mothers of the boys that are dying daily what their dearest wish is... and you will understand my position."
Katz balled his fists, seething, "Our damn sacrifices matter!"
He leveled a finger, "I want you to say it, out loud. Tell me that the blood of my people is actually worth something to you damn Hessians."
My allies, the Hessians and the SCRA. I do mean that with all sincerity when I say allies. Recently during negotiations with Bretonia, the Molly relationship with both of you was of great concern. The Molly enemy, the crown of Bretonia, already weakened by the long war with Kusari, is under attack by the empire of Gallia. During the Kusari war my predecessors would work with the Bretonian forces to beat back the Kusari threat. In turn we would immediately be backstabbed afterwards. The Red Hessians have witnessed themselves the taste of Bretonian guns. When Molly and Hessian rallied to rid Leeds of Corsairs, the BAF opened fire on the Hessian ships instead, and then the Mollys while completely ignoring the Corsairs in the system. The SCRA has assisted us with enhanced performance engines to allow greater range so that we can hit the Corsairs closer to their homeland.
What I say is, we have shared bread, whiskey and blood together. We have shared our energies, our technology, and our disdain for the Corsair empire. The Mollys primary concern is Corsair expansion, and while there are many reasons for us not to have allied with Bretonia, the fact is that doing such would harm the relationship of our triumvirate. I will tell you now that we have been working towards a non-agression agreement with Gallia so as to have our backs covered while we deal with the Corsair threat. Gallia fights the Molly enemy, and if their energies are not turned towards us, then Bretonia will be defeated all the faster.
Thus I ask of the SCRA and of the Hessians, let us keep peace with one another and retain our relatoinship as a family. As family we have our various squabbles, yet our overall goal is unity. Each of you, in mind and thought are blood of my blood. Through our efforts thus far and through the mercenaries employed by us three, the Corsairs have been reeling. Daily raids for two solid months kept them in Gamma, rarely venturing out beyond their own space. Division amongst ourselves will allow them their expansion into Cambridge, Dublin, and your own home systems.
Do either of you wish to see an expansion of the Corsair empire? Do either of you wish to see Corsair bases within easy striking range of your home worlds? I present you both with a view of Cork and its desolation. That is what the Corsairs offer us all if we should be divided in our cause. The Mollys have burned bridges in order to enhance our relationship with both of you, do not let an internal squabble bring us all down when we are so close to our goal. I was not in attendance of the conference last winter, but whatever the issue between my two friends, it can and must be resolved. Our blood has been spilled together, mixed together, we are a family and strong when whole, yet when broken we are vulnerable and weak. Despite individual strengths or numbers, we must remain whole in order to prevail.
Each of you should have received a package by now via Molly courier. When opened you will find the heads of a cruiser captain from Bretonia, Corsairs, and Rheinland. Each of these commanders were captured during joint engagement with Molly/Hessian, Molly/SCRA, or on those occasions where all three of us have managed to come together on the field of battle. I offer them to you both as evidence of what we can do when we combine our forces. You are family, blood of my blood, and I took their heads myself, and thus I have shared blood with you personally. Whatever is to be done here, let it be to strengthen our bonds and defeat our enemies together.
Katz looked at the two leaders and the stared down into his mug of coffee.
"I get the feeling, Miesnerr, that no matter what the Coalition does, it will never be good enough for your hardliners. And I don't know if it is in the best interests of the Coalition to try." He took a drink from his mug, contemplating his words as he spoke. "It has never been about what the Coalition has or has not done, though. It is about the Revolution, and the Revolution is what the Coalition's primary goal should be."
He straightened up, "so this is my decision. And one that will be binding for the Coalition as a whole. We will actively support the RHA in Rheinland, fighting side-by-side if your forces wish it, but if not, you will still find us performing operations there for the Volksrevolution. On the Molly's side, you will find the Coalition engaged in heavy operations with the Bretonians. Again fighting with you if you wish it so."
He cleared his throat, "As for the Corsair front, the Coalition is an instrument of the revolution, and throwing our resources away on Crete doesn't serve our goals and agendas, frankly, it serves yours. An Alliance is about common goals, and throwing our resources away on a war that accomplishes the Revolution very little at this time... I am sorry."
He put the mug aside and stood up, "However, this does not mean we won't defend people from the Corsair. If attacked, we will fight back. If we encounter the Corsair in our space, or in Rhienland or in Bretonia, then we shall persecute them, mercilessly. But the days of the Coalition taking the war to the Corsair are over. We will enter a passive stage in our fight with them. You can either choose to accept the hand I offer to you, for a mutual and shared revolution. Or we can end this here, and now, as friends, and agree that, although we wish each other well, our differences are too great."
"The question that I have for you is: do you plan to fight Corsairs invading our space in the Omega systems and Dublin? Because I very much hope so, we cannot afford our allies double dealing with one of most obvious obstacles on the path to a Volksrevolution. Remember that the Corsairs do want to crush both the Hessian and the Molly movement, and without them there are no revolutionary movements capable of a House wide revolt in either Rheinland or Bretonia. It is imperative that we swear a mutual defence pact to each other, no matter the threat. And that is our postulate. I am sure the Molly representative will agree with it wholeheartedly."
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