Location: Port Jackson, Planet Gran Canaria approach R.M.S-lossiemouth
Jackson control is this RMS Lossiemouth on approach, requesting mooring station and shuttle on station for orbital decent. Identification number XZT492A The tired liner navigator spoke over the comm link.
RMS Lossiemouth this is Jackson control, mooring permissions granted you are clear to initiate docking maneuvers, a shuttle is on standby for your decent at bay seven. Came the reply from the tower.
Copy that control, Lossiemouth out.
Weber sat in his office aboard the Liner, gazing out the window as the great planet came into full view, growing ever larger as the vessel lined up for it's final approach. The various ships flying around in high orbit steering clear of the ship whilst flying off to conduct their own business elsewhere. Gran Canaria was a hub of all kinds of activity, legal and illegal, and Bretonia had business with the latter, the diplomats and BAF officers were all no doubt gathering their own things for the trip to the surface, whereas he and his two selected intelligence officers were ready to go, nothing much to do aside from gaze outside.
The trip to the surface was equally uneventful, he glanced at his fellow negotiators, BAF officers who were rather quiet and kept to themselves and an unassuming diplomatic team who said even less than the BAF did. The shuttle remained in purpetual silence until they landed.
Ladies and Gentlemen! A senior Army officer called to the group over the roar of various ships, ground vehicles and machinery Welcome to Port Jackson!, if you'll all follow me this way, I'll take you inside to the briefing room!
While following the officer former flag officer Fraser, a close affiliate of the Fleet Admiral tasked with representing the Armed Forces in this affair, was impressed with the planet they had arrived on.
Fraser had never been on any other world than New London in his entire life, nor even in its less industrial parts. With that in mind the clean air of Gran Canaria felt like a revelation to him. Or maybe it was just the coolness of it he was not used to.
Whatever the case, he did feel a little out of place as they arrived at a building ducking between the hills, reminding him of an animal hiding in the grass. Approaching the gates a sizable guard force could be seen, opening the doors for the delegation while the Officer led them into the building towards a meeting room.
The Premier stood on the shipping deck of Zvezdny Gorodok. Accompanying him were Field Marshal Lukas Keller, Commissar Michel de Grasse, the Minister of Plenty, and an honor guard consisting of a few of the Coalition's most well trained marine troops. The men were aboard the Coalition's fortress moonbase to transfer over to their intended suitable transport for the trip to Gran Canaria, small talk occupying their time as the preparations were completed.
When the time came they would board their transporter, the Coalition Peoples' Ship Prosperity. It was an otherwise unremarkable DL-series border worlder's transporter craft. It was equipped with standard countermeasures and interdiction capability, heavy guns for such a ship and, save the telltale glow of its Coalition-manufactured engines and its transponder, would likely blend in well amidst the myriad traffic that normally permeated the orbit of Gran Canaria. It certainly held a bit more aesthetic distinction than the armada of Pitbulls that Volgograd Industrial nominally had scrounged up, and was also probably a good bit better suited for carrying dignitaries.
Once everyone was settled they would depart for Gran Canaria. The trip was destined to be more or less over as soon as it began due to the proximity of New Moscow and Omega-49. When the ship got to its destination it would follow the standard established docking procedures with the Bretonian-controlled installations.
Even if it was relatively quick, space maneuvers still took a substantial amount of time to complete. No doubt the officials coming with the Premier would take the opportunity to voice their opinion to him about the impending meeting.
Taylor Eckard, Minister of Plenty for the Sirius Coalition stood to the left and just behind Mehemed Selim. Slim and far less imposing then the others of the entourage. He wore a remarkably nice suit given his company, something akin to what you might see a high ranking employee of Interspace Commerce or the shadowy Independent Neural Net Division rather then what you would predict from anyone in the Sirius Coalition. He leaned towards the premier and whispered in his ear: "You know sir, this meeting poses a very interesting amount of potential for the economy of the Coalition. Bretonia could, in theory, breathe fresh life into our economy though we must be careful not to let Volgograd Industrial's workers be mistreated. We must ensure that what ever trade deals we enter in no way, shape, or form harm the workers of the Coalition while also not seeming unreasonable." He stepped back situating himself in a professional position with his hands behind his back resting awaiting his reply if any.
Zvezdny Gorodok, New Moscow ---> Planet Gran Canaria, Omega-49
Sitting beside Field Marshal Keller was Michel de Grasse, His Watchful Eye's most faithful Commissar - chosen to represent the Commissariat in the meeting that was to unfold.
He wore the typical Commissar garments - a two-piece suit with gold-on red decorations, with the Ministry of Truth pins well attached to the top's neckband. Over its garments he wore a long, dark gray plain overcoat with its collar turned up. On his head, the typical Commissariat beak hat, with the same color palette of the garments, with a gold wing-spreading eagle as a decoration located over the beak, as to remark the role of the Commissariat within the Coalition - "ever vigilant". Hidden under its overcoat, the holster carrying its customized bolt pistol was strapped to its right. Aside of its clothing, its very own appearance was rather intimidating, given the tone of its body.
Turning his sight over the Premier, after the Ministry of Plenty finished whispering to his ear, he decided to express his own part of advice, albeit not with whispers.
"Aside of the economic benefits, this meeting il peut aussi benefit the Commissariat as well. Being the Coalition's intellingence branch, cooperation with the BIS est la clé to sabotage and slow down the Gallic Tyrant's fleet, which is the main threat, without forgetting the other enemy we fight against, les Corsaires."
This said, he leaned back on his seat and relaxed a bit, while on the way to Omega-49. And he also wondered how the Bretonians would react to its Gaul accent...
The most silent of the bunch, Lukas rehearsed the various potential scenarios that would arise during the proceedings, given the delegation that had been called this would most definitely cover matters related to all branches of the Coalition's forces and polity. The proposal to initiate talks however miniscule with the Kingdom of Bretonia did in fact come from his side, influence such as this could go a long way not just for the Coalition but also for its allies in the region. "We have an important series of meetings ahead of us, not to mention that these are talks with people whom we shot at not so long ago, tensions will be high and the key will be avoiding raising them any further but instead finding viable and mutually beneficial agreements. To that end DeGrasse, I suggest plain English over your native tongue."
Lukas took a moments pause to carefully consider his next set of words, after all he was addressing the current Dictator or Premier and not the common brainwashed lackey. Men with agendas were notably more complicated and tightly strung. "Premier, an important topic for us remains the triumvirate, if these talks do not succeed in grand scale then an effort was made, it's important that we do not forget Dublin and our friends within it. The best we can do is observe the tides and decide which way we want to float."
Having spoke his mind without any censorship Lukas would fall back into silence, not desiring to exhaust himself with talk even before the actual "talking" had begun. The exact nature of how well or volatile the very near future would conform to was anyone's guess, but at least to Lukas the path of his mission was becoming increasingly clear.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Once inside, the noise disappeared, all was still and quiet within the confines of the base as the delegation all followed the officer, who turned out to be a major, until they came to a meeting room with two large crescent shaped tables that shaped a circle, each chair at the table had a corresponding placard of who would be sitting there.
If you'll all please take a seat, they have to lock us in the Major said, as the doors were indeed locked behind them. Right then, now that we can all hear ourselves, welcome to Port Jackson, I am Major Tim Saunders. I'm sure you're all quite tired but there won't be much time to go over this later so I'll try and be as quick as possible. The general theme of how the meeting will work and the security measures are reasonably straight forward, each member of the delegation will be given a pass that allows them to travel freely throughout G-wing of this complex, G-wing meaning guest wing in this case, the Coalition delegation will be given the same pass-cards. If you attempt to use the pass-cards in another section, an alarm will be sounded and you'll have some serious explaining to do, so I advise you don't do that. These meetings are scheduled to take place over three days, but of course if they get done before that all the better. While you are in this room, you will be alone, and locked in, this room is sound proof and the only other person is assigned secretary who is in charge of keeping the minutes of the conversation, I assure you he has undergone a complete background and he's clean. Aside from that, please don't leave the base, no weapons are permitted at anytime, and I will relay the exact same instructions to the coalition when they arrive, you'll now be shown to your rooms. With that, the doors were opened and the guests ushered to their sleeping quarters.
There was practically no fanfare as the mundane transporter the Coalition officials elected to use had steamed its way to the near orbit of Gran Canaria. The entire affair was a clandestine one meant to protect the valuable men who were representing the Peoples' Republic. Outwardly it was "just another trader" to any potential eyes that were prying about. Careful arrangements were made to get from point A to point B. The only ones who would be made privy to the whole operation were the Bretonians and their staff needed to conduct the final arrival to the starport.
Everyone had finished their preparations, now it was time to proceed with the arrival and the meeting itself.
Having only just arrived, the Coalition delegation was shown to their rooms for the day and given the remaining hours they had to adjust to the new setting and prepare for the discussions of the coming day. Personally, Keller would remain awake for quite some time, rehearsing how he would handle this and sending a dispatch order to the assistant he'd told to accompany him for the duration of these meetings. With his preparations done and mind at ease for the time being, he would let himself rest for at least four hours before waking the following morning and dressing himself appropriately.
Entering the venue was simple enough since he had his pass with him, all he had to do was present it to the guards outside and he was then ushered in and shown to a pristine desk and chair that was very clearly labelled for him with a placard on the front, which read "Field Marshal Keller". The other members of the Coalition delegation followed in after him, and he'd spend a few moments waiting before taking a seat in unison with his peers.
He was sure they would begin with the opening statements now, perhaps a word of introduction and some flowery metaphors. Whatever pleased the Bretonian polity and was deemed appropriate by their individual culture. He sat straight and postured himself for what was to come, maintaining all the discipline and strength the Field Marshal of the Coalition would be expected to have.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
After the Coalition delegation's landing, they were shown the rooms for the day. Commissar De Grasse took the occasion to prepare for the upcoming day's possible discussions as well as taking some rest, before waking the following morning, donning his usual Commissar garments.
Getting to the meeting site wasn't hard at all: having the pass with himself allowed him to show it to the guards, which halted him briefly in order to remove his handgun. Reclutantly, he gave the guard his faithful gun, giving it a cold, chilling glare before entering.
He was presented to his desk and chair, with the placard on the front reading "Commissar Michel De Grasse". Before taking the seat with his own comrades, he spent a brief moment with them.
The Bretonians would start with an opening statement and something to 'sweeten the pill' as a means of something appropriate to their culture.
He sat straight, as usual - his deep-blue eyes gazing the room and its denizens, maintaining the usual cold demeanor as one of His Watchful Eye's Commissars has to.