Do sleeping giants dream of waking up?

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Long shadows were stretching from the towering brickworks of the Red House over the green yards surrounding it. The sun was close to setting, but the Presidential Mansion was a busy as it hadn't been in days. A new administration had gathered in the wood-paneled rooms, behind colored windows and the art-deco engraved doors. An administration with ambitions to change the course of history.

"Good evening, friends, comrades."

Donna Trumm, no, President Trumm had taken the seat in the presidential office with overabundant confidence and with a certain sense of entitlement. She had little doubt that she belonged here and it had shown from the very first day, despite often still not yet finding the way to the toilet on her own. She had a historical mission to fulfill, of that much the new president was certain. Everything else she would figure out along the way.

"We all have a lot of work to do, so I am trying to keep this particular meeting as short as possible. Louis and Ralph," she waved to the Chief Secretaries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, "you've already set in motion our plans in Burgundy, which will hopefully help to prolong the war there to weaken our enemies and keep them distracted for now. This should give us time to renew our armed forces without exposing us to potential attacks from the Cussians, at least not more so than we already are. The announcement will be made as soon as we have finished drawing up the order. Meanwhile, we will have to draft up new plans for the economy to finance this reform programme.

But that's not what I called you here to discuss right now. All in due time. We can only do so much through institutional reforms, new laws or buying new things. Our chief goal must be to reinvigorate the spirit of the citizenry, to instill a new sense of pride in the World Republic and a new faith in its historic mission, its manifest destiny. Even before our election victory, I had given the different proposals you all had put forward some thought and now, with access to Intelligence briefings, this picture has become much clearer."

Donna thought back. There had been suggestions of a space programme and other scientific endeavours to generate this pride through technological progress. Others had suggested a massive immigration campaign that would show to the world and the citizens of the SWR alike that the Republic was the most desirable place to live in. Some more outlandish plans had even considered staging incidents with the Cussians or the southern Engellish, to unite the SWR through an outside threat. None of those had impressed the new President.

"I believe that expansion is the way to go, that by bringing in a new state, any state, into the union, we could revive the belief that this Republic isn't just another state in Westernesse, but that it has a global mission to complete. And I have pondered long and hard about where we could feasibly achieve such an expansion, an expansion that can't be just the military conquest of a neighbour, at least not purely.

The most likely and feasible choices are our direct neighbours. Clarenthia and Beautancus, however, are both too stable internally, at least at the moment. Any attempt to even just carve out a defecting border territory is likely to fail and carries the potential risk of confrontation with Dominion forces. A confrontation that is sure to nip our plans in the bud and have the opposing effects on our plans than intended.

This leaves Vaquero Free State and its puppet territory in Tapenagá. I believe it is possible to destabilize their government and that our current ressources are furthermore sufficient to foster sufficient support for statehood amongst the populace. Not unimportantly, too, the territories would be of strategic value and alleviate the threat the Cussians pose to Westport in case of war. Integrating these countries is furthermore feasible from an economic point of view and would benefit the SWR instead of overburdening it.

Ladies and gentlemen, my decision on this matter is final. Let us proceed to discuss the details of this operation..."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Arthur Black threw confused looks to the left and the right, into the empty rooms adjacent to the main hall with its grand staircase. There was no one in sight, nor could he hear anyone approaching. The only sound was the constant rattering of a ventilator that had become slightly unhinged.

He sighed and dropped his suitcase to the ground. Black had been warned that the staff in the embassy had taken its duties less than serious in recent years. Despite being a direct neighbour to the World Republic, the Vaquero Free State had been considered of lesser importance by the Social Democrats, because its central government had effectively too little power to really enforce most deals the Republic would have wanted to make with it.

"Oh, a visitor," a surprised voice acknowledged Blacks presence and an older man came slowly walking down the staircase. It was the ambassador. "To what do I owe this visit?"

They say, first impressions are everything. Black was less than impressed with that of the ambassador. "I am Arthur Black," he sighed, rubbing his left temple in annoyance. "You were informed of my deployment to this post days ago."

Indeed, the ambassador had received a lengthy instruction as to receiving an intelligence officer for a new mission in the Vaquero Free States. Arthur Black was to investigate the political environment of the Free State, find those supportive of the World Republic amongst its political fringes and provide detailed dossiers about them, so the higher ups could then decide which of those to approach for the formation of a new political party supporting membership in the SWR. It was amibitious, it was naive, it was foolish, at least that's what the ambassador had thought and which was why he had paid it no further thought, to the point of forgetting all about Blacks planned arrival.

"My apologies, Mr. Black. You will find that time here in the Free States runs a lot slower than in the rest of Europe. And that we have to be more relaxed, even careless, as a consequence of this. I will have your baggage brought into your room immediately. Surely you must be hungry from your trip? Let me treat you to dinner. I could give you a first introduction to the capital, while we are at it..."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

A gentle breeze came from the Cassiopeian sea and blew the dust from the cobblestones of the old city. Arthur Black found the scenery to be quite charming and much of the old colonial architecture to be rather endearing, too. It was unlike most of the Implarian states, where the relentless march of modernity had most of the older buildings replaced at some point and it was also unlike the Vaquero Free States most tourists from the SWR would see, that glim and glam of the border-towns where young people went to drink, fuck and take drugs they couldn't acquire as easily on the other side of the border.

And Arthur found himself liking the coffee of this nation. A few days into his mission, he would already pursue most of his deskwork at a small café at the old harbor. At days he felt peckish, he would order a piece of pastry or a sandwich to go along with it, but on many days just a coffee sufficed. Strong, dark, but with sugar, he would enjoy the steamy beverage while scribbling away notes in an encoded notebook. Names, addresses, phone numbers and political leanings. Anything he learned about potential pawns for the World Republic.

This wasn't just people sympathetic to the World Republic, not just people naive and idealistic enough to argue for statehood. Unbeknownst to his hosts in the embassy, Black had been tasked with a more insidious mission along with finding people to form a new Union Party with. He was also tasked with bringing about conditions that would make statehood in the World Republic seem like a genuinely better idea than independence.

To that end, Arthur was also gathering intelligence on extremists in the Vaquero Free States. On the potentially violent catholic far-right, on nationalists and on organized crime syndicates. Any group that could lead to bloodshed and destabilize the country from within, so the World Republic could come to its rescue. When the time was ripe, these groups would find they have an anonymous foreign benefactor, they just wouldn't be aware that his agenda was opposite to theirs, that they would be the pawns of Deliverance.