Talks much needed (Belmontien - Marquen Security Talks)

[Serenierre]

Maison de Grosvenor
Paris

Paris stood silent. Traffic was light, nonexistent in some areas, and the Ranger's APCs were lined along many of the streets. Many of entrances to the main boulevards of the historic city were barricaded. Paris, nay, all Belmont was tense. The bombings in Carcassonne had killed 211 and 800 still lay in the hospitals recovering from their injuries. The attack by the APM had shaken the people of the Gallian nation, terrorized them, in fact. Belmont had suffered economically as well, in three days, the Marseilles Stock Exchange had gone down quite significantly. That was not acceptable, not at all.

Parliament had been harsh, the public too, but Shahrazad had to maintain her cool when dealing with the Marquen Chancellor. She, herself, would have preferred to deal with the man long before the attack occurred and even discussed the threats of the APM with the Franconian Chancellor, but sometimes, sadly, people have to die for others to take notice of the fact that something's gone awry. Shahrazad Martinique, the iron lady of Belmont, had to admit the attacks couldn't have come at a worse time, after all she was trying to push through Belmontien associate membership in the Parliament.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs had gone to the airport to escort Chancellor Rouve to Maison de Grosvenor, the route chosen was a quick one, especially without traffic, the entourage would reach the centre of Paris in half an hour. Shahrazad Martinique still had fifteen minutes to go before the Marquen delegation would arrive.​

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

The role of Chancellor had always been an ambiguous one. Some were expected only to be the voice of the Royal Petitioners and others, such as Rouve, had shared the position of Head of Government with the King. The motorcade had taken its time, driving north from Fond du Loc. Jean Rouve wanted to see the countryside of both nations. It also allowed him to get more work done. They had alerted the Belmontien government the night before for security and diplomatic reasons.

Rouve had just begun to enjoy the sound of the light rain hitting the roof and windshield when the motorcade entered the bustling city of Paris. Rouve enjoyed the sights as the small, indiscreet, 3 car motorcade made it's way through Paris streets. The rain appeared to be lightening much to the dismay of Rouve who had continued to enjoy the light drizzle. Rouve glanced at his watch. They were about 25 minutes early. "Up there, where the black car is parked on the side of the road.." said Rouve eager to stretch his legs after such a long ride. It was indeed an unorthodox way to travel but Rouve sometimes preferred it. He opened the door to be quickly hit by the crisp smell of newly fallen rain. His body guards clambered around him as he approached a small fire station. After being met by the shift leader, Rouve shook hands with the firefighters and was able to share very brief words with each before continuing on his way.

Finally, the motorcade arrived at Maison de Grosvenor, just as a drizzle began falling once again.

 

[Serenierre]

Premier's Office, Maison de Grosvenor
Paris​

Shahrazad walked slowly towards her office. The meeting between her and Rouve was to be private. Just between the two of them. Holding the dossier under her left arm, she sipped the warm coffee as her secretary informed her that Rouve was going to be late. She said nothing but kept walking. The walk from the residence to the office wing was less than five minutes.

She entered her office and took a seat on the sofa in front of the massive window, overlooking the small rose garden. The cloudy sky and the light drizzle was rather picturesque but Shahrazad wasn't too interested in admiring the beauty in front of her, at least not now. Her mind was constantly being pulled in two directions. Her push for Belmontien integration into the EDF as an associate member, a major foreign policy initiative, and the security talks with Marquette. On the homefront, the Conservatives were not happy at all. But one couldn't keep everyone happy.

***​

As Rouve entered the office, Shahrazad stood up, smiled and shook her counterpart's hand firmly. "I'm happy you could come to meet me so soon. I do hope your travels went well."

​

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Rouve bowed slightly. "The trip was rather relaxing. Thank you for the hospitality." said Rouve as he turned to be handed a briefcase by an aid before the door shut.

"Madam Shahrazad, I would like to begin as soon as possible." said Rouve as he lowered himself into the seat. He glanced out the window to see the sun attempting to seep through the low rain clouds. Crossing his legs and clasping his hands together, Rouve sat back. "How can I be of service?"

 

[Serenierre]

Taking her seat, Shahrazad smiled at the man as he sat down on the single seater next to her. She turned, to look at him, "I'm happy you're getting down straight to business." she paused, she looked at the other sternly and spoke firmly, "This issue of the APM infiltrating south Belmont is not something I want to see continue.

As you must know, the Carcassonne bombings were brutal and killed over two hundred innocent Belmontiens... not to mention the eight hundred others it injured and the millions of Francs worth of damage caused to the local economy... as you know, these are security talks... the main purpose of these talks is to come to a concrete policy to keep the APM from spreading out of Marquette and using safehavens in Belmont to carry out their agenda."

Shahrazad looked at Rouve, waiting for the man to start speaking.

 

[Serenierre]

Taking her seat, Shahrazad smiled at the man as he sat down on the single seater next to her. She turned, to look at him, "I'm happy you're getting down straight to business." she paused, she looked at the other sternly and spoke firmly, "This issue of the APM infiltrating south Belmont is not something I want to see continue.

As you must know, the Carcassonne bombings were brutal and killed over two hundred innocent Belmontiens... not to mention the eight hundred others it injured and the millions of Francs worth of damage caused to the local economy... as you know, these are security talks... the main purpose of these talks is to come to a concrete policy to keep the APM from spreading out of Marquette and using safehavens in Belmont to carry out their agenda."

Shahrazad looked at Rouve, waiting for the man to start speaking.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"Madam Shahrazad, firstly allow me to be blunt;" started Rouve as he looked directly at his Belmontien counterpart. "We have been taking measures against the APM. Mass arrests, continued and expanded intelligence are our main operations. We have reason to believe this is not the APM proper, but an offshoot of the APM known as Red Clay. Since taking down the leadership of APM, a power vacuum was created." Rouve paused to remove the photos of 3 men from his briefcase.

"These three men were arrested with the others. They are the leaders and were quietly executed March 3rd" said Rouve as he laid the three photos out on the table before the two leaders.

"Obviously this is classified. The rest will be given real trials. Not show trials like they received. Now, we know Red Clay only has around 45-65 members and has the same command structure as APM. 3 leaders. We don't know who they are but we know they do not use phones themselves and have others do it for them." said Rouve before sitting back and crossing his arms.

"You ask what can we do about it and I tell you that we have been going after APM and dealt them a substantial blow. We have one of the finest border security forces in the world. Almost any border is crossable madam, no matter the security. We have increased security. We have done everything madam. The next step is for you to eliminate 'safe havens' for these members." said Rouve leaning in close.

Rouve stopped to ask for a drink of water and to hopefully gain a response.

 

[Serenierre]

"The very reason Carcassonne was attacked was because we were cracking down on safe havens," Shahrazad said annoyed at the other, "As you know, we have arrested almost three hundred people in Belmont who have been identified as working in support of the APM or its offshoot... if my memory serves me, 275 of those arrested are Marquen nationals. While Red Clay might only have 45 or so members, I know for a fact that, many APM members fled Marquette in the wake of their leader's arrest and were hoping to vanish in the hustle and bustle of south Belmont..." She paused, looking at the man, her gaze firm, "But, Marquette can not expect us to solely crack down... we expect measures from Fond du Loc as well. And seeing that this is a common problem, I expect we should agree to share intelligence related to cracking them... don't you think so?"

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"Obviously. The fact is that we are currently doing everything we can. We arrested every violent APM member that we knew of. Some members of APM appear to be non-violent. We took steps to contain them. From what I understand the APM members who probably fled were the non-violent ones. However, we did identify 21 who you arrested as possibly violent" said Rouve as he removed a document full of names from his briefcase.


"Do not imply madam that we are not taking measures. You're looking at a situation where we can do little until we gain more intelligence. Right now, the only people we are after are Red Clay. APM is a threat, politically. Now it seems they are rather impotent. APM was a union of 2 halves. 1 was a political arm and the other a violent arm. Within the violent arm was Red Clay. Now that there is no violent arm, Red Clay may run a muck. This is unfortunately what has happened" said Rouve as he sat back and wiped a smudge from his glasses.


"I propose a task force be set up between our security agencies. We maintain a tight border but not a closed one. We will be taking all due precautions of course."

 

[Serenierre]

"I don't mean to say that Marquette is not doing its share... its that, we don't know what your guys are doing and you don't know what my guys are doing... on the ground. I do agree that a tight border security protocol should be maintained... but do remember one thing Chancellor Rouve... the APM is primarily a Marquen problem and its spillover into southern Belmont, while not to my liking, shows that you are doing something right... but since its primarily a Marquen problem... I expect Fond du Loc to show more visible moves against the APM." Shahrazad said, leaning back into the sofa.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"What moves can we make? We do know what your guys are up to....well, vaguely. APM is not a problem anymore. Red Clay is the only target. As I have said we rounded up most of the violent APM members and you captured the rest. Maybe we missed 5 or 10. The point is that APM is no longer a terrorism issue. It is an immigration issue. I assure you that the violent APM members were apprehended. In fact, most were turned in by APM members who are looking to form a legitimate political party. Red Clay is the only target." Rouve stopped for a moment and finished his glass of water. He shuffled around his briefcase searching for something.

Rouve placed a folder on the table. "There inside is signed affidavits by members of APM. The APM in your country is not violent. These affidavits were signed 2 weeks before our operations. We believe that that those who signed these indeed did not want to see a violent APM. Currently we are investigating who Red Clay is composed of."

 

[Serenierre]

"I do think that you are downplaying the importance of the matter, no offense intended." Shahrazad said smiling at the man, her tone calm and steady, "Well, in your eyes it may be an immigration issue but it is Belmont where attacks were carried out... over two hundred dead, eight hundred injured with varying degrees of intensity... " she trailed off as Rouve passed her the affidavits. Once handed to her, she read them carefully, "Well, if that is the case... let me assure you the APM shall be hunted down in the way it is being done so... violent or not, they are not Belmontien," she said unyieldingly.

"Red Clay, as you call it, is a grave concern... something which even I wasn't expecting... so, what do you know of them?" she asked, again, looking straight at Rouve.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"Well, this means that most of the APM members you arrested must be courted. Yes they are guilty of breaking immigration laws in your nation but they were not prosecuted for this. Most of these people are peaceful and were merely afraid of guilt by association even though they turned in the violent APM members to us." said Rouve taking a sip from his newly refilled glass of water.

"As I said, we do not know who the Red Clay members are. We know they do not view themselves as terrorists as the violent APM faction was. They are more militant. The have a hierarchy of 3 captains who control the group. There are 2 lieutenants under each captain. Under each lieutenant are 1 or 2 commanders. Under the commanders are soldiers. We know that there is between 45 and 65 members and that is all we know." said Rouve as he took a sheet from his briefcase and slid it across the table.

The sheet illustrated the command structure in a few variations but mostly showed the same thing. "If we can court more APM members into turning on violent men, we can figure out who Red Clay members are. It is the only way."

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Rouve relaxed in his chair, glancing at his Belmontien counterpart. He was waiting for a reply so the two could move on. She seemed speechless. "Madam?"

 

[Serenierre]

"Well, Chancellor I agree with you. So what do you propose?"

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"Leave border security tight, let us start interviewing APM members and continue gathering intel on Red Clay. We will find out where they get their income from, trace the money and close accounts. Our intelligence agencies will of course work together. That is our current plan. Anything you wish to add? If not it pleases me to invite your nation for formally join the EDF as a Tier 2 Member. Now, I am lacking on details but formal admittance will happen soon. There is some paperwork and whatnot to do. " said Rouve fixing his jacket.

 

[Serenierre]

"There seems not much I can add to the matter. And," extending her hand, "The Kingdom of Belmont accepts this invitation."