iOctagon

May 12th, 1420 6:30 AM Auran Standard Time / 8:30 AM Over Time Fribernese Fortress, Federal City of Friberne, Canton of Friberne, Santos-Dominius "What is it, Paul? Why did you summon me here this early in the morning? I have meetings this afternoon, and now my eyes are going to be baggy because of you!" Stuyvesant-Callaghan asked as she walked into the room. This was a busy day - Dominion Bank had a major deal to negotiate with another big corporation. As CEO of the bank, she was to do reading on the corporation's tactics, operations and details - so as to intimidate and threaten its representatives and secure a deal that would maximise benefit for the DB. But now, here she was, disgruntled and sitting in the meeting room at the Fribernese Fortress with the old and near-centenarian President Paul Goldberg. Her disheveled and frazzled assistant put her bag on a chair next to her and put a vase of flowers on the table as she sat down angrily. "I'm sorry, Harriet, but I've summoned you on urgent business. It's about the Zoranian Civil War." Goldberg replied. "What about it? Didn't we make a deal with that Quasena guy a while ago? I haven't heard from you about this war since then, so I assume that it's going smooth enough." "Well, Harriet, it's safe to say that...I'm getting cold feet. And I need your advice on whether we should limit our involvement, stay the same, or increase our support for the corporates." Goldberg said in a reserved manner. Evidently, the old President was having concerns about both his political career and the safety of his relatively small country. If he makes the right decisions, then both would be safeguarded. But ally with the wrong people, send support at the wrong time or make any other wrong decision, and both would be in enormous peril. He was over 90 years old, and he didn't want the legacy of his 2nd term to be that of a catastrophic failure. "Cold feet? You asked me to get here to provide you advice because you're having cold feet? Are you out of your mind, Paul?" Stuyvesant-Callaghan said as she walked towards the President. "You have advisors! National security advisors! Military generals! Seasoned diplomats! All at your disposal! Why bother me when you know I'm a busy woman with far too many responsibilities and far too limited amounts of time to deal with your cowardice!?" "Stop it, Harriet! Don't you bully an old man." Goldberg stubbornly replied. "I have invited you here because you are my only major collaborator in this scheme of ours. Telling anyone else in the government would risk leaking this clandestine operation - one that isn't authorised by the National Senate, mind you - to the opposition. Just imagine the field day Art Bernstein and the Coalition of Roses will have with this scheme if it leaks! My party and I will crash to defeat at the next cantonal elections in Niedersasslen. Your bank will have serious questions to answer and will fire you. The stakes are too high for me to make a decision on my own!" "Ugh! This is why I hate the public sector with a passion. People like Senator Bernstein cannot be bought, unlike in the private sector, where everyone is for sale...only at different prices." Stuyvesant-Callaghan moaned. "So, what are our options? Remind me again - and quickly! I still have work to do." "Our first option is to stay the same, Harriet." Goldberg explained. "As long as we remain silent and keep upholding our end of the bargain, the corporates will probably give us the benefits they promised without fail. But, since our involvement with the corporates is low-profile, illicit under Santo-Dominian law and politically damaging if leaked, Quasena can easily renege on his word and refuse to give us anything if he does win. We will have nothing to hold against him, nothing to force him to give us what he owes. And we don't even know if he will win." "Sounds like blind faith, Paul." Stuyvesant-Callaghan remarked. "That's very risky." "It is blind faith, Harriet. And yes, it's risky. So that's why we can consider the second option: pulling out of the war. We will inform Quasena of our unwillingness to continue supporting the corporates in the war, and then slowly but surely cut back our aid until we fully retreat. We will cut our losses if Quasena had decided not to pay us back, but we will also miss out on the war chest if Quasena had originally decided to pay us what he owes to us. It's the safest option, but also the one that doesn't give us any benefits except an opportunity to fully save ourselves and avoid anything if Quasena loses." "Sounds dumb. So, I assume that the final option is increasing our aid to the corporates." "Correct, Harriet." Goldberg said. "We can opt to increase our monetary aid to the corporates. Now, we can either inform Quasena of our willingness to further support him...or we can choose to keep that from him. If we choose to inform Quasena, we will be able to secure his trust with our forthright attitude and honesty - but we will lose a bargaining chip. If we choose to go behind his back, we can make him inadvertently rely on us more. This is the bargaining chip we will get if we choose to increase support without consulting him, and it's the one we'll lose if we tell him." "Three options...and all of them have positives and negatives. Well, Paul. I've already made my decision. But I want to hear from you. What's your decision?" Stuyvesant-Callaghan probed. "Well..." Goldberg answered. "...I was thinking we should either maintain our current level of support, or pull out of the war entirely. You know, I'm serving my 2nd term as President, and I intend to run for re-election one last time in February 1421 to secure my 3rd and final term. If our involvement gets out, I will be doomed. Utterly. So I'm just thinking that we should play it safe and back out." "You coward! I knew that caution ran in your blood." Stuyvesant-Callaghan barked. "Well, I like risks. Actually, to rephrase, I like taking risks with big potential rewards. I think we should opt to increase our monetary aid to the Zoranian corporates and Quasena. The war has been raging on for a bit now, and if we can send enough support, we might be able to help Quasena win decisive victories that scores him the final triumph in this devastating war. Then, we will be able to reap the numerous benefits we're entitled to for supporting the right people at the right moment by taking the right risks." "Alright, alright! You're really disrespectful and rude in the morning, Harriet. Fine! We shall proceed with your plan. But since I call the shots in this country, we're informing Quasena of our willingness to increase aid. I'm not going to gamble big and try going behind his back - we don't know what tricks he has up his sleeve. I'll have someone send him a message via secure channels that will ensure the secrecy of this operation and our involvement. You can go now, Harriet." Goldberg said. Harriet Stuyvesant-Callaghan snatched her bag, stood up and left the room in a composed hurry. President Goldberg then closed his briefing book, stood up, turned off the TV in the meeting room and went upstairs to his presidential office. Then, Stuyvesant-Callaghan's assistant came into the room, picked up the vase of flowers, and detached from its inside a small black cube that flashed a small red light. It was a recording device.

May 5, 1420 1:24AM International Atomic Time / 2:24AM Over Time Fribernese Fortress, Federal City of Friberne, Santos-Dominius "Are we ready to seal the deal yet? I'm tired of this inaction. We need to finalise this thing, and we will do it here and now!" This was Harriet Stuyvesant-Callaghan, CEO of Dominion Bank, the dominant banking corporation in the Federal Republic of Santos-Dominius and one of the largest and most secretive financial institutions in not only Aura, but the entire world. Heard by few and seen doing business by even fewer, the DB has long been rumoured to be one of the most corrupt multinational companies in the leafy archipelago country, doing deals with the 0.001% and pursuing the shadiest of transactions solely for profit in the form of gold or cash. Stuyvesant-Callaghan herself - the absolute worst and most ruthless in the entire banking and financial industry in Santos-Dominius. "Not now, not here! Can't you just wait? We're getting on a helicopter that will fly us directly to a black site in the Canton of Nordrhuin-Theronigen. This is a high-risk deal with a controversial faction participating in a significant civil war. This contradicts years and decades of Santo-Dominian neutrality! As President, I do not want our unspeakable goings-on revealed or exposed like dirty laundry. If we do a secret deal, we're gonna do it the right way: on a secure call in virtual reality in a secure black site facility accessible only with my explicit in-person permission." This was President Paul R. Goldberg, who is in for the battle of his political life as he struggles to ensure his re-election in the tightest presidential race in Santo-Dominian history. As both Stuyvesant-Callaghan and Goldberg boarded the military helicopter in the large courtyard of the Fribernese Fortress, they both acknowledged that they had way too much to lose if this deal were to be exposed. For Stuyvesant-Callaghan, it would be her ability to attract private low-profile clientele. For Goldberg, it would be his ability to win re-election and his entire political career. Secrecy, they agreed, was paramount in this deal, and they would exhaust every option available to make sure that intimate knowledge of the upcoming event would not go outside of the meeting room. May 5, 1420 3:57AM International Atomic Time / 4:57AM Over Time Unknown Black Site, Canton of Nordrhuin-Theronigen, Santos-Dominius "Mr President, the Zoranian corporates are ready to converse. Do we have authorisation to begin the call?" "Yes, I now authorise you to begin the call." "Please put on the virtual reality headsets, Mr President and Ms Stuyvesant-Callaghan. Your privacy and protection must be guaranteed." Both put on their virtual reality headsets as the voice of Kunagadoga Quasena, one of the leaders of the corporate faction in the Zoranian Civil War, is heard clearly. A dark grey shadow is displayed in the meeting room depicted in the virtual headset. "Good morning, Mr Quasena. I am President Goldberg of Santos-Dominius, and here with me is Harriet Stuyvesant-Callaghan, CEO of Dominion Bank." "Good morning, Mr Quasena. There's no time for talk. Let's get straight to business. We are presenting you with an extremely favourable deal. Actually, that sounds criminal. Call it an 'investment package' instead." Mr Quasena remarked: "I like the way you think, time is money after all." "It's what I do for a living. Now back to business!" Stuyvesant-Callaghan replied. Pushing a button in her headset, she pulled up a holographic slideshow in the virtual reality meeting room, and continued. "As the chief executive officer of Dominion Bank, we are officially writing the Zoranian Banking Clan thirteen cheques, with each being precisely ten million SD Dollars. They are unconditionally cashable at any point during the duration of the conflict, but I advise you to use these funds sparingly. Cashing too many of the cheques on a single occasion will present a logistical nightmare for my bank and my subordinates, and it will also draw extremely unwanted attention from some of the more inquisitive underlings of mine, or worse, the press. Therefore, I repeat, cash the cheques sparingly and separately so we can avoid getting onto the headlines of the Santo-Dominian Post." "A very generous offer, Ms Stuyvesant-Callaghan. Now pardon me, will there be any other......resources?" Mr Quasena asked. President Goldberg replied: "Of course. Seeing that the Santo-Dominian economy has done exceptionally well this year, Ms Stuyvesant-Callaghan here has managed to expertly convince a few other big names from our country to give up the exponential amounts of corporate welfare and business subsidies. Jean-Phillippe Montserrat, CEO of Meteor Telecom, as well as Otto Friedrich Schulze, CEO of A&A Unlimited, have both agreed to her proposal to have their own companies do the same. My team of lawyers and legal scholars have found loopholes in Santo-Dominian law to instead inject those subsidies into your faction in form of cold, hard money. We will send it straight to you, no hassle. Our team will handle all the necessary procedures. You have my word that there shall be no headaches for you about this." "I hope you extend on keeping that promise. Now what do you want in return? I know that regardless of what you say you are going to want something in return.” Mr Quasena inquired. "There's no actual catch, Mr Quasena." Stuyvesant-Callaghan calmly responded. "In my entire career, I have made countless similar deals with no legal or financial catches. Many of my clients could've easily taken the money I gave them. They could've all gotten away scot-free without a day in court or a second in jail. But that's because President Goldberg and I have far more power in this conversation than you realise." President Goldberg said: "We have the power of exposure. We expect some sort of tangible financial return or reward from supporting your faction with so much money. And if you betray us, then we will be forced to do two things." "Number one: publicise this deal. Doing so will bring all three of us down, even if it means great harm to ourselves." Stuyvesant-Callaghan said as her smile faded. "Number two: we'll retract all the financial aid and make it nothing but scraps of useless paper. And instead inject the money into the monarchist faction." President Goldberg added. "We expect favours in return, Mr Quasena. Santo-Dominians are neutral, but when we do business, we know how to play smart too." "You may have had power but I am going to give you a little lesson. Never reveal your hand to the person on the other side of the table. By revealing your hand to me you just exposed your weapon and diminished your power." Mr Quasena rebutted. "Hm? And what lesson do you intend to give?" The President says, his voice audibly becoming a bit nervous. "First off, I am not so worried as to what you could reveal, I have faced far worse things before and crushed bigger ants. This would be more of a liability to you in Santos Dominius as you would have violated your neutrality policy. I, on the other hand, would not be so badly affected." President Goldberg lets out a silent but audible grunt of frustration, probably realising that the both of them had played their hand too early. "Two, the monarchists are of no concern; they are only held together under that foolish girl Atsil, who will not be much of a threat to me very soon. Lastly, while we do appreciate the financial aid, the Corporate Union has more than enough funds in reserve to last us for about four years. Now I must say, you both have balls making a threat like that to me,” he cuts the end of a cigar before lighting it, “but we are civil folk, yes? I will let your ham-fisted attempt at a threat slide if we just let the deal proceed as discussed. Of course, I will pay you all back once the country is under the Union’s control, that is a given. What sort of businessman I would be if I didn’t provide returns on an investment.” "Ah ha ha! Consider what we said a harmless joke. It was just our way of testing your resolve and your competence. We like your bravery, and admire your willingness to do whatever is necessary. You play to win, and we see that. Consider the deal sealed. Let us hope that your faction is too big to fail. Both President Goldberg and I can't wait to hear of your inevitable success soon. I'll leave you to whatever it is you're doing." Stuyvesant-Callaghan said as she attempted to transition out of their truly miscalculated threat to Quasena. Evidently, it was a terrible move on her part, one that clearly backfired on both her and the President. A short notification alert was heard, signalling Quasena's departure from the meeting. "Next time, Harriet, use your brain before you threaten the leader of the Zoranian corporates! He's not just some tiny guy. He's a proven leader, and you should've known not to deal with him like you deal with your insignificant employees. Let's get out of here. I shouldn't have backed you up. Now I've made a fool of myself! The more I think about that embarrassment, the worse my day becomes!" President Goldberg angrily boomed after making sure Quasena was no longer in the meeting. In the end, as the two signed off from the meeting, removed their VR headsets and walked out the room, they knew that their partnership was successful. Now all they could do was pray that the Zoranian corporates would win, and they would reap plentiful rewards from supporting the right faction at the right moment, for the rewards are huge, but so are the risks.

I, Santos-Dominius, swear that I have, to the best of my knowledge, been completely truthful in applying for citizenship in The West Pacific and that I have no other NationStates identity that has not been made known in this application. I swear my allegiance to The West Pacific and its citizens, and I swear not to engage in hostilities against The West Pacific or to violate The Manners of Governance, or any laws made pursuant to it.

I, Santos-Dominius, swear that I have, to the best of my knowledge, been completely truthful in applying for citizenship in The West Pacific and that I have no other NationStates identity that has not been made known in this application. I swear my allegiance to The West Pacific and its citizens, and I swear not to engage in hostilities against The West Pacific or to violate The Manners of Governance, or any laws made pursuant to it.