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Post by seychelles on Jun 28, 2011 13:17:02 GMT -5
“Of course. That’s just the way things work. You gain as much power as you possibly can and keep one step ahead of your closest rival. That’s the key to success being a nation.”
Well, there went all of Seychelles’ ideas that she could just relax and keep to herself and still become a successful nation. But how could a nation as small and virtually powerless as Seychelles become so powerful? And who was her closest rival? If Russia meant that she should try to stay a step ahead of England, then he should probably get mental help, or at least work on his logic skills. As much as she hated to admit it, she could never take on her former oppressor, and it would be stupid of her to try. America might have done it when he was only a colony, but Seychelles was no America.
“And you can’t gain power if you’re not aggressive. If you notice, the less confrontational nations are the nation with the least amount of power and global sway.”
Was that her answer? She needed to be aggressive, even when it seemed stupid and reckless? How could that help her gain strength as a nation? Unless it was the aggressiveness itself that would make her strong …
But Océane couldn’t even decide what kind of nation she wanted to be, what with her opposing political parties and their very different ideas about who she should become. She was surprised that she had even gotten the OK to make an alliance Russia so quickly. How could she be aggressive and confrontational when she couldn’t even decide which of her leaders to listen to? Who among her people should she let decide what she should be aggressive and confrontational about?
Or maybe she should just make them agree. Put one party in charge and force everyone else to go along with what they wanted. Russia did that, right? And it seemed to work for him. Maybe that was the answer.
“So I need power to succeed as a nation,” she said uncertainly. “I don’t have much now, and I can only get it by being aggressive. I guess that makes sense.”
Russia seemed pleased – at least, his face twisted into a creepy smile that made Seychelles shudder. So that was what her fellow nations meant when that said his smile was scary. Seychelles had never thought of smiles as scary, but Russia’s definitely was.
Suddenly, Océane was being strangled by Ivan’s arm, which he had wrapped around her shoulders. She was tempted to struggle against his grip, but remembering how he had grabbed her arm earlier and she hadn’t been able to make him let go, she decided not to waste her effort.
“Speaking of power … what is your stance on nuclear arms?”
Wow. Seychelles could tell that she had chosen a wonderful conversationalist as an ally. After knowing each other for not even a day, he already wanted to talk about such controversial topics?
Nuclear weapons frightened the little island nation, but she wasn’t about to say that. René had warned her that she must do whatever it took to get on good terms with Russia, and she knew he was a nuclear fanatic. Anyway, if she objected too strongly to the controversial weapons, her options for allies would be very limited.
“Um … I don’t want any of my own,” she muttered. “But I don’t really mind if other nations have them.”
She wondered if she had spoken wrong. Russia had just told her to be aggressive, and here she was saying she didn’t want the most powerful weapons the world had ever seen. But that was one thing she was not willing to do. She might be making an alliance with Russia, but she did not want to get too involved in his ongoing conflict. As it was, she was not a likely target for either side, and she wanted to keep it that way. Maybe that was just her natural instinct to avoid confrontation, though. If what Russia said was true, she would have to work on getting over that.
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Post by Russia on Jun 30, 2011 0:16:05 GMT -5
Bright violet eyes wandered down to the small woman he held firmly in his grasp. Nuclear arms always was a difficult topic to get nations to talk about some times, so he was not surprised that it took her a bit to gather her thoughts. No doubt she was just as thrilled with them as he was. How could she not be? With their awesome power and gorgeous designs, it was an alien concept to him that anyone could not be infatuated with them. Any nation that was worth anything in his mind had to appreciate and adore nuclear weaponry. Even if they didn’t admit it on the surface.
“Um … I don’t want any of my own.”
At those first words, his eyes widened slightly in disbelief. Not having the means to make and keep tabs on them was one thing, but to actually not want them seemed impossible to him. Surely he had either misheard Seychelles, or she was not being completely honest about it. Maybe it was simply that she couldn’t afford them and didn’t have the means to make them, so she was just pretending she didn’t want them at all to make herself feel better. A pang of pity arose in the Russian as he studied her for a moment longer. He didn’t often feel pity for anyone, but imagining his less fortunate ally all alone on her island dreaming of nuclear weapons she would never be able to get was enough to drive him to some form of warped sympathy.
“But I don’t really mind if other nations have them.”
“Only your allies though, Да?” In his mind nobody would be okay with their enemies having anything so powerful, so that only made sense. But Seychelles had already confused him by her earlier denial of even wanting nukes, so he figured he would check and make sure that was what she meant. “Nobody wants their enemies to have something like that. It’s a shame that your former master has them.” His smile slipped temporarily at the thought of Arthur and his stash of nuclear weaponry. Why was it that so many other nations had insisted on getting them? Things would have been so much better in his opinion if he had not only been the one to invent the nuclear bomb, but had been the only country to have them. He would have been able to rule the globe by now.
“In all honesty though Seychelles, how could anyone not want such a powerful force? I know you probably don’t have the means to make them, but surely you would like the power and sway that having them would give you, yes?” He was leading his visitor past Blagoveshcheskaya Tower now, and the large bridge that crossed over the Moskva was getting closer and closer. Ivan planned on taking her within the Kremlin walls to see his boss, so they would need to turn away from the river before long. Since he had free access to any part of the Kremlin, he planned on leading her through the armory entrance, which wasn’t used as often by visitors.
Once inside the walls, it would be a quick and simple matter to get to his bosses’ residence. His leader had mentioned making arrangements for Seychelles while she was a guest in their lands, so he would probably have arranged for her to stay somewhere nearby. Ivan planned on leaving it to his boss to give her directions to where she would be staying. His job had been to make friendly conversation and welcome her to his borders. After that, he had other matters to attend to back in Cuba, and didn’t want to stay home any longer than he had to.
As they turned away from the river to approach the armory entrance, the tall blonde cast one last look over his shoulder at the glistening river. It was a shame to leave it in a way. He was not as enamored with bodies of water as his new friend apparently was, but rivers did have an undeniable calming effect.
It took them a bit longer to reach the armory entrance, and Ivan paused as they approached it for a moment. “We’re going to meet with my boss, and he’ll give you directions to where you’ll be staying for the remainder of your visit, Comrade." he informed the dark-haired woman cheerfully, beckoning for her to enter first.
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Post by seychelles on Jul 11, 2011 11:07:28 GMT -5
Seychelles was surprised when Russia asked if it was only her allies she wanted to have nuclear weapons. She had assumed that this would go without saying. Shuddering as she thought of England's nuclear capabilities, Seychelles nodded.
“Of course,” she said. “That’s what I meant. I don’t mind if my allies have them, but of course I’d feel much better if my enemies didn’t. I guess there’s not much we can do about that at this point, though.”
Even though she didn’t think England would actually use them on her, the thought that he could if he wanted to was enough to scare her. That was another good reason to become an ally of the Soviet Union. England and his allies hopefully realized that making Russia angry was just about the best way to start a nuclear world war, and nobody in their right mind would want that.
“In all honesty though Seychelles, how could anyone not want such a powerful force? I know you probably don’t have the means to make them, but surely you would like the power and sway that having them would give you, yes?”
Seychelles contemplated his question for a moment. Of course, as a small island country, isolated and obscure, she definitely did not have the means to make nuclear weapons. But that really wasn’t the only reason why she hadn’t attempted them. She honestly didn’t mind simply being a small, isolated island country. If she had nukes, simply floating along and minding her own business would no longer be an option for her.
But there was something tempting about Russia’s words. How many times had she hated being like another Canada, the country – or colony – who nobody remembered? If she had been more powerful, she could probably have forced her British oppressors to give her independence long ago, like America did. At the very least, her campaign to become a full Crown Colony and stop depending on Mauritius would have been a lot quicker and easier. And what about now? She didn’t mind the isolation, but she hated being so obscure. Most people never knew she existed. While she understood that this was part of being an isolated island, it had annoyed her ever since her early colonial days. If she at least tried for more power, maybe even nuclear power, she might be able to finally be appreciated by her fellow nations.
“I can’t say power isn’t tempting,” she admitted. “But I don’t think it would work out very well for me. Anyway, you’re right; I’ll probably never be able to make them, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Océane noticed that Ivan was leading her towards a building that she was fairly sure was the Kremlin. A few moments later he more or less confirmed that.
“We’re going to meet with my boss, and he’ll give you directions to where you’ll be staying for the remainder of your visit, Comrade."
Océane nodded nervously, wondering what Russia’s boss would be like. Surely there was no way he could be as creepy as his nation, who still gave her the chills despite their new friendship – if a shaky alliance could even be called a friendship. Then again, he had to get the creepiness from somewhere, so maybe his boss was a total psycho. No, she reminded herself, her leaders trusted him enough to agree to an alliance, so surely there would be no problem. She tried to recall his name – hadn’t René mentioned it when he sent her to go make the alliance? Leonid Brezhnev? The name didn’t mean much of anything to her, but at least she would know what to call him.
Océane walked nervously into the Kremlin.
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((OOC: I’m so sorry I kept you waiting so long! I’ve had a really hectic week.))[/color]
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Post by Russia on Jul 14, 2011 20:42:41 GMT -5
The dark haired girl made her way past him after what seemed to Ivan to be a moment of hesitation. Surely she was not afraid of meeting his boss, was she? The blonde could see no reason why she should be, after all, his boss was no scarier than any other political figure. Unless Seychelles imagined that he would randomly call in some sort of secretive forces to take her down in a hail of bullets. But Brezhnev was not really the type to do such a thing, and had no reason whatsoever to order the temporary death of a small nation. Seychelles would get right back up by her boss again even if she were to be shot. Nations just did not die in the same sense that humans did. Not often anyways. Their governments usually had to completely collapse and their culture be absorbed by another nation for them to permanently be “killed.”
“You don’t need to be nervous or afraid of my boss, you know.” He informed the smaller girl as he followed her past the gate and into the complex. “He can’t and wouldn’t cause you any harm. You’re an ally after all, and a nation. Even our special forces are not well suited for killing nations.” He laughed quietly for a moment at the thought, not adding the idea that usually that task was left for other nations.
Passing Seychelles up, Ivan took the lead through the corridor. The Kremlin complex could be a maze for those not familiar with it. He had had a good laugh many times in the past watching tourist get lost while looking for various buildings within those red walls. So it would probably be best to just show Seychelles where to go instead of having her lead and probably end up going the opposite direction.
They exited the covered corridor near the palace of congress building, leaving Ivan blinking rapidly at the sudden brightness from suddenly being out in the sunshine. “We just have to cross the courtyard now to get to his residence.” the Russian explained, shielding his eyes with one hand while starting out across the grassy yard. “I am not sure how long you will be staying, but you are always free to go back and stare at the river more if you want to later on.” he assured the younger nation cheerfully. “I am sure you could find it again on your own even, since it is right next to here.”
All too soon the strange pair of allies were at the main entrance to the Presidential Residence. Without a glance to see if Seychelles was even still following, Ivan swung the large door open and made his way purposefully inside. Taking large strides, he crossed the polished marble floor and lead the way towards his boss’ main office. Stopping just outside the large, ornate mahogany door, he finally waited for Seychelles to catch up, loosening his scarf a little to help with the feeling of being overheated. The building was air conditioned to an extent, but after having spent so much time outside he was starting to feel a tad too hot for comfort now in his heavier clothing.
Reaching out he knocked on the door first, before swinging it open to let Seychelles pass. “I brought you our new ally, Sir.” The blonde explained at his boss’ questioning look. “I figured you might want to let her know where she’ll be staying now.” Uncertain for a moment, the blonde hung back in the doorframe as his boss greeted the other nation.
“I trust Russia has already given you a warm welcome and shown you around a bit. Congratulations again on the independence from Britain. If you would like, I can let you in on your hotel arrangements now, unless you have already checked in elsewhere?”
Ivan’s gaze finally seemed to draw his leader’s eyes back to where he stood rooted to his spot anxiously. It wasn’t that he didn’t like hanging around the Kremlin, but he had places he would rather be en route to at the moment and was eager to leave.
“You may be on your way, Russia.” Brezhnev informed him with a wave of dismissal.
“До свидания, Товарищ. Have fun in my capitol city.” The overly eager Russian nation bid Seychelles as a means of goodbye, before wasting no time in turning to leave. _______________________________ ((I remember us trying to figure out how to end this encounter, so I hope I went a route you can work with. Just let me know if you need me to alter anything so that you can close it better. Translation of the Russian: До свидания, Товарищ = Goodbye, Comrade.))
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