Austerain Welcomes the Irish and Welsh President

[Austerain]

Sinclair bites his bottom lip and says, "As well as a person can be after this tragedy. I'm very sorry about Secretary Cox, sir, and for your own assault by this perpetrator. The Protection Service should have picked up something on this, but they detected no real threat or chatter. It is the cost of restricting the government from mass surveillance on phone calls and texts."
Sinclair is silent for an awkward minute.
"Anyway, when we arrive, you will meet with Chancellor Versace and Vice Chancellor Vandercraft in the Executive Office to talk. Then she will make an address to the nation from the Joint Assembly Room in front of Congress, where Asher and yourself signed our agreement, with your presence."

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Well I imagine if I had told the Chancellor to follow the advice of Versace this wouldn't have happened. Big crowds and even bigger tensions I should have advised that we not go when he asked." Edwards rubs his temples "Well I shall look forward to meeting with her. Though I'm uncertain. I would think this would make her want to scrap the agreement even more."

[Austerain]

"You can't blame yourself, Mr. President," Sinclair says quickly, "Chancellor Asher isn't known for following the advice of his advisors. His instincts usually succeed, but this time it ended him."

Sinclair chuckles dryly, "If I'm honest, I'd say that she might have pulled out of the agreement if it was only Asher and Bellevue that had been shot. Since both of our leaders were affected, she's taking it as an attack on both of us. Before this, she did want to scrap the agreement over the Polacco situation. They have a long history together and I expect that she feels that she was right about how dangerous Polacco was this whole time. You've seen how she reacted in the Cabinet meeting."

[New Ireland and Wales]

"She reacted about the same way I reacted when the traditionalists told me they wanted her in the cabinet. I believe I cussed them out and stormed out the room though. She was always a pain during cabinet meetings. Her voice doesn't help." Edwards says while looking out the window at the city as they pass through

[Austerain]

"Polacco is very despised here, always has been. She received death threats all around the country. With the agreement, the Chancellor's personal legislative lobbyists had to convince some of the Progressive Conservatives to vote in favor of the agreement with reassurance. It's likely that the Progressive Conservatives might be more against it, as well as the more center factions of the Liberal Party. Our insiders tell us that they won't start with criticism or attemats to repealing the agreement until after the period of mourning and after the suspect is sentenced."

The motorcade reaches the exit labeled PALACE OF AUSTER- AUSTERMERE HISTORIC DISTRICT, and they drive up to the Palace. Around it and surrounding buildings is heavy police and military presence, with snipers on the roofs and barricades around the front public square.

[New Ireland and Wales]

"She's despised throughout most of New Ireland and Wales as well. She's so divisive and doesn't deserve power. " Edwards says

The President looks around at all the security as they pull up to the palace until the limousine comes to a halt.

[Austerain]

Sinclair laments, "She is an embarrassment to us. Perhaps we should have placed her on the no fly list to keep her in retirement here in this country. Now she has gone too far and has reached too much power."

The limousine stops in front of the entrance canopy and the doors open. Sinclair and Edwards step out and they are greeted by Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Vandercraft, who is wearing a black and white pantsuit, as the front doors shut behind them and armed guards take their places in front of it.

Vandercraft nods to Sinclair in acknowledgement and reaches her hand out to Edwards, "President Edwards, welcome back. My condolences to your country on the loss of Secretary Cox. He was a dedicated public servants and statesman."

[New Ireland and Wales]

Edwards shakes Vandercraft's hand "Thank you, Madame Vice Chancellor. Thank you and I offer my condolences as well. It is an honor to meet you."

[Austerain]

"The honor is all mine, Mr. President. I've been admiring your party for some time now. Though I am concerned about the news I've been hearing from NIW, particular about FitzGerald. During my time as Chairwoman of the National Reserve Bank, the Administration sought to restrain the financial firms' overreach in political power. FitzGerald's company being one of them, which Asher had fought since his own time as Chairman. I was amused by his tweets!" She laughs. "Another deplorable keyboard warrior, with more support behind him."

After shaking hands, they begin to walk into the main foyer, which was slightly colder since last time. Black drapes hung from the columns and arches. They walk up the stairs to the second floor and turn, and walk down a great corridor toward the Executive Office Wing.

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Well thank you. FitzGerald is concerning us all but I have strong faith in the Irish and Welsh people. I think most have been laughing at is antics but of course we still need to remain cautious. If people get resentful of Dublin then this form of populism might rise. An economic recession such as the one we are in now might fuel the flames." Edwards says as they walk towards the Executive Office Wing

[Austerain]

"Every threat whether laughable or not should be treated the same," Vandercraft warns, "You never know with people these days, anything to get people entertained and interested in politics with gain so much traction."

They enter a small marble rotunda with windows draped in black. The double wooden doors open to a mahogany paneled room, with the personal aides and advisors' offices off to either side of the long room. At the head of the room is another seat of double doors with a panel above it labeled "OFFICE OF THE GRAND CHANCELLOR" with the Official Seal of the Chancellery above it.

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Oh I agree. I just haven't had to deal with him since the 90's and to be honest I kinda forgot about him." Edwards says as they continue to walk towards the office of the Grand Chancellor. "Luckily, for now, his party's approval ratings have actually slid a little bit since he's taken over. But I've treated every election as if I'm behind by 10 points."

[Austerain]

"Well," Vandercraft says, "Let's hope that his party's approval ratings keep sliding down. I'd hate for us to have to deal with a President FitzGerald." She shudders at the thought.

As they approach the double doors, the two guards flanked on the side open them. The Vice Chancellor and the two gentlemen enter a beautiful office with a vaulted ceiling with columns. On the right, bookshelves fill the space between the columns with leather and velvet chairs and reading tables. On the right, high windows fill the space between the columns, along with a white table of tea and finger snacks with matching velvet chairs. At the end of the room is the dark wooden desk of the Chancellor with two seats in front of it. In front of the high curtained windows behind the desk, Interim Chancellor Versace is seated reading a thick briefing book. When she sees them come in from her peripheral vision, she looks up and smiles. She stands as the Vice Chancellor goes behind the desk to stand by her. Versace smoothes the creases of her black pantsuit and she shakes Edwards' hand stiffly.

"Excuse the mess on Giorg- er.. my desk, Mr. President," she says hoarsely, "I've been reading the intelligence and Congressional briefings from the past 8 months. Anyway, it's good to see that you lived through this ordeal, I've felt guilty for how coldly I treated you and Secretary Cox during the meeting with the Cabinet. Please, take a seat."

An aide comes in with coffee as Sinclair and Edwards sit in the seats in front of the Chancellor's desk. Vandercraft pulls up a chair to the side of the desk and sits.

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Oh I had to deal with him when he headed the bank he headed. He was bad then so I imagine he'd be pretty bad now too." Edwards says as he rolls his shoulder to help relieve the pain.

The President walks into the Chancellor's Office to meet with the Chancellor. When they walk in he sees her at her desk and walks over "Madame Chancellor," He says extending his hand "Good to see you're holding up as well as you can. The mess is no problem I fully understand. There's no reason to apologize for how you treated us. It's about how my husband treated me when I told him I was appointing her. Wouldn't have happened if I had had the backbone to stand up to the fasc-excuse me traditionalists. I guess they call themselves the NPA now after their merger with the NCP." The President says before taking a seat

[Austerain]

Versace sighs, "Well, no use in dwelling on it now. Now we must accept what happened and do what we can to make things better. I spoke to Baron about the situation, and it sounds that she's holding up the fort pretty well. Have you been fully briefed yet?"

[New Ireland and Wales]

"I haven't been briefed unless you count the news. What's the full situation ?" Edwards says

[Austerain]

"The suspect's name is Ray McLean, who made several calls to the Governor's Mansion in North Wales to his father John McLean. We believe the McLeans are acting upon the order of Governor Polacco. We have records indicating that they were connected to an Irish-Welsh nationalist group outsources here in Austraton. Hours ago, our agents foiled another related plot to bomb the highway exit to Austraton International Airport when we depart. For public safety, we've temporarily suspended flights to and from NIW and suspended public transportation in the city. Back in your country, Baron has your National Police patrolling the streets, and she has closed airports and the borders so the security situation is as tight as it is here. On top of that, she's opening investigations on Polacco after the Governor implemented poll taxes, closed polling in Minority areas, and had federal officials banned and killed. The stock markets on both ends have been ordered to stop trading as well. And of course, Chairman FitzGerald is attacking us on Twitter again."

[New Ireland and Wales]

"John McLean? The Governor's Chief of Staff? She hired him because he has ties to the extreme far right of her party. Would figure he'd be involved in someone terrorist organization. Poll taxes? Now that's way too much. God I wish I hadn't hired her. Has the Government done anything other than open an investigation into her?" Edwards asks as he rubs his temples

[Austerain]

"John McLean has been arrested by NIW authorities and taken to Dublin for questioning, but that's about it. We've heard that she's planning to have your Congress appoint a federal official as Governor and have Polacco removed. My military advisors tell me, however, that it would require an invasion into the province since Polacco has been building the provincial militia."

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Oh I bet Baron is having fun. I'm sure she will be glad to have me back. Not that she can't handle it she's very capable. So much has happened. If they try to remove Polacco it would cause a war but not removing her would basically be a support of her violation of human rights." Edwards says with a sigh.

[Austerain]

Versace thinks for a moment, tapping her pen on her chin. Her eyes light up, "Well here's what you need to do. I think you can start pulling out federal resources and funds from the province. If she wants the Province to become more autonomous, give her what she wants. Pull out all federal funding and programs, tighten the border between the Province and the rest of the country, and demolish federal-ran ports. It might hit your economy a little, but see how long she lasts before civil unrest occurs. Call her bluff. We'll issue sanctions against the Province and have our SLU allies issue sanctions as well to cripple their economy and their GDP. Lay siege on the province and cut all resources from flowing in and out. Declare it a no-fly zone for outside aircraft, and order companies to pull their business out to other areas of the country to ameliorate the impact on your own economy. Our navy will assist. Since Polacco hates us globalists so much, we can isolate them from the world until they choke. They don't have the means to sustain themselves. Prolong it until she's pushed out of office and have her charged for high treason."

[New Ireland and Wales]

Edwards thinks for a moment "That might work. We've already tightened border security between the province and the rest of the nation. We can pull all border patrol from the border between North Wales and other countries and put that around the province forcing her to protect the borders herself. We can also defund the militia and put it into our national military. Block off the whole place essentially. However, a military operation or something might be necessary to take Cardiff. I don't want a major city under her control."

[Austerain]

Secretary Sinclair says, "The Chancellor and Secretary of Defense are prepared to provide military support and heavy artillary if needed. We have stealth drones on the way to North Wales to keep eyes on the military bases, missile bases, and on troop movements- and they can strike any targets if necessary. The 3rd Southeastern Fleet is on standby as well."

Versace asks Edwards, "How far around Cardiff would you plan to occupy to avoid any military confrontation in the urban areas? You don't want civilians caught in the middle."

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Well there are no missiles in North Wales. I pulled those out when she was elected Governor. But any help is good help as long as it's aiding us. I was thinking about a 20-30 mile radius around Cardiff that's where the urban and suburban areas officially end. Or we could make it simple and take the whole county." Edwards says

[Austerain]

Sinclair sighs relieved, "Well thank God for that. Good thinking ahead, Mr. President," he smiles.

"The 30 mile radius around the city will do for now if you want to prioritize the city first. The very top priority is to chop off the head of the snake. You'll have to track Polacco and either capture her or strike her location. With no leader, they will be weakened significantly and you can invade during the confusion. Put all of her supporters on trial for treason, and capture other parts of the province under her spell. If her party doesn't denounce her, I'd recommend declaring that party as sympathizers to treason."

The telephone on the desk beeps three times and Versace presses a button, "Yes, Greg?"

The voice of Greg Earnest, the Chancellor's spokesman, speaks, "Madam Chancellor, they're ready for you in the Joint Assembly Room. The press corps and the President of Congress are asking where you are."

Versace begins gathering things and says, "Okay Greg, patience. I was just briefing President Edwards."

"Well please hurry up, ma'am. This never happened under Chancellor Asher."

There is an awkward silence before Earnest says, "S-sorry, Madam Chancellor, I didn't mean to-"

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Greg," she snaps, biting her bottom lip, "See you then."

Vandercraft and Sinclair stare at Versace as Vandercraft mutters, "The nerve..."

"It's fine, Jacqueline," Versace says, "We'really all a little unnerved. Shall we start heading down there?"

[New Ireland and Wales]

"Well we can't exactly kill her. She still has citizenship here so it's technically against the law. Kind of wish I would have updated that law-" Edwards stops as he is interrupted by the phone ringing when the call ends he starts speaking again with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice "But as long as she remains a citizen of Austerain we can't kill her. We could stage an attack or something that gets her away from power for a few days but we couldn't kill her. I already think of them as traitors, unfortunately that's not the position of the government. " Edwards finishes

[Austerain]

Vandercraft and Sinclair stand when Versace stands. Sinclair whispers, "Walk and talk, she does this alot. It's a little annoying."

Versace sighs as they begin walking to the double doors, "Yes, that's right. We could charge her as a conspirator to the assassination, but it requires due process. It slipped my mind that a drone strike against an Austeren citizen would violate our criminal codes and human rights laws.. unfortunately. In this case, Special Forces will have to be sent in to capture her. If you have her in custody, the advantage will still be as effective as if she was dead. Once captured and tried, she's subject to the laws of your country for her crimes against your country. We might have a trial of our own for her part in the assassination of Asher, and she will be subject to whatever sentence is handed down if she ever steps foot here".

[New Ireland and Wales]

Edwards laughs "Well good thing you don't work with me. I've had cabinet meetings where we walked around the entire Presidential Palace." he whispers back

"There's a lot we can do. If I can get her out of power I can put her in a detention center for deportation. Mind you I don't like deportation but it would get her out for a little bit. She's not a federal official so arresting her would be harder than it took for us to arrest President Frank. But we can get it done. Question is how. We can either make it loud and quick or silent and long." Edwards says

[Austerain]

As they pass through the small rotunda and head down the corridor toward the stairs, Versace continues, "I expect that she would be heavily guarded, so the team would encounter resistance from her men. Gunfire will likely be exchanged but it can be done quick. Send in a couple Black Hawks and a couple Chinooks, keep an eye from drone above. Enter whatever complex she's barricaded in, dismantle her security, and extract her. It's a risk on the lives of the soldiers, but it is a necessary measure if you want this."

They walk down the stairs as Versace keeps going, "Or if she's dumb enough to show herself in public in a building or outside, use the people you still have on the ground there to release chloroform gas in the air. As the people around are unconscious, including Polacco and her bodyguards, they can kidnap her and you can communicate an extraction point. Cyber experts can knock out any technological defenses they have set in place, or you can set off an EMP over the site to kill communications."

Sinclair looks at Versace surprised with his mouth slightly agape. Vandercraft chuckles and says, "Close your mouth, Dmitri. Sarah was on the Senate Intelligence and Military Forces Committees during her time in Congress, remember?"

Versace smiles slightly and laughs, as does Sinclair while nodding. They walk towards the oak doors of the Legislative Wing down a corridor with high ceilings. Echos resound through the long corridor from the many voices murmuring in the Joint Assembly Room.

[New Ireland and Wales]

Edwards eyes go wide for a second as he's impressed. "All that could work. I want to try and minimize the loss of human life right now. We could probably release gas into the compound she's in. I know where she's at and know the layout of the building. We have grounds workers and other staff there so we can get it done that way."