The North PacificBoard

As the Waupunese Ambassador to Friently, Verona Chita was surprisingly calm. As she was about to doze off for a bit, the plane intercom turned on.

Dun-Dun. “Please prepare for landing. Welcome to the Grand Empire of Friently.”

She sighed and thought to herself, “This is the largest nation on Strangereal, why must they be this secretive. Hell, I can’t even go down to the store and buy a pack of cigarettes or gum. Well, I’ll just have pay a local to do it or something. I should be able to communicate with them just fine because of the state of the art translation device I am equipped with. It can automatically translate words that other people are speaking in real time. It can also translate my words in real time.” Her thoughts were interrupted by the plane landing.

Dun-Dun. “Welcome to Point Nord, Friently. The weather is a nice 14*F, so make sure you put on a jacket out there.”

Verona popped her ears as the plane touched down. The flight and subsequent landing were fairly smooth so far, but flying stresses her out. Her tail swished a little bit and came to rest on her thigh. The plane taxied out from the runway into a hanger where it was scheduled to be refueled. The plane stoped in the designated refueling zone inside the hanger and shut off. The passenger door opened and the stairs lowered to the ground. She unbuckled and stood up, stretching as she did. Her ears and tail perked up as a cool breeze flooded the cabin. She shrugged it off and put on a black trench coat, which contrasted well with the rest of her all-black outfit. She put on black padded-silk gloves, and grabbed her brown leather briefcase. She walked to the door and stepped down the stairs out of the plane and onto the concrete floor of the hanger. There were no-smoking signs in the hanger, so she stepped outside of it and then leaned up against the sturdy walls of the hanger. She unzipped a small outside pocket on her briefcase and grabbed a small metal disc that could fit in the palm of her hand. She tossed it on the ground and a holographic projection of a screen appeared out of the disc. She used her hands to control the projection like it was a touchscreen computer. She seemingly found what she was looking for and she put in a pair of Bluetooth earphones on her human ears. She then took out a cigarette from pack in her pocket and lit it. She relaxed a decent bit and looked around for the first time. She took all of the sights in, but it seemed strange to her. Everything looked strangely old, but in no disrepair. “Did we go back in time?” She thought as she looked around her. There were several guards milling about a fair ways away from her. Some were looking at her, and one was using a mobile phone. She shot a look at them and they all looked away from her, elbowing each other and laughing. She rolled her eyes and went back to enjoying her break, and cigarette. A couple of minutes later, she finished her cigarette and ashed it then threw it away in a trash can. She came back to where she was smoking earlier and the guards that she had shot a look at earlier we’re checking out the metal disc projector that she threw on the ground before. She had locked it so that no one could access it while she went to find a trash can for her cigarette, but it was still projecting a screen in which you could enter in a password to unlock it. As she was walking towards them she said in Russian, “It’s pretty nice, eh?”

The guards looked up at her, most likely surprised that she was speaking their native tongue.

“Uhh... Y-Yeah.” One of the guards finally answered after a few seconds of silence.

“I-I didn’t know that a foreigner could speak our native language.”

Verona chuckled as her tail started to swish from side to side. “I can’t, but this device can.” She said as she pointed to a little metal circle stuck to her neck. She then took out her Bluetooth earphones that she was wearing and put them in her pocket. She pointed to her fox ears and said, “I also have a device in here that can automatically translate speech into my native language.”

The soldiers looked surprised at the technology that was on display.

“Who are you?” One of them asked.

“I am Verona Chita, Ambassador to the Grand Empire of Friently from the humble Grand Kaisure of Waupun Island.”

“Waupun Island? Isn’t that a small island nation in the arctic “Greenland” subcontinent in North Osea?” One of the soldiers asked.

“Yes.”

“What brings you all the way out here then? It seems like you guys have it pretty good there.” Another soldier asked.

”Well the real reason is classified, so I’ll just tell them for economic reasons.” She thought to herself. “New economic and tourist opportunities that can be explored through having an embassy.”

“Ah, interesting. I’m assuming it’ll be in a capitol then?” The soldier asked.

“Aye. You can come and visit anytime if you need help with getting a visa or anything of the like. The Waupunese borders are mostly open to anyone.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

One of Verona’s aides walked up to her and said in English that the plane was ready to be boarded again. Verona picked up the metal disc on the ground and wished the soldiers a good day. She and her aide then walked back to the plane and boarded it. Everyone in the plane got situated, and the plane taxied out to the runway where it then took off on the final leg of the journey towards Imperial Munich.

————————————————————————————————————————————

The flight from Point Nord to Imperial Munich was again, an uneventful one. But that was just fine for Verona, who happily hummed to music while resting in the plane’s private bedroom. The plane landed smoothly, and pulled into another hanger. She then got out of the plane and stretched, making an unintentionally cute yawning noise as she did so. She realized this and winked at one of the Waupunese guards standing near her. He went red in the face and walked to the other side of the plane in embarrassment. She laughed to herself and fixed her black suit jacket that she was wearing instead of her trench coat, as it wasn’t as cold here. Friently was a very secretive nation, so she didn’t know what to expect to happen next. As such, she popped a piece of nicotine gum in her mouth, and swished her tail in anticipation.

Leopold Schwarzenberger, Director of Foreign Affairs for the Kaiserinreich of Oskarheim, knocked on the door of the Kaiserin’s office. He wore a standard black suit-jacket and white undershirt with a pair of black dress pants and loafers to match. He had a gold tie hoisted around his neck and a set of circle glasses resting upon his nose. Under his right arm he held a light blue folder, filled with papers. He looked up at the camera in the corner of the doorway.

“Come in.” the voice behind the door announced, a second later there was a buzz and the door made a distinctly-unlocking noise. Leopold grabbed the Handle of the door and opened it slowly, peeking his head around the door to gaze upon the Kaiserin lazily sitting back in her chair with her legs crossed in front of her. He fully opened the door and was hit with a smell of Pine and Cannabis, he made a face in response yet quickly hid it away, reverting to his normal, diplomatic smile as he approached Monika.

“Your Highness.” Leopold said as he reached under his arm and grabbed the folder before placing it on the Kaiserin’s Desk, causing her to get out of her leaning-back position and scoot up her chair to the proper spot along the desk. She immediately opened it and scanned the first few lines, as it was normal to have a brief overview of the entire document at the beginning. In the meantime, the Minister sat down and rested his hands on his knees. “Want a smoke?” he asked the Kaiserin as he started to fish into his pocket with his right hand.

“No Thanks” she said, closing the folder and leaning back. “I just did anyway.” Leopold smirked a bit and crossed his hands and placed them on his lap. “So… I know I just read the General Briefing but give me what you know.”

“Well um…” Leopold fixed his glasses and started talking. “Our allies in the Xing-Chu Islands have started a new internal campaign that seeks to bring Patriotism back into its peoples lives, and the removal of those who lack it. The request was by their Minister of Foreign Affairs and as far as I know, they’re willing to accept any help we’re willing to give. Manpower, Training, Arms, or flat out economic-sponsoring of their program.”

Monika crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at Leopold. “Well I guess they went to the right place when it came to this kind of stuff. Promise them Economic support regarding their Program, as well as a generous donation of 500-sum soldiers from the Internal Security Division, throw in some guns in there. But check in with the Imperial Quartermaster regarding it, I don’t want any more than what he would suggest.”

Leopold nodded. “Your wish is my command.” he said with a friendly smile towards the Kaiserin. He stood up with a slight groan and grabbed the file off of the Kaiserin’s desk and slid it back under his arm. He gave one last small nod towards the Kaiserin and turned for the door. Stopping as he opened it. “Do you think we should send someone to oversee what they’re gonna do and meet with Xing-chu Leadership? It seems that we’re getting more and more invested in their country- it only makes sense.”

“We’ll have to see.” Monika responded.

Up until now if you wanted to get your hands on one of these original masterpieces you would have had to track one done and pay anywhere from 190,000 to 530,000 dollars depending on the condition of the car. Now with the new continuation model, all you have to have is 80 thousand dollars. The base model is true to the original, the engine, brakes, bodywork, and suspension all built to the exact specifications of the Mark II. As a fan of the GT, this is a must-have. However, for 40,000 dollars you can get the Grand Sport package. Now it may seem like a ripoff to have to pay half the car's value for a simple trim level, but the Grand Sport is more than a trim level. Replacing the big block SL1 is the supercharged ST4 which makes 650 horsepower and 650 lb-feet of torque from the modern Grand Touring's. To handle all that power the leaf spring suspension is stiffened and Stevens Racing brakes are installed, along with a lighter carbon fiber body and rims. Speaking of the tires, the Grand Sport gets wider 20-inch tires and dramatic fender flares that make it stand out from its base model sibling. If you just want the engine you can opt for the GT Performance package which gets you the ST4 and an optional roadster body styling