The East PacificBoard

H-RE PALACE, SENATEER, The sennheiser union - MIDNIGHT

| Although Spring was just around the corner, the cold was much more brutal than normally anticipated. The temperature stayed at a 48 degrees high in Senateer, and the sun never seemed to make that number rise. Although in PRIMARCH CHENDEV ILARION's study chamber, he sat on a luxurious maroon master's chair with golden stitching, which matched the empty chair across from him. On the arm of the chair, a Kriosavak newspaper sat comfortably, letting fire's light highlight the front page heading; The Council of Marshals Moves to Strike Down Act of Neutrality, Senate Left Baffled. There he sat basking by the lit fireplace, with a roaring flame keeping the chamber warm. He was dressed in dark blue robes with black sweatpants, his usually short and trecky hair was now standing up on end. The study chamber was poorly lit, letting shadows haunt the corners and filled bookshelves surrounding CHENDEV. He sat there, his eyes fixed on the fire, letting his mind wander to elsewhere. |

| With no warning, the grand double doors of the chamber slowly opened, letting in warm light to flood in. FIONA ILARION stood in the center of this warm light, almost as if she was a shadowy ghost. CHENDEV is broken free from the shackles of thought and turns to see his beautiful wife enter. She is dressed in a white gown that goes to the floor, her hair a tad bit unsorted. The room is eerily silent, until FIONA first speaks. |

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "Chendev..."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "Hello, Fiona."

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "What are you doing in here? Why don't you come to bed?"

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "I'm sorry, dear. I was thinking... About politics again."

| FIONA shakes her head as she sits down in the ornate maroon chair across from him. She crossed her legs comfortably and looked at him with a glint from the fire shining from her amber eyes. |

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "Anything in particular?"

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "The Charitans have created this new alliance they call Ouroborous. Named after this 'god-above-all' from Valsoran mythology. I don't know if I'm correct on that, I really don't pay attention to religion or legends anymore."

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "...And this worries you why?"

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "It doesn't. It just interests me, that's all."

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "So are you saying you would like the Union to join?"

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "Hell no. The Union is already classified as an alliance. If the Union and Ouroborous were to unite, what's the point in the Sennheiser Union?"

| FIONA shrugs. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "It's funny, how a failed oriental empire can unite some of the oldest empires under a single pact. I see it only as a way to scare younger nations."

| CHENDEV lifts the Kriosavak newspaper up off the chair arm and offers it to FIONA. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "It's imported from the Krionik. Care to give it a read?"

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "I'll give it a try."

| They both share a smile and FIONA takes the paper. Some little time goes by in silence as an ASSISTANT, dressed in a common butler's outfit, with his hair slicked back, enters the room. He looked around at FIONA and CHENDEV before giving a slight bow. He stood up straight again before he spoke. |

| _{ASSISTANT, H-RE Palace} | "Sorry for interrupting, Mr. and Mrs. Primarch."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "It's fine. Is everything okay?"

| _{ASSISTANT, H-RE Palace} | "Yes, everything is alright. You just have some company, is all. Grand Commanders Mikhail Bortsev and Tomas Khromov has arrived. They want to meet with you as soon as possible."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "I wonder why. Let them in, if you please."

| The ASSISTANT nods and moves out of the way, letting MIKHAIL BORTSEV and TOMAS KHROMOV into the study chamber. Their neatly pressed dark green uniforms symbolized they were both from the army. The shiny gold medals reflected the warm fire's light from their smooth surfaces. They both made a slight nod to CHENDEV. |

| _{MIKHAIL BORTSEV, Grand Commander} | "Greetings, Mr. Primarch. It's an honor to finally meet you."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | (sarcastically) "I'm sure it is. Tell me, what are you here for, Commander?"

| _{MIKHAIL BORTSEV, Grand Commander} | "The United Valsoran Alliance has declared war on the USR and Kianistan. Although it isn't recent news, I believe it should concern the Union."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "And how is that?"

| KHROMOV steps forward. |

| _{TOMAS KHROMOV, Grand Commander} | "The Union is in close proximity to Soviet-held Sanada, and you have made multiple private statements to the military that you want to try anything to liberate that land. Supporting the UVA might be the one chance we have to aquire it."

| _{MIKHAIL BORTSEV, Grand Commander} | "Not only that, but our armies have been itching for a fight for a while now. All we're wanting is for you to approve the use of O-26."

| CHENDEV looked surprised by both GC's wishes to go to war. He looked over at FIONA, who gave a gentle supporting stare. He nodded, and turned back to the BORTSEV and KHROMOV. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "I'm baffled. Usually a high-ranking official in the military like yourselves would dread the thought of going to war. What has gotten into you boys?"

| _{TOMAS KHROMOV, Grand Commander} | "We're only making the Sennheiser Union proud, Mr. Primarch."

| CHENDEV smiled at KHROMOV's statement. He turned to FIONA, who again, gave a supporting nod. CHENDEV turns back and stands from his chair. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} "Well, looks like I'm outnumbered." (sticking his hand out to BORTSEV) "You have my approval, although we will have it officially approved soon enough."

| _{MIKHAIL BORTSEV, Grand Commander} | (shaking CHENDEV's hand) "Thank you, Mr. Primarch. The 28th and 30th Armies will not dissapoint."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "My pleasure, boys. We'll see you at the Yunayted Kholl soon, I hope!"

| All three share a short laugh before saying their goodbyes. As the GC's turn to leave, KHROMOV turns back again. |

| _{TOMAS KHROMOV, Grand Commander} | "Wait, Mr. Primarch. I remembered something."

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "Oh? Go on."

| _{TOMAS KHROMOV, Grand Commander} | "Ouroborous has recently announced that all land in alliance jurisdiction is now under its influence. Again, it's not new, but we thought we'd let you know."

| CHENDEV snickers a bit and turns his head away from KHROMOV. He turns back. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "And just how official is this?"

| _{TOMAS KHROMOV, Grand Commander} | "It came straight from office of Hajira, as far as we could decipher."

| CHENDEV turns to FIONA, who is now standing up. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | (to FIONA) "I tell you, she's becoming a younger version of Marianne before her."

| FIONA smiles at him as he turns back away to KHROMOV. |

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "Thank you for letting me know, Commander. Perhaps we'll open negotiations with Ouroborous, see where that takes us."

| _{TOMAS KHROMOV, Grand Commander} | "You're welcome, Mr. Primarch."

| Both BORTSEV and KHROMOV give a proud salute to CHENDEV and FIONA and leave. The ASSISTANT that was still in the room followed them out. FIONA looked at CHENDEV, who watched them leave. |

| _{FIONA ILARION, Primarch's Wife} | "How old did you say the Union was?"

| _{CHENDEV ILARION, Primarch} | "At least three decades older than the Krionik." (he turns to FIONA) "At least."

| They both share a smile and look to the fire. FIONA is seen leaning on CHENDEV's shoulder. |

THE SANADAN SEA, VALSORA - MORNING

| The Sanadan Sea was rough today, with a blinding blizzard of sleet and hail pounding the vision of the massive battlefleet that lay to the east of Soviet-controlled Sanada. The sky was covered in dark, grim clouds that blocked the sun from shining through, making it almost pitch black amongst the northern storm. The bright LED lights of the massive ships pierced through the darkness the storm created, though the lights didn't have the power to lift the visibily up at all. Aboard the flagship, the FFS-52, GRAND ADMIRAL ALEKSANDRA LARIONOVNA stared out through the thick ballistic windows of the command deck ahead of the fleet, yet she could not see anything through the darkness. A lightning bolt struck the sea about fifty miles away, where a loud clap of thunder followed afterwards. She lifted her hand up and pushed a rouge strand of hair out of the way, when a COMMANDER walked towards her, a small manila envelope in his gloved hand. |

| _{COMMANDER, FFS-52} | "For you, Grand Admiral."

| _{ALEKSANDRA LARIONOVNA, Grand Admiral} | (taking the envelope) "Thank you, dear."

| ALEKSANDRA broke the seal of the envelope. Inside was a USB flash drive and a telegram. She placed the silver-colored flash drive in her pocket and read the telegram. To her surprise, it was a message directly from Senateer which read; |

O-26 HAS BEEN RATIFIED. EXECUTE THE ORDER IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT DEVIATE.

| A wicked smile grew across ALEKSANDRA's face as she finished reading the message. Should she fulfil her part in the operation, it would pay off handsomely. ALEKSANDRA lay the message on the steel counter in front the window and turned around to face a stainless steel island, with a large screen covering the face of it. She walked up and inserted the flash drive into a USB dock on the side, and tapped the screen twice, summoning a digital map of the Vastar region and Sanadan Sea. Her eyes glistened as she examined the map, and she immediately knew what to do. |

| _{ALEKSANDRA LARIONOVNA, Grand Admiral} | "Everyone, gather around!"

| The COMMANDERS of the bridge stop and look over to ALEKSANDRA. Some immediately walk over to the island, other look at each other quizzingly. Soon enough, all of the COMMANDERS are now huddling over the table as the main lights of the command deck fade down. The only source of light in the command deck now is the digital map and the lighting from the storm outside. ALEKSANDRA grins at each one of them. |

| _{ALEKSANDRA LARIONOVNA, Grand Admiral} | "We have received word from Senateer; O-26 has been executed. This battlegroup will be stationed close to the northern coast of Sanada, as the Order calls for. We will stay as far away as we can to not alert the Soviets, at least until the declaration comes. Ring up the rest of the battlegroup! It's time to make the Union proud this decade!"

| The COMMANDERS each shouted a "Yes, Ma'am!" and hurried back to their stations. In less than a half hour, the entire battlegroup was now in motion piercing through this freezing storm; with ALEKSANDRA at the head. |