Eternity RPC Board
18 Treizen, 1581
The Carpathian display held mixed results for the Chancellor. He was no doubt impressed in some ways. Carpathian fighters looked excellent, but he wasn't about to have buy much more of the X-15's (though they would probably buy a small amount) because of the hefty price tag, let alone their newest generation fighters. That's not to say that it didn't stir any thoughts in the Chancellor, since buying them outright wasn't exactly an appealing option he wondered if Volta could eventually develop one of it's own. After all, if Volta could make it's own fighter that was best suited to it's own conditions for a fair price, that seemed like a good option. Would it take years of investment? Definitely. Did Volta have the infrastructure necessary to build it? Maybe, but that wasn't a sure fact. Did Volta have the skilled engineers necessary to design such a aircraft? Not even close. It was for this reason that the Chancellor thought not of purchasing the aircraft, but of expanding state-sponsored student exchange programs between Voltan universities and universities abroad, including those in Carpathia, Severyane, and many other countries. Of course, those exchange programs would be moot if he couldn't also create an environment where intellectuals are able to use the best of their abilities, without fear of political repercussions. All the more reason that his reforms were imperative to the betterment of the Voltan nation.
The space program only impressed the Chancellor a little. Ernst Krenz was a pragmatic man, so while he saw the benefits to scientific advancement, the massive expenses that came with a space program prevented him from putting his full support behind it. In an ideal world where Volta had a massive budget surplus Volta would invest heavily in space. But things in Volta were not that rosy at the moment, thus there was much more pragmatic concerns. That's not to say that the passion that the Carpathians had didn't speak to him, in fact Krenz admired such dedication to science and technological advancement. It moved him, and he wondered if Voltan scientists would carry with them the same passion for their work. Yet he remained weary of spending too much on a space program when development of he economy was a priority. Volta would make it's own space program, the Chancellor knew that for a fact. But throwing the country's full force behind space exploration would have to wait.
It was the last show that interested the Chancellor the most. Trade relations was something that he was definitely interested in developing. Would there be problems in implementing this? Definitely. First and foremost the hardliners weren't about to budge on the sanctions against Carpathia that the old government had instituted decades ago, and they still held considerable sway in the legislature. They probably wouldn't drop sanctions against Carpathia without something in return. Chancellor Krenz was hoping this situation would change after he finally was able to hold the constitutional convention, remove the ban on communist and socialist political parties that strayed away from the official line of the Communist Party of Volta, and finally hold elections that actually gave people with differing views on communism and socialism a platform to voice their concerns.
Through this whole event, the Chancellor carefully considered the possibilities that the Trilateral Alliance offered Volta. He knew for a fact that he did not want to join it as a full member, that would be going too far. It would not only be hard for those on the fence in the Communist Party of Volta to swallow, but ran the risk of completely alienating Volta's ally Severyane, which many in Volta even to this day hold a positive view of. Simply holding this meeting with Carpathia was likely to raise eyebrows in Severyane, so full membership in the Trilateral Alliance was out of the question.
But that didn't mean that the Chancellor didn't want closer relations with the Trilateral Alliance. Indeed, he was much more interested in a sort of observer status than full membership. What exactly such observer status would entail, however, would have to be negotiated, which was why he was here in Carpathia.
With an overall positive view of things, and a determination that rapprochement with Carpathia was the right choice, the Chancellor readied himself for the coming meetings with Carpathian officials. He knew nothing of what was about to happen back in Vien.
It was early morning the next day, the demonstrators were eagerly watching the morning news on their smartphones through internet streams (of questionable legality). The morning and evening news had become very popular in Volta, particularly after the state-run news channel Die Volta-Bericht hired Christel Schäfer as a reporter. Christel was a popular figure among the people, she was one of the first reporters on Voltan television to report the real facts of what was happening in Volta. She didn't embellish her stories with communistic jargon and claim that Volta was the best nation in the world for everything, second only to Severyane. No, when there was poverty she reported on poverty. When there was an accident, she told the cold truth about the accident. Christel was one of the few reporters in Volta dedicated to reporting the news without a filter on what she said, the only filter that she had was the state's assignment on what stories to cover.
It was also for this reason that she had made many enemies among the hardliners in the Communist Party of Volta.
And now it was time for them to act. Emboldened by a confirmation of support through a secret diplomatic cable from Severyane, the hardliners made their move during the 7:00 AM news broadcast. It started as if it were normal, with a short instrumental version of the Voltan anthem playing followed by morning greetings. Shortly after the news started, however, there was a sudden interruption. Everyone on the television seemed visibly confused, as if they had heard something. Then, Christel's eye's widened as she stared at something off screen. The broadcast cut off with a scream of "WHO ARE YOU?" from Christel.
Needless to say, the demonstrators were angry. This was a complete reversal of the reforms that had been made by the Chancellor. They started asking questions, demanding to know what happened to the news. The answer came at the evening news.
Die Volta-Bericht was back on, but this time with a news anchor that nobody recognized. He started reading off of a paper in a shaky voice, as if he were being forced to do this against his will.
He spoke about "counterrevolutionary riots" happening in Vien, about how the "riots" were being done by a "small, organized set of subversive elements". He went on about how the "riots" started as "fair demonstrations" but were coopted by "reactionary elements" that planned to execute a "vast conspiracy to plunge Volta into chaos and undo the workers revolution".
This only angered protesters more, but also had an affect that the hardliners didn't anticipate.
Many more people flooded to the demonstrators. This was the evening news, and many people in the nation had tuned in to the evening news after learning about what happened during the morning news. Essentially the whole country had been watching the news that night.
And the whole country had just been informed of the protests happening in Vien.
That night, the demonstrators grew tenfold in numbers. Most of this was from high school and university students who sympathized with the demonstrators and was pushed to show solidarity from the recent movement. The crowd that once only numbered 1,500 now numbered at least 15,000, and it was only set to grow from there. These demonstrators added "Where is Christel?!" and "We are Patriots!" to their plethora of slogans, and that night the chanting of pro-reform slogans and singing of patriotic songs didn't stop until well past midnight.
The hardliners needed to rethink their next move.
The Carpathian display held mixed results for the Chancellor. He was no doubt impressed in some ways. Carpathian fighters looked excellent, but he wasn't about to have buy much more of the X-15's (though they would probably buy a small amount) because of the hefty price tag, let alone their newest generation fighters. That's not to say that it didn't stir any thoughts in the Chancellor, since buying them outright wasn't exactly an appealing option he wondered if Volta could eventually develop one of it's own. After all, if Volta could make it's own fighter that was best suited to it's own conditions for a fair price, that seemed like a good option. Would it take years of investment? Definitely. Did Volta have the infrastructure necessary to build it? Maybe, but that wasn't a sure fact. Did Volta have the skilled engineers necessary to design such a aircraft? Not even close. It was for this reason that the Chancellor thought not of purchasing the aircraft, but of expanding state-sponsored student exchange programs between Voltan universities and universities abroad, including those in Carpathia, Severyane, and many other countries. Of course, those exchange programs would be moot if he couldn't also create an environment where intellectuals are able to use the best of their abilities, without fear of political repercussions. All the more reason that his reforms were imperative to the betterment of the Voltan nation.
The space program only impressed the Chancellor a little. Ernst Krenz was a pragmatic man, so while he saw the benefits to scientific advancement, the massive expenses that came with a space program prevented him from putting his full support behind it. In an ideal world where Volta had a massive budget surplus Volta would invest heavily in space. But things in Volta were not that rosy at the moment, thus there was much more pragmatic concerns. That's not to say that the passion that the Carpathians had didn't speak to him, in fact Krenz admired such dedication to science and technological advancement. It moved him, and he wondered if Voltan scientists would carry with them the same passion for their work. Yet he remained weary of spending too much on a space program when development of he economy was a priority. Volta would make it's own space program, the Chancellor knew that for a fact. But throwing the country's full force behind space exploration would have to wait.
It was the last show that interested the Chancellor the most. Trade relations was something that he was definitely interested in developing. Would there be problems in implementing this? Definitely. First and foremost the hardliners weren't about to budge on the sanctions against Carpathia that the old government had instituted decades ago, and they still held considerable sway in the legislature. They probably wouldn't drop sanctions against Carpathia without something in return. Chancellor Krenz was hoping this situation would change after he finally was able to hold the constitutional convention, remove the ban on communist and socialist political parties that strayed away from the official line of the Communist Party of Volta, and finally hold elections that actually gave people with differing views on communism and socialism a platform to voice their concerns.
Through this whole event, the Chancellor carefully considered the possibilities that the Trilateral Alliance offered Volta. He knew for a fact that he did not want to join it as a full member, that would be going too far. It would not only be hard for those on the fence in the Communist Party of Volta to swallow, but ran the risk of completely alienating Volta's ally Severyane, which many in Volta even to this day hold a positive view of. Simply holding this meeting with Carpathia was likely to raise eyebrows in Severyane, so full membership in the Trilateral Alliance was out of the question.
But that didn't mean that the Chancellor didn't want closer relations with the Trilateral Alliance. Indeed, he was much more interested in a sort of observer status than full membership. What exactly such observer status would entail, however, would have to be negotiated, which was why he was here in Carpathia.
With an overall positive view of things, and a determination that rapprochement with Carpathia was the right choice, the Chancellor readied himself for the coming meetings with Carpathian officials. He knew nothing of what was about to happen back in Vien.
It was early morning the next day, the demonstrators were eagerly watching the morning news on their smartphones through internet streams (of questionable legality). The morning and evening news had become very popular in Volta, particularly after the state-run news channel Die Volta-Bericht hired Christel Schäfer as a reporter. Christel was a popular figure among the people, she was one of the first reporters on Voltan television to report the real facts of what was happening in Volta. She didn't embellish her stories with communistic jargon and claim that Volta was the best nation in the world for everything, second only to Severyane. No, when there was poverty she reported on poverty. When there was an accident, she told the cold truth about the accident. Christel was one of the few reporters in Volta dedicated to reporting the news without a filter on what she said, the only filter that she had was the state's assignment on what stories to cover.
It was also for this reason that she had made many enemies among the hardliners in the Communist Party of Volta.
And now it was time for them to act. Emboldened by a confirmation of support through a secret diplomatic cable from Severyane, the hardliners made their move during the 7:00 AM news broadcast. It started as if it were normal, with a short instrumental version of the Voltan anthem playing followed by morning greetings. Shortly after the news started, however, there was a sudden interruption. Everyone on the television seemed visibly confused, as if they had heard something. Then, Christel's eye's widened as she stared at something off screen. The broadcast cut off with a scream of "WHO ARE YOU?" from Christel.
Needless to say, the demonstrators were angry. This was a complete reversal of the reforms that had been made by the Chancellor. They started asking questions, demanding to know what happened to the news. The answer came at the evening news.
Die Volta-Bericht was back on, but this time with a news anchor that nobody recognized. He started reading off of a paper in a shaky voice, as if he were being forced to do this against his will.
He spoke about "counterrevolutionary riots" happening in Vien, about how the "riots" were being done by a "small, organized set of subversive elements". He went on about how the "riots" started as "fair demonstrations" but were coopted by "reactionary elements" that planned to execute a "vast conspiracy to plunge Volta into chaos and undo the workers revolution".
This only angered protesters more, but also had an affect that the hardliners didn't anticipate.
Many more people flooded to the demonstrators. This was the evening news, and many people in the nation had tuned in to the evening news after learning about what happened during the morning news. Essentially the whole country had been watching the news that night.
And the whole country had just been informed of the protests happening in Vien.
That night, the demonstrators grew tenfold in numbers. Most of this was from high school and university students who sympathized with the demonstrators and was pushed to show solidarity from the recent movement. The crowd that once only numbered 1,500 now numbered at least 15,000, and it was only set to grow from there. These demonstrators added "Where is Christel?!" and "We are Patriots!" to their plethora of slogans, and that night the chanting of pro-reform slogans and singing of patriotic songs didn't stop until well past midnight.
The hardliners needed to rethink their next move.