Meeting of the Executive Directorate of Ventica and Krimera

Before responding to Kruschev, General Armani produced an antique pen from his pocket and provided it to one of his assistants; a somewhat young, blond-haired woman. He wanted to ensure that the important things discussed at this all-too-vital meeting were kept track of - either to employ them in the future to improve his own image, or to know what to cover up to keep such an image from deteriorating. After all, military rule, to at least some extent, depended on others' perception of the man in charge - if he was seen as too untrustworthy or weak, his subordinates could begin to form treacherous ideas of their own in an attempt to seize power; ideas that would surely, if acted upon, lead the Directorate to ruin.

"Mr. Kruschev", Armani began, "I suppose I should first begin by asking the basics; what sorts of weaponry would you be willing to provide to the Directorate cause, and what might I have to give up or trade in exchange for it? The forces under my command, while they've been handling their own well enough thus far into the war, have begun to be overwhelmed by the more advanced weaponry provided to Council forces by Anacodia; while we do have some domestic weapons manufacturing capabilities of our own, the loss of controlled land as a result of the conflict and the need to prioritize creating more weapons instead of creating new, improved ones with the resources available to us has drastically hampered our efforts to produce technologically improved equipment. However, with that being said, I do realize that Krimera would likely not be the sort of state that would just gift such support with nothing provided in return; once the war'd conclude, I'd be willing to provide a certain level of mining rights in Ventica's northern mountains, an advantaged position for the Krimeran government or its businesses when accessing Ventican commercial markets... just, well, name your demands, and... within reason, I could probably try to see what I could do to meet them."

Upon finishing his turn in the conversation, the general shifted in his seat somewhat. While he didn't like saying upfront what he'd be willing to offer in exchange for Krimeran support, he thought that perhaps a show of mild humility in the face of a, to him, admittedly much more powerful man would allow him to get more out of this meeting than he might have otherwise been able to.

The woman who had been provided the pen continued to stand while writing down what was being said on her note-taking sheet, a faint expression of worry overtaking her face. The other assistant who had come with General Armani - a somewhat older, brunet man - sat down on the nearby couch, attentive to the dealings taking place between the two leaders. Though his expression was more neutral, one could tell that he was likely readying himself to intervene if his superior was threatened or otherwise placed in danger; his noticeably tense posture and darting glances to the two men and around the room betrayed such a notion of his.

"...yes", the general replied, "though complete mining rights within the aforementioned mountainous region may be harder to convince my administration to acquiesce to, I am sure that I will be able to sort out an agreeable arrangement concerning the matter... along with fulfilling the other two requests, that is. On a related note, however; if, say, Anacodia were to get itself further involved with that Council, and your Federation were to interpret that as a threat to its security, how much more directly would you be likely to involve yourself in my Directorate's internal affairs? Though, in such a scenario, such a hypothetical level of further involvement would be in the interests of "geopolitical security" or what have you, as you may understand, it would be a terribly bad look for me to have Krimeran tanks running down the main streets of Altasena to enforce order. Essentially, if at all possible, I would like to receive a guarantee from you that such a sort of heavy-handed approach by your state's forces would not be in the cards, so to speak, at least if not requested first by Directorate officials."

General Armani let out a sigh of relief as his male assistant, still sitting, relaxed his posture somewhat. Perhaps Kruschev - and, with him, the Krimeran government as a whole - wouldn't be as unreasonable as he had previously worried they might be.

"I thank you for your guarantee not to directly intervene in the Directorate's internal affairs unless, well, requested to do so first; it shows a certain level of... oh, proper legality and honesty, for lack of better terms, present in the Krimeran leadership that certain subordinates of mine were worried might not be there due to one regrettable suspicion or another."

He took a moment to breathe, calm his nerves, and collect his thoughts before proceeding; ever aware of the Krimeran Supreme Leader's presence before him. Upon hearing his female assistant finish catching up, with her pen now drawn back from her paper, he continued.

"Now, with that matter hopefully settled, there were two other propositions I had wished to raise here today. Firstly, as a result of the terrible war Ventica has been tortured with for the past several years, much of the infrastructure across the country - of which arguably most important is its former highway system completed shortly before the conflict broke out - has been damaged, destroyed, or otherwise rendered unusable. In the case my forces are able to secure a victory in the war, might the Krimeran state be able to provide some level of assistance in repairing such facilities? Furthermore, and this is just on a simple whim of my own, would the Directorate be able to secure a supply of school textbooks from the Krimeran government - printed in the Ventican language, of course - to use in its education system? With a shortage of such things, particularly in regards to materials concerning mathematics and the hard sciences, effectively in place due to the war, I worry that Ventican students within military-held territory might be academically falling behind both their peers living within other Ventican factions' lands along with students learning in other nations entirely. Of course, as was previously noted, this is just a request of my own, so I wouldn't think it'd be all too bad politically, relatively speaking, if you were unable to fulfill it for one reason or another."

Armani momentarily thought to himself, hand on his chin in concentration, before responding to the Krimeran.

"Yes, those are certainly fine sentiments, Mr. Kruscehv. As things currently stand, I do implore my forces to fight their foes using... legal methods, ones not purposefully inhumane in nature, anyway, and I have ordered the punishment of more than a few otherwise able Directorate soldiers throughout the course of this war for carrying out one crime or another against enemy soldiers or civilians. Regrettably, too much devotion to a cause may certainly make a given man unable to think straight in times as tough and chaotic as the ones Ventica now finds itself in..."

He briefly paused yet again before continuing; his expression refocusing from one of grim memory to another of more direct focus.

"I must ask you, though; did you have an ulterior motive for bringing up such a moral law of conflict in addition to simply having it be resaid for clarification's sake? Apologies for my... inquisitiveness regarding the matter; though you did provide an excellent guarantee of a sort earlier, you do still have that sense of the unknown in your character that makes your intentions unclear, especially to one such as I with, unfortunately, little training in the area of formal diplomacy."