Man in Straw Hat:  "You will please taste the Confederate Coca-Cola and the Colombian Cola del Jolt, then advise my colleagues as to which taste you prefer."

Juan Doe:  *Eyes the large men in straw hats on either side of him, tastes the Confederate drink, and spits it out onto the pavement.*

Man in Straw Hat:  "Oh, dear."

Juan Doe:  *Tastes Cola del Jolt, smiles toothily*  "Smooth and refreshing!"

*Large Men in Straw Hats surrepticiously pocket their tasers*

Man in Straw Hat:  "Yet another consumer endorsement of the Colombian treat.  Cola de Jolt - get yours now."

Maybe I'll buy some :D

You just tempted me to do a rice commercial.

I think its time to begin legislation to outlaw the exporting of Grape Vines.  Next thing you know the Silly GC and CSA will be trying to grow grapes in Napa Valley and some place in GC.    ;) ;D

27 April 1916:  Cartagena

Apart from their rank, Admiral de Irujo had yet to find much in common between General Halcon (now retired) and General Geolog.  Halcon had always favored service dress, whereas Geolog invariably appeared in jungle battledress, along with a battered leather llanero hat that wasn't military issue at all.  Halcon marched and sat ramrod straight while Geolog walked with his knees slightly bent, and slouched when seated.  Halcon looked like somebody's urbane grandfather; Geolog like somebody's back-woods uncle.  Given their very different careers, none of this suprised de Irujo, but it did leave him curious as to how else the two men would differ.

"I have wine, whiskey, and scotch", said de Irujo, examining the contents of the mini-bar in his office.

"Beer?"

"Ah, none", the admiral said, adding that to his list.

"I'll just stick with water, then", Geolog replied. 

de Irujo handed him a tall glass with some ice, then poured a whiskey for himself.  "How're you settling in?"

Geolog shrugged.  "Fine.  We're all still getting used to each other.  The headquarters staff were expecting another long-time Capital Guardsman to take the top slot, so it's an adjustment for them.  I'm not used to being directly involved in the politics, so it's new for me.  But the job is getting done."

de Irujo nodded.  "Find a place yet?"

"I'm taking possession of a place in Gestemani, a couple blocks from Centennial Park.  Until that happens, I'm staying at the barracks, and the wife is staying with our oldest in Buenaventura."

"You picked a nice area", de Irujo observed.

"It's alright", Geolog replied.  "I'd - and there's the man himself", he said as Minister Fitzroy walked into de Irujo's office.

"My apologies - two motorcars collided at the Clock Gate.  It's buggering up traffic in all directions", Sir Edmund said, setting down his briefcase on de Irujo's desk.  "Can I get a scotch?"

"Certainly", de Irujo replied, walking back to the mini-bar.  "A collision at that kind of speed can't be good for a person."

"Thank you", Sir Edmund said.  "No, a combined speed of fifty miles and hour is probably going to be fatal."  He tasted the scotch and smiled.  "That's good stuff you have there.  Anyway, since I need to make up time, I'd better cut to the chase.  Word from our embassy in Orange:  Bharat says the French used gas on its troops."

"That's why the Frogs have it", Geolog stated bluntly.  "Any retaliation?"

"Not that was reported.  Would they have any to use?"

"I don't know", Geolog replied.  "Bharat's picked up submarines and aeroplanes, so they might've gotten gas as well.  No reason to hold it back now."

"Is this drawing any comment internationally?", de Irujo asked.

Sir Edmund grunted in the negative as he swilled down some of the scotch.  "None.  Whether that's because the world doesn't know or doesn't care is uncertain - I'd wager the latter."

"Gas is becoming a fact of life in modern warfare, whether people like it or not", Geolog observed.  "Now that people like the Bharatis and Ottomans can get their hands on it, the strategic shock value is wearing off.  It'd be nice to know what the French used this time, though - chlorine, or something newer?"

"I'll ask Foreign Affairs to inquire", Sir Edmund said.  "I don't expect any formal comment from our government, given our own views on gas."

"It's good to know that the French will use it pro-actively", Geolog stated.  "I wasn't sure if their use against Portugal was standard policy or just a Palpete thing."

"It appears to be policy", Sir Edmund agreed.  "Dated and incomplete information notwithstanding, any thoughts to date on the current war?"

de Irujo replied, "The French strike at Madras has had me thinking.  I know Bharat's saying the damage is minimal, but that could be a falsehood.  It's entirely possibly the French trashed the place - in which case, the Bharati fleet is significantly impaired.  This is a tactic we could see repeated in the future, so it would behoove us to consider upgrading our own coastal defences."

"Are we not in good shape?", Sir Edmund asked, gesturing towards the not-too-distant bulk of El Castillo de San Felipe.

"There may be deficiencies", de Irujo said.  "The battery here and at Cromwell may be sufficient to ward off a battleship or two, but not a whole fleet - though that may be an impossible task anyway.  Our batteries on the Canal, and at Havana and San Miguelito, however, may no longer be appropriate for the importance we place upon them.  And there's considerations like submarine and airship threats and the development of central fire control to reflect on."

"This sounds like a potentially expensive review", Sir Edmund noted.

"There may be some recommendations involving a lot of bolivars", de Irujo agreed.  "Time will tell."

"Very well - go ahead and let me know what is determined", the Minister noted. 

"I will.  On another note, reports from our own forces indicate considerable satisfaction with the use of the blimp aboard one of the cruisers.  I am thinking that I will have the design bureau consider the matter further and suggest opportunities for us to incorporate blimp facilities on other construction in the future."

"Sensible enough.  Have you had a chance to use the pairing in your exercises?"

"Not yet - but it's planned for the next round this summer."

"I'll be interested to see how that goes", Sir Edmund remarked.  "General?  Any insights?"

Geolog shrugged.  "It's reinforcing what we kind of already knew from other recent wars - gas, airplanes, armored vehicles all assuming a greater role in combat in general.  We're doing fine with introducing gas into our inventory, and we're catching up in aircraft because of that deal with the Russians, but armored vehicles, for us, remain a question mark."

"I can make a pitch for the formation of a test unit", Sir Edmund proposed.

"I gather General Halcon's had one in his plans for a few years but never got to it", Geolog said.  "To be honest, it's a lesser part of the picture.  I think what we need to do is a strategic review of the ejercito's roles and deployments.  The current organization pre-dates the Southern Cross; we need to look at things with an eye towards current and future diplomatic events - then we can re-organize and really determine if armored cars and these thanks are appropriate to the wars we expect to fight."

"Off the top of your head, what do you have in mind?"

"I don't want to pre-judge the outcome, Minister", Geolog replied.  "But I'll make the observation that we have far less need to defend our heartland borders than we did a decade ago.  I think there will need to be more emphasis on offshore deployments."

"That seems reasonable", Sir Edmund concurred.

"Good - I'll get something started", Geolog said.  "One other question while we're in the same room.  I was briefed on the de-mobilization of the last two cavalry corps and noticed that some volume of equipment is being transferred to the Department of Miscellaneous Affairs rather than being destroyed or stockpiled.  Would you know what that's about?"

Sir Edmund frowned.  "You've not been briefed on Plan Cortez?"

"No", Geolog replied flatly. 

"Oh - well, you should ask for it.  The gist is fairly simple; we're transporting small arms and other equipment via cargo submarine to an organization that Miscellaneous Affairs has established in the DRM."

"Why...?", Geolog asked warily.

"There's a long-term plan to overthrow the DRM government and establish a friendly regime in its place."

"Giving guns to Anahuac is not a good idea, Minister."

"Not the Anahuac - a friendly faction of capitalists and like-mind people", Sir Edmund replied.

"They're all Anahuac", Geolog snapped, "Even the capitalists.  This will come back and bite us on the ass - hard."

"The President thinks otherwise, General", Sir Edmund observed.

Geolog made a growling noise.  After several seconds of awkward silence, he muttered, "Well, that's something to factor into my planning."

1 May 1916

QuoteThe Government of the Republic of Gran Colombia is pleased to provide a schedule for President Alizandro's tour of the Pacific.

President Alizandro will be accompanied by his immediate family and a team of advisors including several deputy ministers.  Finance Minister Aquileo Alizandro will assume additional responsibilities for the duration of the cruise.

Departs From	On:	Arrives	At:
San Miguelito, GC	12 May	Callao, Peru	15 May
Callao, Peru	21 May	Whanganui, Maoria	26 May
Whanganui, Maoria	3 June	Neue Brandenburg, DKB	12 June
Neue Brandenburg, DKB	18 June	Firanj City, Firanj	24 June
Firanj City, Firanj	30 June	Rangoon, Burma	8 July
Rangoon, Burma	14 July	Macau, RRC	19 July
Macau, RRC	25 July

Current planning calls for a return to Gran Colombia via Pago Pago and the Marquesa Islands.  The return leg can be amended for alternate routing if requested.

As a result of the current political situation in the Indian Ocean, the presidential yacht Libertad will be accompanied on her cruise by the protected cruiser Arauca.  Both ships will be in peacetime livery, well lit and flying Gran Colombian colors at all times.

OOC:  Would appreciate hearing from my hosts with regard to discussion matter and how I/they/we should post details of the visit.

Ah finishing up the trip with a little bit of casino gambling then? :)

They do have casinos in ~1916 Nverse Macau, right?

Given Logi's stated preference for chaos, I assume they do.

Great "Fiesta" to come


:D

*Packs extra aspirin*

QuoteThey do have casinos in ~1916 Nverse Macau, right?

Of course they do!

Be sure to lose a fortune at the casino! Could use that little boost ;)

Any reason to miss the Swiss or the Japanese on the tour? I know they are not really active players, but still...

I think it was he asked people who wanted GC to tour to tell him. I'm guessing Walter and Tan (well obviously) didn't answer.

Japan remains an option if Walter's interested.  I may fit NS in on the return leg, but it'll be a low-key visit if so.

The new cruiser Antisuyu, commissioned in april 1916, ' ll escort the Presidential Yacht Libertad from Talara to Callao.


;)

1 May 1916:  Coatzacoalcos, DRM

Ferdinand Sanchez peered into the storefront display.  The rumpled storekeeper within stared back, but Sanchez did not notice.  His attention was on the scenery behind him, as reflected in the glass window.  At the moment, he didn't think he was under surveilance, but one could never be sure, and it'd be better to find out now than when he got to the rendezvous.

Seeing no obvious tails, he whistled appreciatively at nothing in particular and carried on, walking north.  His destination was a bench on the edge of a small park, across the street from the city's courthouse.  Some time between 3:30 and 3:40, he was to exchange safewords with, and then acquire a verbal message from, whomever the local cell was sending to the rendezvous.

At 3:26, he rounded a corner and his destination came into view.  A number of pedestrians were walking about, and a group of students were seated on the park's modest lawn, listening to one of their number read from a hardcover book.  Sanchez recognized the passage as being from Marx's Communist Manifesto, a tome that had done no favors for either the DRM or Marx's own Baltic Conderation.  Two men in civic uniforms were sweeping the sidewalks, and another was scraping a dead squirrel off the street itself.  Most significantly, from Sanchez's perspective, the bench was already partly occupied, by an elderly woman and a young girl. 

Sanchez nodded to the woman, smiled at the girl, and sat down on the unused portion of the bench.  He picked a paperback book - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - out of his briefcase and began to feign reading it.

There was a contingency for this.  If the woman and girl stayed put, his contact would walk up to the bench, light a cigarette, and go have a smoke under one of the nearby trees.  Sanchez would get up and ask him for a light, and they would have a quick conversation there.  Alternately, the woman and child might just leave in time.

But they didn't.  Sanchez had flipped through several pages and noticed that the park was getting a bit busier as people trickled out of the courthouse.  Clerks, baliffs, secretaries, and at least one judge mingled about, talking, eating, drinking, or smoking.  The street-sweepers and the roadkill collector had set down their tools and were sharing a bottle.  The student was still reading.

"Not even four in the afternoon, and they stand about as if the world requires no effort of them", the old woman remarked.

Sanchez glanced at her, and noticed her eyes on him.  "I suppose the government gives them a break."

"They had a break at three."

"I don't know, then", Sanchez said. 

He flipped through another two pages of the book before the woman said, "You should be working, too.  Nothing will happen if we wait for others to do it first."

"Thank you for that advice", Sanchez replied, a little suspicious now.  "I'm just waiting to see somebody about a rooster", he added, working his safeword into the explanation.

"Stupid birds", the woman scoffed.  Neither word was the expected response. 

"Mmm-hmm", Sanchez grunted, looking back to his book. 

"Ah, somebody is working after all", the woman remarked, pointing out to the street as a horse-drawn carriage approached.  "See, look!", and she tugged on Sanchez's sleeve. 

Sighing, he looked up and caught sight of something arcing through the air from the carriage towards the crowd of courthouse workers.  A moment later, one of the clerks yelped in surprise, a baliff exclaimed, "What the-", and the thrown object detonated amidst the civil servants. 

The concussion stunned Sanchez for several seconds; the first sound he began to hear again was the wailing of the young girl on the bench as she gaped at the carnage, oblivious to several lacerations on her own little body. 

Gritting her teeth, the old woman reached out to the girl and pulled the child against her.  "You're fine", she said soothingly.  "I'm fine, too.  I'll take you home in a moment." 

To Sanchez, she said, "Perhaps the man with your rooster has traded it for a pig".  She nodded as Sanchez's facial expression denoted recognition of the safe word.  "The message is simple, Senor Sanchez:  Thank you for your assistance to date; we have decided to accelerate the timetable.  You may want to consider leaving the country while you are still able."