Mountain Rumble

[Tseng]

Tseng nodded his head in understanding; he forgot that he was speaking to someone who didn't know the intricacies of the world's politics, "You misunderstand me soldier. ShinRa is the legitimate government of Midgar and namely the entirety of the world. As the head of the Department of Administrative Research, I am within in my bounds to demand your withdrawal from the region. If you do not then I will not be able to offer you the chance to leave without incident and will be forced to conduct you back to Midgar in my custody."

It wasn't a bluff in any sense of the word as Tseng was dead serious about the status of Midgar, his company, and most of all their lives. Infiltrating their city would be more effective however if necessary, the information provided by the interrogation of the soldiers would equally suffice. He kept his calm however; the situation did not call for overwhelming force. Rather, the threat of force would reinforce his stance that he was not someone to be trifled with nor brushed off so easily.

"Of course, as I mentioned before, I do carry a large degree of digression in this matter and am willing to perhaps settle this dispute with your own head of state," He didn't smile but internally he was hoping that this would be the point where they'd slip up in this conversation. He himself had come back to his own city steeped in chaos from losing it's entire board of directors and leadership structure. The Turks had been scattered to the five winds and only the inertia of the company's prior policies and fear of the leadership's return seemed to keep the employees from looting the buildings and setting up their own little fiefdoms. It was only too much to hope for that this Estharia would have a similar state of panic going on in it's upper echelons though judging by the fact that they were organized enough to send out patrols, the reality was probably very different.

Slowly, Tseng opened his PHS with his right hand. The lights on the buttons glowed brightly in the sunlight. "I'm waiting."

[Acts Of God]

Once again the soliders stood silently, staring at Tseng as they did whatever it was they were doing behind their helmets. The black coloured soldiers continued to stand unmoving as they locked their eyes on Celes; looking her over near-constantly as the blue soldiers focused on Tseng. There could have been any number of reasons they did this. Perhaps she registered as a greater threat, perhaps they found something off about her, or perhaps they were merely keeping an eye on the one person none of the blue soldiers were bothering with. After a few moments, everyone turned briefly to Celes before turning back to Tseng, and a blue soldier nodded acceptingly. “I see. Please forgive the misunderstanding.” He offered, bowing his head slightly as the group collectively lowered their weapons and began walking toward their transport.

It was at this point that the soldier who had retreated to the transport earlier emerged holding a manila envelope filled with a short stack of papers. He quickly approached the head of the Turks and presented him with the envelope before bowing politely and offering a handshake. “With the recent changes to the planet’s geography, we’ve been having some trouble reestablishing our nation’s boundaries. This land traditionally belonged to our nation of Esthar, but we see this may also be the case with your nation. We would be happy to send an emissary to Midgar to discuss a formal border, Mr. President.” He spoke in a well-mannered tone before turning to join his companions and starting up the vehicle. The transport hovered for a moment before promptly driving off, leaving the two foreigners to their business.

---

The documents consist of the following:

Page one uses several blanket terms to greet any foreign diplomats who might be reading it: using polite terms and professing honor at the chance to form a friendship with a new foreign nation. A short speech regarding the odd state of the world and how nations must stick together in such times follows the greeting.

Page two and three are a short history of Esthar. They formed when the former nation of Centra, evidentially from a southern continent, went northeast and started a new country. Short mention is made of another nation started to the west at about the same time, called Dollet. Notably absent from their history is the mention of any wars, though things start to get a little choppy towards their current history’s end. Esthar’s location is not mentioned, nor are any pictures given.

Page four contains some goodwill information on some of what Esthar has managed to gather so far regarding the state of the world. It seems to have been caused by a disturbance in space/time. People interviewed from the nearby cities of Treno, Thamasa, and Midgar all have no knowledge of one-another, and numerous chronological inconsistencies have been noted. Estharian scientists are currently working on ways to undo the current situation, and would appreciate any assistance. The locations of these cities are not mentioned, but three pictures are provided of each to provide a sense of contrast.

Page five consists of the name and basic history of a diplomat who intends to visit Midgar first thing in the morning. He will discuss the borders, the possibility of shared research, and provide basic information regarding what Esthar has to offer economically. It explains toward the end that Esthar’s people are unfortunately xenophobic due to some past ‘unpleasantness’ with other nations, and that outsiders visiting Esthar is undesirable for a multitude of political reasons they would rather not discuss.

A map of the general area is included on the final page which outlines suggested borders between Esthar and Midgar, where the mountains serve as the border.