NOVEL NEXT RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 72: Time to chill… Or maybe not? – Edited by Yovis
Initially, General Rokossovsky thought they would be immediately shipped off to Berlin once the train reached Cottbus, it would seem that his hypothesis back on the train was pleasantly proven wrong. Instead of sequestering them all away, the Rusviet delegation is to be hosted at a five-star hotel in Cottbus for a few days. The treatment is similar to that of Adam and his crew, with the good Lieutenant just a floor below where Rokossovsky is staying. The Marshal has explicitly stated that they all need to cool down first and foremost, and it's something that Rokossovsky can surely get behind. Though young, the Reich Marshal sure knows her ways to raise her standing in the eyes of a person. Rokossovsky finds himself oddly relieved when the Marshal promises only the best hospitality and security during their stay in Belka. She even went at length to say that Rokossovsky and his group would be treated as friends of the Reich for the aid they had rendered to the Belkan train crew. While Rokossovsky doesn't have the strength to mull over what such a promise will entail, he can at least make sure his delegation, or what's left of it, settles down in their new temporary lodging.
"General, we will leave you to your rest." Rokossovsky's aide bids the man goodbye by saluting.
Rokossovsky returns the motion before saying. "Take it easy and get the boys cleaned up. I heard that there's lunch being served downstair in the restaurant, if anyone wants to eat then form a group with you to supervise them. Otherwise, just rest till dinner time, notify me then."
"Yes, General." The aide nods before moving away, shooing the other soldiers into their assigned quarters. Prior to this, the few Rusviet diplomats that accompany Rokossovsky have already retired to their rooms.
Rokossovsky lets out a wry grin when he hears some of his subordinates' light-hearted banters. Ultimately, the man sighs before closing the door to his quarter. Now alone, the General moves to the drink cabinet in a corner of the room. Surprisingly, the cabinet is stocked with not just the famous Belkan Pear Brandy but also a couple of Vodka bottles. Despite his broken arm, Rokossovsky still manages to grab a drinking glass and a Vodka bottle from the cabinet. The man just expertly open it with one hand before pouring himself a glass. Putting the bottle on top of the cabinet with a clank, Rokossovsky downs the alcohol glass in one go. When the General removes the glass from his mouth, he notices the shaking of his arm. Though the Vodka is good, Rokossovsky spats.
"Fuck..."
It's at this point that Rokossovsky really felt the impact on his drained spirit. The bloodied battle and the hasty getaway have taken a toll on the man, something he is sure that the others will be experiencing also. As Rokossovsky moves to pour himself another shot of Vodka, he idly wonders whether any of his men will take up the lunch provided by the hotel. If even the General himself feels like crap, then the others may as well crash onto a soft bed and pass out.
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When Aria and Adam are assigned a suite in the hotel, Aria tries her best to make Adam comfortable. After helping her fiancee take a bath to remove all the grime and dried blood on his body, Aria helps Adam to their shared bed. Though Adam is all cleaned up, Aria still notices the haunted look on her fiancee's face. While Adam still has the mind to hide his jumpy behavior, Aria has been with him long enough to notice his troubled thoughts. So, Aria hugs Adam. Rather than saying anything, Aria chooses action to calm her fiancee. Hugging the man into her bosom, Aria softly pats his hair while humming a calming tune.
Slowly, Adam returns the embrace, shedding tears as he sniffles and mourns for the losses he witnessed in Warsaw. As any good fiancee will do, Aria comforts Adam silently like a motherly figure. Adam is sure to grow from this experience, but right now, all the big guy needs is peace.
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Berlin.
After the gigantic mess in Warsaw, the Polanian top brass has explicitly ordered a delegation on an express flight to Belka. Rather than trying to sweep everything under the rug, this delegation is instead in Berlin to prevent a potentially hostile reaction from the enigmatic Reich. It's a given at this point that a war with the Rusviet Union is set in stone with how both sides are waving flags at the border. If Belka jumps in on the chance with the casus belli Warsaw readily provided, Polania won't be able to fight a war on two fronts. One may argue that Belka won't be able to afford another war with its neighbor as their war with Erusea and Loyalist Ustio is still ongoing, yet, nobody wants to test that theory out with how Warsaw was bombed with impunity.
So concessions have to be made. At the very least, the Polanian delegation must ensure both nations sign a non-aggression pact at all costs. Yet, when the time has come for them to seek an audience with the leadership of the Belkan Reich, the Polanian delegation is met with a polite:
"Unfortunately, we are busy with something else, do come again later."
Wait what? That is not the response the Polanians have been expecting. With how bombastic the event in Warsaw was, they were expecting the Belkans to immediately summon them, if not to discuss reparations then to shout at the Polanians' audacity for attacking a train of the Reich. Yet, repeated attempts at requesting an audience have all been turned down for the couple of days they've been in Berlin. It's as if the Reich is taking their sweet time to address the issue, or worse, they've already decided on a course of action. If it's the latter, then this is big trouble for Polania because they won't be able to know what the Reich's response will be.
While the Polanians are coming in and out of their embassy in confusion and haste, things are much different in another corner of the city.
"Mr. Ribbentrop, I am glad the Reich can spare some of its time to meet with me."
"Mr. Molotov, we're always eager to welcome a friend of the Reich in Berlin. Please, have a seat, the Reich has much to discuss with the Union."
"Then allow me to intrude on your hospitality, Mr. Ribbentrop. Per chance do you still have that good coffee from Indochina?"
"Ah, yes! I always restock it! A server will come soon with a pot for us while we discuss."
Such amicable pleasantries are exchanged by the diplomatic representatives from Belka and Rusviet. This is not the first time the two political minds meet in a non-disclosed location. When the matter in Warsaw blew over, the two superpowers reached out to one another immediately to share intel and plans of action. Since Polania has spat on the kindness of both the Reich and the Union, the two superpowers have agreed to respond in kind.
First, the two nations divulge suspicions and proof of the Polanian crimes and discuss how to divulge it to the rest of the world. With how adept Belka is in propaganda warfare, the nation takes up the task of disseminating the information worldwide, further sending Polania down an inescapable pit. When the talk progresses to what will happen after that, both nations express a shared interest in putting down Polania for good with quite similar albeit unspoken reasons. Both superpowers want to subsume more territories. Belka wants to accomplish the Marshal's Plan V2 while Rusviet wants to feed Stalin's desire for a Greater Rusviet Union. While it's still a bit too soon to hash out a detailed division of the state, the two nations already have a general idea of what their new border will be.
Starting from Belkan-controlled Prussia, the new border of the Reich would reach Lodz and Krakow, leaving Eastern Polania falling under the sphere of the Rusviet Union. Of course, drawing a new map will only happen after the conclusion of a war with Polania, something quite easy to achieve for the Belkans. When the time comes, it will be not just Ustio that falls under the umbrella of the Reich, but also 1/3rd of Polania.
What most people don't know is that, at this point, the Reich Marshal has fully embraced the spirit of an opportunist. While Belka may seem to be losing out by only making a claim for 1/3rd of Polania, they will actually be winning in the long term. Even with the impressive size of the Rusviet Union, swallowing a sizeable portion of Polania is not easy. This is not even mentioning their obvious desire to claim Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Gallia that are the Union's direct neighbors. There are many ways that Belka can profit from the Union's inability to fully digest their expansion targets.
Nevertheless, it's something the Marshal will deal with in the future. While paid well by the Reich, Mr. Ribbentrop isn't paid to think beyond his station. Instead, the man chooses to focus on his Rusviet counterpart, working together to lay the foundation for an earth-shattering pact that will determine the foreseeable future of Europe:
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.