The Meru Pact

"War is boring. Peace isn't, because at least it's a lie."

In his 2012 autobiography, Suresh Rao had said this candidly, to explain why he, a former lieutenant in SAIF, quit and went into politics. Uncompromising, unforgiving, and ruthless, he was utterly devoted to his work. He was unmarried, and had no children, and he liked it that way.

The Emperor had liked it as well. Having demanded that Suresh be appointed because of his no-nonsense attitude, the Emperor formally made him Secretary of Military Affairs in 2008, following Congressional confirmation. That no-nonsense attitude would definitely come in handy when it came to running the Meru Pact.

The Empire was first, alphabetically, amongst the founding members, and that meant that from the start of this new decade to April 1st, he was the inaugural Chairman of the Pact's Council of Ministers. His two fellow members were Ugria's Minister of War, Jaanus Falkowski, and Xentherida's Minister of Defense, Helen Strandberg, and they had a fair amount to discuss at this inaugural session.

Secretary Rao sat at the seat marked for the Empire. The Chairmanship was not a position of authority in the Meru Pact: it was that of a first among equals. All the members had a commitment to the same creed, after all, especially after all that had happened with the Ugrians.

Putting the Meru Pact Ratification Act, passed by Congress and given Imperial Assent, down in front of him, he breathed in. The theatrics were over. It was time to get to work.

A career military man, Jaanus Falkowski had been in the Military since age 18. Now a Colonel General, his list of posts was long, with the more noteworthy being: The 1st Order of Merit of the Ugrian Federation Armoured Division “Terasest Mehed”, the Second Army Corps, and his crowning achievement, Chief of the General Staff of the Ugrian Army. With this distinguished career behind him, he was appointed Minister of War after the unfortunate falling from grace of the previous Minister of War. The appointment of a Courantist to the post was a large event. Now he sat at the seat marked for the Ugrian Federation. He laid the act of Ratification of the Treaty of Merunagar of the National Assembly of the Ugrian Federation on the table. There were issues to be sorted out.

With all that had happened in the past few months with Ugria, and Dučrijeka, and Xentherida, Helen had certainly been overwhelmed by her sudden appointment into the Xentheridan Ministry of Defence. With all the reforms and such that had been necessary to oversee, and now the development of an entirely new alliance, it was clear to see she was quite exhausted with her work. Nevertheless, she knew she had a job to do, for the Meru Pact would be an important factor in Craviterian politics in the years to come, and this first meeting would help to define the young alliance's future, especially for when it came to reestablishing relations with Ugria, a state who had newly asserted themselves on the global stage as an independent power.