RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 54-2: Stockholm Conference (Part 2)

Author Notes:

Next chapter is up! Tomorrow is Mother's Day for me so I will be taking a day off work to accompany her. Peace! And hope you all have a nice weekend!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9

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Hours have passed in the conference room, with a light lunch being served a mere hour ago. Ever since King Gustaf V asked the golden question that has been on everyone's mind, the discussion between various delegations has been a continued effort. Despite some bad blood between a few parties, such petty matters are set aside as each group contributes their own thoughts and experiences to the table... If only not to alienate themselves on the grander world stage.

Something everyone may have noticed by now is that nobody has been tearing another person's throat out yet, even though some of them are literally at war with each other. For the first time in a long time, countries in positions of power actively discuss cooperation and solutions with each other, small as it might be. It won't be able to settle all the beef one may have with another, but it's a start.

Things have been going surprisingly smoothly as each country shed light on the extent of their damage and what aid they may need.

America is in need of a new food supply and additional housing. The Yellowstone volcano being an active threat has thrown many of the US citizens into the deep end. It's a crisis that is being marked in red by Belka's Office of National Intelligence. Future forecasts indicate that, if the USA isn't able to garner international aid, its speedy development of both military and industrial capabilities will be cut back by ten years. It doesn't have to be said that this is unacceptable by not just the US but also the Belkan Reich. If the US grows weaker, it won't be able to put up much of a fight against a steadily growing threat due East of them.

Ustio, both Reformists and Loyalists alike, got off likely... Which only applied to their homeland. Extensive damage and humanitarian crises are springing up all over the place across their large swathe of colonies. A matter that is pretty much mirrored by all other countries' colonies across the globe. Being stretched thin due to their large outreach, countries like Ustio and Erusea struggle to maintain order in their overseas supply depots. Ironically enough, Ustio, a nation that is now divided into two halves, has a much easier time putting out the fire than an Erusea which is still relatively whole. This has been a direct result of Ustio still having a sizeable naval power projection, not to mention the country has been mostly silent in any political upheaval or large-scale military conflict for the past couple of years. A notion that can't be said for the Erusean Kingdom which has an entire modern fleet sank or captured with nothing to show for it. Understandably, Erusean citizens are already restless because of that, much less the colonized population.

Unlike the Ustian colonies that have opted to mostly not be involved in the homeland's civil war, thus retaining a higher degree of stability and self-sufficiency, the Erusean colonies are in turmoil. With the loss of the city of Farbanti, along with many losses of lesser importance in the past couple of years, Erusea starts draining a lot of resources and manpower from her overseas territories. By prioritizing the homeland over the needs of their subjects, anti-Erusean sentiment is growing at a noticeable rate, to the point when riots and looting are a recurring thing in the colonies. It's saying something when the Erusean colonial military spends more time enforcing martial law than actually trying to do damage control.

But despite the veritable fire beneath their asses, Ambassador Udina of the Erusean Kingdom still sports a strong, citing that dissidents will be taken care of and righteous order will be restored. Through Udina, Erusea refuses any aid coming from Belka, seeing it as a way for the Reich to undermine the Kingdom's sovereignty. The Ambassador then goes on a spiel to convince other countries against accepting Belka's humanitarian aid. He says that by banding together, nations can tide through the disaster together, free of any Belka manipulation.

In a way, it's a reasonable proposal, if a badly veiled attempt at trying to form a coalition of nations in opposition to the Reich. At the start, it will only be economically before it will turn into a full-blown militarist alliance. Everyone can see that, and everyone can guess the reason why Udina proposed such a matter. Erusea is, to put it mildly, spooked after losing their Home Fleet. They have been trying to rebuild it to this day. However, with the cataclysm that affected an entire planet, Erusea has probably wisened up that maybe, just maybe, they need more than a singular friend which is the Ustian Loyalists. Unlike what many people would think, the Ustian and Erusean armies visibly dislike each other. Erusean officers think that their Ustian counterparts are obsolete and dim. Whereas the Ustians liken the Eruseans to obnoxious paper pushers and unbreeched kids. Cooperations between them only exist due to the agreement between the two nations' Prime Ministers.

Understandably, not many countries, if any at all, are very fond of the idea of a coalition with Erusea as a figurehead. There's also the major conundrum that, by playing nice with Erusea, you will be pissing off the Belkans. Mind you, Erusea hasn't been able to score a kill on a Belkan soldier yet and they've somehow lost an entire naval fleet to the Reich. Not to mention the fact that Belka is readily giving away the much-needed goods by many countries. So much so that even Canada and Australia are tempted to shake hands with Belka, just so that they can get a share of that pie. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, it's what the elders used to say.

When only a few nations that have verifiable ties to Erusea have reacted positively to the proposal, Udina is stumped, self-terminating his rant and getting the discussion back on track. The man is obviously peeved by the fact that Belka's help is more valuable than the Erusean Kingdom's guarantee.

Now that the talk can go ahead, other superpowers are able to share what they can. Being the one to escape the disaster on the lighter side of things, Rusviet express their full intention to build and help maintain a humanitarian corridor, transporting both refugees and aid supplies by train from Asia to Europe. The notion elects rave support from smaller nations around, especially more so when this transcontinental railway will expedite the recovery of affected countries. On a side note, Udina is left absolutely fuming when the Belkan delegation offers to aid Rusviet in building the European half of the railway, and the Rusviets wholeheartedly accept the idea. The Rusviet delegation saw this opportunity as not just a chance to spread the influence of communism, but to also grow closer to their Western ally, Belka.

The Long Dynasty, with Emperor Cao Long at the helm, also expressed their support to help build the Asian half of the transcontinental railway. And while the two countries have been mere acquaintances on the political stage, Rusviet gladly welcomed the aid of the Chinese. Molotov, Stalin's right-hand man, is excited by the fact that two notable countries on two different continents have chimed in their support. With the Reich and the Long Dynasty aboard, one by one, nations on both continents pledge their support. It stands for everyone to see that the benefits are huge if the rail line is to be fully built. However, it is yet to be seen whether Rusviet will be the one to profit the most from this unprecedented endeavor. Tentatively, the line will start from Dresden of Belka, going past Polania, Belarus, Voronezh of Rusviet, Kazakhstan, to Chongquing of China.

Countries that currently don't have the transcontinental railroad are able to invest in the construction of the line, thus letting them reap the benefits in the future, hopefully. At the very least, it's a nice political stunt to garner public support worldwide, one that Erusea can only watch in jealously, being the one to benefit the least from the construction of the railway.

While not expressing any discontent, the Japanese delegation is shocked that such a sudden and major proposal seems to have been passed through so effortlessly. They know that, thus far, Rusviet has only been using smaller rail systems to ship aid supplies. The process takes a lot of time and manpower since the smaller systems aren't able to go all the way from one end of Europe to another end of Asia. But with the actual transcontinental railway being an in-progress thing, it will have severe strategic implications, not just for Rusviet, but also for their nearest neighbor, the Long Dynasty. Hence, for the most part, Amaterasu and her delegation have been keeping muted, opting to remain neutral while discussing between themselves. If they even raise an objection to Molotov's proposal, pretty damn sure that the entire room will be turning hostile on them, minus America.

The US of A is on a whole different continent altogether, hence they just shrug and let the railroad discussion proceed. As long as they can still attain the support from their newest friend, the Belkan Reich, then Uncle Sam is a happy man.

That said, it's obvious that the conversation has been heavily side-tracked. With a gentle reminder from Gustaf V, the nations go back to the main topic of the day. As the hours progress, it's now the turn for the Spanish representative to offer their words.

The current Spain is... Strange, to say the least. They have been fighting a bitter battle with the remaining Sardegnian Army one day, but on the very next morning, Sardegna as a whole is effectively defunct. Due to the crippling explosion of the Campanian volcanic arc alongside the shifting tectonic plates, many Sardegnian cities and towns are effectively razed to the ground in a single day. Even now, 90% of the Papal state is still plunged under the shadow of volcanic ash, a state that is much, much worse than what the USA has experienced. Unlike the minor Yellowstone cook-off, Sardegna has earned itself a localized apocalyptic event. It's even worse when, according to hearsay from the refugees since no one even dares to traverse Sardegna these days, Pope Benito Mussolini had been found to perish in the chaos of Sardegna. The Pope and his entourage were trying to evacuate to Africa when believers started rioting around his convoy right outside the confines of the Vatican's city walls. The commotion had been just enough to attract a sizeable pack of Demons to assault both the rioting believers and the Pope's convoy. In the ensuing conflict, the Pope's vehicle was flattened by a large Demon before the vehicle exploded. Since then, there has been no further word of Pope Mussolini.

The current Sardegna is now a fractured state, with multiple new Popes popping up everywhere in surviving cities and settlements. The aftermath of the disaster has created a power vacuum and an environment that is now a hotbed for chaos and anarchy to thrive in what used to be the Holy State of the world. It's because of this that the Stockholm Conference has not invited a Sardegna delegation since they don't even know which Pope to invite. What they do know is that streams of refugees struggle to get out of the country in any way they can, if not to live then it's to see the light of the day once more. Right now, a refugee corridor has been set up by Belka in the port city of Taranto.

The Spanish Inquisition, according to Lord Inquisitor Camati, has been hosting a sizeable portion of the refugees, but they're obviously struggling. The war with the former Papal state didn't do well for the Inquisition's manpower pool. A plea has been made to see if any countries can accept the refugees in lieu of Spain or to support Spain in its humanitarian endeavors. Belka has been the first to offer their expertise, followed by a few other countries and territories, particularly those in Africa.

But then arises a question, what will they do with the Sardegnian territories that are now effectively ownerless? The surprising answer for that is... Nothing.

Well, not really nothing since most countries agreed that the current Spain is better off attaining the Sardegnian colonies that are in Africa. It will no doubt help the Spanish Inquisition alleviate its current crisis. A decision has been made to aid the Spanish in getting full ownership of the formerly Sardegnian colonies. What's left of the Sardegnian Army is to be disbanded and absorbed by the Spanish Inquisition to solve their manpower crisis. As for Sardegna itself, well, it is now a wasteland, better not touch it with a ten-foot pole, yet.

Since then, the discussion droll on and on with agreements are made and friendships are formed. At least, that's how it seems on the surface. The global disaster has plunged the planet into an era of disorder. Despite the friendliness the politicians show on the first day of the Stockholm Conference, who's to say that they won't betray one another in the future?

By dinner time, much progress has been made, but Gustaf V's original question has largely remained unanswered.

"Just what has occurred for there to be a literal Hell on Earth?"

From the beginning to the end, Gustaf V noticed that Japan had been keeping to themselves. Obviously, they had many chances to interject into the discussion but had chosen not to. From the look of it, they have opted to withhold something from the other delegations. It has been a long day, after all, so maybe they will shed some light on why they have remained passive tomorrow. If not, Gustaf V can just put them in the spotlight, he hasn't done that earlier because it's only the first day of the conference.

A part of Gustaf V sincerely hopes that, by the end of all of this, the world, not just Sweden, maybe a tad bit better. Mostly because Sweden doesn't need a war right at their doorstep.