This is probably a little farther back in the timeline (you people write too quickly)
The door of the Tim Horton's eased closed behind Master Sergent Lufy Starleaf who looked as though she would rather have slammed it. Scattered around the tables in the restaurant were most of the rest of the team the Fen had sent to 'help' the Canadians with the minor incursion of an armoured column across their border. Claiming a free seat next to the ostensible leaders, she accepted a cup of coffee and dropped her head into her hands with a groan.
"Things aren't going well then?" asked one of the more newly arrived OGJ people, F, Lufy thought he'd been introduced as.
Lufy sighed and took a sip of the coffee. "I think we've managed to head off a shooting war for the immediate future. Lieutenant Cartleton seems to have gotten everything calmed down, and that telegram from the US government helped." Lufy stared at the surface of the coffee for a long moment. "Our friend from Foreign Affairs isn't helping too much though." She took another pull on the mug and asked, "What have the Canucks been up to?"
F grimaced, an unhappy expression on his face. "Mobilizing mostly. Between this little incident and the fact they've managed to get a summary of Turtledove's work in front of the Defence Minister, some people in Ottawa are deciding to prepare for the worst." The sour expression on F's face deepened. "I think they're also worried about the upcoming meeting with the Yankee government. They're not going to be able to keep the Governor General a secret for too long." At Lufy's questioning look, he elaborated. "The black, female GG with a white husband, that's going to go over smoothly."
F shook his head and pulled a map over to their table, turning it so Lufy could see. F traced the highway leading from Winnipeg to Emerson. "The closest units to us are reservists, part of 38 Canadian Brigade, and based in Winnipeg." He tapped two points farther west, much farther west. "1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group is the closest regular force group in Land Force Western Area, and they're on their way. But their mostly at Edmonton which is pretty far away. They'll pass through Shilo," here F tapped the map, closer to Winnipeg, " and pick up their artillery, and unfortunately 38 Brigade's artillery here."
Juggling the now empty mug back and forth in her hands Lufy stifled another groan. "They're not going to go off half-cocked are they?"
F shrugged and pushed his battered hat further back on his head. "I don't think so. Colonel Hanomansing seems pretty solid. But they are digging in north of here, just in case." He traced another line on the map. "They didn't say exactly where, but I get the impression that there's going to be a small army dug in just far enough from Emerson to keep it from getting flattened if the Yanks decide to push north."
F took a drink of his own coffee while Lufy studied the wrinkled and much folded topographic map. Judging by the contours and the rivers, there were a few obvious places for a defender to set up. "I guess we should know, what have they got?"
"Not much. Three regiments, sort of. The Fort Garry Horse are armoured recce, mostly Leopard 2s and C2s. The other two are light infantry, and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles are a single battalion only." Gesturing at the map again, F indicated two small dots to the west and east of Winnipeg, both about twice as far away from the provincial capital as Emerson was. "The closet artillery is in Brandon, waiting for 1 Mechanized, and Kenora."
Leaning back from the table F looked at Lufy for a long moment. "I really hope we can keep things calm here," he said.
"Yeah, well, try talking to our Quebecois friend. He is not making things easy."
F snorted at this. "I'm not surprised. If he's as true blue a nationalist as you've said, he might just be thinking about how this could be used against the Federal government."
Lufy stood up and stared at F, one eyebrow raised. "How the hell did he get this job?"
That got her another shrug as F rose to join her. "Quebec's got a lot of seats in the Parliament. You don't get enough of them, you're probably not going to get a majority. So you get appointees in an attempt to make the random Quebecer on the street think the party in charge in Ottawa cares about them." F followed Lufy towards the door, and began to sing. Horribly. "When your voiture cannot start: C'est la faute du federal. If you have a broken heart: C'est la faute du federal..."
"Please stop."
The horrible sound followed Lufy across the parking lot, past the looming blue and white mobile suit standing guard over the restaurant and towards the local legion hall where the negotiators were talking.
"Il fait trop chaud: C'est la faute du federal..."
"Enough!"
OOC: I'm going to pretend that Michaëlle Jean got a second term as Governor General, just to make things that much more awkward.
--
No, no, no. @MONOLITH is full of @STARS.
-- Shalon Wood
The door of the Tim Horton's eased closed behind Master Sergent Lufy Starleaf who looked as though she would rather have slammed it. Scattered around the tables in the restaurant were most of the rest of the team the Fen had sent to 'help' the Canadians with the minor incursion of an armoured column across their border. Claiming a free seat next to the ostensible leaders, she accepted a cup of coffee and dropped her head into her hands with a groan.
"Things aren't going well then?" asked one of the more newly arrived OGJ people, F, Lufy thought he'd been introduced as.
Lufy sighed and took a sip of the coffee. "I think we've managed to head off a shooting war for the immediate future. Lieutenant Cartleton seems to have gotten everything calmed down, and that telegram from the US government helped." Lufy stared at the surface of the coffee for a long moment. "Our friend from Foreign Affairs isn't helping too much though." She took another pull on the mug and asked, "What have the Canucks been up to?"
F grimaced, an unhappy expression on his face. "Mobilizing mostly. Between this little incident and the fact they've managed to get a summary of Turtledove's work in front of the Defence Minister, some people in Ottawa are deciding to prepare for the worst." The sour expression on F's face deepened. "I think they're also worried about the upcoming meeting with the Yankee government. They're not going to be able to keep the Governor General a secret for too long." At Lufy's questioning look, he elaborated. "The black, female GG with a white husband, that's going to go over smoothly."
F shook his head and pulled a map over to their table, turning it so Lufy could see. F traced the highway leading from Winnipeg to Emerson. "The closest units to us are reservists, part of 38 Canadian Brigade, and based in Winnipeg." He tapped two points farther west, much farther west. "1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group is the closest regular force group in Land Force Western Area, and they're on their way. But their mostly at Edmonton which is pretty far away. They'll pass through Shilo," here F tapped the map, closer to Winnipeg, " and pick up their artillery, and unfortunately 38 Brigade's artillery here."
Juggling the now empty mug back and forth in her hands Lufy stifled another groan. "They're not going to go off half-cocked are they?"
F shrugged and pushed his battered hat further back on his head. "I don't think so. Colonel Hanomansing seems pretty solid. But they are digging in north of here, just in case." He traced another line on the map. "They didn't say exactly where, but I get the impression that there's going to be a small army dug in just far enough from Emerson to keep it from getting flattened if the Yanks decide to push north."
F took a drink of his own coffee while Lufy studied the wrinkled and much folded topographic map. Judging by the contours and the rivers, there were a few obvious places for a defender to set up. "I guess we should know, what have they got?"
"Not much. Three regiments, sort of. The Fort Garry Horse are armoured recce, mostly Leopard 2s and C2s. The other two are light infantry, and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles are a single battalion only." Gesturing at the map again, F indicated two small dots to the west and east of Winnipeg, both about twice as far away from the provincial capital as Emerson was. "The closet artillery is in Brandon, waiting for 1 Mechanized, and Kenora."
Leaning back from the table F looked at Lufy for a long moment. "I really hope we can keep things calm here," he said.
"Yeah, well, try talking to our Quebecois friend. He is not making things easy."
F snorted at this. "I'm not surprised. If he's as true blue a nationalist as you've said, he might just be thinking about how this could be used against the Federal government."
Lufy stood up and stared at F, one eyebrow raised. "How the hell did he get this job?"
That got her another shrug as F rose to join her. "Quebec's got a lot of seats in the Parliament. You don't get enough of them, you're probably not going to get a majority. So you get appointees in an attempt to make the random Quebecer on the street think the party in charge in Ottawa cares about them." F followed Lufy towards the door, and began to sing. Horribly. "When your voiture cannot start: C'est la faute du federal. If you have a broken heart: C'est la faute du federal..."
"Please stop."
The horrible sound followed Lufy across the parking lot, past the looming blue and white mobile suit standing guard over the restaurant and towards the local legion hall where the negotiators were talking.
"Il fait trop chaud: C'est la faute du federal..."
"Enough!"
OOC: I'm going to pretend that Michaëlle Jean got a second term as Governor General, just to make things that much more awkward.
--
No, no, no. @MONOLITH is full of @STARS.
-- Shalon Wood