Puissance: Chapter Eight
Title: Puissance: Chapter Eight
Author: ArthurMerlin
Artist: blood_songs90
Pairings/characters: Arthur/Merlin (minor: OC/OC, Gwen/Lancelot)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 30,798
Warnings: None
Summary:The turbulent times of Prime Minister Arthur Pendragon, in which war looms, betrayal waits in the wings, and unexpected love blossoms.
Disclaimer: Neither ArthurMerlin nor blood_songs90 owns any aspect of Merlin. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Chapter Eight
A month had passed since the news headlines of Gwen’s infidelity. She hadn’t come home as Arthur had asked; she’d stayed in Manchester in Lance’s constituency residence. Arthur had avoided any further media coverage by diverting their attention onto the situation in the middle east; which had deteriorated considerably after Russia and Iraq jointly invaded Turkey, setting up a provisional government (Russian dominated) in Ankara. The international community had responded with outrage, but so far the UN had been unable to prevent Russia annexing Georgia and Turkey, and the USA was unwilling to militarily engage such a powerful nation.
Today was a Wednesday, and Arthur was chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting in Number 10. Arthur leaned back in his chair, resting his arms on the rests, as Percival outlined the planned deployment of Royal Naval assets to Britain’s Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. He planned to send the helicopter carrier HMS Bulwark - the Royal Navy’s acting flagship - at the head of a taskforce to comprise the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean, the Type 45 Destroyers HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond, and HMS Dragon, the Type 23 Frigates HMS Lancaster, HMS Iron Duke, HMS Somerset, HMS Kent and HMS St. Albans. The flotilla would supplement the Vanguard nuclear submarines already deployed to the area, and the RAF forces permanently stationed at the Cyprus bases.
Britain was committed to defending the Turkish government in exile (placed under NATO protection in the Turkish half of the Cypriot capital Nicosia), and wanted to ensure a presence superior to the Russian Navy’s presence in Mediterranean waters and with sufficient destroyer support to deter any aerial assaults. Percival had shown Arthur the plans before the meeting and had obtained his private approval; and the presentation appeared to be going well as it was agreed to by Leon in the Foreign Office, Lance, and other senior members of the Cabinet.
Then, however, Agravaine leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, and looked concerned; “the point is, Prime Minister, that I cannot justify the increases in the defence budget which this project needs, unless I take the money from other department’s budgets. Perhaps a cut in the health budget? Or welfare?”
As the Chancellor made the second suggestion, his eyes moved to Mithian sat on the other side of Arthur. She shifted in her seat but kept her expression under control; “Chancellor, a welfare cut at the present time is simply out of the question.”
The health minister echoed her remarks, and Agravaine shrugged; “then I cannot see how we can proceed with this deployment.”
“But surely you must see the necessity of this deployment,” Arthur said, turning to look at his uncle, “if we don’t provide adequate defences for Cyprus, Russian forces will invade and take the island by force. We would then be forced to cede our bases to the Russians, or accept a state of war. Deploying these forces is the only effective deterrent we have.”
“Arthur, listen to me, if the Russians want to take Cyprus, believe me they will simply take it. We don’t have the forces to stop them.”
“We won’t if you block this deployment,” Percival interjected.
“It’s not a question of blocking it, Mr. Young, it’s a question of not having the money to fund it.”
“Then raise VAT,” Gwaine said agitatedly; he had never had any time for Agravaine.
“I can’t do that, it would be politically difficult,” Agravaine dodged.
“Fine, then cut my budget.”
Arthur whipped his eyes over to Gwaine, surprised to hear the man willingly offer part of his budget for Percival’s department. Agravaine too seemed rather stunned and struggled for a reply.
Arthur decided to close that topic before Agravaine could think of a retort; “it’s settled, then, the education budget will be cut by a level sufficient to fund the deployment of the flotilla to Cyprus.”
Cabinet adjourned soon after that, and Arthur called Percival into his office. Merlin shut the door behind them and took his seat towards the back of the room. Percival was an enormous man whose massive bulk was entirely muscle.
“Percival, what are our chances if the Russians invade Cyprus?”
The Defence Secretary look troubled as he answered, “Arthur, I really think it’s a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’. They’ve committed too many forces to the coastal regions; I would wager their next target will be Israel, or the Turkish government in Cyprus.”
“We have to be careful,” Arthur said as he thought over that, “if they do attack Israel, and we have a large fleet in nearby waters, there will be a lot of pressure on us to intervene on Israel’s behalf. There would be no avoiding war then. How about the Americans? How close are we to persuading them to deploy their assets to the Med?”
Percival shook his head, “no nearer than we’ve been for weeks. They won’t budge, they’re too concerned about Russian fleet movements near South Korea, especially after China’s made their support for Russia more explicit.”
“This situation is getting out of control,” Arthur said, rising to his feet and pacing around the room, “I didn’t want to go down in history as the PM who led Britain into another World War.”
“We’re not there yet, Arthur,” Merlin said.
“’Yet’ is the key word.”
Percival left the office to attend a meeting with the Chief of the Defence Staff, leaving Arthur with detailed operational plans on the deployment. Within 10 days the whole task-force would be in position in Cyprus, he just hoped it was enough time.
Privately, Arthur was terrified how quickly the crisis was escalating. Russia had expelled the British ambassador shortly after Arthur had thrown out Mr. Rustov; meaning Arthur had to rely on information from MI6 to hear how the situation in Russia was developing. By all accounts, every victory was capitalised upon by Mordred’s propaganda machine. But, most disturbing of all, reports were flooding in of Russian dissent both in the civilian population and the armed forces and ultimately coming to nothing, as the dissenters were rounded up and sent to labour camps near the Afghan border. Mordred was ensuring that his opposition was silenced as soon, and as decisively, as possible.
“If you’ll excuse me, Arthur, I’ve got an appointment with Sir Gaius,” Merlin said, gathering his papers.
“Just a minute,” Arthur walked over and put his hand on Merlin’s shoulder, “actually, I’ve got a favour to ask of you.”
“Oh?” Merlin looked intrigued.
“King Johan is flying to Frankfurt today for a special meeting of the German Confederation’s Federal Assembly. It’s a vitally important meeting, it seems like Prussia is going to take a pro-Russian diplomatic stance, as a way of getting one-up on the Austrians. The King is going to try to prevent that from happening. I need you there as a representative of the government; get the lay of the land, make connections, find out who our allies are.”
Merlin’s expression became more concerned; “I’m a civil servant, Arthur, wouldn’t a minister be a more appropriate government representative? Like Leon?”
Arthur shook his head, “no, this isn’t to be official representation. It has to be low-key; so much so that the media don’t get a whiff of it, ok?”
Merlin shrugged, still rather confused, “If that’s what you want, Arthur, of course.”
Arthur squeezed Merlin’s shoulder affectionately; “thank you, my friend.”
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Chapter Nine