Future of the Union, August 23rd

"Andrew, wake up." My wife's soft voice broke through the heavy haze. I felt her soft hands shake my shoulder. I groaned, slowly stretching, several audible cracks sounded as my spine once again stretched.

I opened my eyes, wiping the crud away and blinking the sleep out. I gazed at the soft hazel eyes staring back at me. The sheer nightgown that struggled to hide her voluptuousness.

"Morning Darling." I murmured, enjoying the beautiful lady before me. Veria leaned in, planting a soft, demanding kiss on my lips.

"I made your favorite quesadillas." She smiled, pulling away. I pulled her back, holding her tightly.

"Just a bit longer." I whispered as she giggled into my chest. She snuggled closer, whispering something I didn't catch.

"I love you." I whispered softly, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too Andrew." She replied, her eyes made my heart feel like butter. I gave her one last kiss before I forced myself from the bed, shuffling over to the closet to select a uniform. I found one laid out, my cap sitting next to it.

I couldn't repress the smile that came to my face. My wife was the best, no idea what I'd done to deserve such a wonderful, beautiful woman. I walked into the kitchen, a plate stacked with my wife's immaculate cooking. I took a seat, placing my cap next to me and grabbed one of the quesadillas.

I watched my wife, scrubbing the pan in the sink. She glanced up at me, a small smile. She tilted her head ever so slightly to the right, a few strands falling to caress her cheek. "What?"

"How'd I win the most beautiful girl ever?" I asked. Veria's laugh lifted my weary soul.

"You should ask her next time." She joked.

Someone knocked at the door, I glanced at it, then the clock on the wall, 1114. I nearly choked on my food, shit. I'd known i'd gotten home late last night. "Shit!"

I sprung up from the table, dashing for the door. I opened it, almost leaping back in surprise. My mother in law stood at the door. She tired looking past me. "Is my daughter home?"

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen…" I replied, stepping out of the way. Veria appeared, handing me my half eaten plate, she stood up on the tip of her toes and planted a kiss on my jaw.

"Get going mister, when you get back you'll help us make tamales." She gently pushed me out the door, closing it behind me.

I sighed, walking to my uaz. I nodded to my neighbors as they took out their trash, then to the patrol of MPs that drove by. I slumped into my seat and grabbed the sat phone from the dash. I dialed my second favorite number, waiting till the second ring for it to pick up.

"Major Ivan speaking."

"Ivan, this is Andrew, do I have anything that I need to do at the Premier's today?" I asked, almost hesitantly.

"We'll sir, that you've asked… there's a pair of problems…" I felt a sinking feeling in my gut.

"The budget hasn't been resolved yet, our pencil pushers and theirs can't seem to agree, if you and the premier could hash that out… while your there the premier wanted to speak with you about something related to economic stimulus."

I cursed silently as I started the car. "Alright, I'll sit with Merida and see if we can hash something out. How's 1st and 4th division's advances coming along?"

"Luka's been slowed, but should be in position by midnight, Erik's somehow still going to make his hit time, not sure what magic he's working out but it's something. We should be ready for Assedio de Sueno by dusk tomorrow if Erik isn't stalled further."

"Alright, keep me posted." I ended the call and put the car in gear, driving towards the old city hall. It wasn't long before I was parked outside. The building was abuzz with activity, people walking in and out.

I headed inside, receiving nods from a few of the police officers. I made my way to the Premier's office, the assistant asked me to wait, as the Premier was in a meeting. I shrugged and slumped on the couch, grabbing a newspaper.

'BREAKING NEWS; Hawaii warns Union'. Yesterday,(August 22nd) at 2355 local time the Soviet embassy on Oahu received an official warning from Governor William's office in Honolulu. "The government of Hawaii has become aware of Soviet expansion at the expense of the United States, we strongly encourage Premier Merida to reconsider this strategy." Our reporters were able to get a statement from the Premier early this morning, "The Soviet Union will not bow to the old world, it is up to them whether or not to get with the program." We will be keeping close watch as this story progresses.'

"General Reichenbacher, I'm sorry my secretary had you wait! I'll have her disciplined and instructed to show you right in." Merida gushed as he quickly walked over to me. He grabbed my hand, profusely apologizing.

"It's no big deal Premier, I'm here to break past the deadlock our bureaucracy seems to have created." I replied as the Premier showed me into his office.

"Oh, yes… Well, if an agreement isn't met and the department handed over to the ministry within the next 48 hours, then pay will be delayed. I don't want to put such a blight on the people's faith in our government so soon." He replied as we took seats.

"Do you want to hash out the percentage of the budget for the military then?" I asked.

"Why not everything?" Merida asked.

"The military doesn't need to pay for everything, just the military, the rest can be decided by the ministry of finance." I replied.

"Ah, we'll in that case our plan is to allot the military 4% of…"

I held up my hand and sighed, I quickly looked through my folder, pulling out a few documents. "Pay of soldiers, 5.3 million. Payments to independent salvage contractors, 1.1 million, payment of civilian maintenance contractors, 300 thousand. Payment of interpreters and language teachers, 670 thousand… that pay of soldiers, isn't including those still on pay deferment, if you want to include them then that 5.3 will jump to 132 million."

"Forge's estimated budget is 700 million, and by our best estimates for our other projects reach into the 2 to 3 billion figure, our estimated revenue for this year is… 570 million?" he said after shuffling through a few documents.

"Projected revenue should be 2.4 to 2.7 billion for the year, did the ministry of Finance account for the gold reserves?" I replied, going over m y papers again, looking for the discrepancy.

"We made our projections under the assumption that the gold was to remain with the military to pay the deferred wages." I chuckled.

"Ah, no… we're giving that all to you, the military isn't the central reserve." I replied.

"That wasn't the impression Colonel Ivanov gave the minister during their last talk."

"It's being transferred to the Ministry of finance, I'll ensure that it happens." I replied firmly.

"Well, that miscommunication means all my estimates of revenue are worthless." Merida grumbled. He tossed his packet to the desk.

"It helps that we are reusing dollars, but we really should implement our own currency." he said, placing his head in his hands. I chuckled, leaning back in my seat.

"And to think you wanted to be elected, God don't you wish i'd never offered that position up don't you?"I laughed.

"No General. If I'd known just how much work I'd signed myself up for I'd have conceded and let Hailey take the Premiership." He replied.

"Well, with you newfound millions, how about we create a rough idea of what the military needs." I said, grabbing a pen from the Premier's desk and grabbed one of his discarded documents.

"So just accounting for expected expenses this year, we'll need about 13% of the budget. If we kick it up to 17% we can slowly pay down the deferments, work our way out of that massive hole." I started writing some numbers down, heavily rounded figures that is.

"Can I call you Andrew?" Merida asked, leaning forward. I gave the Premier a look but shrugged. The man sighed and leaned back, glancing out at the distant sea.

"There's some talk going around the Ministries, they want a grand military project to send a message to Honalulu." he said quietly.

"That a reference to the papers?" I asked. Merida nodded slowly.

"If I give this project the greenlight, will you lend us the personnel needed to make it happen?" he asked, turning to me and clasping his hands.

"As long as it will benefit the Union, I'm willing to support the project." I replied guardedly. Merida had been a good colleague so far, but he was still a politician.

"Minister Espenosa has coined it 'project Rising Star'. The plan is to make use of the San Diego Shipyards, restore and modernize the Iowa and Midway." I stared at the Premier for a few long moments.

"Hang on… the minister of economic development… wants to restore a pair of museums… and gift them to the soviet navy?"

"That is the premise, yes." Merida nodded.

"How is doing that going to contribute to economic development?" I asked.

"Ship building, I'm told is a lot of integrated industries… steel, machinery, weapons, munitions. That potentially thousands of people we can easily employ." it was my turn to put my head in my hands. I looked up, struggling not to straggle the man.

"There's no way the Hawiian's aren't going to see it as a provocation. They'll do something about it…" I replied.

Merida stood, walking over to the window. "What is it you told me Andrew? You run the nation, I'll run the military?"

I bit my lip, not expecting my words to come back to haunt me so quickly. "Thats…"

"Here Andrew, I'll ensure the military has the budget it needs. I, as Premier of the Soviet Union, I am charging you with the following. Oir navy and airforce, both are too small, double the navy, quadruple the airforce. Add 4 more divisions to the Army."

"Is that supposed to be an order Premier." i asked icily.

"I wanted it to be a request… I don't know the specifics… But your soldiers, they just continue to spill from the port, yet no new ships come in to unload them or their equipment. It leaves me to suspect you have alternative means to raising the military, and why the number of volunteers accepted remains so low."

"So if it must be so, yes General Reichenbacher, that is my order to you. Expand the Military, we must be able to stand on par and above those militaries of the old world to thrive."

'Quest issued! Premier's Demand. Military expansion, expand the army by 4 divisions, the navy must double in size, the airforce must quadruple. Reward, 150,000 credits, 5,000,000 xp. 6/10 Divisions, 36/72 ships, 3/12 air squadrons.'