The Arsenal

The Arsenal that Yanis I had envisioned was well on its way to completion. The massive, sprawling nature of the structure meant that much work remained to be done, but construction was timely and the expansions of the Arsenal had been successful. The first stage of the Arsenal's construction had generally involved laying the groundwork for future facilities ; the second stage had focused on building up the airplane factories and ensuring total security within the Arsenal's grounds. The third stage would concern weapons manufacturing : Rhomais' industrial capacity in all sectors had expanded greatly in recent times, but for the military, which had been somewhat neglected in favour of air power and naval power. It was time to right this wrong by building a new set of facilities in the Arsenal dedicated to developing and producing weapons.

The new section of the Arsenal would mostly be composed of workshops in which new weapons could be tested, with minor facilities for chain production of weapons, which would have to be expanded later. The Secretary of State for War's main concern was finding more efficient ways to produce precataclysmic technology, in order to conserve and expand Rhomais' technological superiority over its neighbours.

The Church of the Holy Trinity

The Church of the Holy Trinity is almost finished ; all that remains to be done is the interior decoration and the construction of the central dome. The Church, which will be built in a Byzantine revivalist style, will be decorated with a great amount of mosaics ; the background colour will mostly be a heavenly blue, in order to match the colour of the firmament. The mosaics will detail the life of Christ, the accomplishments of the Father, and what may be achieved thanks to the Holy Spirit ; wherever possible, Yanis will attempt to hide metaphors for the New Dawn and its ideology.

The Emperor will also have the central dome constructed and placed above the main hall ; and from within, it will seem to float above the Church as if suspended by golden chains from Heaven itself.

In order to ensure that the mosaics representing both Trinities are accurate in their duplicity, and that the Church is as beautiful as it can be, and brings as much honour to the Roman state as possible, Yanis will ask his friends in the New Dawn to help him or find someone who can.

To the New Dawn

"As you are well aware, I have been constructing for the past six years a church in my capital, which I will officially dedicate to the Christian trinity : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As you are also aware, I no longer believe in such things, although I must profess to for matters of convenience : I, like you, am a staunch believer in power ; in the triple power of the navy, the air force, and the splitting of the atom. It is in reality to this new Trinity that I wish to dedicate this Church, although this dedication must be made in secret.

But in order to create an accurate representation of our faith, for those who practice it undercover and for the whole world to see once we are able to reveal ourselves publicly, to ensure the glory of the Roman people, and also simply for arts' sake, I need this Church to be the most beautiful in history. Already, the interior has been built, and the structure itself is striking in originality yet respectful of the tradition that led to its edification. All that remains is the construction of the central dome, and the decoration of the Church walls.

And for this, I need skilled workmen and artists who can do justice to the matter and to the building. I know that the New Dawn is extremely skilled at finding the right people to do the job. Your vastly effective infiltration of my administration is the proof. I simply ask you to find me the people who can finish the Church of the Holy Trinity.

Yanis Varoufakis, Emperor of the Romans."

To the Trakyan Republic

"To the President of the Trakyan Republic,

I often look across the Bosporos, from Khalkedon into the city I know as Konstantinoupolis ; the ancient Queen of Cities, a metropolis fit for the great line of Roman Emperors who brought peace and prosperity to the Romaic people so many centuries ago. I am well aware that to you this city is Istanbul, the capital of your Turkish homeland. The Romans (whether they be Romaic or Armenian) and the Turks have fought each other for over half a millenium. Horrible atrocities were perpetrated by your people against ours ; and admittedly, when we were given the chance a decade ago, we committed a few crimes of our own, though none of the scale or nature of the disasters of the early 20th century.

But I believe that it is time to forget the bad blood, and to look towards a new future. As Emperor of the Romans, after misguided attempts to suppress the Roman Turkery and force them to adopt Romaic ways, I decided to relax the policies against Turks and extend the rights of all Roman citizens to a large amount of Turks, who are now a full and productive part of the Empire. We wish for a reconciliation to occur between the Turks of Trakya and the Romans, just as it did between the Turks of Rome and their compatriots. This may be difficult for you to accept ; only a few years ago, the Hellenes of Athens fought to keep you under the Bulgarian yoke. But I believe it is essential to the future of both the Romans and the Turks that peace is achieved, for there is a menace far greater than Balkanic nationalism.

That menace is that of Communism, the menace that brought our people together for the first time in the few years before the Cataclysm. The Communists have committed more brutish atrocities than any Hellenic or Turkish régime. Their imperialist thirst knows no bounds, and they will not rest until the entirety of the known world is a slave to Russia. To secure the prosperity and the very existence of the independent Balkanic peoples, it is essential that all band together to fight the menace.

My proposal is the following : a new league has been created in Corinth, an anti-Soviet pact, under which the people of the Balkans will make their final stand against the Red forces. I understand it may seem odious to join forces with those Hellenes who attempted to take away your very existence, and with the Romans who oppressed many of your compatriots before seeing the error of their ways. But much may change in a short time, and I believe it is time to let bygones be bygones and attempt to build a new future where the Hellenes and Turks may fight together as brothers, and form the axis around which the entire Mediterranean will revolve. I urge you to join the Balkanic League, in return for which Rhomais will fully guarantee your independence. If it is uncountenanceable for your government to allow the Athenians to set foot on your soil, we may arrange for an eventual Trakyan theatre to be the exclusive preserve of the Romans and the Turks.

Yanis Varoufakis, Emperor of the Romans"

To the Gell Knight

"Dear friend,

Although I know this matter is now well behind us, I apologise for the upset I caused you when I asked you to build me a new bomber design. I understand that murder is odious to you, and my request must have seemed outrageous in the face of this. But I will raise this matter one more time, and I promise in advance never to bring it up again should you refuse. I want you to build me a bomber. But the motive of my request is not the arbitrary destruction of human life, but to attempt to minimise overall casualties in the event of a war.

Bombing is certainly more humane and targetted than mass shelling or drawn-out trench warfare ; and any method that can shorten a war is better on the long run, for it means that less time will be spent in a state of warfare, which lowers productivity to the detriment of the nation ; and less young men will die on the battlefield, and less innocent civilians will be slaughtered by occupying forces, both to the immediate benefit of human existence and to the long-term benefit of humanity and the nation. By bombing enemy forts and supply posts and industry, we may inflict minimal casualties while ensuring maximal overall damage.

Consider Dresden : in early 1945, the city was mostly intact, unlike the rest of the German realm which was subject to regular RAF bombing. To spare the city would have allowed the German war effort to be drawn out for that much longer : it was a vital strategic route to the Eastern front, and contained largely untouched industry. And although Germany was clearly doomed at this point, they controlled most of the lands they had started the war with, and they were still in a state to inflict a huge loss of life to the advancing allied forces. In the battle of Berlin alone, they were able to kill over 80,000 allied troops. Compared to this, does 25,000 not seem like a trifle ? Does it not seem vastly probable that the amount of lives that were spared by bombing the city was much greater than the few thousand lives that were lost in committing this action ?

Now, I am not suggesting that my army commit to actions on the scale of Dresden, far from it : I merely mean to show you how taking some lives may save many more, and how bombing is in particular useful to achieve this. If you accept my request to construct the Whirlwind, I will promise to abstain from bombing civilian centres and only use the airplane to destroy positions of obvious strategic interest ; if you wish, I will even delegate the decision of what targets may or may not be bombed to yourself. But I believe it is vital to the future Roman effort to secure this weapon.

Please reconsider your initial rejection of my plan, for all of our sakes.

Your friend, Yanis Varoufakis"

Spending 1 AP to build a new weapons factory. Really hoping for mil tech.

Spending 1 AP to contact the New Dawn. Asking them to help me finish the church. 7 from focus and prestige

Spending 1 AP to finish building the Church of the Holy Trinity : hoping for prestige and maybe stability. 5 from prosperity

Spending 1 AP to contact Trakya and attempt to get them under Romaic influence : 7 from focus and prestige

Spending 1 AP to persuade the Gell Knight to be open to the possibility of building bombers, hoping to remedy the -10 to using him to build bombers : 7 from focus and prestige

Keeping 1 AP that I'll use depending on the Gell Knight's response

I have an extension