CKFN: Space Facility, Danford's Office
Two Days Later

Danford leaned back in his chair. The term was nearly up for the CKFN's current President, and the entire country was preparing for the elections next week. With Jupiter coming along on schedule, a boilerplate of Aurora nearly finished, and work beginning on the Munar lander, Danford didn't have a whole lot to do. Thus, he sat idly in his spartan office, watching one of the most recent presidential debates on a small television set an intern had brought in.

So far, nothing terribly exciting had occurred, unless one counted the various insults the candidates spouted off at one another, of course.

All three candidates stood on a stage erected in some small town in the middle of the CKFN, bickering about today's topic. The candidate furthest to the left hailed from a more conservative-leaning political party, who strongly believed that altogether too much information was flowing between the USKK and CKFN, far more than should be tolerated (they were enemies after all, they had insisted), and demanded a complete border shutdown and an overall isolationist policy on the world stage.

The second candidate was more liberal, and believed that some trade should be opened between the two great powers, arguing that the CKFN could dominate the USKK economically, particularly if more attention was paid to upgrading and modernizing industrial sections in the southern half of the country. Unsurprisingly, this candidate hailed from that region, and no doubt had several kerbals with a great deal of self-interest in the region supporting his candidacy.

However, the final candidate was far more interesting to Danford. She spoke little of international relations, but was an enthusiastic supporter of the Space Programme. She found a way to bring up the subject nearly every debate she spoke in, and stressed that rather than attempting to out-compete the USKK on the Kerbin itself, the CKFN should do so in the skies above, by establishing a permanent kerballed presence in orbit. She empathized that the Space Programme was the way to the future of the CKFN, by research and developing new technologies, as well as exploring new worlds. Needless to say, she'd be getting Danford's vote.

Unfortunately, today's debate was about as far from the topic of space exploration as one could get, as the candidates were arguing whether or not current cabbage import legislation was too strict, too lenient, or should be abolished altogether. Wild tales of cabbage smugglers had been circulating around the CKFN for a few months now, of kerbals attempting to dodge the expensive import fees by making tremendous journeys across kilometres of open desert with their wares. Of course, more often than not, these tales were pure fiction or highly exaggerated, but the fact remained that the import fees were quite high, and there existed a significant demand for the goods.

To Danford, each candidate had entirely too strong of an opinion upon these cabbages, and he sorely wished they'd actually get back to talking about subject matter which did not cause their viewers to fall asleep (as most of the audience onscreen appeared to be napping). But the debates went on, for better or for worse. Finally, when Danford was on the verge of switching the television off altogether, his desk's telephone rang. Thrilled to have some form of distraction, he grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end was deep and gruff and belonged to General Geoffnard. "Danford. I need you to come to the capital as soon as you can. The President has called an important Advisory Council meeting."

Danford's brow furrowed. "The President called the meeting? His term ends in three days, what's there to be said?"

"Circumstances have, ah, conspired to require a meeting. Listen, I can't brief you further over the phone—USKK spies could be listening—so get to the Capital. Immediately."

Glancing at the television, Danford saw that the cabbages debate was still in full swing. Compared to this, the mystery Advisory Council meeting would be heaven. "Sure thing, General," he responded, and hung up.

CKFN: Advisory Council Chambers, CKFN Capital
One Hour Later

As Danford walked into the Council room, he saw the other members were already seated. There was Bilcas, glaring at his watch; Bilfrod, shuffling papers nervously; the General, sitting ramrod-straight in his chair; and finally, the soon-to-be-former-President of the CKFN, seated at the head of the table and looking like he would much rather be at home enjoying a nice cup of tea.

"Now that everyone's arrived, we can begin," the General began. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Within several hours, this event will be all over the news, but I need to get the President's opinion as soon as possible."

Bilcas grunted. "I'm not particularly sure why you insisted on us all being here; surely if it's a matter for the President, it can be solved via personal communication?"

Geoffnard grimaced. "Not exactly. I feel getting everyone's opinion would give us an advantage in this situation. To be frank, two hours ago, the USKK invaded the sovereign state of Malentia."

You could hear a pin drop. Danford's mind was reeling. Peace had reigned supreme for the last twenty-four years on Kerbin, why was the USKK spoiling that with a Max-damned invasion? "You can't be serious," he found himself blurting out. "Would—would this mean a repeat of the Great War?"

"I'm afraid the situation is all too serious, but we may yet avoid war." responded the General. He unfurled a map of the region, southeast of the USKK. Additionally, Geoffnard had marked upon the map diagonal lines which showed the extent of the USKK's invasion, enveloping the entire country of Malentia.

"Allow me to explain the background on this area for those unfamiliar." Danford saw the General glance towards him, and narrowed his eyes. No doubt the General was rolling out the history lesson because he was present. Danford wasn't an idiot, for Harv's sake, he remembered just as well as any kerbal what had gone on during the War.

Geoffnard began. "In the aftermath of the Great War, the full extent of the Malentian Isthmus was promised to the USKK in return for its liberation of several nation-states. However, the signing of the Treaty of Okheka in the final days of the war froze the borders of both the USKK and CKFN, and forbid either from adding more territory in the future, essentially nullifying this promise. The Treaty was signed to avoid precisely this sort of preying on the weaker nation-states, which I'm sure you all can recall was one of the primary causes of the War."

The General's eyes darkened. "In the event of such a breach of the Treaty, it called for the other nation to declare war upon the aggressor, in defense of the smaller nation. This was written in the hopes of forcing the other to back down. Ideally, this threat of mutual warfare would discourage either side from even trying to break the Treaty. Unfortunately, the USKK has evidently decided that the Treaty no longer applies to them, and has moved troops into Malentia."

He passed some grainy, black-and-white photographs across the table, clearly showing USKK tanks doing battle with an unidentified militia-type force. The President looked at them and sighed heavily.

"Has the USKK declared a casus belli? Do they have any sort of justification for this attack?"

"None officially, but I believe this was a diplomatic annexation gone bad. Malentia's leaders have long sought to join the USKK, but dissident factions may have started riots and popular movements against the current governing body, which led to the images you see here."

"Regardless of intent, the USKK still violated international law. I presume you called me in here to ask whether we will declare war in Malentia's defense?"

"That was indeed the purpose of this meeting, sir."

Again, the President sighed. "I can't condemn the nation to war, then leave office three days later. Nor will my successor have an easy time of it; the government typically takes months to reorganize when a new President enters office. It appears the USKK has lucked out in their timing of this invasion."

"Not luck, sir," the General stated. "The details of our elections are not exactly private, I believe it was very precise timing on their part which led to this invasion happening now, when they know we are unable to respond quickly."

The President massaged his temples. "So what are our options, then? Do we declare war? I was under the impression that most of the military is currently either disbanded or off patrolling the borders, and it would take a great deal of time to organize the forces." The President continued. "I suppose declaring war immediately, then taking some time to send an attack isn't out of the question."

Danford sat in disbelief. While certainly not eager about the whole thing, the President was discussing declaring a war which would undoubtedly consume most of the planet once again. And he did so while looking annoyed. Danford had always imagined a certain gravitas was present when discussing such matters, but he supposed reality never really did match up with what one saw in the movies, did it?

The General was now pacing at the front of the room. "Sir, if the USKK so wished, they could invade us during that interim period and force our surrender. Recent intelligence reports show that they have conducted alarmingly extensive modernizations and upgrades to their military, and I believe have the potential to strike a devastating blow against our nation."

"Surely they aren't so stupid as to attack us? It would take them weeks just to cross our defensive lines!"

"Sir, based upon the intelligence we have, their modern tanks can cover a great deal of ground, and can concentrate a great deal of firepower on a single point. Static defenses won't last long against the USKK's armies. Also, there is the matter of aircraft, whose military application is still poorly understood, but which could easily overwhelm us."

The President was silent. "So what is it you're saying? We don't declare war?"

"As always, the final decision is up to you, sir, but my recommendation is to allow the USKK to continue. Entering a war which the defender wants to lose with an unprepared military is just not strategically sound. Besides, it has been over twenty years since the Treaty, and one could argue that it may need some readjustments based upon the events which have occurred over the past two decades. Naturally, I recommend condemning the USKK at our earliest opportunity; they should certainly not get away with this scott-free."

"I agree, Geoffnard, thank you," the President stated. Around the table, Danford could see the other council members nodding their heads in agreement. He continued. "Does anyone else have an opinion on this development?"

Bilcas cleared his throat. "If we are to let this incident go without taking military action, well it sets a bit of a precedent, doesn't it?"

Evidently confused by Bilcas' vague statement, the General responded angrily. "A precedent for future invasions by the USKK?"

"Not necessarily. If the Treaty of Okheka is truly null and void, why any nation could then annex its neighbors…if it so wished, of course." Bilcas clarified, smiling in a bit of a conspiratorial manner.

"…I see," remarked the General. "This will no doubt have to be more clearly defined in the future, though. Thoughts on the Finance Minister's words, sir?" he asked, turning to the President, who was looking thoughtful.

Standing up, the President responded. "All I can say is I believe the CKFN's current borders to be sufficient for our prosperity. A re-evaluation of those will have to be a question to ask my successor. Now, if that's everything, I very much wish to get home. It's been altogether too long of a term in office."

CKFN: Front Steps of Legislative Buildings, CKFN Capital
Four Days Later

Danford stood in the centre of the CKFN's capital, in front of the main governmental buildings, where a cheering crowd had gathered. Fortunately, he was not speaking to them today, giving as many speeches as he'd had for the Space Programme had made him rather sick of the whole thing. Still, today's speech would certainly be interesting, though the content of the speech did not nearly interest him as much as the speaker herself, or rather what her future policies hopefully would contain.

As Adming Kerman, the space-loving Presidential candidate had won the election, not quite by a landslide, but by a significant margin which evidently reflected the public's enthusiasm for space travel. He smiled. It must mean he was doing a pretty good job at the Programme, if the public voted for a candidate who promised to make advancements in that area!

She began to speak, reciting grand words no doubt memorized the night before, but still impressive. For the most part though, it was a pretty generic 'thank you for electing me' speech, but the last few segments caught his interest.

"For as you all know, in a vile and despicable move, the USKK has invaded the sovereign state of Malentia with overwhelming force, and we are unable to intervene. We can only condemn them for such a shameful act of destroying the twenty-three-year peace we all have worked so hard to maintain since the Great War!"

At this condemnation of their rival nation, the audience let out a cheer. Danford suspected that this didn't mean much; if the President got them riled up enough, the crowd would probably cheer for anything. Still, there was something to be said about the national pride the President was inspiring. The previous President never was one for grand speeches and usually preferred to work on things such as cabbage legislation, much less visible or accessible to the public.

"Indeed, our great nation is focused upon greater achievements, ones which will bring the CKFN into the future! Take Danford Kerman here, his crew at the Space Programme are reaching for the very stars themselves, reaching to bring us all a better tomorrow!"

Again, the crowd went wild, and Danford gave a little wave, once again amazed by the positive opinion of the Space Programme. One would expect that kerbals would be distrustful of his agency after the USKK demonstrated the deadly consequences of rocket failure, but these kerbals didn't seem to be thinking about that at all. Truly, understanding public opinion was a more difficult task than rocket science.

As the President continued her speech to the crowd, Danford looked skyward to where the Mun was rising above the horizon. He imagined kerbals walking on that body, clad in space suits and planting the flag of the CKFN proudly, to show the world the fantastic achievement they'd attained, which would be talked about for years, and no doubt live on throughout history as kerbalkind's first step out from their home planet.

Bringing his gaze back down to Kerbin, he reflected upon the road he'd need to travel to get to that future. The Space Programme faced a few issues, certainly, but he was confident that this new political regime would allow for those to be smoothed over quickly enough, he was certain.

Things were looking up!