----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPERIAL PALACE, KIEV, RUSSIAN EMPIRE
13:52 LOCAL TIME, MAY 10, 1701 AD OF THE JULIAN CALENDER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imperator Vladimir II reclined upon his bed, studying the various documents the Kalmar Union had, for some reason or another, been publishing about all the assorted things it was doing. He was somewhat bemused that they were blabbering away all these things in public, but it was of benefit to him and his advisors as it made it exceedingly obvious what their northwestern neighbors were doing. These military reforms seemed rather ominous, given the Kalmar Union ostensibly had nowhere to expand to, and the creation of a naval-based strike force was rather disconcerting, although, in some regards, it did not make that much sense when applied to the potential of combating Russia. After some time studying the documents, Vladimir set them aside and glanced over at his personal assistant, Vasili Zaitsev "What do you think of these, Vasili?"
Vasili was seated on a chair near one of the windows. They had assembled in Vladimir's private quarters to discuss the matters of their neighbors away from the hated, prying court. Vasili was from the east, Chelyabinsk specifically, and was a man of few words. He was inapt to talk about anything unless he had something important to say, which suited the Imperator just fine. The only exception was when he was drunk, in which case he could easily ramble on for hours, but that took a rather unimaginable quantity of vodka to achieve. To Vladimir's question, Vasili simply answered "There is the Non-Aggression Pact, and you know your policy on traitors better than anyone."
Vladimir smirked, for he did indeed. He added "And dissidents, subverters, disloyals..."
Vasily simply shrugged and glanced out the window. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Kiev. He didn't particularly like this sort of weather, but it was interesting to look at, "A rough place requires rough rule."
Vladimir picked up another set of papers and decided to move onto a different subject. The Holy Roman Empire, the Turk... both were preoccupied and not much had changed regarding the situations with either. Certainly, there were more important matters to be discussed than they. He glanced through the tomes just as a refresher; he had read them dozens of times already, and written most of them to boot. The спецназ were performing up to expectations, and would suffice for now. Preparatory work on both the ИСБ and ГИ was moving along as adequate personnel were found, paid, trained, and put to work. The military seemed to be operating efficiently with its influx of funding. The Правительствующий Cенат seemed to be finding its feet, but was in need of a location to assemble. There were a million and one different things which seemed to require his personal attention internally, and that was before one looked abroad. Vladimir tossed the documents to one side of the bed and looked over at Vasili "What of the envoys?"
Vasili tilted his head a little as though listening for some minute sound, before saying "Some of them have already returned, others we are still waiting for; it is difficult to communicate over such vast distances quickly."
"But the answers are affirmative so far," questioned Vladimir. Vasili nodded. Vladimir pursed his lips as if to say something, but after a moment sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, rising to his full height. He was an imposing giant of a man, well over two meters tall, and a single cold glance from piercing green eyes, coupled with his strong build, let alone his position, were enough to stop many a Boyar without a word. Vasili glanced at Vladimir as the latter brushed his hair back with his fingers before turning to his advisor, saying "Have you ever heard, Vasili, that absolute power corrupts absolutely?"
Vasili furrowed his brow a little at such a question; the Imperator often asked or said strange things for seemingly no reason. He measured his words carefully, as he knew Vladimir was not one to take insults lightly, and could be testing him "I have heard it said, your Majesty, that it is not that power corrupts, but that it is attractive to the corruptible."
Vladimir's expression remained frozen for a moment before he broke out in a grin, throwing his head back and letting out a jovial laugh, saying "I wonder what that implies, being that I was born into this."
Vasili stood, saying "Your Majesty should not take it as an ins--"
Vladimir held up a hand to stop him "I do not take offense, Vasili; besides, at any rate, I cannot be absolutely corrupt as I do not hold absolute power, hrm?"
Vasili blinked, finding himself at a loss of an adequate reply. Vladimir let a smile linger for a moment on his face before starting toward the door, saying "Let us go and tell the Cенат what needs doing."
Vasili recomposed himself and nodded, and within moments, they were off, the documents left laying about for later review.
And luckily I have a plan so cunning that you could pin a tail on it and call it a fox 
