June, YC111

Empire and Kingdom

On the first of June, King Khanid II departed Tash-Murkon Prime with the Khanid Royal 1st Fleet and arrived shortly thereafter in the Amarr system. Following on his week spent with the Royal Heir Catiz Tash-Murkon, events appeared to be moving according to a careful diplomatic plan. The next day, Empress Jamyl I met with Khanid II in the Imperial city of Dam-Torsad, with this being the first time in 500 years that the Khanid leader had set foot on Amarr Prime. In the hallowed precincts of the holy city, the Empress summoned all Royal Heirs of the Amarr Empire to an extraordinary session of the full Privy Council. As the last occasion that a full meeting in person of the Privy Council, had preceded the coronation of Empress Jamyl I herself, and given the rarity of such meetings, it was clear that significant developments in the politics and diplomacy of the Amarr Empire were in the offing.

After several days of closed meetings, the Royal Heir Yonis Ardishapur was reported to have abruptly departed the Privy Council's deliberations, apparently to tend to "vital matters" within the Ardishapur domains. While there was some speculation as to this unusual absence from the ongoing meeting, the Ardishapur Family issued an official statement to the effect that Arim Ardishapur was speaking "with the full authority of the Ardishapur Family" at the meeting and claimed that "the Empress had given full permission for Lord Ardishapur to leave the meeting."

Whatever the reason for Ardishapur's departure, the Heir was to return the next day and join with the Empress and other Privy Council members as Empress Jamyl I made another of the surprising announcements that were fast becoming the hallmark of her reign. Addressing the Amarr Empire from the steps of the Imperial Palace in Dam-Torsad, the Empress announced that the Khanid Kingdom and the Amarr Empire were now once more unified, with the Khanid region designated as a "Kingdom of the Empire" to be ruled in the name of "Holy Amarr" by Khanid II.

As a mark of this union and the return of Khanid II to the imperial fold, the Empress granted House Khanid a seat on the Privy Council in perpetuity. A diplomatic and political deal of some subtlety, the new union between the Empire and Kingdom left the right of Jamyl I to rule as Empress of Amarr without challenge while ensuring the autonomy and independence of Khanid II's territories within the imperial framework. One notable point was that the Khanid seat on the Privy Council did not bring with it Royal Heir status, possibly a compromise necessary to secure the agreement of the Royal Heirs to the extraordinary rapprochement with a man once reviled within the Empire as a traitor, heretic and renegade.

Reactions to the new unity of the Amarr Empire and Khanid Kingdom were in many ways as would be expected. Caldari State commentators saw the formal reconciliation as a highly positive step which could prove to be a profitable opportunity for Caldari corporations with links to both the Kingdom and the Empire. In the Gallente Federation, academics and other observers of interstellar politics saw it as a worrying development that could only strengthen the Amarr-Caldari axis and lead to increased exchange of technology and intelligence between the Amarr, Khanid and Caldari. Most voices among the Minmatar political and military establishment tended to dismiss the new unity as "business as usual," pointing out that the Amarr and Khanid had long collaborated against Minmatar interests. However some, like the Gallente, highlighted the increased potential for locking the Caldari into an anti-Minmatar alliance due to their strong links with the Khanid.

Caldari Military and Militia

In the Caldari State itself, military matters loomed large in the news. A serious incident the previous month, involving the destruction of civilian convoy in Uphallant system by Internal Security, Nugoeihuvi's security arm, had highlighted problems with communication and co-ordination in the Caldari occupied zone of Gallente systems. The Caldari Navy had subsequently been reported as over-stretched and finding it difficult to adequately patrol the vast new territories under their control. These factors gave new impetus to the Caldari Providence Directorate's military reform proposals in mid-June.

In particular, the embarrassing incident involving Nugoeihuvi's Internal Security paramilitary force had led the other Practical faction megacorps, CBD and Sukuuvestaa, to back away from their previously strong support for NOH's opposition to the reforms. The Patriot bloc of megacorporations were also reported to be hoping to appeal to Ishukone CEO Mens Reppola's loyalty to the Caldari Navy as a means to overcome his own objections to Provist policy in this area. With Caldari State Executor Tibus Heth awarding the entire Caldari State Protectorate militia with the Distinguished Blade, a national medal of recognition for their successful offensive against the Gallente, it was certainly true that the Provists could make a strong case for the Caldari military being safe under their policies.

CORPS

One other notable event at the end of June was the decision by CONCORD to release the first declassified CONCORD Outer Region Political Summary (CORPS) briefing to the public GalNet. CORPS had been a regular bi-monthly declassified report produced by the Directive Enforcement Department (DED) for Assembly heads of state, internal watch commanders and diplomats for some time. It release, planned to continue as the norm in future, appeared to be part of a new transparency and publicity drive by an organization that had seemed somewhat sidelined since the start of militia warfare between the core empires.