09-23-2013, 06:20 PM
The first few days of the press corps rotation were uneventful. At the beginning of the day, the CCD held their daily press briefings in the corps room of the Kremlin Grand Palace. The room itself held an exclusive twenty people organized into two columns of four chair rows. The most senior of correspondents occupied the front, with those lucky enough to gain assignment spanning the rows behind. For the next two weeks, however, an additional row was added to accommodate the CCD's latest campaign. To exemplify CCD transparency, members of the non-Custody accredited press were invited to participate in a rotation on the Ascendancy's pool--the Moscow based journalists assigned to regularly cover the activities of the Ascendancy.
Nicholas Trano rubbed elbows with invited representatives from China, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. Together, they constituted five additional faces on the circuit. Other than a few harrumphs from the most senior of journalists, the American among them was treated fairly. It took prestige and sacrifice to walk into this room, and though the duration of these outsiders' stay was short, they were not particularly welcomed with open arms.
Custody updates those first few days constituted nothing extraordinary. Statements were made about official positions regarding a brief uprising in Brazil. China's trade policies were once more in negotiation with DIV officials. The patron of DV was flying to Cairo to meet with the Egyptian President, etc etc.
Then the day arrived when the Ascendancy was going to make a public address to the US people. It was to coincide with the aforementioned resubmitted proposal for annexation. The hype surrounding this event was high. The speech itself would go live early in the morning to accommodate the time difference between Moscow and DC and filmed directly from the Ascendancy's office. After which, he himself was scheduled to appear before the press corps for a ten minute Q&A session. For the chance to directly speak to the Ascendancy, those front row journalists would claw one another's eyes out to be offered the chance to ask their questions, but with five additional competitors in the room, seniority was no guarantee for success.
Nikolai was shown the usual layout of the corps seating before taking the stage. He was only two-minutes off schedule--an acceptable deviation in his mind.
"That went well, Ascendancy."
Nikolai continued to study the layout of the press' seating assignments arranged in his field of view and nodded. "'Well' is the incorrect word, Jacque. It went as expected,"
he corrected.
The shallow praises continued to be uttered by those in his company as the group proceeded. The hall separating his office from the media room was immaculately dressed, but it did not pass by unappreciated by Nikolai himself. At least the window treatments were more interesting than these characters attempting to flood his attention. He otherwise offered no additional corrections; this particular group were but minnows nipping at a Great White. He put them to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand. It was going to be difficult enough ignoring Trano while fielding questions - staged though they may be.
Nicholas Trano rubbed elbows with invited representatives from China, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. Together, they constituted five additional faces on the circuit. Other than a few harrumphs from the most senior of journalists, the American among them was treated fairly. It took prestige and sacrifice to walk into this room, and though the duration of these outsiders' stay was short, they were not particularly welcomed with open arms.
Custody updates those first few days constituted nothing extraordinary. Statements were made about official positions regarding a brief uprising in Brazil. China's trade policies were once more in negotiation with DIV officials. The patron of DV was flying to Cairo to meet with the Egyptian President, etc etc.
Then the day arrived when the Ascendancy was going to make a public address to the US people. It was to coincide with the aforementioned resubmitted proposal for annexation. The hype surrounding this event was high. The speech itself would go live early in the morning to accommodate the time difference between Moscow and DC and filmed directly from the Ascendancy's office. After which, he himself was scheduled to appear before the press corps for a ten minute Q&A session. For the chance to directly speak to the Ascendancy, those front row journalists would claw one another's eyes out to be offered the chance to ask their questions, but with five additional competitors in the room, seniority was no guarantee for success.
Nikolai was shown the usual layout of the corps seating before taking the stage. He was only two-minutes off schedule--an acceptable deviation in his mind.
"That went well, Ascendancy."
Nikolai continued to study the layout of the press' seating assignments arranged in his field of view and nodded. "'Well' is the incorrect word, Jacque. It went as expected,"
he corrected.
The shallow praises continued to be uttered by those in his company as the group proceeded. The hall separating his office from the media room was immaculately dressed, but it did not pass by unappreciated by Nikolai himself. At least the window treatments were more interesting than these characters attempting to flood his attention. He otherwise offered no additional corrections; this particular group were but minnows nipping at a Great White. He put them to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand. It was going to be difficult enough ignoring Trano while fielding questions - staged though they may be.