"Sir, Federation Shuttle Orca has arrived and is requesting docking permission." Aziz reported.
"Let them dock." I told him. "We wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting."
"Are you really going to go, Comm- uhh... Admiral?" Mei asked.
"Yes, we have discussed this like an hour ago." I said. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry."
I went to the bridge's heavy steel door to get out. Suddenly, Lieutenant Karl and Ensign Katyusha stood up for a final salute before what could be the end of the war. The whole crew followed them. I saluted back, trying to hold my emotions in.
"For a better tomorrow, comrades." I said.
"For a better tomorrow!" the bridge crew repeated.
I looked down and got outside. Just after I took a few steps to head to the elevator, Mei came up running to me. I turned around to look at her. Our eyes met, and we stood there for a while, neither of us saying any word.
She got teary-eyed and hugged me, pressing herself against my chest. I hugged her back.
Our bodies didn't talk, but our souls did.
- - - - -
In the hangar bay, the Federation shuttle was waiting for me. Two Federation officers were waiting in front of the shuttle. They were talking to each other and laughing, but when they saw me coming, they stopped talking and got in order.
"Sir!"
"The Federation delegation is expecting you, Admiral." Federation officers said.
I glared at the Republic officers in the hangar bay before boarding the shuttle. They were all a bit confused, but curious.
When I stepped inside the shuttle, a Federation officer came in front of me.
"I am sorry sir, but we do not allow sidearms here." he said.
Of course... I had completely forgotten that I was carrying a gun with me.
"Here-" I was about to hand my weapon over, but instead, he went ahead and somehow took it from my holster himself. I would really like to kick him in the head, but if we were going to make peace with these people, I had to be patient.
As soon as I sat down on a passenger seat, the shuttle undocked from Lodos and blasted off into space. During the flight, no one said anything. Not even the pilot. Unlike the Republic pilots, they did not have the tradition of narrating their jobs to passengers.
We arrived at the Federation fleet near the Lunar L4 Lagrange point. I could see spaceship Equinox's full beauty. It really deserved the classification of 'luxury passenger liner'. It's shape was really round, aesthetically pleasing and aerodynamic, and it's passenger cabins were sharing a single large window that probably allowed a great view of the space.
The shuttle docked with the passenger ship and I stepped aboard after a few security guards. I was then guided into a large hall where everyone has been waiting us.
Delegates, envoys, ministers... It was full of people I didn't like being with. Except... Nuan was standing near a corner, talking to Alliance diplomats. I wanted to go that way, but I was stopped.
"Greetings, Admiral." a small Federation delegacy of three people was standing in front of me. "We understand that you fought against the Federation in battlefield, but we are pleased by your acceptance to attend the peace talks. Surely, if we try to understand each other, we can leave our sad history behind."
My inner voice was confused. Weren't they being a bit too... friendly? But then, perhaps, this is how diplomacy worked.
"I only hope for peace between our people. There is no point in continuing to hurt each other." I said.
"Very well." the man in the middle of the group said. "Our mutual thoughts should help a lot. If you excuse us now, we will have to make the final preparations for the talks to begin."
"Of course." I said.
The delegate and I bowed at each other, and they went away. But after that, I was stopped by someone else.
Nuan was coming towards me.
"Hello again, Commander." she said. "Wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."
"Admiral."
"Hello again, Admiral." she corrected, but then paused. "Admiral!?"
"Yes." I said. "I was promoted."
"We-wha-oh... Anyway..." she had a short moment of confusion and/or shock. "I can't believe the Republic sent you to negotiate for peace."
"Yea- Wait, what?"
"No, I don't mean that you are incapable or anything, but for something this serious, they should have sent AT LEAST the Minister of Foreign Affairs or something." Nuan said.
"I would prefer that myself, but maybe they just didn't have the time." I said. "Or maybe he was killed when Obsidian City literally burned down to ground, you know..."
"Maybe..." she said. "I am sorry I couldn't find you before the Federation officials did. What did you talk?" she asked.
"They greeted me, and we shared our mutual interest in peace." I told her.
She sighed.
"Not off to a bad start..." she said. "But before the talks begin, let me teach you some diplomacy. Because I know the Republic sent you here with no instructions at all."
"How do you know that!?" I asked.
"I just do. I have been doing this job for longer than I can remember." she said. "Now, come here and hide yourself from anyone else as we are talking to each other. We don't have much time."
"But I was-"
"Shh!" she shut me up. "Now, this may be a peace talk, but we are on the losing side of the war. The Federation will no doubt, I repeat, NO DOUBT will try to get as much advantage over us as possible. Do NOT trust their friendly voices and let them get an upper hand."
"How is this any different than war?" I asked.
"It is- Well, while doing that, you have to keep a calm and rather friendly face, UNLESS they suggest something that is outright insulting to the Martian people. In such case, you can stand up, hit your fist on the table and yell at them for insulting the glorious Martian nation!" she was raising her voice without knowing. I made a gesture for her to calm down.
"But what is the red line? We've lost the war, they won't simply make a white peace!" I said.
"That is right, they will still eventually get the advantageous position." she said. "So don't push it so hard either, we wouldn't want the talks to be cancelled and war to continue, right?"
"Right, but how do I know the limits!?" I was frusturated.
"Watch the Federation members' faces and gestures. They will tell you a lot." Nuan said.
"What shall I do if the treaty draft wants to have like... the... uhm... Republic Navy scrapped or something?" I asked.
"I don't know, idiot, you are the military expert. If you think this is way too much to ask from the losing side, you can spit at them! Though not literally..." she said.
"What about all the civilians that died on Mars?" I asked. "They should be punished for war crimes!"
"Yeah, and who are going to punish them? Us!?" Nuan asked sarcastically.
"The United Natio-"
"The UN is a lie. It never used to work anyway, and now it just works for the interests of the Federation." Nuan said. "Don't be ridiculous. Besides, do you have strong, undeniable evidence that it was indeed the Federation that shot Mars with a something beam?"
"Gamma rays." I said as I rolled my eyes. I was getting more frusturated every second.
"Yeah, that thing." she said.
"What about the Alliance?" I asked. "We were on the same side."
Just when Nuan was about to say something, she was interrupted.
"Please excuse us. The talks are about to begin."