"...and this marks the beginning of a new era of peace and prosperity for every citizen of not only the Republic of Mars, but the entire Sol System!"
As I was repeating my carefully-written speech without the help of my Vineura overlay as much as possible, people were cheering and waving flags - most of them being Republic of Mars flags, but with some Solar Federation flags blending into the scene. The Old (People's) Republic flag had made a few appearances here and there, but were immediately taken down by the police. Old people who grew up in the People' Republic could get away with a warning most of the time, but the youth could not escape without a fine.
I averted my gaze from the 'unnecessary' details to finish my speech.
"From this point onwards..." I said. "We have to work together to rebuild our mighty Republic, and surpass our previous achievements - to be a role model for every other nation!"
More cheering, more applause.
"Now I would like to present you our Minister of Defense, Vladimir Korolev."
He came onto the stage and we shook hands as a part of formalities before he began his own speech.
"As you know, we have just come out of the largest scale conflict humanity has ever seen, and one of the deadliest."
The casualities in War of Sol were estimated to be around that of World War I, with Martian civilians making up more than 90% of this amount.
"The People's Republic Army has been one of the major powers involved in this war, and a lot of our comrades have given their lives to protect the motherland."
My mind began wandering again, from the boring speech back to the audience. The police was trying to push back a large amount of protesters at the rear-lines of the crowd. I wanted to walk there and try to de-escalate the situation myself, but I knew my guards wouldn't let me - and if I went with guards, I would just make everything worse. Ultimately, I decided to stay where I was.
Nuan touched my shoulder to make my thoughts disappear into the void of space.
"Here they come." she said, pointing upwards.
That moment, all people started looking up into the sky, some of them also showing off their cheap optical binoculars.
The largest vessels of the Martian Navy were passing overhead in Low Martian Orbit; this was pretty much the space navy equivalent of a military parade. These multi-kilometer-long war machines could be seen from the ground, and of course much better with binoculars or telescopes. Allowing such photo opportunities... It was certain that social media was going to be full of warship photographs and videos for the upcoming few weeks.
And, to be honest, I wouldn't complain.
After the warships went below the horizon, the parade of atmospheric-capable vessels began. Atmospheric drones were followed by manned fighter craft flying in formation, which were then followed by an acrobatic show team.
At this point, this whole thing was more of a display of strength, confidence and the 'Martian resurrection' rather than a commemoration for the innocent dead.
"Protests..." said Nuan.
"I know." I said. "There is nothing more I can do. All the precautions were in place."
"No." she said. "The Federation. We are getting lots of protests. Americas, Europe, Far East... No one is happy."
"Far East too?" I said. "It didn't take them long to forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
Nuan sighed.
"Let's hope at least the Alliance keeps their mouth shut."
"Let's hope so." I said. "But in case they also do, I am not stepping back."
"No, we are not." said Nuan. "What are they going to do? Sanctions? Coup?"
"I would like to see them try." I said.
"I wouldn't." commented Abraham. "We are still not socially and politically stable."
"Well..." I said. "In that case, it is the responsibility of every party to keep the fragile stability from deteriorating any further, no matter the ideology."
"We could start with freedom of speech." he said, pointing at the police's clash with protesters.
"That, unfortunately, is not up to us. It is up to the Federation." I said.
"It should be our internal matter... I don't get it, but whatever." he said and sighed.
"Federation has a word on some internal matters." Nuan said.
"Look, I don't like it either." I added. "But this is what we can do without driving Mars into another hell."
"What would the public think of you if you told them in everyone's face?" asked Abraham.
"We are not hiding anything, Mr. Helfried." I said. "Federation's laws are public, as well as the Republic's."
Abraham Helfried grumbled and walked away.
However, I was lying. If he only knew the secret treaty between the Federation Party of Mars and Solar Federation... That would be enough to start a new civil war.
'-[TOP SECRET]-[TOP SECRET]-[TOP SECRET]-[TOP SECRET]-[TOP SECRET]-
-----TREATY TO PROTECT FEDERAL ORDER IN REPUBLIC OF MARS-----
*This is a modified copy of the original TREATY TO PROTECT FEDERAL ORDER IN NEW EUROPEAN UNION, adapted to the laws of REPUBLIC OF MARS.
*This treaty is a TOP SECRET document of the Solar Federation. It can not be copied or viewed on 'Unsecure Data Mediums' indicated in Solar Federation Military-class Cybersecurity Regulations.
1) The Federal Party of Mars is directly responsible to the Solar Federation in internal state matters**. Decisions are to be made by the Federation Party of Mars itself in the direction of Federation's interests. In case of a disagreement at a later date, Solar Federation has the right to call for a meeting.
**Indicated in detail in Federal Constitution 3.1.1
2) Failure to comply with Solar Federation's interests at times when there is no risk of civil unrest*** will result in an official warning or protest. If the action is repeated with no acceptable excuse***, Federation Party of Mars will go for a change in leadership.
***Will be assessed by the Solar Federation itself, and is subject to dynamic judgement independent of laws.
3) In case Federation Party of Mars risks losing an election, Federal Secret Service will interfere. This action can not be rejected by the party.
An emergency meeting will be held afterwards, and will likely result in a change of leadership in Federation Party of Mars before the next elections.
4) In case Federation Party of Mars' individual sovereignty grows larger than the overall influence of Solar Federation bodies, emergency action plans will take effect. Possible outcomes include, but are not limited to warnings, assassinations, economic sanctions, coups and civil wars.
5) Federation Party of Mars is free to divide and unite subdivisions of the party or the state.
6) This document as a whole or any part of the document, under no condition, can be made public. Failure to comply will result in purge.
Signatories: Federation Party of Mars, Solar Federation [North American Union, New European Union, South American Confederation, Federation of Ukraine and Crimea, New Republic of Turkey, Reorganized State of Japan, United Korean Republic, Axis Oceania]
-----END OF DOCUMENT-----'
It was especially that alarmingly vague expression of 'purge' that made everyone sweat cold.