Shi Lang got what he wanted, three days after, one of the arcadian insiders agreed to hold a meeting on an unmanned meteor at the edge of the two empires. The insider had one request. They wished to meet with someone responsible for leading the neomonian troops in the war.
The war was inevitable at this stage. Shi Lang accepted the request and at this moment, Nexalia and the rest of the loyalists were sitting inside the courtroom. Ameris said, “Terran representative, Captain Ace, please step forward, and state the first issue to discuss.”
Shi Lang nodded and stood up from a chair. He stood in the center of the court and said, “As some of you may know, the finance minister and the head of the intelligence department had been sentenced to death. They were hung till death this morning for the crime of treason.”
He waited for the courtiers to register this before he continued, “At this moment, the Empire of Neomon, faces a threat of war from the neighbors, Arcadia. The details have been confirmed by her majesty.”
An elder stood up and asked, “Shusha Ace, with all due respect, how can we trust the authenticity of this news?”
He was not being disrespectful to Shi Lang but needed to know the reason completely. Shi Lang nodded and said, “What you said is correct? Allow me to present an audio clip. This clip has been recorded by General Ameris herself.”
The people nodded and Ameris said, “I swear in the honor of my family, that what I will show you is truth and the truth only.”
The video clip showed the entire process, how Chol and Abbey told everything they knew. After the video finished, the old minister asked, “Your Excellency, what do you suggest we do?”
Nexalia has taken down the biggest opposition and now the court and the empire belonged to her. The loyalists were happy to see that and thus they did not waste any more time acknowledging the lady.
Nexalia nodded and said, “You all have my gratitude for standing behind me, to support me. However, at this moment, rather than celebrating, I would like us all to focus on what lies ahead. We are going to be at war with Arcadia. Their military forces outnumber us by two times. I have a proposal.
We announce an alliance with The Federation. Have the treaty of non-aggression signed and face this threat together.”
The ministers all nodded and said, “We support you, Your Excellency.”
After all, they all could tell that it was a wise plan. What was there to hesitate and deny? Nexalia nodded and said, “The second proposal is to have Captain Ace here, act as the Commander In Chief of the allied forces.”
The ministers were surprised, and even Shi Lang was surprised, when Nexalia said, “I understand your worries, however, it was because of him that we could even uncover such truth. I will place Princess Nexa at the front with him. You do not need to question me anymore, do you?”
The ministers were aware of the skills and prowess of Princess Nexa. The Empress nodded and was about to pass her decree, when Shi Lang said, “Your excellency, I beg your pardon, but I have something to say.”
Nexalia was surprised and nodded for Shi Lang to continue. The young man said, “Your Excellency, I will not take the position of the commander in chief. You can call it my foolishness or my selfishness but I will not agree to this responsibility.
I have no experience in handling such a big force, also, there are very capable officers in the Federal Military to assist you with this. I hope you forgive me.”
His argument was sound, he was too young to lead such a big force and more than that he did not want to bear the burden of so many deaths on his shoulders. He was selfish here. But a single man can only do this much before he grows up to be the mountain people see in him.
Nexalia nodded after some thought and said, “I would talk to the president of The Federation about this matter. What else do you need from us?”
Shi Lang asked, “I would like the permission to attend a meeting with the Arcadian insider. The deputy director of the intelligence department has paid great costs to arrange this meeting.”
The old minister asked, “Why do you volunteer, any Neomonian can attend this meeting.”
This reaction was sound, how can you allow an outsider to take part in decisions regarding their home? Shi Lang said, “You lack the cunning and I do not think we will get another chance. I will extract all that I can from this insider.”
The minister wanted to say something when Ameris said, “Captain Ace had asked for help from the Federal President even before her excellency agreed upon the alliance. If he and the Terrans are ready to place so much in us, can we not trust them? We trusted Abbey and Chol until a few nights ago.”
She then turned to face Nexalia and said, “I apologize for speaking out of term, Your Excellency.”
Nexalia shook her head and said, “That was the correct thing to do. Neomon is not an empire that does not know how to repay the debt. To be honest, I had to go behind your backs and get the president of the federation to send me some aid. These young men and women, who came into our home and helped us, and now we cannot even trust them? Is there anything more shameful than this?”
The ministers calmed down. Nexalia said, “I will now tell you, the shield of the Throne is you, but remember that the throne also has a sword to protect the interests. I do not mean to say that I will be an iron-clad ruler, but anything that is harmful to my empire, my home, and my family, I will crush it.”
The words were dominant and the face was cold. The demeanor of a ruler had manifested unknowingly.
Nexalia calmed down and said, “Captain Ace, prepare for the meeting, you can leave now.”
Shi Lang said, “Your Excellency, I would like to take Zysha along with me. She will be of help.”
Nexalia was reluctant, after all, this big cat had been following around and giving her some real boost. In the end, she sighed and nodded. Zysha, however, was already standing beside Shi Lang. The two came out of the courtroom and Nexalia began to mind the official work.
She commanded to announce the alliance and sent the prime minister to the edge of the border to sign the treaty. Then she commanded the delegates to come back home and that the Princess will directly be placed in the forefront to work and learn from Shi Lang.
This young man was the scariest person she has came through. In front of him, her dead brother was nothing.
…
Shi Lang had Ameris set up a spaceship beforehand. As he arrived at the spaceport, this time with a new steward, the last one was a homie of the former finance minister. The officers were all cleaned up too.
Shi Lang and Zysha changed their clothes, the former wore a black spacesuit while Zysha had been given a special suit too.
The big cat said, “Lang, I do not like this, I cannot move my tail as I wish.”
Shi Lang chuckled and said, “Mother, please tolerate it for some time, we will be back soon.”
Zysha agreed reluctantly. The two boarded the spaceship and flew away. Shi Lang had given commands to his team, to coordinate everything with the Neomonian intelligence department. The Deputy Director was now the shot caller.
Shi Lang arrived at the decided coordinates and found a rock floating in space. This was unusual because this rock was stabilized here by manual effort. Shi Lang waited for a couple of hours before he contacted the intelligence department.
“This is peace star, come in,” said Shi Lang.
“Go ahea, Peace Star.” said the person on the comms.
Shi Lang asked directly, “Any word from the insider? I have been waiting for the past couple of hours. The other party is a no-show?”
The other side, replied, “I will check it up with the Director.”
Shi Lang had an exasperated expression and gazing at Zysha he said, “Can you imagine, this bitch put me on hold.”
Zysha rolled her eyes and said, “Yo, that star is flickering too fast. Why are there other stars flickering?”
Shi Lang cast his gaze in direction and it seemed to him like the star was really flickering. Suddenly his scanners showed him something bad. The comms sounded, “Our contact is being chased, you are permitted to intervene.”
Shi Lang replied, “I can see that you dumb shit. Learn some professional ethics. Useless bunch of trash.”
He was pissed, his ship did not have much firepower. With a sigh, the man pushed the throttle and the ship moved.
“This is peace star, we are going into battle.”