Despite being a man of imposing frame, Hunt slipped into the Zen Garden with a surprising dexterity. A legacy of his youth years spent doubling as an agent for the Ge-Rouge, in addition to its official roles in embassies staffs across the South Pacific. He would have avoided cutting short the pleasantries with the High Diplomat, but time was precious and he had to handle more complex issues. Let McFaul take care of that, a quick reminder that he was not on a state-paid holiday.
Hunt glanced around and saw Kuribayashi, the Foreign Minister of the Imperial Frost Federation, whom he had seen entering the quiet garden moments before.
The Bruuman slowly but steadily moved toward his counterpart, until he was at her side. Then, looking not at her but at the garden as if he was admiring its art, he pulled out a cigar, light it up and took a puff. “Good evening, Minister Kuribayashi” he opened “I would offer you one, but I’m afraid you’d think there would be an explosive charge inside” he added with a grin. “It is quite unfortunate that the circumstances of this last year have seen us pitted one against the other. If you think about it, our clashes have been determined by third parties”.
"Good evening to you too, Minister Hunt" she replied, "I would decline your offer of course, but not for the reason you specified..." The Minister added, "I agree that it was rather unfortunate that circumstances of last year have pitted our countries against each other in the Serevan war. However, our involvement in the Serevan war was ultimately determined by your country's decision to pre-emptively invade Sereva. However, the major and I were puzzled that you hadn't considered abandoning the Bafuto Serevai to allow an anti-Ryccian coalition to form after their invasion instead of preemptively invading Erinor before the Ryccians could land." she said.
Hunt took another puff from his cigar "The situation was already compromised. We could not risk an hostile foreign military presence so close home. We might have..." he paused, looking for the right words "…underestimated the consequences of our initial involvement. It went how it went" He turned to face his interlocutor "And now we are pitted against each other, albeit with a safer distance, in Reizen... I'd like to make clear that our motivation is always the same: safeguarding socialism in the South Pacific. The recent developments however have shown that there is a greater threat for both of us in form of RIM and its backers. They do not play by the rules, they are unpredictable. I believe we can find an agreement until they are removed, then see if we can find another later, or go back to the old game. After all..." he grinned "It's better the devil you know, isn't what they say?'"
"If only that were true Minister Hunt," replied Kuribayashi, "Unfortunately for me the RIM are comprised of former colleagues, some of them trained with the Major over there." she said gesturing at the female major who sat observing them, "And so the devil I know chooses to disregard the rules. But what about the devil I don't know?"
"Despite what people believe, we are realist about the chances of the WPR in this war: the best outcome they can achieve is a strong position at a new negotiating table for peace. As I said before, our main aim it to safeguard the socialist presence in Reizen" explained Hunt with a serious note "Our foreign enemies, and their sponsored factions, instead want to wipe out both our comrades and you, and cannot be reasoned with. If both of us concentrate on suppressing this loose cannons, peace can be achieved sooner and better". He paused, to weight his following words "I am not talking of an alliance, but of non aggression and eventually limited, unofficial cohoperation should it be necessary". The Bruuman faintly smiled again: "You regain the country, we ensure that socialism remain an active and vital presence in the Reizen political life. It's a win -win" His voice turned serious again "You have seen in Sereva that a functioning peace deal is easier to reach than it seems. But I want to be frank with you: this time we will not settle if our local comrades get marginalized".
"You're not the only one's looking at this realistically... We've turned a blind eye to the land smuggling routes you've used to supply the WPR against the RIM and your recent air attacks against the RIM." Kuribayashi said, "A diplomatic solution is preferable but we disagree that your proxies should have a strong hand at the negotiating table. Furthermore the degree to which Socialism plays a role in a post war Reizen is ultimately up to the local citizenry in a referendum." she countered "If they choose to reject Socialism then we firmly ask that you respect their choice."
"A strong position at the negotiating table is what we hope for the WPR to have achieved at the end of the war, not a request we are making" objected Hunt "Nor we expect that you'll simply concede for Reizen to become a socialist country. We expect instead for the WPR to be allowed to further its cause politically and receive a public role fair in regard to its popular support and its effort in the war".
"Province," corrected Kuribayashi, "What you expect ultimately depends on how successful the WPR can rehabilitate their image outside of their stronghold. As many citizens still view the WPR in the same light as the RIM for their former alliance with the defunct RDP."
"We'll leave the local PR to the WPR. Our support go so far in dealing with the government, as I'm doing with you. But we are getting lost in details, aren't we? And it would be a pity to miss the exquisite hospitality of the Peony. We can discuss the peace negotiations when there will be peace. Until then, let's limit to an understanding on restraining from direct confrontation. Do we have one?"
"Indeed..." Kuribayashi said, pausing to consider her counterparts words. "We have an understanding to limit the direct confrontation against our respective proxies and forces."
"Good" answered Hunt, pleased enough by the outcome "And as a proof of our good will, we, and our allies, will continue to restrain from deploying land troops in Reizen. Should RIM or RDC overrun the WPR, we will talk to you again". He paused and put out his cigar in an ashtray "A pleasure negotiating with you" he added while slowly leaving "I think you'll find us to be surprisingly good adversaries to have".
(This post was last modified: 02-26-2019, 08:52 AM by VPRB.)
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