Peace Talk, Part 1

"They are going to what?!" Athena shouted from her mecha's pilot seat, loud enough to draw the attention of some of the mechanics around her who immediately turned around their heads and stared at her and her CO.

As it turned out, Helsinki was so vital to the Federation that they were willing to start a peace talk with the Separatists to talk about returning the planet to them. Her CO had just informed her about the meeting and told her that she was going to be guarding the commander's flagship and also accompany him personally in the meeting.

Athena used to believe that both sides would see the error in the way and end the war through a peace talk. Taki thought it was a stupid idea, but she genuinely believed it. But that belief died a long time ago along with Luna.

"C-Calm down, Athena," Yuri tried to calm her down.

"How the hell am I supposed to stay calm? This is clearly a trap made by the Federation! Worst case scenario they would capture the commander and exchange him with Helsinki!" she shouted. She knew the Federation pretty well as she used to work for them. They were not above using underhanded tactics as long as it benefitted them. Though the Separatists were not any better either.

"That's why they wanted you to be there," Yuri said calmly.

"They have prepared a counter-ambush. A bunch of our fleets would be waiting near our borders, ready to jump in within a moment's notice. But he still wants you to be there just in case so you can pull him out if everything goes south," he explained.

Athena let out a chuckle.

"Ha, he wishes. I'm not going."

The commander was starting to get cocky. He forgot that the only reason she joined them was to hurt the Federation. Returning Helsinki to them was the opposite of that. She would never accept such a thing.

"Wait, what?! Why?!"

"I already told you! I'm not going to just come with them to a trap that obvious. If they want to get captured, go ahead. But I'm not joining them. And, I doubt the Federation wants the planet itself. There is something in there much more valuable," she replied while leaning back on her seat.

"Maybe, but they already did a scan and found nothing. So... there is no way to convince you otherwise?" Yuri asked.

"No," she answered instantly, confident that there was nothing he could do or say that could convince her otherwise.

"Well... Since you know this is an ambush, Ares would likely be there as well. Are you just going to pass up on this opportunity? He could do a lot of damage to our fleets if no one takes care of him."

"...."

"If the commander dies in battle, wouldn't it be hard for you to enact your revenge on the Federation?"

"Gr..."

"Or are you-"

Athena finally snapped.

"Tch... Fine, fine!" Athena shouted, feeling defeated. "I'm going to be the commander's bodyguard, but only this one goddamn time."

"Good to hear you change your mind! I'm off to tell the commander then," Yuri said with a smile. He walked away, leaving the frustrated Athena.

"Seriously, that guy...." she said before sighing. If he wasn't her CO, she would have beaten him to a pulp for annoying her like that.

"A peace talk?" Ares asked as he couldn't believe what he just heard. With the war still raging strong, he never thought they would be having a peace talk.

He was sitting on the mecha bay floor while leaning onto one of his mecha legs. Janna just walked up to him and dropped the bomb of news like it was nothing.

Janna nodded at his question, "They called it that, but it's only to talk about Helsinki. They wanted it back"

Helsinki was always in his mind ever since Athena made him make a hard decision. It constantly reminded him to never hesitate and to commit to only one thing. Trying to do two things at once would in the end only cause him to fail in both of them. And next time, he would choose to kill her.

"A... mining planet? What's so important about it?" he asked. The Federation had a lot of mining planets other than Helsinki. There must be something there that they wanted desperately to open up a peace talk with the Separatists.

"There is a research facility underneath the city. It contained a blueprint for a secret weapon that could end this war," Janna explained.

The mere mention of a blueprint and secret weapon caused Ares to have flashbacks on the one mission he wanted to forget. Their mission at that time was to retrieve the blueprint for a secret weapon said to be capable of taking out a whole fleet with one single shot. He never knew what happened to it after he arrived back at base, and he couldn't be less bothered with it.

"And you know this how?" he asked. Such secretive information would not be shared with a mere CO like her, but he couldn't be too safe.

He couldn't ask her directly for more information about the blueprint. The only one who would know about that mission was Taki, the one that went on that mission and was officially dead. The one that stood before her was Ares, a completely another person unaware of all Black Ops operations they sent Taki and his partner to.

"Well, I'm your CO," Janna shrugged, "I don't know why, but they only told me this because I need to tell you about the importance of this discussion. They want you to be there to make sure the Separatists don't do anything to endanger the President."

"And because Athena is going to be there. That's why they think I'm going to accept this duty," Ares commented.

"That is correct."

"No, thank you."

"... What?"

"I said, no thank you. There won't be any battle there, so it's pointless even if I meet Athena. We are just going to stare at each other like buffoons. I already told you, before I only want Athena to die by my hands. Nothing else."

"You think the meeting would go that smooth? You know how the Separatists are. They are going to do anything to turn the tide in their favor. They are most likely going to suddenly attack  the meeting in the hope they get the President."

Ares sighed, "... You are not going to stop with this are you?"

"No, I'm not," she said proudly.

Ares let out another much longer sigh.

"Fine, fine. Count me in. But tell the Commander I'm not going to be wearing any fancy suits. I'm staying with my battle suit."

"I will make sure he is notified," Janna said with a bright smile before walking away.

With his CO gone, Ares had some lone time. "Peace talk huh... She used to believe it would end the war. I wonder how would she react if she hears about this?"

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