Austeren Leader in Hirematia

[Hirematia]

Prime Minister Vijaranam Mechhai is standing at the small government airport located in the middle of a green zone in Hiremath. Waiting there with him is the Hirematian Armed Forces Instrumental Division (a military marching band with some of the nation's best brass, woodwind, and percussion players), representatives from the Hirematian Special Ops, Chief of Hirematia's Environmental Preservation Department Jansi Sivasa, tech billionaire Vinara Mallya, and the entire legislature (save 3 extremely isolationist Councilors). Hundreds of millions of eager Hirematians are eagerly watching a livestream from their computers, waiting for President Sarah Versace of Austerain to land. Hirematia has not hosted a foreign diplomat for nearly a century, and has not hosted a foreign head of state in its entire history. The people are excited for this event, and in accord with this, PM Mechhai has planned an hour-long motorcade processional through the busiest part of Hiremath before arriving at the Soudhi idh Kharnyaangh to begin talks. 

[Austerain]

A white Gulfstream with the Austeren Presidential Seal on the side lands on the tarmac as the two fighter jets that escorted it fly over. As the plane finally stops where the delegation is waiting, Versace thinks to herself about what a historic moment this is. Although Hirematia had been miles north of Austerain's coast, the two countries had never interacted other than the occasional boats- until now. Austerain has been expanding its foreign relations, as the President has just arrived from engagements in New Ireland and Wales.

President Versace finally steps out of the plane flanked by several aides and the Austeren Secretary of Urban and Rural Development Joshua Daniels, the Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Taylor, and General Jackson Brockwell of the Austeren Army. Smiling, she approaches the Prime Minister and extends her hand,

"Prime Minister Mechhai, it's an honor to finally meet you, this is a historic milestone between our two nations."

She introduces Mechhai to the two Secretaries and general and says, "They will be helpful as we draw up a bilateral agreement. I'm sorry my Secretary of State couldn't be here, he had to return to Austerain to deal with business, but we shall manage."

[Hirematia]

Mechhai extends his hand and shakes hands with Versace.

"It is our honor to host you here," he replies. "Today history is made."

He then introduces her to Jansi Sivasa, Vinara Mallya, and Chief General and Commander MK Baahubala. They each extend their hands. Waiting in the background are some 150 Hirematian Special Ops standing a hundred feet away, dressed in ceremonial uniform. Near them is the Hirematian Military Band, loudly playing the National Anthem. 

[Austerain]

Versace smiles and shakes hands with the three other Hirematian officials, "A pleasure to meet all of you." Secretaries Taylor and Daniels and General Brockwell shake hands with the PM and the three officials as well.

She stands at attention when the band plays the National Anthems of the two nations with her right hand over her heart. After they finish playing the Anthems, she says "Wonderful uniforms and impressive coordination. I cannot wait to invite you to Austraton, Mr. Prime Minister, I'm afraid that our own soldiers have competition when it comes to coordination in the ceremonies!"

An Austeren photographer nearby takes photographs of the Prime Minister and President shaking hands and speaking to each other.

[Hirematia]

"Thank you," Mechhai replies. "I actually used to play trumpet in the Military Band myself. And it would be an honor to visit Austraton."

He and Versace walk over to the Hirematian Special Ops, where they salute Mechhai and Versace. The Military Band begins to play the song of the Hirematian Armed Forces as the Hirematian Special Ops separate into two rows with a path in between. At the end of this path is a plexiglass roof limousine specially designed for motorcades. As they walk towards the limo, the Military Band marches behind them.

[Austerain]

President Versace inspects the troops with Prime Minister Mechhai. She and her delegation are impressed by the precision and coordination of the soldiers as they walk to the limousine. General Brockwell is in deep conversation with Chief General and Commander MK Baahubala as they walk side-by-side a few feet behind Mechhai and Versace.

[Hirematia]

Mechhai and Versace are welcomed into front seats of the limo, and their aides sit in the back. Since the car is heavily armored, they will only be surrounded by a few motorcycles and an ambualance riding a short distance behind. As they approach the busiest areas of Hiremath, the eager crowds grow heavier and heavier.

"The crowds are larger than I expected," Baahubala comments off-hand.

"Not all of them are going to be supportive," comments Sivasa. "I've caught wind of plans for a protest in the city center on Twitter, and it seems at least a few hundred will be involved."

"It will still be a pittance compared to the hundreds of thousands taking to the streets in support of us building relations with Austerain," replies Mechhai. "As long as they don't block the motorcade, it shouldn't be a problem."

[Austerain]

Versace and her aides step into the limousine.

Secretary Daniels says, "A rather impressive crowd!"

They listen to Sivasa's warning and Versace says, "I didn't expect that everybody would be open to building relations. In Austerain, many were vehemently against opening trade and travel with other countries and that sentiment only grew when our Grand Chancellor was assasisnated. Progress is never easy."

"It's reassuring that you allow freedom to express grievances as protected, Prime Minister," Secretary Taylor says, "But don't worry, the end result of this visit will force more of your citizens and our own people to see the light."

General Brockwell says with hesitation, "I hope nothing nothing terrible happens. Austerain couldn't handle another attack on our head of state and government."

[Hirematia]

As the motorcade enters the City Center, large crowds and skyscrapers begin to appear. Most of the excited citizenry stop to take selfies with the slowly-moving limousine and the leaders inside. There is loud cheering as the motorcade approaches, with the Military Band marching behind and playing the Hirematian National Anthem along with other fanfare. 





As expected, there is a crowd of almost 1,000 people protesting Versace's visit. They are chanting slogans such as: "Hirematia paar matra Hirematianath" (Hirematia for Hirematians only), "Versace hindege Austerain" (Versace back to Austerain), and "Mechhai ire desadroha" (Mechhai is a traitor). A group of about 300 of these protestors move out onto the street and block the motorcade, chanting these slogans and other much more vulgar ones. One man pulls out a club and attempts to smash the windshield of the limousine before a policeman detains him. Then, the police on surrounding motorbikes use the threat of fines and arrest to force the protestors to clear the road and allow the motorcade to pass through. The entire process takes about 20 minutes.

"Looks like we'll start a bit behind schedule," Mechhai comments.

[Austerain]

Versace waves to the crowd from inside the limousine as they pass. When they come up to the crowd of protesters and a man approaches, she looks at the protester stone-faced as General Brockwell tries to shift over to protect her and as the Secretaries stare wide-eyed with alarm.

When the limousine is finally able to get through the crowd of protesters, Versace sighs, "Goodness me, the protesters in Austerain can be just as bad at times. There was one time where a protester scaled the fence around the Palace of Auster, found his way into the building, and shoved several Members of the National Congress."

[Hirematia]

"I'm just grateful that we have highly durable windshields," comments Mallya. "I believe they were imported from North Isengiginigig or whatever they call it."

"North Isseggggnignigsegigisegggg Islands," Mechhai adds. "It took me a whole week to learn how to say that! Anyway, it could have been a lot worse. Someone could have shot the windshield, and a few shots from an AK-47 could have easily done this windshield in."

The motorcade speeds up to about 80 mph after making it to the highway. After 10 minutes of driving, they make it to the Soudhi idh Kharnyaangh. 





Two attendants walk up to Mechhai and Versace's doors and open them. Mechhai shakes hands with the attendant and thanks him in Hirematiana. The attendant at Versace's door offers to shake her hand and says "Gauvarsi nine gottille, sare" (Honored to meet you, Madam).

[Austerain]

Secretary Daniels chuckles, "It took me four weeks to learn how to say Isseggggnignigsegigisegggg, ha!"

General Brockwell and the President tried to ignore that last comment about the windshield being shot in as they approach the destination.
Once they arrive, President Versace steps out and shakes the assistant's hand with a smile, "Thank you very much, it is wonderful to meet you."

She looks around and says to Mechhai, "Beautiful gardens, Mr. Prime Minister, they rival the gardens of the Palace of Auster back in Austerain."

[Hirematia]

"Thank you, although I'm sure your gardens are beautiful as well," Mechhai replies. Also, my title is the Premier Minister, not the Prime Minister. "Anyway, we will be heading to my office now. Its about 4:30 right now and negations should begin around 5, so we should get in a good two and a half hours of talks in before dinner. We can keep holding talks over dinner if you want, but I would personally prefer to relax for an hour before resuming negotiations."

An attendant opens the door to the South idh Kharnyaangh. Mechhai thanks the attendant as he walks by, and as Mechhai, Versace, and their aides walk through the door, the interior welcomes them.





"This building used to be the Emperor's Palace before the revolutionaries had him drawn and quartered in 1797," Baahubala explained to Versace and her aides. "The revolutionaries saw the historic value in the buildings the Empire left behind, no matter the decadence and inequality they symbolized. So they stripped them of most of their gold, sold it to provide for the poor, and kept the buildings as administrative centers for their own democratic government. Later, they realized they could make money from foreigners if they made them pay money to visit, so they refurbished the palaces."

"A good portion of this palace is actually open to tourists," Mechhai added. "But we have fenced off about 1/3 of it for use of the executive branch with only occasional tours."

[Austerain]

Versace apologizes for using the incorrect title to Mechhai. As the enter the grand room, Versace and her aides look around in awe.

"A beautiful room that is rich in history, sir," she says, "If was wise to refurbish this room, as it is absolutely breathtaking. In Austerain, the Palace was left from the three kings that resided there when the monarchy was still relevant back then, and we have invested heavily into preserving the grand chambers and the priceless artifacts. The Palace is inaccessible to the public for security reasons other than its gardens, public library, and the lobbying wing, but I'm sure that the tourist revenue must be rather profitable for this beautiful building. Thank goodness that progressive nations like ourselves have evolved ahead of the era and stain on human rights that is the institution of monarchy, otherwise such wealth could continue to accumulate away from the public's pleasure."

[Hirematia]

"Indeed," Mechhai replies. "Towards the beginning of my term, I signed legislation that enabled public access to 90% of the palace gardens. Before that, it was only for use by government officials and 'very important persons', who were usually lobbyists. We've placed a ban on lobbying by corporations, large unions, and foreign-owned nonprofits as well. If you look out the window here, you can see a view of the gardens. They're not very busy right now because the forecast called for rain today, but it ended up being sunny."





They walk by and peek into another room, which is the office of the Premier Minister. However, they will not be meeting there.



Finally, they make it to the discussion room.

"Here we are," Mechhai says. "This is where our negotiations will take place. This used to be where the Emperor and his advisors met, the room in which the Constitution was signed, the room in which the 1949 Coup was planned, and the room in which the instigator of the coup was sentenced to be the last person in Hirematia to be drawn and quartered. And now it hosts the first foreign head of state to visit Hirematia."

[Austerain]

"I am impressed by the progress you have made to limit the influence of Big Money in Hirematian politics," Versace says, "My predecessor and I took great steps to do the same by limiting the amount of campaign contributions and public-funded campaigning, but there is not enough political will in Austerain to establish a ban. Quite an achievement."

As they see the view of the gardens, the Austeren delegation mutters things like "beautiful" and "lovely" under their breaths.

They make their way past the Premier Minister's office and finally into the discussion room.

"Such rich history here, Premier Minister," Versace nods, "And history continues to be written."

[Hirematia]

"indeed," Mechhai comments. He pauses for a moment.

"We will have to start the negotiations with a defense contract and not with bridge negotiations," Mechhai says. "Tajasane Maamuashi, the Minister of Public Transportation, will not be here until tomorrow afternoon. She is attending her mother's funeral," Mechhai says solemnly. "Our Minister of Economy and Treasury Labha Gururaja was sick with a high fever over the past few days, but he will be available tomorrow morning for economic negotiations. I'll let General Baahubala express his opinions on a potential defense contract."

"I have a few ideas as to ideas for a defense contract. Obviously, we should sign a mutual defense pact and pledge to conduct frequent joint military exercises. I have also heard about an Austeren program that develops space lasers or items of the sort. While we do not have the funds to pursue the militarization of space, we have an arsenal of 250 antimatter bombs. I think our defense pact should allow for Austeren use of our antimatter bombs in emergency situations in exchange for Hirematian use of Austeren space lasers in emergencies. I will lay out a breakdown of our armed forces for my colleague General Brockwell and ask that he do the same so that we can figure out how to best integrate our militaries."

Baahubala then presents a sheet of paper with this list printed on it:

Hirematian Armed Forces - 890,000 Active-Duty

• Hirematian Army - 230,000
•     Function - Slow and powerful land-based combat (equipped with heavy machinery, robotic soldiers, body suits, tanks, and artillery)
  
  
• Hirematian Navy - 220,000
•     Function - Naval combat via battleships and submarines. Includes the nuclear submarine program. Does not include the elite Rashtriye Ajeya (similar to the Navy SEALS of the American government). Equipped with battleships, submarines, nuclear submarines

• Hirematian Air Force - 180,000
•     Aerial combat. Deals with dogfighting, dropping bombs, and gathering intel from above. Equipped with warplanes, bombers, airstrips, and aircraft carriers.

.

• Hirematian Amphibious Unit - 172,000
•     A quick, stealthy force used for land invasions. Use the Navy as transportation. Equipped with guns, body suits, robotic decoy soldiers, and grenades. (Similar to the US Marine Corps)

• Hirematian Coast Guard - 72,000
•     A quick-to-deploy force capable of protecting Hirematian waters from attack by both foreign entities and pirates. Serves a major role in protecting trade. Unlike other Coast Guards, the Hirematian Coast Guard is highly specialized, tactical, and a formidable force in war. Equipped with warships, submarines, gunboats, small bombs, and body suits.

• Hirematian Special Ops - 16,000
•     Includes the most specialized service men and women in the Armed Forces. Includes groups such as the Rashitriye Ajeya that specialized in highly difficult missions, Hirematian Cyberwarfare Unit, Hirematian Death Machine Operators, the Hirematian Wire Society that serves as the mission control for Hirematian spies, and the Hirematian Counterterrorism Squadron which is the only military agency bestowed with police powers. 

[Austerain]

Versace nods to an aide, who gives General Brockwell a brown briefcase, from which he takes out a folder entitled "The Federal Armed Forces of Austerain" and opens it to the page consisting of Austerain's troop numbers.

Total Defense Budget (2016): $798,514,195,031

Average Payroll Allocation: $175,560,000,00

Average Individual Salary: $75,000 on individual salaries

Total Persons In Service- 2,340,800
Active Duty: 1,200,000
Reserves: 1,140,800

- National Austeren Army: 860,000
The NAA is Austerain's on-ground line of defense and offense when necessary. It comprises of heavy artillery, tanks, and other combat weaponry and vehicles.

- Austeren Air Force: 430,000
The AAF is Austerain's line of aerial defense and offense (when applicable). The AAF is charged with duties such as monitoring the skies within and around Austeren airspace, running its aeronautical and aerospace programs (including space weapons), escorting the President's aircraft during travels, and engaging in aerial combat when necessary.

- Austeren Naval Armada: 550,000
The ANA is not to be confused with the duties of the Coast Guard. It comprises of aircraft carriers with the AAF, battleships, destroyers, and submarines (nuclear seacraft is outlawed) and serves as Austerain's naval forces beyond its maritime borders to protect relevant interests.

- Austeren Coast Guard: 200,000
The role of the ACG is to maintain maritime homeland security, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement. This includes but is not limited to: monitoring the waters around Austerain, protecting cargo ships, rescuing Austerens in jeopardy on the seas, and seeking out criminals in Austerain's maritime borders.

- Austeren Special Forces: 100,800
The ASF comprises of special ops forces representing all other branches of the Federal Armed Forces of Austerain. They engage in specialized missions such as cyber warfare, stealth, counterterrorism, protection of the Cabinet and Members of Congresss, counterintelligence with Austerain's intelligence services, and with Austerain's space weapons systems.

***Details on individual branches do not distinguish between active duty and reserved persons since they can be called into service at any time.

General Brockwell says, "We are willing to allow Hirematia to have access to our space weapons when necessary, but I would inquire the details of these 'antimatter bombs'. We would like to pursue joint operations or correspondence of our aerial forces and our Coast Guards given our geographical proximity, as well as correspondence in intelligence operations. It would also be ideal to take portions of our defense budgets to build an a joint military force in itself, to invest in private contractors to construct new seacraft and aircraft with the latest technologies purely for defense of our island nations."

[Hirematia]

"I would be happy to explain the antimatter bomb system, but my knowledge of English does not extend into the technical language required to explain it," Baahubala replies. Mr. Mechhai knows much more English than me, so I will let him explain it.

After talking with Baahubala for a few minutes, Mechhai says, "We have developed a cheap an efficient way to create antimatter. This method, which we call Heavy Ion Collision with Magnetic Assistance, collides bars of heavy ions such as uranium to produce 10¹⁸ antiprotons per second. We use the nuclear waste it leaves behind to power production with a 43% efficiency rate. The waste from this goes into storage. Currently, there are about 20 metric tons of nuclear waste in storage as a consequence of this process. On to the structure of the bomb. The bomb consists of a conventional time bomb, a vacuum containing antimatter, and a missile which contains the system. Once the time bomb goes off, the vacuum chamber shatters and releases the antimatter, which immediately explodes. 230 of our antimatter bombs contain 1 kilogram of antiprotons, enough to trigger a 43-megaton explosion each. 15 of the bombs contain 1.5 kilograms of antiprotons, enough to trigger a 64.5-megaton explosion. Finally 5 of our antimatter bombs contain 5 kilograms of antiprotons each. Each of these bombs could trigger a 215-megaton explosion. We have calculated that the blast radius of each of these bombs would be 150.5 kilometers, or 94.6 miles. We have only tested one of these bombs one time about 15 years ago, and when we did, we had to invest 3.1 trillion Standard Monetary Units into a cleanup effort, and everything within a 22-mile radius of Ground Zero is still uninhabitable. Obviously we would only deploy such a bomb in an extremely dire situation, and it mostly serves as a powerful deterrent, as do all of our nuclear weapons. In fact, the official Hirematian policy towards the highest-power antimatter bombs is only to use them when Hirematia is being invaded on at least 2 different fronts by an enemy force that outnumbers Hirematian troops 4:1 or more."

[Austerain]

Upon listening to the explanation, the Versace and her Secretaries are slightly surprised with how destructive the antimatter bombs are, and momentarily have the jaws slightly ajar in surprise. General Brockwell smiles with glee.

Finally, Versace says, "I suppose that would be an agreeable term in exchange for use of our space weapons systems, although I highly doubt that we would ever use these antimatter bombs given the tremendous destructive nature. After all, our Congress just banned our nuclear weapons program, so I can only imagine how delighted they would be to know about this."

Secretary Daniels whispers to Versace, "Madam President, are you sure about this? I don't think such a weapon should even exist."

General Brockwell replies, "If there came a time in which we had little choice, this would end any opponent that stands against us. It's a necessary evil. Madam President, by all means, please make this deal. Keep it classified by executive authority, it would be constitutional."

"Very well," Versace sighs, "Premier Minister, these are agreeable terms. I hope that the process to deploy and trigger these bombs is complex and difficult?"

[Hirematia]

Mechhai replies, "Indeed so. I am not allowed to disclose the full details to you, but I can tell you that only 5 people know the full process of firing these weapons, and I am not one of them. We use a complicated system of mechanical, digital, and chemical locks to fire the most powerful of these weapons. Our lower-power bombs have high security such as would be found on an ICBM. Anyway, we have designed our systems so that there is a 0.00000000000000000001% of a misfire. To put that in perspective, the Sun will engulf the Earth before a misfire will statistically occur. If all your questions are answered on the antimatter bombs, I would like to hear about your space defense system. Also, we would rather not entry into a lasers-for-bombs compact if it would cause political unrest in Austerain. It is almost impossible for governments to keep secrets in this day and age, and if your Congress stands firmly against WMDs, then this deal could end your political career. However, if you do wish to enter this deal, I will go ahead with it."

[Austerain]

"That is very reassuring to hear," Versace says, "General Brockwell, please explain OLDIE-P since you know the details of the system better than I do."

Brockwell clears his throat, "We have a device called the Orbital Laser Defense Intense Electromagnetic Pulse, or OLDIE-P for short. The system has three components or functions of weaponry. The first is the high-intensity laser beam that has the destructive force of up to 10 hydrogen bombs. The beam can concentrate on a smaller target if necessary, such as a single building or bunker. The second is its ability to produce a concentrated electromagnetic pulse. The target can be anything from a city or military base to an entire small country or region of a country. The third function is made up of a smaller laser system that will disarm intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at the end of their boost phase. Its existence is public knowledge in Austerain, as it was launched last year into orbit. We would only use the first function as a means of last resort, and rarely as an offensive against civilian populations since this is against Austeren law. It has only been online twice- once to test it on an asteroid and the second time when the Auzean government announced testing of its own orbital weapons. The OLDIE-P Command is of course subject to monitoring by SLU peacekeepers. The process to activating the system requires authorization from the General of OLDIE-P Command, the Speaker of Congress, the Secretary of Defense, and the President with their respective key codes; without authorization from all four individuals, the system simply will not activate unless otherwise overridden by the President's additional codes."

Versace continues, "Whether I pursue this deal or not, my time in office is short as we have our elections this month. Upon reflection, I cannot be sure if my successor will commit to a lasers-for-bombs compact as the two top candidates are firmly against weapons of mass destruction. I hesitate to make such a deal if I cannot guarantee the commitment of my successors to such provisions. Perhaps we should discuss General Brockwell's suggestions for a joint military force of sea and aerial instead?"

[Hirematia]

Mechhai pauses for a moment. "I agree. There's no point in making a lasers-for-bombs deal if your nation's next President is against WMDs. Once your next President assumes power, I will reach out to them to ensure that they wish to keep all the terms of the deals that we will be making here. Judging from what I've seen of Thorne, he may not like everything we sign here today. I'll let Baahubala discuss plans for a joint military now."

Baahubala says, "I think that a joint military force for our nations is a wonderful idea. However, I think it should be created by conducting joint military exercises to the point where our armed forces can learn to function as one unit. I think this would best be done by creating a new uniform for purposes of joint exercises, standardizing equipment (weaponry, armor, etc.), and establishing joint military bases. This way, we could create a joint military without having to remove soldiers from our national armed forces."

[Austerain]

"Such a deal could be discussed with my successor, Premier Minister. As I am not even sure if the OLDIE-P system would remain supported by Thorne if he's President, I can certainly try to persuade him for it and the lasers-for-bombs deal before you speak with him. I am still hopeful that my current Secretary of Law and Justice will win the presidency, I'm sure he would support the deal."

General Brockwell responds to Baahubala,"I completely agree. We have around 20 military bases in Austerain, and a couple dozen more around the world. We could certainly negotiate joint control in interest of mutual national security. "

[Hirematia]

"I would appreciate it if you did," Mechhai replies. "The OLDIE-P system offers your nation a massive edge in deterrence and defense, and it would be a shame if you were to lose it. I will have an aide draft a lasers-for-bombs deal entirely separate from the military integration pact, and I hope Thorne will have a change of mind, although it seems unlikely."

"Hirematia has 19 domestic military bases, but a significantly smaller military presence abroad," Baahubala explains. "We have 10 bases abroad, 7 of which are operational. How many military bases would you be willing to integrate?"

[Austerain]

"We'll certainly do our best to change his mind... if he gets that far," Versace says.

General Brockwell says, "We would be willing to establish joint control in our two military installations in the Andorian Mountains of western mainland Austerain (Fort Jacobi and Marston Air Force Base) and the three installations in the southwestern islands of Austerain (Fort Ashcroft, Gaul Naval Base, and Forstone Air Reserve Base). We are also open to allowing joint control over 5 military bases abroad as well. The next President will be seeking to close many of our non-essential overseas installations, as both top candidates have campaigned to do so. And how many bases would Hirematia be willing to establish joint control as well?"

[Hirematia]

"We would be willing to establish joint control over 4 bases in South Hirematia, 2 along the coast near Jayamarthia City and 2 in the Monacadi Mountains towards the southernmost area of Hirematia. We would also be willing to establish joint control over 3 of our foreign bases," Mechhai replies. "If there are no more matters of defense you want to discuss, we can conclude military discussions, have dinner, and put our signatures on the military treaty."

[Austerain]

"Those are agreeable terms," General Brockwell says.

Versace says, "Yes, we have nothing further to add."

[Hirematia]

"Alright then," Mechhai replies. "We'll be having a Hirematian five-course meal. The order is appetizer, soup, main dish, salad, and a fruit plate. Before we begin, I need to make sure you don't have any dietary restrictions. The meal has dairy, tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish, meat, non-kosher food, and non-halal food. As for the military contract, we will sign a finalized version after dinner."

[Austerain]

"That's very gracious," Versace responds smiling, "I have no dietary restrictions, but Secretary Daniels is allergic to peanuts. I believe he is the only one with such restrictions, hm?"

She looks back at her aides, the General, and Secretaries, and they nod.

"That's that. I'm pleased that we were able to get through military negotiations quickly before dinner."