Negotiations

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***

Central Calendar 7th Day of the 1st month of the Year 1635,

Port Town Bahar, Quila Kingdom

The port of Bahar has been relatively silent for the past few years. Other than the food-carrying Qua-Toynian ships and the occasional fleet that wished to rest and repair their vessels, the port had virtually no traffic.

That changed today when INS Kuthar dropped anchor about half a mile away from the port. Smaller boats emerged from the gigantic ship and made their way to the port. Curious onlookers were surprised to see that none of those boats had sails or oars. A few minutes later, the boats were moored to the docks and Krishnan Roy readied himself for the first diplomatic contact in the New World.

Escorted by Gamas and a few soldiers, Krishnan and his team made their way to the office of Metsal, the Quillan prime minister. In the office, Metsal dismissed most of the soldiers guarding him. Krishnan returned the courtesy to indicate that he trusted Metsal's, and by extension Quilla's hospitality.

"Thank you for heeding our request, Mr. Prime Minister. I would like to clarify from the very beginning that the Republic of Kalinga seeks peace and harmony with her neighbors and hopes that we can all work together for mutual benefits." Krishnan said.

"Aye, that's true. But I must confess, I have not heard of Kalinga my entire life. Has your nation formed recently?"

"I am afraid not. We have been around for centuries but in another world. We woke up one day and found ourselves in a strange new world. We lost access to important resources and trade routes, not to mention our loved ones."

Metsal looked skeptical "I have heard stories about Mu being a transferred country but I thought that they were just fairy tales! I am sure you would excuse me if I don't find this believable."

"I would be worried if you believed me so easily. Allow me to demonstrate."

Krishnan took his smartphone out of his pocket and showed videos of Kalinga's people and culture. He also showed him high-rise buildings and horse-less chariots. Metsal was quite impressed.

"Your nation is indeed advanced. Which begs the question, why would you want to associate with our country?" Metsal asked. "Let's be real here, we don't have many valuable things that you would need. If you wanted food, Qua-Toyne should have been your target. If you wanted security, it would have been more viable to be a Parpaldian Empire's vassal."

"Mr. Prime minister, you do have resources that we are very interested in, namely the burning water and burning rocks."

"Hmm, I get why you would be interested in burning rocks. They are a good fuel source and leave little ash. But why would you need burning water? All they do is just muck up the landscape and render the land useless for farming!"

"We have our reasons." Krishnan smiled. "How about we work out a deal?"

Both men spent the next few hours going over minute details of their deal. In the end, it was decided that for open access to the Burning Water and high-grade anthracite coal, Kalinga would provide steel to arm the Quillan forces. That was not going to be a problem since Kalinga mined more than 111 million tonnes of iron ore, which translates to roughly 32 million tonnes of steel every year. Even without churning out iron at full capacity for the international market anymore, they could easily produce enough steel to arm and armor the thirty thousand strong Quillan army without making a dent in their reserves.

Krishnan conveyed his success to the Secretariat and was congratulated for his hard work. The agreement would be signed formally soon with representatives from Qua-Toyne as witnesses. That would include the finer details of establishing currency exchange rates and the like, but that was for the bean counters at the Secretariat to worry about. As far as Krishnan was concerned he would take the next weekend off for a well-earned vacation.

***

Meanwhile, in an unknown location

Sharkun was woken up by a guard. Before he could gather his bearings. three guards handcuffed and escorted him to a room. There was a table, two chairs, and a mirror on the wall. He was made to sit down on one of the chairs and his handcuffs were tied to the table.

A few minutes later a man dressed in white and navy blue walked into the room with a woman following him closely. He sat down in the chair in front of him. "I am Nitesh. I would like to ask you some questions regarding what happened out there in the sea."

"What is this place? As the Leader of Lourian Navy, I demand that you release me and give me safe passage to my country, or else you would not like the consequences."

"I see that your ship exploding has rocked your memory somewhat." Nitesh fixed his glasses as he studied the file in hand. "You have been accused of attacking Kalinga warships by the commanding officers of that fleet. That's quite the charge."

"A false one, at that!" Sharkun growled. "I did not order that attack. The captain of my ship was misguided by his patriotism, that's all."

"Now there's no need to be so defensive. We have barely even started our discussion. I can assure you of one thing though." Nitesh looked at him darkly. "As long as you answer all our questions truthfully, you would not be hurt."

"A-are you threatening to tort-"

"Oh I would never!" Nitesh put a palm on his chest feigning getting hurt. "I just said, that if you let us know what we want to, we won't hurt you!"

"You bastard! You would not get away with this. My King will make sure to gut you and your people like the cattle you are!"

"Nikita, slap him."

The woman standing behind Nitesh gave a solid backhand to Sharkun's nose.

"AAARGH How dare –"

"Punch him this time."

Sharkun howled in pain once more. Partly due to the physical pain, and partly due to the humiliation of getting beaten up by a woman.

"Let's start the interrogation now. Why is Louria expanding its military so aggressively?"

"To-to fight the Parpaldians." Sharkun replied, only to get smacked again.

"That's the wrong answer." Nitesh said. Nikita took her cue and smacked Sharkun in the face once again. "Just so you know, we have captured eleven of your sailors alive and extracted a sizeable amount of information from them. So if you try to weasel your way out by lying, I cannot guarantee your physical wellbeing. Let's try this again: Why is Louria expanding its military so aggressively?"

Sharkun realized that there was no point resisting. He was at the mercy of these savages who will most likely dispose of him once he's no longer of any use. Nevertheless, he put up a brave front but ultimately broke after two hours, and gave Nitesh all the information he needed.

***

Ravi cracked open a bottle of whiskey from his stash and offered Vivek a glass, which he accepted graciously. "Why are you all broody, man? Something on your mind?"

"Oh, I am just thinking about that Vice Admiral's confessions. How likely is Kalinga to survive if the Lourian military decides to attack it?" Vivek asked. "Can we expect your men to push them back?"

"Regrettably, I don't think so. Even if our technology outclasses them in all aspects, they don't follow the conventions and rules of engagement that militaries of our previous world did. A single company of enemy soldiers sneaking in could cause massive loss of life and property in the unarmed coastal villages. My men could hold them back, sure. But they will run out of ammo eventually." Ravi laid out the cold bare facts. "I have 70,000 men under my command. But only 25000 of them were engaged in anti-insurgency operations and are familiar with warfare. The rest of them have been trained to catch criminals, not wage a war!"

"I get that." Vivek replied. "If this Vice Admiral is speaking the truth, then we won't be able to take down a fleet of four thousand warships no matter how ahead we are in technology. Five warships are just not enough! I have assured my men that the small skirmish would not snowball into a war, but even I am not sure about it anymore."

"The sensibilities of our previous world would not apply here. I won't put it past these savages to declare war without a valid Casus Beli."

"And then there's Parpaldian Empire to be concerned of. If we are not careful they could make us their vassals too."

"We are screwed, eh?"

"Looks like it. And we have not even talked about the air superiority these people possess in the form of Wyverns and Wyvern Lords."

The duo spend the rest of the evening talking about the strengths and weakness of Kalinga and ways to mitigate their vulnerabilities. As heads of their respective military branches and protectors of people, the two men had a lot to think about.

Central Calendar 9th Day of the 1st month of the Year 1635,

Esthirant, Parpaldia Empire.

Saurav Das, the Minister of Agriculture was not having a good day. After the Secretariat decided to open diplomatic communication with the regional superpower Parpaldian Empire, he was the one selected for the job. He was ecstatic about it initially but his naive optimism died a premature death when he could not even get past the reception table despite having an appointment with the Kaios, the head of Foreign Affairs. As soon as the receptionist saw him, she started making excuses about Kaios being busy and in no uncertain terms belittled Saurav's nation. Four hours later than the scheduled time, Saurav finally got the chance to meet Kaios. But it was fairly obvious that unless Kalinga wanted to be vassalized by Parpaldian Empire, Kaios had no interest in him.

He walked into the bar a defeated man and ordered himself a drink and snacks. They only served beer for peasants like him, sadly. He was engrossed in munching his snacks and washing off the terrible aftertaste with his beer when a man sat by his side carrying a plate of chicken and veggies.

"Drowning your sorrows in food and alcohol is never a good idea. Especially when you are still young." The man said.

"I am not. I am just having lunch." Saurav replied before trying to ignore the nosy man.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Well you are already sitting on my table, so make yourself at home."

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes when Saurav asked. "Why is a rich man like you eating his lunch in a dingy place like this?"

"They make the best chicken." The man shrugged. "What's a young foreigner like you doing in a strange land like this, all by himself?"

"I am just a failed diplomat. I am Saurav Das, representing the Republic of Kalinga." He raised his glass

"I am Mugei. I am a fellow diplomat as well! I represent Mu."

"Dang. I suppose you wont like to talk about diplomatic relationships with my country while eating lunch?"

"Hah, no official business during my lunch hours, but we surely can talk about each other's countries and people!"

The two men started talking about their respective countries and as instructed, Saurav tried to keep a low profile and not reveal all of their technological advancements.But he told the ambassador about his country getting transferred from a different world. To his surprise, Mugei did not dismiss the notion. The rest of the conversation primarily revolved around both countries using science and technology to counter the much vaunted magic and mana. When the conversation veered towards complex mathematical calculations, Saurav whipped out a grenade shaped object from his bag. Mugei jumped in his seat but remained composed.

"This thing right here is a Curta calculator. A completely mechanical calculator that can solve complex mathematical problems. Give me any two numbers!"

"Um.. 181 and 409?"

Saurav pulled a few knobs and rotated a crank and told him the product of those numbers. Intrigued, Mugei had him multiply even more numbers, which the Curta accomplished with ease.

"This is a very impressive piece of machinery. Is this also a product of Kalinga's ingenuity?'

"Among many other things, yeah. We have developed several mechanical computers over the years but this one is perhaps the most practical." Saurav lied through his teeth.

"Is it for sale?" Mugei asked.

"Oh I am afraid not, this is a family heirloom." Saurav lied through his teeth. "But if I get the permission from my seniors, they could easily sell a copy to you for eighty five thousand each!" He was not lying on this one, he had almost sold this Curta for eighty five thousand *rupees* on eBay the day Kalinga was transferred to the New World.

'That is equal to the cost of the latest internal combustion engines that we have!' Mugei thought, clearly believing the cost to be eighty five thousand *ducats*.

"I see. If you could reduce the price tag to sixty thousand apiece, I would be willing to buy ten of these from Kalinga."

"Can't go any lower than seventy five, Ambassador Mugei. The upper brass won't be interested in green lighting the sale if we don't get any profit."

Both gentlemen continued haggling until they both settled at sixty nine thousand a piece. Mugei could not figure out why Saurav always said 'Nice' whenever the price was brought up in the later meetings. Saurav requested a tiny bit of advance payment for the deliveries. After paying for both of their lunches, Mugei led him to his office where he promised a diplomatic audience to Kalinga's contingency at Mu, provided that Saurav be the leader of the negotiations. He also showed him details about the Parpaldian military abilities and asset placement in a show of goodwill.

***

The Secretariat, Bhubaneswar, Republic of Kalinga

"And that's how i managed to get in a favorable diplomatic contact with the second most powerful nation in the known New world!"

Chief Minister Birju could hear the smugness dripping off his phone as the entire secretariat listened in horror at Saurav's antics over the radio.

"How can you be so brilliant, and yet so retarded?" Krishnan, now back from Quilla, wondered out loud.

"Hey I heard that, Krishnan! What was wrong with my plan? It went without a hitch"

"Apart from the fact that we DON'T manufacture those calculators? Oh nothing at ALL!"

"Hah you are just jealous!"

"Well why you little-"

"That's enough." Birju stopped the situation from devolving further. "While I applaud your presence of mind, I would like you to exercise caution the next time you face an entity much more powerful than you. What would you have done if Mu already had mechanical calculators developed and this ambassador was just trying to test you?"

"I- I would have thought of a way out!" Saurav stammered.

"And let's not even talk about how you ran to Parpaldia on your own without a proper escort. Did you even have any cash on you when you ate at that bar?"

"I was planning to dine and dash."

Everyone present rolled their eyes.

"You have been absurdly lucky. I hope you are more careful next time.You would not want your luck running out, would you?"

"Y-yes sir, I would be careful. You don't need to worry about those calculators. Give me five decent watchmakers and I would have fifty of those ready within the month!"

"Very well. KNS Karmuk is on its way to escort you back to the port." Birju disconnected the call.

The Secretariat dispersed after discussing the possible strategies to woo the Muans to their side and possible technology exchange ideas.