The White House.

President Lanning just finished his intelligence briefing from NASA and they leave with a bit of sweat on their foreheads.

Head of State John Stuart enters right after them. The President greets him after drinking a glass of water from his desk.

“John, so I hear negotiations have started with the Quenlari Kingdom.” Despite being in the President’s seat, he never shows signs of weakness or fatigue. Always bringing energy into the room.

John responds. “The negotiations are still in the early stages. But with potential trade and other services that we can offer, I think the Kingdom will heavily consider our offer. Especially since their nation is in a precarious condition.”

“Good, good. Just let me know when you head down. Now, the real talk. Do you have any proposals and plans for contact with the western hemisphere?”

“Yes, after consulting our intelligence, we should be able to establish relations with many countries in the area. However, the area is far from ideal in terms of being devoid of conflict. There are many microstates and areas which are under conflict. It will be very difficult to determine where we should establish diplomatic ties.”

“And that's why we are here today right? I’ll call in the other cabinet members, so just wait right there.”

And so, the planning stage commences.

***

The Quenlari Kingdom continues to face an ever present threat of vicious monsters and beasts coming from the south and raiders coming from the west. Now, with a session with the King’s advisor’s, cabinet, and others, a decision needs to be made deciding who to call upon for military assistance.

“Your Majesty! We believe the American’s will help us the most in our time of need. We have already signed agreements with them stating a future of trade and assistance with the rebuilding of our country. Furthermore, they can move within the week to begin eradicating those menaces to the south.”

The Prime minister concludes his speech and pleads to the King. Now Nazaam steps forward.

“Your majesty. The Dominion council has only asked for access to our waterways for trade, and they can help us deal with the mess down South. They have already dealt with these monsters before, and they can deal with this situation again. There could not be an easier and straight forward deal than this your Majesty.”

The Prime minister and his colleagues are bitter that Nazaam has been able to meet with Dominion representatives so quickly. To begin with, the trip from the Dominion territory takes around a week by boat. Even when considering the water ways the Quenlari Kingdom’s land possesses, it is hard to believe that contact with them was done in such a short amount of time.

Due to this belief, the prime minister didn’t worry too much about the slim possibility that they would be able to meet with them in such a short amount of time.

The King continues his inquiry.

“Prime minister, although trade is something I perceive to be good for my domain, just what are we gaining from a partnership with the U.S.? I am apprehensive of a concrete alliance like this if we cannot ensure future cooperation with this country. Furthermore, we would be drawing the ire of the Onleng empire. If we seek assistance from the Dominion Council, we can still mend relations with the Onleng Empire while also staving off the monster invasion south.”

The prime minister quickly responds.

“Your majesty, we have already signed the papers and docu-”

The King interrupts him.

“I don’t mean that. How can we be absolutely sure? This country came out of nowhere and you want me to pick the U.S. over the Dominion council at this point? I know I sent you over to the consulate to talk, but a second option has miraculously arrived in time. By picking the Dominion Council to deal with our plight, we can preserve the 100 year alliance with the Onleng empire.”

The prime minister sweats a bit more. At this point, he knows he is losing favor with the King. He has made it clear that he still wants to preserve the Onleng alliance as his house is still deeply tied with the imperial family in the empire. He was willing to sacrifice it all for U.S. cooperation, but the prime minister knows that at this point, it would be difficult to persuade him to sour relations with such a huge country next to them.

The King looks to Nazaam to inquire his advice even more.

“Nazaam, I have heard of the prowess regarding the U.S. military. Although I may have ties with the Onleng empire, that doesn’t mean I am willing to sacrifice more of my lands and subjects to the invading monsters and savages to the west. How long will it take for the Dominion council to mobilize their forces to deal with the threat?”

Nazaam smiles.

“They informed me that they can mobilize within the week and start dealing with the monsters within half a month.”

Audible gasps of surprise rung through the hall. In the entire continent, mobilization could take weeks, but the Dominion council’s time to mobilize is simply astonishingly fast.

The King clearly had one more question, but for the prime minister.

“Prime minister, I know you have been in talks with the Americans for quite some time. How long would it take for them to respond.”

The prime minister throughout this entire discussion has been losing ground, but this seems to be his final chance to sway the King.

“Your majesty, after talking with their ambassador, they can begin attacking the monsters as soon as they have your permission, your majesty.”

Everyone in the room is now also shocked, however more just fall under disbelief at this point. Half a month is somewhat believable, but the idea that a country can just begin attacking immediately is ludicrous.

Nazaam, feeling the room starts a counter.

“Your majesty, my fellow prime minister here must be exaggerating. I know you must feel pressured by the situation, but there are customs to everything, Prime Minister.”

“I am not exaggerating my esteemed Nazaam, the U.S. ambassador himself said that their military can begin attacking as soon as they are allowed to do so if the situation demands it.”

While everyone is in disbelief, only the King himself seems unchanged and calms everyone in the room.

“I will make my decision after another session tomorrow. I am sure everyone is tired today, so take some rest.”

The King gets up from his throne and exits a backdoor with his entourage following.

***

U.S. Consulate. Day before the Quenlari King’s session with his cabinet and advisors.

As the final day approaches, the Prime minister makes final last attempts to speed up U.S. military response as that will give him more leverage in the negotiations with the King. One of his colleagues heard whispers of his counterpart making contact with another country.

The prime minister thought to himself that he must win over the King. The U.S. is the only partner that has a chance at winning against the savages to the south. He has already seen some of their capabilities with their ‘helicopter’ and ships made of full metal.

His intelligence informs him that his territory will soon be next if the monsters continue coming from the southern border. Although he has heard of the Dominion councils military prowess, the U.S. has much more powerful artifacts that even he cannot believe.

However, what troubles him more is the U.S. military response time. He is negotiating today, in this meeting room to hopefully speed up their deployment. However, it seems today will not be easy either.

The U.S ambassador, slightly shakes his head.

“Mr prime minister, although our country is doing everything it can right now, the logistics of the operation require much more time to execute than the timeline you suggested. Our closest military bases lie over two thousand miles away. You cannot expect us to start repelling the monsters immediately, do you?”

The Prime Minister grabs his handkerchief and wipes beads of sweat from his forehead. He begins to sympathize as he also know that his timeline is quite crazy. But he has to have an extra card in facing Nazaam. Then, he came up with an idea.

“Is it possible for you to start attacking the monsters without the full force of your military?”

The ambassador gave him a weird look.

“Of course, but it would be ineffective when dealing with a border as long as the east coastline of the Astra Kingdom. There is simply too much ground to cover from the coastline.”

The Prime Minister sighs in relief.

“That is all I need from you Mr ambassador. This will help immensely when advising the King tomorrow.”

“Well, if that's all you need, then that's fine. Just know that the document I handed you over before is the actual tentative timeline the Pentagon sent me.”