What the elves forgot to warn Tarina about was the Dark Star Elven Kingdom's envoy.
She was similar to Arien in looks, and the first thing she did was to demand a duel with the emperor to see if he was strong enough to be worthy of an alliance with her kingdom.
-Let's see if you have what it takes even to challenge the emperor.
The diplomat answered and challenged her herself.
In the end, the envoy got a beating, as Tarina was now very proficient in martial arts.
-With these skills, you would not last a minute against the emperor, who, by the way, can take me down in seconds.
The diplomat said to the envoy, who was still lying on the floor of the hangar, trying to figure out what just happened, and hearing her words, she silently thanked all the gods that it was the diplomat she faced and not the emperor, like she wanted.
After that, the negotiations began, and they were quite straightforward.
The envoys wanted to sign a non-aggression pact as well as a trade agreement allowing their independent merchants to visit the Lantean empire and vice versa.
Additionally, they wished to follow in the Moon Elf star empires' footsteps and sent some of their inexperienced forces to help defend the empire and gain experience while they were at it.
Lastly, they wanted to establish permanent diplomatic relations with the Lantean Empire and send their ambassadors to reside there.
Ironing out the details took over six hours, and Tarina had to contact Andrew multiple times to get his approval on some things, but in the end, the pacts were signed.
The only exception was the arrival of the ambassadors, which was delayed for now, as the empire was at war, which was understandable.
-How'd it go?
Andrew asked the moment the tired diplomat came to the command center after the envoys left.
-It went well, or at least I think it did.
We now have a non-aggression pact with all the elven star nations, and their forces will arrive within a day to take part in the defense of our empire.
Their merchants will arrive the moment they figure out what they would like to get from us, and that can take a while, considering the size of the list of materials we provided.
As for their ambassadors, they will arrive when we secure our borders and are ready to host them.
Tarina reported in a tired voice.
-Great work, now go get some rest.
The emperor smiled as he praised her efforts.
-I will, and how are things on the front going?
-Nothing much changed.
Even with their new ships, they are being annihilated the moment they come through the portals, and according to Vulcan, it will take about two weeks before they run out of ships.
-But that's only if they won't mobilize more, my lord.
The AI chimed in.
-Whatever the case, they won't be gaining any footholds if they continue to just throw their forces at the portals they have right now.
Andrew continued.
-As for mobilizing more forces to throw at us, it is unlikely.
The Kinokians are already taking a huge risk by sending this fleet, and they have a lot of enemies who are just waiting to exploit any weakness they can find.
-Then let's hope they will make their move soon.
This whole situation is bad for my sanity.
Aelita said, hoping that the enemy would either smarten up and give up or be forced by their other enemies to pull their forces back.
Not that she was too worried, as their forces so far suffered barely any losses, while the enemy losses were staggering.
Not to mention that the imperial fleet was growing extremely fast, ever since they started using nanites to repair the ships from the old battlefield, and they barely made a dent in the number of wrecks that littered their territory.
-We have another portal opening in our system, and it's not the Kinokians.
Lanarine reported, interrupting their discussion.
-What now?
Andrew sighed in a tired voice.
By now, he had more than his fill of surprises.
-We are being hailed.
-On screen.
Andrew said with resignation.
-Greetings, your majesty.
A familiar figure popped up onto the screen the moment the transmission connected.
-Greetings, Admiral Gezrin.
Andrew answered, recognizing the alien who explained to him that he was noticed by one of the first thousand during the second wave of the invasion.
-I'm glad that Your Majesty remembers me.
The alien smiled, which was a bit grotesque.
-How could I forget?
Andrew also smiled.
-So, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again, as I doubt that you are calling just to say hello.
The human asked.
-The Pelozi council wishes to establish diplomatic relations with the Lantean Empire, as well as ask for a favor, which might benefit both our star nations.
The frog-like alien went straight to the point.
-I'm all for opening diplomatic relations with the Pelozi council.
As for the favor, I would need to hear more about it before I commit to anything.
-If you allow it, your majesty, then my diplomats and I are ready to go through the portal immediately, to discuss this matter personally.
-Permission granted, the escorts are already waiting for your arrival.
-Thank you, your majesty. We will arrive as soon as possible.
The admiral said and ended the call.
-Well, there goes my rest.
Tarina said with a sigh.
-You know.
You don't need to do everything personally.
That's what your team is for, and I'm sure they can do their jobs as well as you can, so go get some rest and let them take care of this.
-This is too important for me to skip this meeting.
The diplomat argued.
-No, it's not, and it might be a problem if you make a mistake just because you are tired.
Your team is rested and ready, while you just finished a six-hour round of negotiations with the elves.
So you are going to get some rest, and let your team handle this.
Andrew stated, leaving no room for discussion.
-Alright, you win, but I want to see the recording when I wake up.
Tarina said before leaving the command center and going to her module to get some sleep.
She had no intention of being stubborn or stating that she was not tired, as she was certain that Andrew would make sure she was tired in record time if she tried to be stubborn.
As soon as she left, the emperor contacted her team, ordering them to get ready.
-This time, Tarina is not going to be present, so show me what you can do without her.
These words made all the diplomats speechless, but also excited, as this was their chance to shine and prove that they could succeed without the help of the empress.