After Salessa stabilized her position as President, she drove out those politicians that opposed her, installing her own people into their places. This is one of the advantages to having a democracy. Even though having a family involved in politics is a huge benefit, but they don't have a choke hold on the government like the empire that borders them. Almost all of the ministers there are directly or indirectly related to the gentry, which means there is always an underlying fight for power hiding below the calm surface.
Now that Salessa has gained control over the government, she has time to relax and figure out her future plans. She knows the zerg are the biggest threat. Salessa herself has faced off against these terrifying creatures. Seeing their razor sharp talons and serrated teeth, add onto that their incredibly durable carapace and they make for a very difficult enemy. The worst part about these creatures however, is not their appearance, it relies on their beliefs.
The zerg follow a hive mentality, with a single queen in control. She lays the strongest zerg warriors while the lesser zerg females can only lay regular zerg. Unfortunately for humanity, the zerg have only one purpose, that is to devour. They travel from planet to planet consuming everything they come across. With the resources brought back, the female zerg continuously reproduce at a horrifying speed. They are the greatest threat to the universe, and both the federation and the empire spend astronomical amounts to equip their militaries to defend against this common enemy.
The reports that Salessa has received show signs of larger movements from the border of the zerg territory. This has made Salessa start to feel uneasy, she knew the devastation that these creatures were capable of, and if possible, she was willing to temporarily put aside differences to cooperate against the far greater threat.
This led Salessa to offer a tentative student exchange. If she can have friendly relations with the empire through this, then further cooperation can be arranged in the future. However this all relies on the people she will send. If the emperor is willing then the students he sends will definitely not be simple characters. Those that go to each other's territory must be capable, intelligent and able to bear grievances.
Salessa didn't know how this would go, but she hoped the emperor could see the bigger picture. From his actions that she had heard of up to this point, she believed he was a competent and cunning man. This made Salessa feel better, after all, talking to smart people would make everything easier. Just like two chess players, they could base their decisions off of the moves of their opponent. That would then lead to a greater understanding between the two.
The emperor lived up to Salessa's expectation, and quickly accepted the federations offer for a student exchange. He ordered the ministers to point out some of the cautious, stable and intelligent young children in the aristocratic families, so as to not make the empire embarrassed when they're sent over.
The ministers were very happy to hear the news, a way to make merits so easily had not been seen for a long time. They all went home immediately and pulled out their talented children, hoping they would be the lucky ones to take on this task.
Sile, who had been idle at home for a period of time heard the news of the student exchange and wondered what brought about this inexplicable cooperation. She looked at Arel, who finally had some time to rest after focusing on her mecha soldier creations, and voiced her doubts.
"Honey, why do you think the empire and the federation proposed this exchange event? What are they hoping for? Peace? Trade? Marriage?"
Arel didn't know, so she could only offer a guess, "What is there, that would make the two powers willing to set aside their differences?"
Sile and Arel looked at each other, and in unison they spoke confidently "The zerg".
Only in this way would it make sense. Although Arel and Sile could be considered geniuses, they actually had very little knowledge of the zerg. They had never seen one in real life, but they weren't naive in their understanding of them. They have been privy to a few documents that reported the casualties of zerg hostility.
The two omegas knew that if the empire and the federation needed to cooperate, then this matter was not small. It seems that a war is on the agenda. However this time Arel and Sile weren't in the mood to gloat. A war with the zerg is very different from a simple rebellion. They were definitely not going to choose to cause trouble at such a sensitive time. They both couldn't afford the consequences of the empire and the federation falling to the zerg. Although they were much further away from the zerg than Erdime, but it would still be only a matter of time before they were found, and then, extinction.
Facing off against humans isn't comparable to that of a zerg force. Even if they were extremely well defended here, they still couldn't hold back the aggressive and fearless suicide attacks that the zerg used. These weapons were mainly deterrents for humans. After all humans have fear. Whether it be the fear of death, or the fear of leaving your family, whatever the reason, it was the most useful tactic that Arel and Sile employed.
With the news of the cooperation between the empire and the federation made public, the populations of both sides might not be anywhere near as sharp as the two genius omegas, but even they're aware of the calm before the storm. They probably couldn't guess that the zerg that had been dealt with mercilessly, just over a couple centuries ago, had now become such a threat to them both, however it didn't help the speculations of the people who kept coming up with guesses as to what the purpose of this cooperation meant.
Now everyone's eyes are on this student exchange, and whether it will be a success. They may never know just how much both Salessa and the emperor need this exchange to work, otherwise the fate of the two powers may be coming to an end.
