While the Reaver forces were reveling in their victories, the border planets of the Kepler Empire were not in such a festive mood. Many of them were subject to an intensive loyalty enhancement program, but a dozen of them were currently in the process of attempting to avert disaster caused by a Klem invasion.
[Pallid 9 Command to Tarith Trading Company, please come in. Pallid 9 Command to any Reaver Vessel in communications range, please come in. Mayday Mayday.]
The message was enough to catch the attention of everyone in the meeting and have them stop talking to see what the message was about.
[Pallid 9 Command, this is the Tarith Trading Company. What can we do for you today?] Nico responded, playing the part of the Company’s public relations officer.
[Your estimation of the Klem arrival was spot on. We are less than twenty-four hours from landfall, and the defense fleet has left the area for reasons unknown. They are no longer in contact, and the Duke was with the fleet. We are willing to pay handsomely for a Reaver defense against the Klem.] The Pallid 9 Representative responded.
“Oh, now that’s rich. The rebel didn’t even tell his home planet what he had done, he simply took the fleet and left.” One of the Reaver Captains laughed grimly.
“They are so fethed. They don’t even have a planetary Mecha force, they rely on the station and the fleet.” Another one agreed.
“Can we even get there before the landfall, or will we be picking up the pieces afterward?” General Yaakov asked.
“If we take Terminus, we will get there roughly two hours before the landing, leaving right now at maximum speed. If we bring another forty Reaver vessels with us from Cruiser Class and larger, we should be able to deflect the wave into the star without having to leave the comfort of home.” Max calculated quickly.
“A shield wall deflection? Not a bad idea, but forty of us are too many to move right now. We have a new system to defend and a Colony to build.
[Night Wind Manufacturing Alliance to Terminus Trading Company, requesting a secure channel.]
That would be one of the Death Wind Mercenary groups, Max assumed, going by the name. Though it might be one of the Reavers that hadn’t arrived here in time to get in on the defense deal.
[Go for Terminus on Trading pattern three. Channel is now encrypted.]
[How much do you want for that defense contract? We are close enough to start with a partial block and we have the firepower to do the cleanup ourselves.] The Mercenary group asked.
[You might have heard that we have been a bit overbooked lately, so I am feeling generous. Bring me one Pallet of Rum when you are finished and the contract is yours. I would appreciate it if you don’t embarrass my name in the process.] Nico replied, getting laughter back from the Mercenaries.
[Understood Terminus. We will see you soon. Death Wind Territory sends their warmest regards on your new outpost and is looking forward to the grand opening of the trade bazaar.]
“See, we’re making friends all over the place today. And I think these ones might actually be friendly friends.” Nico laughed as the conversation finished.
“Those Mercs must be hurting for money if they’re going to take on a Klem invasion on their own.” A Reaver Captain sighed, pulling up his details of the Night Wind’s known forces.
“They have four Cruisers that I know of, each with a Battalion of Heavy Mecha. They could likely do the job cleanly if they manage to deflect a good portion of the wave before it lands.” Another representative agreed.
“If there is anyone passing through the area, they can go. If not, we will leave it to them. It’s a Rebel Planet, so the Kepler Forces won’t be too horribly upset if the bugs cause some property damage before they’re dealt with.” Mary Tarith suggested.
“Alright, we will send our Colony Ship, Amazing Grace. It is in the area and can intercept. It doesn’t have a Mecha Force on it though, so once the wave deflection is over, they will leave it to the Mercenaries and call it a favor.” One of the other Captains agreed after notifying his people.
“There will be eleven more Klem landfills this week, all inside Kepler space if anyone is up for fighting them off or deflecting portions of them. Pallid 9 was the closest to their origin, so the rest should be easy enough to intercept, as we will have an extra day or two.” General Yaakov informed the room.
“Then we should get off the ship and get to work. Set down on the planet and we will unload all the Tarith Family gear and terraforming equipment that we brought with us.” Mary Tarith suggested.
“Terminus isn’t really made for repeated planetary landings, at least not anymore. We can transfer most of the gear to the Dutchman and then make a second trip, or we can drop the terraforming essentials and you can come for a little vacation with us.” General Yaakov denied her request as politely as possible.
“The Tarith Reavers have brought enough on the other ships, and it’s already on the planet. You can take a week off to go play ping pong with Klem Pods and come back to start on the major construction of the Moon Base.” A Tarith Captain offered.
“See, who says that Reavers can’t be reasonable and play together? I bet the planets will be willing to pay a pretty tidy amount of money to not be bug food as well, so a week or so delay is no big deal.” Mary Tarith agreed.
That made greed light up in a number of faces, as she had intended.
“You know, we have a few more Colony Ships on the way here. They’re not fighting ships, but we would be willing to pay you out of the defense fee for some upgraded shield technology.” A full conversion cyborg Captain offered.
“Well, the shields do the heavy lifting in this job, so I think about twenty-five percent for the upgraded tech should be about the right commission, shouldn’t it?” Nico replied with a smile, and the other Cyborg glared at her.
“Now, I know you’re young and ambitious, but give an old man a little credit. Ten percent is more than reasonable.”
“Make it twenty and I will show you how to expand the radius to three times your vessel’s size as well.” Nico counteroffered, extending her hand.
“I hate dealing with rich people, they always have something else up their sleeve to sweeten the deal. Twenty Percent it is, but if it breaks my ship, I’m taking it out of your commission.” The apparently old Cyborg laughed.