Chapter 371 371 Surreal Experience
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Max smiled to himself as the soldiers of what was once General Tennant's personal regiment, the way that Noctem Regiment was to General Mons and the Carpe Noctem. It was like having a little piece of him back, even if he was currently missing, on a secret mission somewhere across the Galaxy.
Most of the injuries that he could see weren't as terrible as he had feared. There were a lot of gunshot wounds that had crippled limbs, and some broken backs that had led to paralysis, which couldn't be fixed with the Station's limited facilities but could be easily dealt with by the medical facilities aboard Terminus.
[All veterans listed as currently injured or disabled, please stand to the right for triage. Terminus has top-class medical facilities available, and will begin treatments immediately upon your arrival.] Nico's voice informed everyone.
Nico herself seemed to be busy sorting their new arrivals, so Max assumed that she had sent the message to make her own life easier. The veterans were supposed to get settled into the holding bay, which would be their home until they passed final security checks, in case the Regiment had been corrupted and not reported.
Max didn't sense any signs that the soldiers had joined the Rebellion, or any harmful intent toward Terminus though, only honest gratitude at the opportunity to get off of the overcrowded station and back to their duties.
[Check this out.] Was the whole content of the message that Nico sent Max a few minutes later, along with a video file that Max brought up to view on the visor of his armor.
The Mobile Suit was standard practice for him during meetings these days, in case their deals went sour and someone thought of targeting the Reaver Commander, so he brought the video up, watching the video replay a short battle between two ships, and the launch of a Lander. Then it cut to the Lander and followed it in fast forward to the station.
The battle was as they described it, but the important part was the vessel that had destroyed their transport. It was a Tapani ship, not a Kepler one, so it was quite clear that the occupants of the destroyed vessel were not on the side of the Rebels and their allies.
That went a long way to calming Max's concerns. It was possible to be mistaken and give false evidence, or to believe a lie, which would make Max think he had heard the truth, but video evidence from the battle was pretty decisive.
[Where did you find that?] Max asked once he had viewed the video in full.
[The lander is trashed, but it is still on the station. I pulled it from the black box.] Nico replied.
Max had hacked the Station's systems earlier and didn't find anything, so he checked again, now that they were docked and close enough for a direct signal.
He still didn't see the Lander, but after searching for half a minute he found what had alerted Nico. It wasn't what she saw, but what she didn't. There was a large cargo bay blocked off from the rest of the station's mainframe, and all the cameras were off. Following Nico's lead, he hacked in, finding that it held the Lander, the last few Soldiers who were helping the disabled members get moving, and a small supply of military equipment and rations.
That must be the ship's most secure area, hidden so that the desperate refugees didn't do what Max did and hack through to find the last of the food supplies, then riot to get to them.
Once everyone was on board, the Station staff prepared to close up their bay so that Terminus could dock, and the Governor of the Colony turned to Nico for her farewell speech.
"It has been a pleasure dealing with you all, and now that we can increase crop production, we can put a lot of our new arrivals to work, and let those on the station come down to the surface. The amount that we could afford to trade for might have everyone on half rations until the first crops are grown, but we are in a much better situation than we were before."
Her gratitude was palpable, and the handshake she gave Nico was a friendly one, though she refused the customary sharing of liquor that most leaders partook in after a deal was done.
"Send another message to the Reavers if you have more to trade. There are a few other ships in the area still, and they could likely arrive within a few weeks." Max informed her.
"Thank you. I just hope that this peace lasts. The Nobles have all gone insane lately. I am sure that one of your intelligence officers found this information already, but we had to purge the ones in our colony when the unrest began. That is why I am governor, and not some high-minded Marquis looking to expand his holdings."
Max's respect for the tired-looking woman grew in an instant. To think that they had simply purged the entire noble population of their planet for Sedition and appointed a civilian Governor. That was a rare thing in Kepler, where the Nobles were usually pretty entrenched through a bureaucracy that could stop any such revolt from taking hold.
Even on Kepler Terminus, the resistance had failed to eliminate the nobles' bureaucracy before they could lock down communications and bring in reinforcements. The best they could do was get as many people as possible to safety. Kepler Terminus was a much more populated world though, with a much larger government, he supposed, so the difficulty level was incomparable, but it was still impressive, and an excellent proof of character.
"I will offer you improved trade terms with the Tarith Reavers. Take this card and contact them first when you need anything that you can't find through the official channels. Tell them that Tarith Rage recommended you and they will understand." Nico told the woman, then ushered her back to her shuttle, so that Terminus could leave the dock and get back on course.
This stop was fruitful for them, but hardly entertaining for a cruise ship. Excluding the Innu researchers of course. They were greatly entertained by the chance to study a human manufacturing colony's infrastructure.
Chapter 372 372 All Is Not Well
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Once they left the station and brought Terminus back up to Warp 5 for their journey to the border, Max began to analyze all of the communications data that they could get from the Kepler planets that were along their path.
It should give him an idea if there were rebel elements left active in the region, if there were other humanitarian issues that needed tending to, or if there were other beneficial cargo shipments that he might be able to pick up and turn some profit for the ship to keep themselves running.
They were getting paid by their guests, but it was in interstellar Credits, which held absolutely no value in this Galaxy since they couldn't use them for anything, and most of the things that they would want to use them for they were forbidden from having, thanks to their violent tendencies.
Proving that they were safe enough to be trusted with the most modern alien technologies was a bit like trying to convince the universe that a Jakalian Dire Bear should be taught to use a Plasma Cannon.
Max wasn't sure how, but Nico had a spiel prepared for every planet they passed, not just the closest ones along their route, but she had made a short speech for every inhabited system even vaguely close to their path.
While he sorted through communications, Max took a moment to look into it and discovered that Nico had simply changed the computer voice to her own so that when guests pulled up the data files from the ship's computer to look up nearby galactic waypoints, they were treated to a speech in her voice that was simply a reading of the summary that every ship had programmed into their computers.
It was actually ingenious and saved them a lot of time dealing with inquisitive passengers. They could look up bits of data about inhabited systems and learn everything they wanted while the screens randomly zoomed in on exciting things they were due to pass.
After a few hours of searching, Max found their next two stops. One that wanted to trade for furniture, and one uninhabited but atmospherically safe planet that had the most incredible geography.
They had taken some of the furniture shipment to decorate officers' quarters for the infantry that were staying on the ship, but they still had a huge amount of it to trade, so Max ordered the communication officers to set up a meeting on their behalf, while he planned the excursion stop at the uninhabited planet.
Letting people off the ship didn't seem safe at all, but if they had their own ships, he would let them depart for a shore trip and make sure that they were as safe as he could make them.
A cruise wasn't a cruise without the chance to see more than the ship, after all.
[Sir, Kepler 903 says that they can't mention the type of item that they have to trade, but they do wish to trade for the furniture.] The communications officer informed Max a few minutes later.
That wasn't entirely unusual. You didn't just broadcast that you had a large number of illegal materials and products to offer in trade. The Reavers might buy them, but you couldn't risk the transmission being intercepted.
[Tell them that we are on our way. If it's no good, we will move on. Furniture is easy to sell almost anywhere.] Max informed the crew, letting them make the course adjustments necessary for the meeting.
Nico was out among the guests when the announcement came, and the Illithid had questions about their trade policies and general level of sanity.
"You offer dangerous items for trade to dangerous people. How do you guarantee that you won't be betrayed?" One of the guests asked her.
"There are no guarantees, but the Reavers are an essential supply route for most of these planets. If they attack a vessel during a trade, they would face an embargo that could starve out their citizens and stop them from getting the goods they produce off-world.
There are an intricate set of protocols for interacting with each other to show respect for each other to prevent violent incidents. I will make a video about them after this next meeting." Nico informed the Illithid, who burbled happily, an odd noise that sounded like a happy baby to the humans but made the Innu run away from them.
From what she learned from the Innu, the noise had a psychic element to it that caused them physical pain, like a feedback loop in a computer system would when you tried to interact with it. It didn't seem to do anything to her or the other Pilots who came to relax in the cruise ship area, but Nico had noticed that the lower-ranked pilots and infantry subconsciously avoided the Illithid the same way that the Innu did.
Not all the time, only when they got excited or were drinking. The Illithid turned out to have virtually zero alcohol tolerance, even after factoring in their actual body size.
Like Max, Nico had been monitoring communications traffic in the region, but she picked up on the issue a little faster than Max had. All of the messages were perfectly normal and benign. Even the data net traffic seemed normal and uninteresting. But when she checked on some of the planets, they had been heavily damaged by fighting and were in the process of rebuilding.
If everyone was homeless, and the cities were still smoldering from the battles with the Loyalists, why was the data net traffic perfectly normal, uploading gaming stream scores, vacations, and various other nonsense social media messages at the same rate as before hostilities broke out?
She sent the data through to Max so that he could be prepared and left the actual planning to him while she sat down with a bottle of Rum to explain the intricacies of Reaver Social protocol with a group of Illithid.
Max saw her on the view screen and just sighed. He couldn't even complain much, as she had found the aberration, but leaving all the planning work to him was just cruel.
The first thought that he had was that it was possible that the Rebels had won, but the more he searched through the data, the less likely that seemed. It appeared that the Loyalists had won the battles, and in some cases were still there repairing the damage caused by the battles.
The signals that were being sent out were a cover, either to hide that anything had happened at all, or to keep those in the area from noticing that something was about to happen.
Chapter 373 373 Suspicious Trade
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[In fifteen minutes, we will reach our next trade destination, planet Sanchez, a highly populated world best known for its reliable production of workers for the Kepler Empire.] Nico's voice explained to the ship, and Max had to fight not to laugh.
That was certainly one way to put it. They were best known for not producing a single Gamma-ranked or higher Pilot in generations, so they raised an Infantry army every single year for the last century.
There were clear signs of a recent battle on the surface, but it looked like the planet was pretty intact and hadn't suffered too heavy of a loss of life. That was a good sign for them and for the actual value of whatever they wanted to trade for.
A hold full of luxury furniture would likely be for the planet's nobles, or their Corporate leaders, replacing what was lost in the war with the status symbol imported items.
[Terminus, please hold your position in orbit around the planet. Our only station was downed in the recent unpleasantness, so we will have to come up to you.] The planetary authority informed them with the usual bureaucratic efficiency.
Meaning, of course, that it took them two hours to get around to sending someone up to meet with them, and even then, it was in a shuttle and not a vessel large enough to take the furniture back to the surface if they should happen to make a deal.
Still, Max and Nico met them in a cargo bay with a selection of furniture and pulled them in with the gravity beam to regulate their speed through the barrier. The occupants of the shuttle looked shocked at that level of technology, and Max knew that they had the upper hand in this deal right from the start.
"Welcome, representatives of Planet Sanchez. It is now safe to exit your vessel. Welcome to the home of the Terminus Trading Company." Nico greeted them, and the back hatch of the shuttle swung open with a gentle hiss.
"It is a pleasure to meet with you, Terminus. I do apologize for the unorthodox procedure, but you see, the trade goods aren't something that we can easily bring to orbit without an agreement." The leader of the Planet Sanchez group informed them.
"We have dealt with a number of volatile goods, sir. I doubt that you could shock us with anything these days." Nico laughed while the group from the planet shook their heads.
"No, this is something else entirely. The Rebels brought a new type of weapon with them, something that we had never expected. At first, it was catastrophic, but after we managed to reverse engineer it, we have turned it into something wonderful, though perhaps against the sensibilities of the Kepler people." The representative informed them.
Max examined the group more closely, realizing that none of them were particularly well dressed, nor were they in the eclectic garb common of Scientists who didn't interact much with the outside world. That definitely wasn't right. You didn't send blue-collar workers in a shuttle to do a deal this large.
At least you didn't unless you expected them to be expendable.
"Oh, do tell. I have very particular sorts of tastes. It might prove interesting to me." Nico informed him, and the man at the back of the group smiled at her with dead eyes.
"As you order." He spoke robotically, then slit his throat, sending a cloud of silvery mist into the air.
[Emergency Purge] Max ordered, but the mist was already filling the whole bay.
[Now, your ship will be ours. Welcome to the new republic, mind slaves.] A voice from the shuttle announced, then began laughing hysterically.
Max activated the gravity locks on his Mobile Suit's boots and locked himself to the floor while Nico simply stood there with an unimpressed look as the atmosphere was vented, blowing all of the representatives out of the bay, along with the mist. A cleansing laser scoured the bay, burning off Nico's outfit and scorching the paint off Max's suit, but after a few minutes, the lights turned green, and the ship's computer announced that the threat had been neutralized.
[Interesting. It was a biomechanical weapon designed to hijack the nanotechnology of the Kepler citizens and spread through their breath to anyone in their vicinity.
Once they had it active, the user could control the technology and essentially order the people to do anything that they wanted. Those men were nothing more than zombies. Their minds were blanked and replaced by the parasitic weapon.] Nico informed Max over his suit's data screen.
[And it didn't work on you?] Max asked, knowing that she had been exposed.
[Not well enough. My System Repair Function found and neutralized it immediately, then analyzed it and altered my exoskeleton's shielding to block the rest of the cloud.] Nico replied, gesturing to the Archangel unit that she was wearing, with the wings folded out of the way behind her.
[You know, you're going to have to go into quarantine anyhow.] Max sighed, not wanting to lose his right hand for that long. Especially since they would have to block her from computer access, in case her mind really was compromised but could use her System Functions.
[That sounds incredibly boring. Can't we just ask the Illithid to give me a checkup? They're the experts in the mind.] Nico suggested.
[Not a bad thought, but before you do either, we need to discuss our action plan. You're the best acquainted with the guests. What can we do that won't offend them too much? We are trying to get into their alliance's good books, after all.] Max asked.
[I am already on it. I don't know if it's just this one planet or all of the ones with suspicious signals, but I am working on reverse engineering the modifications that they made to the Zombie virus.] Nico informed him.
[Oh, and what are you planning to have them do?] Max asked.
[The only thing that every good Kepler citizen should want to do after they realize that their world has been hijacked by seditious forces. Purge the Heretics.]
Nope, that didn't sound good at all. [Wait, back up a moment. No genocide, even if they're doing it to each other. Bad Nico.]
[Not genocide. They will just purge seven generations of the family of everyone who tries to exert control over others using the modified virus.] Nico explained.
Max considered the implications of that for a while, then sighed.
[How long will it take?]
[Already done and activated. Thank you for your cooperation.] Nico chuckled.
Max waited while the atmosphere came back to the storage bay, then issued a new set of orders.
"Get us out of orbit around this forsaken rock. They are infected, and the whole region is to be flagged as under quarantine until further notice due to a new form of a mind-altering virus." Max announced.
That caught the attention of the Illithid, that had been watching the exchange with great interest, though they were too far away to know exactly what was going on.
[Commander, we have a request to examine both you and Rage before you leave the bay. The Illithid are insistent that they be allowed to ensure that no mind viruses can infiltrate the ship.] The crew informed Max.
[Send them down, full containment protocol. It might seem strange to them to put their environmental suits inside an armor suit, but the Mobile Suits are designed to be scoured clean in case of exposure to hazardous materials or entities.] Max ordered.
"This is going to be a very long day, isn't it?"
Chapter 374 374 Strange Inspection
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It only took a few minutes for the Illithid to arrive at the cargo bay, equipped with sturdy environmental suits over the top of their usual protective mechanical bodies. They didn't pick the ones that Terminus had on board, instead preferring the ones that they had brought with them on their own vessel.
They seemed to be sturdy enough, and their race was so much more advanced than humanity that Max had little doubt that they were fully protected from any potential threat of the virus.
"Thank you for the opportunity to let us examine you. Our species takes the threat of mind-controlling viruses, and bioweapons very seriously. As you are likely aware, we have rather powerful mind-affecting abilities ourselves, so in our distant past, that was a great threat to the very existence of our species, with many others insisting that we could never be safe as a group and that we should be either excluded or eliminated.
It took centuries before we managed to convince the collective that we weren't a menace to civilized society, and now we work mostly in the mental health field, and other medical professions since our analytic skills make diagnostics so much easier.
It seems that your AI-based System might do the same for humanity, at least those of you who awaken a suitable Function, so it is good that we have the chance to make you aware of the potential issues in advance." The Illithid leader announced as he came into the cargo bay.
The other two with him began to laugh, and Max gave them a look of confusion.
"The first thought through your partner's head was eight out of ten, slightly long-winded." The Illithid explained.
"Oh, yes. Sorry, I'm so used to her thoughts that I don't even notice the rampant sarcasm anymore." Max explained.
"Understandable. There are a large number of inside jokes among our species that I wouldn't expect others to understand. Though, since you can read minds, I suppose you will get used to it in time." The Illithid told Max.
"I don't read them all the time, though. I often let the ability rest so that I don't have to deal with intrusive thoughts from others. It can be an issue when surprises happen, but on a daily basis, it is a net positive only to read essential and surface thoughts of others."
The Illithid's thoughts almost felt like a collective to Max. They were all individuals, but they could all read each others' minds, so they delegated topics between them, spreading out their mental powers as if they were a computer delegating tasks to save processor space.
The process was incredible, even when he began to feel the probing of their abilities against his own mind as they searched for traces of the virus or any other potential threats.
"It seems that your System is not a big fan of us. It does a very respectable job of blocking us out, and that's not a feat that the technology of many species can claim. Commander Keres, or Max, if you prefer, you are clean. None of the virus spores penetrated your suit, and the sanitization protocols scrubbed the filtration system clean of all potential threats, according to our medical scanners.
Tarith Rage, or Miss Nico. I'm sorry, the double names thing is strange to us. Illithid can't lie to or deceive each other, so nicknames aren't really a thing in our species. It looks like your body has mostly handled the virus, but we found a mutated version of it still lingering on your surface despite the cleansing, and we need a few minutes for our medical scans to examine you to ensure the safety of your mind."
"I've got all day or all month since exposure to a virus of this nature would normally call for a thirty-day quarantine to ensure that none of it had been missed and allowed to proliferate." Nico agreed.
"That is perfect. Please stand right where you are. We will erect a barrier and attempt to remove all foreign material from your body. We scanned you on our first meeting, so we should have a fairly reliable baseline for what belongs within your body and what does not." The Illithid leader informed her.
"While he does that, I will do a quick mental health examination of your thoughts, ensuring that they haven't been compromised or left vulnerable to control by outside forces. It is a standard procedure for Illithid, and we perfected it over fifty millennia ago. There is nothing to fear." One of the Illithid in the back informed her, and Max began to get nervous about what they might find.
"Rest assured, Commander, we are well aware of her particular oddities. She can't hide them from us any better than she does from you, and we can read thoughts from a much longer distance than you can." The Illithid reassured Max in a way that wasn't reassuring at all.
"You wouldn't happen to know where those events in her previous memories happened, do you?" Max asked, wondering if the Illithid, with their long history, could help him out.
"We don't have any records of similar cultures or technologies. It is possible that they might not have happened yet, due to some form of Temporal Fluctuations, or they might simply be from a much more distant region of the Universe, beyond what we have been in contact with." The Ilithid informed him with a hint of sadness.
They didn't like not knowing the answer to things. They loved knowledge of every sort. There was no such thing as forbidden knowledge to them, only forbidden actions, so finding out that these two people had memories of culture and events that their species was unaware of was disconcerting but exciting at the same time.
A small cloud of material floated up from Nico's body, including what Max suspected was the contents of her lunch, and then was vaporized by the Illithid's technology.
"I can certify that her body is clear of the virus, in all its permutations, as well as the modified version that her own system created to negate the effects." The leader of the group informed Max, accompanied by a mental chittering noise that he assumed was their mental expression of pleasure at a job well done.
"I wish I could say that the mental damage she has suffered between this life and her last has been repaired, but it is stubbornly persistent. What I can assure you is that between her mental fortitude and her System Functions, your second in Command was never in danger of being mentally controlled by such a crude biomechanical weapon.
In fact, I would assume that as it is with our presence, only the members of your species with the weakest system Compatibility were vulnerable, to begin with." The Illithid explained.
"So, the civilian population could be controlled, but the higher-ranking Nobles and Military Officers with higher System Compatibility would be left unaffected by the original virus?" Max asked.
"That is correct. But the modified version that Nico sent to the surface has no such restriction, as it does not control the conscious mind and only implants a Moral Imperative into their subconscious. Only those with a healing or repair function would be immune to that, or possibly those like yourself with mind-related abilities."
The Illithid didn't seem upset at her actions, so Max also decided to let it slide. But he would send out a message to warn the Reavers and any Kepler forces that he could guarantee were Loyal about the situation.
The Reavers would take the quarantine notice that was already sent seriously for at least a while, but if they didn't fully understand, they might just do as he had and institute basic quarantine protocol, which wouldn't save most ships from having their interior contaminated.
Chapter 375 375 All Clear
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"We have a broad spectrum vaccine already analyzed and ready to be produced if you wish to distribute it by airborne insertion to the affected planets." The Illithid suggested sending Max the details of the Vaccine against both the Zombie virus bioweapons and the modified versions.
"That could be incredibly beneficial to the region. We don't know how far the virus was spread. We only have a list of suspicious planets, so being able to innoculate them all would help bring them back under control." Max agreed.
It wouldn't help with the totalitarian powers that had seen fit to enslave their entire population for the overlords' benefit, but it was a good start. The people should recall what was done to them, and with that in mind, they might do as Kepler 808 had and overthrow the government and nobles.
"It is a complex issue, and one for your species to decide, so we won't interfere, but we suggest that spreading the inoculation the same way that the System was deliberately spread through the population of the Empire would be for the best for everyone involved.
We would also recommend adding it to the vaccine schedule for your troops so that they aren't subject to similar attacks. The Alliance has a well-tested regimen with side effect rates under the acceptable rate of one in ten billion, but most of those would be incompatible with your species."
The Illithid had a point, but resistance to change and untested medical procedures might be hard to overcome for the troops, who had grown up on horror stories of mad scientists doing things exactly like what they had encountered today.
The Illithid were still strangers, and only Max could read their thoughts, so the choice to trust them was entirely on him.
"Send it as an aerosol through the ship. I don't want to lose anyone to those sorts of attacks. I will take responsibility in front of my troops if there are side effects. Our route brings us right through the suspicious region, and it would be a long detour to go around, not to mention being suspicious to anyone who might have managed to track us." Max decided, hoping that it was for the best.
"We estimate a side effect of one in a million, thanks to the lack of research time, and we are happy to help with our medical technology if there are issues. The regulations might prohibit providing them to you without supervision, but that doesn't mean we are discouraged to provide medical treatment using Alliance-certified doctors." The Illithid leader explained.
"So, what you're saying is that we could just hire a doctor from the alliance, and they could come with their own medical suite to serve the passengers of Terminus?" Nico asked hopefully.
"I don't see any reason why not, and I have the entire eighteen million pages of Alliance regulations regarding less developed and dangerous species memorized." The Illithid leader agreed.
He wasn't joking, either. He personally memorized the entirety of the regulations as part of his training as an expedition Captain. No other species would be expected to, but the Illithid had incredible memories.
"Excellent. We will look into it after the first payments go through. Exploring a dangerous region of space is a great attraction, but doing it without a proper doctor familiar with their species' treatment is likely to reduce the number of willing passengers we can attract." Max agreed.
That seemed to please the Illithid, who were heavily biased toward the medical professions, and their happiness was evident in their thoughts as they sent one last round of scans over the bay, double-checking that nothing harmful had made it into the ship.
"All clear. There were no breaches of containment. The inside and outside of the vessel have been verified as safe, as well as the two exposed crew members." The Illithid leader noted in his personal log.
"That should make for an interesting addition to your vacation memoirs. How often is it that you get to be the very first to see, analyze and neutralize a new form of virus?" Nico asked.
"Once every seventy-two days, someone in the alliance has that honor. Viral mutations are pernicious and appear from the most unlikely of sources. Even our technology has failed to prevent them from forming entirely, thanks to the necessity of other microbial life in the cycle of life." The Illithid answered seriously.
"Let's get out of this bay and get the crew inoculated against the new viruses. We have warp-capable probes that we can send toward the suspicious planets that we pass, preventatively inoculating them. If they have the virus, they will be thankful. If they don't, they will never have to." Max informed the group, then signaled the security staff that it was safe to let them back out of the bay.
In the legacy medical bays left behind by the original Colonists, it took them under an hour to have the medicine for the crew ready and fifty warp probes prepared to send at the inhabited planets in the region.
Nico had convinced the Illithid that not immediately sending one to the planet they were leaving was the best course of action. Instead, they would wait until evening and send it back at low warp, so it would arrive a week after they had left and give the retrovirus she had sent down time to work.
Assuming that it did work, that was. She had used the Replicators to make globules full of the heat-activated liquid and had the crew launch them inside a probe, much the same as they were doing this time, only a bit more makeshift and without all of the extra knowledge that the Illithid brought with them.
[Thank you for your patience, guests. Terminus is now verified safe and contaminant free. We will pass through the newly quarantined area for a few more days, but we still have one stop left that won't be interrupted. There is an uninhabited planet along our route with simply stunning geological formations and weather patterns but no risk of infection.
We will send the details closer to our arrival time, so look forward to it.] Nico informed the ship.
Max couldn't tell if his own people or the tourists were more excited, but he would definitely have to answer some requests to borrow shuttles to head to the planet's surface by the time they arrived.
Chapter 376 376 Splash Waterfalls
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[If everyone looks up at the screens spread through the ship, you will see our next destination approaching.
The planet has a nearly identical atmospheric composition to that aboard Terminus, with no sentient population but a large mammal population and nearly complete plant life coverage.
It was terraformed in the distant past, but the original colonists were evacuated centuries ago. They found the primitive living conditions that their forebearers had created to be intolerable, so when they managed to regain the technology to contact a passing ship, they requested evacuation.
Since then, the planet has been uninhabited, with few visitors, thanks to its location off the main trade routes and its lack of mineral resources. The planet itself was made almost entirely of basalt, with no other precious resources worth mentioning, making a mining colony or self-sustaining advanced civilization untenable.] Nico's voice informed everyone.
With the announcement out, Max went looking for the Illithid group, as they would have all of the safety data that he would need to determine if it was actually safe enough to let the tourists go down to the planet. He had gathered as much data as possible from the ship's sensors to make the determination, but they had more information than he did about themselves and the Innu, so they would know if he had overlooked something important.
Plus, it was basically a default setting Human terraformed colony. That wasn't something that you get a chance to just come across every day. It would make an excellent addition to their records and a great segment for the video crew that was aboard Terminus if they could get down to the surface to video it properly.
They could rely on the drones to do the work, but that might not get all the footage that they wanted, and it might not be in the quality they were expecting since the technology was so much different between the two species.
[We see your data. It all looks safe, though we recommend that you cordon off the following areas. The woods north of sector C2, the base of the waterfall, where the impact of the falling water may cause injuries and trap swimmers underwater, and the cliffs in x9, where a toxic species of fungal life has been found.
It appears benign to humans, but it is a strong hallucinogen to the Innu.]
The Illithid warning about not letting the Innu have magic mushrooms made Max laugh, which confused the mind readers.
[Are hallucinogenic drugs not a thing in your Alliance? Humans are known to use them recreationally.] Max informed them.
[Interesting. No, I don't think I know of any species that ingest toxins recreationally for the side effects. Even the toxic smoke that many of the infantrymen are fond of is unheard of elsewhere. Humans really are an interesting species, developing their own resistances forcefully as a form of recreation and relying on their Artificial Intelligence augmentations to heal and prevent damage to their bodies.]
When they put it that way, it did sound a bit extreme. Especially since humans did that even knowing that it would lead them to a slow death.
Max posted the guidelines for the excursion, following the Illithid's advice, and added an option for guests to sign up for a shore excursion.
The result was unanimous. Everyone wanted to go, and Max was pretty sure that would include most of his own crew if they were given the choice.
But someone needed to remain on Terminus, and someone needed to guard the tourists, so he couldn't just give everyone the day off. But what he could do was rotate them. Have them operate in shifts since they each had their own Cutter to get around in. Three off to begin with, with one active on the surface and one on Terminus, then two on guard and one returning to Terminus for the evening.
"Is it really fine for us to take shore leave with all that has gone on?" One of the infantry officers asked when Max passed their barracks.
"Of course it is. Transit time has always been personal time unless training duties are assigned by the Regimental Commander. So, as long as he doesn't object, there is no part of the regulations that say that you can't accompany the teams to the surface for the day." Max informed the Corporal.
"Sweet. Cliff diving it is, and we only have to convince the Commander." The man's squad mates cheered.
Max didn't have the heart to tell the man that the cliffs were in the areas designated as off-limits. They could either find out or find a way around the rules when they got there. The infantry was good like that.
They were truly impressive too. Twenty meters high, with crystals lining the bottom pool, they sent shimmering rainbows through the air around them. It would be an incredible experience to dive off of them.
The planet's vicinity was as vacant as expected when they arrived, without even signs of recent warp travel within the solar system. The desolation was perfect for their purposes, and Max double-checked the itineraries while he checked the ship data to ensure that the vacationers would be able to withstand travel in the Cutters. It was a given for humans, but it was worth at least verifying for their very first orbital entry with new species.
[Commander. You're going down with the first shift off duty. Admiral Drake and his staff have declined the opportunity to leave Terminus. They said that they preferred a moment of peace and quiet to an insane group of Pilots who haven't had a day off in too long.] Nico informed him just as they settled into orbit.
[Then I will meet you down there. Don't forget to bring a bathing suit.]
[You had better believe it. I am totally going cliff diving.] Nico replied.
Of course, she wanted to. He might have to just label the cliffs as dangerous and not recommended instead of fully off-limits. Maybe he could station a medical crew by the pond as well. That might be for the best.Chapter 377 377 Ready To Land
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[Will all passengers wishing to visit the surface of the planet please report to the common area on the fourth floor for sorting and transport vessel assignments.] The ship's announcement declared.
Max, Nico, and all of the Battalion Commanders were waiting there for the intrepid passengers to come and get officially prepared to leave Terminus.
Terminus herself would be pretty much empty by the time they finished getting everyone loaded, a strange situation for the Colony Ship, but a little planetside vacation was exactly what everyone needed after all of the chaos that they had endured lately.
There was more than enough room in a single Cutter to load all the passengers as well as the Mecha compliment, but it was better to mitigate the chances of catastrophe by spreading them out between all three that were going to be off duty to start the visit.
The sun was just about to come up over the waterfalls, and that was a moment that Max didn't want to miss, as the light refraction through the falling water and off the crystals looked amazing in the remote scans.
"Welcome everyone to the first official shore excursion. This is as new to us as it is to the rest of you, so bear with us if there are some hiccups along the way.
The three roughly even lines you have formed will be your ship assignments for the landing. Each Cutter will take a slightly different route to the planet's surface, so you all will get a unique experience of the view on the way down.
It occurred to us that since everyone was sharing their photos on social media, it might be more interesting to have some differences between them, where possible. Nobody likes reposts, right?"
Max's speech made the Innu laugh and snap pictures of him in his casually Reaver tunic shirt and leather pants.
The Cutters had been stocked with an assortment of beverages, snacks, spare swimsuits, towels, and miscellaneous items that Logistics thought might be needed on the surface, such as art books and colored pencils.
Max wasn't sure which artist would forget such essentials, but it was better to be prepared for every eventuality.
"If there are no objections, please follow your team leader to your vessel," Max ordered, then started walking toward the hangars to catch up to Dave, Molly, and his siblings, who were already waiting for him there.
Nico was headed the other way, though, back toward the aft of the ship where the First Battalion and the Drones, as well as their own quarters, were.
"Did you forget something?" He called as Nico split from the group.
"Not at all. I prepared my own transport to the surface in case we need to do a rapid evacuation or reorganization. An ambulance, if you will." She replied, waving as she walked away.
That actually wasn't a bad idea. They had prepared medical teams, but the amount they could do on the surface was limited, and getting a Cutter ready for orbit took time. Having an Orbital Insertion Drone as an ambulance could save a life if things went very wrong.
But as far as Max knew, they would have to load the injured person in the bomb bay, not exactly the most comfortable of accommodations, even if they were large enough for the patient and paramedic while the cockpit could hold two persons.
Max read Nico's thoughts as she left, just in case she had done something strange again, but it looked like she had just set up a first response cot in a standard Orbital Insertion Fighter Drone.
That gave Max a good idea for the next trip, though. Slightly bigger drones, with seats and windows, so that they could do low-altitude flying tours of wherever they were visiting. It would also make for a great passenger shuttle for them, instead of their Kepler military-issue cargo shuttles, which were likely to draw some unwanted attention if they had to use them in a populated area.
Max added it to the list he had for projects to be undertaken when they had time, though realistically, it would be mostly Nico and the Engineering team that would most likely make the new vessel.
He really should have made her the boss. His paperwork load was suspiciously high, while she had a lot of free time, and it couldn't all be explained by her doing her tasks as his second in command digitally in the background.
"Uncle Max. Are we really going to go play on a whole new planet?" One of the girls that Max had to identify by her thoughts, as Sasha asked.
"We are. There are no people living there, only the people from the ship who are visiting. Have you explored the Cruise ship and met the new people yet?" Max replied.
"We did, we did. Molly didn't want us to go, she said she was tired, but we got to meet the Innu camera people. They said we could be in their documentary. We could be famous in a whole other world. Isn't that awesome?" Sasha giggled.
"Ask the younger Innu to play on the waterslides with you the next time you have free time from your studies. They love the waterslides." Max told her with a wink while Molly, their former foster worker turned surrogate mother sighed in frustration.
"It's hard enough to keep them concentrating on their work as it is. They don't need more excitement to look forward to." The long-suffering woman told Max.
"Just wear them out first. Ask Dave how he handled me. He was pretty good at finding ways for me to burn off excess energy." Max suggested while Molly cast a look at the two sets of twins, implying that such tactics were not possible with this group.
"Well, they will be tired by the end of the day today. There are camping supplies in the Cutter, so we should load up and get ready for the drop."
Max herded his family toward the Cutter, letting the Battalion handle the mass of tourists while he settled his group into one of the smaller private rooms.
[Attention all Passengers. We will be departing in three minutes. Please take your seats and secure your restraints as described in the instructions on your seat. Thank you for your understanding and please enjoy your flight.]
Chapter 378 378 Abs Of Steel
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The Cutter left Terminus with a smooth push from the gravity beam, only really noticeable because of all the screens showing the scenery outside the ship.
There were only a few transparent portholes, and they had all been taken up with professional camera equipment, so everyone else was watching the screens as the atmosphere of the planet approached, starting from the dark side of the planet and passing across the light side until they reached the dark again, just past the line that marked the sunrise.
If the professional footage turned out half as well as the fixed cameras, they were in for a treat when they edited all three ships' worth of footage.
The first few minutes were lost, of course, due to the flames of the superheated atmosphere burning around their shields, but the Cutters performed flawlessly, and all three were reporting themselves precisely on course and on time when they reached the landing zone nearest to the cliffs and the rainbow pool, as Nico's tourism brochures called it.
[Now that the hull has cooled sufficiently, please begin an orderly departure. If you have finished in the next fifteen minutes, you will be on time to see the sunrise through the mist of the waterfall. Adjutant Rage has set up picnic blankets and reclining chairs already, so you only need to step out and find your preferred spot to watch the sunrise.]
That caught Max by surprise. Nico hadn't been thinking of that when she was around him, but it was also possible that it was set up by Logistics, and she only found out when she arrived in her drone ship loaded with supplies.
The Innu did an excellent job of not pushing and shoving, moving smoothly out of the Cutter in a fashion that any Kepler soldier would be proud of. In fact, Max suspected that their presence was actually encouraging the Soldiers to be better behaved than usual so they didn't embarrass themselves in front of the aliens.
The surface temperature of the planet was nearly thirty degrees already, and the sun hadn't come up, so it was going to be a scorcher of a day away from the cooling mist of the pools, but that shouldn't be a deal breaker with everyone planning to swim and relax anyhow. It would certainly slow down those who might want to go hiking through the woods though.
Max felt a shoulder bump on his ribs just before the sun crested the ridgeline, and the air lit up in a beautiful rainbow. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, a kaleidoscope of colors that took up half the sky.
Hundreds of cameras captured the moment, but what really caught Max's attention was the handful of tourists that weren't holding imaging devices. They were more interested in the Human Soldiers, who had all stripped down to swim trunks and bikinis in preparation to enter the waters once the first round of photos depicting the uninhabited and pristine nature of the place had been taken.
"Do humans not put on a fat layer? It's like someone chiseled their muscles out of marble." One of the Innu girls sighed.
"A little body paint and some proper tentacles to replace that fuzz on his head, and he would be perfect." The student's friend agreed.
"I think we might have to worry about more things than the species not getting along soon," Nico whispered, winking at Max when he gave her an annoyed look.
Her red mechanical eyes glowed in the twilight, matching the bikini she had chosen with a translucent sarong wrapped around her waist. It was a stark contrast to her dark hair, which she had left loose to blow in the breeze, except for two small braids on the sides, one hung in front of either shoulder.
"Well, I hear we've even got multiple species within the crew now. At least by intergalactic standards. So how about we show them some peaceful interspecies relations?" Max joked.
"Right here in front of the waterfall? I never took you for the exhibitionist sort, but I'm game."
Nico's response made Max groan in embarrassment as he realized he had just left himself wide open for the teasing.
"You know what I meant. Now, let's go for a swim. It should help everyone relax if they see us in the water first. Being told it's safe and seeing that it's safe are two different things, after all." Max replied.
"Sounds good. Give them a show, Commander." Nico told him, then took a knee and cupped her hands for him to step into.
It was the same method that infantry and others with lower-ranked systems used to boost their squad mates over obstacles, so Max stepped back, then took two fast steps before stepping into Nico's hand and launching himself into the air with her assistance, flying the thirty meters to the deeper section of the pool with ease and diving in.
He couldn't hear the cheering, but he could sense the approval of his form, so he dived down to check the bottom, making sure that it wasn't too hazardous to be swimming here, even if the water was pure.
The Crystals had almost all been worn into round shapes by the flowing water, so they were more like reflective pebbles, perfectly safe to swim around, while the actual shoreline had built up a sandy beach for the first few meters.
One after another, the others joined him, with the Innu enthusiastically heading into the deeper waters to admire the gemstone base of the pond, where the rapid flow had pushed all of the sediment off of the rocks.
"Dave, will we be able to do that one day? I want to fly through the air like a cartoon hero." Sandy, the younger of Max's twin sisters, asked excitedly.
"It's possible. He is your brother, and he got such a powerful affinity, so you might do pretty well yourself, even if you don't have as much affinity as he does." Dave agreed.
The girls were barely into Gamma Rank, and that might be a generous ranking on behalf of their inspector or, more correctly, a bribe that had been given to him to increase her rank and, thereby, the subsidy her mother was getting.
Even the Illithid had gotten in on the fun, wading through the shallower river sections, not wanting to get into the crowded pool when they could relax in the cool water and watch the rainbow reflections of the sun on the mist as the day warmed up.
"The Commander made an excellent choice. Look, the humans are heading up the cliffs to dive. Get the cameras ready. Nobody will believe that they survived if we don't have a video. They're not even an amphibious species." One of the Innu videographers was directing his crew while the Pilots, who were significantly faster than the infantry who tried to race them to the top of the cliffs, prepared for the first dives of the morning.
The winner of the race was Colonel Lucas, the stout and muscular but surprisingly nimble Colonel of the Third Battalion.
He didn't even slow, simply running to the edge and launching himself into the air, arcing through the sky into a perfectly executed headfirst dive.
The spot they were jumping from overhung the main cliff face, so there was no real danger of hitting the rocks or landing in the shallows, but the dive was very impressive and landed him right in front of the waterfall's most turbulent area, where he could easily swim to shore with minimal effort and maximum visibility for the spectators.
Chapter 379 379 We're Doing This Again, Right?
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The Logistics staff did an excellent job of arranging a lunch buffet for the shore excursion, and the watch shifts changed at that point, giving them three Battalions on Duty instead of two, which left one available to escort tours through the forest, while the area around the waterfall and Terminus were both still adequately guarded.
"You look like you're deep in thought. Care to share?" Nico asked from a blanket on the ground where she was overseeing the crowd.
"I was just thinking about a plan I had earlier for a shuttle made based on the drones. Larger than the drones, with passenger seats and windows so that we could do tours of the wilderness from above. I would love to see what this world looks like from above when you're not entering at above terminal velocity.
I think it would be a great amenity, and it would really impress any Stations that we had dealings with if we showed up in a full custom shuttle." Max explained, laying down next to her and relaxing with his hands behind his head.
"That's an excellent plan. It wouldn't take me long to create one since I already have plans for a larger drone. You know, the one we were going to use for bombardment and resupply runs? It would be large enough for twenty passengers, which is also enough to supply a Battalion for a month on basic rations and minimal munitions." Nico suggested.
"But with huge windows. I want the passengers to be able to really see." Max clarified.
Nico thought for a second, then nodded. "We could use the transparent hull material that Terminus has for windows. It's just as strong as the existing materials, but we could create sturdy windows that extend right down to the floor, so you could lean over and look straight down or all around you. With the privacy coating that we use on bathroom stalls in use, it can be opaque, so the passengers don't freak out during entry or over unsettling scenes."
"That would be an incredible amenity." One of the Illithid announced from about twenty meters away but clearly talking to them.
"We can't all fly, but the views are incredible up there." Nico agreed.
"Oh yes, I forgot that you use a collection of flying devices. Are you not equipping them today?" The Illithid asked, walking over to speak to them from a more comfortable distance.
"I brought one with me in case of issues, but for now, I just left it waiting in my shuttle," Nico explained, which caught the attention of the Innu students.
The documentary team had brought camera drones, so they already had great footage, but everyone else had only seen the view from near the ground or during the entry.
"Can we have them for the next landing? The cool one with the tentacles. Flying with grabby tentacles would make exploring the forest so much more interesting than just walking through them. We have hover boots in the yacht, but none of us thought to bring them since we got all distracted thinking about the waterfall.
I think we're all too tired to go far today, but the next planet we visit, I totally want to fly through the forests with a sample collection suit." The Innu boy informed them.
"We can likely make some basic versions. The ones we have for the crew have welding and material printing attachments, as well as precision clamps and other tools that you wouldn't need for a nature excursion." Max reluctantly agreed.
Keeping track of flying Innu on an unknown planet would be a nightmare, even if they put trackers on them all. Max had seen missing person reports when he was young of people who went missing on Kepler Terminus, and it was fully mapped and well populated.
"There are so many things that we didn't think of in advance. It looks like we're not as fully stocked on amenities as we thought." Nico sighed, then turned her head to look at the river and laughed.
Max looked over but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, only a few of the Illithid sitting around in the shallows, as they had been doing all day to beat the heat. Their protective suits were temperature controlled, but they could feel the heat on their shell.
Listening in to the thought in the area gave away the source of Nico's amusement. A few of the Illithid had abandoned the safety of their suits and were having a water fight in the river, hidden from plain sight by their environmental suits and the distance.
Nico had spotted them using the thermal optics of her augmentic eyes while they were darting through the water using their tentacles to move with incredible agility.
"I thought at first that we had missed a mammalian species in the area. I didn't expect them to let loose and really start having fun." Nico explained to the Illithid standing next to them.
"They are younger than most of us. It is good for them to get it out of their system before they drive us all insane with their boredom." The Illithid chuckled.
[Will everyone wishing to go on the last wilderness tour of the day please meet at the top of the ridgeline where the friendly face of Colonel Ricci is waving at you in her Mobile Suit.] A Mecha's speaker declared, bringing a number of tourists running to get in on the action.
They only had a few more hours before it started getting dark, at which point they would do a twilight meal, watching the sunset hit the waterfall from the opposite side, and then they would all return to Terminus before dark.
They could remain here another day or two, but everyone was exhausted, and they had plenty of ideas for improvements, so they would move along for now and look for another stop when they could.
They also couldn't put off the meeting at the Cygnus border for much longer. A few stops would be expected, but they were on a timeline, and Max didn't want to be late for something that important if it was the sort of seditious alliance that he thought it was.Chapter 380 380 Drug Dealers?
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Once the tourists were all loaded back on Terminus, given a basic medical scan for infections and injuries, and settled back into their rooms, Admiral Drake made ready to take the ship back to Warp and get them headed back toward the border.
Before he could even power up the engines, they got a rather unusual message from a nearby independent trader, sent on the Reaver's open frequency for any Company in the area. By the Decree of Sector Command, a wide variety of drugs and medicines had been banned, leaving the Merchant with nowhere to unload his cargo.
Given the state of the Sector and the run-in that they had with the last group that wanted a trade, Max was reluctant to answer the call for a deal, but after searching the ship's travel logs and finding that they had just arrived in the sector from the far side of the Kepler Empire where the requested medicines were produced, he decided to have some mercy on the group.
Rae 5 could use most of these items when they got back, and they couldn't be easily reproduced with Kepler technology, which was why the merchant had gone to such lengths to buy and deliver them.
[This is the Terminus Trading Company. We will come to your pinned location to make a trade. Please hold position, and be aware that the entire region is considered under quarantine by the Reavers, so interaction with the locals would include you in our quarantine measures.] Max informed them.
[Copy that Terminus Trading Company. There is something off with this sector, and we will be leaving with whatever you have to trade. Someone somewhere will want it.]
That was the sort of attitude a good merchant should have, so Max ordered the Admiral to meet with the Merchants. He also had the Engineering team prepare a long-range scan for the new viruses, which weren't caught by their standard scans until it was far too late. They had a lot of random items on board, but the easiest to move would be to trade the Merchants some newly produced standard pattern Line Mecha for their medicine.
Everyone knew at this point that the Reavers had quite a few of them to trade so that it wouldn't draw too much attention, and they had an ample supply of the materials that were needed to make them.
Max thought about trading off the luxury furniture that they had acquired, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought he should use it to upgrade the officer's quarters for the infantry and more military barracks aboard the ship instead.
They would take the trade loss for the items and call it an upgrade for the company. They were making enough by leveraging their advanced manufacturing abilities.
The Merchant ship turned out to be an oddity just as rare as Terminus. It was one of the Warp Sail vessels made by the Vampires in the far north of the Galaxy. Instead of using a full energy shield, they used physical sails to help shape their warp fields, making them more efficient than most but limited in top speed.
It was an antiquated design, just like Terminus, but still popular with Merchants in the North, though rarely brought this far south into the more dangerous regions, where speed and firepower mattered more to most merchants.
[Terminus Trading Company? That is a rather impressive vessel you have there. We weren't expecting such a grand Generational Home Ship to be in the hands of an unknown name.] The merchants greeted them.
[Though the name is new, we have many familiar names in the Company. If you would like to send a shuttle with four-meter ceiling heights, we can make the deal in our Port side Bay 24. We have a gravity arrival and hull regulation system in place, so please cut engines before reaching the barrier.] Max replied.
It was only a few minutes before the traders sent their shuttle, matched to their ship in the same antique vintage and with the Vampire gothic fashion sense.
It was large enough to take a handful of Light Mecha, and the Merchants could sell them anywhere that they wanted within the Empire, in essence giving them a free pass to pick up whatever load they wanted next.
They arrived at the dock with a smooth stop and were pulled into where Max and Nico were waiting in the nearly empty bay, with only the Mecha they intended to trade visible, and all of the security staff moved outside of the bay entirely.
This time even Nico had the barrier on the Archangel suit up, as it was already programmed to prevent intrusion by the mind-altering biomechanical virus.
"You lot really have all the good toys. That temperature regulation feels like it's Alliance technology." The black-clad and bone-white-skinned Vampire that led the trading group greeted them.
"That's because it is. They helped us repair a number of the amenities aboard Terminus when we met with them.
The vampire's eyes lit up a brighter red than even Nico's did when he heard that news and excitement were visible both in his mannerisms and his thoughts.
"They actually interacted with you? And it went well enough that they agreed to grant you assistance repairing an antique colony ship? Now that's a credential nobody would believe without seeing it themselves. But we have, and I am impressed." The Vampire told Nico with a smile.
"Funny what happens when you don't shoot at strangers, isn't it?" Nico replied, making the whole Vampire group laugh.
"We have a request, if possible. We are returning home after this trip, as we have secured the goods that we came for, so if possible, we would like to trade for Credits. That way, we could use them for provisions at face value without needing to arrange a trade." The merchant group's lead Vampire requested.
"We have Reaver, or General Credits, as well as Kepler Credits available. Which would you prefer?" Nico asked.
"If you have fifty million Kepler Credits, we will take those and then restock once we are out of this sector. The Reavers don't quarantine an entire Sector without a good reason, and we don't want to find out firsthand what it is. We don't deal much in southern politics, and we have been away from home too long to be delayed by an infectious disease." He requested, sweeping his white hair out of his eyes with an annoyed huff.
"We can do that. We also have a barber on board if you need it?" Nico joked.
"I appreciate the offer, but I am trying to grow it back out, and it's just at an annoying stage." The man explained with a sad smile, blowing the hair out of his face again.
Max scanned the medicine, and it was all legitimate and accurate in quantity, as he would expect of the notoriously hidebound Vampires. They lived an exceptionally long time, at least by this Galaxy's standards, and disliked all forms of dishonesty. They weren't above some old-fashioned butchery when it was needed, but they would never lie about it to launch a sneak attack. It was beneath their dignity. If Max had known it was actual Vampires aboard the trade ship, he would have been much less reluctant to make the trade.
The Credits were transferred, and the medicine was brought into the bay when one of the traders got a panicked look and turned to the bow of the ship, then whispered something to his companions.
"Well, as much as I usually love to stay and chat, I think we should leave immediately. We aren't on the best of terms with the Illithid you see, and the one you have on board has noticed our presence." The leader explained.
"They are guests. I am assured that they won't harm anyone." Max told him.
"Not physically. But we also share some mind-altering abilities, and their collective will hold grudges for a very long time." The merchant explained, looking more nervous by the second.
"Then I won't force you to stay any longer. It has been a pleasure dealing with you, and if you happen across us again, I would be happy to do the trade aboard your vessel if it makes you more comfortable." Nico replied politely.
The Vampires bowed politely and boarded their shuttle, gently moving out of the bay before taking off at maximum speed and returning to their own vessel, leaving the area the moment the bay doors closed.
They weren't kidding about having issues with the Illithid, it seemed. Max added it to his list of notes on the computer for future interactions.