Turns out, taking over a League of Votann with a surprise corporate-type merger was viewed quite suspicious by the other Leagues.
Understandbly so, perhaps.
Which is why the Balor League, even if desperate for a new Votann core, didn't agree to a state visit by the new Master of Orion, and instead sent an inspection team, masked as a diplomatic delegation, to confirm the reality of the new Orion Votann, and possibly other rumors.
A delegation from the Tethys League arrived at the Orion-Lancefire Hold to extract their blackstone tax for the network access fee, and likely spy on the newcomers.
And as it happens, my name was not quite as obscure as I hoped. I did kinda roam the galaxy and bash heads around for two centuries, and that left a mark in the data-sphere as well. And since the Tethys network admins worked with Manifold tools from the Federation days, they could also scoop data from nearby Forge Worlds and Mechanicus ships.
"Rogue Trader Lancefire...you're not the giant we expected to find." the Thetys Champion observed with an amused voice, while eyeing the Spartan clone with interest and awe.
"Spartan is more in the giant category, that's true." I allowed in a noble manner.
"You are called Spartan, giant?" the Champion asked with a rather belicose voice. Perhaps itching for a duel?
"I am called Spartan Lancefire, that's correct. One of the first cloneskein experiments, and I came out a bit taller than the regular cloneskeins in our army." the giant hulk spoke with a soft voice.
"Most of the Leagues doubt that you are even a real League of our Kindred, Master of Orion. But looking at your equipment, I can see many Weavefield shields, Ion weapons and even Exo-suits.
Not so much about melee weapons. Do you avoid manly battles, and only shoot from afar?" the Champion asked me, in a curious voice.
That was true enough. We didn't use plasma blades and gravity hammers like most dwarves.
"The Imperium's most favored weapon is the chainsword. The regular Armed Sentinels of the Lancefire Auxilia thus use chainswords for melee. The rest of our troops use energy blades." Valerian answered for me, and powered up his C'tan Phase Sword, much to the shock of the Thetys Champion.
"...Phase Blades? All of your troops?" he asked astonished.
"Only those who are lucky enough to have Warp protection. The Blank Astartes and the Blank Auxilia, as well as the Silent Sisters. Even Warp-resistant cloneskeins are not completely immune to Chaos and other Warp predators. It would be unwise to allow such powerful weapons to be used be corrupted Kin. Probably on the rest of us first." I said with a sad voice.
"...Blank Astartes. We have fought many Astartes in the past, Trader Lancefire. Some of them fighting for the Emperor, other for themselves and many more fighting for the Dark Powers. None of them were Blank. There must be 40000 such Blank Astartes in your army?" the Champion asked in a wary voice.
"Well, probably more. We were fighting deep inside the Maelstrom when a freak accident threw us into the core. Managed to kill a Greater Daemon before we left though, so it kinda worked out." I added with a careless voice.
"It seems we were wrong about you, Master of Orion. You are not the impostor some say you were. But the real Lancefire, the one called the Emissary of Omnissiah by the Forges, and many worse names by most of the galaxy. You have fought the Dark Powers, and killed one." The Champion observed with a deep bow.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
What could I say? I did far worse things than killing a bulked-up bad dream. Erotic nightmare? Anyways.
I was almost tempted to ask what 'worse names' they have spied about me, but then I got a bit wiser and shut up. There must be trillions of widows cursing me all over the galaxy. Orphans too, probably.
"My intent has always been to safeguard humanity is this bloody galaxy. The Leagues are mostly human, so we have no problem. The Ironkin and the Votann are sort of a problem inside the Imperium, but luckily we are not there right now." I stated in a sterner voice.
"I understand, Trader Lancefire. We have met many Rogue Traders in the past. Some of them had an open mind, and traded with us fairly. The others were criminals or fanatics, and we harvested their ships for a great wealth of minerals and tech." the Tethys Champion admitted with a calm voice.
We both nodded at each other, when a shuttle with Balor runes began to descend near the fortified meeting hall.
"I will offer the Balor-Attal a new Votann core. Already did via the network, but they were kinda suspicious." I explained while pointing towards the Balor shuttle.
"We have confirmed you can re-arrange matter into a new data-core, Trader Lancefire. The problem is the stability of the new Votann. Even Ancient Tethys himself would be willing to trade for extra storage and contemplation speed. Our network is very old." the dwarf said in a slightly pleading voice.
"Hmmm. I think three or more Votann cores would raise the rank of your minor League to a real major one, right? Not to mention all the other advantages of extra power. And if you were also able to obtain a few more ancient STC files, things would go even better for your League. The Forge Worlds in the Imperium are quite similar to your Leagues." I mused out loud, as the Balor delegation was escorted inside by a honor guard of Astartes and Orion Kindred.
"We have seen the new Votann, Master of Orion. Newly born but wise beyond our Kin even so." The Balor Grimnyr shouted from afar. Was this some kind of Kindred test?
I pointed a finger at the dwarf, and moved him beside the Tethyis Champion with a tesseract trick. "Don't make me shout, Grimnyr. Last time I did, a Dark God fell down and died at my feet. Let's be civilized, please?" I asked in a very soft voice.
Spartan snorted beside me, as if I was joking or something. Right, I might be overstating things a little, for dramatic effect.
The Grimnyr glanced back, at his distant delegation, then gulped as he turned his eyes towards me.
"Very politely, please listen, Master of Orion. We might be a minor League, and our Votann might be sick, but we will not become second rank citizens in our own League." The Grimnyr spoke in a dignified voice.
I took out the stock papers I got from the Administratum, and riffled through them to find the right corporation. Only the Attal shares were mentioned though, but it should suffice for now. I just passed the papers towards the Tethys Champion, via my magic, simply dropping them in his lap.
A tense minute followed, as the Champion scanned the original papers with a few advanced admin tools at his belt. "I have seen your proof, Trader Lancefire. The Attal shares are your property, and recognized by the network as original. Even without creating a new Votann core for their League, you may obtain the name of Balor-Lancefire by Ancient law."
The Balor Grimnyr read the papers with a trembling hand, then tried to returned them to the other Champion when I snatched them back. "I don't have time to play power games with your League, Grimnyr. I simply need half the minerals the League produces, and access to anything of importance. In exchange, the Balor-Lancefire League will obtain legal and temporal protection as a Lancefire domain outside the Imperium, plus other benefits like advanced STCs and Blank troops which can ignore the Warp."
"I need to consider this, and speak with the others..." the man tried to delay with a shaky voice.
"Of course. You can discuss it all you want, as our fleet travels towards the Balor-Lancefire Hold." I declared in a merciful tone. Then I turned towards the Tethys Champion. "I will visit your Votann next, Champion Jormugar. Try to make sure I'll be pleasantly surprised, right?" I asked in a polite tone.
"By the time you arrive, there should be quite a few new titles added to your name, Trader Lancefire. We will gather the minerals for three new cores as agreed." the man spoke in a respectful voice, then tapped his armbrace and teleported to his ship.
Hmmm. It seemed the Tethys League was quite more advanced than their minor league status suggested.