Eyeball was vaguely amused that when it came to transporting large quantities of goods, some things were the same everywhere. The massive rectangular crates were like larger versions of the shipping containers used on earth for trains and cargo ships; simple grey metal boxes with standardized connections to provide them power that easily matched up to the Jotun-based power supplies.

He knew that the containers on earth were, amusingly, ultimately related to the size of a horse; two horses wide pulling a cart became the size for a train railing, became the size for a train, became a size for the cargo containers. Would these alien crates have a similar origin, millions of years ago? Some alien horse-analogue that pulled carts had a rear end exactly that wide, or half that wide?

As he studied the crates being hooked up and secured to the deck, and watched the last shore party boarding, the various crew mostly rolling carts loaded down with exotic alien goods, a pair of marines was stopping each of the crew as they entered and running scanners over their purchases. One of the marines noticed him watching; and waved a hand. He heard the transmission a moment later.

~Sir. Captain wants to talk to you.~

Eyeball nodded, and tapped his helmet. "Call Moreau." After a moment, he could see... the bridge, and the captain sitting in his chair looking at a display; then glancing up. ~Ahh, Eyeball. Our engineering team is sorting through all the data, but I wanted a word before we broke airlock. I've had my marines scanning and locking down anything organic that comes in. Most of it is being held until we can make sure its safe, but... well. Those crates you bought of terraforming gear? All read organic.~

Eyeball turned to the containers, frowning. Right now, the cargo bay was sealed, air-tight. Everything leaving was being decontaminated before going on the ship proper. Whatever it was should be safe enough; and from the catalogue he'd seen, it was likely cocktails of artificial plants, bacteria, and the like, intended to turn a hellscape into a viable, living, world. They'd warned him that they would be added biologicals needed for the process to the crates, so this wasn't exactly unexpected.

~It cause any issues if we lose all the air in the cargo bay? We can review the contents at leisure once we're on the way to our destination, but the bio-signatures aren't unexpected.~

Captain Moreau put his fingers against his forehead, closing his eyes. ~We're not talking bacteria. RC tells me there's 'people'... crab people at least.. inside at least one of them.~

Eyeball sighed. "Gentlemen. Guns up. We're opening the terraforming crates. Call for backup, just in case."

He approached the closest of the crates, examining the door. Before he opened it, he could see... a group of immobile rusties, huddled together inside a tank of some sort of liquid. A boarding party? He couldn't see any weapons. He frowned; more marines entered the cargo bay; with Ripper stepping in after, appearing interested.

"Alright, gentlemen. I'm the pre-cog, so I'll be popping the lid and pulling them out. If I leap onto the roof, hose the inside down with plasma fire and we'll dump all three back onto the station."

The blue-armored marines settled into position behind a few deck plates; ones that had been built into the ship just in case a boarding action occurred, though they were on the wrong side, compared to the plans. Gauss rifles and plasma rifles were leveled on the container; as Eyeball tapped the button. The container opened with a hiss, chill air expanding away from it.

He leveled the tenner forward on the tub of green jello-like substance the creatures were laying in; and one of the orange-shelled creatures slowly emerged, claws raised into the air. "Terraforming specialist Irraku at your service, master! Is it already time to get to work?" The other creatures behind it were starting to stir, as Eyeball looked at them... then at the other containers. "Ahh. Well, fuck."

***

"So. We don't really need to worry about them; apparently, these guys are 'property' of the Terraforming corporation. Excess inventory that they are disposing of as work winds down; alongside the equipment. They'll be breeding and training more, and manufacturing new gear, in about twenty years... after the Emperor has eaten the world that's just about done now. Normally, they just... recycle them. When I offered to send them home, they begged to stay. Insisted they'd do anything. So."

The debriefing room was immediately attached to the bridge; serving as the primary meeting point for the head officers while they were underway, Moreau, Eyeball, RC, and Kezia were already present, with all of them but Eyeball seated as the chrome-helmed man paced back and forth at the end of the room beside the display.

Eyeball turned to Moreau. "RC is working on a lie detector for them. There are about ninety of them, mostly juveniles, and if they pass interrogation, we can add them to the crew. If they fail, if they're saboteurs, we space them. Work for you?"

The captain frowned, looking at the video of the tub filled with the small sleeping creatures. "This... recycle?"

"Kill and use to feed the next generation. They apparently have target population levels for when they need to terraform in earnest, and for maintenance. And when one phase ends, and they need a tenth as many people.... they start with excess." Eyeball looked at the display.

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"...I'm hesitant to say it, but... these guys could be useful. Especially on Mars, or Luna, which would be more comfortable for them gravity-wise; Europa and Venus wouldn't really be viable for them. If we offered to buy a few shiploads of them and send them to earth, they could make enormous steps in making Mars and Luna livable. The only problem is avoiding a perpetual slave race situation... and that their own biology is incompatible with terran, to the point that feeding them at scale would be.... bad. Ideas, RC?"

The woman looked at the image as well. Her primary objective was the survival of humanity. These creatures were potentially useful, but also a possible threat, especially once removed from the brutal oppression of the Empire. "These creatures evolved in below two-thirds earth gravity, and while intelligent, are short-lived, and docile... after thousands of years of selective breeding to get them that way. If we implant control chips and maintain similar standards as the Imperials, they could form effective terraforming agents, as well as labor for orbital mining and manufacturing, without posing a threat to human life. Producing nutrient bars in sufficient quantity would be trivial."

Captain Moreau nodded slowly. The head engineer was a monster and ridiculously callous, despite all appearances. The fact she would even consider such a thing made her less trustworthy. "I... don't think that would be the best option."

She turned to Moreau. "Morally, it's a good one. These creatures would be food, here on Avris. In Sol, they could live long, productive lives; and be carefully contained to keep them both useful, and a non-threat to humanity. Once they have lived out their usefulness, their reproduction can be curbed, and those that remained could live out a comfortable retirement."

Eyeball sighed, leaning back against the display. "Okay, I get it. Protect humanity, priority one. But. There are hundreds of species out there. Ones much bigger and angrier than these 'Rusties'. Ones as bad as the Jotun, or worse. And if we start viewing all of these other races as tools to be used, as victims, as slaves, eventually we're going to end up starting wars we can't really win. The Empire is only around because nobody can take the Emperor. Once he's gone, their slaving, mass-murdering, eating-the-weak ways will collapse. If we can get a relatively weak, helpful, innocuous species... that can't live on earth so they can't really be viewed as a threat... and set them up in colonies on Luna and Mars... you could almost call it training wheels to help a bunch of xenophobic monkeys adapt to having non-human neighbors once the 'Forbidden Zone' isn't protected by Imperial declaration."

RC studied Eyeball. "So you're saying that, in the long run, developing cooperation with other species will be better for humanity?"

"I'm not saying we need to try to found the federation. That's a bunch of nonsense. But we can't try to found our own Empire. We're not the only species with Titans out here; Cronos was unique in terms of how dangerous he was. And technically, he wasn't even human; he was... Cro-magnon?"

Kezia chuckled. "Homo Erectus. He and Titan are from a slightly larger, slightly less intelligent, breed of near-human. And Titan is the only survivor of that species. There's a theory that he actually deliberately wiped out or selectively altered his own species to bring about a more docile, less physically capable, Homo Sapien race to serve him."

Moreau laughed. "So. We are the Rusties to Cronos's Emperor? It honestly makes me more inclined to take them in."

RC tapped a few keys on the table's edge. The display shifted, showing the Solar system. "Without significant genetic engineering of human colonists, settlements on Mars and Luna will require either massive additions of raw material to increase size, or artificial gravity on an unimaginable scale. If these Rusties can legitimately bring Europa and Venus up to human-survivable conditions, however, those worlds could prove viable long-term settlement options. In addition, several of these worlds here in the Avris system could prove viable human habitats... but are not good candidates for Rusty settlements. They are actively building worlds they cannot thrive on."

Eyeball smiled. "I would recommend asking them to hold off on the culling. Pay them with a few neutronium crumbs to stop recycling, for now. And when our mission is over, and the Emperor is no longer going to be coming here to eat? We can talk to them about work. Hiring them by the thousands. Trading Mars and Luna for worlds humans can comfortably walk and live on, here. Make a good start at becoming a true interstellar society."

Moreau shrugged. "It's a nice idea. But impractical or not, Japan is already trying to colonize Mars. I suspect they're planning on just letting people adapt... and be trapped, never able to go to earth, or any other 1G world again. Still. Good ideas. I think he's right... these people could be useful."

Kezia smiled and leaned forward eagerly, face lighting up. "Maybe not just them. If we find other species being exploited by the Empire..."

Eyeball stopped. "First things first. We need to take him out. Do we have our list of targets?"

***

For the Emperor, space was his ocean. He could float between the stars as if they were the rocks in the depths of the ocean at home; a casual gesture would send him swimming through a star, leaving solar flares in his wake as he basked in its warmth. A few waving tentacles and the flare would settle back down; leaving the locals in awe of the vast power displayed by their ruler. He observed local signals, picking through details.

Ahh. Stellar drift. He was slightly off course. He hadn't been here for many tens of thousands of years, and even the stars would shift in time. He didn't like being this close to... Cronos. Even if he survived the creature's wrath, he might throw a tantrum and wipe out everything in sight... and he still needed to keep eating a while longer before he could reach his target mass and start consuming the whole galaxy at once.

He selected the closest of the Jotun worlds; a simple colony world. Mostly water; vibrant with life, cities filled with billions of people, protected by a ring of defensive stations; and a fairly sparse fleet, only a few dozen. Undoubtedly, the lion's share had been sent on Jotun's foolish attempt to kill Cronos.

He fully expected to see a single black hole coasting its way out of the system in a few years, causing catastrophic damage as it passed through the cosmos, containing what little remained of Jotun and his fleet.

Any species capable of crafting such arrogance and putting so many others at risk needed to be eradicated, for the good of the galaxy.

He focused on the swarming life-forms of the Jotun and the various forms of ocean life they used to support their society. The time to feed in earnest had begun.