CHAPTER 2 – AGGRESSIVE NEGOTIATIONS

All five were staring at him. “Sorry, sorry,” Reeve said while he grabbed another chair and put it at the head of the table. “Please, continue.”

The Veehni blinked and without preamble or questions at Reeve pointed back at Evron, “Just because you sold out and abandoned your people doesn’t mean you can dictate terms. You are a traitor. You will be treated as a traitor.”

The blue-skinned being turned to Aelvin, who looked a little more than nervous. “You will turn him over now, or there will be “

The room grew heavy while the lights in the ceiling flickered. Gravity itself seemed to take a deep breath as the two men were forced down into their seats. Their eyes went wild as the pressure continued to increase.

“Father, stop, please. They are diplomats after all,” Novu said, directing the statement to the now infuriated Reeve.

The two dark blue diplomats took a shuffle step back from the table as they examined the newcomers to the room with greater scrutiny. Even Evron took a hesitant step back from the table, his anger dwarfed by Reeve’s. Aelvin looked even more nervous while Varcos looked on in grey dispassion.

“You do realize,” Reeve said into the now-dead quiet room while letting the pressure from his Mana drop, “you have come into my home and threatened my people, correct?”

One of the diplomats made to speak but Reeve cut him off by calmly continuing, “You demanded the release of not just one of my people, but one of the Silver Legions founding members. An active Admiral in my mercenary corps and a very good friend of mine. Tell me, what you would do if I appeared with a fleet above what remains of your worlds and demanded their surrender?”

“You dare to threaten the Veehni? Are you mad? We would crush you like-“ once again the diplomat was cut off, this time by Novu.

“Father our intelligence indicates the Veehni have, at most, two battle fleets remaining. While they are striving to rearm the Legion has not only four times the number of hulls and vessels our technology is far superior,” he summarized. Then he looked up at the diplomat, meeting his eyes. “You would fail, and badly at that.”

The hostile diplomat swallowed as the other pulled him backward and stepped forward.

“Perhaps we have started this negotiation poorly. I apologize for any … slights we have made. We seek only peace for now,” he explained. “My comrade here will ensure that he remains quiet during our continued talks.”

The hostile Veehni sat down, shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth, and crossed his arms. Reeve thought it seemed like he may be pouting.

“Very good. Now, I believe introductions are in order?” spoke the mild-mannered Veehni Diplomat. “I am Gotru, my compatriot and comrade here are Alra. We knew these three, but who might you be?”

Reeve grinned, “Oh no one important really. I’m Reeve and that’s Novu.”

“Ah right Reeve and Novu –“ Gotru began but cut short with a snap of his jaw. Alra went in the opposite direction as his mouth fell open.

“Oh,” Was the only response.

“Yeah. Oh is right,” snarked Reeve. “So what do you two assholes want. I’m not very inclined to add you to our client's list at this point.”

The two diplomats looked at each other nervously and Alra responded, “Evron’s presence was a … trigger. I deeply and sincerely apologize for that.”

“Apology accepted. Move on,” Reeve said gesturing.

“Ah. Right. We are looking to hire a dozen void-based security stations, defensive platforms I believe Administrator Varcos called them. Along with military assets to supplement them with mobile patrols,” explained Gotru. “We are having problems with Orkin raids and it is eating into what little trade revenue we generate.”

“Novu?” Reeve asked.

“We can provide nine platforms and six destroyers per platform. One command cruiser as well. This will be the limit of our commitment to this contract. Based on your nation's income any more mercenary assets will bankrupt you,” he explained.

Gotru and Alra’s eyes bulged. “Just how much are you charging?”

“Those assets would run at 40,000 Nex per destroyer per month, 120,000 Nex for the Command Cruisers per month, and 160,000 Nex per defensive installation per month,” Novu summarized immediately. “This would total three million seven hundred and twenty thousand Nex per month. Your national surplus is a bit over nine million per month.”

“That’s more than a third of our surplus!” barked Alra.

“Perhaps, but the Orkin would have no viable raiding targets,” Aelvin jumped in. “And your transports would have escorts to and from their destinations reducing your overall loss in hulls.”

“That is an excellent point,” admitted Gotru. “I will bring the offer to High Command and get you a decision in the next few days.”

Both of them stood summarily, bowed, and exited the meeting room.

“Well, that was fun. Always love a good intimidation,” Reeve said happily.

“They are going to report that, Your Grace,” rumbled Varcos. “This may complicate relations.”

Reeve shook his head, “They aren’t a primary trading partner. We don’t need them. Would having a hostile group on our borders suck? A little, yeah. Outside of that, the point is moot. We outpower them. Those Orkin on the other hand … “ he trailed off.

“Their raiding tactics are getting too sophisticated. Their weapons have signs of Aether, the most recent axe Kane brought back confirmed this. I think they're making their move Reeve,” said Evron. “If they are building up to a large-scale offensive I am not sure we can hold them back. We certainly can't protect all of our outposts and bases with the strength we have available.”

Reeve nodded while he thought through his response. Needing to be reminded of what their fleet strength looked like he pulled up that particular information screen:

MILITARY OVERVIEW

VOID ASSETS

PERSONNEL ASSETS

CORVETTES: 90

DESTROYERS: 720

TRANSPORT: 311

YACHT: 1

HIVE SHIPS: 812

CRUISERS: 48

MANUFACTORY: 17

FACTORY SHIP: 312

BATTLESHIPS: 5

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DREADNAUGHT: 0

SCIENCE SHIP: 45

SURVEY SHIP: 118

SCOUT: 70

OBSERVERS: 1,446

CARGO SHIP: 1,918

FAST COURIER: 88

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

GROUND ASSETS

AIR ASSETS

INFANTRY: 14,700

WARRIORS: 113,908

ATMO FIGHTERS: 740

ATMO BOMBERS: 211

VEHICLES: 6,557

PRAETORS: 4,312

TRANSPORTS: 88

SCOUT FLIERS: 309

MARA: 112

GUARDIANS: 26,911

STEALTH CRAFT: 22

“Hmm,” Reeve pondered. “I think we may need some reorganization. Particularly in the heavier ships category. Thirsk and Novu are working on fixing our ground asset issue. But we lack in void hulls. I want fleets guys.”

“We don’t have the manpower for fleets Reeve,” Evron protested. “We are stretched thin as it is. Nearly fifteen percent of our population is in one mercenary group or another! That’s almost untenable. Most polities have one, maybe two percent at the most.”

“He’s right Your Grace, much as I loathe to admit it,” grouched Varcos. “I think we may need to speak with Lexi. There may be a solution there. Particularly if she can produce enough soldiers. I know she is producing as many workers as possible right now … but we may need to shift the focus on that or risk a serious issue with staffing.”

“Father … I hesitate to recommend this but, maybe it's time you speak with her about the autonomous drones?” Novu recommended cautiously.

This had been a serious point of contention with Reeve. Even Lexi wasn’t fond of the idea. The Council had been telling him for some time now that moving away from mass drones, who were capable of only basic or repetitive tasks, to focus on the autonomous self away beings would be best. However, Reeve was terrified their breeding would run rampant, resulting in a lack of food and goods.

His worry came from the fact that one of Lexi’s queens could produce one hundred and six drones or twenty-eight warriors a day. They each took a few hours to become solvent and add to the workforce. However, they ate. A lot.

The autonomous drones, however … a single queen could produce nearly four hundred eggs a day. Granted they took a week to grow and hatch, but they would be smart, self-aware, and have access to Mana. That terrified him as they could rapidly out populate everyone else in the Legion.

“I will talk to her today. If that’s the only way, and I don’t think it is, we will discuss it then,” he said seriously.

Varcos rumbled a sigh, his pebbles dancing around. “Very well then Your Grace. That is all I can ask.”

“In the meantime, we need to switch to a war footing. We haven’t seen, smelled, or tasted the hide nor hair of those so-called divine assholes,” Reeve said. “The fact that their showing up now means that we probably have a complete and total shit storm heading our way.”

“They do seem to move slowly Father; I wonder if it is a cultural trait?” Novu wondered.

Aelvin nodded, “As someone who comes from a long-lived species,” he began, “I can tell you that generally, the longer one lives the slower they are to react to events. If these ‘gods’ as you call them truly are as old as you say … a few years may seem like a few minutes to us.”

Reeve nodded in thought, “Yeah I was thinking along those lines too. However, if they bring in other races or even opposing mercenaries to attack us? Of the mortal races?”

“The attack could come much sooner,” finished Evron with a sigh. “Aelvin, how much of our current trade output can we re-direct to military manufacturing?”

“About 30% before we starting suffering a deficit,” the Aelphin said.

Evron grunted, “That’s not a lot but it's more than we had. What kind of ships did you have in mind Reeve?”

“Well I’m not an admiral,” he began as the others grinned, “but it seems if we focused on the basic ten to one it would work out fine right?”

“Ten to one?” Varcos asked questioningly, the others signaling their confusion as well.

“Well, you normally have ten infantry to an archer, ten archers to a cavalryman, ten cavalrymen to one siege weapon. Why don’t we do ten destroyers to a cruiser, ten cruisers to a battleship, and ten battleships to a dreadnaught? Four fleets total to start with?”

Everyone except Novu stared at him.

“That’s … a lot of ships Reeve,” Evron began after a moment of silence, “That’s … a thousand ships a fleet. With ten dreadnaughts. That is more firepower than a core fleet has.”

“Better overwhelming firepower than overwhelming dead,” Reeve countered.

“That doesn’t include scouts, auxiliary ships, factory ships, transports, observers … that’s more than twelve hundred ships Your Grace,” Varcos added.

“We have enough materials on hand to build … maybe three dreadnaughts. And you want forty. That’s just not going to happen. Not soon anyway,” Evron said exasperated, and finally sitting in one of the seats the diplomats had vacated.

“Even with nano-manufacturing we just don’t have the rare materials for it. And if we equip that many ships with Mana and fusion generators … well that’s a lot of maintenance,” he continued. “I don’t see how it's feasible!”

Reeve grinned. Apparently, Novu hadn’t shared the new development that came out of the research on nanites a week ago.

“Novu, share with the group the research on nanite filtration,” Reeve said, still smiling.

That wiped the frustration right off Aelvin’s face as he leaned forward.

Novu spoke as Evron looked at Varcos, “We have finally managed to create a nanite that has an energy output capable of separating materials by type, weight, and structure.”

Evron blinked, “And what does that mean? Sorry, but I’m not a miner.”

Aelvin on the other hand was giddy. Standing up so quickly he knocked his chair over he said, “It means we can dump nanites everywhere and have them separate the raw materials for us! No more long-term mining with drones or third parties!” he explained.

“I still don’t get it. Don’t we do that now?” Evron wondered.

“Yes we do,” Varcos rumbled in what seemed to be a contemplative tone, “However we have ships mine the material, separate it, smelt it out for impurities, then send it to the processing centers for use or conversion,” he explained as Evron nodded along with him. “With this new method we could, theoretically, drop an active nanite brick on an asteroid and it would do everything except the final step of actually using the resources for us.”

“That means with the new programming and energy source we don’t have a labor shortage anymore,” Reeve said smugly.

Evron pounded the table, “And when were you going to tell us that?” he asked in frustration.

“Today. At this meeting. I needed to make sure they worked after all. When Novu said he had something big to tell me last week I thought he meant a new weapon, but that was just a side effect,” Reeve said happily.

“We really could build that big of a military. Sure it would take time but … “ Evron trailed off in fantastical thought.

“Here’s some more food for thought,” Reeve said, causing everyone to look at him again. This time that included Novu as well. “I want to split up the Silver Legion,” he said.

Everyone stared at him.

“No, not how your thinking. I want a military arm for our mercenaries, a trading arm for our economy, and an administrative and intelligence arm for home,” he explained. “If we are going to grow this quickly, we need to be ready as an organization to be able to accommodate that growth.”

“We're getting more and more immigrants,” mused Varcos. “The galaxy is a dangerous place right now and we offer a bastion of safety. A small reorganization does make sense. What did you have in mind?”

“Marauders, Infinite Merchants, and The Bureau,” Reeve said.

The door opened and Red stormed in with Jericho. “Context dumbass. You just spitting out words doesn’t tell anyone shit,” she demanded as she sat next to a dumbfounded Evron.

“Hi there Red! How was Holman Station?” Reeve asked.

She snorted, “Tell you later. Now, spill the beans on your, probably, stupid idea.”

Reeve rolled his eyes and explained, “Our mercenary arm will be known as Marauders. Roving bands that seek profit. We can break one of the fleets down into groupings paired with ground assets. Each of these new groups in their entirety will be referred to as a Legion. Evron will head that up.”

Evron nodded, “That makes sense. Expand the definition to an entire battlegroup. Moving me to be in charge makes sense too since I’ve been running the fleet so far. I will need to talk with Jem and Kane when he wakes up. Hash out the particulars.”

“Infinite Merchants, we have a whole damned nebula. You all tell me it's rich in resources, and I believe you. So we create an entire trading organization based on that concept. Transports, trade ships, escorts, some ground troops for defense. We export everything we don’t need, use, or that is excess. Food, goods, raw materials, hell even bots if we decide to go that route.”

Jericho swiveled its head to stare at him. “Non-sentient bots Jericho, I wouldn’t sell you … to anywhere but the scrap heap!”

“Of course Your Grace. Your magnanimity is well appreciated,” it said.

Reeve laughed, “Aelvin you will head that the Merchants.”

“That is also an apt idea. I have been running the economy so far. Having an organization under me, a structure that is, will make that task much easier.”

Reeve nodded, “Finally comes The Bureau. Diplomacy, Administration, and Intelligence. Varcos you will head the Diplomacy and Administration functions. Red you seem to have more fun skulking around and killing things. How do you feel about intelligence?”

“That I’m a hell of a lot more intelligent than you. Fine, I wanted something different to do anyway. Also, Holman Station is a shit show. Apparently, Brasx took over entirely and is now running a little furry dictatorship.”

“That’s concerning. I hope he doesn’t come our way,” worried Varcos. “They have several powerful offensive groupings.”

“Nah, he claimed he had no interest in us. But really he’s just not coming yet. I had Jericho empty his personal computer. Turns out he has a lot of very nasty plans for expansion, and the assets to accomplish those plans. Oh, and there’s a god involved.”

Reeve snapped upright in his chair, “What?”

“Yeah,” Red confirmed, “Some asshat going by the name of Jupiter. Claims he’s from a Pantheon? Well, the guy is a complete tool. Wouldn’t stop gawking over me. Made me happy we did negotiations via screen and not in person. Complete creeping fuckin asshole.”

“That’s not good at all,” Reeve muttered. “Looks like it's game on.”

“Yup,” Red agreed.

“By the way,” Reeve said distractedly, “What did you do with Frag?”