That helped set the man’s mind at ease. He wouldn’t be tried for treason, since the goods weren’t heading out of the Empire, and there was a very good chance that they would be going to help a fellow rebel planet upgrade their civilian Mecha to join the battle against the Emperor.

Max listened carefully to the Duke’s thoughts, as well as those of his guards, before making his next offer.

“If you need more than just crystals, I do believe that we have a bit of reactor material left. I don’t suppose that you might be short a ton or two would you?” Max asked in a friendly voice.

“Now, I believe you are correct, we are a bit short for our industrial robot production. How about we have a seat and we can discuss the other urgent matter while our adjutants work out the specifics?” The Duke responded, nodding to the upper levels, which he thought were private rooms, but were actually cold storage facilities.

“Separate temperature-controlled zones, for multiple product shipments. Right this way is a sitting room, do forgive the lack of luxury, we are still a struggling young company after all.” Max informed the Duke.

“Understandable, we all start from somewhere. My own family was once ministers to the local Royal Family, back before the Kepler expansion integrated us into the Empire.” The Duke informed Max with a polite nod.

They stepped through the main doors to the hangar, then into the airlock, and finally across the hall into a room that had been hastily prepared with couches and a rug created by the Materials Printer.

It would be obvious to the well-informed that the materials were synthetic and therefore cheap, though they were fashionable, which helped reinforce Max’s assertion that they were not yet in a position where they could be spending money frivolously.historical

“At least you have good taste. You should see the horror that passes for fashion among the Tapani.” Duke Cass sighed, settling into one of the couches.

From his thoughts, Max saw that the Tapani didn’t believe in cushions on furniture, instead being of the belief that hard seats helped build character. So most of their chairs were hard metal or stone, and an actual couch was basically unheard of, with sitting rooms instead having carved stone benches for group seating.

“The stone benches are not exactly to my taste either.” Max agreed, then gestured to the liquor cabinet along one wall.

“We are short on many things, but we have a small selection of Brandy and an ample supply of good Rum. Would you care to partake?” Max asked.

“I wish I could, but I was born to disability in this life, an allergy to alcohols of all sorts that medicine has had no luck curing.” The Duke sighed.

That was a lie, he was actually a very heavy drinker, but he didn’t trust the alcohol of a random Reaver troupe to be to his tastes. It was his loss, as the Brandy was extremely expensive stuff from General Yaakov’s personal supply, brought down for the meeting so that they could appear to be good hosts.

“That is a great loss. In that case, I will get on with the important matters. This data chip shows the trajectory of a swarm of Klem Pods headed for Kepler space. I can confirm that the Tapani already know the destinations, as the swarm passed very near to their territory, but the pertinent part is this bit here. This arm is going to make direct contact with your system. If not the main planet, then one of the outlying ones in this star system.” Max informed him, bringing up the trajectory information on a Holo Projector and handing the Duke a copy of the chip so he could check it for himself later.

“And what might have brought about this bit of altruism? A Reaver never does anything for free.” Duke Cass asked suspiciously.

“As you said yourself, we are still a new company, in need of connections, customers, and the little luxuries that make life worth living. I believe that you might be able to help us with all three, but it does require that you still have a populated planet to govern.

Though it is a boon to you, sharing this bit of acquired intelligence is also in our best interests.” Max informed him.

“A very valid point, Being a border system, we do make for a natural stop on the way into the Kepler Empire. Normally I don’t have dealings with lowborn trading groups, but you come highly recommended, with lineage from the Cygnus Royal Family, so I am willing to make an exception.

If you can add two tonnes of Reactor Material to the shipment, I can outfit your vessel for the luxury of two thousand crew members, including a small supply of proper liquor. For the guests who do not suffer my unfortunate allergies that is.” Duke Cass agreed.

Two thousand would cover all their Pilots and officers, but not all the enlisted crew from the maintenance and logistics staff. It was a very good start though, and they would be able to put on a good front the next time that they were inspected, showing off a number of luxury crew suites to the patrol members.

It might not be logical, but wealth was still associated with legitimacy. If your Company had been around long enough to acquire luxuries for themselves, they were viewed as more trustworthy trading partners than a group of random Pirates, even if they had killed said pirates and stolen their goods.

“That won’t be an issue. We had a rather fortunate encounter with an asteroid soon after we founded the Terminus Trading Company and acquired enough of the materials to purchase ourselves a small army of Mecha, outdated though they might be. Two tonnes are still within our stockpile.” Max informed him, then pulled out the trade agreement that had been made up while they talked.

It outlined everything that they had agreed on, and then they added the Reactor Materials and the list of domestic supplies in trade for them.

This planet wasn’t a large Mecha manufacturer, but if they were planning to fight off a Klem landing, they would need those materials. Even if they thought he might be lying, they would need them for the rebellion, so there was no chance of loss in the Duke’s estimation of the situation.