[Kitimat 3 Planetary Forces, this is Commander Keres of Terminus Trading Company. The service you requested has been completed, and we are awaiting payment.] Max broadcasted down to the planet, and out into the Kepler Empire at the same time.

Let the surrounding systems know that something was very wrong here and that they were refusing to pay the people who saved their planet from a Klem invasion. It would look horrible on the Rebels once the news began to spread.

[Terminus Trading Company, this is Kitimat 3 Planetary Command. We thank you for your assistance, but the request was made by the previous administration, and we do not pay debts owed by the Lapdogs of the Kepler Empire.] The planet’s official broadcast responded and was relayed to the Empire by Terminus’s broadcast equipment.

[Regardless, it was brokered on behalf of your planet, and the planet owes a debt.] Max continued.

[Take your debt up with Kepler, this is a free planet now, no longer beholden to Kepler Scum and under the protection of Tapani.] The planet broadcasted back.

They had realized that they were being relayed to the whole Sector, and had broadcasted the last for everyone to hear. That made Max’s life a little easier.

[If your planet cannot pay its debts, then we will take it up with Tapani. I am sure they will willingly pay up, or forfeit the goodwill that we showed their fleet when they came to us on Rae 5.] Max responded.

[You are a fool Terminus. Rae 5 is done for, and the Kepler Empire is dying. Tapani will never let a Reaver force occupy a planet, even if we have to wipe every Reaver out of existence to do it.] The planetary force bragged.

Dozens of signals flooded into Max’s radio right after that announcement, mostly from other Reavers, but some from the Death Wind Mercenaries, who had always considered the Reavers their natural allies. They all said basically the same thing.

[Signal Confirmed as Tapani Origin. Thank you Terminus, it is good to see their true colors.]

Tapani had just declared war on the Reavers as a whole.

That would be an issue for the few Reaver ships that were currently in Tapani-controlled space, but it would be a much larger problem for Tapani as a whole since they still relied on the Mercenaries and Reavers to keep them supplied with hard-to-find resources.historical

Even a few months of this conflict, and being cut off from the rest of the Galaxy would cripple them.

[If that’s how you feel, please, do enjoy our parting gift as we go to speak with your friends in the zone.] Max replied once the incoming broadcasts had died down, and then General Ming began an open channel broadcast as the Drone Fighters descended upon the planet, with their shields taking multiple hits from the defense weapons before a series of mushroom clouds littered the surface and a dark cloud blotted out the skies.

There was minimal radioactive fallout from these Fusion-type weapons, but a nuclear winter was inevitable, and they wouldn’t be growing anything on Kitimat 3 for at least the next three seasons if they didn’t get the air scrubbed, a technology that most planets didn’t have in place.

The Reaver forces found the short video hilarious, as it would cripple the Tapani, and starve out a planet worth of their supporters if nobody came to rescue them. Plus, Kepler still considered that planet theirs, and wouldn’t allow Tapani to just waltz into their territory again now that they had sided with the Rebels.

“Send the Asteroids. The bombing was particularly successful, but I want them to learn a valuable lesson on diplomacy.” Max told Nico, who had picked a bunch of personal transport-sized metallic rocks for the purpose.

They wouldn’t do much on a planetary scale, but if they hit near a city or a military force, it would be something close to being nuked again when the impact occurred.

Enough that it would remind them of the price to pay for being traitors anyhow.

Like so many other Rebel planets, this one had voted for the Rebel forces, on the promise of independence, greater prosperity, and a utopian future. None of those were ever possible, the Rebels were just leading them to live under a new set of masters, but the people fell for the lies anyhow, believing in the utopian fantasy that they were selling.

“Drones are back on board. We may depart anytime.” Nico reported, and Admiral Drake took them to warp with only a five-second warning.

The broadcast had crushed the Rebel morale in the Sector. It was clear now that they had been used and lied to, and worse, that those who had lied to them never actually had any intentions of protecting the people or trying to implement the fantasies that they had sold their planets in order to get them to turn against the Empire.

That was making things easier for the Kepler troops that were contesting dozens of planets at that moment, as the planetary forces had huge numbers of defectors, and in some cases even turned so strongly against their leadership that they handed the planet back to the Kepler forces faster than they could take it for themselves.

For the Reavers, it was even better. Terminus was the only one that had any issues at all getting paid. Even the Rebel-controlled planets that they had gone to block Klem waves from hitting happily paid their debts, despite their precarious situation. Nobody wanted to be the second one to be made an example of, because it was always worse than the first.

[It looks like we have things under control here, let’s head back to Rae 5 and drop off these civilians.] General Ming ordered.

[Before that, could we make a small detour? There is a cargo freighter full of refugees nearby, and they are requesting to transfer their cargo to Terminus, as the supposedly safe planet that they were heading to is currently in conflict.] The ship’s communications operator asked.

[You know what? Why not. Rae 5 has got a whole planet full of space to work with, and everyone could use some more people. The details can be worked out by the Reavers if they want to take more refugees in afterward, but we will take this bunch.] General Yaakov decided.