The officers were not joking about their intentions to fully investigate what other crimes might have been committed while the unknown ship was committing its immigration violation. They had thirty officers aboard their shuttle, and they got to work the moment that the disabled foreign ship was brought to the basement hangar bays for investigation.

They went over every possible aspect and angle of the ship, and while most of the things that they found were not of any concern to the Terminus Trading Company, they found over fifty patent violations, where the designer had clearly used Alliance technologies in their own designs without permission.

They also found that the ship had been making detailed notes on the Terraforming Device, presumably for the same reasons, but had been unable to decipher the software before they were shot down, so the entire database that they had accumulated was on the design and analysis of the construction methods.

For a Terraforming Device, the software was just as important as the device itself, so they hadn't gotten too far into their examination, but it was enough to prove intent to violate patent laws, even without all of the clear violations that they found in the ship's design.

It was built by the Volga, according to the Alliance police force. They had seen the basic design before, though not this specific model and the ship's hull showed the signature markings of their Materials Printer technology, which left behind a unique Ion among certain alloys, thanks to incomplete remanufacturing.

That wouldn't go over well for them the next time they had to talk to Alliance dignitaries since the Police uploaded all of their collected data to the Central Law Enforcement mainframes as soon as they compiled it.

Supposedly that was for the integrity of the data so that the officers working the case couldn't tamper with evidence if it indicated that there was someone who shouldn't or couldn't be charged by the local Police responsible for a crime.

Bribery and using influence to get out of crime weren't unheard of within the Alliance, but being able to bribe a single low-level police officer to accomplish the task seemed to offend their sensibilities. If you wanted to bribe your way out of a conviction, you had to go to someone else who was powerful enough to bribe their way out of a conviction and convince them.

It was the ultimate old boys club, but in a way, it led to the upper-class Alliance citizens self-policing since you didn't only have to convince one of them. You had to convince everyone who had the political clout to gain access to the investigation data.

"So, it is the Volga who were trying to get a bit more data on our Terraforming efforts here? That's not too surprising, but I suspect that they will be less than impressed by the state of the crew that they sent." Max sighed as he sat with General Tennant to review the preliminary investigation data later that morning.

"It serves them right. If they had chosen any path but to attack the interceptors, they would have likely come out of it alive. It's fairly doubtful that anyone will claim responsibility for the actions, though. Even if we search their records for the owner of the ship, it will show some upstart company with no connections to the leadership or any company regularly doing business outside their borders." General Tennant replied, well aware of the basic measures that any Planetary Governor would take to cover their tracks and avoid responsibility for their actions.

He had seen it all before, and this was on the child's play level of interplanetary intrigue.

"You seem to be well versed in the matter." The Innu Envoy mentioned sipping on a raspberry Latte with five extra shots of espresso in it.

The sight of the drink made Max shudder in horror at the incoming mental barrage that he would suffer once her brain was hit with that massive dose of Caffeine, but the design team had sent her information on the augmentic suits, and she was eager to analyze it before she finished her tasks for the day.

In her mind, that meant mass doses of caffeine to get the multiple tracks of her mind all working at maximum output, but for the mind readers on the planet and in orbit, it was a nightmare.

With Alliance technology, they could make a suit just as good, and in fact, one that was much better than what Terminus had turned out, but on general principle, they wouldn't copy the fashion style, and that was the part that she liked the most about it.

Once she was home, she would show the others the marvel that was the helmet, but until the end of their tour, she had every intention of wearing the suit every single time there was an excuse to wear armour.

"You look somewhat unwell. Perhaps you could use a beverage? The coffee here seems to be quite impressive. They roast it in the store, so it's unique anywhere in the universe. The Alliance doesn't have this particular plant, but I can see that it will be quite popular once they learn of it." The Valkia Envoy suggested, looking at the way that the Innu Envoy was downing her steaming mug of caffeine and milk.

"The problem isn't my lack of drink. It is her abundance of drink. Innu minds go into overdrive when you give them caffeine, and it's a bit like having a hummingbird in my brain to be sitting next to her." Max explained.historical

"Oh, I never thought of that. So few species except the Illithid can read minds that I forgot a few humans could do it as well. Best of luck tuning her out, but I should really warn the rest of our staff if she is going to be more hyper than usual." The Valkia sighed, looking over at the one Envoy in their group who simply refused to go along with the standards and be the boring politician that she had been appointed to be.

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