historical

Their hosts brought out a group of tables while Nico recovered some beverages from inside the ship and set them out for everyone to enjoy while they waited.

"Is this the beverage that you know as coffee? This is incredible, and it seems to be a gentle stimulant. Tell me, is it addiction-forming?" The leader of the station's representatives asked.

"It might be among other species, but it isn't among humans. The Innu are extremely fond of it when mixed with cream and raspberry juice, as your Technician is enjoying. The juice and the coffee combine to form an intense stimulant for them, to the point that many species will find them insufferable until they calm down a little. But, for extended shifts, it is a staple of human forces and shifts workers." Max explained.

"You really should warn people before you make the Innu more hyper, but in this case, I think it will be fine. The dosage is limited, and it isn't having an extreme reaction on any of the other species present." The host shrugged.

eαglesn?νel His beeper went off seconds later, confirming that the money was ready to be transferred to the Terminus Trading Company, and a portal was opened to their World Ship for a shuttle to pick up parts to bring to the repair facility.

Absolution was right on top of the order and even sent out a shuttle to meet them to save the time of docking and then leaving again, so they were in and out in under three minutes, with the money transferred and linked to Max and Nico's personal data so that they could shop while they were here.

"Your Warp Crystals are on their way back. They have been loaded into your vessel by our shuttle, and the payment is confirmed." Max informed the boss behind the station's shadier activities with a smile.

"Efficient. I like that. If every company was as easy to deal with as the Reavers are, my life would be a lot more pleasant. You have no idea how many of them like to delay and over-promise." The black-winged Valkia sighed.

"Then it's good that we met. We can provide a wide array of items, and as non-Alliance members, we are free to work with a wider variety of customers without it causing any international incidents or investigations.

Once I have a chance to make sure that the rest of your linked associates are as upstanding as you are, perhaps we can work something out to have you serve as an intermediary. We have a number of advanced technologies, and a company can only make so much money selling to their own people."

Max sensed the boss's amusement at his deduction, but the black marketeer seemed more than willing to make a deal with the humans that would skirt the very edges of what would get him in real trouble with the Alliance while still earning himself a reasonable few billion credits in commissions.

"Why don't the lovely young ladies accompany our Technician and some others to explore the markets while you and I go see some of the finer sights of the station? From the medical analysis that our sensors ran on you, I have an attraction that I think you would greatly enjoy.

I suspect that your Subcommander would as well, but the rules prohibit cybernetic augmentation of that level during the contests." The Valkia suggested.

"That sounds like an excellent idea. I have been looking for a challenge to help break past my limits for a while now, and I think that your station might be just the thing to help me along my journey." Max chuckled.

What he was hoping was that the System would find some inspiration and upgrade the durability of his body to allow it to progress further since he was at the cap for strength already and very close to the total bonus cap that his body could sustain.

Unless his whole body, or at least his bone structure, got a makeover, he wouldn't get much stronger or faster than he was now, but his mind was already capable of much more.

Sure, he could borrow Nico's ability to allow him to pilot without using his body, but that wasn't the path that he was after. Max wanted to be the very best because his body was at the peak of humanity, not because his mind could bypass the rest of his flesh to pilot the Mecha without them.

"In that case, we will split up, and Miss Nico can take Annabelle to find a souvenir aboard the ship and explore the station's more interesting points from the viewpoint of an Innu and a researcher. Should I bring a sample of human snacks for our walk?" Max suggested.

"We have sampled your coffee, so this time, I will provide the refreshments. Follow me to the lower decks, the evening show is about to begin, and we have a defending champion that is well worth watching. He is a member of the Titan species, like these men here, but from the main branch and not the local planet.

Their original home grew much larger creatures than average, and they are often over four meters tall while remaining impressively agile.

Tell me, do humans enjoy the art of gambling?" The Valkia asked.

"Far more than they likely should. We gamble on nearly everything. Even our military units like to compete with each other for their results." Max laughed.

"So humans are still not at peace internally? How did you get the Alliance brass to accept you as trade partners?"

Max smiled at the man's clear confusion. "I think it was more to do with our technology than our culture. We made friends with a number of Alliance civilians, and they served as an intermediary to license patents for us before we brokered an official deal, and the Alliance Government was becoming wary of what we might do if they outright refused us.

We could have sold to other factions, but they were concerned that we might have become your competition and sold unlicensed products to the general citizenry or flooded the market with free-to-use patents in an attempt to drive under the major Corporations."

The Valkia frowned. "Humans can be that ruthless?"

"That is only the beginning. Once we have incited them to blind rage with patents that undercut their market share, we can use the Alliance laws to cover ourselves if the Corporations attack us in retaliation. After all, we didn't legally do anything wrong, and without any sort of deal, we had no obligation to not attempt to collapse the economies of entire Galaxies."

"And then when they have attacked and lost, you keep the remains of their gear as research materials and move on to the next target. I see where you are coming from. I like it. It's got a very Hunter-like brazenness to it. Not many recently advanced species have the gumption to push the Alliance Government in any way, so it is a unique pleasure to find one that we have so much in common with."

The group walked out of the hold, leaving Nico and Annabelle with a small group of Technicians and a handful of security officers to carry their bags while shopping. They would soon regret that decision, Max was certain. Nico had way too much money, and Annabelle liked shiny objects.