The next matchup was the originally scheduled first matchup, so Max declined to bet on this one and simply sat back to watch the show. It was artful, and they weren't pulling the punches as much as Max had suspected that they would, leaving the ring a bloody mess by the time the first round had ended.

Although he knew that they were just putting on a show for the crowd, one of them would still advance to the later fights that night, so Max watched carefully to gain more information on how they moved, what moves they seemed to know and not know, and the general level of agility that they displayed.

Once you factored in another twenty percent for how much they were likely holding back, it gave a solid baseline on what he could expect in a fight with them.

"It's not often that we see an actual soldier in here, other than a few security guards who turned to mercenary work." The Valkia sitting beside Max chuckled as he watched the human observe the fight.

"It's always good to take in more information about potential opponents. It's just as true for the ring as it is for business. Going in blind never ends well." Max agreed.

"Well, put. I will admit that I went in mostly blind today, and it was a risk, but it seems to have paid off in the end. I got the Warp Crystals that I had been searching for."

Max chuckled. "I wasn't totally blind. I did get the heads up from our contacts within the Alliance about the nature of your business. I didn't know what you needed, but it was clear before I arrived that we would be able to help each other."

Just then, both Max and the Valkia got an alert on their wrist devices.

[Max, come to floor three, shopping district. We have a Klem issue.] Nico reported.

The Valkia jumped to his feet and looked at Max in a panic, unsure as to what to do about the situation since he was entertaining a VIP guest.

"We are looking for the source of the Klem in the Alliance Territories. I will go with you and help clean this issue out as well as search for the source." Max informed him while removing his armour and an Archangel Exoskeleton pack from his Flat Space storage.

He had practiced enough that the suit went on in seconds, with the pack of the Exoskeleton mounted to his back and the wings folded for mobility in limited confines.

"Come with me then. We were already infested once, and we thought that it was entirely cleared out, but it seemed like we had missed something.

The original infestation came from a cargo ship, which had collided with some sort of organic pods in space and had biomatter on its hull. The repair crews did all the work while the ship was docked, but we found out later that the species could survive in the void and had hatched some small creatures which ate into the station's internal areas.

They were vicious things, and when they managed to kill a few visitors to the ship and drag them to a hidden area, they produced a larger and more vicious variant within hours." The Valkia explained.

"It gets much worse than that. If they are not stopped, they will strip entire planets bare and create variants which can face off against the Hunters' Suits. They are a scourge on my Galaxy, and there is no way that they should have appeared anywhere near here." Max told him with a grimace.

If the Klem just reappeared, it meant that they had likely been on the station all along, hiding from their sensors until they had built up the strength to fight back.

[We are on our way. What do you know about the Klem infestation?] Max sent to Nico as the Valkia led him to an elevator which was cleverly disguised as a wine cabinet.

[The silent alarms just went off on my escort's radio, and the signature is large. I think that it just arrived at the station. They have their sensors on high alert for more Klem, and now the guards are in full panic mode, wondering where they're going to show up.]

So, there was no definite location yet. That made things much more difficult, but with the boss here, they would have access to every sensor on the station, and they should be able to track it down in a matter of minutes.

The Valkia looked longingly at the equipment that Max had put on to deal with the Klem, and a smirk came over Max's face. The Valkia were suckers for the Archangel Exoskeletons since they worked with the species' natural wings and put an energy barrier around their body, as well as providing limited but highly lethal weaponry.

With a thought, he detached the one from his back and held it out to his new business partner.

"I still have an energy barrier built into my suit, and I doubt I will need to fly while within the station. Take this. It's military-grade and will take a direct hit from a Plasma Cannon without failing.

"Military grade meaning built to the minimum specification by the lowest bidder?" The Valkia asked, but he gladly took the suit from Max and tried to decipher how to equip it.

"Precisely. But it was meant to augment organic troops up to the level of a light armoured unit, so the minimum standard is pretty good, and it can even improve your flight agility since it was intended to be a flying unit, to begin with."

Max took the unit back and deftly equipped it onto the Valkia, taking the time to ensure that none of the man's feathers were crushed when he attached the suit's wings to the organic ones.

"There you go. It's got a neural link, so just think of activating the unit, and it will turn on." He explained. historical

The shimmer of the energy barrier surrounded the Valkia, who gently lifted off the ground with the gravity control before making a tight loop in place and then landing back on his feet.

"Truly impressive for a species with no wings. But I have seen you fight, so I can see how the need for extreme mobility would have been a priority for your species. Your partner and my chief of staff should be just ahead."