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Nico’s request was sent as a digital message, not a voice communication, due to the distance involved, and General Yaakov’s authority signature was employed, with his permission, of course, to authenticate the message.

What they requested was a direct meeting with the Duke about a large sale of Crystal Nanotubes and a conversation about a matter of planetary security. That should be enough to at least attract the attention of his staff, so Max simply sat back and waited as the Terminus fell into orbit around the planet, waiting on a response that would determine if they could sell their wares here and what this world’s fate might be.

The Klem pods approaching Kepler were still outside the range of most planetary sensor systems, so they might not even know about the threat, or they might be in on the deal with the rebels and the Tapani and they might think that they are safe.

It was a good thing that they were playing the mercenaries in this scenario, it would make their implications that the Klem approach might have been miscalculated hold more weight, and encourage the Duke to action when a Loyalist military force would have met with official resistance.

Duke Cass, the local planetary ruler sent them a response twelve hours after they had first requested a meeting, a fairly rapid response given the level of procedures needed to contact a Planetary Governor directly.

[Colony Ship Terminus,

We welcome you to the orbit of our planet and have some use for the trade goods which you have procured. Please proceed to the Space Station at the marked coordinates and dock with the final spur bay for the negotiation of a trade deal.]

The message bore the Duke’s authentication, so it was as good as an entry visa, and the Admiral moved the Colony ship into position to dock with the Station.

This one was definitely a luxury station, and it held a number of very fancy interstellar Yachts and cruise ships at its terminals. The approach of the battered-looking Colony ship, therefore, drew a lot of attention from the civilians aboard the facility.

They didn’t often have a chance to interact with Spacers of any sort, much less a Reaver or Mercenary crew strong enough to hold a Colony Ship as their own, so the mere sight of Terminus started waves of gossip.

[Docking Clamps Engaged. Same bay as last time.] The Admiral instructed as the ship settled into position next to the station.

This one was large enough that it wouldn’t be thrown too much off balance by the Colony Ship, but they still had to be careful with their thrusters and approach, so that they didn’t accidentally knock the station from orbit. The Kepler-built stations were blocky and well-defended facilities, in case of dust and small object collisions, but their thrusters took a lot of power to keep engaged and weren’t intended to do more than maintain the position of the facility.

If there was an incident that required it to be repositioned, the ships on the station would lend their aid to get the Station into the correct orbit, a synchronized dance of enormous proportions that required tremendous skill and timing, and also aggravated the Captains required to do it.

Max and Nico waited for the Duke to arrive with a small compliment of five Corvette Class Mecha in the back of the bay, in sight of their hosts. It was what every Reaver Ship would do, a small show of force to discourage their business partners from double-crossing them. This planet didn’t seem to have any ties to the reavers, so they were especially cautious, in case there was a very good reason for that.

A few curious residents of the station passed by, using an excuse to pass through this terminal to sneak a peek at the new guests, before rushing away, afraid to get caught while in an off-limits cargo transfer area.

“Commander Keres, I presume, and the Imperial Lady Tarith Rage. I ran a quick background check on you before you arrived, I do hope you won’t mind. Congratulations on the founding of your Terminus Trade Company, and it is an honor to be among your first customers. The Cygnus Royal Family had good things to say about you, even though they seemed a bit secretive about your origins.” The man beside the Duke welcomed them.

“Background checks are always a prudent measure. It is good to hear that they haven’t forgotten about me entirely, despite the length of time since my lineage was Royal.” Nico responded politely, making the Duke himself smile.

“Are these the nanotubes? It looks like you have stored them in low gravity for the trip?” The Duke asked, indicating the piles of crystal that lined all the walls of the bay.

“It is the best way to ship them without damages. The artificial gravity was off in this room until we docked, then slowly raised so that the settling of the crystals wouldn’t cause any breakage.” Max informed him from behind the nondescript golden mask he had chosen to cover his features today.

“I have a wide variety of items made on my planet to trade with, what is it that your next customer would prefer?” The Duke asked while sending a technician from his entourage to check out the merchandise.

“Our next customer is a collector of the finer things in life, both for himself and his planet. So, a variety of your locally made rugs, dishware, and a small selection of luxury personal transport vehicles would be a pleasant surprise for him, in addition to the Laser Focusing Arrays that your planet is best known for of course.” Max suggested.

The Laser focusing arrays were a military item, and strictly regulated, the Planetary Governor shouldn’t be selling them to Reavers, but Max could see by the look in his eyes that he was considering doing just exactly that.

“Might your next customer be within the Kepler Empire?” He asked, seeming uncertain if he should make this deal.

“In fact he is. A true old blue blood, one of those snotty lineage sorts who predates the Empire, but he has been a very reliable customer of other branches of the family.” Nico informed him with a suggestive wink.