233 233 Negotiations
Using the Tech Adept harness for mobility, Nico left the Mecha to go grab them some new clothes from the material printers in the Landers.
The service area in the Super Heavy Mecha had a small materials printer for parts, but there wasn’t any raw material suitable for making clothes. Neither of them was short on civilian wear back aboard Abraham Kepler, but that wasn’t something that a Pilot brought with them on an extermination mission.
She was only away for a few minutes, casually dodging the queue and grabbing them both one set of new clothes and a small tub of raw polymer that could be used to make anything from synthetic denim to faux leather.
“In case we need to make contact, they would expect a Mercenary leader to have at least a few sets of clothes,” Nico informed Max as she returned.
Her whole persona seemed to have changed. Even her standing position was cocky and relaxed, while her clothes were an eclectic blend of leather and metal in a Gothic Steampunk style Max had seen her wear before.
She had also changed her physical appearance, showing off one armored mechanical arm and turning her face into a generic feminine full conversion pattern, with a large exposed armor plate on the left side.
The combination of the changes and the Multi-Armed harness she was still wearing made her look a little terrifying, and Max decided that if they had to deal with the other Kepler forces, she would be the spokesperson.
She was the better actor, and nobody would believe she was a proper Kepler Officer when she was looking like that.
The clothes she had picked for him were in a similar style to her own, as the Reaver’s fashions were popular with the Death Wind Mercenaries.
“The others are almost all changed now, so we can start working on our act in a few hours,” Nico added, returning to her chair.
They wouldn’t have hours to prepare, though. Only fifteen minutes later, the flames of Landers entering the atmosphere lit up the sky, and Nico’s eyes opened wide in shock.
“We are receiving a signal on one of the secure encryption patterns that my family uses as our private channels back home. The one that we use for the interplanetary trade ships. Even the security codes check out as one of ours. I think it is being sent by someone from the family’s fleet branch.” Nico informed Max, who rushed to put his shiny golden mask on.
“Do it. Let’s see what they want.” Max instructed, and Nico opened the video link, bringing up the image of an unknown but youthful man in a Kepler General’s uniform.
[You’ve got some big brass ones to be using this Cypher, don’t you, Kepler? Well, get to it then. What in the seven hells do you want?] She asked the serious-looking young General on the other side of the screen.
[The Tarith Reavers granted me a favor.] He answered calmly while holding up a gold coin of a design Max didn’t recognize, and Nico nodded.
[Speak then. What is your request.]
The General looked visibly relieved before he spoke again. [We have sent forces to the ground to eliminate the Klem threat. They are too close to our borders to be allowed to thrive here. Are you willing to cooperate with our efforts?]
Nico nodded decisively. [We share a common enemy. This trade depot can’t be established while they still live. For that reason, we will work with you for a reasonable price.]
The mention of money didn’t seem to phase the General, but Max could hear muffled sounds of amusement in the background that he was sure came from General Tennant.
[Name your price, and we can negotiate.] The General agreed after a moment.
[As I said, I am a reasonable woman. One hundred tons of raw materials for Battle Cannon munitions, and you leave the system once the threat is nullified.] Nico smiled.
Weapon-grade materials were always in short supply outside of the frontline forces, and they had used a lot of them lately to reload the Mecha, mostly depleting what they were dropped with. The amount she asked for was equivalent to three supply pods full and would fully restock the entire regiment.
[Your version of reasonable is still very steep, isn’t it?] General Ming asked, intending to drive the cost down.
[I know you can see us from orbit, take a good long look. We aren’t some petty band of ore smugglers, I need munitions to stay at full strength. How about one hundred tons of materials, plus your withdrawal after the battle, and we call this an even cooperation.] Nico’s offer meant that the unnamed General wouldn’t use up a favor by asking them to risk their lives.
Not that they were in any position to claim the favor anyhow, since they weren’t actually Death Wind Mercenaries. Though the way Nico negotiated, Max was beginning to question if that was true or not. If you dressed like Mercenaries, acted like Mercenaries, and received secure Communications intended for the Mercenaries, at what point did you actually start being Mercenaries?
Nico’s family was into a bit of everything and had a suspicious amount of political influence on Kepler Terminus, despite the appearance of only being moderately wealthy. But Nico either didn’t know or refused to think about the truth behind her family’s continued influence, so Max didn’t know the full extent of their activities.
[Deal. The materials will arrive in eight hours. I will be in contact.] General Ming agreed.
[A pleasure doing business with you.] Nico told him, then cut the video link.
“One day, I will find out the truth about your family. Normal people don’t get name-dropped when you are asking for favors from Mercenaries that live on the edge of the Galaxy.” Max told her, but Nico just smiled.
“You already knew a branch of the Tarith family were Reavers, remember? Back when we were on Kepler 142, they told you all about it.”
That was a very generous description of events. Max recalled hearing about the quasi-legal trading arm of the Tarith family exactly one time before. But at the time, it had seemed like a historical event, not something ongoing.
“That was quite the negotiation, General. They might only be a small Regiment, but those Mercenaries look strong.” Muriel said to Ming once the conversation was over.
“That conversation was more strange than you could ever know. But it worked out in the end.” General Ming agreed.
When he contacted the Mercenaries, they needed to authenticate the Cypher he had used to open the video link. A normal Mercenary band would have had to contact their bosses to get the code verified, but this one answered right away. Every Kepler Imperial Inquisitor was a curious person by nature, and now General Ming was very interested to know what these Mercenaries were doing so far from home with such a strong military force.