Chapter 160: 158 Pirate Lords

"-so with that out of the way," Trebar had committed the names Diana mentioned to memory. Some of them he felt he remembered from intelligence briefings, but he never bothered to really memorize that sort of thing. Every other major nation knew well enough to keep out of Holifanian space, and the minor nations were not powerful enough to constitute a meaningful threat. "I will have to ask you to leave."

Gretts would have to leave the room for the next conversation. Titanyana was fine, even if the topic was only tangentially related to her she was cleared to know what was going on. 

"I understand." Gretts pushed herself out of the chair, patting off her legs to deal with the discomfort of her aging body. "Should I get to work on directing dinner? I take it your squad will be eating here tonight."

"If I could bother you to do so, I would appreciate it." Trebar nodded to her. Gretts didn't care to continue the conversation, grunting in affirmation before opening the door.

"Thank you for your help, Gretts." Diana did not forget her manners. "I don't mind if you share the good news with the rest of the servants."

"Heh. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that." Gretts shut the door behind her, and the four inside of the room remained silent. They were giving Gretts time to put some distance between them. The walls of the study couldn't exactly qualify as thin, but that didn't mean you couldn't hear what was happening on the other side.

"I think that was enough time. What is it you wished to discuss?" Anything that the Montaug wanted them to know was most likely going to be handled by Diana. It wasn't always going to be the case, material requisition was Donovan's game, but for the most part warnings and advice were going to be directed towards her. "I can't imagine it would be a particularly important matter if the Montaug didn't ask for our direct presence."

"It has to do with the operations on your new home planet. This is unrelated, but have you decided on a name yet?" Donovan and Diana shook their heads. They had too much on their hands for the moment, they didn't want to regret the name they chose in the future. "Take your time with it. Anyways, a status update, what do you know about piracy?"

"Aside from the fact they plunder travelling merchants? Not much." Donovan spoke for the both of them here. Their views on pirates had been shaped by media. They had little idea how they actually functioned or what they did to survive. One had to imagine food was a problem for lawless criminals who lived in space.

"I think I can give you a quick rundown on how they operate. What you know about them is just about what most other people know about them, they raid merchant shipping and avoid the military forces of state. Now most of the time they won't go so far as sink their victim's ship, but they are not above killing or abducting crew. They understand that those ships are their life blood, so they would very much like to keep them sailing. However this presents a bit of a problem for what you are asking us to do."

"How so?"

"Because you need ships to be captured in order to use them for the Nekh evacuation, the ships are going to be taken out of circulation. Now, that might not be particularly noteworthy if it was just one or two, but as the number of abducted ships increase people will notice. A whole bunch of merchants going missing in a certain region of space is absolutely going to draw attention from the neighboring nations. They will definitely investigate."

Donovan felt a headache coming. This didn't bode well. 

"Now normally pirates are controlled, moderated, by people referred to as 'pirate lords', who are nobility that have made their planets havens for pirates to come and sell their plunder and rest. They usually have pretty good connections to other pirate lords, even if not friendly connections, and they use them to keep these pirates in line by way of blacklisting. Even though they bring profits in the form of plunder, pirates can draw the ire of surrounding nations. There have been many occasions where a planet has been conquered because the pirates who called it home got out of hand."

"So we are acting like pirate lords right now."

Trebar nodded, Diana understood the risk they were taking. "Exactly, which makes you a prime candidate for being punished should it ever become known how weak you are. Now, you have the assurances of myself, the Montaug, and the Bishops that we will handle any such complications that arise for the time being. Seppard, you may remember him as the man with an eyepatch, is overseeing the operations on the planet, and you can trust him to keep them as clandestine as possible. We just felt it prudent to inform you that you will need to keep in mind this information moving forward."

Donovan scratched his neck, slightly irritated. He wasn't going to suggest backing off, securing as many Nekh as possible was more than worth the risk of war with surrounding nations, but he wondered what problems this would present for Diana. Obviously, they didn't have much desire to host other pirates there, the Jakobi Privateers were likely all they would aver think of hosting, but if they needed to tone down operations to leave some doors open on Diana's end, then that was something to consider.

"What should we do on our end?"

"Lady Diana, I regret to inform you that there is nothing you may do at this junction. This, as I have mentioned, is only a status update. We will handle this."

Diana sighed. Once again there was something important she couldn't help with.

"Now for the lighter news. As of the time of my conversation with the Montaug, construction has been progressing well. There have been a few delays in the form of rain and storms, but for the most part it is progressing according to plan. The most recent construction, a bar of sorts, was reportedly finished in record time. Morale is high, and we keep workers coming in as fast as we can build housing for them."

Donovan pumped a fist in his mind. They didn't have access to maps or pictures, so they would have to take his word for it, but they didn't think that the Holifanians would lie about something like this.

"I know it is still far too early to really do anything, but is there any facility in particular the two of you would like? Titanyana?"

All three of them shook their heads. Donovan hadn't yet learned about urban planning from Arc, and Diana knew that they facilities she would want were already going to be built. Titanyana didn't feel she had the right to make a request.

"That's fine, but if you ever feel the need don't be afraid to ask. This is your planet we are talking about here."

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"We thank you for the consideration, but our focuses lie elsewhere." Diana made their stance clear, they had to be focused on the big picture. This qualified as minutiae. 

"Very well. Let's talk about the other matter concerning the Jakobi brothers, that being their plunder. Now, obviously the ships will be put to work transporting Nekh, but the valuables kept aboard are another matter entirely. Montaug expressed that he would have liked to give you frequent plunder reports in the form of a written list, but you don't exactly understand our writing system."

"I think you can probably just do what you want with them." Diana didn't like the idea of profiting from ill gotten gains. "Actually, because we are practically abducting the crews of such ships, perhaps it would be a good idea to give it to them as compensation."

"Any money that can be used here in the Sanctum should be brought to us." Donovan did not have the same reservations. "If there is any particularly interesting item you find then bring it to our attention, but for the most part I would like it if you used that stuff to facilitate further growth and comfort for the people working there."

"Donny?!"

"Diana, we need a reserve of cash. I'm not comfortable relying on our allowances." Donovan was concerned about a potential decline in relations between themselves and either of their benefactors. Of course he didn't think it to be particularly likely to happen given that they didn't have any relevant subordinates that could ruin things for them, and it didn't hurt to have an immediate source of capital at their disposal should something urgent arise. 

Diana was slightly irritated by the fact he seemed unperturbed with using blood money- "Fine. Send us the money, leave anything that we don't ask for or isn't 'interesting'." -but they had agreed that when it came to matters concerning their safety, Donovan had the final say.

"I will relay that to the Montaug. Do keep in mind that I am perfectly willing to give you money if you are hurting for it." Trebar pulled a leather purse from his belt and tossed it to Titanyana. "I have a budget that I am required to spend every month. I very often find myself unable to, so most of it gets wasted. It's enough to cover the yearly maintenance expenses of the entire army close to three times over, so funding a party or two every month should be no problem."

Neither Donovan or Diana knew how much that was, but it had to be quite a bit considering he considered 'a party or two every month' to not be a problem.

"Why do you need that much then?"

"I don't need this much, however it looks like my predecessors did. The money is used to maintain our equipment and hire instructors external to the academy, however it is also supposed to be spent on maintaining the morale of the men. Unfortunately they all seem to be good with a few drinks every now and again, so I have been left making particularly large expenditures on 'services'."

"Why don't you just ask for less money then?" Donovan wasn't going to complain about an extra influx of capital, but he did wonder why the easiest solution wasn't already implemented.

"The simple answer is that we need to get rid of the money. We are isolationists, however we often export food or consumer goods to our satellite nations or needy nations near our border for lower than market rates. Unfortunately, the influx of cash has the potential to disrupt our own market if left to continue unchecked, so the Bishops have determined that some sort of outlet was needed. The Sanctum was determined to be the perfect place as it can also be seen as a display of power."

Diana could hardly believe that this was their solution to combatting inflation. "Perhaps I could have a talk with the Montaug about this?"

"I will bring it up."

"Thank you. I was just thinking about how I might like to host other social events in the future. If possible, I would like to be able to do so without petitioning the Montaug every time."

"Of course. Just make sure to send an invite my way every now and again."

"That was the plan!"

Diana and Trebar enjoyed a brief moment of mutual understanding. Diana would provide the opportunity to rid himself of his excesses, Trebar would provide his presence and status to improve her standing amongst the nobles. It was a win-win arrangement that would ultimately provide further benefits for Diana in the form of connections.

". . . um. Is there any news on my people?" Titanyana, who had been shocked by the weighty purse being thrown to her, finally asserted herself once she felt the main discussion had finished. She had no voice in those matters, at least not yet.

"A ship has been dispatched in order to find a route to be used in the interim. An ambassador is aboard, and they have orders to bring back the first few refugees. They are to act as proof of our commitment, some of them will be present on the return voyage to confirm that we are not lying."

"B-but my people would believe you regardless!" Titanyana knew that five more people on the return voyage meant five less people that could be saved in total.

"We are not so naïve as to believe that, Titanyana." Trebar frowned, not upset with her but understanding her urgency. "The fact of the matter is that we need to make certain that they understand they will be safe if we want to continue with the evacuation. Space travel is dangerous, and the voyage will be long. They need to have the proper mentality so that nothing happens over the course of the trip."

Titanyana's ears fell flat, her tail curling up into her lap. ". . . I understand."

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