Chapter 455: 453 Expansion

Once everyone was seated, it became clear to Max that they were almost all subordinate to Commander Arnold and would follow his lead in these negotiations, trusting him to broker the deal on their behalf.

"Now that everyone is gathered, we will start things over. I know some of you have been informed of the details of our proposal already, and I have sent a copy of the Trade Agreement to every Captain and Commander.

So, that brings us back to the introduction of the benefits. The most important to the majority of you is that the Reavers are willing to share their advances in Warp Drive Technology with all members of the trade group.

I have seen that many of the ships in the fleet are Warp 2 and Warp 3 generation vessels. That is impressive here in Death Wind Territory, but soon the embargo will be gone, and on the scale of the whole of humanity, it isn't fast enough.

So, the Reavers have offered to help you retrofit your vessels or purchase new trade vessels that have top speeds exceeding what your current hull designs are capable of."

The whole room burst into excited conversations as the Mercenaries worked to digest the fact that the Reavers were capable of doing something that had been a mere dream to them for Millennia.

"At what cost?" Commander Arnold asked.

"Just as you read in the agreement. Materials, labor, plus a fifteen percent markup and five percent tax. That goes for a retrofit as well as purchasing entire new vessels.

The stations gathered in the Rae 5 system have already begun turning out new hulls in preparation for the expected orders, and I am sure that at least one or two of the Companies has gathered the assets for an upgrade that they were unable to obtain in the past."

The Commander's look was somewhere between placid and mildly surprised, but his thoughts were a jumble of shock and awe that Max was taking as a good sign.

"So, you are saying that if I turn over the resources, I could have new hulls here within the year?" Commander Arnold asked.

"I am saying that once your Company is a Trade Group member, I can open a portal to Rae 5, and you can have new Warp 10 capable Cutters that day, assuming you have the resources gathered," Max explained.

The room was now too loud for anything to get done, so Max simply waited and practiced the mental technique that the Illithid had taught him to lower the volume of the thoughts around him, so it didn't feel like a hundred people were shouting in his mind.

It worked very well, and he was able to focus only on the few influential Captains within a minute, silencing everyone else's thoughts to a quiet murmur.

"We will want a lot of vessels, both for ourselves and our vassals." Commander Arnold warned him.

"As long as they are members. The agreement states that the new technology isn't to be spread outside of the Trade Group, an incentive to membership, if you will. But as of the last time I checked, there should be at least two dozen vessels ready and waiting, though some will have been snapped up by the Reavers already.

Don't worry, though. They have some earmarked for purchase by new members so that everyone understands that the Trade Group isn't just for the benefit of the Reavers. The Materials Printers and Replicators we can build right here on Terminus, so that isn't going to be a problem unless you need more than we have the materials to create."

They had a huge amount of suitable ore in the ship that they had saved from their previous trade deals, so unless they wanted to retrofit an entire planet, Max wasn't too concerned about that part of their orders.

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"How good are the Materials Printers? We have some among the Exterminators fleet already."

Max smirked at the question. "They are an upgrade on the previous generation of Kepler military units. They might not be as good as the bleeding edge units we are still experimenting on, but they are solid units capable of producing everything from domestic items to entire Mecha if you have the plans."

That got their attention. They hadn't expected to get technology at that level out of the trade deal, but more importantly, it meant that the Reavers were already working on an upgrade that would give them the upper hand on anyone who might oppose them. With all the chaos in the galaxy, it was unlikely that anyone else was devoting much manpower to research and development of noncombat technology.

"I want to see it." Commander Arnold demanded, producing a data card from his jacket.

That was clearly a Cygnus military data card, and it didn't look too old, so it might even contain current-generation equipment plans. How they got it was a secret that the Exterminators could keep to themselves, but as long as the security measures didn't corrupt it during extraction, the Materials Printer could work with it.

"Follow me. We have a unit set up already, and you can input your blueprints and make whatever you like within the limits of the resources we have set out." Max offered.

They had set out enough for most basic items, but if the Commander wanted to make a whole Mecha, it was going to have to wait.

Commander Arnold followed him to the side of the room while everyone at the tables turned to watch them as well as they could.

The big mercenary was clearly competent and familiar with the interface, quickly navigating the menus before inserting the data card that he had produced and beginning the process of creation.

Only a few minutes later, a shiny new Plasma Shotgun, in light Mecha size, suitable for such a huge man to carry as a heavy weapon, sat on the floor of the bay.

With reverent hands, the Commander picked it up, and a small cable extended from his arm, powering up the insert weapon and bringing up the menus, as well as a 1 percent charged notification. That wasn't enough to fire a shot, but it was more than enough to run the diagnostics and produce a puff of plasma at the end of the verification.

"It really worked. With this level of technology, the Death Wind Territory would be on par with the major powers for the first time in their history. Are the Reavers sure that they want to sell such a valuable thing to all of their allies?"

Max snorted in amusement. "Do you think there is a Mercenary Company in existence that could take the entire might of the Reavers and their allies if they broke the agreement and used the technology to attack their neighbors?"

That brought a few chuckles from the other Captains. Of course, there wasn't. Not even the entire group of them working together would dare to declare war on the Reavers. They weren't idiots like the Tapani.

"You have a point. So the mutual defense pact is also a way of maintaining order. What about domestic issues?" Commander Arnold asked.

"What about them? This is a trade alliance. Internal issues are internal issues. They only become an issue if leadership changes." Max informed the room.

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