The party had moved into a slower-paced nighttime mode, and the ship’s clock was almost to morning again when Max received a message about more vessels incoming to the planet.

These ones hadn’t identified as Border Nations, and they weren’t Mercenary vessels, but they had refused to answer any hails from Terminus or the other vessels present.

[Nico, wake your ass up. I need a ship identification, and I need it now.] Max ordered.

[Keep your panties on. I will find out who they are.] Nico laughed, and Max distantly felt her thoughts over on the far side of the ship where the Innu guests who were still awake were brainstorming ways to modify the Materials Printers that wouldn’t violate Alliance laws.

Some of their favorite technologies relied upon synthetic Ions, which weren’t stable in nature, but could be artificially bonded together through advanced technology. They had a pair of very drunk Valkia lawyers with them, objecting to everything that they proposed, as well as one Giant bureaucrat who would look up the relevant laws and copyrights on their behalf.

He was not getting in the middle of that, so Max let Nico do her thing and just waited for the message.

[Got them. They are Omwat-built vessels, with their hulls modified to evade identification. Their ship’s comms have been altered as well, and I am detecting large numbers of Mecha power signatures aboard the vessels.] Nico responded.

Omwat was not part of the Border Nations, but they used them as a shield to keep trouble from their own borders. The fact that they had sent multiple vessels here in disguise was not a good sign.

[Size and Capability] Max demanded since Nico had gotten distracted by the conversation again.

[Thirty Destroyers, with an escort fleet encased in their Warp bubble. True power unknown.]

That was enough for Max to scramble all Pilots and the new Infantry Regiment to ready positions. They had been reminded not to drink too heavily last night, but fighting with a hangover was a longstanding Military Tradition, so the actual level of sobriety was questionable.

If nothing else, running through the halls of a Destroyer during a boarding action would sweat the last of the liquor out of their systems.

The Abrax were not on good terms with the Reavers for a number of generations, so the chances that they were here to join the negotiations were pretty low, and if they were, they wouldn’t have needed to send so many vessels.

This fleet was enough to launch a full planetary invasion of the half dozen inhabited planets in the vicinity of the meeting, where the Reavers and their Allies would need to engage in a ground war to try to dig them out without incurring significant civilian casualties.

Even the presence of Cleansing Light wouldn’t mean much if they invaded the planets, as Max couldn’t unleash his full fury on a friendly planet.

Max did his best to avoid alarming the guests while he mobilized as many of his troops as he could and called the Illithid advisor to his side. The man was a genius with strategy, both for preventing battle and keeping it from spreading if it were inevitable.

The Illithid was a practical species, thanks to their mind reading. They knew that violence was inevitable, so they just did their best to keep it contained, and they had managed to do it so well that interplanetary conflict was basically unknown in the Alliance for centuries, even without anyone taking action to assist other planets.

“What can we do to keep this incoming fleet from causing major issues?” Max asked.

The Illithid gave him a pitying look and brought out a data tablet with their calculations visible. The chances of keeping them from making landfall were less than one percent if that was their goal, and the chances of the negotiations proceeding on the schedule were zero. Not less than one percent, the Illithid had calculated them as absolute zero.

“Alright, then, we will have to be proactive the moment that they make their intentions clear. But if they are making planetfall, we will need clearance from the Border Nations, or at least the ones involved.” Max sighed.

[Nico, contact the Ambassador from the Border Nations that is here on the ship and let her know what is going on, assuming that she doesn’t already know. We might not have an agreement signed, but some goodwill will go a long way if we can keep their planet from getting overrun by their neighbors.]

[Her assistants are up. Life signs in the room say that the heart rates are high enough that they must be awake or having a nightmare. I will page them, and they can wake their mistress up.] Nico agreed.

After a few minutes of frantic motion behind the scenes, the Ambassador was coming toward Max in her evening gown, and the Mecha were loaded and ready inside the Cutters.

“Commander Max, is what I hear right? The Reavers are willing to come to our defense, despite our history?” The woman asked as she ran up, much faster than her abundant and aged physique would suggest was possible.

“Since there is no agreement at this point, our intervention will not be free of charge. But we are willing to provide as much force as we can to ensure that the Omwat fleet does not overrun the border nations in this region.” Max agreed.

“With only a single Colony Ship here and a few Mercenary Groups nearby, what can you even do?” She asked, afraid that her home planet was going to take the brunt of this offensive.

“We can call for reinforcements, but Terminus herself has an entire Heavy Mecha Regiment, as well as a few specialized units. I thought your military would have informed you already.” Max replied.

“The Border Fleet was holding the data of your interactions until everyone was assembled so that they didn’t cause a panic, or so they said.” The assistant replied on his boss’s behalf.

“Fair enough. We have a Titan Class Mecha here, and we are perfectly capable of dealing with the Destroyers, but we will be unlikely to stop the majority of the planetary landing fleets.” Max informed her.

The woman held up her communication device, a handheld version of the smartwatch Max and most others wore, showing him that everything they said had been transmitted to a group chat.

She kept silent for a moment while they argued, then turned up the volume so that everyone nearby could hear.

“The Border Nations are willing to submit immediately to the Trade Agreement terms as written. The paperwork will be signed and submitted within the next fifteen minutes.” A very official voice announced.

Well, that was certainly one way of doing it. They would lose out on any potential benefits and freebies, but they would save the cost of a Reaver military intervention, which might save them money in the long run. It was a calculated risk on their part, but Max would take a win where he could get it.

[Nico, inform the Reavers that we have the entire Border Nation group coming into our fold within the hour and that they are under attack by the Omwat. We need anyone who is free for defense, and I intend to take the entire nation of Omwat as a Reaver territory as compensation.] Max informed the war-crimes loving Cyborg.

[You’re so good to me. And on my birthday, no less. I will have to find you a much better present than I had planned.]