Nico was sitting in the dining room, naked except for the seventh coat that she had tried on that morning.

“So, are we going to go to Absolution, or should I precision portal myself over there and pilot it to the recruitment planet in sync with your arrival? I think the other way would be much more fun and dramatic since we will watch in real-time as the Alliance and the rest of humanity discovers what we were up to.” She suggested.

“First, put on pants. Second, I think you are right. Having the ship appear through a portal would make a great impression. On that topic, does it even have the power to open a portal that size?” Max asked.

“Of course. It’s long, and only the rear wings are particularly wide, so I can make a very efficient oval portal and bring it through. It will be less than half the required power for the Alliance sphere thing to follow us.

I’m sure they will follow us, they are still assigned as our observers and have been notified that we need to move to complete our next order of business, but they didn’t ask for the Envoys back.

No way will they let them be half a Galaxy away from their ship, so they’re definitely coming with us. But once they see what we have to show them, they will likely send more than just one Envoy ship to observe us.

I suspect that we will have a whole armada of Alliance Government ships following us around by the time we have Absolution fully staffed, and even after that, it will take some effort to make them go home.

The ship is a marvel of design and technology, if I do say so myself, and it’s way cooler than those boring spheres that the Alliance uses. I mean, it’s space, and the spheres aren’t a high warp vessel, so they could have used any shape that they wanted, but they went with the blandest possible option.”

That made sense, so Max nodded to Nico and prepared to meet with the Envoys after Terminus arrived in their destination system.

“Give us ten minutes before you open the portal. That will give me time to gather the Envoys and get settled into position in orbit around the planet. Arrive further out, directly out from the planet, in relation to its star. That should give us the best view.” Max informed Nico, who was now sorting through a pile of pleated skirts to go with her chosen jacket.

“Aren’t you doing that backward? Start with the inner layer and work outward.” He suggested.

“That’s what I usually do, but then I never get to wear the coat that I really wanted to since it doesn’t quite go with the outfit, so instead, I’m starting with the coat today. What do you think about the blue and gold trench coat? Is it best with the plaid skirt or the uniform cargo pants?” She replied.

“The black leather pants tucked in the knee-high boots with the trench coat. Then the long-sleeved cream-coloured blouse, that black leather corset thing, the gold sash for your waist over the pistol belt, and then a nice tricorne hat with a feather. Very Nico the Pirate.” Max recommended.

“Oh, that’s a good combo. There aren’t many good times to wear a tricorne, but I think that recruiting for a new ship is the perfect opportunity to play up the Reaver Aesthetic to the maximum.” Nico laughed.

She quickly dug out the requested items, all of which were part of her usual apparel other than the trench coat and the hat, and then went to the Materials Printer and made herself a new sword to go with the outfit, with a Plasma Pistol on the other hip.

“It’s not right without a sword. Plus, you can’t dramatically kill someone with a Plasma Pistol. They just die.” She explained.

“You do you. Now, get over there, and I will get this show on the road.” Max laughed, nearly overwhelmed by her joy and enthusiasm.

Nico linked with the Ship’s computer and opened the small portal in mid-air in front of her, then jumped through to Absolution, closing it behind her while Max made his way out of the room to gather the Envoys.

Their Illithid advisor had warned them that something big was happening today, so they were all gathered at their favourite coffee shop, trying to convince the Innu Envoy that decaf wasn’t a human rights violation, when he arrived.

“I’m not sure that it makes that standard, but I get where she’s coming from. Decaf should never have been invented. It is a lesson on the dangers of unfettered development for the sake of development.” Max agreed.

“Is decaf what they mean by the phrase manmade horrors beyond our comprehension? It is clearly metaphorical, but I haven’t determined its proper use yet.” The Innu Envoy asked.

“Something like that. At least to someone who loves coffee as much as you do. I heard that the Council is considering putting it on the restricted alien items list in the near future, prohibiting it to minors without clearance of their species’ representatives.” Max teased her.

“They wouldn’t dare. This is the nectar of the gods, and I have moderated my intake. There is only one additional shot of espresso in this one, and extra raspberry and cinnamon. It’s like ninety percent milk and still delicious. Did you know they use real raspberry juice for the flavour? That’s why this place is the best.”

She was clearly pouting, but it was almost time for the announcement that they would be opening a portal.

The Admiral’s voice came over the intercom as the lighting changed to add some extra red into the spectrum, the usual warning that there would be a ship-wide message.

[All hands prepare for motion. Terminus will be moving on to her next stop in one minute, using a Portal to save travel time and the danger of crossing Klem territory on our way to one of the core worlds of the old Kepler Empire.

Kepler 207 has a population of over 26 billion people and had been one of the most notable bureaucratic planets in the Empire before the last civil war.

Our reason for this stop will be obvious after we arrive, so we do ask that you are patient with our staff while we prepare the surprise for you.]

The Envoys all gave Max suspicious looks, wondering what was going on, and Max realized that their observer hadn’t warned them about the new ship, so they really had no clue what was going on right now. That was incredibly kind of him, and Max would have to remember to thank the man later.

The portal opened, and Terminus moved from the far North to the South Central region of the Galaxy in an instant, then moved to take orbit around the lone inhabited planet around this star, not going for the space station nearby, but waiting on the dark side of the planet.

“Such suspense. The design team must have come up with something great if you, of all people, are acting so enigmatic.” The Valkia Envoy laughed.

Max checked his watch and smiled. Ten seconds left. He tapped his wrist device to switch all the public viewscreens to the same camera, facing out from the planet, and then opened a public broadcast.

[May I present to you the newest ship in the Terminus Trading Company Fleet? Please welcome the World Ship Class Operation Center known as Absolution.]

Just as Max finished speaking, an oval portal five hundred kilometres wide opened in the empty space in front of the camera, and a shining golden craft passed through, broadside to Terminus, showing off the full side and top view of the new vessel for everyone to see.

“Sweet Mother of Technology, what is that?” The Innu Envoy gasped while the Valkia flared his wings in shock, instinctively preparing to move as his brain struggled to respond to what he was seeing.

“Oh, that is a good response. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that off guard, and the Giant is completely speechless.

The Giant Envoy was staring at the screen on the coffee shop’s wall with his mouth wide open and the remains of his Danish in his lap, forgotten in the aftermath of the ship reveal. Even his thoughts seemed to have stopped for a moment before he recovered and pointed at the screen.

“That. How did you make that? Where did you see it before?” He finally demanded without taking his eyes off the screen.