It didn't take long for all the Alliance's top government officials to get updated on the situation once their border sensors determined that it was not a ruse, a prank or a false signal. There really was a massive army amassed outside their borders, and the only two groups that they could possibly be gathering to attack were the humans and the Alliance.
Both of them were lousy options, as the human's Galaxy was too close to the Alliance to ensure their safety if there was an issue.
The Cathedral Ships' fleet was massive, and they weren't sure that even the mighty armies of the humans could actually defend against something like that. The thought had the Alliance leadership in a panic, just as much as the idea that they might also be a target.
If the humans fell first, then they wouldn't have them to call on as backup if they were attacked afterwards, but their agreement didn't mandate that they would get involved in a situation between the two groups.
It was clear that the humans hadn't attacked first, so no part of the agreement had been breached, but their mutual defence agreements only extended as far as including their own members.
The only issue with that was that while they weren't obligated to help the humans, the humans weren't obligated to help them either. As a much larger political faction, encompassing more galaxies than the humans had factions within their single galactic empire, the Alliance should theoretically be the much stronger force.
But they had been at peace for so long that they had virtually no standing army, and certainly not enough to defend hundreds or thousands of planets from full-scale invasions at the same time.
Max did his best not to laugh as he listened to the Envoys' conversations through their thoughts. The politicians were adamant that they didn't want to have to ask for help, but they were also adamant that they wouldn't draft or mandate any of their planets to raise additional military forces.
[Then what exactly are you proposing, Minister?] The Giant envoy was asking in frustration.
[Can't we make them go away? We haven't had any interactions with them in the past, there is no reason for them to be hostile.] The minister replied.
Max shook his head in dismay at the idiocy of a politician too comfortable in their own luxury to make any sort of hard decision.
[They are not going to go away, Minister. They hold a somewhat religious belief that they need to eliminate all other life in the universe to please their gods. They will not be dissuaded from that goal, and their allies are currently waging war on hundreds of other planets.] The Valkia Envoy reminded the person on the other end of the call.
The other end of the call seemed to withdraw from the microphones for a moment, as the Envoys couldn't understand what they were saying, and then they returned with a proposal.
[As this is a universal threat, perhaps we could ask for a cooperative effort? We will offer one unit for every ten they field to defend their own nation, if they will do the same for us.] One of the ministers suggested.
It was a laughable suggestion, and that was precisely the response that they got from the Envoys. The very thought that they would field a tenth of the Alliance's military might to defend a hundred or more galaxies when they had only one of their own was likely to get them thrown out of whatever office they presented the idea from.
[Ministers, you have to give us something to work with here. The humans already know that we're lacking in military forces, and they're going to expect that we put in at least some effort to save ourselves if we plan to ask them to sacrifice millions on our behalf.] The Valkia Envoy demanded as he lost patience with the politicians.
[What would you have us do? Implement the draft? Militarize police forces? The Alliance is not a colonialist Empire, Envoy. You, of all people, should know that.] The politician replied.
[This isn't colonialism, it is survival. Look at the data from the last round of attacks, less than a year ago. Trillions dead in under a month. Do you think that you can escape the responsibility if such a thing happens in the Alliance? Forget your career, you would be lucky to have a family and home world to return to by the time the hearings were done.]
The Valkia was definitely mad now, and the conversation went quiet for a moment before a new voice joined the call.
[I agree with the Envoy, we cannot simply ignore the need to increase security measures in a time of crisis. We are being threatened with extinction, and the enemy has the ability to enforce it. The relevant regulations and amendments are in every Alliance planet's agreements, we must start increasing our military force.
The question is, if we have the technology to defeat them without taking unacceptable numbers of casualties that will cause widespread rebellion among the planets.] The new voice suggested.
The Innu Envoy was the next to speak. [We have some technologies that are suitable, but the losses will still be past the standardized threshold.]
The voice on the other side sighed. [Alright, what do you suggest, as the Envoy for the Innu, who are the primary developers of our military technology.]
The voice didn't seem to like the Innu as a group, and the reference to the species carried a heavy dose of disdain, but the Envoy was used to it.
[I suggest that we outsource. There hasn't been an approved proposal to update our military technnology in nearly a millennia, so there are many designs both in the private sector and outside the Alliance that exceed what our current military suppliers can provide.]
[Alright, we will open requisitions, and judge them by the standard cost to effectiveness ratio. The suppliers will need to understand the scale of the project, and have some solution to provide us with enough units to sustain combat capability. Thank you for your time, Envoys.]
With that, the call ended, and Max waited patiently for the Envoys to finish organizing their notes and send him a formal notification. All that was left was to talk to Nico and Mary and see what they had in mind to steal away these military contracts.
