For the next two days, ship after ship came and dropped off tourists aboard Terminus. Most of the vessels didn't stay, serving as more of an interstellar taxi service, ferrying hundreds of people at a time to the ship for a month-long stay that seemed to be the galactic standard for vacations.
Almost all of their reservations ended on the same day, one month from arrival. That could have to do with school schedules though, as their guests were mostly young people from the Innu and the Illithid Empire, but there were some older and younger guests, as well as a few giants and Valkia among the crowds.
The giants' name for themselves translated directly as "People" so everyone else just called them the giants since their homeworld's name was unpronounceable by anyone who couldn't growl and whistle at the same time.
Max was just starting to get used to the constant stream of reports from the ship when an emergency message came through to Terminus, requesting reinforcements to help deal with an attack on a Reaver ship that had cut through the border between Cygnus space and an independent system to the Southeast of both Rae 5 and Kepler territory.
It would be too far for Terminus to travel if they didn't have the portal available, and Max wasn't sure that it could be stabilized for the huge Colony Ship to pass through, so he sent the request through to the Admiral and the design team to see what they could do.
[We can stabilize the Portal to hold for up to fifteen minutes without input. That is sufficient to get Terminus through.] The Admiral confirmed.
[Excellent, I will inform the ship.]
[All hands and Guests, Terminus has received a request for aid and will be traveling to another location within the Southeastern Quadrant of this Galaxy. All arrivals and departures will be put on hold until the situation is under control. I thank you for your understanding.] Max informed the ship over the intercom and watched as their guests went into full party mode.
This was what they were hoping for when they arrived. Not just to see the new galaxy, but to see why it was off limits firsthand, but with the protection of a high-tech force that made them feel safe enough to not run away.
The Reaver ship had been forced to land on a planet and was currently using its defensive forces to hold off an attack by what they had identified as Pirates. They wouldn't last too long, the Pirates weren't idiots, they knew what they could attack and win against, but Max could get there much faster than anyone had anticipated.
[Activate the Portal. Every minute lost is lives lost. All Pilots to your Mecha, Cutters make ready to deploy. All Drone Pilots to your Pods.] Max ordered as Terminus began to power up in preparation to open the portal.
It would take even more power than their Warp Travel did, but they had enough to spare with the updated Drive designs, even if it was a slow process without the living energy storage that they had pilfered the designs for from the Valkia.
The slow activation was actually popular with the guests, who were given a few carefully selected feeds to choose from so they could see what was going on outside the ship. It felt more rustic and real to them than the nearly instant build-up and smooth movement of their top-of-the-line ships from the current generations. A reminder that despite the luxury, the ship they were on was more than ten millennia old.
[Portal Stable. Preparing to Transit.] Admiral Drake informed the ship, as Terminus eased through the shimmering void in space, barely larger than its hull.
On the other side of the portal, there was utter Chaos.
Max had thought that they hadn't sent a follow-up signal since they were under attack, but what he found was that both the Reavers and the Pirates were under attack by the Scourge.
[Keep Terminus well back and send in the Cutters. Keep Fifth Battalion aboard Terminus in case the Scourge notices us. Full attack in 30 seconds.] Max ordered.
The ship's alarms began to blare as the Cutters made ready to depart, and the ship's shields powered up to defend against the probability of a Scourge attack.
[Head to the surface with the troops. The Scourge will cut off long-range communications.] Nico suggested as Max sighed in disappointment that he had duties.
[There's no time for that.] Max pointed out right as a small portal opened in front of him, showing him the roof of Enduring Rage.
[A gift from our Innu Guests. Now get going, I have insane guests to deal with, who all want more data feeds to see the battle from.] Nico informed him, clear annoyance in her voice.
She was certainly better suited to that job than he was since she could send out drones to fulfill their requests. So, Max entered his Mecha, minus one Technician, and powered up the systems right as the First Battalion's Cutter got ready to leave the hangar.
[It's good to see you, Commander, I thought we would be short a Pilot. First Battalion is ready on your Command.] Major Miller informed him, from the cockpit of his Infernus Pattern Fast Attack Crusader, formerly known as the X109 model.
The moment that the Cutters cleared the Moon that Terminus had arrived behind, The Scourge were alerted to their presence, sending a large portion of their forces to intercept the four Cutters, who were already unleashing a furious salvo of fire toward the mechanical species' ships.
This would be somewhere between a horror movie and a train wreck from the Innu point of view, Max was sure. They had such a close affinity with technology that a hostile AI species was anathema to them. But the fact that the Terminus Trading Company was fighting them off with Mecha would make it robot-on-robot violence, at least from the outside perspective.
[Battalions two, three, and four, head to the surface and assist the Reavers. The First Battalion will be heading to the Scourge ship to nullify the threat. The Scourge is known to retreat when their vessel is damaged.] Max ordered, then double-checked the Super Heavy Mecha's systems.
It was time for war again, but this time with an audience, so no questionable tactics which might be called war crimes.
