Once the tourists were all loaded back on Terminus, given a basic medical scan for infections and injuries, and settled back into their rooms, Admiral Drake made ready to take the ship back to Warp and get them headed back toward the border.
Before he could even power up the engines, they got a rather unusual message from a nearby independent trader, sent on the Reaver's open frequency for any Company in the area. By the Decree of Sector Command, a wide variety of drugs and medicines had been banned, leaving the Merchant with nowhere to unload his cargo.
Given the state of the Sector and the run-in that they had with the last group that wanted a trade, Max was reluctant to answer the call for a deal, but after searching the ship's travel logs and finding that they had just arrived in the sector from the far side of the Kepler Empire where the requested medicines were produced, he decided to have some mercy on the group.
Rae 5 could use most of these items when they got back, and they couldn't be easily reproduced with Kepler technology, which was why the merchant had gone to such lengths to buy and deliver them.
[This is the Terminus Trading Company. We will come to your pinned location to make a trade. Please hold position, and be aware that the entire region is considered under quarantine by the Reavers, so interaction with the locals would include you in our quarantine measures.] Max informed them.
[Copy that Terminus Trading Company. There is something off with this sector, and we will be leaving with whatever you have to trade. Someone somewhere will want it.]
That was the sort of attitude a good merchant should have, so Max ordered the Admiral to meet with the Merchants. He also had the Engineering team prepare a long-range scan for the new viruses, which weren't caught by their standard scans until it was far too late. They had a lot of random items on board, but the easiest to move would be to trade the Merchants some newly produced standard pattern Line Mecha for their medicine.
Everyone knew at this point that the Reavers had quite a few of them to trade so that it wouldn't draw too much attention, and they had an ample supply of the materials that were needed to make them.
Max thought about trading off the luxury furniture that they had acquired, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought he should use it to upgrade the officer's quarters for the infantry and more military barracks aboard the ship instead.
They would take the trade loss for the items and call it an upgrade for the company. They were making enough by leveraging their advanced manufacturing abilities.
The Merchant ship turned out to be an oddity just as rare as Terminus. It was one of the Warp Sail vessels made by the Vampires in the far north of the Galaxy. Instead of using a full energy shield, they used physical sails to help shape their warp fields, making them more efficient than most but limited in top speed.
It was an antiquated design, just like Terminus, but still popular with Merchants in the North, though rarely brought this far south into the more dangerous regions, where speed and firepower mattered more to most merchants.
[Terminus Trading Company? That is a rather impressive vessel you have there. We weren't expecting such a grand Generational Home Ship to be in the hands of an unknown name.] The merchants greeted them.
[Though the name is new, we have many familiar names in the Company. If you would like to send a shuttle with four-meter ceiling heights, we can make the deal in our Port side Bay 24. We have a gravity arrival and hull regulation system in place, so please cut engines before reaching the barrier.] Max replied.
It was only a few minutes before the traders sent their shuttle, matched to their ship in the same antique vintage and with the Vampire gothic fashion sense.
It was large enough to take a handful of Light Mecha, and the Merchants could sell them anywhere that they wanted within the Empire, in essence giving them a free pass to pick up whatever load they wanted next.
They arrived at the dock with a smooth stop and were pulled into where Max and Nico were waiting in the nearly empty bay, with only the Mecha they intended to trade visible, and all of the security staff moved outside of the bay entirely.
This time even Nico had the barrier on the Archangel suit up, as it was already programmed to prevent intrusion by the mind-altering biomechanical virus.
"You lot really have all the good toys. That temperature regulation feels like it's Alliance technology." The black-clad and bone-white-skinned Vampire that led the trading group greeted them.
"That's because it is. They helped us repair a number of the amenities aboard Terminus when we met with them.
The vampire's eyes lit up a brighter red than even Nico's did when he heard that news and excitement were visible both in his mannerisms and his thoughts.
"They actually interacted with you? And it went well enough that they agreed to grant you assistance repairing an antique colony ship? Now that's a credential nobody would believe without seeing it themselves. But we have, and I am impressed." The Vampire told Nico with a smile.
"Funny what happens when you don't shoot at strangers, isn't it?" Nico replied, making the whole Vampire group laugh.
"We have a request, if possible. We are returning home after this trip, as we have secured the goods that we came for, so if possible, we would like to trade for Credits. That way, we could use them for provisions at face value without needing to arrange a trade." The merchant group's lead Vampire requested.
"We have Reaver, or General Credits, as well as Kepler Credits available. Which would you prefer?" Nico asked.
"If you have fifty million Kepler Credits, we will take those and then restock once we are out of this sector. The Reavers don't quarantine an entire Sector without a good reason, and we don't want to find out firsthand what it is. We don't deal much in southern politics, and we have been away from home too long to be delayed by an infectious disease." He requested, sweeping his white hair out of his eyes with an annoyed huff.
"We can do that. We also have a barber on board if you need it?" Nico joked.
"I appreciate the offer, but I am trying to grow it back out, and it's just at an annoying stage." The man explained with a sad smile, blowing the hair out of his face again.
Max scanned the medicine, and it was all legitimate and accurate in quantity, as he would expect of the notoriously hidebound Vampires. They lived an exceptionally long time, at least by this Galaxy's standards, and disliked all forms of dishonesty. They weren't above some old-fashioned butchery when it was needed, but they would never lie about it to launch a sneak attack. It was beneath their dignity. If Max had known it was actual Vampires aboard the trade ship, he would have been much less reluctant to make the trade.
The Credits were transferred, and the medicine was brought into the bay when one of the traders got a panicked look and turned to the bow of the ship, then whispered something to his companions.
"Well, as much as I usually love to stay and chat, I think we should leave immediately. We aren't on the best of terms with the Illithid you see, and the one you have on board has noticed our presence." The leader explained.
"They are guests. I am assured that they won't harm anyone." Max told him.
"Not physically. But we also share some mind-altering abilities, and their collective will hold grudges for a very long time." The merchant explained, looking more nervous by the second.
"Then I won't force you to stay any longer. It has been a pleasure dealing with you, and if you happen across us again, I would be happy to do the trade aboard your vessel if it makes you more comfortable." Nico replied politely.
The Vampires bowed politely and boarded their shuttle, gently moving out of the bay before taking off at maximum speed and returning to their own vessel, leaving the area the moment the bay doors closed.
They weren't kidding about having issues with the Illithid, it seemed. Max added it to his list of notes on the computer for future interactions.
