The Hunter fleet gathered in a circular formation and opened an immense portal to their next destination, not wanting to waste time sightseeing now that they had official permission to hunt the Klem.
The process was highly informative to the engineering team aboard Terminus, who hadn't worked out how to make multiple ships work together correctly to create a large-scale portal to distant locations. Between that observational data and the design schematics for the new flat space storage device, they had a lot of work in front of them.
"Nico, send a copy of that to Uncle Lu as well. He will likely make better use of it than we can, and I suspect there are clues to both warp drive advancements and munitions storage technology hidden in those schematics." Max ordered.
"Oh, that is a good idea. I should have asked for a few examples to test, and we could attach them to our suits and stuff a huge power pack inside. Neverending plasma rifle charges. I like the way that you think." Nico agreed, then her eyes went dim for a moment as she focused on sending the message to Uncle Lu in a way that couldn't be intercepted and decoded.
"Done and sent. Now let's get back to the drudgery before they do something incredibly stupid without us." she finished.
Terminus turned back to the station as soon as the Hunters were gone, not looking forward to the meetings ahead of them but unable to find a way to get out of them. They shouldn't take too much longer, though, as the Rebels had said that they planned to do something big within a week of today.
Everything appeared exactly as they left it. Even General Kirkland's message welcoming them back into position just in time to send the delegation back to the station for the morning's meetings conveyed utter boredom.
"Tedium, drudgery, superfluous, nonsensical, irrelevant," Nico muttered as she sat in her chair beside Max, pretending to clean her nails with a knife.
"Stop that. You're making this more boring than it already was." Max complained as the various nations continued to haggle about borders.
According to the Cygnus delegation, they had been at this since Terminus left and still hadn't finished the negotiations.
"Are your plans still the same?" Nico asked General Kirkland on Max's behalf, and the old noble nodded.
"Yes, we will take and stabilize that one portion of space while we reinforce our borders. I haven't heard about anyone moving, but I think it won't be long now. Once the majority of the fleets are on the move, it will be impossible to hide that something big is happening, even if nobody else knows where it will happen."
"How about I get us some tea and snacks? We can relax while they argue and wait for something worth our attention now that our part of the day's proceedings is taken care of?" Nico suggested, getting to her feet.
"Bring back whiskey instead. Tea isn't going to be enough. While you got to go intercept a foreign fleet, I've been here for days, covering for the Reavers, though you've only had a few questions directed your way." General Kirkland sighed.
The entire day passed as they sipped whiskey and ignored the rest of the proceedings, as it didn't involve them.
The next three days were all the same, relaxing in a comfortable chair and drinking while the smaller nations worked out their differences.
On the fourth day after their return, the first news of fleet mobilizations made it to their ears, and everyone understood that they would have to deal with what they had, as it was no longer possible to hide their actions. Tens of thousands of warships had been spotted moving out of their home nations, and Cygnus was said to be reinforcing their borders, an action that seemed perfectly normal to the outside observer who didn't know that Cygnus was aware of their actions.
The leader of the rebels gathered everyone to the main table again for a full announcement, joy lighting up his face.
"We have the news that we all have been waiting for. The first six Princes of the Kepler Empire joined the Rebellion on the side of the Nobles. They will assume command of the six fleets that we command and rule over the six territories that we have agreed to pacify.
As of 0600 Kepler Throne Time today, the Emperor has fallen.
While his body double was holding a meeting to bring the Princes back into compliance, the Royal Assassins loyal to the Crown Prince assassinated his father. The Kepler Empire is no more. The Kepler Royal Alliance begins today."
The entire audience was stunned into silence. The Emperor was dead at the hands of his own children, and the Royals had betrayed the bureaucracy to stand behind the Princes in establishing a new Royal structure.
It was unthinkable to most of them. The idea that the Rebels were actually Royal agents for the Princes, playing the bureaucracy for fools while they built power and destabilized the Emperor, was never part of the calculations.
Never before had the Princes worked together on anything, and their attempts to kill each other were said to be nearly constant.
For this plan to have worked, they must have been planning this moment for at least fifty years, never once letting on that they were colluding with each other. The scale was unimaginable, but if it was true, they needed to adapt quickly.
The Royal Family would still control three-quarters of Kepler space, with the forces not directly loyal to the Princes about to be annihilated by the incoming attack fleets before they even knew what was happening.
The Emperor had taken direct command, so if he were gone, the Command Structure would be in disarray as Central Command was certain to fall to infighting as they tried to come out on top in the chaos.
[I have used a portal to send the message directly to the Reavers. Every one knows every detail that we have heard here today. I can't verify the truth yet, but I can verify that there is some sort of battle near the Imperial Compliance Fleet.] Nico informed Max of her thoughts after tugging his sleeve to ensure he was listening.
"We must get back to Rae 5. There is much to be done and many preparations to be made." Max declared, getting to his feet.
"Not so fast. Until the fleets arrive, nobody leaves this system. We can't have double agents and secret loyalists sending messages out to their allies. All communications from the system have been blocked for a month, and we will keep the secrecy of our plans as long as possible." The Rebel leader announced.
"That is fine. Terminus will hold right where it is until the chaos dies down, and then we will begin working out the details of who will take over the trade routes." Max replied with a polite bow.
"Typical Reaver, no patience at all. Off to get paid the moment that things get interesting." One of the representatives laughed with his companions while Max feigned innocence, and Nico updated Max on their situation.
[Our messages have gone through, I used a micro portal to transmit directly. It saves on the transmission time from across the Empire.]
