After a significant amount of interrogation, the Terminus Regiment found that the Grax population was the last of their kind, a species on the run after another planet's residents had overthrown them, presumably for the same sort of thing that they had done here to the humans.
Their attitude made it both more difficult and more pleasurable for the interrogation specialists to work, as they actually believed that their technology had made them gods. In their minds, that was all it took. If you could force others to do your bidding, you were their god, end of the story. So, they believed that they had every right to do what they pleased and that humans should remain below them.
That explained a lot about their attitude at the negotiations for territory. Max hadn't been able to pinpoint their attitudes among the crowd and had thought that they were merely arrogant. Seeing them here made him realize just how delusional the Grax really were.
[Ground Forces, prepare for incoming shuttles and Landers. The Cygnus fleet also requests Commander Keres's presence in orbit for the final payment transfer and formal transfer of responsibility.] Admiral Drake informed them as Max finished the paperwork confirming that all of the settlements had returned to normal food distribution.
The rest of the issues were no longer his problem, but he had to at least make sure that the people wouldn't starve if the Cygnus administration had issues getting used to their jobs here.
[I am on my way up. Hopefully, Cleansing Light doesn't scare them too much.] Max replied with a chuckle.
Nobody had warned the Cygnus forces that they had a Titan Class Mecha with them, so the appearance of one in the hands of the Reavers was going to cause some serious ripples through Cygnus politics.
[We have a cutter ready if you wish to use it to return to orbit.] Nico offered.
That might actually be the best idea for today. The rumors that the locals spread would be wild anyhow since his forces had eliminated their former deities, so talk of one giant Mecha who had intervened in a few cities would be passed off as superstition.
[Do it. I will ride the Cutter back up, and then you can send it back to the surface for the battalion. Please have a shuttle ready when I arrive unless we are holding the meetings on Terminus.] Max decided.
[Second Battalion's Cutter is closest. Inbound now. Your departure will have to wait until the landers have cleared the airspace above you. We don't have access to Cygnus flight paths.]
Nico was clearly annoyed by that fact, but after the recent news of military facilities being hacked by both Kepler and the Narsians, they had put some effort into upgrading their security measures.
While Max loaded Cleansing Light into the Cutter in a kneeling position, being too tall to walk into the bay, the locals waved a happy goodbye to him, well conditioned to believe their news media, and now well indoctrinated to see the Reavers and Cygnus as their rescuers, but Nico had been careful to make sure that they would see the Cygnus administration as fellow humans helping them get their planet up and running for the common good of their new allies.
The Landers were reaching the ground now, far too widely spaced to be in an invasion fleet, but Max knew that they were bringing thousands of Light Mecha with them for security purposes since the ones belonging to the military were mostly destroyed and weren't compatible with Cygnus repair facilities anyhow.
The Cutter took him back to the bay, where Nico and his security escort were waiting for him to arrive.
"We have the paperwork all ready, confirmed, and double-checked by both myself and the Admiral. Cygnus wants to pay with a mix of materials and goods, to be picked up from their sources. We have the copies of the requisition orders ready to be signed." Nico informed him.
"It feels like we actually did something worthwhile today," Max replied with a smile, making the security forces chuckle.
"Is that our next goal? Turning the humans into less of a Galactic embarrassment?" One of them asked, the helmet keeping Max from immediately telling who.
"It's not a bad goal. Even if we can get to a status like the Hunters, it would be a good start. Once we finish here, I plan to take us back to the western edge of civilization. The Klem has been a problem for too long, and we are in a good position to clear a few high-threat planets while the rest of the region plays politics." Max replied.
"So, we let them do what they do, then we show up afterward with technology and start reshaping the Human Species?" Nico asked.
"Is it such a bad plan? Someone needs to kick them in the ass to get them in shape, and we need to start somewhere." Max asked before he noticed the dubious thoughts of the guards and Nico's misconception about annihilating anyone who disagreed with their plan.
"I say we start in the outer arms. If we start by organizing the Mercenaries and building their technology to match the Reavers, we can have all the unaligned humans on the same page. With all of the merchant and Mercenary forces on another level, it will force everyone else to comply or be left out of the new trade routes that we can manage in days instead of months." Max clarified.
"That's not bad. We could talk to the council and get permission to start bringing the Mercenaries into the Reaver nation. Most of them have already made trade agreements with Rae 5, so it would just be an expansion of what we are already doing and some serious shipments of new technologies.
I think even the Alliance would approve of your methodology, though a Colony Ship full of Titan Class Mecha sounds like a much more fun way to bring planets into compliance.
Just imagine it. A thousand orbital strikes at once, broadcast all over the Galaxy, to remind humans that it is time to give up on the notion of large-scale wars or be deleted from the future." Nico sighed.
"Peace through Genocide. It's a catchy motto, but I don't think that he's going to go for it, Nico." One of the guards reminded her.
"Just wait. He will eventually get frustrated with the stupid people, and my way will start sounding better and better." Nico disagreed.
Max could already see how that was a possibility. That was the danger of Nico's ideas. They would work so much better than doing things the right way. Who would dare to start a war if Terminus would just show up with enough firepower to annihilate your entire culture in a single strike?
It was fairly similar to how the Valkia had done things, but he was hoping that such drastic measures weren't going to be necessary. Even the Hunters wouldn't appreciate that tactic since it wasn't sporting of them to win by pure overkill.
"Don't hold your breath for that. We will do it with technology and culture, not Orbital Strikes." Max replied.
Nico gave a pointed look down at the planet below them.
"Alright, limited Orbital Strikes to make a point when necessary."
