-So what's your take on this?
Aelita asked After she explained everything to Tanira.
-We can easily delay her departure if she's sure that she wants to join, and I agree that we should wait for Andrew to decide on that.
As for the spies, Vulcan should be able to find them quite easily, however, I don't think we should kill them.
We can always implant the slavery chips into them and use them as double agents.
-Vulcan can you find the spies in her fleet?
Aelita asked.
-I already have, it's not hard if all they have is the ship's comms systems.
However, I cannot guarantee that I found them all.
The AI answered.
-Can you tell me how many there are?
The Lady asked, shocked at the revelation.
-There are seven that I found so far, and I have proof of their activities.
-That takes care of one part, now how do you propose we delay her fleet's departure?
Aelita asked.
-That's even easier.
All we need to do is ask Ilia to keep her sister in the tank for a day or two longer, stating that the latest scan detected some anomalies in her and it would take this long for the tank to deal with them.
Tarina said with a smile.
-But for it to be convincing, you will need to call your fleet on an open channel and inform them about it.
At the same time, you will need to convince the others to leave, or I can do it when they come for their envoys.
-That should work, but I have no clue if Andrew will accept her, and if he doesn't, all this work will be for nothing.
Aelita said, putting a damper on their preparations.
-I don't think he will reject her, think about it, he always did everything to strengthen the territory.
If he accepts her, we can take over another few systems, and more than that, we get a whole fleet to add to our own.
Then she grinned and looked at the Lady in a way that made a shiver go down her spine.
-Not to mention, that we might get a new sister to join our ranks.
Tanira said still grinning.
The lady didn't understand at first, but after a few seconds, her eyes went wide as she realized what Tanira was talking about.
The next morning, The Lady contacted her fleet and passed on the message that they would be staying a bit longer since her sister experienced some complications and had to stay in the tank for an additional two days.
Some of her followers were not happy hearing this, and a few even expressed their desire to join other fleets.
To her surprise, four of the spies that Vulcan was able to find, were among the ones that wished to jump ship.
She had no idea if they sensed that something was off, and to be honest she didn't care too much.
However, it stung as some of the defectors were her close friends, beings she trusted with her life.
In the end, she agreed to their request, which sounded more like a demand than anything else, allowing them to go wherever they wished to go.
What's more, she even stated that she would not blame anyone if they decided to join the other factions, which made a few more people decide to take this step.
The other faction leaders took in everyone who wanted to join them, and they didn't even make a fuss about her staying behind.
Truth be told, most of them left with their fleets, as soon as they got the people who wanted to join them, leaving only three of them and the Lady, who were waiting for their envoys to be released from the tanks.
Just as The Lady said, every fleet went their own way, avoiding any potential danger and restricted areas, marked on the star chart provided by Aelita.
-You did good, I dont think they caught up to what really is going on.
Tarina said while they watched the fleets jumping away one after the other.
-It seems so, but it still hurts seeing your friends abandon you.
The Lady said, her voice filled with sadness.
-I know how you feel.
The diplomat said placing her hand on the other woman's shoulder, trying to comfort her.
She remembered at that moment how she felt when she was exiled.
A few hours later the first two envoys left the tanks, and after a thorough scan to make sure they were fully healed, Iliana released them with copies of their treatment reports.
The two of them were grateful for the care, and shocked when they learned what was going on while they were in the tanks.
Then something unexpected happened.
The three faction leaders contacted Aelita saying that they didn't want the last envoy, who just so happened to be the porcupine-like alien named Droga.
-You can keep him or kill him I don't care, we are not waiting for him.
These were the faction leader's exact words, as he abandoned one of his own.
This decision was made once his faction leader heard that the envoy would need extensive physical therapy to fully heal.
Moreover, the three faction leaders decided to merge their factions into one, to have a higher chance of survival.
Once the call ended the three fleets jumped away, leaving only the Lady's fleet in place.
Not even an hour later, the three remaining spied were taken down, by the people loyal to the Lady and transported to the shipyard.
With the spies in custody, the lady informed her fleet that they had a chance to join this territory.
-We not only have a chance to join them, but the conditions under which we can join are more than generous.
We will be given our own system or systems if we want to settle more than one, our ships will be able to get repairs and resupply at any of the territory's stations, we will get help in establishing our new stations and lastly, we will be able to get some heavy frigates and destroyers to boost our fleet.
In return, our fleet will be obligated to defend the territory as well as participate in any military campaigns they undertake, and once we are established, we will need to send some resources to the main station.
She explained, surprising everyone.
Some of her people even doubted that this was real since such terms favored them immensely.
-However, to truly join, we need to wait for their leader to get out of the regeneration tank as he has the last word in such cases.
She added.
-I also know that you are all surprised at this and most of you might have some questions, so if you have any, then just ask them.
Not even a second later she got the first question, followed by another and another.
In the end, she, Aelita, and Tarina spent the next two hours answering questions, most of which they had heard before when they took in the pirates under similar terms.
With that done it was time to deal with the spies.
The idea was to implant them with slavery chips, to use them as double agents, but it turned out they were already implanted with the chips, which explained why they betrayed their faction, and it also explained why they were left behind.
Since it was impossible to turn them into double agents, Aelita sent them to Iliana, to try and remove the chips from them.
The regeneration tanks, at the shipyard could do it without killing or damaging the patient, but no one was eager to become a lab rat to see if it worked.
The next problem arose as soon as Droga was released from the regeneration tank.
To say that he was furious after learning that he was abandoned was an understatement.
Thankfully, he managed to keep his anger in check and didn't do anything stupid.
He even calmed down somewhat, when the Lady came to thank him for saving her sister's life.
Then he was shocked when he heard that the Lady wanted to join this territory and was just waiting for Andrew's treatment to come to an end to get his permission.
-I never expected you to make a deal behind everyone else's backs.
That was his only comment.
Not long later he also asked Aelita to join the territory, since he no longer had any place to go at that moment.
The rest of the day went by calmly, and it was beginning to worry everyone as they expected the enemy fleet to attack them at least once or even send a scout through the wormhole.
But since they evacuated from the Milky Way, there was nothing.
Using the time the enemy had given them, the whole territory prepared as much as possible, mainly by repairing the ships they brought back after the previous battles and producing new ones, hoping to have enough forces to repel the enemy if they decided to attack.