"Looking at the map this way, I have come to a realization. The current requests would draw our supply lines extremely thin. Perhaps I have been too greedy in early negotiations." Lord General Kirkland sighed, pointing to the map.
If this plan worked, Cygnus was set to absorb an enormous portion of the former Kepler Territory, starting at their border. Like Cygnus, they had taken heavy casualties in the past few years, so it wasn't going to be the most straightforward deployment for them, but the gains were undoubtedly worth it, looking at the resources that they were standing to gain, especially if they could peacefully transition a number of the more important manufacturing planets.
"What are you saying, Lord General?" A representative of the Tapani asked.
"I believe that Cygnus will be willing to accept a smaller portion of the spoils in exchange for our assistance if the Nations that initially wanted the regions at the edges of our new territory are capable of taking them as well as what they currently planned." The General informed the room.
Many of the representatives looked dubious at his motivations, but one of the smaller fleets, whose home territory was only four star systems, highlighted a lightly inhabited farm world.
"This would be within our capability. It isn't much, but it would save you from wasting an entire compliance fleet to take care of it." The man suggested.
"Cygnus has plenty of new farm worlds in our core territory expansion. I don't see any harm in granting you that request." Kirkland agreed.
The devious smiles spread through the room while the Lord General silently celebrated in his mind.
Unlike most of the people in this room, Cygnus didn't actually need any of the new territories in order to help their people. It would be a gain on paper only, as they gained territory but retained the balance of resource distribution within the Empire.
Max suspected that it was mostly lingering enmity that had brought them here in the first place, especially after Kirkland ordered his adjutant and their team to continue making deals.
That went on for three hours while Nico and Max sat silently, watching the show.
None of this changed their role in the overall plan, as someone would still need supplies for all of those planetary regions.
The Lord General updated the map with every deal, and while every deal was small, Max noticed that by the end of it, Cygnus had given up nearly half of their planned expansion, as well as all but four of the heavily defended systems, a level of conflict that was a day to day normal for them when they were at war with Kepler.
This expansion would cost them nothing but the casualties on their attacking force, and it wouldn't stretch their resources on the home front, especially with so many nations with whom they shared a very tense relationship focused on Kepler.
For Cygnus, there was no loss now that they had reduced the greed of their plans. They could hold the home front, and even if the plan failed, they would just retreat to their borders while their neighbors lost so much that they would be unable to defend themselves.
Like Nico, he had grasped the bigger picture in moments, thinking not only about the alliance forces but those further out and how they would react to the change in defenses among their neighbors as they went on the attack.
The fact that nobody else had noticed was almost painful to Max, whose sense of righteousness couldn't stand to see so many nations committing virtual suicide. But it was their choice, and there was the chance that they could do with alliances and hidden assets what Max didn't expect them to be capable of.
There really wasn't much for Max to do since he had easily agreed to let the Reavers continue their trading activities in the affected regions. There would have to be an agreement with the Rebels and Tapani, as well as all of the other nations who wanted a part of Kepler space, but that could be written up easily enough tonight and dealt with tomorrow.
Max also had a great idea for the agreement, a bit of consequence to betraying it, other than the obvious stoppage of shipments.
These nations weren't friends, they were only temporary allies, so Max was planning to add a clause that if the nations involved betrayed the Reavers, the nations holding neighboring territory would help the Reavers take vengeance, with the territory affected as compensation after the traitors were defeated.
It would be a wonderful mess of a situation and make things even more chaotic, but that might just be enough to keep the Reaver trade vessels safe during a time of unrest when they were often targeted by various fleets whose resources had run low.
Everyone loved getting something for nothing, and robbing a merchant using a military fleet was a very easy thing to do.
Since he didn't have anything to do with the rest of the conversation, Max began drafting the agreement, using a template that was stored in the database of Terminus for situations like this. It was a Kepler agreement, and surely some of the others would recognize it, but he knew that it would be legally solid and that the nations involved would honor it. At least to the point that they thought they needed to.
"Alright, let us break for dinner, and we will return to the meetings tomorrow morning." The leader of the Rebels present at the meeting ordered, raising up from his seat and shaking hands with those nearest to him.
"Lord General Kirkland, would you like to join us aboard Terminus for an evening meal? We have a few things that we should discuss with you in private, apart from the matters of these meetings. We were already headed your way, so this is perfect timing." Max asked the Cygnus Noble.
"Of course. We will follow you on our shuttle. I would love to get a chance to see the inside of your magnificent new vessel. To think, it wasn't long ago that you were playing aboard Comor Station with the Imperial Prince. We have a lot to catch up on." Lord General Kirkland agreed.
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