The Envoys were in a state of chaos when Max led Nico and her father in, which was really nothing new, but this time they were in chaos for the same reason that Max was. Spatial anomalies had opened in Alliance Territory, leading to the same unknown region of space but to the territory of another species.
They were currently discussing whether the Envoy group in charge of the mission was going to argue for the anomaly to be stabilized and closed or if they were going to work out a military aid deal, but they didn't know much of anything except for the name of the enemies that they were fighting.
The Arisen Army was there as well and was quickly overrunning the native population, with the intent to make it to the anomaly and pass through to a new region of space, namely the Alliance Territory.
That would be beyond disastrous, but so far, they didn't know how to close the link, which was not a standard wormhole as they understood it, or a Portal, which was similar in function.
"Ah, just the people that we were hoping to talk to. We heard that the Human Galaxy has the same issue that we do, and we were wondering what the Reavers were doing about it?" The Valkia Envoy asked.
"We are sending a team to assist the locals at our end, known as the Koleska. I will be in the first wave, along with Nico, so we will be leaving very soon, but this is Perrin Tarith, Nico's father, and he will be taking over until the Board of Directors arrives to manage the World Ship in our absence.
We will still be in contact most of the time and making the executive decisions, but the board will take care of the day-to-day on our behalf since we will be in combat." Max explained.
The Giant nodded. "I suspected as much. The humans are overwhelmingly powerful for their numbers, but the Arisen is not a normal foe, so you would logically send only the most powerful of elite forces to deal with them. Anything else would lead to too many deaths to be sustainable, and we have been informed that the Arisen Army can't be fought with an automated force."
"Exactly correct. We will be leaving right away, but we wanted to make the official introduction before we left so that there was no question about who this man is or his authority."
The Envoys nodded, and the Innu extended her hand to greet Nico's father but got distracted by a flood of messages from her communicator.
"There is a development at our end. A deal has been struck to hire a full ship of Hunters to assist in the defence of the anomaly from the other side. If you happen to see them on the other side, they are allies. We don't have a map of the region, so we have no idea how far apart you will be, but from what I can tell, it will be a significant distance, and the chances are that it would take a lifetime to fight from one point to the others." The Innu explained.
Nico and the Huntress looked at each other with smirks on their faces, and the Innu's hair tentacles twined together in a way that somehow made her look confused for a second before she, too, smiled.
"I have it. That look means that you're joking about me saying that like it was a bad thing. I'm right, aren't I? I'm finally cracking Hunter's body language." She cheered.
"Right on the first try. I still don't understand why so many species find it so difficult. The humans figured it out on the very first day, according to the mission logs from Huntress Khan. It was like they knew it the moment that they saw us, and they never had any major issues learning the nuance of Hunter communication."
"That's because we sent Nico, and she speaks both sword and Plasma Cannon." Max joked, making the Huntress laugh but leaving the other Envoys confused again.
"So, maybe I still don't get battlefield humour, but I'm working on the body language first." The Innu Envoy shrugged.
"One thing at a time. You've adapted remarkably quickly to being around humans. I remember the first Innu that we ever met told us that they were best known for adapting and repairing others' technology, but look at you all now, taking over the research department and inventing new beverages for the Replicators." Nico commended her.
"I found Tiramisu, which is a coffee-flavoured cake, and it made me think, you know? How many other flavours are out there that simply haven't been merged because humans don't know about them? From there, it just snowballed into a whole huge thing.
The tavern that I invested in is doing great business by releasing one new tested flavour every day. They have been merging human and Alliance tastes, and they'll cycle through them every week if they get good reviews. Try this one. It's the flavour of the day. Squib Berries and a chocolate milkshake."
Max took a sip of the sample-sized milkshake that she had produced from the replicator and felt his face contract at the combination of tart fruit and sweetened chocolate. It was surprising but not a bad combination.
"I approve. It would go well with cheeseburgers."
The Giant Envoy nodded. "It might go well with Titan barbecue as well. They like to marinade their meat in fruits before smoking it, and the flavours would complement each other."
"As fun as this has been, we need to go, before the Koleska think that the humans are reneging on their deal. Father, take good care of the place for me, and I will see all of you Envoys later." Nico informed the room.
"Good luck. Don't forget to bring the big guns. Some of the Arisen Army war walkers can take a photon torpedo head on, so you might find more than a few good uses for those Antimatter Warheads that you developed." The Valkia Envoy reminded them, then turned back to his messages as Max and Nico left her father behind.
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