[Manufacturing Docks, this is Terminus. We have an appointment.] Max called over the radio as they approached the facility.

The site was a gray market operation and didn't have a proper name, they relied on the code embedded in the radio contact to verify that their visitors were legitimate.

[Welcome Terminus. You are a bit larger than we had expected. Please hold position ten kilometers from the facility and we will bring the shipment to you.] The dockmaster confirmed.

The barge left the facility only a few minutes after they made contact, so they were at least prepared for this sort of thing. Max looked over the shipment information, a load of crystal nanotubes that could only be grown in zero gravity.

They weren't rare or valuable, so why they were being grown in zero gravity was a mystery to him, at least until he saw the markings on the barge. It belonged to the General's family. That meant that the whole facility, and the mines that fed it, were likely deliberately placed to evade taxes, and the General was using his influence to keep them legitimate by calling them foreign facilities when they were actually part of the Kepler Nobility's holdings.

Day by day his views of the Empire as an upright and noble force guiding their people to survival were being jaded by the reality that upright and noble just meant the last person standing with dignity at the end of the battle.

At least they didn't ask any sort of questions. In fact, they didn't ask anything but for Terminus to remove the atmosphere from the cargo bay and turn off the artificial gravity so they could unload. That was easily done, and the payment was removed by a pair of workers, then the bulk cargo was dumped into an empty cargo bay in only a few minutes before the barge retreated to its hangar and a digital message confirmed their shipment details.

[Pleasure doing business Gentlemen.] Max replied by way of farewell, then closed the bay doors and gave the signal for the ship to make its way toward Kepler space.

Artificial Gravity was left off in that bay to reduce damage to the delicate freight, and Terminus silently glided back toward Kepler Terminus, the closest border point for them to enter the Empire.

It was ridiculous and insane, going back to his homeworld in a stolen Colony Ship, with black market freight. That made it absolutely perfect, and the first signals from the border patrol confirmed that they had made the right choice.

[Colony Ship Terminus. Welcome to Kepler Terminus. Hey, what a coincidence. Send over your shipment documents and prepare to be boarded.]

The vessel was a President Class Transport, the same as Abraham Kepler, making it less than a quarter the size of the Colony ship, but the border patrol had confidence that they held the edge in firepower. It wasn't true, but they didn't know that yet, they had only seen the ship itself, which came from a peaceful species, and so wasn't equipped with any ship-to-ship combat weapons.

[Will you be boarding by shuttle or direct contact?] Max heard Nico ask the patrol.

[We will be sending a Cutter Class interceptor. Do you have docking facilities?] The patrol replied.

[Of course, Admiral. Proceed to bay four, second from the bow on the port side. The bay is equipped with an atmospheric shield, so you can directly enter. The majority of our crew is human, the atmosphere is suitable for your crew.] Nico replied.

They would be wearing armored environmental suits anyhow, but it was a friendly gesture and told Max that he should send troops without environmental protection to the front.

The Cutter approached much faster than Max had expected, reversing thrust at the last second, likely to attempt to limit the amount of time that they had to prepare for the boarding action.

[Fifth Battalion, you are closest. Send a welcoming party. Lightly armed, no environmental suits. Let's set them at ease, but if we look like pushovers they will get suspicious about how we held the ship long enough to make it our own.] Max ordered.

[On it. I will greet them myself.] Colonel Klinger replied, amusement clear in his voice.

He had much more experience than Max did with boarding actions, and had now been on both sides of the equation. He climbed into his mobile suit and brought two technicians with Tech Adept Harnesses with him, as well as five more soldiers in full battle armor carrying rifles.

Everyone was masked so they couldn't be personally identified by the scanners that all boarding missions should be carrying to look for fugitives, and they were ready before the first boots came out of the Cutter.

Max was still on his way over, with Nico hot on his heels. There were a pair of Corvette Class Mecha, in the Comor Pattern, repainted in Reaver Camouflage the same as his suit was, standing outside the bay when Max arrived, and Colonel Klinger had already finished the greetings.

Max double-checked his mask and lowered the clear helmet on his Mobile Suit to join the conversation, and Nico stepped to his left with a big smile, looking directly at the Commander of the boarding mission.

That guy looked really familiar, now that Max thought about it. It took him a moment to realize, but Nico's thoughts cleared up the confusion right away. These soldiers were all on standby at Kepler 142 Station the last time they were there.

Nico shifted her jacket a little to show off the Tarith Reavers badge and the Commander smiled back at her but didn't stop his very professional speech about the duties and tariffs that a foreign ship entering Kepler space was subject to.

Nico was looking at Max now, and gave him a long blink, signaling for him to read her thoughts.

[Don't lie about your place of birth. They can tell with the scanners, and Reavers can come from the backside of anywhere. Just don't give any extra details.]

Max nodded back. That much he already knew. The traders on the docks of the slums he grew up in were from so many planets that even his impressive memory couldn't store them all, and the crews were never all from one spot.

That was one thing this Regiment had going for them. They were assembled for testing, so they weren't all from one founding. Thousands of soldiers all from one spot would definitely have gotten reinforcements called on them.