Erich did not immediately respond to the Despot's attempts to negotiate with him. After all, he needed a few months to properly equip the Ironhand Clan, and to have them approach Asuran space. Thus, he spent a lot of his time on his ship, refusing to step off of it until a time where he was ready to negotiate with the despot.
And eventually the day came much sooner than Erich had anticipated. It was only a handful of weeks before Tia confirmed that the Orcs had been equipped and trained with their new gear, and were on their way to Asuran space.
Evidently, the moment they docked with Tia' compound, she had used her vast army of robotic laborers to retrofit the fleet so that it was equipped with superior technology, including warp drives. The largest weakness of the Orc clans had been their lack of naval power. Their ships more operated as gunboats, to bombard worlds, and allow the deployment of forces.
