"No Ma'am, not at all." Dey said as he shook his head in reply. "He seemed pretty relaxed, like I didn't get the typical dick vibes from the guy, you know, unlike when the Kree diplomats come for negotiations, maybe a bit of an a-hole, but not 100% dick." He voiced out his own thoughts on his interactions with Adam, he was used to diplomatic speech, but he could detect the confidence in his speech and demeanor, he was just not sure if it was confidence or arrogance.
Nove Prime looked away from the report and looked at Dey strangely. "Is that your official stance on the matter?" She could help ask, she really began to think that the Corps has been a little loose on regulations, they had been fighting a war for a thousand years after all.
"Well, I don't know if I believe anyone is 100% a dick." Dey replied after he put a little thought into her question.
A long sigh escaped her lips at the Corpsman not realizing she was giving him a chance to adjust his statement, Nova Prime responded helplessly, "Do you think they are really here to register as mercenaries or not, I'm not asking for your philosophical thoughts on possible dick percentages Corpsman."
Dey realizing his mistake in her question answered as he scratched the back of his head, "Well yea, pretty positive, otherwise they would've attacked when they first showed up. They could've hit us at least twice before we even knew they hit us, let alone the few minutes it would've taken to mount a defense. They could've shown up much closer most likely, so they are aware of proper etiquette. So yeah, I believe they are." Then a sudden thought came to Rhomann Dey, he quickly continued, "It just so happens there is the perfect mission we could use them on, this way we can see what they are capable of."
Nova Prime looked at him with curiosity, "Go on." She asked, wondering if she would regret her question or not, from what she's seen and heard from him so far, she didn't have much confidence.
"Krylor...Ma'am. We have received multiple requests for reinforcements, pirates have been harassing the planet and abducting women and children in massive numbers. We have not had the manpower to send help since we are dealing with the Kree, why don't we register them, offer a large reward with possible bonus on confirmed rescues of Krylorians. We can use the mission data they submit when it comes down to paying them to judge what they are capable of." Dey explained his thoughts, his wife was Krylorian, so she had been up to date on what was happening on her homeworld. She still had family on the planet.
Nova Prime Irani Rael looked at Dey in shock, she couldn't believe this man was the same one to barge into a woman's office like that. She thought it was a genius idea, "Wonderful idea Corpsman Dey, we shall agree to meet immediately, get this done and have that ship out of my sector, even without being able to tell its capabilities, one thing is for certain. It's built for war. I want you as the main contact between us and them after our negotiations are over. Bring this Adam to the meeting chambers, you will be joining in, tell him he is allowed two guards at the meeting." She ordered as she pulled out a mirror to make sure she was appropriate for such a meeting.
Dey, receiving his order, saluted and quickly made his way back to his station to inform Adam of the agreement. He was excited he would be able to tell his wife and daughter the good news, Krylor would receive help soon.
Krylorians were a race known for not just their beauty, they were also sexually compatible with many other races, thus female Krylorians were often used as slaves by criminals. Even Taneleer Tivan, or more commonly known as The Collector, preferred them as assistants over any other, often treating them cruelly.
Space pirates were using the Nova Corps war with the Kree to begin attacking Krylor and capturing women and children to be sold as slaves, or to serve in their brothels some of the pirate captains owned back at their bases.
After receiving word back from Xandar, Adam, Yelena and Frank took off aboard the Prometheus down to the planet surface. Adam left his armor in its powered down state, Yelena and Frank however were fully armored up, they had no visible weapons, but that was because they were hidden within the programming of the nanobots. Much like Adam's suit, they too could create any programmed weapon using the nanobots hidden within the suit.
Arriving on the surface of Xandar, Yelena was amazed at the sight, Frank was too but he was able to hide his astonishment much better. Yelena asked if they could walk around after, but Adam stopped her line of thinking.
"I doubt we will be able to this time, I have a feeling not only will we be getting registered, but I think it will be more than that." Adam said mentally into his comms so that only the two would hear them, Eve was the one transmitting since she was still active even with the suit powered down.
"As in, be ready for an ambush, kind of more?" Yelena asked nonchalantly, she wasn't scared of an ambush, in fact she thought it might be fun to kick some alien butt.
"No. They probably have a job for us already, they want to see what we are capable of. So we may have to do your shopping another time, besides you don't have their currency, yet. This actually works in our favor, they will probably offer a high reward for some relatively hard mission, so we can do the mission, come back and get paid, then set up some trade agreements on our materials. That's when you can have your fun." Adam explained as he made small talk with Dey as they walked to the main meeting hall. Adam and his two SPARTAN guards drew a lot of attention as they walked thru the pathways that led to the hall.
Upon arriving, Adam looked at the large hall with what looked like a holotable in the middle of the room, he could tell this was the command center where war meetings between various commanders meet.
Waiting for him were two women standing at the head of the table, the older woman with white hair was in front while a young woman in the typical guard uniform of the Nova Corps stood off to her left. Dey made his way behind the older woman's right.
"Greetings Commander Adam, I am Nova Prime Irani Rael, I am the leader of the Nova Corps. I am not sure if you are aware, but the Nova Corps are the military and police force for the Nova Empire. So you can rest assured that I have the full authority to register you as a mercenary planet, we would also handle any rewards on missions issued out or handling rewards for bounties." Irani began as she watched Adam carefully, he was quite large and intimidating, especially with two armored SPARTAN's standing behind him.
"I am fully aware of your position Madam Nova Prime, I thank you for your hospitality. I not only speak on my behalf, but of the UEG and UNSC when I say, we look forward to a happy and lasting cooperation with the Nova Empire. Now that our flowered words are over, how about we just get into it shall we. We want to offer our services to the Nova Empire, the UEG and UNSC will not join under your Empire, but we are willing to provide support if the credits are good enough." Adam said wanting to lay out the bottom line from the start.
Nova Prime, who was a little caught of guard by his straightforwardness, quickly recovered and gave a smile in return, she did prefer to deal with these kinds of people the most, easier to read.
"Of course Commander Adam, we can get your ship registered and those demands are pretty straightforward and easy to accomplish, the only request we would have on those terms would be, should you receive any job against the Nova Empire, you at least give us a chance to outbid them. It is a typical registration term, especially considering we do pay out the best." Nova Prime replied back to Adam with her condition.
Adam thought on it then agreed, "I agree to those terms, we would also like to arrange trade agreements with businesses on Xandar so I also ask we be given a business permit which would allow us to buy and sell within the Nova Empire." Adam knew he would need to get permission before he could begin to buy and sell his goods on Xandar.
Nova Prime frowned for a moment, she was putting on her show, then she shook her head, "Unfortunately I don't have the authority to grant such a permit, I only handle the military and policing side of the Nova Empire..." She began to explain, then she paused to show them a contemplative expression, Adam sent over a message mentally to Yelena and Frank, "And here it comes.." His comment caused a small smile on Frank's face, he had heard the same thing used a hundred times, Yelena giggled, thankfully it couldn't be heard by the others.
"I may be able to help you, but in order for me to use my influence to get the business permit I will need your help with a matter. Don't worry the pay is good and I will throw in the permit as a bonus on top of the reward. What do you say?" Nova Prime finally spoke up after she made it seem as if she had to think hard on a solution.
Nova Prime noticed one of the armored guards shaking a little, she would've had a heart attack thinking they were shaking from anger had Adam not quickly agreed to the deal. Little did she know Yelena was actually laughing within the suit, she just couldn't be heard since her suit was only set for internal comms.
After getting Adam's agreement, Dey moved forward and pressed a few keys on the table. An image of Krylor appeared as well as coordinates and military communication encryption codes, they would be needed to show the local Nova Corps forces they were friendly once they arrived.
Dey explained the mission, "This is Krylor, a planet within the Nova Empire's territory. Currently the planet has been suffering from pirate raids, our civilians, mainly women and children are being abducted to be sold as slaves. The mission is to rescue as many of them as you can, Nova Corps is willing to pay two million galactic credits per hostage rescued alive and ten thousand for each body recovered. A large bonus if you can take out the pirate group as well. One billion galactic credit bounty for the pirate leader, dead or alive, five million bounty per confirmed kill on the pirates. We will need a copy of the battle records for verification before rewards can be distributed." Dey explained professionally.
Adam hearing the offer was surprised by just how lucrative this offer was, it was smart, Adam did have to think how cunning this Nova Prime truly was. This put Adam in a predicament, he could definitely handle the mission as a whole, it all depended on what he was willing to show. He was here to make a name for himself, but not to show all his hands.
But the money he would miss out on by not at least putting in a decent effort was just too hard to pass up.
"How long have these raids been going on? Any estimates on how many are missing? Do you have local reports on crime scenes? What information can you provide on the pirate group responsible?" Adam began to ask details, he wanted a full picture of the situation before making a decision. He wasn't trying to be cold-hearted, he was being practical, if the estimated abductions were say only several people, then his showing more of his hand wouldn't justify the reward.
But if they were in the thousands, it had the potential to pay out better than taking out the pirates themselves, so their rescue combined with the pirates, the UNSC would gain a large boost in galactic funding. This was heavily needed if he wanted to expand the UNSC into what it was in the Halo Universe.
After getting all the details the Nova Corps had regarding the mission, Adam and his party left Xandar and returned to the Infinity. They had work to do, and a fat check to cash when all is said and done.