Chapter 12

The livestream went smoother than expected. Although there were some troublesome questions, it seems the problematic groups didn't intend to intervene in this matter.

Sile closed the app after an hour. She felt it had been long enough and enough information had been given. She had many reasons to do this, but the main one was really just letting others put a face to the name. That way, any intervention by the government or the nobles would have to be carefully discussed before they thought to take action. However she isn't ignorant enough to believe those groups can't use certain underhanded methods to achieve their goals, but at least they'll restrain themselves on the bright side.

Arel got up to pour a glass of water for Sile. After speaking for so long, she would definitely need it.

Handing it over she asked, "So? How did you think it went?"

After Sile took a sip she replied, "It was alright. I hope it has helped us, even just a little".

Arel thought that it might be able to do more than that. While sitting next to Sile, she could hear a lot of her responses. From the questions she sensed quite a bit of repressed frustration. Perhaps the empire isn't as stable as they thought.

It shouldn't be surprising, there are too many divisions between genders and classes. Maybe the two of them can be the fuse to explode this turbulent situation. At least it would cause some trouble for those that are avidly looking for them.

Arel thought about it and wondered if they could stir up the situation a little more. The best way to avoid being fished out, is to muddy up the waters. She turned to Sile and told her the plan she had come up with.

"Sell the azandium?" Sile asked curiously.

"Now that we have set up many defences in the solar system, and have little use for it, why not sell it so that those rebel forces can buy it to improve their armaments? It'll cause the empire more problems, so that they're not so focused on dealing with us", Arel explained.

Sile pondered the plausibility of the plan. After a while she said "Okay, but we can't take money for the transactions. The government is probably tracking our accounts, and selling resources to rebels is a good enough reason to freeze our accounts. The public won't speak out for us either."

Arel agreed with her statement. She contacted a few people they had met from the black market, that had some weight in the rebel alliance.

When the person contacted heard that they had a source of azandium available, they were skeptical. Although they had many dealings with each other, but being hunted by the empire has made the rebels extremely cautious.

The two omegas understood their hesitation. They proposed a gesture of goodwill. They sent the drones through a less conspicuous warp point to a barren part of space and left the coordinates to the rebels.

When they reached the coordinates, they saw a few plain drones that couldn't be more ordinary. The drones sensed the arrival of the small ship, ejected the packages and left immediately. When the rebels retrieved the packages and opened it up, they saw a few blocks of azandium ingots.

Seeing this, the higher ups became a little moved. It should be known that although the rebels had quite a large number scattered around the various galaxies, their equipment lagged behind the empire. However they had been researching more advanced weaponry to try make up for their limited defensive capabilities. Seeing this offer of azandium, they obviously felt this pie that fell from the sky was a little to 'convenient'.

They checked the ingots for tracing equipment. They checked the area for the presence of any fleets, but everything seemed to be as they were promised. They were tentative with the offer. However they received a reply that they couldn't understand.

The rebel leader was a gruff old alpha. His hoarse voice resounded in the room, "A trade?"

The person that Arel contacted was the head of a certain district. A capable female beta. She hesitated to speak, but thought this opportunity couldn't be passed up.

"The person said there accounts have been monitored and any unusual transaction will arouse immediate action by the government. What they want is a trade of equal value in either energy crystals or our weaponry components".

The room fell into silence. It wasn't a well kept secret that they had researched more advanced weaponry, so what they asked for wasn't crazy, but it could be said to be a worrying trade.

"We have only just upgraded the weapons on our main battleships. Wouldn't it be more important to continue fitting out the rest of the fleet first?" one of the district heads asked.

"The reason we even needed the new weapons was because of our lack of azandium. I spoke with the person over there and they have assured me they have access to an entire mining planet" the female beta spoke.

The rebel leader thought for a while, then spoke, "I don't mind exchanging the weapon components and energy crystals. We're not short of either, but are they willing to meet?"

The female beta said "They said they're being hunted pretty intensely at the moment, and they're hunkering down somewhere safe. So they don't mind if the exchanges are just between drones. They also said we are free to choose the meeting point, but if the drones are intercepted before they reach the warp point, then they won't be willing to continue".

The rebel leader was intrigued by these people. He hadn't heard of any other groups around, but he thought maybe they were pirates. It didn't really matter who they were. Seeing as they were willing to give so much leeway he proposed a small exchange first to allow both sides to see the validity.

When the drones arrived. There was a small group of rebels already waiting. The exchange went peacefully and the drones left the space after scanning the items. The rebels also didn't hang around for long after verifying the azandium was legitimate. All in all the first trade went very smoothly.