Chapter 67 More than he can trade for.
The merchant ship arrived without any problems, despite many pirate vessels in the area.
To everyone's surprise, it was not the droid that came first but Terelen himself.
-Hello station masters, permission to come aboard?
The elf used the routine greeting.
-Granted.
Andrew said.
-My sister informed me that you have another deal, unfortunately, she still can't meet you personally, so she told me about it.
The merchant stated.
-Yes, we have a deal for you, and I think you will like what we have to offer.
Andrew smiled.
-Then let's get to it, I want to get the work done, and then I would like to address some personal matters.
Terelen said, surprising them.
-Of course, this way.
Andrew said, leading the way with Aelita tagging along.
-Lan, Ilia, buy what we discussed earlier, the rest we shall see when I'm back.
He said to the ladies, before leaving the command center.
The merchant's arrival was the first official use of the Dock module, and it worked great, not to mention that it led straight to the command center.
-What happened here, if you do not mind me asking?
The elf asked as they walked.
-If you are referring to the ladies, it is the result of my attempts to conquer this system, and if you are asking about the damaged modules, these are the fault of the pirates that visited us yesterday.
Andrew answered, not knowing what the merchant asked about.
-How many of them were there, to damage your station?
Terelen asked surprised at the news about the pirates.
-There were three groups, 4, 7, and 9 ships.
The first two were destroyed by me, and the damage is the result of this battle, the third group never even arrived.
They were taken out by the Kraken.
Andrew explained.
-What's a Kraken?
The merchant asked confused.
-Oh, sorry, that's what we called it when it was a game.
It's an enormous being that attacks anything with high enough energy signatures, especially if it's in FTL.
The pirates made the mistake of using one big subspace bubble to try and save some fuel, but it attracted the beast and they were destroyed as a result.
Andrew explained.
-You are talking about the ship eater, we know this beast, and we lost a lot of ships to it.
The elf said a bit startled.
-Yeah, when it was a game, many humans tried to kill it, but to no avail, one of the players even sacrificed the entire cruiser fleet to try and take it out, by detonating the explosives and munitions he filled the ships with, and it didn't even slow that thing down.
Andrew said.
-The only thing we were able to determine about it, was that it is attracted to strong power source signatures, and it doesn't attack ships in smaller subspace bubbles.
Other than that, the thing is a mystery.
The human explained.
-We had the same approach to this thing but were also unsuccessful in dealing with it.
The elf admitted.
-Whatever this thing is, it most likely saved us this time.
I have no idea if we could win a battle with 9 ships, and I'm not in a hurry to find out.
Andrew sighted.
-I don't see that being a problem for much longer, considering how close you are to producing the drone fighters.
-It will still take a lot of time before I can start building them and I fear that by then, the pirates might get some better ships.
Andrew said.
-That's unlikely, remember the prisoner you gave me last time?
-Yes, what does he have to do with this?
He asked.
-It turns out that the pirates are from a different universe than this one, and they are limited to the type and power of the ships they can bring along.
Unfortunately, that's the only thing they are limited at, they can bring any kind of technology they want on board their ships, which is what you are finding in their wrecks.
The elf explained.
-Then why the hell are they coming here?
Andrew asked, shocked at the new information.
-That's unfortunately still a mystery, the prisoner had a suicide chip implanted and the moment we asked this question it activated.
The merchant shrugged.
-At least we know where they are from, with any luck we might get some more prisoners in the future, then we might learn more.
Andrew said.
-We are here.
Aelita chimed in as they arrived at their destination.
She was listening to their conversation, realizing how much she missed while sleeping in the tank.
-Alright, so what did you find this time?
The elf asked, walking into the storage module with a smile.
He loved these deals, as they brought him a lot of wealth and respect among the merchants.
-This time we have regeneration tank solutions, AI chips, stun riffles, and raw nanites.
Aelita said as she and Andrew opened all the crates.
Terelen's jaw hit the floor when he heard and saw the raw nanites.
-Friends, I can trade with you for everything except the nanites, for these I will need to either contact the guild or ask someone with more authority to come and trade for them.
The elf explained, still in shock.
-How come?
Andrew asked, surprised.
-I can only trade up to 1000 silver credits, and these two crates are worth many times more than that.
The merchant explained.
Andrew and Aelita were stunned at the revelation, they thought that it would be great if they got around a hundred silver credits for all the nanites, but they never considered that they might be worth more than the merchant was allowed to trade for.
-Are the raw nanites so rare?
Aelita asked curiously.
-They are much more than rare, with these, you can produce any kind of nanite, you desire or even multiply them, as long as you have the resources.
More than that, it's extremely hard to produce them in this state without multiplying them.
The elf explained.
-Alright, what do you want for the rest of the items?
He asked after taking a deep breath to calm himself.
-I want an advanced Metal alloy production module and an anti-ship cannon or missile battery for the station.
Andrew said, without hesitation.
-I was planning to get a few more things for the nanites, but since we need to wait, this is what I would like to get.
He added.
-I can only trade you one of these things and maybe some upgrades for the things you are offering.
These items are simply not worth that much.
Terelen said apologetically.
-Then how about a subspace sensor upgrade and the Advanced metal alloy production module?
The human bargained.
-That's fine and I will add an ammunition resupply for all your weapons.
The merchant said.
He would profit a lot from this deal.
-Agreed.
Andrew said.
The anti-ship weapon would be great to have, but he needed the advanced alloys more as they were essential to create the more advanced technologies.
-As for the nanites, there will most likely be someone coming here with me the next time I visit.
Terelen said, regretting not being able to buy them himself.
-Actually, if you want, then we can sell a few containers to you, and we could use the credits.
Andrew said after thinking about it for a moment.
-This would also provide your superiors with a sample of what we have.
he added.
-Alright, if that's the case, then I would like to purchase two containers, for the price of 125 silver credits for each of them.
Both Human and Cheroni thought that they misheard.
-You want to buy two containers for a quarter of a trillion credits?
Aelita asked, still in disbelief.
-Yes, and to be honest, I might be buying them for way less than they are worth, if that's the case, then I will pay you the rest at our next meeting, and before you ask, I can't trade modules or items for these nanites.
Terelen said, seeing the glint in Andrew's eyes.
Andrew and Aelita looked at each other stunned.
-You have a deal.
They both said.
The elf nodded and took two containers with him as they left, the rest of the items would be picked up as usual, by the ship.
When they arrived at the command center, Iliana and Lanarine had a confused look on their faces.
-What's going on?
Aelita asked.
-I don't know what's going on, but we just got a transfer of 250 silver credits to the station's account.
Lan said, still baffled at the amount of credits.
After selling most of the resources, they just spent almost 6 silver credits to buy everything that Andrew put on the list and there still were a lot of credits left so they added a few things that they wanted to the list, without worry as Andrew allowed them to do so if there were enough credits left.
The best proof of their shopping was a small mountain of items waiting to be picked up at the dock module.
-We just sold two containers of raw nanites, that's where the credits came from.
But what's that about the station's account?
Aelita asked.
-Let me explain.
Terelen offered.
-Since multiple station masters are living on one station the decision was made to open an account to each station instead of each station master.
This makes it easier for everyone, and the slaves, like the two ladies over here.
The elf pointed to Lan and Ilia.
-Also have access to the account if their master allows it.
The merchant explained.
-It makes sense, but what if the stationmasters decide to split up?
Andrew asked.
-In that case, the stationmasters themselves decide how to split the credits.
However, rules are preventing one of the station masters from taking all the assets and leaving the rest with nothing.
Depending on the number of station masters, the appropriate percent of the balance is shared among everyone while the rest remains to be split by said station masters.
Terelen explained.
The concept was simple and it prevented people from taking advantage of others.
-Since we have this all sorted out, I would like to move to the personal matters now.
Terelen said, making everyone wonder what was that all about.