The pirate vessel approached quickly and soon it jumped into the system.
The ship itself was nothing special, a standard pirate vessel, that Andrew had seen many times and defeated on numerous occasions.
-Let's get this over with.
The human said, taking his seat in the command chair.
-Hail them.
He ordered.
Sarill who was sitting at the communication station immediately got to work.
She and Jalina were spending most of their time learning from the education modules Andrew provided them with, and they also asked the other ladies to teach them how to use the consoles in the command center, in case they needed to replace someone.
However soon the two ladies got their main stations assigned to them by Andrew and he praised their initiative.
-The channel is opened.
Sarill informed him.
-This is System Master Andrew Eagle, you are trespassing in my territory.
State your intentions and affiliation.
Andrew said in a calm and steady voice, doing his best to sound authoritative.
For a moment there was silence, but just as Andrew was about to repeat himself, the answer came through the speakers.
-This is Captain Rhuneek, I'm sorry to have intruded on your territory, but we came here to negotiate and according to our custom, such things should be done face to face.
Came the deep voice of the pirate captain.
-With your permission System Master, I'd like to dock my ship and meet you personally to discuss the issue that brought me here.
The pirate captain continued.
Andrew had a hard nut to crack with this as he would prefer not to have pirates on his station, but on the other hand, he had learned enough about pirates to know that negotiations were sacred for them and there was no way that any pirate would try anything funny while they were negotiating.
-You have my permission to land in hangar 5, you can also bring two crew members with you to the negotiations.
He finally decided.
-Thank you, System Master.
The pirate said and closed the channel, proceeding to the hangar he was told to use.
-Aelita, Tarina, and Lanarine will accompany me to the meeting with the captain, the rest of you should keep a close eye on the rest of their fleet.
Pirates treat the negotiations very seriously from what I know, but its still better to be safe than sorry.
Andrew said and got up to put on his armor.
A few minutes later the four of them were standing in the hangar waiting for the pirates to disembark as their ship has just landed.
They didn't need to wait long as the moment the engines stopped the ramp on the back of the ship opened and a three person delegation disembarked.
All three aliens represented different species, but what surprised Andrew and the rest the most, was that all of them were humanoid or at least close enough.
The first person to disembark was a tall alien, who could put to shame all the bodybuilders Andrew has ever seen.
The muscular figure was at least a head taller than the human and his whole body was bulging with muscles, other than that, he looked like a mix of a shark and a bull, with the skin color and teeth of the first one and horns and tail of the second one.
The next one to come into view was an older-looking alien, with four arms and the look of a bodybuilder himself, his four eyes placed on top of his head were looking around with curiosity.
This one looked more like a four-armed lizard complete with a long tail, however, his scales were black with some of them starting to turn gray.
Andrew was curious if it was the same as human hair, which turned gray as the humans got older.
Then the third person disembarked and to his surprise it was not only a female but she looked a lot like an elf.
The main difference was that she was shorter than the average elf and her skin was dark, added with long silver hair and golden cat-like eyes, she was a near-perfect representation of a dark elf from human games and fantasy novels.
The two muscular pirates looked at her with respect and took their places behind her when they started to approach Andrew's party.
All the ladies tensed up seeing the approaching pirates, but nobody reached for their weapons.
Andrew has instructed them to stay calm and not reach for their weapons unless the pirates were the first ones to do so.
It also helped that there were 20 guardian drones in the hangar and more could be summoned at a moment's notice.
Aelita also instructed Nairin to stop producing the ship crew droids and switch to battle droids for now as they might come in handy if this meeting went south.
The three aliens stopped around 5 meters from Andrew and the ladies.
Then the lizard-like alien stepped forward.
-I am Captain Rhuneek, Thank you for agreeing to these negotiations and allowing us to land.
The alien said with the authority his rank provided, but to Andrew's surprise he was nothing like the pirates he had met before.
This alien looked like he was a part of a military unit, rather than a pirate band.
-Let me introduce to you the Commodore of our fleet, Commodore Arien.
The captain introduced pointing courteously at the dark elf.
-It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance System Master.
The woman said, in a melodic voice.
She was trying her best to sound neutral, but her tone was easy to distinguish, as it indicated that she was used to giving orders and demanding obedience.
-The pleasure is all mine Commodore.
Andrew answered courteously.
It was evident that they all knew who he was so he skipped his introduction, and instead, he introduced the ladies with him.
-This is Aelita of Caln Charr, who is also my first officer and engineer.
Aelita nodded, hearing Andrew introduce her.
-This is luitenent Lanarine Einethe.
Lan also nodded.
-And this is Tarina Zeir, my diplomatic officer.
Now if you would follow us to the conference module, we could discuss the matters that brought you here, a bit more comfortably.
The three pirates agreed and soon all seven of them sat in the conference module.
-What did you wish to discuss Commodore?
Andrew began, without beating around the bush.
-We wish to negotiate the terms of my whole fleet joining you as your subordinates, if you are interested in such a deal, system master.
Arien went straight to the matter at hand as she also didn't like to waste time which was becoming more precious for them with every moment.
-Please Elaborate on this, and you can call me Andrew.
He replied, trying to gain as much information as possible.
-My fleet consists of 53 vessels and is crewed by around 1200 beings from different species, however, the one thing that makes us different from the rest of the pirates, is that most of our crews are former military and we maintained the discipline that a military force should have.
The problem with this is that we also dont rob other ships or stations for resources and most of the station masters are afraid of such a huge force and want nothing to do with us.
The commodore said, with a bit of resignation in her voice.
-Now we are in even more trouble as the invasion is getting near and we all heard what they do to the fleets like ours.
She practically admitted to heaving their backs against a wall, which gave Andrew a bit better impression of her.
However, her fleet was a whole different story, and he understood why nobody wanted them anywhere near their stations or systems.
-So what do you propose?
Andrew asked after a moment of silence.
-We would like to become your subordinates and serve you as the ship and station crews.
In return, you will ensure that we have food and a place to stay.
Arien proposed.
-That's a very interesting proposition, but it's not a decision that is to be made lightly.
So would you allow me some time to discuss it with my crew?
Andrew said, trying to gain some time.
He already had an idea about using the pirates and not endangering his station, but he needed to discuss it with everyone.
-Of course, by all means.
The Commodore agreed without batting an eye.
-Thank you, we'll be back in a few minutes.
Andrew said and got up to leave with his friends.
The moment the doors closed behind them, the shark-like alien spoke.
-Do you think they'll agree to take us in?
He asked the dark elf.
-I have no idea, this System Master is a bit different than the others we asked and I can't figure him out.
Arien shook her head.
-One thing is certain, he has no reason to fear us and he knows it.
Captain Rhuneek, said.
-And why's that?
The muscular alien asked.
-Haven't you seen the defenses on this station?
This place is a fortress and our whole fleet could at most count as target practice.
Not to mention the fighters in the hangar, have you seen what they had attached beneath their wings?
The captain asked.
Both of his companions shook their heads.
They had missiles on their wings and the others had something I had never seen before but I'm certain that these things were also some kind of weapon.
Add to that the number of the damn things in the hangar where we landed and multiply it by the number of hangars they have.
This was enough to make both his companions feel fear.
He was right, this System Master had no reason to fear them, it was the other way around, they had every reason to fear him.
They had no idea that Andrew was counting on one of them to pay attention to this little detail.
-So what do you both think we should do?
The elf asked.
These two were her closest friends and advisors, whose opinions helped her avoid trouble more times than she could count.
-The fact that he left to discuss the matter with his whole crew, shows that he has a plan for us, but he needs his people to support this plan for it to work.
This shows that there is a chance he will take us in, but I'm also certain that he will have some conditions we will have to agree to before he accepts us.
Captain Rhuneek said, after a moment of thought.
-I agree, the question is what kind of conditions he will have for us and are they acceptable?
The other alien nodded.
-We can at least hear them out, and then decide, I think that they will allow us time to consider the terms and we can always negotiate if the conditions are unfavarable.
Arien said, thinking about what this system Master could want them to do in exchange for taking them in.
-It would be nice to have a base once again and not worry about the repairs or supplies.
She added quietly, reminiscing the time she spent in the military, where all she needed to do was to reach a base and all the needs of her fleet would be addressed.
But here she had to attack other pirates and hope for the best regarding the parts and supplies.
-Our fleet, sure could use some repairs and fuel.
The shark like alien agreed.
-I know Drevon and that's why I'm hoping this time we can finally find someone who will take us in.
She answered, coming back to the present.
On the surface their fleet looked great, but over half of their ships needed repairs and maintenance and most of the fleet was down to one third their fuel and even lower on ammunition.
The three of them discussed for a few more minutes, before the door opened again and Andrew entered the conference module, this time however he was accompanied by only two people, Aelita and Tarina.