Audaz respectfully greeted her. Then, he abruptly continued with the discussion about the special mix, looking the back of the ship opened and talking to the Don:
Three times more effective? Interesting. Maybe you could talk to our Alpha Scientist, Professoressa Petra Ferrari, she is our Cardamine research expert; her expertise could be useful in some of your investigations about it…and how to improve it; if you want our help, that is. As you probably know, Malta Hyperspace Starfleet is dedicated to develop and encourage scientific breakthroughs, strengthening Outcast dominion in all Sirius through technological superiority.
Audaz reflexed a bit, his face turned slightly grim, and proceeded:
Our people have acquired tremendous benefits from our precious orange substance, but our numbers are less each day that passes…We need to do more effort if we want to survive against the numerous foes. Our dependence with our allies, and the extension of our influence through them, show us how weak we currently are…
After the dark thought, he added a pleasant smile:
Nevertheless, our fleets have been appearing in full-force, magnificent Maltese creations have darkened the skies of our enemies countless times. And those who have joined us spreading the Orange Dream, singular friends like Gen’an, have proved time and again that they do not fear to protect our interests in the far reaches of space.
Trying to avoid bringing more concerns to the conversation, Audaz ended his talk and waited the arrival of more guests.
"Sounds interesting to a friend I hope Professor Petra will help us with that," he sighed and told Audaz. "Friend of our orange substance will be spreading for many years no doubt about it, but I have no reports that there is Cardamine in Rheinland do you have any news about it?" He turned to the waiter, "Bring me some new unopened wine, what we brought even from Liberty." He smiled and turned to his wife "My dear this is our ally friend Audaz from the Hyperspace fleet, my dear Isabella is my new consigliere and will help us in many cases" Looking at her black eyes fascinated Don who did not take his eyes off her.
Seeing the matriarch arrive in the Hangar, Tomoyo bowed to salute her. Tomoyo, unlike the matriarch, had elected to remain in her normal day to day leather outfit in order to maintain full combat readiness. Putting on a polished set of the black pants and maintaining the red jacket tied, she looked read to jump in action at any moment. Katana attached to the back of her shield belt, twin laser pistols at her hip and beam rifle strapped to her back, she took her duty of protecting the matriarch very seriously.
By your orders, Kiri-sama. Tomoe has already been briefing the Minarai, and I believe you have heard Yuki's statement of standby reinforcements. I highly doubt we will need their assistance, however it is better to be safe then suffer irreplaceable losses.
She then turned to the Tomoe and Yuki, looking straight at them Tomoe-san, Yuki-san, I trust you can keep an eye on the Minarai? This will be their first official posting and as such I want each of you to select one and keep a close eye on them without failing your duties. She then turned to the Minarai You should feel honored to have been allowed such a task. Normally only proper Yūrei get trusted with such a task. However I have high hopes you will not fail, and will take good example from your parent Yūrei. Prove yourselves trustworthy and this will greatly accelerate your trial period.
Tomoyo then turned back to the matriarch As stated by Yuki-san earlier, we have arrived near Alba station and the coast is clear. Members of the Sakura wing are already in space and await our departure to provide further escort in space. All our FIghters are ready to go.
The Matriarch nodded while Tomoyo gave her the rundown on the preparations for their departure to Alba Station.
"Excellent, you did an impressive job. I personally do not expect much risk so deep within Outcast territory, but a lack of preperation is one of the most deadly things. I guess we should not keep our hosts waiting too long. Alert the Sakura Wing that we will be depart from the carrier shortly."
Not long after, a modified armored freighter containing the Matriarch and her delegation entered the docking bays of Alba station. 2 ships of Sakura wing landed next to the freighter, while the other fighters stayed in a defensive formation around the station. The delegation disembarked from their ships and made their way to the reception area where the Matriarch greeted the Don.
"Omedetō gozaimasu. May you have many years ahead of you. I thank you for this invitation and we brought some of the finest sake of Kyushu with us as a gift. I hope you appreciate the gesture."
Don looked up and saw a group of girls approaching him, neatly dressed with the sign of the Gen'an.
" Thank you, you know we've worked on some actions in the past, not inviting you would be insane thank you for coming, Sake? of course please i hope you are not tired of traveling, if you want to stay longer of course we have a special room for such occasions.
Don entered the hall with Matriarch and the rest of the Gen'an members and dresses the hall.
"My dear friends, allies and others, welcome to my birthday, thank you all for responding to this call. As you know this was not an easy way to get to the top to be Don of an organization but I would not succeed without some here, of course, my dear wife who was always there to support and give new ideas for cartel development, of course, thank you, Hyperspace Fleet, for hoping to help us with their scientist to develop our kind of Cardamine in that we will help them as much as we can. Thanks to Gen'an members for being one of the first to try our product which we will hopefully expand with them in Kusari and other parts of Sirius. Know that the Cartel is always with you with everything you need if it is available to us whenever it is needed. With this toast, I would like to once again thank the Allies for coming to show that the friendship between Outcast and Gen'an is getting stronger and stronger, Enjoy"
Don leaves the microphone and set down with his allies.
When Don finished with his speech, Audaz took the front and dedicated some words to the whole audience:
Gracias Don, for making this invitation. In this special occasion, Malta Hyperspace Starfleet did not want to stay aside from it, and we have come to share the moment with our Zeta allies and kin. Also, we have the pleasure to assist a meeting with our efficient distributors. Gen’an has always been on the front, carrying the precious cargo throught Kusari and beyond; and Zeta Cartel has always been present to help us when needed, fighting alongside us and engaging against overwhelming odds. In these dangerous times we have endured and consolidated our power in Sirius, but there are still many tasks at hand that require our attention. The Houses consider us as petty criminals, but our combined efforts, our skills, our technology, our will…have proven unceasingly that we are better than that and them! This reunion reflects our strength and commitment! No challenge will defeat us in this situation; we will prevail against our enemies!
Audaz showed an invigorated enthusiasm and expressed his emotions to the air:
Let us all cherish this festivity and enjoy all we can! Because tomorrow will be another day to spread our Orange Dream and destroy our foes!
¡Por nuestros aliados! ¡Por Malta! ¡Por el Sueño Naranja!
He did not wait for the emotional response of the crowd; Audaz took a seat and expected what surprises this birthday would entail.
After listening to Audaz, the Matriarch also stepped forward. She wore a formal black kimono with the Gen'an emblems embroidered on the the back and sleeves. A gold thread obi was around her waist. The golden face mask vibrated lightly as she spoke. It was made for her 2 years back by the master artisan Nakamura Tadashi, after the newly formed Gen'an Sisterhood had kidnapped him.
"Well, as everyone is making speeches, let me also say a few words. Malta has always been kind to the Gen'an movement. It has provided us with assistance whenever we requested it and we have done so in return. As such, the alliance between Gen'an and Malta has grown into one of the strongest in all of Sirius. I remember when the GMG tried to force us against the Maltese people and failed miserably in their attempt. The time we transported over one million units of cardamine into Bretonia while you were invading the Taus. And finally, your support for our shipyard, which is a great leap into our technological advancement.
All I have to say is. May our alliance crush any who oppose us."
"Thank you for your speech to Commander Audaz and you, Matriarch Kira, I am pleased to be able to count on you at all times, I hope that this operation we are preparing in the future will have a much better impact on our relationship, of course you and the others will be counted."
Don turned around and tell something to the one of his soldiers, the soldier stood up and turned to the exit, Don looked at him and just nodded, suddenly the door opened and three soldiers came in armed, they all turned to them and looked at them strangely, they pushed one big cart with packages, they came to the center of the hall where don waited for them.
"I know today is my birthday, but this is the only way I can express my gratitude to my allies, the Matriarch and the Commander for you I have prepared special packages for you as a token of my appreciation, I know it's not much, but that's all that can be afforded now. Packages of our products "Yellow Sweets"