parentshiftbook Chapter 446 Acceptable delay
Chapter 446 Acceptable delay
"How is it going?" Claudy asked while gripping with all his strength at the belts that secured him on his seat.
The traumatic experience of flying at great speeds, something that I hardly even noticed due to the advancement of my rank and the perks that came with it, was enough to fully break the man.
I could guess that back on the solid ground, he would be back to his full power of a supreme that went through the ordeals of the starlight plain. But up in the sky, with nothing but the thin floor of the Maglev separating him from said ground?
'Human fears are quite weird, aren't they?'
Just like Isera proved by jumping out of the moving Maglev and easily landing down without any issue, Claudy didn't really have anything to fear from falling from our current height. What's more, we weren't even moving right now, so there should be fewer reasons for him to act out the way he did...
And yet, there he was, strapped as tightly and securely to his seat as possible and having to force himself just to keep up the conversation.
"It's still within the expected development," I replied after scanning the situation outside through the scopes of the outside cameras of the hovercraft.
But things being within expectations didn't mean they were going well.
In truth, it was pretty much impossible to say whether we were in the green or looming into the red, with how the initiative was currently on Isera's part. And from high up in the sky, even if we could easily see her talking to some man...
No microphone in production could cut through all the noise below and decipher what the two of them were talking about.
"Still, to think that guy would try to attack us right after we stopped the charge of his enemies..." Fay muttered unhappily from her seat, staring down at where the two stood with quite a glare.
"That was outside of my expectations too," I admitted, giving the man a stare as I spoke. "But to be honest, I can't tell whether it was stupidity, bravery, or just an extremely cold and calculated decision."
Attacking someone who just helped you was outright stupid. Attacking someone who just wiped out a few hundred if not thousands of men in a single attack was nothing short of bravery.
As such, I couldn't really blame their general for swiftly coming to terms with what had to be done and preparing to give an order to an attack, as desperate as it might be.
But now that Isera managed to have some words with that general down there, she allowed them to turn the unknown into something strange and foreign.
In other words, they were still going to be wary of us, but there would be some room to discuss terms of potential cooperation.
"We would very much like if you didn't try to kill us all just like you killed the imperial legion..."
Even with the AI enhancer on, Isera's voice suddenly cut short.
"But to talk terms, I will need more time. It's not a discussion we can have in the heat of the moment."
When Isera's voice returned, she was already concluding the long message that was lost to the electromagnetic turbulence of the hypermagnets.
Still, with only this last sentence, I could tell the conclusion of the current debate. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
"Then, we are going to retreat somewhere out of sight and give you a few hours to discuss everything, reinforce your defenses, or whatever you need to do the most right now,"
I didn't really mind the delay. In fact, those few hours would allow me to take the trip back to the other side of the supposedly impassable land of the starlight plain. But...
"Just keep in mind, our offer of cooperation only stands for as long as you control this pass," I added, suddenly turning on my narrative so far that was aimed to pretty much agree to most of the stuff. "If we will be called to seal this place once this fortress falls..."
I allowed a short moment of silence to build up some tension with my counterparts down at the ground level.
"Let's just say that our fees will be quite a lot higher, then."