Erving frowned at the request. It could be a trap or a double cross. But he couldn't take that risk.

"Affirmative Iron Lady, you are free to dock. Security officials will meet you at the main entrance. I look forward to seeing some new faces around here."

Godwin ordered the man on the station next to him to open communications to all channels, he intended to speak without repeating himself. The station continued on toward the other which had given them their coordinates and soon it was in sight. They would ready to be dock with the station in a moment's notice. Anyone who would look out onto the station would easily notice the Italian words and symbols noted on the side, and if anyone were to investigate the printed serial number of the ship, they would find that it should not be in the hands of the Mars Nationalists.

"This is Sir Godwin D'Agincourte, Savior General of the Autocratic Union of Mars Nationalists. We appear to approaching the Agricoli Terra station and are ready to dock when we receive the word. Agricoli, Epsilon, and any other station picking up this broadcast... I am currently in command of a military vessel and wish to inform you that we will be following certain procedures and do not wish to alarm anyone. Upon docking and the subsequent requested meeting between station leaders or representatives, I would ask that I be allowed to post guards in the docking bay to prevent unregistered entry into my station and that I be able to bring a personal entourage of highly professional and important officer personnel with me. This is to ensure the safety of my station and make sure all those on a need to know basis within the Union be able to best represent our community". Godwin paused for a moment.

"We are willing to open up trade negotiations upon face to face interaction and are entirely interested in contributing what we can to the greater good. Information on our capabilities and what we have to offer will be discussed then. It is my hope that we won't even have to trade given enough time... but can instead consider ourselves one great station; the last bastion of Humanity. Like it or not, ladies and gentleman, the survival of our species is up to us... and the only way we can achieve that is through complete cooperation".

Of course, Godwin's idea of complete cooperation was submission from the other stations. However, the time for such drastic action and important decisions was far from being close.

"Affirmative, we are starting docking procedures now," Fay says, gesturing to the navigational officer, though he was already on task. It took around ten minutes to precisely move and dock the station with the other station. In that time, Fay had notified Jennifer of her actions, and then proceeded down to the main airlock with two infantrymen of Talos squad, fully kitted out with assault rifles in their arms and pistols at their waists. Fay herself had a pistol at her waist, but wasn't as kitted out, to show she was the main girl at the scene. "Morning," she said, once the airlock had let the trio through. "Take us to... Wherever you are going to take us."

The Agricoli Terra station interlocked with the AUMN Station, and soon Gerret was near its doors with a few unarmed representatives, waiting to be greeted. It had been a while since he had hoped to see new faces, but he was now glad to see that so many people were still alive.

Erving nodded at the woman and motioned her to follow him. When they got to the main doors of the station, he stopped and turned to her.

"The others are behind this door. When the doors open they will step out with a few security officers will be close at hand. It's only a precaution, can't be too careful. Once everyone is satisfied, you and your men will be allowed to enter the station proper. However, only you and one of your guards may enter the meeting room, and with sidearms only. Do you agree to these terms?"

Fay nods in response. "Understood," she says. Turning to her guards, she begins to gesture to them, and with their free hands, they gesture back. One guard nods, before getting the other guard's rifle put in his other hand. He looked like some strange commando from an old comic book, a rifle in each hand. "Signal if needed." He says, stepping back to rest against a wall, keeping watch. The reason that was said out loud was to make sure there wasn't any messing around going to happen. Fay finally turns around again. "We definitely agree. Please, take us to your meeting room.

Erving smiled and gestures her into an open doorway. Once they entered, the Board was already assembled and waiting. Everyone greeted the new arrivals and took their seats. It was Henry Hall, Head of Buisness, who spoke first.

"So miss, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name, what was it? Fay? Well, miss Fay, as you know very few escaped Earth from the Crawl. As far as we can tell, you and your ship, ours and two others are the only ones in this sector of space. So, what do you propose as a plan of survival?"

Fay walked inside of the meeting room, her guard automatically taking up a flanking position in the corner of the room if he was needed. Fay herself sat down in a vacant chair, closest to her guard, putting one hand on top of the other on her lap and looking directly at whoever was talking to her. The man happened to know her name, so it was only polite of him to offer his own. However, she did not leap to ask this, since he already had asked a question, and an important one at that.

"Sir, if I may say, I am one of several leaders of WUSO, one of which is our head-leader, and others may have varying opinions compared to mine. However, our main opinion remains the same, that we simply could be at peace and live in space. If we weaponize our stations, and begin to develop point defense as well as ammunition, we could fight off any boarding attempts. WUSO has a hierarchy system, and can keep order between ourselves. We don't know of the customs you perform. The saying goes 'innocent until proven guilty', but to me, it's 'guilty until proven innocent'. In our current state, we can not tell our allies from our enemies, one of the main reasons I brought brought two men with me, one of which is not here, as per your rules," Fay says. I brought two with me, but in reality there were three. One woman had snuck off plainclothed into the station, an informant to spy on the station. You can never be too safe.

"Ultimately, I cannot propose the best survival plan, as I am no mayor trained to organised a space colony," Fay finishes her small speech.

The Board nodded and paid attention to her words. The Head of Buisness apologised when he realised he hadn't introduced himself.

"How silly of me. Sorry I just got excited. I am Henry Hall, Head of Buisness. That's Stella Krieg of R&D. Alice Jones, Resource Management. Erving Strand, Head of Diplomacy." Erving smiled and nodded, "And that sour looking bugger is John Stone, Security."

The man nodded and stood up from his chair, "We have the facilities to make ammo and weapons, as well as turrets. If you can provide some materials we can start immediately. There is one small matter though." He brought up a screen with a woman in plainclothes, the third guard that snuck on. "While I do understand the caution of having a hidden agent, I find it insulting that you wouldn't think we would find out. I have everyone here memorised by name and face, she is a stranger. And, if we do come to an agreement, she will remain here to give you her own opinion on matters."

As the two stations drew closer in preparation for docking, Godwin began organizing things across the station. He sent orders to each of his officers, issuing an explicit set of commands. Colonist training was to begin instantly, the men that he was going to leave behind upon meeting up with the other survivors were to begin selecting idle colonists who had yet to be assigned an important role aboard the station and put them through physical training for the day and following weeks, along with weapons training, and more.

Those assigned to the factory floors of the station were to take their positions and begin practicing with the machinery, learning what they can from the information received from the Italian prisoner who they had previously interrogated and getting used to the work. Men and women ran to and fro aboard the station, practicing emergency drills which got them used to the idea of another station attacking their own. A special committee of officers began drafting plans for the defense of the station and sorting through the archives of weapons and armor, planning their first production should they get the materials.

Gathering the men that were to board the docked station with him, Godwin couldn't help but notice the changes that were coming from the restructured security force. Policemen and security guards were now starting to resemble a true military force, saluting their superiors and maintaining the steely gaze and posture of a professional combatant. Given enough time, he had no doubt that they could rival any enemy.

@scifidude47

After the stations had docked, it would be some time before the Nationalists had left their station. However, when they did, it was much like a big show. Nearly twenty men armed with combat rifles and equipped with gear reminiscent of riot armor exited from the station, completely blocking the entrance to their own vessel. After a minute or so of complete silence and silent watching of the other station's representatives, the men parted in the middle, allowing the passage of their leader and two officers. Each of them immediately let their rifles fall to their hip, gripped in one hand, while their free arm went upward in an angle and their fists clenched. They shouted in unison before resuming their alerted positions, "HEIL!"

The gathering of militia like troops was purely a show of power. Godwin had no fear of his station's security at the time being. He wanted to show that the Union was no force to be reckoned with and any failure of cooperation could easily be met with hostility.

Godwin smiled warmly as he and his officers approached Gerret and his own representatives. The three men stopped short of the others and saluted them just like the guards had to their Savior General and superiors, only Godwin's lips opening as his voice bellowed, "Heil!". Extending a hand in greeting, he introduced himself to the stranger. "Sir Godwin D'Agincourte, at your service". He looked around momentarily before continuing, "Would you happen to have somewhere more comfortable for us to open up discussion?"

"Oh, don't feel insulted. I sort of knew you'd find out, mister Stone," Fay says. "After all, in a community so small, it wouldn't be hard to find someone new." Taking into account what mister Stone said about the agent remaining there, Fay started to tap her fingers a little. The guard in the corner of the room raises his left hand to his ear, his right arm drooping down nonchalantly, looking like he was just relaxing a little. The pure reality, however unintentional it looked, was that his right hand was closer to his sidearm than before. He began talking in a very hushed and quiet voice, into an earpiece slotted into his left ear.

"The matter of a fact is that she is a highly trained professional, vital to operations of WUSO. She won't be remaining here, thank you very much." Almost cockily, Fay gives a smile and a nod to Stone, one of slight respect, as he had discovered her operative that quickly. Not fast enough, however, Fay knew. They weren't a Wendell special operations team for nothing. "Onto materials, if you looked close enough, you'd realize that a lot of our station consists of different ships. We could probably salvage some bulkheads, and give them as materials. It would cost, however. Mainly food."

Gerret was frightened by the sudden appearence of such power, but was relieved to find that, at the moment, they were friendly. He shook Godwin's hand.

"Gerret Myers." He smiled warmly.

"With a force like that, maybe one day we can reclaim our planets from The Crawl." He spoke, turning.

"Follow me, I have a gift for you." He says. His associates seemed cautious, but didn't appear armed either.

A communications specialist spoke to the Epsilion station.

"This is Agricoli Terra confirming interlocking. Will you be joining us?" She asks whoever was in Epsilon's communications center at the time.

Stone nodded his head, passed the conversation onto Jones. They had enough food to last them about a month, but if they can rally with Agracoli, they could really do Buisness.

"We are short on food ourselves, but are on our way to meet with another station. They're farmers and have a large amount of spare food. However we believe that another group may already be there, the AMNU. We don't trust these guys at all. So, we need your muscle. You help us out, we help you. Everyone gets food, we start work on supplying your soldiers with better gear, as well as defence turrets to halt boarding actions. Please discuss these matters with your people, Erving will accompany you in case you need anything more. This meeting is adjourned."

Fay stood up, and nodded respectfully to the board. "Thank you. I will be sure to talk about this to my group. We will be hosting a meeting immediately." Pushing in her chair, Fay turned on her heel, taking only a glance behind her to see if Erving was following, before walking out, her guard in tail, and heading back toward her station. "So, Erving, now that we are our of the meeting, may I ask, informally, what would happen to my operative if she was not to be pulled back to my station?"

Erving shrugged, "Depends whether or not she tried to sabotage us. If all she was doing was reporting back information, she's probably be left alone so long as the info wasn't sensitive. If it was, the brig. And if she killed someone, Stone would kill her. Aside from that, she has nothing to fear. Let me ask you something, what would you have had her do if she wasn't discovered?"

Fay smiles innocently, though she says, "Well, you see, Talos squad are not your average squad. We are a special operations team. If you threw her in the brig, she would escape, either through a boarding action from us on the exterior, or using her own skills on the interior. Did you know if you hit beside a bolt holding metal together just hard enough, you can dent it and incave it, which eventually forces the bolt out due to the constant motion. If you manage to angle the bolt, it's easier, since gravity tugs it down and provides extra motion. Enough bolts out, and you've made an opening. Oh, and if Stone tried to kill her, I'm pretty sure that all he would kill is your security team's morale when she draws an automatic rifle."

Fay cackles silently to herself. "After all, you do need to improve your security measures. Your guards didn't even pat us down. Michaels has a hand grenade, a combat knife and a full toolkit on him right now, and I have a knife in my boot as well as a second sidearm in my jacket. We both also have earpieces." As they reached the passage into the WUSO station, Fay shrugs, watching as the operative as well as the guard that had originally stayed at the airlock with the rifles prepared to enter. "What would I do if she wasn't discovered? Let her gather information and send it to me over time. If you made any hostile moves, well, it's not that hard to fashion a home made grenade. Add that to a reactor and we have a situation where suddenly you have to follow our demands or end up blowing up."

Erving smiled broadly and shook his head. These people were impressive.

"Yes, she could've done a lot of damage, if we were enemies. Good thing we are friends then eh? So, what now? Will I be thrown in a cell till you need me? Or can I roam around a bit?"

"Now, now. You're a diplomatic guest. If we threw you into a cell that wouldn't be very diplomatic. You may roam around, but keep in mind the interactions going around. You don't want to talk to the wrong person. There will be a Civil council meeting soon, and then possibly a Talos meeting after that. You may attend both, and meet our leaders in turn." Upon walking in, there was an Talos infantryman stationed as a guard, sitting on a chair with a desk in front of him, papers on top.

"Go ahead and laugh that a soldier is sitting with paperwork on guard duty, but know that everything here serves a purpose. The desk is bulletproof, and can be used as cover. The chair is also bulletproof, and the large backrest makes it a moveable shield. He has a panic button, a radio, and a gun, all self explanatory. The papers show our hierarchy structure." With a nod to the infantryman, she took a sheet off of the desk and handed it to Erving. "Take a look at that, it's important you know our structure. It has the structure and the names of those in their ranks, so you know who to talk to if you have problems. Now, run free. The meeting is in..." She looked at the guard at the desk. "Fifteen minutes, ma'am," he says. With a nod, Fay begins walking. "Ask anyone for directions to the civil council area, or just tag along if you want to. It's the only way you'll get to see restricted areas, and it's not a tour."

Erving smiled and kept following Fay, she was the one he trusted most so far, plus by going with her he may see things he wouldn't see on his own.

"I'll think I'll stick with you for now, at least to get my bearings a bit. That's if you don't mind of course?"

@scifidude47

Godwin followed Gerret and his crew closely, the two officers tailing behind him as well. All of the guards remained at the entrance of their station. The Savior General absorbed what information of the station he could as they walked, speaking as they made the trip.

"If I knew that we were going to receive such a warm welcome, I would have brought a gift myself. We'll have to arrange something later", Godwin explained to the other station leader, "as for planet reclamation, well... I hate to sound cynical but that may be a bit hopeful at the moment. I would be more worried about a more hateful and greedy enemy. Humankind".

Godwin paused for a moment before continuing, "You have arguably the most important resource, my friend. That can either give you the upper hand or make you a target. From the looks of things, you don't seem to have much security and that makes me fearful. Now I'm sure you have enough food to go around for an extra station or two... but what happens when there are too many stations? What happens when the civilians of our stations demand more because the rations aren't enough to go around? Do we let the unrest bubble into civil disobedience? Do we let that civil disobedience force us into drastic action? What if one of these other stations, just trying to do good by their people... or maybe something more insidious, use force to take such a precious resource for themselves?"

Of course, this is the exact action Godwin would take if it came to it. His priority was to secure a stable source of food for his people. The rest could come later. Godwin held his hands behind his back and continued, "I fear that it won't be long before we see an all new kind of war among our brothers and sisters, Mr. Myers. Station warfare, brought on by the scarcity... or perceived scarcity of resources among the last of Humankind. I never wanted things to come to this but I've decided to start preparing my own people for this inevitability. I think it would be in your best interest to do the same."

"Now, this may seem a bit drastic but... perhaps our stations could provide for each other a little more than we provide for the other stations, if they are even willing to cooperate like we are, that is. Now, I won't go into the details until we get a little further into our discussion but I'm very much interested in an arrangement that would completely ensure your safety from the other stations. So if they decide that they need a little more food or want to contribute a little less, it won't be so hard on your station... or mine."

Godwin suddenly cleared his throat, "Ah, I get ahead of myself. Like I said, we'll discuss it further later. Just keep the idea in mind, please."