"I have more data for you, Colonel. I have biological data from the stasis pods, about their last occupants." Nico informed him.

That was the sort of breakthrough that they were hoping to find. With that they could know exactly who the colonists were, and where they might have gone, assuming that they had survived to become a known species of the Galaxy.

Nico sent over a wave of data, and at first, Max thought that it was from a number of different species, because the genetic diversity and appearances were so widely varied. But after looking more closely, they were all one group, just different lineages.

They were bipedal, like humans, but had a total of six limbs. For some that meant a set of wings, for some it was a second set of arms. There were large ones and small ones, but for the most part, they were just over three meters tall.

If it weren't for that, he would have thought that they were the ancestors of the Narsians.

Though, given that Nico mentioned that they had gene modification bays, they actually might have been, if this ship had arrived in the system early enough.

"Nico, what is the age of the message? How long ago did they leave, can you tell?" Max asked.

"According to the timer on their computers, they left about 2600 Kepler standard years ago. The Navigation data isn't available though, so I have no idea where they came from or where they intended to go." Nico informed him.

That was too recent to be any of the major races in the Galaxy, but maybe they did find a peaceful sector of the Galaxy to call home. Until they had more data, there was always hope.

"Check all the stasis bays while Major Miller and I check out the area for any other interesting items left behind for us to find. If they transferred to another Colony ship, they must have been short on space, so there is bound to be something left behind." Max told her, then turned to shine his light down a darkened corridor.

[We have more information from Imperial Command. Sector Command doesn't know that you have left Abraham Kepler, and the Tapani have canceled their request for aid. That seemed suspicious to the Emperor, so he ordered a sensor sweep of the area and found that the incoming Klem pods are not going to strike Tapani space, but fly right by them and into Kepler space.] Inquisitor Ming reported.

That wasn't good news. Kepler Terminus, Max's homeworld, was one of the closest Kepler planets to that border, and from what he could tell, the majority of the Sector Defense fleet was currently headed to Tapani territory looking for the experimental Mecha.

[Do we have any additional orders or just a partial situation update?] Max asked.

[No new orders, and I don't expect any. At the moment, we don't officially exist, and the Emperor himself will deny that any such experimental Mecha Force was created. Until proven otherwise, the Rebels are wasting Kepler's resources on a witch hunt over an incident that only occurred in their imagination and proving themselves unfit to be allowed to return to their positions of power.] General Yaakov reported.

[I know it is a selfish request, but if those Klem pods are headed for Kepler Terminus, I would like to divert there, in our capacity as the Terminus Trading Company.] Max asked General Yaakov.

[Current trajectory shows that your homeworld is safe from the Klem, but all the way out here, we can't get much data, only the bit that Imperial Command made available to the other frontier planets.] The General informed him with a sigh.

They had gotten used to sending any and all annoying matters to the layer of command above themselves, now that it was gone and they were out of contact, they would have to start making their own calls, based on the data that they could collect themselves.

[All the pods are gone, as are the stored genetic material and the entire contents of the Gene sequencing lab. Most of the Terraforming equipment is still in the storage bays, and I've got the cameras online now. This station has enough clearance to verify that it is safe to turn on the lights if you would like.] Nico reported.

[Do it, and if you can search for escape pods or shuttles of some sort, that would be great. I want to know as much about their technology as possible before we have to go.] Max suggested.

[Why should we leave at all? We've got a mighty fine colony ship here, plus two and a half cutters. If there is any empty storage we can move the Pirate ships inside the Colony ship and drag the whole fething thing with us.] Major Miller joked.

[No, you have a point, Major. Once First Battalion has finished searching their current location, move to the aft of the ship and inspect the engines. It sounded like the problem was a lack of resources to repair engine damage. If we can fix that, we can take the whole thing intact.

I don't know if Imperial Command will count it as war spoils, but a Colony Ship of unknown origin has to be worth something, right? If nothing else, I will take it home with me and dock it at my family's spaceport.] General Yaakov ordered.

Now he was starting to think outside the box. The rebels were looking for Abraham Kepler right now, but if they got enough data they would be looking for the Dutchman, but nobody would be looking for a pair of Pirate Cutters operating from a battered alien Colony ship.

They wouldn't even be the only ones. Discarded Colony ships were once a popular home for Mercenary groups. That reached its peak a few thousand years ago, when the last colonization wave ended, but there were still a number of archaic vessels floating around like drifting cities in space, home to all sorts of folk who didn't really fit in with regular society.