Robert didn't wait for a reply. He gestured for the Emperor to follow him to a high-precision assembly forge.
K'narkk watched with predatory focus. As a warrior-emperor, he had a fundamental understanding of his people's technology—it was tactile, organic, and prioritized energy efficiency.
Robert's hands moved with terrifying speed. He wasn't just assembling parts; he was tuning the crystalline harmonics of the cloaking field. He used Vossk-grown superconductors and calibrated the energy-dampening coils using the exact mathematical ratios found in Vossk ancient architecture. In front of the Emperor's very eyes, a device that should have taken a team of Imperial engineers months to prototype was completed in a single hour.
Intrigued, K'narkk took the device back to the T'munk. He installed it into the ship's primary equipment slot and initiated a test sequence in the station's shadow. The results were undeniable:
Energy Consumption: Remained as low as the legendary U'Tool.
Cloaking Duration: Nearly doubled.
The T'munk didn't just vanish from sight; it vanished from every sensor known to the Terran Federation. K'narkk reappeared at the docking bay, the ship shimmering back into reality like a predator emerging from a dream.
He stepped out of the cockpit and approached Robert, his posture shifting from suspicion to profound respect.
Robert simply leaned against a workbench and wiped his hands on a rag, a smirk playing on his lips.
The Emperor stared at the polymath for a long moment.
******
With the Emperor's majestic departure, the station settled into a hum of focused productivity. Robert didn't rest; he returned to his private bay to finalize his latest disruptor to the status quo—the Midorian Mining Hull.
The Mido Confederation was in the midst of a miraculous, if dangerous, economic recovery. The radical Nivelian Black Guard had intended to wipe them out with an artificial supernova, but the plan had backfired. The sun had stabilized, leaving behind vast belts of Novanium—an incredibly rare ore that the Terran Federation and pragmatic Nivelians were now desperate to acquire for their next-gen technologies.
The problem was the radiation. Even with the Gamma Shield 1 (a Mido original) or the Gamma Shield 2 (developed by the elite Deep Science faction), pilots could only survive the Novanium fields for short bursts.
Robert looked at the integrated core of his new ship. It housed the Gamma Shield 3.
Instead of selling the stand-alone shield—which would just be another part on a shelf—Robert had integrated it directly into a rugged, high-capacity mining vessel. It was a classic "razor and blade" business move:
The Hook: The ship was the only craft in the galaxy capable of staying in high-density Novanium fields for hours rather than minutes.
The Strategy: By selling the ship, he wasn't just selling a tool; he was selling the McBullum brand. Every time a Midorian captain looked at their survival clock, they'd see the McBullum Enterprises logo.
The first fleet of these ships was already being prepped for the Eon system. As Robert watched the assembly line, he knew the market was about to flip. The Mido would become the wealthiest miners in history, the Terrans would get their ore, and Robert would become the most influential shipwright in the sector—all while making it look like he was just helping out the "underdog."
******
The first production line of the ME Fortress rolled out of the Pandora shipyards and into the hands of the Midorian mining guilds. It was a beast of a vessel—heavily armored to withstand asteroid collisions and surprisingly maneuverable for its mass. While it only featured three primary weapon slots, they were positioned for maximum defensive coverage.
The Fortress sold like hotcakes. With the Gamma Shield 3 humming in their hulls, Midorian pilots stayed in the Novanium fields long after the competition had to flee the radiation. Credits began to pour into the Mido Confederation, fueling a rapid industrialization that the galaxy hadn't seen in decades.
But as the Midorians rose, the Nivelian Republic watched with growing envy.
Inside the high chambers of the Nivelian Senate, the mood was tense. They were already planning their own controlled supernova—a desperate move to create their own Novanium belts. Unlike the radical Trunt Harval, who had been condemned for turning supernova technology into a war crime against the Mido, the Republic viewed the process as a purely industrial necessity. However, seeing the success of the ME Fortress, the Nivelians realized their own mining fleet was obsolete.
A high-ranking Nivelian representative, Garland Unger, was dispatched to the Pandora system. He arrived not with a fleet, but with a formal diplomatic request.
Stepping into Robert's office, Unger adjusted his formal robes, his lizard-like features pulled into a mask of diplomatic neutrality.
Robert leaned back in his chair, a pen spinning between his fingers. He had just armed the Vossk Emperor and saved the Midorian economy. Now, the third superpower was at his door.