"Your compatriots' colony ships have departed from our fleet."
"Thank you, thank you, Ambassador."
"We are all intelligent species capable of communicating with one another. We should both be grateful that a minor friction did not escalate into war. Thank you as well."
Gou Weisa helped the Water Clan ambassador exchange pleasantries and wrangle with He Chou.
When He Chou realized that neither his boss nor his colleagues were actually coming, he guessed quite a bit. He then negotiated with the Water Clan as their representative.
Since the other side was so cooperative, the talks went very smoothly.
Having settled the matter of the colony ships, the two discussed ownership of the star system.
He Chou stated that the sector needed this star system, while the Water Clan ambassador said they had stumbled into territory reserved for human colonization by accident and were already evacuating the civilians from the planetary colony.
The ambassador seemed utterly harmless, but He Chou did not lower his guard. He felt that the ambassador was actually very seasoned, merely skilled at disguising himself as the representative of a weak and benevolent species, making it easier to spring surprises in the future.
But for now, the future was not yet relevant.
In less than twenty minutes, the Tau fleet began releasing the colony ships.
To avoid further misunderstandings, every vessel in the Tau naval fleet shut down its shields and turned its guns away. Nearby Tau warships aimed at one another.
The Tyran Navy vessels likewise shifted the aim of their weapons.
However, two Cruisers in a combat-ready state left the fleet and approached the returning colony ships.
The colony ships and Cruisers stopped simultaneously. Then the Space Marines aboard the Cruisers boarded the colony ships, using various AI technological devices to inspect the number of