The entire inspection ended quickly. When the Servitor asked Vane whether he wanted to visit the other storage areas, Vane refused without hesitation.
The Transport Aircraft that had descended from the Black Ship carried Vane and the four Tempestus Scions back into orbit. The Servitors in the Starport also sent the remaining Hazardous Environment Work Suits aboard the Black Ship, along with the equipment the party had changed out of earlier.
Just three days later, the inspection results were entered into the Imperium's archives.
Vorsid III Planet tithe grade: Exactis Prima The Planet has no Planetary Governor or inhabitants, and no Imperial institutions will be established there henceforth. All tithes will be paid in Minerals. After making a single payment of sufficient supplies, the Planet will be converted into a place of exile. Resource collection rate: 100%.
Meanwhile, another Tithe Fleet already en route received new orders. They would now take more than five Transport Ship fleets to Vorsid III and strip it of every remaining Minerals resource.
While the Imperium busied itself collecting tithes, Iax gazed at the Depot World ahead, which looked like a planet made of metal.
This was already near the edge of the Milky Way, within Segmentum Pacificus.
The surrounding Star Systems had been plundered clean by the swarm.
The Planet ahead was the only one that showed no signs of a swarm attack.
Originally a Desolate Planet, it had been discovered two thousand years earlier. After surveys found nothing worth exploiting, its flat terrain had led to its conversion into a Depot World.
This location had been chosen because the surrounding Star Systems had once contained large numbers of Mining Worlds.
The Planet was piled high with tithes paid by the surrounding worlds.
Besides rare Minerals from the nearby Mining Worlds, it