Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!-Chapter 195

---3rd Person POV, Artemis Space Station---

Arriving at the Bounty Hunter Association, the women parted ways as Samus was led to the mediation room. Following the receptionist in silence, Samus mentally prepared herself for very grueling negotiations. Having reached out to several colleagues in the industry who had dealt with other corporations previously, every one of them warned her to always maintain a level head. Their typical tactic was to lowball people and place the majority of the fault upon the contractor. Leaving emotions out of it and sticking to the facts was the best way to maximize a payout.

'That is easier said than done, though. Their little stunt nearly got me killed.', Samus thought, drawing close to the room. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Here you are; everyone is already waiting inside.", the receptionist said, bowing her head. "Best of luck in your negotiations."

"Thanks...", Samus replied, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. 'I can do this. It is important that I get a good payout so I can stop mooching off Victor and his family.'

Tapping the panel on the door, it slid into the wall on the right with a subtle hiss. Stepping into the room, Branch Manager Cooper Segal and the four Dahl lawyers rose to greet her. Exchanging a firm handshake and the usual pleasantries, Samus took a seat next to Segal as he shut the door. Once everyone was seated and had a cup of water, the branch manager opened the discussion for everyone.

"Sorry for contacting you so late last night, Miss Aran. The Dahl Corporation is eager to settle this matter before it reaches the press's ear.", Segal said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. "Dahl is willing to pay you five hundred thousand credits for damages to your ship and lost wages. What do you think?"

Catching her completely off guard, Samus' façade nearly fell off upon hearing the pittance they were offering. Taking a sip of her water, she swiftly retrieved a paid repair fill from within her power armor. Placing it on the table for everyone to see, the bounty hunter rejected their offer respectfully.

"As you can see, that five hundred thousand will not even begin to cover the taxes I paid on the repairs. Add three more zeros onto that, and then I will accept the offer.", Samus said, doing her utmost to keep her disdain from reflecting in her tone. "Five hundred million will cover the total cost of repairs and my expected lost wages. I had four different financial advisors estimate my exact losses based on my earnings over the past three years."

"Haha, you must be drunk or insane. The Dahl Corporation will not come anywhere close to what you are asking for.", Lawyer One said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Our defunct subsidiary cannot be held entirely responsible for your losses and repairs. It was your shoddy piloting skills that damaged your vessel. We will up our settlement offer to twenty million credits."

"Now hold on a moment, Miss Aren is one of our best pilots. She did the best she could, given that the mission parameters were falsified.", Segal interjected, noticing Samus' clenched fists under the table. "The fact remains that your subsidiary knowingly falsified a bounty, requested Miss Aren by name, and sent her on a wild goose chase. We have rock-solid evidence that they used the data from that battle to further improve your unreleased product line. While five hundred million credits is excessive, the association expects Dahl to make her whole. Our organization does not consider potentially lost wages in settlements, only the tangible damages our contractors sustain from falsified bounties. With that in mind, the Dahl Corporation owes her 320,254,507 credits in damages."

Shaking their heads, Dahl's lawyers slid the paper back to them and requested to see other quotes for the repair work. Telling them that there were no other quotes, she remarked that only specialized shops could work on her vessel. As this vendor was the only one certified in this sector, Samus' hands were tied on the matter. Giving her a cold-hearted shrug in response, they blame her for buying such a specialized ship.

"It is Dahl's fault that Miss Aran did not insure her vessel for unforeseeable incidents like this. Had she taken due care to properly protect her assets, she would not have been out all this money.", Lawyer Two asserted.

"Wait, what my colleague means to say is, Dahl will not cover the exorbitant cost of her specialized craft.", Lawyer Three said, smoothing over his colleague's words. "In lieu of repairing her vessel, we are prepared to offer her a replacement ship and twenty-five million credits for her troubles. Please have a look at our offerings and see if anything catches your eye."

Handing her a tablet, Samus warily accepted it, knowing nothing would come close to her faithful partner. Getting only partway through the first page, her lips began trembling as she let out a low, enraged snarl. Shakily setting the tablet down, she abruptly rose from her seat and glowered at the four men.

"My ship was a state-of-the-art vessel designed and built by my adoptive people, the Chozo. That ship was their gift to me when I reached Platinum Rank in the association. For you to insinuate that it is equivalent to twenty-five-year-old hunks of junk, it insults me!", Samus seethed, unable to keep her emotions in check now. "You clearly came here today to waste my precious time a second time. I gave you a chance to do right by me, but you have trampled over my kindness. Consider these negotiations over. Look forward to seeing your dirty laundry being broadcast on the news tonight."

"Now hold on a minute, Samus. Your anger is more than justified, but please give the association time to hammer out a deal on your behalf. We have your repair bill; that is the number we will work toward getting you.", Segal said, trying to avoid this getting ugly.

"They clearly have no intention of coming anywhere close to the amount I am rightfully owed. I used every damn credit I had to my name to pay for repairs, and when that was not enough, I sold part of my kit to cover the rest.", Samus said, feeling the urge to punch something. "If it were not for the generosity and kindness of Victor and his family, I would be a beggar on the streets right now. You have no fucking idea how close I came to degrading myself just to earn enough money to eat! They literally showed up just as I was about to do something I could never come back from."

Having been unaware of how bad things were, the branch manager understood now why she wanted so much money. Given her popularity among fellow bounty hunters and the public, his mind immediately went to the gutter. Believing she had been on the verge of selling her body for credits, Segal was immensely grateful to Victor's crew for taking her in.

"I understand... Do as you see fit then.", Segal relented with a long sigh.

"Take a moment to think carefully before making your decision. Exposing our dirty laundry publicly will likely cause you to lose work and any future sponsorships. Is that what you want?", Lawyer One spoke up. "Eighty million credits is the most Dahl is willing to compensate you. In addition to that, they will waive all rights to the equipment you found. You are free to do as you please with them."

"No, thank you, I do not want technology you pilfered from the Imperium of Man.", Samus said, having already received confirmation from Victor. "Your scientists illegally entered their territorial space, accidentally awoke a slumbering group of murderous xenos, and fled as they tore an entire sector apart. I have it on good authority from their second in command that your employer is going to pay out the ass for your transgressions."

Using that nugget of information in a last-ditch attempt to sway them, instead of budging, their expressions darkened. Learning their R&D's misdeeds had been discovered by the Imperium of Man, now they were forced to do damage control to avoid alerting other nations. Unbeknownst to the public, Dahl stopped innovating their technology years ago. Given the surge of new competitors in the market, they had resorted to graverobbing from extinct races for better technology.

During a particularly fruitful expedition to the Imperium of Man, their explorers discovered a barren world chock-full of high-end technology. Taking everything they could get their hands on, the presumed dead residents awoke from their slumber and began fighting them. Sorely outmatched, the men were forced to abandon their work and quickly fled from the sector.

"Execute Plan E. The target is uncooperative, and classified information on Project Necro has been leaked.", Lawyer Four said, pushing a button on a hidden earpiece. "You should have accepted our generous offer, bitch. Now a lot of people are about to die, and their blood is on your damn hands."

"What is that supposed to mean...?", Samus questioned, feeling a knot forming in her stomach. 'Oh shit... Please do not tell me Victor was right. This is not one of those times I want to be proven wrong!'

Choosing to remain silent, a series of powerful explosions answered her question for them. Feeling the station shake violently beneath her feet, alarms began loudly blaring all over. Warning people that several hull breaches had been detected, it also alerted maintenance to an imminent reactor failure. Hearing several more blasts coming from the entry hall, the sounds of gunfire and men howling echoed throughout the building.

"What the hell have you bastards done!?", Segal roared, ripping a hidden pistol out from under the table. "There are tens of millions of innocent people onboard."

"The Dahl Corporation cannot risk such dangerous information getting out. If galactic governments were to discover our activities, Dahl would collapse overnight. To safeguard ourselves, we must erase any record of it. Killing you two would draw too much suspicion; hence, the space station will appear to have fallen to space pirates... as no one is leaving here alive.", Lawyer Four said. "It is nothing personal, just business."

Hearing the gunfire increase out front, Samus pointed her plasma cannon at them and fired several times. Irritated that she couldn't make them suffer more, Segal and she quickly rushed out to aid the defenders. Finding the place overrun by maniacs wielding guns and knives, they were tearing the place to pieces while most of Victor's family and a few receptionists fought back.

"Everything is going to be okay. Just focus on me.", Olivia said, trying to stop a young receptionist's severe bleeding with magic.

"I... I cannot die here!! My parents and sickly sister rely on me to make ends meet," she asserted, her skin turning pale.

Hearing calls for help all around them and out in the streets, Samus and Segal froze for a moment before joining the fight. Asking Angelica and company if anyone had called for aid, Deirdre confirmed backup was en route. The soldiers aboard Yamato were currently fighting their way to their location, while a reservist squad was making their way to the reactor core.

"Victor picked a damn fine day not to come with us!", Samus said, turning a group of marauders into paste with a missile. "Have you called him?"

"He just touched down on Solemnace. It will be at least ten minutes before he can come assist us.", Roxanne answered, cutting down enemies as she deftly avoided gunfire.

(Cleare)

Before anyone could ask what that meant, a barrage of lightning fell upon the horde of maniacs. Vaporizing their targets on contact, several squads of Doombots dropped down and began mercilessly tearing enemies apart. Walking through the hailstorm of bullets unharmed, the enemy began falling back as a few Doombots readied their energy weapons.

(Doombot 1)

Firing their miniaturized Doomsday Cannons, a relic borrowed from the Necrons, the surrounding area disappeared in a bright flash of light. Hearing only the loud roar of the devastating weapons, when the light finally died down, only a sea of molten metal remained. Having never seen devastating firepower like that in a small package, Segal's body began trembling with fear.

'Holy fucking shit... I can see why Victor is indifferent to Chaos Marines.', Segal thought.

(Doombot 1)

(Doombot 2)

Vehemently rejecting the request, Angelica and company refused to abandon the locals to a potentially explosive demise. Acknowledging their request, Doombot 2 offered an alternative option.

(Doombot 2)

"That... That will work.", Angelica agreed, looking at the others. "Everyone okay with that?"

"We need to go now. My patient has fainted, and I cannot rouse her.", Olivia said, using her power armor to pick up the injured woman.

Nodding their heads, Aela and Roxanne took point and began leading everyone to Yamato.