Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of ProximaThe news that a Clone team is en route to hold talks with the Tarbotians may not be that surprising. When a galactic megapower arrives on your doorstep it is considered advantageous to have good relations with them if possible especially as, unlike the DDS and Dinos, the Clones have a direct border with the newly expanded Tarbotian Empire. The Clones have no history of conflict with the Tarbotians so at least have a good starting point.
The key question is of course what can the Clones offer the Tarbotians who are infamously a ruthless and insular faction. The Tarbotians don't do alliances, if they want to take advantage of another power's abilities and resources they conquer them and bring them into the empire as has happened apparently with the Okram*Green. The Tarbotians are a smart imperial power. They don't crush and decimate fallen enemies as a rule. They prefer to integrate them into the empire to make the empire stronger.
Thus normally the Clones would be rebuffed unless the Tarbotians thought they could do with the Clones' resources or technology and then they would try and conquer them. However at the moment the new Tarbotian territory is weak. The ABBOs were exterminated due to the inability to integrate them into the empire and the newly conquered territories need rebuilding. Therefore i suspect the Tarbotians may be happy for an alliance with the Clones in order to secure their new border.
However when the Tarbotians have fully integrated their new territory and their border is strong then they will have no more need for the Clones. The HCS had best then be ready to become a Tarbotian enemy not an ally...
