Chapter 290 290 Tweedle Dumb
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The Reavers worked like mad to get their weapons specifications changed on short notice, while the military fleet bore down on them. Once the fleet was fifteen minutes out, they were too close for their formation to disrupt the signal anymore, and everyone was in for a shock.
"Sweet mother of God, they sent the entire fleet. Did they really fake an invasion of Kepler space in order to ally with the Rebels and try to wipe out a few Kepler Officers and a Reaver Company?" Max muttered as he counted the vessels and updated his evaluation of the combat odds.
[Looks like we've got all the friends now. That new weapon configuration had better work Tarith, you know the rules.] One of the other Reavers broadcasted.
Once their ship had taken fifty percent or more hull damage they were no longer obligated to stay for a battle and could leave. Nobody signed on for suicide missions.
Of course, that wasn't the case for Terminus, it was too slow to run away, at least for now, since the engine upgrades they had been working on weren't finished yet. The shield modifications were all up and functional though, and according to the numbers, they should be almost as well armored as a Kepler Destroyer.
[Don't fear, I will never lead you wrong. If there is one thing that Tarith Rage knows, it is war.] Nico replied, assuring the other Reavers that they weren't all idiots for believing that they could successfully set up here.
There was a good reason that there were no other Reaver Systems. No Nation would dare to let them have an independent presence that strong, so every time they tried to establish a base, they were ambushed by the nations around them and destroyed.
That would be what it looked like from the outside, a large number of Kepler Rebel ships had joined the Tapani Fleet to attack Rae 5, giving the impression of an alliance between nations to prevent a Reaver uprising.
[Tapani will be translating in ten seconds. All hands to Battle Stations.] General Yaakov reported.
Nico was still somewhere in the ship, so Max ran for Enduring Rage from his spot at the Engineering bay control panels, where he had been watching the sensors.
Seconds later, Nico came running through, with a Tech Adept Harness already attached to her back and engaged the anti-gravity plating to fly up into the Mecha.
"Sorry, I had to go see a guy, about a thing." Nico apologized, then strapped herself into the second seat.
"You know, that explains exactly nothing, right?" Max asked.
"Or everything, depending on how you look at it." Nico shrugged, so Max looked into her thoughts.
She had sent a series of fake messages to Sector Command, that was supposed to be from General Tennant, ordering them to stand down, declaring that he was on Terminus, and negotiating with the Reavers for assistance with the Rebels.
That was both pure Evil Genius, and pure Evil. They were both on Terminus, and they had just lured an entire Sector Attack Fleet to them.
[Tarith Rage to Reaver Fleet, remember the plan, and you will see the results.] Nico broadcasted.
Nico had told the Reavers to target enemy engines first when they attacked so that the ships would not be able to leave the system. Sure, it didn't reduce their combat effectiveness at all, since the interplanetary thrusters weren't on the same power grid as the main engines, but it did leave them with a whole lot of ships to steal if the enemy chose to surrender.
The enemy fleet translated in, with the Rebels leading and the Tapani spreading out to deal with the Reavers, which were their nation's primary concern in this situation.
For a moment, nothing happened, except ships closing the distance on the waiting Reaver emplacements, then suddenly the entire Star System was littered with greenish-white Ion blasts and explosions.
[All Mecha, deploy. The Rebels are almost on us.] General Yaakov ordered.
They were ready, and Max was firing before he even had time to lock himself to the hull, using the recoil of his weapons to position the Mecha where he wanted it.
The explosions of the shells from the Mass Drivers would blind the enemy sensors, while the Ion Bombard Arrays did the real work of depleting their shields.
In this battle, they were targeting the smallest vessels first and hoping that the shields of Terminus would hold against the first few volleys from the Rebel Cruisers.
A tremendous Explosion rattled Max inside Enduring Rage and Nico cheered, tapping away happily at the controls to modify their Ion Weapons to more effectively deplete the Rebels' shields. Unlike the Tapani Vessel's inferior technology, they couldn't just pick a vulnerability and shoot through it, but even short bursts were taking down the shields on Cutters and allowing the next wave of bombardment to destroy the smaller vessels.
Then the Kepler Loyalist fleet came streaking out of the Atmosphere of the Gas Giant and began annihilating everything that moved. They were so trigger-happy that a few of their misplaced rounds even hit Reaver vessels after narrowly missing Tapani Vessels, but that wasn't entirely unexpected.
Allies are allies, but the military won't care if they cause a little collateral damage while dealing with an enemy fleet and a Sector's worth of Rebels.
[Terminus Shields at 30 percent but holding. Engine output at 90 percent, temperatures stable.] The lead engineer reported, coming through Nico's speakers loud enough for Max to hear.
30 Percent meant that they would be seeing breaches in the shield soon, as it got too thin to block the powerful blasts from Kepler's vessels.
Max turned from the destroyed Cutter in front of him to a rebel Mecha Carrier and turned his weapons on their engines. There were a lot of people aboard that vessel, and not all of them, or even most of them, would have any clue what was going on. Max was almost certain that they had been told a very polite official story that made them the good guys in this scenario.
The other Super Heavy Mecha seemed to have the same idea, and a flurry of blasts took the Warp engines offline permanently, and damaged the deployment bays, locking them inside even if they tried to land on the planet to escape the wrath of the orbital fleet.
[Imperial Inquisition Destroyer Monarch to Rebel Fleet. Stand down and prepare to be boarded. Resistance will lead to the destruction of your vessels.] The Kepler Destroyer announced, just as the last few large vessels in the Tapani Fleet went offline, either destroyed or entirely without power to give off an energy signature.
[You hear that you accursed traitor. You can't escape into a Reaver fleet this] Came a mocking voice over the comms before a blast from the Destroyer took a Cruiser offline.
[Again, Rebel Fleet currently engaging the Loyalist Reavers, bring your ships offline and prepare to be boarded or you will be destroyed.] The Kepler Inquisition Vessel repeated, bringing silence, and then a wave of radio signals marking the Stand Down status of the rebel Kepler Vessels.
Now, all that was left was the politics.
Chapter 291 291 For Me?
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The end of the battle didn't mean that everyone was willing to go peacefully. Some of the Kepler officers were still communicating with each other, trying to organize a counter-attack, to escape the ambush, and the Tapani certainly hadn't given up.
[275 degrees, plus 15 degrees elevation, Tapani Cruiser's engines just completed a successful prestart check cycle.] Nico reported, parsing thousands of lines of sensor data a second with her Innate Talent.
Max sent a single blast from the Ion Bombard Array at the vessel in question, then laughed as a Technician exited an airlock to throw a wrench across the expanse of space at his Mecha.
The feeling was understandable but still amusing.
Sporadically, the Reavers continued to fire on the Tapani vessels, until they gave in to demands and moved their crew into the escape pods.
There was one empty transport vessel in their fleet, and the Reavers intended to load the escape pods in it and send the entire Tapani fleet home. While keeping their vessels and Mecha of course.
[You lot really have no pity for the Tapani do you? They're going to be in trouble without those ships.] The Kepler Destroyer's Admiral asked over the joint comms channel.
[We are eminently reasonable businessmen, Admiral. For the low and reasonable price of eighty percent of retail, we are willing to sell the Tapani a variety of used vehicles and Mecha to supplement their army in their time of need.] Nico responded, making all the Reavers laugh.
Eighty percent of the retail price of their entire attack force? Even Kepler would struggle to afford to buy that many ships all at once, much less a small nation like Tapani.
Their only saving grace was that they didn't pull anything from the front lines which faced the Klem borders for this mission.
[As long as you're not truly disrupting the balance, I don't see any reason that the Emperor wouldn't continue to uphold the deal he made with your leadership.] The Inquisition Admiral agreed.
[Now, Rebels, prepare to be boarded for questioning by the Imperial Inquisition.] He added, on the Kepler Military channels.
That was the cue for the resistant Rebel leaders to make their run for it, and hundreds of Ion Blasts from Inquisition ships and the Regiment's Mecha streaked through the system again, disabling a number of the engines.
[I'm sorry that you feel that way. As per the terms of our agreement, the disabled vessels remain in the Rae 5 System as defense vessels as payment for the Reavers' assistance. Tapani Vessel status is between the Reavers and Tapani.] The Admiral informed them as a large number of shuttles streaked out from his Destroyer to the Rebels who continued to fight back.
The deal was for the vessels, not the people on them.
Many nations, not counting Tapani, would be upset about this battle, but Nico had high hopes that with the backing of Kepler, they would recognize Rae 5 as a single-system interstellar travel capable nation and not want to fight about it.
Max was getting bored with just sitting around by the time the Inquisition forces departed the disabled Kepler vessels seven hours later. The cutters left much more slowly than they arrived, compensating for the tightly packed mass of human bodies they had taken aboard, and a single lander fired from each vessel into the nearby star, cleaning up the rest of the Inquisitors' work.
"All Functional Rebel vessels, form into a tight column, pattern Beta Seven and prepare to be escorted back to Kepler Space. There will be questions once we arrive, so think carefully about your answers." The Inquisitor ordered, training the main guns of his Destroyer on the hapless ships of the Rebel fleet.
There were still a lot more rebels to deal with, planets full of them in fact, but without orbital support, now that they had sent so many people to apprehend the supposed War Criminals aboard Terminus, they were in a bad spot against the incoming Loyalist fleet.
"Nico, I don't suppose that Drone Controller works on those ships, does it? Or do we need to fix them first?" Max asked.
"They all have enough capability to at least land on the planet intact if that's what you prefer. They're not going much further than that before they're repaired though." Nico shrugged.
[Generals, Admiral, we have the capability to set an autopilot on the Kepler ships to land them on the planet, if that's the preferred choice.] Max called for verification.
[Do it. After that, we have an important staff meeting to hold. The Inquisition had some interesting information for me.] Inquisitor General Ming answered, as the highest ranking officer aboard.
[Reavers, do not shoot at the Kepler ships when they start moving, we are remotely piloting them to the planet for repairs and assessment.] Nico informed the forces in the system.
[You hear that Tapani Scum? Get in the damned escape pods and we will send you home alive.] One of the Reavers laughed.
That seemed to be the end of the resistance, and pod after pod fired, only to be collected and loaded into the cargo vessel.
Once the Reavers were satisfied that nobody else would surrender, they sent their armed forces onto the Tapani vessels to clear out everyone who remained behind and claim the vessels for their various Companies.
There were hundreds of things to do all at once, but the Reavers made short work of delegating the decisions. Construction machines were sent to the planet to create cities, a moon-sized asteroid was brought into orbit around the primary planet of the system, and work had begun on turning it into a giant, militarized space station, all by the end of the day.
"This is insane. First Battalion, head back inside. I want a full report on your Mecha and battle statistics within twelve hours, so get some rest first. I have a briefing to go to." Max ordered.
Whatever the Inquisition had to tell them was bound to be interesting, to say the least.
Chapter 292 292 Extraction
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The Command group all assembled in the main meeting hall of Terminus, including a representative from every Reaver Company that had come to assist in the battle.
"Welcome everyone. First off, good job, the Inquisition appreciates your hard work and wishes you the best with your new acquisitions. They managed to find the source of the rebellious forces, a younger Kepler Prince, who had entrenched himself in the Bureaucracy.
Those of you with bureaucratic connections might find dealing with them to be an issue going forward, but dealing with Loyalist forces will be much easier after today." Inquisitor Ming started the meeting.
"Do they know where the Prince is now? If we're going to have problems in other sectors as well, it would be good to know." One of the Reavers asked.
"As per Royal Family protocol, he, along with his proven sympathizers, have been separated into seven individual pieces each and are currently on their way to the nearest star in a lander." Inquisitor Ming informed them, and the Reavers made a traditional gesture, crossing their hands over their chest and bowing in respect for the dead, even if they were enemies.
"The deal they made stands, and they won't be back to harass you about the Tapani vessels that you claimed. Furthermore, they left a message of thanks to the Tarith Reavers for clearing out the historical legacy of Kepler Terminus before the Civil War got out of hand."
The room went silent, as everyone looked at Mary Tarith.
"That's right, the Reavers are now in possession of the original Artificial Intelligence that started the System. It will be in our communal care from now on, to be kept strictly secret from the entire Universe." Mary Tarith explained, making the Reavers cheer.
The System was always picky about who it considered an ally, and now the Reavers that were moving to this System had the motivation to train forces to defend the planet, hoping to make their Mecha Pilots even more skilled than the generations before them.
"So, are we part of Kepler by default now, and not independent?" One of the Reaver representatives asked with a hint of disgust.
"No, we are Reavers, no more no less. But Kepler does expect us to take good care of their treasure, in case they have need of it again. Think of it as a multi-generational deal." Mary Tarith clarified.
That was good enough for the Reaver leaders.
"Do we really get to keep the space stations we planned? I've got some really great plans for mine." A young-looking woman, who Max suspected was actually a semi-organic Cyborg, asked.
"We will have the most heavily defended system in the Galaxy. Even Kepler Prime won't have as many armed stations and vessels in it on an average day as Reaver 5 will." Another one laughed.
Reaver 5, was a nice nickname for the system and could be passed off as almost anything from a Mecha or a person to a ship if the person listening didn't know the truth.
"The last point of order for this meeting is that we need volunteers to construct the moon station. Terminus has the technology aboard now to make it into a habitable station, but after making all the required equipment, we will need thousands of workers per shift if we are going to do a three-dimensional reconstruction of the moon." General Yaakov added.
Max laid out the plans that they had come up with on the table, and the leaders gathered around to take a look.
"Are those all Orbital Lances? What are you planning to fight?" One leader asked, pointing to the enormous focusing barrels evenly placed in a grid all around the station.
"Seven hundred of them to be precise. As to what we're planning to fight, well, there is no kill like overkill. They have limited adjustability, and only fire at light speed, so they can't intercept high-speed vessels, so mass damage once the enemy drops out of warp and approaches the planet is the order of the day.
"And how do we hide that?" Another Captain asked.
"See these structures? The landing bays for shuttles visiting the Station are directly above the Lances. The entire structure tilts to aim, though the vessels inside will need to be removed if we aren't planning to destroy them." Max clarified.
"Dual purpose, I like it. Then these structures must be the warp torpedo launchers. You know, this thing needs a Warp drive, we could just float around destroying planets for giggles with that much firepower."
The amount of power that would be needed to move a sphere over three thousand kilometers across at warp speed was mind-boggling, even if it was largely hollowed out to make a functional space station.
"We might need a few more technological advances for that." Max chuckled.
"So, you did think of it? I like you, Mecha boy." An old Captain laughed.
"I need to change my plans. Six Orbital Lances don't seem like nearly enough for a Space Station anymore. Maybe I can put six more on the bottom." A young woman sighed, making the other Captains nod in agreement.
"Kepler Terminus Station has two, and it was considered heavily armed." One of the more practical men offered.
"But it didn't hold the system against an entire nation's fleet. If we can get these stations operating, we will have our own little nations scattered all through the system. Over a hundred of them around at least six different planets. Because I know how everyone likes their privacy." The firepower-loving young Captain disagreed.
That was an impossibly high standard, but even if they gave up because of resource requirements, they would still have a lot more capability than most, as well as the massive amount of reactor capability needed to maintain a high-output industrial facility.
That would come in essential when they needed to replace Mecha and ships in a hurry. It was only a matter of time until someone realized that they would now be able to become a producer of goods and not just a bunch of nomadic merchants with guns.
Chapter 293 293 Call For Help
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Chapter 293 293 Call For Help
While the Reaver forces were reveling in their victories, the border planets of the Kepler Empire were not in such a festive mood. Many of them were subject to an intensive loyalty enhancement program, but a dozen of them were currently in the process of attempting to avert disaster caused by a Klem invasion.
[Pallid 9 Command to Tarith Trading Company, please come in. Pallid 9 Command to any Reaver Vessel in communications range, please come in. Mayday Mayday.]
The message was enough to catch the attention of everyone in the meeting and have them stop talking to see what the message was about.
[Pallid 9 Command, this is the Tarith Trading Company. What can we do for you today?] Nico responded, playing the part of the Company's public relations officer.
[Your estimation of the Klem arrival was spot on. We are less than twenty-four hours from landfall, and the defense fleet has left the area for reasons unknown. They are no longer in contact, and the Duke was with the fleet. We are willing to pay handsomely for a Reaver defense against the Klem.] The Pallid 9 Representative responded.
"Oh, now that's rich. The rebel didn't even tell his home planet what he had done, he simply took the fleet and left." One of the Reaver Captains laughed grimly.
"They are so fethed. They don't even have a planetary Mecha force, they rely on the station and the fleet." Another one agreed.
"Can we even get there before the landfall, or will we be picking up the pieces afterward?" General Yaakov asked.
"If we take Terminus, we will get there roughly two hours before the landing, leaving right now at maximum speed. If we bring another forty Reaver vessels with us from Cruiser Class and larger, we should be able to deflect the wave into the star without having to leave the comfort of home." Max calculated quickly.
"A shield wall deflection? Not a bad idea, but forty of us are too many to move right now. We have a new system to defend and a Colony to build.
[Night Wind Manufacturing Alliance to Terminus Trading Company, requesting a secure channel.]
That would be one of the Death Wind Mercenary groups, Max assumed, going by the name. Though it might be one of the Reavers that hadn't arrived here in time to get in on the defense deal.
[Go for Terminus on Trading pattern three. Channel is now encrypted.]
[How much do you want for that defense contract? We are close enough to start with a partial block and we have the firepower to do the cleanup ourselves.] The Mercenary group asked.
[You might have heard that we have been a bit overbooked lately, so I am feeling generous. Bring me one Pallet of Rum when you are finished and the contract is yours. I would appreciate it if you don't embarrass my name in the process.] Nico replied, getting laughter back from the Mercenaries.
[Understood Terminus. We will see you soon. Death Wind Territory sends their warmest regards on your new outpost and is looking forward to the grand opening of the trade bazaar.]
"See, we're making friends all over the place today. And I think these ones might actually be friendly friends." Nico laughed as the conversation finished.
"Those Mercs must be hurting for money if they're going to take on a Klem invasion on their own." A Reaver Captain sighed, pulling up his details of the Night Wind's known forces.
"They have four Cruisers that I know of, each with a Battalion of Heavy Mecha. They could likely do the job cleanly if they manage to deflect a good portion of the wave before it lands." Another representative agreed.
"If there is anyone passing through the area, they can go. If not, we will leave it to them. It's a Rebel Planet, so the Kepler Forces won't be too horribly upset if the bugs cause some property damage before they're dealt with." Mary Tarith suggested.
"Alright, we will send our Colony Ship, Amazing Grace. It is in the area and can intercept. It doesn't have a Mecha Force on it though, so once the wave deflection is over, they will leave it to the Mercenaries and call it a favor." One of the other Captains agreed after notifying his people.
"There will be eleven more Klem landfills this week, all inside Kepler space if anyone is up for fighting them off or deflecting portions of them. Pallid 9 was the closest to their origin, so the rest should be easy enough to intercept, as we will have an extra day or two." General Yaakov informed the room.
"Then we should get off the ship and get to work. Set down on the planet and we will unload all the Tarith Family gear and terraforming equipment that we brought with us." Mary Tarith suggested.
"Terminus isn't really made for repeated planetary landings, at least not anymore. We can transfer most of the gear to the Dutchman and then make a second trip, or we can drop the terraforming essentials and you can come for a little vacation with us." General Yaakov denied her request as politely as possible.
"The Tarith Reavers have brought enough on the other ships, and it's already on the planet. You can take a week off to go play ping pong with Klem Pods and come back to start on the major construction of the Moon Base." A Tarith Captain offered.
"See, who says that Reavers can't be reasonable and play together? I bet the planets will be willing to pay a pretty tidy amount of money to not be bug food as well, so a week or so delay is no big deal." Mary Tarith agreed.
That made greed light up in a number of faces, as she had intended.
"You know, we have a few more Colony Ships on the way here. They're not fighting ships, but we would be willing to pay you out of the defense fee for some upgraded shield technology." A full conversion cyborg Captain offered.
"Well, the shields do the heavy lifting in this job, so I think about twenty-five percent for the upgraded tech should be about the right commission, shouldn't it?" Nico replied with a smile, and the other Cyborg glared at her.
"Now, I know you're young and ambitious, but give an old man a little credit. Ten percent is more than reasonable."
"Make it twenty and I will show you how to expand the radius to three times your vessel's size as well." Nico counteroffered, extending her hand.
"I hate dealing with rich people, they always have something else up their sleeve to sweeten the deal. Twenty Percent it is, but if it breaks my ship, I'm taking it out of your commission." The apparently old Cyborg laughed.
Chapter 294 294 Call Answered
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Chapter 294 294 Call Answered
With the deals for improved shielding worked out with all the fleets that thought they might want it for their largest vessels, all of the Reavers returned to their ships to get ready for the work ahead of them.
Once everyone had left Terminus, Max and the other senior Command staff met to determine where they would be headed, and to learn the last bit of information that Inquisitor General Ming had kept hidden from their Reaver allies.
That was the most important part to Max since it had brought an entire Rebel fleet down on their heads.
"I suppose that there is no need to sugarcoat things now. The accusations of War Crimes are related to the agricultural world KSF129." General Ming paused there, and Max had to think back for a moment to recall what incident that was. There had been so many lousy deployments in a row that it was hard to guess.
KSF129 was the world that had taken an orbital bombardment from the Rebels in an attempt to remove the Super Heavy Mecha from the cities and then got near mythical rainfall afterward, flooding everything and drowning out half the cities that the Rebels were trying to take, along with most of their Mecha forces.
"What are they even mad about there? I wasn't there, but I don't recall news of anything out of the ordinary happening in that sector, other than a few Rebellion battles." Colonel Klinger asked.
"The Rebels orbital bombarded the planet, vaporized half of the oceans, and then it rained so hard that we had to move the Line Mecha to the very top of the city to keep them from getting submerged. Even the Crusaders were getting washed away if they tried to move in the wrong areas." Max explained the situation as he understood it.
"My unit was in the mountains for that. It came down so hard that it washed Crusaders over the cliffs. I lost half my unit to a natural disaster, with no place to go, in cliffs too steep for a Mecha to climb without specialized rigging." General Yaakov added.
"I was there as well. To execute the Planet's Noble Bureaucracy." General Ming sighed.
"So what you're saying is that we have absolutely no idea what part of our Command structure they are accusing of war crimes since it could be any of you if they pretend that they weren't the ones that flooded the planet?" Colonel Klinger asked.
"More or less. General Tennant was there, and in his Mecha at the time, serving on the Central Command Council, so they might be after every unit that was under him since we know that they have been hunting for him. The question is what led them to Terminus?" General Yaakov asked.
"That part we do know. The border patrol noted The Dutchman as being docked on Terminus. One of the bureaucrats traced Abraham Kepler to The Dutchman, and a suspicious stopover and they just started making assumptions.
The fact that we started shooting when they started making accusations only proved them right in their minds about whoever they actually wanted to find being aboard the ship." Inquisitor Ming informed them.
"Alright, so they're on to us, sort of, in some way. That's nothing new and exciting. But they're on the ropes at the moment, so it shouldn't be a big issue to go help rescue a planet or two. There will be both Reavers and Kepler Loyalists nearby, and it's not like we can't defend ourselves. We haven't gotten to shoot any traitors in months if you don't count shooting their ships in space." Max pointed out.
"Oh, I see why my little girl likes you. Very shoot first, then shoot them some more so they don't lie when you ask questions." Mary Tarith told Max, giving him a thumbs-up gesture.
That actually described Nico entirely too well.
"You and me, we need to have a long talk about your parenting methods. I didn't notice it over the holidays, but Nico grew up to have a rather unique personality." Max informed the Tarith Family Matriarch.
"No need to tell me that, I'm the one that raised her. Did you know that at three years old she nearly managed to kill a burglar? Peace was never an option for that girl, but we civilized her as much as we could." Mary Tarith laughed, while the other officers looked at her in horror.
"Please tell me that's a joke." General Yaakov asked Mary.
"I wish it was. He came in her bedroom window, and she stabbed him with the broken glass when he picked her up.
Max remembered that memory, but he had thought it was a giant of a man, from her past life, since the scene was so dark. He didn't realize that he only looked huge because she was extra tiny at the time.
"On second thought, she's actually getting better, now that she's a soldier. But I will still need to see the baby pictures." Max told Mary with a wink.
"Oh, we have them. In hard copy, because she likes to mess with my digital photo folders. But where are we taking this alien relic? I'm assuming somewhere fairly close since it's so slow."
"We have confirmed a call from Kitimat 3. They are going to be facing a Klem tide, and they are currently in the midst of a battle against Rebel forces. Loyalist Mecha are on the ground and request assistance with the deflection of the Klem tide." Admiral Drake informed them, bringing it up on the three-dimensional map.
Kitimat 3 was a farming planet, with a very low population, but intense crop production. One of many in the sector that kept the more densely populated planets eating well. How the rebels managed to turn the planet was a mystery, but Max suspected that most of the farmers didn't know anything about it until the Fleet showed up in orbit.
"Alright, we can do this. The more we can deflect from orbit the better because there is a lot of biomass on that planet for the Klem to feed on. Everyone inform your units and we set out in fifteen minutes." General Yaakov agreed, ending the meeting.
Chapter 295 295 Kitimat 3
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[Prepare for translation] Admiral Drake announced as soon as he was back at his station.
Terminus shifted so smoothly to Warp speed that it was hardly necessary, but it was so ingrained into every space-faring human to give that warning that not much could ever change it.
"Alright, I'm off to the drone bays. We have to make some new Drone Fighters, and I have a design for a small version of Terminus's main engine that is much more space and material efficient than the old ones.
Then we will move the Corvettes and Crusader Class Mecha to the smaller ships and upgrade their shielding to withstand a few extra hits from an orbital defense position.
The shield on Terminus is ready for the mission now." Nico informed Max.
"Alright. I'll keep tracking the Klem pods and get the Super Heavy Mecha ready for defense when the shield fails. In space they should be easier to deal with." Max agreed, already tracking their target swarm.
This one was much more spread out than usual, and Max suspected that it came close to a meteor or planetoid whose gravity affected their course and pattern a little.
They were all still going to hit the planet, but not in a nice tight, easily managed pattern. They would be spread around three-quarters of the planet instead.
Attempting to prepare a Mecha defense against that would be a nightmare, especially if they landed in the oceans. Nico would be a bit sad, but Max had no intentions of letting any of the Klem reach the planet.
He knew she was looking forward to fighting Rebels and Klem at the same time in some strange free for all three-way battle, but the very thought gave Max a headache.
In the evening all the Command Staff gathered to present their plans for the defense, and the plans that they presented were all basically the same. Place Terminus at the Eastern edge of the swarm and deflect it past the planet as well as they could.
Their shields wouldn't expand large enough to block the whole swarm now that it had spread out, but only the Eastern edge would hit an ocean, so it was the highest priority.
A handful of naval vessels was no match for a Klem infestation that had time to grow in the depths.
[You all forgot we have drones.] Nico reminded Max as they were handing the fire zones for the Super Heavy Mecha that would be on defense.
They were called orbital insertion fighters, but they could fight just as well in space, at least the ones that used energy weapons could. They only had a hundred VR pods, but that was still a lot of fighters that could thin the swarm as it approached.
Assuming they were capable. The team had redesigned them once they found Terminus, so nobody outside the Drone Technicians really knew what they could do.
[How many planes do we have?] Max asked.
[We will have two hundred ready when we arrive. One hundred for space, then another hundred plus the survivors for the ground battle.] Nico replied.
That was enough. Not by much, but one wave of fighters would be enough support to make their landing much less likely to be a disaster.
Getting information from Kitimat 3 was difficult. Both sides were trying to jam communications while they waited for reinforcements, and neither side knew which one would arrive first.
Max knew. It would be them because nobody else was coming. There were still a lot of Rebel ships in the sector, but they were all engaged in battle with the Inquisition Fleet. Neither side had any more resources to help this world, especially when they were facing annihilation anyhow, in the form of giant alien bugs.
"Alright, the drones will deploy as soon as we drop out of Warp, and attack the Wave of Klem Pods. We will stage here, giving us maximum chance to successfully deflect into the star, and time to react to changes in the course, if the calculations were wrong." General Yaakov outlined the final plan while the Pilots made notes.
[One Hour to Translation, all hands to battle positions.]
The announcement came just after lunch, ship time, and Max climbed into Enduring Rage, finding Nico already present, asleep with a VR headset on.
"One hour until it's time to work." Max reminded her, in case she had the Mecha's radio off.
"Got it. Have you eaten? I can make happy juice if you need." She offered, meaning coffee made with an energy drink base instead of water.
"Just finished lunch. I thought you would be with the drones." Max replied, wondering why she fell asleep here playing games.
"Experimental controls. The headset is tied to the ship's sensors and the drone's communication net. If it works as expected we were thinking about making smaller drones to send with the Battalions to do long-range recon." Nico explained.
"And how do we know which ones are the experimental ones so we can judge performance?" Max asked.
"The ones with the happy little Gatling Lasers on the front. You'll know when you see them." Nico explained.
That didn't tell Max much, but he suspected that the pattern would be easy to recognize. Nico never was subtle.
[Translating now. Deploy drones in 30 seconds.] General Yaakov ordered.
Space around them seemed to twist through the sensors add they slowed back to standard speeds. They were still moving too fast, Max thought, and they were in front of the Klem pods, but the drones raced out at incredible velocity.
They could easily match any military cutter at less than Warp speeds, and they were already firing at the Klem by the time they got into even a semblance of a formation.
Each had a multi-barreled laser array in the front of the elongated egg-shaped body and Ion Cannons at the end of the wings. The drones were set up as a biplane with the wing ends boxed, so they should be incredibly maneuverable in an atmosphere, and the design let them have a 270-degree rotation for the adjustable wing guns.
Most were bone white with red markings, complementing the Unit's Mecha, but out in front were two bright yellow ones with smiley faces where Max would expect the cockpit to be.
Nico was right, he knew which ones were the test units.
Chapter 296 296 Blocked Play
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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The drone's weapons were lighter than the ones on the heavy Mecha, and not quite able to reliably penetrate the shell of the Klem pods, a fact that they were doing their best to make up for with pure volume of fire.
A hundred rapid-firing Gatling Lasers were lighting up the void of space in a flurry of blue streaks, thinning the invasion group's far edge as much as possible before Terminus was in position.
The more that they could destroy, the easier it would be for the former Colony Ship to deflect the shattered remnants and the lower the likelihood that they would take any damages during this phase of their mission.
The two yellow drones didn't seem to have any issues keeping up with their peers which were piloted from much fancier pods, but Max couldn't tell how much of that was due to the controls and how much was Nico's Innate Talent smoothing out the process.
[Terminus is in position. All Super Heavy Units Deploy.] General Yaakov ordered, and Max marched Enduring Rage out to the exterior bow of the ship with the other Mecha to meet the incoming wave of Pods.
The pods were out of range of their Ion Bombard Array still, over two hundred thousand kilometers away, but in space that meant nothing to the Mass Driver type Artillery.
The shells could be set to explode on impact, and the pods were closing on them at a rate of over five hundred thousand kilometers an hour. Even if the shells failed to explode, the force of the impact at those relative speeds would shatter the pods into tiny fragments.
As they fought, Terminus would move to more closely match the pods' speed to minimize the impact against their shielding while still effectively deflecting the pods, but for now, the artillery would be especially effective, if it was on target.
Hundreds of shells left the mass drivers as the Mecha began their attack, with the orbital fighters carefully moving out of the way to target the outer edges of the group.
For fifteen straight minutes, the Bombardment continued, while Admiral Drake adjusted the ship's trajectory and speed to make the crucial shield bump that would send the Klem to a fiery death.
[Coming into Ion Range now] Max reported to the Battalion as the pods began to approach the ship's shield range.
This was their last chance to get real damage in before the deflection shield went online, and every Mecha made the best of it. Pods turned to shrapnel, and the terrifying wave was beginning to look more like space dust than an invasion fleet when the shield went up and the Mecha defense was forced to halt.
[All units back inside. The Drone Fighters can finish the work out there.] Admiral Drake informed them, always happy to see an operation go as planned.
Some of the pods would still reach the surface, but the number would be very minimal, and with the warning, the defense emplacements could get some before they even landed.
The drones didn't slow down their attack on the fringe section beyond the reach of the colony ship's shield, and by the time he was inside, Max could see the leading edge of the debris field burning up in the atmosphere.
Back toward the wave of Pods, it was hard to see anything at all, between the debris and intact pods hitting the shielding and being bounced off toward the center of this solar system in a continual series of energy flashes.
[Terminus to Kitimat 3, expect fragments in the atmosphere and a chance of scattered intact pods. We estimate the deflection effort has been over 90 percent effective.] General Yaakov reported.
The drones were still working, though the Mecha had now all been returned to storage in preparation for making landfall.
The firepower of this new pattern of orbital fighter was truly impressive, and with their plan to only attack the outer edge of the pods, Max hadn't seen any accidental collisions or damage to the vessels.
[The tail end of the Klem pods is entering the atmosphere now. Drone Pilots prepare to enter the ground battle. All Mecha secure yourselves in the attack ships.] General Yaakov updated them.
The surviving Klem seemed to be falling without anyone contesting them, but the moment that the Drone Fighters entered the atmosphere, a wave of attacks was launched at them from all over the planet.
[Initial data is coming in. Thirty prevent casualties during entry. Taking continued attacks. The analysis says this is non-Kepler weaponry.] Nico reported on behalf of the Drone group.
[The ground forces have sent up interceptors. Reports count at least fifty thousand Tapani-designed Mecha on the planet, possibly two mixed Armored Regiments.] Nico reported again.
In the Command Room, the Generals were trying to determine what had happened here. It didn't make sense, they were contacted by the loyalist forces for a rescue, and now they were under attack.
None of their messages were being returned, and the consensus was that the Rebels held the planet and had no intentions of paying them for services rendered.
General Ming was the most frustrated among them, as the contact had come from a trusted loyalist officer.
"We need suggestions. The issue has been reported, but there aren't any forces to deal with it. That defense force is clearly beyond our abilities, and even trying would be a disaster." General Ming asked in the officers' channel.
"The Drone Fighters are capable of delivering a Virus Bomb campaign against the planet. Estimated efficiency at eliminating the Klem infestation, one hundred percent." Nico suggested.
The three top officers looked at each other and decided not to dignify that with a response. The mere possession or manufacture of those weapons was a War Crime by international convention.
"Did the Tapani do something to personally offend her?" Admiral Drake asked after a moment's silence when nobody else had any ideas.
"I think they shot down her experimental Fighters. Or it is possible that she analyzed the chances of success and that was what it would take to win. Major Nico is ruthlessly practical like that." General Yaakov sighed, leaning toward the second option being the more likely of the two.
When the seven surviving Fighters, including both yellow test units, returned to the ship, his suspicions were confirmed.
By Nico's calculations, nothing less than annihilation would work with the forces they had, but that begged the question, how did this situation happen?
Chapter 297 297 Choices
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Using every relevant System Skill that they had, and listening in to the planetary communications for the next few hours revealed the extent of the situation to them.
The Tapani had dropped an entire Heavy Carrier worth of Mecha here before they left the system, and that made all the difference in the battle. With their sensors jammed, the locals had no idea that the enemy even had reinforcements on the planet, so they called for help to clear the Klem and save themselves.
Then the allied forces moved, wiping them out to the very last, and continuing radio silence until Terminus had dealt with almost all of the problem for them, knowing that the Reavers wouldn't do it for free, and likely wouldn't do it for a Tapani force at all, not a single day after the Tapani had worked with the Rebels to annihilate most of the Reaver fleet.
They still didn't know just how badly that plan had gone and had thought that Terminus was one of the ships that didn't make it to the system before the Reaver presence was wiped out, so they were currently celebrating two victories in a row as they fought off the scattered group of Klem that had landed on the planet.
General Ming looked grimly at the other Commanders in the briefing room. "You know, Major Nico is starting to sound more and more right as the day goes on."
"It's still too far though. What do we have that might teach them a lesson, and not risk our soldiers?" He continued.
"I have a suggestion," Nico nearly shouted, raising her hand in the air. Normally she wasn't present for the Command meetings, but since she had such an extensive knowledge of Planet Ending methods, and nobody else wanted to ask how she learned them, she had been called in today.
"This had better be good and not a War Crime." General Yaakov warned her.
"We're on a colony ship, right? What if we accidentally sent the wrong sort of probe down to the surface to see what was going on?" She suggested, then continued quickly as she saw that they had the wrong idea.
"Not a virus bomb or anything of the sort. I have recovered the plans for the initial Terraforming probes that would have prepared the very first colonization areas for the arrival of Terminus and its civilians. If we accidentally terraform a few regions and wipe a couple or twenty thousand rebel Mecha that should be well within what is allowed, right?" She asked.
General Ming tapped away at the data tablet that he was carrying and frowned.
"No, it's prohibited separately to terraform an inhabited region. We would still be a pariah if we did it." The Inquisitor sighed.
"Then I have one more, not-so-pleasant idea. What if we introduced a rapid growth probe to the currently Klem-controlled regions? They would rapidly evolve to contain behemoths, their numbers would skyrocket, and best of all, there would be no evidence left after the fact to show that we had boosted the growth of biomass in one single region because the Klem will devour it all.
The Rebels should still win and hold the planet, but it will cost them dearly."
She was right, that was a much less pleasant idea. Plus, if she was wrong and the Klem actually won, the planet would be lost to humanity, giving the species a foothold within the Kepler Empire to expand from.
"Too risky. What can we do for localized extermination? We have all the evidence we need to prove that the major cities turned traitor, and most of the Rebel forces that aren't near a Klem landing zone are still holed up in them.
It is a bit unfortunate that we don't have an orbital lance, or we could send them a very abrupt and direct message." The Inquisitor sighed.
"But we do have the equivalent of an orbital lance, Inquisitor. Terminus has a wonderfully powerful gravitational lock system, intended to pull along asteroids for mining and resource replenishment.
There is a convenient asteroid belt in the outer reaches of this system." Max let the end of his explanation trail off.
"Better yet, we could use the drone fighters to push the asteroids off course and guide them to the planet. They have nothing left that could defend them against an asteroid hitting the planet, they barely managed to hold off the Drone Fighters." General Yaakov nodded happily.
Using an orbital bombardment had guidelines, but unlike Virus Bombing or Terraforming the planet under your enemy's feet, it wasn't immediately a crime.
General Ming and General Yaakov shared an intrigued look.
"New plan, we send out the second wave of fighters in with thermonuclear bombs, blast away what we can before they are destroyed, and then we use the survivors of the first wave of drones to toss some asteroids at them as we leave.
They should never know that we were responsible for the asteroids, and it will be assumed by military scans that they were impacted by the Klem on the way through. I like it, it deals with the problem, and gets us a bit of payback for the compensation that we aren't going to get for this mission." General Yaakov decided.
"Work out the calculations. I want one headed for the planet every day for a week. I don't care where it hits, just make them paranoid." General Ming agreed, and Nico nodded, already working on the numbers.
Max was certain that this was going to be a huge mess, but there wasn't much that they could do at the moment other than either leave impotently with their reputation in shambles or take some sort of pyrrhic action that didn't risk their own lives.
"Colonel Max, you are our public leader, make a call down to the planet and demand payment for our services while we arrange the drones. We don't have any nukes prepared, they have been obsolete in Kepler for a thousand years after all." General Yaakov informed Max before dismissing the meeting.
Chapter 298 298 Debt Collection
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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[Kitimat 3 Planetary Forces, this is Commander Keres of Terminus Trading Company. The service you requested has been completed, and we are awaiting payment.] Max broadcasted down to the planet, and out into the Kepler Empire at the same time.
Let the surrounding systems know that something was very wrong here and that they were refusing to pay the people who saved their planet from a Klem invasion. It would look horrible on the Rebels once the news began to spread.
[Terminus Trading Company, this is Kitimat 3 Planetary Command. We thank you for your assistance, but the request was made by the previous administration, and we do not pay debts owed by the Lapdogs of the Kepler Empire.] The planet's official broadcast responded and was relayed to the Empire by Terminus's broadcast equipment.
[Regardless, it was brokered on behalf of your planet, and the planet owes a debt.] Max continued.
[Take your debt up with Kepler, this is a free planet now, no longer beholden to Kepler Scum and under the protection of Tapani.] The planet broadcasted back.
They had realized that they were being relayed to the whole Sector, and had broadcasted the last for everyone to hear. That made Max's life a little easier.
[If your planet cannot pay its debts, then we will take it up with Tapani. I am sure they will willingly pay up, or forfeit the goodwill that we showed their fleet when they came to us on Rae 5.] Max responded.
[You are a fool Terminus. Rae 5 is done for, and the Kepler Empire is dying. Tapani will never let a Reaver force occupy a planet, even if we have to wipe every Reaver out of existence to do it.] The planetary force bragged.
Dozens of signals flooded into Max's radio right after that announcement, mostly from other Reavers, but some from the Death Wind Mercenaries, who had always considered the Reavers their natural allies. They all said basically the same thing.
[Signal Confirmed as Tapani Origin. Thank you Terminus, it is good to see their true colors.]
Tapani had just declared war on the Reavers as a whole.
That would be an issue for the few Reaver ships that were currently in Tapani-controlled space, but it would be a much larger problem for Tapani as a whole since they still relied on the Mercenaries and Reavers to keep them supplied with hard-to-find resources.
Even a few months of this conflict, and being cut off from the rest of the Galaxy would cripple them.
[If that's how you feel, please, do enjoy our parting gift as we go to speak with your friends in the zone.] Max replied once the incoming broadcasts had died down, and then General Ming began an open channel broadcast as the Drone Fighters descended upon the planet, with their shields taking multiple hits from the defense weapons before a series of mushroom clouds littered the surface and a dark cloud blotted out the skies.
There was minimal radioactive fallout from these Fusion-type weapons, but a nuclear winter was inevitable, and they wouldn't be growing anything on Kitimat 3 for at least the next three seasons if they didn't get the air scrubbed, a technology that most planets didn't have in place.
The Reaver forces found the short video hilarious, as it would cripple the Tapani, and starve out a planet worth of their supporters if nobody came to rescue them. Plus, Kepler still considered that planet theirs, and wouldn't allow Tapani to just waltz into their territory again now that they had sided with the Rebels.
"Send the Asteroids. The bombing was particularly successful, but I want them to learn a valuable lesson on diplomacy." Max told Nico, who had picked a bunch of personal transport-sized metallic rocks for the purpose.
They wouldn't do much on a planetary scale, but if they hit near a city or a military force, it would be something close to being nuked again when the impact occurred.
Enough that it would remind them of the price to pay for being traitors anyhow.
Like so many other Rebel planets, this one had voted for the Rebel forces, on the promise of independence, greater prosperity, and a utopian future. None of those were ever possible, the Rebels were just leading them to live under a new set of masters, but the people fell for the lies anyhow, believing in the utopian fantasy that they were selling.
"Drones are back on board. We may depart anytime." Nico reported, and Admiral Drake took them to warp with only a five-second warning.
The broadcast had crushed the Rebel morale in the Sector. It was clear now that they had been used and lied to, and worse, that those who had lied to them never actually had any intentions of protecting the people or trying to implement the fantasies that they had sold their planets in order to get them to turn against the Empire.
That was making things easier for the Kepler troops that were contesting dozens of planets at that moment, as the planetary forces had huge numbers of defectors, and in some cases even turned so strongly against their leadership that they handed the planet back to the Kepler forces faster than they could take it for themselves.
For the Reavers, it was even better. Terminus was the only one that had any issues at all getting paid. Even the Rebel-controlled planets that they had gone to block Klem waves from hitting happily paid their debts, despite their precarious situation. Nobody wanted to be the second one to be made an example of, because it was always worse than the first.
[It looks like we have things under control here, let's head back to Rae 5 and drop off these civilians.] General Ming ordered.
[Before that, could we make a small detour? There is a cargo freighter full of refugees nearby, and they are requesting to transfer their cargo to Terminus, as the supposedly safe planet that they were heading to is currently in conflict.] The ship's communications operator asked.
[You know what? Why not. Rae 5 has got a whole planet full of space to work with, and everyone could use some more people. The details can be worked out by the Reavers if they want to take more refugees in afterward, but we will take this bunch.] General Yaakov decided.
Chapter 299 299 Civilians Smell Funny
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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[Cargo Vessel Keptanic 4, This is the Terminus Trading Company, approaching from your starboard side. We are prepared to accept the Cargo transfer on behalf of your passengers.] Admiral Drake announced as they approached the vessel that had contacted them.
[We appreciate it Terminus. Your destination is outside our designated routes, and the usual drop-off spot is not currently viable due to conflict. We are sending over a crew manifest now.] The Cargo Ship responded.
"Forty thousand people, each with under ten kilos of luggage. They must have left the planet with a single backpack, crammed into a cargo freighter for the emergency departure." Nico informed Max faster than he could read the newly arrived data sheet.
"That's pretty extreme, even if there was a natural disaster or whatever nonsense they told the locals, don't you think they would have tried to bring more with them?" Max asked, then thought a bit longer and realized these were likely what were known as third-class refugee passengers.
They would have bought the cheapest available tickets to get off the planet since it was all they could afford, and if the Captain said they got to bring a backpack, they only left with a backpack. It was a practical decision, based on space. Every three loaded suitcases was another paying passenger that they could fit, so the suitcases were eliminated, and the hold was packed to standing room only.
"Do we have bunks ready for them?" Max asked, knowing that was highly unlikely.
"No, but the printers are working on it. We didn't expect so many when we turned to intercept, so the initial print was only ten thousand places worth of the standard naval triple cots." Nico informed him.
The First Battalion was on welcoming Committee duty every time they brought passengers on board or met new people, since both their supposed Commander and the Human Interaction Specialist, as Major Miller had started calling Nico, were in the same Battalion.
"That should be enough to get us started, have them arranged in a hold, and put the women with small children and the elderly in the cots. Everyone else can spread out on the floor, the hold has enough space for everyone to lie down anyhow." Max decided.
"Major Miller is on it. They're setting them up at the same bay where the refugees will arrive and should have them ready before we dock." Nico informed him, getting into her Reaver best to go meet new people.
That meant that Max needed to put his Mobile Suit on and wear the face mask that would keep people from recognizing him and reporting their survival to the Rebels, who were already gunning for Terminus based on someone they thought was aboard.
The two ships docked without issues, using a man-door-sized docking ring only three meters squared. The main door on all their bays was large enough to fit a small freighter through, and that would only cause unnecessary procedures to safely bring the people aboard.
"Welcome to the Terminus Trading Company, everyone. Please, make yourselves at home here in this bay, and we will see to all your needs in just a few minutes once everyone is aboard." Nico informed them repeatedly as they entered.
"No need to crowd the main floor, this hold is divided into three levels. Those of you with better physical health, please proceed upward and leave space on the main floor for the infirm." Max called out to the crowd, getting them moving again when the room started to fill up.
By appearance, the bay was five levels with a large open mezzanine by the cargo door, but the levels were actually intended to better organize freight, instead of stacking it fifty meters high inside the ship. For humans, the ten-meter roof height within the levels felt positively spacious, and they now had more than enough room to spread out.
"That's everyone. The Manifest matches the count that entered, so there shouldn't be anyone left behind on the Cargo Vessel." Major Miller reported once the transfer was done.
"Very good, thank you. Now, Captain, would you like a drink? We have some fine Rum aboard Terminus." Max offered.
"Just a quick sip might hit the spot. I'm sure you understand, the Reavers have caused some trouble lately, and though I trust you with the people of my planet, I don't really want to be seen doing business with you today." The Cargo ship Captain explained.
"Understandable." Max agreed, pouring two shots of Rum and downing one, before handing the second to the other Captain.
"Not bad at all. Now, business, what do you want to finish the job for us?" The Freighter asked.
"One-quarter of the third class rate for forty thousand souls, no more, no less," Max informed him.
The man thought for a moment about bargaining, since he had taken all the risk of getting shot to pieces leaving an active war zone, but decided it was better not to tempt the Reavers to drop them somewhere unpleasant.
"Deal, in Kepler Credits." The Captain agreed.
That was less than perfect since they were only used at the full value within the Empire, but Max wasn't here for the money, he was here for the people.
"I can live with that, given the circumstance. It was a pleasure doing business with you." Max smiled, accepting the transfer of Credits on a digital storage chip, the secure equivalent of a mobile bank account.
The Cargo Ship Captain and his crew left immediately afterward, and Max looked at Nico.
"Did you see anything good in the list? You were surprisingly docile today and didn't even try to mess with them one time. That's not like you."
"Since you asked, I did indeed find something good. Follow me, I put a tracker on it as it entered." Nico laughed.
She led him through the hold, past the bunks where the infirm and young families were, to the ramp that led upward.
"Let me get my camera ready, this is going to be great."