Chapter 341 341 Poaching Talent
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"All I am saying is that your ship is larger than the old Lab on Comor was. If you wanted to there is no reason why you couldn't have your own mecha manufacturing onboard Terminus.
You could tell everyone that your pickup site is confidential, obscure where the Reavers are building the new Mecha, and then just keep making as many as you need from the safety of your own ship. It's the perfect hiding spot, nobody would ever suspect that a small trading company was the one that was carrying the blueprints and technical data around." Uncle Lu was telling Max.
He had stopped in at the lab to talk to him about the custom order for Line Mecha with neural links, and they had gotten sidetracked by the proposition of making large numbers of Mecha aboard Terminus for distribution to their allies here in the Rae 5 system and abroad.
"It's not a terrible idea. With the new amenities, we need to hire staff to do everything in the Cruise Ship area, so we could bring on a bunch more workers at the same time, under the guise of taking them as maintenance and technical staff." Max reluctantly agreed.
"Don't forget that you have a visitor coming as well, and if you get on their good side you might be able to convince them to get you some upgraded construction technology that would put your current materials printers to shame." Uncle Lu added.
That might be pushing their luck. As a pacifist species, the makers of Terminus would naturally be very reluctant to give Max anything that could be used in a military capacity. They most likely had much better materials printing technology, going by the state of the Replicators, which were now considered ancient relics to them, but they wouldn't want to part with them to help out the humans.
p "We will take that as it comes. We can make them with what we have, we salvaged a few military-grade printers from Kepler ships already, and they are set up to make everything on a standard Mecha. Updating them to build the new patterns shouldn't be too hard, at least not for the Line Mecha, which doesn't use any truly exotic materials in its build."
'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',
Uncle Lu nodded as he thought and then started making notes on his pad. "All is well that ends well. If they won't give you new printers, that's not a big deal, since you can get by with what you have. But you might want to hide the fact that we have been updating the power plants of all the Mecha in your Regiment using the Crystal Generators based on the Warp Drive in Terminus.
They are coming here to see what you have managed to do with the technology, since they detected that someone had broken the warp 10 boundary, but they won't be happy to find out that the majority of the examples of the new drives are in military ships, so you shouldn't tell them that you put them in the Mecha as well if they don't specifically ask." Uncle Lu sighed.
The continual advancement of technology was his goal in life, curtailing and hiding it for reasons of politics was anathema to his outlook on life, even if he understood the necessity and went along with it for the greater good.
"I will let you get to work building those custom units. Feel free to go wild with the neural link. I promised them something like Cygnus, not an exact copy, so if you have a better idea, feel free to have them test it for you." Max informed Lu, then started making plans to get more staff hired.
With the sector around them stable, the influx of refugees had slowed to a trickle, so he would have to hunt down over a thousand people to run and maintain their new facilities, as well as skilled manufacturing workers for the construction bays.
With a whole new planet, he had at first thought that this might be the easy part, but it turned out that everyone had the same idea, and they had snapped up as many workers as they could get to work all the new shops and factories in the system.
Once Max left the meeting with Uncle Lu, he went to a terminal and placed an ad on the local data net, looking for workers. All sorts of hospitality, maintenance, custodial staff, and factory staff for the onboard shop item production, according to the job advertisement.
'',
It would be held the next day in two locations, here on the Moon Base, for those who were already in orbit, and on the planet in the Capital. Even if they lived in one of the other cities, there was a public shuttle that flew between them on a two-hour loop all day and night, so it wasn't hard to get to the meeting if they really wanted the job.
There were still a fair number of people looking for work on the planet, but finding enough that wanted to be on a touring Reaver Ship for the indeterminate future should be a lot harder than just finding people that wanted work.
Or so Max thought until he saw applications that were being sent through. Not only were there far more than expected, but the applicants also had a wealth of experience that he didn't expect. Most were between 26 and 28 years old, and Kepler born, meaning that they had just finished their tour of duty before coming here to Rae 5 as refugees.
Some were Reaver born, but the majority of applicants that Max saw were definitely Veterans.
In the normal course of events, Pilots and specialists who didn't actually want to be in the army would finish their tour and go home, and then would be recruited out of retirement to work in government-associated facilities on their homeworld.
But many of those worlds were barely habitable right now, and a few had taken ELE Orbital Strike Barrages after the Rebellion was deemed to have won the battle against the loyalist forces on their surface. They were the object lesson that had made most of the other planets in the area surrender, but that left billions either dead or homeless throughout the sector.
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.Chapter 342 342 Far More Lively
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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With the plans that Nico brought him the next morning, on behalf of Uncle Lu, Max now knew that he would need nearly two thousand staff to keep everything running with full uptime, after accounting for standard absences, vacation days, and such.
Unlike the soldiers, who lived on call, the staff for the factory bay and the Cruise Ship area would be working 5-day weeks, shift work, because a cruise ship never really slept.
Nico would take care of the recruitment from the Moon Base, and send the data back to Max, while he took a team to deal with the much larger group down on the surface. Max suspected that he had been duped into taking the lousy side of the job, but everyone who was in space at the moment was likely a Reaver, to begin with, so letting them deal with Nico wasn't going to scare them away.
Many had already sent their credentials, hoping for a headstart on the hiring, but there were at least five thousand people waiting for him when he arrived.
[Did I post something strange?] Max asked on the Regiment's common channel when he saw the crowd.
[I wouldn't call it strange, but cruise ship work is good work. We pay well, and it is expected that we will be stopping off at a load of desirable locations, right? Even if the staff doesn't get to see them all because of their work schedule, they're bound to have days off on one of them eventually. It's a pretty good perk for the sort of people who want their life to be a working vacation.]
That bit of wisdom came from Inquisitor General Ming and was quickly seconded by a dozen other voices thinking the same thing.
Many of the Kepler Citizens who had only seen warzones and third-rate space stations for shore leave still felt the need to travel, and many more who had the opportunity to see a few of the vacation planets desperately wanted to see more of them.
'',
They were going to be doing a lot of diplomatic work in the near future, once their last Mecha was ready, so they would certainly get to see a few more civilized planets. But still, this was a lot of people, with a lot of combat experience between them.
"I'm sorry Miss, but even Reavers have labor standards." Max heard one of his entourage telling someone in the crowd, so he went to investigate. It was a young couple, possibly brother and sister, and too young to have been at the academy when things got messy on their homeworld.
"Come on man, I can push a broom and make a bed as well as anyone, and I can prove it if you want." The girl insisted again, holding out her application.
"Put her in the system. As she says, she can do the job. But we're not a daycare center, so you had better be prepared to work your full shifts or we will drop you at the next port with a travel debt." Max warned the pair of youngsters who looked offended.
"Just give us the chance and we will prove ourselves." They declared in unison, before clearing the front of the line for the next applicant.
"As long as they're close to age, take the applications. They'll grow into the job eventually, and it's easier to train kids than combat veterans." Max whispered, making the two Pilots taking applications at that table chuckle.
"Got it, Commander. I see what you're going for."
There were a lot like that in this crowd. Not well suited to most jobs, but they could do simple tasks well enough, and there were a lot of simple tasks to be done. Most had been passed over because of their low System Compatibility since most planets didn't send nearly as much of their population to the war effort as Kepler Terminus did.
'
They couldn't be pilots, their planet didn't need more infantry, so they were stuck at home, flunked out of school and out of work even now that they were on a new planet, thanks to their lack of qualifications.
Fortunately, there were also enough qualified people from maintenance and Logistics departments in the military who could be hired as supervisors to train all the new workers and keep things running smoothly.
"Is there a particular look you're going for Commander?" A woman in her mid-twenties, with visibly muscular arms covered in tattoos, asked as Max was checking the crowd for issues.
"That depends on the job. It's a cruise ship, so we're going to put a bunch of the cute ones on day-shift public relations, but other than that, it doesn't matter. What was your specialty?" Max replied.
"Mecha Repair Technician. I might have made sergeant if I could actually get along with my Commanders. Instead, I retired at the first opportunity." She shrugged.
"Excellent. Take this pass and catch the shuttle up to the moon base sometime in the next 48 hours. If you know any other technicians, we're short on them. Not for our combat Mecha, but for all the excursion equipment and the security Mecha for the Cruise Ship areas. If you know any more, send them our way." Max explained.
Many of them would end up working to produce and quality control test brand new units, but that wasn't something that Max was going to advertise in public.
"Nice, a few others from my unit are in the crowd somewhere. I will send them to you personally if they can skip the line." She told Max with a smile.
"Do that. Technicians are welcome anytime. Plus, I think you'll get along well with the ones we already have. You'll understand when you meet Rage. Our techs aren't as uptight as the unit you came from." Max laughed.
The Techs on Terminus held oil wrestling matches with Tech Adept Harnesses on, claiming that it helped with their fine control skills. Max couldn't imagine many other Commanders overlooking that. Even General Yaakov had been hard-pressed to pretend that it wasn't happening so that he didn't have to reprimand them.
Chapter 343 343 Mixed Regiment
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Over the course of the next week, thousands of new arrivals came to Terminus, bringing with them lively attitudes, and bright colors that even in their Reaver garb weren't usually associated with the sensible Pilots of the Terminus Trading Company.
They had somehow managed to fill every vacancy that they had advertised, as well as most of the ones that they hadn't spoken of openly, filling out the shift managers and quality control positions for their onboard Mecha Manufacturing plant.
It wouldn't turn out all that many Mecha, at best twenty a day, but the stockpile of rare materials that were needed was also limited, so it worked out well in the end. They would take the time to visit a few asteroid fields along the way and build up their stockpiles again, but for now, they could rest assured that they had the capacity to fulfill all but the most extreme of orders.
Despite the rate that the Kepler Empire went through them, a Mecha wasn't cheap to produce, so most private security forces who wanted a brand new unit only ordered a handful at a time, to show off their wealth and power to their clients, cycling out the oldest units in their fleet to a less fortunate company looking for a bargain on somewhat serviceable Mecha.
At Uncle Lu's suggestion, they included a sample of the Tapani Mecha that they had captured during the battle for the system into the design parameters of their bays. Just a little slap in the face from the Reavers to the nation that had dared to attack them.
Max thought it was actually rather fitting. They had lost the battle and left their equipment behind, even agreeing to the Reavers' terms that it was all forfeit. That meant that they weren't actually doing anything wrong by reproducing the technology they reverse-engineered, though it was all a few generations out of date anyhow, and not top of the line even when it was new.
Tapani wasn't that sort of powerhouse, to begin with.
Max was taking a tour of the crew quarters where the staff who would be working the cruise ship section was staying when he came across a familiar young face. The clearly underage girl from the recruitment fair had made the cut as a housekeeper.
'',
"Good Morning Commander Keres. It is an honor to be working with you." She greeted him, catching the attention of the other staff nearby.
"It's good to see you again. Are you getting properly settled in and used to your new job? Max asked politely.
"I am. They even gave me the good one. I'm on hallway duty in the crew areas." She informed him.
Right now, that was one of the harder jobs, since most of the construction work in the residential areas was done and there were no occupants in the rest of the ship. But it also kept her safely tucked away from the passengers, where she could be monitored by the older employees. That probably wasn't a coincidence, though Max hadn't checked to see who the shift manager who set their schedules and duty roster was.
Tomorrow was the test opening of a number of the bars and food venues, a rolling event that would see everything test run at maximum capacity for four hours over the course of the next week, to make sure that everything was operating as it should.
The Regiment had no idea what most of the drinks were, or what was on any of the menus, and they wouldn't be informed in advance, so they could show up and pack the venue, with a line outside to properly stress test the staff, while behaving as much like clueless tourists as possible.
After a few days aboard, it would be expected that people would start checking the cruise data so they could find out about all of the entertainment and food options.
Live entertainment had proven to be an issue for them. Good entertainment wanted to be known, not doing a years-long bit on an unknown cruise ship going who knows where to nations who had never heard of them. That left them with a lot of holographic shows, but they did find a few others, street performers who were currently playing to scrounge enough change for rent and were happy to take the offer to play in the streets for tourists while getting a guaranteed salary.
'Follow current novels ON N (ovelB in.)',
"Is it true that you have thousands of Mecha Pilots aboard the ship?" The young staffer asked Max hopefully.
"It is, we have a very strong defense force, so even if we stop off somewhere dangerous to take on a mission, you don't have anything to worry about," Max informed her.
"I heard that every woman loves a Mecha Pilot from the other cleaners, so I think I will go meet them when the restaurants open tomorrow and see what they're so excited about." The girl told Max innocently, before taking a soft swat to the head.
"What have I told you about listening to those harpies go on about men?" The shift supervisor admonished her.
"Not to." The girl sighed, then picked up her tools.
"It was good to see you again Commander."
Max turned to the supervisor, whose nametag only stated her position with the name left blank.
"Is she fitting in well enough? I know everyone was worried about her and her brother's age." Max asked.
"It wasn't his age we had to worry about. He was sent back to the surface for smuggling contraband drugs aboard. Some get rich quick scheme he worked out with a few of the others. I checked, and she wasn't in on the deal, so we let her stay, but he's been blacklisted." The Supervisor informed Max.
If they were contraband by Reaver standards, they were some nasty sorts of drugs, so Max wouldn't try to intervene on the boy's behalf, even if it would be very hard for him to find decent work in the future. Him and his partners had basically thrown away any chance at a decent career in the future when they got caught, which was quite the accomplishment on Rae 5 and not in a good way.Chapter 344 344 Enter Valkia
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"Commander, we have an incoming vessel, requesting to make contact." One of the communications officers called out to Max nervously.
"What's so strange about that? We get visitors at least every other day for one reason or another." Max replied.
"Not like this. Whatever that thing is, it makes the Moon Base look like a pebble. Seriously, it looks like Terminus, but a thousand times larger." The officer responded in a shaky voice.
Max pulled up the sensor data, and if anything, the communications crew had downplayed the size of their new arrival in the system. It had come to a halt well outside the path of any other planet, or its pure mass would interfere with their orbits. Whoever had designed that thing had not intended for it to remain in a solar system at all.
"What did they introduce themselves as?" Max asked before reaching for the microphone.
"They said they are Valkia of the Corvus, Lead Ship of the Noctem Fleet." The crewman informed Max and linked him to the recording of the conversation.
[Valkia of the Corvus, this is Commander Keres of the Terminus Trading Company aboard the vessel Terminus. How might we help you today?] Max broadcasted on the same frequency that the planet-sized vessel had used to contact them.
[If you have a moment, please do come to visit. We have much to learn about each other, and that historical relic that you call home.] The other Commander responded as soon as the message was sent.
[We have three more deliveries arriving today, and then we are free to leave the base and meet where you like, or I can come with a team in a shuttle. I suspect you would prefer to have access to Terminus though.] Max replied.
'',
[It would be valuable information to have in our records. There is no record of another Colony Ship from that Era surviving this long. That wave of expansion was comprised of anti-technology puritans, and they dismantled their vessels once they were settled into the Galaxies that they arrived in.]
That alone was incredibly interesting information. To think that their people, at whatever point in the distant past, had been sending colonists to other galaxies, this one being only one of many where they had arrived in their attempt to leave whatever culture they came from.
? Plus, she had referred to them as anti-technology Puritans. If the level of tech on this ship was considered minimalist to them, he could only imagine what one of their higher-tech ships would be capable of.
It was also somewhat telling to Max that they had instigated an audio-only conversation, despite the fact that they were clearly evolved enough to manage a video or even holographic conference with him. They must be keeping their appearance a secret to some degree.
Max already had a pretty good idea, they should be bipedal humanoids, four meters tall or thereabout, going by the way this vessel had been designed. That would be too large to comfortably explore many of the renovated areas of Terminus, but all of the common areas, like hallways and such, were designed to fit Line Mecha through and used the original ceiling heights, so they could do some exploration.
Bringing Terminus to them was a risk, but the Death Wind Mercenaries who had warned him that these people were coming had said that they were strictly pacifists, so unless they wanted this "Historical Relic of a ship" as they had called it, the risk was minimal.
[We will await your arrival at our current location. It has been deemed to have no impact on the orbital trajectories within this system.] The Commander responded, then cut the link.
"Well, we have work to do gentlemen. What is left on the roster today?" Max asked.
"We have two provisioning runs incoming, for the final details of the renovation. Lists say they are the final details for the VIP suites. Both are small shipments, and then we have one entire cargo bay reserved for use by the Station for delivery of an oversized shipment, Security Coded Vermillion."
That was most likely to be the greatest delivery of them all. Uncle Lu had been bragging all week about how well his new construction designs were working, so it should be the payment for the renovations, ready to be delivered. An entire shipment of new Line Mecha.
"Let me know when they are all ready, and get everyone who has taken leave back aboard to make ready to depart," Max instructed, then headed back for his quarters.
'',
When he arrived, Nico was in the common area, making an ear-splitting screeching at a hologram of some sort of silver blob. The creature was responding in kind, and Max wondered what they were doing for a few moments before it dawned on him.
She was on a video call with whatever that was, and the language was Binary, the same noise that a modem made if you listened in on it during data transmission.
Nico seemed to apologize on behalf of Max, and the blob waved at him so Max waved back politely and nodded to Nico before heading into his room to shower.
When he got out, they had finished talking, and Nico was lounging on the couch in the common area with a huge smile.
"So, what did you learn today?" Max asked, knowing that this should be an interesting answer.
"That was Theta, aboard Corvus, of the Noctem Fleet. His species is living metal, and the scans of the system that their vessel ran detected me when they entered. So he snuck out a private call to have a chat since similar species are so rare.
Their ship has no less than ten species aboard, all from the same cluster of Galaxies. It sounds like they have an alliance that spans Galaxies the way ours spans star systems, and it is fascinating. He couldn't spare the bandwidth to send me the data without being discovered, so we will chat once I arrive there later.
I should also warn you, Valkia isn't the Commander's name, it is the Species of the Majority aboard the vessel, and the current leader of their alliance.
I also learned that this ship was some sort of low-tech hobo tribe, trying to live the simple life in less developed Galaxies over ten thousand years ago. The translation was a bit strange, as Theta doesn't speak the common language as most do, only his own, and doesn't interact with others much. He is only there to keep things running properly and isn't much interested in the affairs of Mortals.
He remembers when this ship was commissioned though, so he's at least ten thousand years old."
Nico dropped that information dump on Max with a happy smile and stretched out on the couch, doing something inside her mind that Max could only interpret as reviewing the ship's status since the lines of data were passing by so fast.
Chapter 345 345 Not Quite What I Expected
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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The deliveries to Terminus were completed right on schedule, and they departed later that evening, ship time, to head out to meet the Corvus.
The Lead Ship of the Noctem Fleet, as they had introduced themselves, was eerily similar to Terminus in design, leaving no doubt that they were designed by the same culture, despite the fact that Corvus was over eight thousand kilometers long.
The sheer mass of that vessel should be impossible. There was no way that it should be able to travel through space without the forces tearing any known material apart, but there it was in all its glory.
[Welcome Terminus. Please proceed to Bay MC8 for docking and structural integrity verification.] A pleasant synthetic voice greeted them, likely the translator of the alien ship.
They had at least been assigned one of the closest bays on the planetoid-sized ship, and a gravity beam from the massive vessel brought Terminus in smoothly after the Admiral powered down the engines, landing them inside the bay while a wall of light passed over them on the other side of an atmosphere containment shield.
That was interesting, the wall of light seemed to normalize their ship's temperature so that they could safely enter the bay and not endanger any unprotected life forms that might also be present.
[Nico I hope you are making notes.] Max sent to his second in command, who replied only with a smiling cat emoji.
Once they were landed and their status was verified, a signal was sent through to Terminus that made a green ring glow around the outer edges of the ship's screens, indicating their safe-to-depart status.
Max hadn't known that the screens could do that, and it was an incredibly handy way to verify that a command series was completed and the ship was ready. He would have to get it coded into more of their status notifications later.
',
[Commander Keres of Terminus, our welcoming party will be ready for you in ten minutes, by your time measurements, at the foot of your main departure ramp.] The pleasant translator voice informed Max directly to his communicator.
[Thank you, my Command group will be present to make their acquaintance.] Max replied, getting back a happy-sounding beep that reminded Max of the language that Nico and Theta had been speaking.
"I don't suppose that you can translate, can you? I don't know if we're going to be able to talk directly to them once we arrive there." Max asked Nico, just before meeting with the honor guard assigned from the First Battalion for this function.
"I'm already on it. Theta says they have translation implants, so they will understand. I am programming their standard language into your headset right now, and it will translate in close to real-time, so you can just speak your responses as you hear the conversation." Nico replied.
"And the same for you?" Max asked suspiciously.
"Nope, I already programmed their language into my language subroutines, so I will see it come up as subtitles."
Max laughed at the thought. Subtitled reality? How strange would that be? A bit like watching foreign movies, but in real life. The ultimate VR full immersion experience.
Unfortunately, Max was going in what passed for formal uniform among Reavers, so he didn't have a helmet display to do the same, and had to rely on the earbud to translate for him. Many Reavers got implants for this purpose so that they didn't have to actually learn foreign languages, but Max had never seen the need so far in life, and the earbud didn't interfere with anything.
Max and Nico arrived with the ten soldiers behind them, five men and five women, all in their formal best, the same as the reavers dressed for General Yaakov's wedding, minus the pistols and knives. If things got messy here, it would most likely be about a misunderstanding about their own aggression from what Max had learned of these strange vessels, not because Terminus and her crew were attacked.
The ramp opened slowly, revealing a very eclectic group facing them.
There were two giants, who Max had assumed were the primary population of Terminus. They looked a lot like the Narsians, but larger, and somehow softer. That made Max wonder if they were actually related, just separated by Millennia. But they weren't in charge, nor were the pink-skinned ones with tails, or the pair with bestial faces, or Theta, who was waving happily from the far left side.
'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',
That honor went to a group of four blonde-haired women, roughly two meters tall, wearing simple cloth tunics and holding ceremonial spears that Max could see weren't sharpened, or containing any sort of technology to make them lethal.
As the ramp reached the floor and Max stepped forward with Nico a half step beside him on his left, winking at Theta, the four blondes shifted slightly, and large white wings unfurled from their backs.
The sight was incredibly impressive, and even the lighting through their feathers gave the impression of gentleness and power.
[195cm average height, high-density musculature, hollow bone structure, hybrid carbon and adamantite-based life form, average weight 32 kilograms, determination, flight-capable in standard atmosphere.] Max heard Nico's mental analysis.
Why that was the most important part to her was a mystery, but the revelation about their bones meant that they were not only bulletproof, they could likely take direct hits from light energy weapons without severe injury. Like Theta, they were also a metal-based life form, but a biological one and not purely living metal.
"Welcome Humans, and Nico. I am Nena of the Vakia. It is both a pleasure and an honor to meet a group of travelers with such respect for the integration of history and modernity, though the choice of technologies seems a bit incongruous." The leader greeted them with a slight bow.
Max saw Nico smile at being given her own species designation by the alien leaders, but she remained silent while Max stepped forward to speak on behalf of his people.
"Thank you for the warm welcome, Nena of the Valkia. I am Keres Max, Commander of the Terminus Trading Company, and leader of those aboard the vessel we have named Terminus."
"Theta, they have translators, you can stop screeching in my ear." One of the pink-skinned creatures whispered, making Nico snort in amusement.
"Interesting. So you can understand not only my greeting but the ultrasonic translations of Theta?" Nena asked Nico.
"My hearing has been upgraded from the human standard, so his range is within my detection capabilities. Binary wasn't hard for me to pick up, given my nature, and the assistance of the Nanotechnology in my body." Nico replied politely.
"Please, join us in a sitting room. We have far more to talk about than even I had expected." Nena replied, gesturing behind her, as the welcoming party from Corvus parted to let Max and his group pass between themChapter 346 346 Meeting Aliens
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On their way to the meeting room, Max realized one very important fact. The winged humanoids were reading his mind the same way that he was reading theirs, only their ability was biological and his was thanks to the wonders of the System.
They all took seats on comfortable chairs around a rotating table with an assortment of fruits and vegetables on it, which Max eyed with trepidation. They looked alright, but he had never seen them before.
'
"Your species isn't carnivorous, is it? Did we make a mistake?" One of the giants asked.
"No, we are omnivores, I am just unfamiliar with these particular items. Nico, would you mind?" Max asked. As long as it wasn't too caustic, a Full Conversion Cyborg could eat almost anything, food or not, and analyze some basic data about it.
Nico spun the table slowly and took a small bite of everything, nodding happily as she went.
"Nothing toxic in the mix, and some of them are quite good. Your analysis of humans was spot on." Nico informed the giant who was concerned about the snacks.
"We have offered them before, but humans usually refrain from trying new things. It seemed to be a weakness of the species, their dogged determination to hold fast to the things that they know instead of going with what is best for all." Nena spoke slowly, but with a gentle tone that Max realized was deliberately chosen to set them at ease in this meeting. A basic psychological trick usually used for traumatized veterans or panicked animals.
The revelation didn't speak too highly of their views on humanity, but that was somewhat to be expected.
"After all, you are a species that developed the technology to see into the hearts and minds of those around you, where your bodies could not, and instead of any other choice, you chose to use it for war," Nena spoke, answering Max's thoughts, while Nico took notes about their interactions.
This was the first time that they had come so close to the Galactic core, so they had never interacted with a Kepler Citizen before and had only heard the vaguest of rumors about them using a mysterious technology to empower their soldiers.
"Brick, you would like the blonde one. He is nearly as strong as you are, and far more civilized than those brutes that we found on the other side of the Galaxy." Nena spoke to the giant who had asked about the food.
"That would be the Narsians then? When I first saw Brick, I thought there was a chance that they were descended from an ancient settlement by his people." Max spoke out loud so that the whole group could hear what they were discussing, a concern that most of the Valkia didn't share, as their thoughts showed that they moved back and forth between modes of communication, based on who they were addressing, using silent communication as a form of whispering.
"I can tell already that your people aren't quite like the others we have run into from your species. The fact that you managed to get this relic of a ship working was the first sign. Most would have given it up as unrepairable.
The scans of your Terminus show some very interesting modifications as well. The new design of the Crystal-based Warp Drives is truly impressive, though I see you have adapted those as well as tools of war." Nena sighed.
"An unfortunate side effect of living in this region. It is quite dangerous, so all of the best technology goes into war machines. We did make some advancements in the food replicators though, and they can make a decent variety of dishes from a self-perpetuating hydroponic system that recycles the ship's waste."
They all looked confused for a moment, then Brick began to laugh. "The Emergency Ration Machines?" Those were archaic ten millennia ago. The fact that you not only got one to work, but managed to learn the programming language and improve it is impressive. The technology has been obsolete so long that I don't even think that I could get one of them working for the museum."
The Giant's laughter was infectious, and the Pink skinned humanoids looked very excited to see what he was talking about.
"We have made spares if you would like me to have one brought to you. You mentioned a museum, and at its age, that's likely where the technology belongs, even if we have managed to upgrade it to be more effective than what we were using before discovering it." Max agreed.
One spare Replicator was no loss to them, and if it built goodwill among these highly advanced aliens, it was well worth the effort to build them one.
"That would be very kind of you. The Museum is in the bow of the ship so that the past can be the first thing to meet the present when we arrive. A bit sentimental, but my people have always been like that." Brick agreed, his blue skin flushing slightly in embarrassment.
'',
"How do you get around the ship?" Nico asked with great interest, and a rapid screeching began from the amorphous form of Theta.
The metallic blob had taken the shape of a flat-bottomed sphere while they were talking, which seemed to be in its resting form. Max couldn't quite tell, as he didn't understand the language that it was thinking in, but Nico seemed to be following along easily enough, moving their conversation down the octave range until it was a low buzzing, like the hum of a cheap audio amplifier.
The change in tone seemed like it was a relief to the others around, who could hear the ultrasonic range where the two were conversing earlier, though Max could not.
"We just use portal pads. A stabilized version of the portals that the Narsians use to move between worlds. It is possible that they once came from our species, but if they did, they genetically altered themselves to adapt to their new environment, and forgot all about their past.
They certainly didn't recognize us when the other ships of the Noctem Fleet arrived in their territory." Brick informed Max.
Chapter 347 347 Meeting Pt2
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
? "Interesting. Tell me, you said that the Terminus was once the equivalent of a hippie wagon, a fundamentalist group looking for a low-tech restart. Were they of your species? If so, the data that we found in the logs might shed some light on their origins.
There was another ship traveling with ours at the time its engines malfunctioned and were deemed unrepairable. All of the essentials were moved to the other ship, and both crews packed into one colony vessel, but we have no idea where they ended up, and the Narsians are the closest thing we have seen to fitting the description of the ones who were here." Max asked.
"Indeed, it was us. Do you have those logs accessible? I had hoped to see the ancient vessel myself, but I had never dreamed that it would have remained so intact that it would have recoverable data."
Brick was so excited that his foot tapping was slowly shaking him out of his oversized chair, so Max pulled up the information that they had onto his data tablet, then realized that he didn't know how to transfer it.
"Say, I don't suppose that you have a data network do you? Or the technology to grab files off this tablet?" Max asked hopefully, making the pink-skinned and slender women giggle, a motion that was more a waggling of the tentacle-like 'hair' on their heads than a vocal noise.
"Just let me touch it and the problem will be solved. My species is in charge of most technology in the Noctem Fleet because we can decipher almost anything electronic." The woman informed him with a smile.
Max realized that the eclectic crew of their ship served the same purpose as the carefully selected System Functions of his own crew. Specialists for every purpose, based on innate talent.
The Valkia all smiled as Max had that thought and Nena nodded. "Exactly right. We choose our crews as a balance of species that have innate gifts for the various roles that we need to perform. Everyone is happier when they are doing what they are best at, and it provides much-needed insight into other species that we meet." Nena told him.
Their setup was starting to make Max envious, and he briefly considered asking if they would be willing to do a small crew exchange, but that would only cause issues for everyone. The other Human nations wouldn't react well to random aliens in his crew, and the ones chosen to exchange would be out of place in both ships, whose crews had already been optimized for productivity. If anything, a short vacation aboard one of the vessels might be the closest thing to a beneficial exchange program.
They could certainly trade information though, and it looked like Nico and Theta were already doing exactly that, judging by the excited ripples in the creature's surface.
"How can you tell that he is excited without knowing what he is thinking?" Nena asked Max, watching Theta carefully as the metallic blob interacted with Nico.
At this point, her arms were buried in the creature, and their conversation was done by direct vibration, which Max could only assume was more efficient than sonic communication.
"Look at his surface. It is placid and shiny when he is calm. When the shape changes, it seems to be for specific reasons, like greetings, or to express an emotion. At the moment, the surface is rippling from dozens and dozens of different spots, and Nico doesn't seem perturbed at all, so it must be a sign of excitement, not an attack of any sort." Max explained.
"Humans use interesting logic. I learned to read his species by comparing their temperature and volume changes. As they get more excited, their density increases you see." Nena explained.
That subtle change was too minute for Max to have picked up on, though if he watched closely enough, he might manage it. That seemed unlikely though, and this way was much easier.
[Can someone send in a spare Replicator? They want it for their museum pieces.] Max asked his crew during a lull in the conversation.
[On it boss. We will pass it to the honor guard at the door to the ship, and they can give it to the locals.] Colonel Klinger responded right away.
There weren't too many other pieces of tech left on the ship, and he had already sent over the majority of the initial data that they had collected to Brick, whose species seemed to have made the ship in the first place.
The item arrived in only a few minutes, carried by a very curious giant, who was eager to see what it could do. The crew from Terminus had even brought it with a sample of the Algae that they were using as its base material so that the Museum Curators could make a proper video and record data of it working.
"I would like to reward you for this find, as it seems that this is an original model from the ship, with your custom programming added. But I am uncertain of what we might really be able to trade with you.
You don't lack raw materials, and as a species at war with itself, most of our technology is prohibited by alliance law to be transferred to humans, or any of the other species in this Galaxy." Brick sighed.
'This chapter is updated by N(o)V(e)lB(i)n.',
"Is that why we don't see your ships very often? Because the law so severely restricts our interactions that there isn't much that you can offer us, while our technology means there is little that we can offer you?" Max asked.
"That about covers it. You are a very astute man. Though it looks like your second in Command and our design specialist are close to coming to an agreement." Nena laughed as the buzzing between Nico and Theta increased in intensity.
She was trying to convince Theta to trade a sample of himself for a sample of Kepler Nanotechnology, which was very different than the technological path that Theta's species had taken. Theta seemed to be unsure of the legality of such an exchange, given that Nico was a soldier, though as his categorization system determined that she was a Species with a sample size of one individual, Nico insisted that the prohibition didn't need to apply to her, despite the fact that she worked with the humans.
It was a very Nico bit of logic, but it seemed to be getting through to Theta. Nico only wanted the sample to continue evolving herself anyhow, so there really wouldn't be much harm in it either way.
"Here's a thought. Could you trade us a new model of the replicator for the old version? Sort of a like-for-like change?" Max asked.
There was an intense discussion about the prospect, which led to a stalemate between the species, as the letter of the law was unclear on the matter.
"The new one fully recombines atoms. With a supply of heavy elements, you could make anything from a new Mecha to a replacement limb to be sewn onto an injured crew member. The military potential of the trade would be too high." Brick sighed eventually, giving in to the majority.
"That is understandable. The item is a gift, I don't require any payment for it, but if there is anything you can teach us, to help us move past the necessity of war, it would be appreciated. I will also send over the original data of the ship before we renovated it." Max informed the group.
Chapter 348 348 Museum
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"Can you stay a little longer with us? I want to talk to your ship design team about the Cutters that made it past Warp 10. The way you did it is incredible. Who would have thought that a resonant hull and brute force could accomplish such an interesting feat?" One of the technology-focused representatives asked.
"You will have to pry the leader of the team away from Theta, but I can call in a few more of the design team for you to talk to." Max agreed.
"Oh, in that case, I will just have Theta ask all the questions and answer for us." The woman replied happily, and Max realized that she thought Nico wasn't good at speaking the common language since both she and Theta had been speaking Binary the whole meeting.
"You can ask her yourself, she understands just fine. It's just that whatever she is speaking with Theta is a faster language to communicate in." Max explained.
"Why don't we go check out the museum? Everyone loves the Museum." Nena suggested, indicating a platform in the corner of the room.
"That sounds excellent. Even a view of the progression that your technology took might be a good way to encourage our sentient neighbors onto a more peaceful course. The Klem might be a lost cause, but the rest can be reasonable." Max agreed.
"Yes, the Klem as you call them are innately parasitic. We had thought the same about humanity until we realized that the colonies lived in a state of symbiosis. The Klem species isn't smart enough for that and only consume until they kill themselves off, leaving entire systems bare." Nena sighed, obviously disappointed in the species.
"It's a good thing they're not smarter though. They would be the only species in this Galaxy if they were much smarter." Nico pointed out, having finished her negotiation with Theta.
"However, with appropriate technology, and some raw materials, they do leave behind prime candidates for terraforming, since they don't strip planets of their atmospheres. If you drop a few large meteors on them to replace essential elements for the growth of life, moving a distance behind them would lead to prime opportunities for colonization, and they would never know, as they don't return to dead planets." Brick pointed out.
That was actually a genius idea, and Max wondered if anyone else had thought of it. Possibly the Narsians had, though he didn't have enough data to be sure. These aliens might know the extent of the Narsian's borders though, and he would ask later, once they finished looking at all the amazing things the museum was likely to have.
When they approached a small portal, just large enough for Brick and the other giants to pass through, opened, showing the doors to the museum, clearly labeled, in a language that Max couldn't read, but it looked like the default language on Terminus, the one they had been translating.
If he had armor on, he could translate it right away, but he would have to just guess for the moment.
To move more quickly, Theta had turned himself into a long metallic worm, simply extending over the distance in a flash of fluid metal and passing through the portal. His level of speed was unexpected, and it made Max wonder what sort of world they developed in that his species needed such fast reflexes, even as a liquid metal.
"Their homeworld is very volatile. Volcanic activity occurs with little or no warning at all, so they had to learn to avoid being burned to death or drowned as they evolved. At this point, it isn't much of a concern for him, but in the ancient past, they were closer to a species of snail than purely living metal." Nena explained, responding to Max's thoughts again.
Theta as a snail actually worked as a visual. He still preferred a round shape, and extending out to reach a location and then pulling his body behind him was a lot like how most snails moved. That made Max think of the friendly ball of silver in a whole new light.
The entry to the Museum was very impressive, meant to be able to move relics in and out, and Max could see a lot of activity not far from the doors, where a group of giants was adjusting one of the exhibits.
"That's where the replicator you donated is going. The sector is designed so that a journey through the museum from this entrance is chronological, for my species. If you take the left path, it will follow the Valkia, if you go further right, it will follow the Innu." Brick explained.
The sector was labeled the Fundamentalist Uprising and Expansion Era. Not exactly a creative name, but it did give a very precise description of the era that Max could appreciate. Much of the tech in this area was similar to what they had found on Terminus, though most of it was holographic, as no preserved samples survived the exodus of the Colonists.
The main body of the species was already moving forward in technology, and according to the data Max could see in front of him had started genetic modifications to enhance their species that the Colonists objected to, though in later years it was found that they often employed it in crude and violent ways on themselves in order to survive the environments where they landed.
That was viewed as less invasive than full terraforming of the world they landed on.
Looking it over, Max was almost entirely certain that the Narsians were in fact from the same base species as Brick was, they had simply modified themselves into a very different species, whereas Brick and his people had modified themselves to be capable of photosynthesis and a number of other things that Max couldn't translate, as no language that he knew had a word for them.
The words were in the Common language that Nena had been speaking to them, but the words didn't exist in any dictionary in this Galaxy.
That gave Max a great idea.
"I don't suppose that a few science textbooks and a dictionary would be too much to ask for?"
Chapter 349 349 Museum Pt2
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"That shouldn't be an issue. Those sorts of things for students are fair game in every agreement we have made. If you develop new technology yourselves, it isn't against our rules to provide you with basic knowledge of the universe." Nena agreed.
"In that case, I might need a map as well. Between what we have managed so far, and the portal generator that we captured from the Narsians, it might not be more than a generation before the Reavers are capable of visiting other Galaxies, and it would be awfully rude for us to show up unannounced." Max suggested, making the aliens laugh.
"Our history is full of that. Very few species think of asking what is in a Galaxy before they leave their own for the first time. It is only because your species has taken such an odd evolutionary path that you had the opportunity to gain such knowledge in advance." Nena agreed.
Nove l B(in).C OM
Max could see in her thoughts that they didn't tell the Mercenaries where they were from, as it wasn't knowledge that they thought such a low-tech species needed. But Max and the Reavers had exceeded the Warp 10 boundary and attracted the attention of the more evolved, who monitored for such developments as a sign that a species would either soon reach enlightenment or become an intergalactic threat.
Going by the thoughts of the resident aliens about the species they had met in the past, Max put humanity closer to the intergalactic threat side of the equation, but with just a few more tweaks they could eliminate most of the reasons for violent expansion.
That left pure and simple greed, but that wasn't something that could be just eliminated from a species.
"Sure it can. The Valkia were once viewed as harbingers of death everywhere that we went, as the need for a challenge was ingrained into our very genetic structure, but we managed to evolve past it and turn our need for challenge toward less violent pastimes.
So it wasn't a lack of potential for violence that they measured, but a species' capability to keep it under control and not let it turn into planet-wide wars.
Perhaps this Galaxy wasn't as incapable as he thought. They just needed unity and a few centuries to get their acts in order once the politicians were reigned in.
Walking past the section that was mostly items from Terminus, Nena led them down a side path, which was an eclectic mix of items vaguely like the last section, and biomechanical technology samples. It was all holographic, for obvious reasons, but the living power packs, filled with a form of slime that could store incredible amounts of energy, were the real attraction.
Forget massive capacitors, and powering up the main engines, a single one of these packs the size of a ration pack could store enough energy to power a hovercar for years.
Using a version of that tech alongside the Replicators would be a huge benefit to their systems, reducing the draw on the main power when they were underway. The replicators were great at making food, but like the Materials Printers, they were huge energy hogs.
"I thought that you might appreciate this particular section. It was the development path where the Innu met with the Giants and started mixing their technology. They were the ones that started the development of portals, as their species never developed space travel at all and simply went for higher quality telescopes and portals until they could reliably place themselves on other planets.
Nove l B(in).C OM
That introduced them to a few nearby species, and since the Innu didn't have any natural predators on their planet, things went much more smoothly than expected." Nena explained.
The Innu were the hot pink aliens with tentacles for hair, which seemed much more laid back than the others, as well as tech-focused, something that it seems they weren't always.
"On the contrary, they were too tech-focused. They learned to send probes into space, but their focus on technology meant that they never deciphered how to make space travel safe for a biological organism, so they were trapped on their planet, with their bio-engineered technology. They once had a version of nanobots that were similar to your own, but without the artificial intelligence, and controlled by the users to perform tasks for them and enhance their natural bodies."
That had Nico's full attention now, and she was carefully inspecting one of the technicians in a way that was clearly making the alien uncomfortable.
"Nico, we can get you data from a hologram. I think you're scaring our host." Max called as Nico lifted the woman's hair tentacles to examine them.
"Oh, sorry. Theta mentioned that they had a collection of the same sort of biomechanical upgrades that I'm working on, and I forgot that there was a person attached." Nico replied, giving the woman a polite bow and her best pleading face.
The Innu didn't seem to mind though and had already started asking Nico rapid-fire questions about her own modifications, and the technology that she had incorporated, so Max decided to ignore the weirdos and continue the tour.
He was recording as much as he could, and he could sense that Nico was as well, between conversations with the people around her, so they shouldn't come away empty-handed.
They looped through the organic technology of the Innu, and then over toward the section that represented the Valkia. It made up most of the museum, as they were the largest group on the ship, and according to the signs had been an interstellar species for twenty thousand years or more.
Twenty thousand years ago was the event they called "The Blessing" which seemed to be the point when they gave up killing things for entertainment.
That section was so far beyond anything that Max could understand that he could only identify most of it by the written descriptions, and there was no hope of him reproducing it on Terminus, even if they were given decades to try.
No wonder the Valkia wasn't worried about letting him into the museum, there wasn't anything in here that wasn't thousands of years out of date, and most of it was utterly incomprehensible with his level of scientific knowledge.
It was a very enlightening experience.Chapter 350 350 Parting Ways
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"I trust you enjoyed the tour of the past?" Nena asked on behalf of her group of representatives, while the tech-savvy Innu quietly bombarded Nico with questions.
? "It was incredibly enlightening, and I can see why so many species have abandoned large-scale conflict as their technology advanced. I have the feeling that humanity will soon be at that breaking point. Not because of enlightenment, but because we are developing weapons so powerful that the thought of war would become unthinkable, due to the consequences." Max told her.
"I will admit, that it is not the usual path to enlightenment, but we will be watching for your progress in the future. We do have one item that we can share with you, that is deemed permissible to every species that has the capability.
That is our basic hyperspeed communications technology. It is already built into Terminus, though the colonists removed the transmission terminals when they left. We will reactivate the functions for you, and provide the schematics to add the technology to all of your vessels capable of faster than warp 10 travel.
By our standards, they should be on any vessel holding more than one hundred thousand, for safety, as well as all high-speed vessels which may require safe communications. Think of it like a combination of your Faster than light broadcasts, combined with an emergency transponder. If you activate the transponder, it lets others of the more evolved species know that you are in danger, so they can send a rescue attempt to your location.
That is intended for emergencies only, of course, and you will be expected to respond to such messages in return, should another equipped vessel broadcast in your vicinity." Nena of the Valkia informed Max.
That was a fair deal of responsibility, though they answered emergency transponders anyhow, and the actual communications features were something that they desperately needed for the Cutters.
"I thank you for your generous gift. We are always happy to help those in trouble." Max thanked the Valkia as Nico finished her conversation with the Innu about some sort of optical technology that Max didn't understand.
"The full scans of Terminus and the vessels aboard her are finished now, and we have received a gift from your Admiral. Something about food is integral to human culture?" Nena asked Max curiously.
"It is tradition to feed guests. Now, technically you did come to visit us, despite Terminus being aboard your vessel, so he most likely had an assortment of foods from the various cultures aboard the ship sent to your guards. Feel free to scan them for your records, or eat them if they're compatible with your digestive systems." Max replied, and Theta looked exceptionally excited.
Max assumed that the metallic organism could eat almost anything, though that could just be biased based on slime-type opponents in video games, at the very least the Admiral's thoughtful gift wouldn't be wasted.
The Museum aboard this vessel was dozens of kilometers across from what Max could see, and they were only allowed in a small portion of it, so there should be a space somewhere for their interaction with humans.
The portal pad took them back to the meeting room, and after pleasantries were exchanged, Max led Nico and the honor guard back to the ship.
The Innu had thoughts of Warp Drive modifications running through their minds, based on the brute force method that the human ships used to achieve high speeds, but linked with the advanced technology that they used to do it even more smoothly, while Nico's mind was full of thoughts of how she could modify herself now that she had made such a great trade with Theta.
[Terminus, prepare to depart.] The message from the alien World Ship reminded them once Max and the team were safely back on board.
Their method of bringing ships in by gravity field was ingenious, though it relied on the unique barrier that normalized outside hull temperatures for the safety of the crew. That might be something that they could replicate in the near future, or it might even be a feature of Terminus that they hadn't decoded yet. It had both the barriers on the bay doors and the capability of a precision gravity field after all.
"So, how did you make out?" Max asked Nico once they were away from the alien vessel.
"Incredibly well. A lot of this will have to go to Uncle Lu and other specialists, but some of it I can start using right away. For example, the healing function of the next generation of replicators. I can update the ones in our medical bays to create genetically compatible replacement organs and limbs, which the current generation can't do, and in seconds not weeks, like the current Kepler technology takes for a perfect replacement." Nico informed him.
That would be a huge feature for their crew and guests. No more unfortunate souls like Dave left crippled.
Max would have included Nico in that sentiment, but she actually seemed happier this way and was clearly enjoying the challenge of making herself into a new species, which she had just gained a huge amount of data about.
"Anything else that we can implement right away, other than the medical bay improvements and communications systems?" Max asked.
"Well, there is one small thing that I managed to pick out during my discussions with the crew of the Corvus. I know how their portals work." Nico responded with a smile.
How she had kept that thought to herself was a mystery to Max, so he probed into her mind a bit more deeply to find the trick. Only, it wasn't a trick at all, it was a System Function that allowed her to compartmentalize thoughts so that they weren't in the surface layer that was easily read by Max and species like the Valkia.
She had been hiding it for quite a while, but Max could see that she hadn't actually used it much, only a handful of times when she wanted to surprise him in particular, knowing that he could read her mind.