Chapter 361 361 Rescue
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High above the Chaos on the ground, the battle was a very different one. The Mecha had absolutely dominated the Scourge Mothership, and the three Cutters that remained in orbit had blasted it very nearly beyond repair before it began to retreat.
Realistically, they could refuse to let it retreat, as the Cutters were the faster vessel, but they couldn't get ahold of the Commander or the forces on the ground after that pulse, and minimizing their own casualties was every Reaver force's primary concern.
The Kepler Military might sacrifice Battalions for a greater cause, but not a single officer in what was now the Terminus Trading Company was willing to do that.
Though most still considered themselves Kepler Officers to some extent, there was no doubt that the willingness to follow the sort of Suicidal commands that Central Command often issued was entirely gone.
They would never be able to return to being meat for the grinder.
Max saw the light of Plasma Cannons flashing around him through the mass of Sentinels and realized that while the mechanical killing machines were active, they were not fully functional. Their energy shielding and energy weapons were all offline, as well as some of the tentacles on the Sentinels that he was fighting.
That was letting the Plasma Cannons rip through multiple targets, thinning out the crowd of Sentinels in a hurry as Max furiously hacked through the mass of metal.
With a kick to a shiny silver head, he threw himself up in the air and fired a burst of Plasma back down at the spot where he had been standing, creating a new opening for him to fight in, and giving him a moment to assess the battlefield.
Most of the Corvette Class units were back online, as well as about a third of the Line Mecha, all of which had chosen to engage in melee combat to preserve the limited energy in the power packs that they had been sent, and that seemed to be enough to form a barrier around the disabled Mecha that was holding steady as the timer to reboot on the Heavy Mecha's power plants counted down the seconds.
Screams of horror rang through the Cruise Ship portion of Terminus as Max landed back among the sentinels, and Nico gave a wry smile. With the damage the Sentinels had taken, Max was not only stronger and faster, but he was also more heavily armed, and his Mobile Suit was still showing itself to be in above average condition, with the feet Max had been using to kick Sentinels being the most damaged portion of the entire armor.
Nico made a note to update that design for increased durability as Max hacked his way through another wave of Scourge attackers and retreated back to the line of Mecha.
There were now 60 seconds left on his reboot timer, and once that was up the First Battalion would unleash the full fury of a Kepler Armored Strike Force on the scourge menace.
[Commnader, the mothership has retreated. The Scourge forces on the planet are now isolated and abandoned. Battalions two through four have passed the outer atmosphere. Do you copy Commander.]
The message was a great relief to everyone on the planet, even the Pirates, who knew that they weren't in for a good time and weren't going to win this engagement, especially with their ships offline due to the scourge attack.
[Copy that, Second Battalion. One minute on the reboot of the Heavy mecha and we will be back online. Spread into a defensive landing pattern, in case they try the same thing again.] Max ordered.
[Problem Neutralized.] Nico's happy voice came over the radio, a half second before the drones targeted a point on the ground and three Orbital Lances from the incoming Cutters lit up the sky.
That might be overkill, but if it worked, they wouldn't need to worry about the Scourge disabling the rest of their Mecha.
Max made it back behind the line, and a pair of Line Mecha stepped in to block the sentinels that were still following him, burning some of their precious power reserves to wipe out a whole rank of attackers with their Ion Cannons.
Max made it back to Enduring Rage just in time for the lights to start coming online as the Mecha powered back up.
[Fifteen Seconds until full output and operational readiness.] The Mecha's onboard computer informed him happily as he entered and strapped himself into the seat, not even bothering to remove the Mobile Suit, only disabling the power assistance in the hands, since it couldn't keep up with his fingers during piloting maneuvers.
The sentinels wouldn't slow their attacks. They knew that they were expended resources at this point, and their only remaining function was to do as much damage as possible before they were eliminated.
[There is an official request from the Innu High Chancellor for the remains of a Scourge Sentinel if possible. They want to add it to their museum of mechanical development, as a warning to future generations about the dangers of artificial intelligence evolving in the wild.] Nico informed Max.
[Then come get it yourself. We're a bit busy here.] Max replied, knowing that she had actually meant after the battle was complete.
[I suspect that if his guards didn't stop him, he would be on his way already. Drones will be in position for a planetary sensor net in ten seconds. We will await guidance from your Targeting data.] Nico replied, ending the message with a digital smiley face.
Max sighed in relief. At least she was still paying attention to the essentials, even when she was taking care of the tourists.
[All Units, prepare for linked targeting data in 3,2,1 NOW. Fire at will, full output. Let's put on a show for our guests.] Max ordered.
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All four Battalions were in position, or at least mostly in position, when Max gave the order to fire, and the rolling boom of the Thunder Cannons echoed across the region, marking the moment that the Super Heavy mecha came to life, and the Scourge threat realized that their time had ended.Chapter 362 362 Rescue Completed
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When the guns fell silent, there were no signs of scourge energy signatures left on the planet at all. All of the Mecha had slowly been brought back online, though the Light Mecha were operating on backup power packs since they couldn't be rebooted in the field without a technician. The pulse that had disabled everything seemed to have caused them some actual damage beyond overloaded circuits.
The Super Heavy Mecha of the First Battalion would need some repairs as well, as the Crystal Matrix Power Plants that they had been retrofit with, based on the ship's engines aboard Terminus, had been blanked, and new crystals would be needed to get them back online.
The lockers did give a good idea of what upgrades would be needed to repel future attempts by the Scourge to deploy similar weapons though, and it was so ridiculously simple that Max was surprised that they hadn't done it by accident.
Unlike every other part of the Mecha which had been carefully examined for durability, longevity, and the ability to remain unaffected by energy surges, the simple tin lockers and cabinets had just been reshaped to fit the cockpit.
They only held clothing and miscellaneous items, they weren't of any real significance themselves. But because of that, the energy attack designed to pass by their shielding had simply bounced off the lockers, as if they were a faraday cage.
If Max had been paying more attention, he would have noticed that they were distinctly hot to the touch from the energy exposure, but they held up intact without any issues. If he had been turned a little further to the left, they might have actually absorbed and reflected enough of the energy attack that the Power Plant could have stayed online.
But the attack had been completely unexpected. The Scourge had never before used a self-sacrificing attack, and if they had more infantry on the ground in their area, with projectile weapons, the casualties among the Scourge Sentinels would have been immediately catastrophic.
Even a single machine gun nest would have torn apart hundreds of inactive sentinels in the first few seconds before they started coming back online, and in fact, they had, over where the Reavers and Pirates were defending their positions.
[All Units report. Did we take any casualties?] Max asked while he searched through the data stream for reports of units lost.
[First Battalion lost four Mecha, all repairable. No Pilots lost.] Major Miller reported.
[No losses among the orbital fleet.] The other Commanders reported.
That battle really couldn't have gone any better. Now it was just a matter of dealing with the Pirates.
The visitors from the Illithid Empire held a very dim view of pirates, though they understood the concept somewhat differently than humans did.
They abhorred lies and dishonesty, and the word Pirate translated into their language as a combination of Thief and Corrupt Businessman. Both were at the very bottom of their society, and they were keenly interested in what the humans would do to such reprehensible members of society.
The Innu understood the concept of Piracy as well but related it more to software piracy, and it took them a while to understand that they were taking solid goods, and not making unauthorized copies of data.
Once they understood that part, it all fell into place for them, as they had experienced such things before, with up-and-coming species that would attempt to pilfer technology at any cost in order to advance themselves.
The Technicians from Terminus who had been aboard the Cutters which were in orbit were already working to get the Reaver vessel back online, using their Materials Printers to replace damaged circuits, and mobile power packs to bring emergency power back online so that the rest of the systems could reboot.
That part was of more interest to the Innu than anything else that had happened today, and Nico ended up hacking into the helmet cameras and sensor feeds from the Tech Adept Harnesses, which the Innu found to be the greatest Technological Marvel in human possession, according to the Students.
They had made multiple requests for Nico to sell them some, as their evolution path had led straight to manipulating technology, and bypassed using technology to enhance themselves. They didn't see the appeal of Cyborg Conversions, since it damaged the body, but a Tech Adept Harness simply strapped on and added functions that they could use for multiple work-related projects at the same time, thanks to their multi-track minds.
When the Reaver ship came back online and the Pirates started bringing them crates and crates of supplies, the passengers aboard the ship were intrigued, unsure of what to make of the spectacle.
[This is the standard penalty for Piracy among the Reavers. They will be looted dry, all items of value that they had will be forfeited as a financial penalty for piracy, and they will be left with their ship somewhere habitable, which in this case will be on the planet's surface since the ship itself is not currently habitable.
With a lot of work, they should be able to get it up and running again, and they will be able to contact any allies that they have once the Reavers are gone.] Nico explained to the ship as the work was ongoing.
"That is surprisingly humane, given your species' reputation." The Innu High Chancellor told Nico, who gave him an evil smile in return.
"It's not as kind as you might think. They are in for a very hard future, and not everyone will be as kind as the Reavers. You see, if they have made enemies of another group, and those people arrive before their allies, they could well lose the ship, and possibly their freedom, depending on if they are wanted for any other crimes.
Even if they are found by their allies, they no longer have their equipment, and they have taken losses of personnel in the battle, so they will be in heavy debt to whoever agrees to resupply them." Nico explained.
"Humans really do have strange rules. Before they reached enlightenment, we used to simply call the Valkia after disabling such vessels. Their sense of righteousness would determine the outcome for those deemed undesirable for society." The High Chancellor informed her.
Knowing that the Valkia killed everything in their galaxy that wasn't themselves, that wasn't exactly a humane answer to the problem, but Nico was pretty sure it was enough of a deterrent that no Pirate in their right mind would attack the Innu.
[Repairs and Transfer work complete. We are returning to Terminus now, if you would like to end the broadcast.] Max ordered Nico so that there wouldn't be any stray cameras still looking at the planet if the Reavers decided that they needed a little vengeance on top of the price already paid. It was the least that he could do in the circumstances since they weren't sticking around to help the Reaver ship rebuild their damaged systems.
They had gotten them repaired enough to fly, and he had agreed to let them follow through the portal so that they could come back to Rae 5 where their main staff was, but Max wasn't going to spare any extra parts on this rescue mission that he didn't have to.
Chapter 363 363 Live At Nine
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[All hands and guests, prepare for movement through the portal.] The Admiral announced as the Cutters arrayed themselves around the freshly formed shimmer in space.
Terminus led the way, followed by the damaged Reaver ship, with the Cutters coming through last to ensure that nothing hostile could follow them into the Rae 5 system. Every vessel had been thoroughly scanned both for live Scourge and even small remnants of their Sentinels, which might be a tracking beacon or an infiltration unit.
Nothing had been found, and the Scourge hadn't made it close enough to them for anything to breach security, but it was still best to be absolutely sure before returning to a populated world.
[Welcome Back Terminus, you have become quite popular it seems. Please be advised that quarantine procedures are in place for all vessels arriving with unknown species.] The communication officer of the Rae 5 Moon Base informed them.
[Understood Moon Base. We won't be making a landing today, only escorting a Reaver Vessel home after a Scourge attack. Arrangements for the assistance have been made with their home terminal already.] Nico informed the base staff.
Max directed the First Battalion's ship to return to their dock, while he watched the location update broadcast to all of the incoming vessels who had reservations to dock with Terminus.
That should be an amusing wake-up call for the Reavers since they had never seen a vessel like most of these before, and they were all coming to visit Terminus.
[Hey Max, did you know that you're famous? I've got a link to the Innu Social Media sites active now, and the live stream of you in combat with the Mobile Suit is a real hit. "Malevolent AI meets AI-enhanced soldiers." is the headline over the entire Innu-dominated section of their network.
You know how they are about technology, and they have never faced an enemy like the Scourge before, so it's all new to them.
I don't think it will help the tourist numbers into this galaxy, but the Innu news media loves us for today.]
Max sighed at Nico's description of what she had been doing while they were gone, then decided that it was likely for the best. They could only take so many passengers, and the journey wasn't guaranteed to be safe, so they didn't need to push for mainstream status.
Once they were settled into the bay, Max tuned into the ship's intercom and listened to a recorded voice giving a glowing recommendation of the planet's natural beauty, and status as an open port among the human populations, though the passengers were warned that sadly a quarantine protocol was in effect, so they wouldn't be able to go to the surface today.
[Commander, we have a request for the Reavers from the Imperial Inquisition. They have detected possible Rebel activities on the border near Cygnus, and they are requesting a vessel with good trade relations with the Cygnus Empire be sent to check it out.
There is a generous payment for accurate data, and we are the perfect vessel to go.] General Ming sent to Max while the recorded voice finished its spiel about Rae 5.
[That sounds like a good time. We could invite some dignitaries aboard to come to visit our tourists. If they meet the best of humans, they might get a better impression of us than if they keep seeing us battling something.
Just give me a day to arrange cargo for the area and we can head out.] Max replied, then sent the trip plan to the Admiral and the Cargo request to Mary Tarith, who should have something going to the region, thanks to her extensive connections.
[For my favorite Son in Law? I am sure that we can find something of value going to the Cygnus border.] Mary Tarith responded only a few minutes later, followed moments later by a collection of orders that were going to the region and hadn't been claimed yet.
Nico walked in while Max was staring at the list of orders, stopping to massage his shoulders before heading to the showers.
"Nico, you need to talk to your mom more often. She's getting grandchild fever again." Max called as she walked away, making the Cyborg laugh at him.
"Try it yourself. None of my System Functions are compatible with the task of changing my mother's mind." Nico replied, then turned on the water, drowning out Max's response.
Like that was possible. Every time he talked to her, Max found himself caught up in her pace, dragged along to whatever the woman had already decided to do. It was an incredible personality trait for a Reaver leader to have, but it was more than a little annoying when he was trying to redirect her.
Max picked a shipment that was coming from the Moon Base, a cargo hold full of refined polymers that were going to the very same system where the Cygnus Representative was supposedly meeting with the rebels.
That was suspiciously convenient like they wanted a Reaver ship present for some reason, likely to hire as assistance for whatever plan they had cooked up. But, if he was taking the offer from the Imperial Inquisition, it was the best possible bit of luck, even if it was clearly suspicious, and likely a trap.
[We also have a code Vermillion shipment from the base itself directly to you, Commander. Two crates marked highly volatile.] The communication officers on the bridge informed Max as he placed the order and got ready to receive the barge from the Moon Base, since they were under quarantine, due to the unknown species aboard.
[Have them arrive directly in the empty cargo hold next to the First Battalion. All sensor equipment and cameras in that bay will be disabled effective immediately.] Max ordered.
"Nico, you heard that, right? Be a dear and take care of it for me would you." Max yelled to his second-in-command, who was still in the shower.
"Got it. The bay is secure, only you, me, and Inquisitor General Ming will have access to the bay." Nico yelled back, then turned off the water and came strutting back out to grab fresh clothes.
"Damn Nico, you really are putting in work to get that body modified." Max whistled as she walked by with an extra sway in her hips and a smile on her face.
"Of course. Just wait and see, it's going to be amazing once I'm finished."
Chapter 364 364 Shiny Objects
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Their guests seemed to be easily entertained, and the hourly reports that Max was getting showed that the most frequented area of the entire vessel was the gravity slides. The Innu weren't even stopping to see the attractions until they were tired or hungry, they simply spent hours at a time racing around the ship on the waterslides, while the visitors from the Illithid Empire preferred to relax in the hot tubs and only moved when they wanted to remove their exoskeletons to eat.
They could bring the food inside their robotic bodies, but it was preferable to release themselves and eat in the luxury of their room. They deemed it too high of a risk to remove their robotic assistance bodies even in the dining halls, so all their orders were for room service, to be left outside the room and brought in by the one person who "got dressed" as they referred to equipping the suits.
[Sir, we have new arrivals. More Innu, as well as the warranty repair team for the damaged yacht.] Admiral Drake informed Max, who was already swamped with messages about the incoming shipments.
[Send the repair team to the same bay as the yacht, and bring the others to the far side, near the main entrance so that the welcoming team can do their thing. How many more are in this batch?] Max asked.
[Roughly one thousand going by the preliminary bookings. Scheduled to be here for a month, with a request to see human-populated planets.] Admiral Drake replied, with a note of amusement in his voice.
They would definitely be seeing that. In fact, they might even get to meet some 'wild humans' from Cygnus, assuming that there weren't any major security concerns with bringing them aboard the ship.
Both ships arrived right on time, between the cargo barge and the code Vermillion shipment, and docked without incident, but these Innu were much different than the students.
Not in appearance, but in personality. This wasn't a bunch of College kids and their social media followers, this vessel had been full of Innu xenomechanists. Scientists specialized in alien technologies and wanted to know absolutely everything about humans, human technology, and their history.
They were much more serious than the first batch, but just as thoroughly taken with the gravity slides the moment that they were explained to them.
At least some things were universal.
They didn't play around on them all day though. Once they took a trip through them to get close to their rooms they went in and started unpacking their equipment to make a proper entry for their records.
The ship they arrived on requested departure clearance barely an hour later, after verifying that nothing had been left behind by accident, and the scientists began to make plans for their extended stay as if Terminus was an unexplored planet in the far reaches of space and not a luxury cruise ship. The sight amused all of the human crew members that saw them, but they were well aware of the unique personality of the Innu as a whole, so they didn't think anything of it.
The repair team turned out to be incredibly efficient, verifying the remote diagnostics the moment that they landed in the bay, and managing to get the warp drive torn apart within two hours so they could do their physical verification for the Warranty Claim.
The technicians on duty could only watch in envy as they finished up within another hour and had the job cleaned up and the yacht back in pristine condition within four hours of their arrival. They could really use a few technicians like that on their crew, and everyone wondered what it would take to get a group of fully trained Innu Warp Drive Technicians to sign on to work aboard Terminus.
That was something that hadn't come up so far. It was clear that they still used some sort of monetary system, given the disparity in resource distribution, but whether the Reavers could offer something of equivalent value was questionable, as they didn't know what the Innu valued as a precious resource.
Max was sitting in his office when the door slid open with a gentle hiss, revealing the High Chancellor and his bodyguards.
"Welcome High Chancellor. What can I do for you today?" Max asked politely, ignoring the fact that he was certain that door was locked a moment ago.
"The boatyard staff has confirmed that my Yacht has been repaired, and as much as I would love to stay and enjoy the adventures of the good ship Terminus, I must return to work and leave these lovely gravity slides behind.
The children will be staying behind here for the duration of their break from school, though I have put them all on punishment, with three hours of mandatory studying to be done daily through the virtual reality headsets provided by your concierge.
If you could verify that they are keeping up with their duty, I would appreciate it, but I will verify when they return either way, and the punishment will be tripled and restarted if they have failed."
The odd dichotomy of allowing them to remain on vacation even when they were in trouble amused Max, but he managed to keep a straight face and respond to the strict official.
"Of course. I will have the staff remind them twice daily. You can set the times for the alerts if you prefer." Max agreed.
"As long as they actually keep up with the studies that they slacked on and learn their lesson, it doesn't matter what time they get it done. I will leave it in your capable hands, and request a departure window to exit the hangar beside the repair vessel." The High Chancellor asked.
"Would you like a portal back to your home system? I believe that we have the appropriate technology to stabilize a long-distance portal, though we haven't tested it outside our own Galaxy so far." Max offered.
"I am sure the repair crew would appreciate it, seeing that you don't charge for the energy usage, but I will return under my own power. Safety protocol says that I can't follow a predetermined course back to the home system, to prevent my vessel from being intercepted. It's quite annoying, and highly unlikely that I would encounter any difficulties, but rules are rules, and these ones were coded in our mainframe by my own ancestors, so it wouldn't be acceptable for me to alter them." The High Chancellor replied politely.
"We will assist you in setting the portal coordinates. There is a predetermined set of coordinates, based on origin, to avoid traffic jams." The bodyguard informed Max and then began uploading data to Max's console screen with the facing and precise destination for the portal, as well as the alterations to the field generation that would optimize long-distance stability and power usage.
[Repair Vessel Ready for Portal formation.] The maintenance crew reported, and Max brought the portal generators online, watching the power consumption of the ship spike to levels higher than what was necessary to bring Terminus to maximum warp.
No wonder they charged for this, if they had small vessels regularly moving between galaxies, they would need hundreds of dedicated facilities to open the portals, and going by this, even the mighty Crystalline Warp Drives on Terminus didn't have the power to open a portal large enough to move the Colony Ship through.
They would need the assistance of the Cutters to bring it online and stabilize a portal that large.
But now they knew where the Innu lived, or at the very least, where they had their private yachts commissioned.
Chapter 365 365 Toybox
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The High Chancellor left immediately after the repair vessel, but on a different course, one that would lead him one galaxy over from where the repair ship was headed, assuming he didn't change course once he reached open space.
[Nico, tell me what we lost. I'm certain he didn't leave without scrubbing the system.]
Max was already looking through the ship's computer, searching for missing or recently deleted data, in case something could be salvaged.
[It looks like the only thing he cleaned was surveillance logs of his vessel and his team. The data we scanned about it is gone, but everything else, including the repair logs of the yacht, is intact.
There are no glaring inconsistencies, they just changed their appearance to be nothing. I could find a few spots where others were clearly talking to nothing, but no sign of the High Chancellor.] Nico reported.
[And your own memory?] Max asked.
[I couldn't get a very good look at the vessel myself, they were careful about that, but I know what it looks like, and a bit about the Warp Field.
Not enough to replicate it, but enough to give me a clue as to where to start.]
Overall, that was better than expected. Max had been worried that they would remove much more than the Chancellor and his team, but it seemed that the Innu weren't concerned about Terminus gaining knowledge of their civilian vessels.
He took it as a small sign of trust since the world ships that had interacted with humans before had blocked all forms of scans, even of their smaller shuttles.
[Traffic Control, what do we have left on the schedule for today?] Max asked, now that the important parts of his concerns had been settled.
[Commander, all arrivals are complete, we have one cargo barge still unloading in the port side bays that will be leaving within the hour. All other vessels aboard have expressed their intent to remain for the journey.]
[Inform me when the barge has departed. We will be departing for the Cygnus border as soon as we are loaded.]
[Yes, Commander.]
Max sent a signal for Nico to meet him at the bay they had locked off for the Code Vermilion shipment and left his office in the aft section of the ship.
Uncle Lu hadn't spoken a word about what they were getting, but Max assumed that the two crates were the new Mecha and a collection of spare parts. He couldn't wait to see what the modified design turned out to be.
Nico and Inquisitor General Ming met him at the door, and Max gave the Inquisitor a confused look, wondering how the man knew that they were going to be there.
"I was waiting here for you two to arrive. I knew your curiosity wouldn't hold out long after locking down an entire bay to receive a shipment from the base." He explained.
"Alright then, let's see what we have." Max sighed, knowing that it would be more trouble than it was worth to try to keep secrets from the Inquisitor.
The two metal boxes weren't the same size, and only one seemed large enough to hold the Mecha, so that is where Max started.
The whole front of the storage box swung clear of the crate with an input of his handprint, revealing the long-awaited Titan Class Mecha in all its glory.
The statuesque Samurai knight stood tall at a full forty meters to the top of its helmet, with a long-nosed red Tengu mask on its face under matte black armor.
The Laser lenses in the shoulder pads were clearly visible, and the lower forearms held six barrels each, encased under Armored plating, which combined to made up the new Disruptor-based main weapon.
Beside the Mecha stood an assortment of weapons. A long sword, a short sword, a shield, and a retractable Halberd.
Then there was an odd-looking pair of pistols that Max hadn't expected, as pistols hadn't been on any of the design outlines.
A hologram of Uncle Lu appeared in front of Max, smiling in the relaxed manner everyone was used to seeing.
"Greetings Nico and gentlemen. I am sure you have questions, so I programmed this short introduction video for you.
Most of the design specs are as we discussed. You can explore those at your leisure. The melee weapons all have energy fields over the blades, with randomized, rapidly rotating frequency patterns to prevent countermeasures from rendering them ineffective against Interstellar vessel shielding.
The swords are self-explanatory, but the shield carries an internal power pack, based on the biological energy storage units you discovered. It is very much a prototype, so I expect data if you do use it. The Halberd is much like the swords, but it has an Ion Cannon built in to give your enemies a nasty little surprise. The pistols are simple Ion Destroyers, in case you run short on other weapons.
The shielding unit has been upgraded from the super heavy Mecha, linking three modules together in order to withstand the level of incoming fire it is expected to receive.
I will leave the rest to you, and advise you to open the other crate if you haven't already done so. Knowing Commander Keres, he went straight to the good stuff, while Nico is losing her mind because I shielded the boxes so she can't examine the contents until they are open."
The last bit made both men laugh, while Nico just shrugged in agreement. If the Titan Class Mecha wasn't so amazing, she would have already ripped the other box open just to see what Uncle Lu had hidden from her.
"The other box can wait a few seconds. I am not moving on until this beauty is humming under my fingers." Max advised, then ran to the side of the crate to climb the internal ladder which led to the cockpit of his new Mecha.
With a short leap from the wall to the Pilot's door, Max stepped inside, finding himself looking at the interior of a tiny luxury apartment.
"Welcome, Pilot Max, to the Titan Class Mecha Cleansing Light. This unit is now coded to your unique genome and will function for no other without your permission.
Please note the presence of a stasis pod with the finest healing technology available under the bed for your exclusive use. Here, nothing short of total obliteration should be capable of ending your life." Uncle Lu's voice greeted Max as he entered.
"Well now, isn't that something? Let's get this beauty powered up." Max told the empty cockpit in front of him, then headed for the command station.Chapter 366 366 Premium Death Machines
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Max settled into the seat and found that the controls weren't the standard Kepler Mechanical layout, though those were available on the console in front of him. There was a neural link halo that lowered over his head, linking the movements of the mecha to his intentions and removing the physical lag between his intentions and his physical movements.
The setup also had the option to synchronize, so that he could physically control the Mecha, while he mentally targeted, or the reverse.
With Max's improved cognitive functions, that wouldn't be necessary, as he could accurately target with every weapon consciously while also mentally piloting, and not relying on instinct and muscle memory to do the movement portion of the work for him.
He also noted that the shield mounted to the forearm weapons on the left arm, so it wouldn't interfere with his firepower when equipped, and every weapon had a secure holster available.
He really did look like a forty-meter tall, living Samurai Knight, right down to the traditional demon mask that was supposed to intimidate enemies of the human warriors. It was a bit redundant when equipped on a Titan Class Mecha, but he appreciated the sentiment and effort.
The shipping crate also contained the maintenance rack for the Mecha, so it would have to be secured to the bay once he had chosen a proper place for it.
With the neural link equipped, Max didn't even have to remain in his pilot seat to operate the Cleansing Light.
One after another, he picked up and stored the weapons in their holsters, noting how the Mecha moved in a perfectly natural manner, matching his thoughts as if it were his own body. That was a welcome change. Most Titan Class Mecha were a bit slow and clunky but made up for it in pure lethality.
Cleansing Light could purge a planetary capital in an instant and still walk perfectly naturally as if it was a System enhanced Kepler Pilot. Uncle Lu had really outdone himself on this project.
There wasn't the space or opportunity to test the rest of the features of the Mecha, but Max did verify that his tracking and targeting were working properly, and powered up the Mecha's sensor suite, doing a full system check.
Movement in the corner of his eye made Max turn, just as Nico opened up the other crate and began laughing hysterically.
As expected, the other crate contained some raw materials and parts, but it also contained a new model of Material Printer, and a second smaller crate, which was what caught Nico's attention.
"What did you find, Nico?" Max asked.
"There are lots of goodies for you, but Uncle Lu also sent me a present," Nico informed him as she used the bay's overhead crane to move the new Materials Printer out of the way so she could open the other crate.
It was roughly cubical, and fifteen meters tall, no taller than one of the new Heavy mecha, but large enough to hold four of them, and Max wondered what sort of thing Uncle Lu had sent for her.
Nico took the time to set up the new Materials Printer before she returned to the crate with a look of reverence and dived into it through a small door on the top.
The door of the crate popped open from the inside, and a bright red, kneeling form unfolded itself from inside.
It was a Mecha, but like nothing else that the humans had ever produced. Standing twenty meters tall, and having an organically curved outer shell that looked very much like a soot-black muscular body, the four-armed Mecha wielded a blade in each hand, and stood on cloven feet, with a grinning demonic visage staring up at Max.
The sight stopped Max in his tracks, as the last parts of his lost memory came crashing back into his consciousness.
He knew that Mecha. In fact, there was nothing in his past life that Max knew better, for it haunted his every dream, even after his retirement and all through the isolated years stuck on a throne world being venerated as a hero. That Mecha led the armies of a fanatical cult of genetically modified soldiers that had torn half the galaxy asunder in under a decade, drowning worlds in blood and killing trillions of soldiers.
Eventually, Max and his army resorted to sending suicide bombers to launch a surprise attack and destroy the fortress that their command group was holed up in, crippling their leadership and allowing his forces to eliminate the remainder of their army in one crushing wave.
Even in the mighty God Machine Gloriana that he had piloted to innumerable heroic victories in his past life, he simply couldn't defeat that evil Mecha and its Commanders. Every time he thought he had them, they would get a warning of the imminent threat and simply disappear without a trace, only for him to get news of new carnage and race across star systems in a desperate attempt to save another planet.
[Soul Drinker] He breathed over the intercom as Nico stood up in the Cursed Mecha that Uncle Lu had created for her.
While from the day of his birth Max recalled who he was, and the morals he should hold, he had only slowly regained everything else from his memories. Nico was the exact opposite, she recalled all of the useful skills from her past life and much of how they were used, but she recalled nothing at all about herself, or why she had done the things she recalled doing.
The blood-soaked religion that Max had seen in her thoughts now made sense. It was possible, and even somewhat likely that she was the reincarnation of the elusive leader of the greatest threat his former life's Galaxy had ever seen, assuming that Mecha was rebuilt from her shattered memories, and not entirely a coincidence on the part of Uncle Lu's design preferences.
"It's glorious, isn't it? I've never seen something so beautiful. Uncle Lu really outdid himself this time." Nico cheered as she stretched out her new Mecha's limbs to explore its range of movement.
'Maybe it really is a coincidence. Nico's thoughts don't show any hint of recognition of the Mecha, this is certainly the first time that she has seen it and she wasn't involved in the design. Could it just be one big cosmic joke, creating that same Mecha in this life?' Max wondered to himself before collecting his thoughts well enough to answer.
"It really is something else. I thought you might be upset about only getting a custom Super Heavy Mecha." Max replied, doing his best to tuck away the newly released nightmares of having to hunt that Mecha across the Galaxy.
"Size isn't everything. Plus Uncle Lu gave it the most perfect name ever." Nico replied, and Max looked at the engraved words on the collar that mounted the head assembly to the shoulders.
[Shattered Pride]
"Oh thank the Emperor."
Chapter 367 367 Travel Plans
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"Those are some impressive Mecha. General Lu has really outdone himself on those designs. But doesn't that demonic one look a bit too lightly armed? You can't have a completely Melee Super Heavy can you?" General Ming asked as he watched the two Mecha move to face each other as the pilots inspected their counterpart's equipment.
"It's not as lightly armed as it looks. There are Disruptors in each arm, and the mouth of the head is an oversized Fusion Flamer. It might have less than half of the ranged firepower that Cleansing Light has, and it can't link them for a near orbital strike level attack the way that the Titan Class unit can, but it is still very nearly on par with the Thunder Pattern Super Heavy Mecha in ranged output, just without the ability to serve as artillery." Max explained to the Inquisitor.
"So, reduced ranged output from the original Super Heavy Mecha design, with a more intimidating and agile design, and higher melee output? That's not bad, it would make a good leader for the Inferno Pattern Fast Attack units." Inquisitor Ming decided.
It would also make a very good bodyguard for Cleansing Light, which had incredible ranged firepower, and more limited, but still devastating melee capabilities. Keeping the enemy off of their Titan Class unit would let Max keep firing at the optimum output for longer before engaging in close combat, and that seemed to be what Uncle Lu had designed Shattered Pride to do, as well as accepting challenges from the mecha of nations like Cygnus, who put great value on pride.
"Alright, let's pack everything up now that we know what we have. There is a rather suspicious call to the border with Cygnus to respond to, and we will be doing it at Warp 5 so that we can show the tourists the highlights of the route across the Kepler Empire." Max instructed as he moved Cleansing Light into a stable transit position.
"Got it. I will go prepare a tour guide spiel for every inhabited system that we pass by as soon as you have the course ready." Nico informed him, then made her Mecha kneel with the lower two fists on the ground for stability and hopped out of her new Mecha.
"The bay won't open for anyone but us three, nobody else has the clearance, so we can be sure that there are no leaks about the new units outside this room. We will have to use them sooner or later, but I want them to be an absolute surprise to our enemies, so no informing the Inquisition." Max instructed, making the General chuckle.
"There won't be any need for that. They have their hands full lately. The fighting might have died down, but now it has turned to politics, and that is just as deadly. That might be what the rebels and the Cygnus representatives want us for. If they're planning some sort of political stunt, they will want the Reavers to at least know what they're planning, so that they don't end up with a load of mercenaries on every side of the battle making a huge mess of everything." General Ming suggested.
"It's going to be a mess either way. The Rebels have lost too much ground in the battle, and they're being forced to make a full surrender. I can guarantee they're about to do something so monumentally stupid that it will make the history books.
We might just offer the most incredible tour in human history, watching a quarter of a Galaxy implode under the weight of its own politics." Nico laughed.
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine? What do you know that the rest of us have missed?" General Ming asked.
Nico walked to the wall of the bay and brought up a three-dimensional map of the galactic region marked with hundreds of various colored dots.
"I noticed it while preparing for the tourists. These are the battles between Kepler and the Rebels. These are the battles where the Rebels brought in outside forces.
Now if I overlay the reported losses to show the percentage of regional strength that has been destroyed in the past two years, what do you see?" Nico asked.
The map only had a few streaks of green in it, plus Cygnus. Most of the map was yellow for having lost over half of their military strength, including almost all of the smaller surrounding nations. Even if they rebuilt as much as they could in the meantime, they would be in a very tight place for manpower, short on resources, or in very deep debt.
Then when you added that to the hostile nations further out who weren't involved in Kepler's mess, along with the Klem threat, looking at a Tapani Empire whose territory was colored as orange as having lost two-thirds of their strength, it was clear that nowhere in the region was up to the task of defending itself from outside threats.
The moment that the stalemate broke they would be in for a gigantic mess, and there simply weren't enough resources to rebuild everything in time to salvage the situation in any meaningful fashion.
It didn't matter if it was the Klem, the Nemians, other humans, or something that Max hadn't considered, it would be a bloody and brutal war of attrition, due to a lack of defenders.
"So, you think that we might be going to a meeting to discuss how to divvy up our own Empire?" Inquisitor Ming asked.
Nico shook her head. "I don't think anyone else has pieced it together yet because nobody else should have all of the data that I have collected from the Reavers and the Mercenaries databases. I think they're planning the particular bit of idiocy that will tip the scales and get the ball rolling on the destabilization of the region."
There were other options, and she didn't have the data on how many new recruits had been gathered, but in the sector closest to Rae 5, Max knew that recruitment was minimal, and they were still working to stabilize a large portion of the planets, while the rest had been mostly stripped of their military might, moving it all to fleet based deployments.
With that in mind, Max prepared to send a message back to Mary Tarith, to be ready to supply a load of Mecha to Kepler when they asked. The Reavers were unlikely to get directly involved, they only had enough forces to hold their own single system in the worst-case scenario, but they could make a killing off of the trade of weapons if the worst did happen.
Chapter 368 368 Border Patrol
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Once Mary Tarith was informed of their most pertinent intelligence points, Max ordered Terminus to prepare to leave the Rae 5 System.
[Attention all passengers, we will be approaching the border of the Kepler Empire in two hours' time. There is a chance we will be stopped and questioned by the border patrol, and I do apologize for any inconvenience that might cause.
Here, security is their first concern, and all foreign vessels are suspicious in the eyes of the border patrol.] Nico's voice informed the ship as Terminus began its journey.
This caused a predictable wave of excitement to flow through their guests, who were about to experience the protocols of moving between independent nations with only rudimentary political ties for the first time.
The Admiral had alerted the border patrol that The Terminus Trading Company would be arriving in Kepler space, and their estimated location of arrival an hour in advance so that they could have a ship ready, should they wish to meet with the Reaver's vessel in person.
When they got near the border there were two ships, both smaller vessels from a planetary defense fleet present and waiting.
[Reaver Vessel Terminus, you have entered independent Tapani Kepler Territory, prepare to drop out of Warp and be boarded. No casualties will be necessary if you follow directions.] The lead vessel commanded.
Max quickly checked the sensors and found that the Kepler Border Patrol was still ten minutes away, and closing fast, meaning that these were likely Pirates clinging to the last hopes of victory against Kepler.
[Tapani vessel, please be aware that at this time the Tapani Alliance is still at war with the Reavers. If we drop out of Warp, we are bringing a Reaver attack fleet with us. Please confirm your previous request.] Max ordered over the radio.
Max could sense the amusement of the crew members that were still listening in, and the seconds drew on as they waited for a response from the two vessels.
For thirty long seconds, the communications remained silent, and then the signal from the actual border patrol came through.
[Welcome back Terminus, you are clear to proceed. Unknown vessels, please power down and prepare to be boarded for Customs inspection.] The Heavy Cruiser signaled.
[It is a pleasure to see you as well, Kepler. We have a number of trade stops along the way, but we will check in again before we leave your territory.] Max informed the Cruiser, who had already changed course to intercept the two smaller vessels.
Max began to relax as the Pirates broke and ran from the border patrol, then turned on the feed from the Cruise Ship's intercom and security cameras to see how the passengers were taking it since they were given a live stream of the interaction.
[As you can see, the Pirates often cling to delusions of authority to help reconcile their trauma at the loss of their insurgency to the established power, and attempt to enforce said imaginary authority on others. But when confronted, their cowardice shows itself and they flee without a fight, unable to back up their threats.] Nico's voice was narrating, as the majority of the passengers watched the video screen showing two small vessels fleeing from one larger one fading into the distance.
If they could hear her description of them, they might actually turn around to settle that insult to their honor, but the rebels remained blissfully unaware that a large portion of the nearby galaxies would now view them as opportunistic cowards.
After a few hours of peaceful flight as Nico narrated the recent history of the region, as well as the major industries and populations of the planets they were passing, a new signal came in for Terminus.
[Trade request. Kepler 808 Station requires 4 standard pattern Line Mecha and 100 tonnes of shelf-stable rations. Offers artisan furniture and infantry kit in trade.]
The text request came up on Max's terminal, and he frowned at the trade terms. The planet was known for its unique forests, so the furniture was a standard offering for them, but why would they be offering a large amount of infantry equipment?
[Admiral, was there a large battle on Kepler 808 recently? They are offering infantry equipment in trade for shelf-stable rations.] Max asked.
[Not that I can see. The data on the planet doesn't show any extensive damage. I don't see any supply ships in orbit though, or many cargo vessels in the region. I suspect that the reason for their request is an uptick in piracy targeting the cargo vessels in the area, as they are very close to the border.] Admiral Drake replied.
That made sense to Max so he sent the positive affirmation of their intent to trade, and ordered the Admiral to turn for Kepler 808 Station.
[Nico, I need a scan of that station as soon as you can manage it.] Max informed her, then began his own attempt to hack through their computer firewalls.
It was a civilian station, and not big on security, so it didn't take Max long to get basic access, revealing that the station was incredibly overcrowded and that all shuttles from the surface of the planet had been halted due to the high refugee population already present and stressing the infrastructure.
Now things made much more sense. They weren't getting outside supplies, and the unrest had moved far too many people to a lightly populated planet that couldn't adapt fast enough to the influx. They had sent repeated requests for farm equipment, to supply an expansion of the farms, but the planet itself was desperately short on metallic alloys without their usual supply shipments.
That made this mission look more like a humanitarian mission than a simple trade, and Max sent the data through to logistics to produce a hundred tonnes of rations, while he had the Manufacturing bay create four new Light Mecha in the old standard Kepler pattern. That would let them bargain on anything the planet needed, and he could offer to make them some farm equipment to sweeten the deal when they inevitably tried to get a little extra.
A quiet win for everyone involved without overloading the station with any particular item.
[Kepler 808 Station, Terminus requests clearance to dock, or an envoy from the station to begin negotiations.] The Admiral requested as they approached.
The station was on the small side to be docking a vessel the size of Terminus, so he was expecting them to send a barge to meet them and execute the trade. What they brought with them would give a good idea of how desperate their situation was, and what they could offer in trade.
[Terminus, please carefully dock with the end pier of the Terminal. We currently have no barges available.] The station reported.
No barges? That was unheard of, and even the most desperate of Pirates usually wouldn't try to take an orbital barge. There simply wasn't any other use for them. They didn't even make good combat landers.
[Understood, we will be as gentle as possible so as not to throw you off your orbit.] Admiral Drake confirmed, and began the final maneuvering, giving everyone watching the exterior cameras an excellent view of what a Kepler civilian station looked like.Chapter 369 369 Exchange
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The Admiral did a textbook job of docking the Colony Ship with the station, coming to a hover mere centimeters from the docking ring, so that the station could extend its clamps and grab ahold of the ship without any transfer of inertia.
Max and Nico, as well as a crew from Logistics, met the Station staff at the bay, only to find pandemonium on the other side of the door.
The refugees on the station had noticed the incoming ship and had rushed toward the doors, loudly begging for food and supplies.
[Everyone shut the feth up. We have all the supplies you need, but you need to back up from the door so that we can make the exchange.] Nico roared, using the audio amplification function of her cyborg voice box.
That seemed to startle the refugees enough that they stopped pushing forward for a moment.
"Really? Do you have enough to trade for everyone? Food is hard to come by anywhere lately." The representative of the station asked, stepping forward to begin the negotiation.
"We prepared one hundred tonnes, as your request stated you were willing to trade for. We also have a few spare Mecha, brand new never seen combat, if you have deep pockets." Nico informed him.
The word that the Colony Ship had enough to spare spread through the refugees, and the mood immediately lightened.
"Our furniture is known all around the Galaxy as exquisite in quality, you won't have a problem trading it at a profit. Guys, bring forward the samples." The station commander ordered.
"Logistics, if you've got the army stew ready, start passing it out to anyone who has a dish. Humanitarian aid for these refugees stuck in space." Max ordered, then moved back a bit so that Nico would be the one forced to deal with the negotiations.
Being able to delegate was definitely his favorite part of being Commander.
The people aboard the station had come prepared, and they all had a bowl of some sort ready for just this situation. Most likely because they were carrying everything that they owned, but that wasn't the point.
Nico had out a tablet with assorted valuation tables, looking over the furniture, while the Station Commander waited patiently, looking over the cavernous storage bay with its assortment of random crates and equipment.
Max noticed the moment that he noticed the terraforming and farming equipment in the corner of the bay, mostly hidden behind crates of ration packs.
That was perfect, things were going to plan already, they wouldn't have to mention the equipment, and he would find a way to work them into the deal if it was at all possible.
"Everything seems to be up to your usual standards. I can offer you all of the rations and two of the Line Mecha for the quantity that you have listed in stock." Nico decided.
Looking at the list, it should add up to all four Line Mecha that they had prepared, but even for a Station full of refugees, Nico wasn't running a charity.
"The Line Mecha is a secondary requirement, I can accept the two, but your price is too low. Perhaps you could offer some of that fine farming equipment to the deal? It wasn't on our list, but the population on the planet finds themselves in need of it for new arrivals who wish to become colonists." The station Commander suggested.
Nico looked over her shoulder at the collection of new gear and tapped her chin as if pondering his proposition. "Those were intended for another customer, but there is a spot between here and there where we could restock them. How about all the rations, one Mecha, and all of the farming equipment?"
The man sighed and looked longingly at the gear. "We really do need the second Mecha for station repairs. Both of ours are out of commission. I can offer you a stock of local Rye Whiskey, should your crew have a taste for it."
All of the Logistics staff smiled at that. Liquor was always welcome as part of a deal with Reavers, and they didn't have any objection to a supply of Whiskey to supplement their Rum.
"Rations, two Line Mecha, the Farm equipment, and four pallets of local Rye Whiskey, and you've got yourself a deal." Nico agreed, and a cheer went up from the station side.
The Logistics staff moved the two Mecha which weren't part of the deal back out of the bay to the adjoining storage area, leaving only the items which were part of the deal, then gathered to bring the trade items from the station aboard.
It took them a while to clear a path to bring out the crates of furniture, but with the knowledge that they would be eating well in only a few minutes, the crowd was much more agreeable.
"Aren't these all Kepler ration packs? Made this year they say. It looks like the rumor that the Rebels ran afoul of the Reavers was true." Max heard someone say as they were loading the boxes onto the station's carts.
"The Tapani as well. The Reavers have done very well by themselves lately." Another station staffer agreed.
If they thought that these were plundered from a defeated Rebel vessel they wouldn't have anything negative to say about the Reavers having so much of a precious resource while they were in a hard spot.
"I don't suppose that we could beg delivery from you, could we? The planet refuses to send any of the barges back up to the station, but we need the farm equipment on the surface." The station Commander asked Nico once everything else was delivered.
Ah, the classic last-minute addition to the deal. But they didn't actually have a problem with that, and they had a shuttle they could use, originally belonging to The Dutchman, the transport vessel they had begun this crazy journey on after leaving Abraham Kepler.
"That won't be a problem. Would you like to accompany it, or should we just drop it and leave?" Nico asked.
"Drop it outside the city next to the guard posts. They will know what to do with it, and it should improve their attitude toward the Station." The Commander replied quietly.
[Logistics, bring around a Shuttle for the farm equipment, it needs to go to the surface. Tell the guards that it was purchased for them by the station and return to the ship.] Max ordered over the radio.
The staff brought the shuttle to the next bay, taking advantage of the fact the Innu had brought their cargo bay barriers back online, so they could freely enter and leave without worrying about hull temperatures.
In a few minutes, the shuttle was entering the atmosphere, and the first batch of rations had been handed out, clearing the path so that the rest could go into the station's storage area to be distributed as needed.
The process wasn't a fast one, as they could only bring the boxes through on small carts, thanks to the lack of operational equipment at the station, and the shuttle was back by the time they finished, followed by a single cargo barge.
[Sir, the Colony Staff wishes to express their gratitude to Terminus for the thoughtful inclusion of much-needed supplies in the deal.] The Logistics staff informed Max as they returned.
[Guide them into the bay beside us. They should have room to dock the barge.] Max ordered, hoping that they would see sense and start letting people back off the station.Chapter 370 370 Onward To Glory
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The Colony Commander departed the barge as soon as it was declared safe to open the doors and made his way into the cargo hold where the meetings were taking place, escorted by a security detail from the Second Battalion, who was on duty in this section.
"Greetings Commander Keres, Lady Rage. I am Jeri, Governor of the Kepler 808 Colony, at least for the moment. The farm equipment that you sent will go a long way to making a sustainable future for the new arrivals to the Colony." The older woman greeted them, her curly hair pulled into a bun and stress lines aging her face more than her years had.
"It is no problem at all. The Reavers' primary business is trade after all." Max shrugged.
"With that said, I do have a proposal for you. On this station is a rather large contingent of Loyalist Kepler Soldiers, whose transport was destroyed by the Rebels in combat. They have expressed a willingness to return to active duty, and we would appreciate it if you could move them to a Kepler loyalist vessel. Off the books that is." She suggested.
That wouldn't actually be an issue for them, they had more than enough room for them, and it also explained why the station had been willing to offer so many infantry equipment items in trade for food. The soldiers they belonged to were still on the station and hungry.
The infantry items hadn't been part of the deal, so they could return the soldiers fully equipped to the nearest loyal ship with only the smallest of excuses, and it would help the station in its time of need. But first, they had to make sure these were loyalist soldiers.
"I need deployment details for them. Their names, ranks, and last deployment. As you know, the Reavers have embargoed the Rebels after their attack on Rae 5, so moving Kepler soldiers is a touchy subject if we can't verify their origins and loyalties." Nico informed the Governor.
"Jeff, bring in the leaders of the infantry. They should have all the details that you need." Governor Jeri ordered, and the leader of the station ran off to do her bidding.
He returned seconds later with an infantry Colonel in full uniform, holding a data tablet.
"Greetings, I am Colonel Ping, of the Tennant Regiment, formerly attached to the Phalanx Class Shining Darkness." The man introduced himself.
"The Shining Darkness you say? How long ago was that?" Max asked politely.
"This will be twenty-two years since the Legendary Shining Darkness went into retirement while the General looked for a successor. But as I have been the Commander of this infantry Regiment all that time, we still hold the honor of using the title." The Colonel informed them with a mix of pride and resignation.
Twenty-two years as commander of an infantry Regiment is a very long time in Kepler.
"We had the distinct honor of meeting General Tennant and his proteges not long ago, though I heard that they were separated by a redeployment, so I am not aware of where either is now," Nico replied.
"Likely whipping some fat-arsed Noble popinjay into shape, if I know him. Pardon my language. Don't believe those rumors about him, no way would he turn rebel or flee the Empire. There is nothing more important to that man than Duty and Honor." The Colonel said with a wink.
"I think you will find that the language regulations are somewhat more relaxed on a Reaver vessel Colonel. How many of your men remain?" Nico asked.
"We have four thousand and change left, including the cripples. They might not be good for much, but the military will take them back, I am certain of it. Even if it is only to retire them to some desk job on a forgotten and forsaken colony." Colonel Ping chuckled.
Max looked through the deployment details for the Regiment and found that they had been the defender of one of the planets he knew to have resisted Rebel's invasion, so at the very least they hadn't openly turned on the Empire. Their depleted numbers made the story more believable as well. Four thousand of a quarter million wasn't enough to hold a planet, so they had been redeployed to a border patrol ship.
Only, they were attacked and they never made it that far, abandoning ship in a group of Landers and ending up here.
Everything the man said added up, so Max nodded his approval to Nico, who extended her hand for the Colonel to shake.
"Get your men and bring them on board. We have some medical facilities, and I am certain that we can get approval for a few augmentic repairs to bring some of your officers back to full fighting strength." Nico told him with a smile.
There was an unspoken understanding that it wouldn't come for free, nothing in life was free, but in this case, they might not be the ones who had to pay the tab. If he could get some top-notch medical treatment, his men would thank him.
Terminus had a lot of medical equipment onboard, some from their refit, some from the military supplies, but they also had the disused pods that the original colonists had left behind, which had impressive regenerative abilities now that they had obtained the operating and repair instructions from the Innu ships to get them operational.
They wouldn't regrow limbs, but they would fix broken spines, nerve and muscle damage, and some neurological damage. The rest they could deal with using cybernetics and the assistance of the system, which could do wonders for those with high enough compatibility if given enough time.
"Hey Commander, what do you think our guests would think of a video series on the reconstruction of injured human soldiers using technological augmentation?" Nico asked.
"You want to make videos of the surgeries for the Innu to watch?" Max asked dubiously.
"I would let them do the surgeries if they were qualified, but I get the feeling that you wouldn't approve of that. We have three teams of surgeons on board right now, which is barely adequate for most Regiments, but we don't take many casualties in transit, so they should have the time to attach some limbs." Nico clarified.
She was right, Max wouldn't approve of letting Innu xenobiologists do augmentic surgeries on injured veterans for entertainment. But selling videos of the process for their entertainment and archives was another story.
According to Nico's thoughts, their social media network was monetized by the view, thanks to advertisements, and Terminus had actually been racking up a lot of interstellar credits thanks to the live streams that they had been doing over the past days. A series of human surgeries might actually pay for the parts that they were using, or at least the raw materials that they used to build them since Max assumed they would be printing them using the ship's resources.
"Fine, but keep it tasteful. You know how I feel about making a fool of veterans." Max instructed.
"Even if you ignore the one taking care of your family right here on Terminus." Nico agreed.
"Even if I... hey, it hasn't been that long since I talked to my family. I should call them to dinner though, shouldn't I?"