Chapter 421 421 Subject Acquired
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With Max holding the Behemoths in place, the reinforcements for this location were proving to be no issue for the Regiment to deal with. The First Battalion had adjusted their position to cover the flanks and rear of the force while the other four battalions led the charge through the mining town, eliminating the last of the resistance as they reached the far side.
[Commander, we have cleared the village. No signs of life on the surface, but it's impossible to tell underground due to the magma from the Fusion Flamers.] Major Miller reported.
[Got it. The Behemoths will be down in under a minute] Max replied, charging the last two of the enormous Klem, killing one with a point-blank with the Disruptors and splitting the other in half with his sword, the first time that it had actually been used in combat, thanks to the ranged capability of the Titan Class Mecha.
With the Behemoths dead, Max took to the air, gaining altitude so that he could drop an orbital strike on the mine shafts.
[Everyone, keep moving toward the coast. I will finish up here once you are out of range.] Max ordered.
The Regiment was only a few kilometers from the location at the moment, not nearly far enough to be safe with even a limited ground penetrating strike that would collapse the mines. Max had to admit, the Disruptors were incredible pieces of technology, with multiple modes for dispersion and penetration as well as output, unlike most weapons in this class, which were only capable of a single mode: Mass Destruction.
When the Regiment made it to the ten-kilometer mark, Max initiated the strike, letting the Disruptors penetrate the ground to a depth of five hundred meters, destabilizing the mine shaft, and collapsing it into a pile of rubble that let the compressed magma that had run to the bottom of the shaft flow to the surface, forming a superheated plug over the former Klem breeding colony.
[Well, that should do it. I have word from the nearby continent. It doesn't make any sense, though.] Nico reported as Max watched the rock slowly cool, watching for survivors.
*Alien visitors, please note that you have entered from an indigenous protection quarantine area. Please exit the continent to orbit with all reasonable haste.*
[They're saying that the Klem destroyed continent is an indigenous protection quarantine area? I have read the data on the planet, and the Klem are definitely not indigenous.] Max asked.
[That's why it makes no sense, but it is possible that it is what they have been telling the locals to hide the Klem presence. The strange thing is that all of the life signs show signs of Klem DNA, though they appear mostly human.
I am working on a definitive scan, but I didn't want to abduct anyone before consulting you.] Nico informed him.
[Sorry to interrupt, Commander, but what are the chances that the modifications that we saw in that lab were turned into a bioweapon that backfired and infected the planet with a portion of the Klem genome, which stopped the invasion, thinking that the planet had been conquered?] Admiral Drake asked.
[You're thinking that it is human intervention that has made this planet so strange? Why wouldn't they have dealt with the Klem if they had pacified them this way? A hostile response to attacks by what the Klem thought was their own forces?]
The idea had merit, given what they had seen so far. A famous scientist had once said that only two things were limitless, the Universe and Human Stupidity, but he might be wrong about the Universe. It was clear from their data that the supersoldier experiments were against this planet's ethics laws, so it wouldn't be likely that the whole planet had received similar modifications, but some forms of Klem poisons were viral in nature, so it might have been a vaccine experiment gone horribly wrong.
[Nico, how subtle can you be about abducting someone? I need you to analyze one of the random civilians so that we can see what is going on. If they're cognizant and reasonable, interrogate them. If not, dissect them and tell me what happened.] Max ordered.
[I knew you couldn't bear to bully me forever. I will have your answers soon.]
Nico's answer made Max consider rephrasing his request to have someone else do the work, but Nico would probably be the most efficient one at the job, so he would only be making his own life harder if he ruined her fun.
Within minutes, Max's sensors detected a drone returning to Terminus, even before he had time to rejoin the Regiment.
They marched until dark, when Max ordered a halt in a small valley, keeping the light from their Mecha and equipment out of sight. It was more difficult to move by night, as the number of sensors they could navigate by was limited, and the support vehicles had very limited sensor capabilities, navigating mostly by sight unless there was a need for other sensors.
[Set a perimeter. Let the Light Mecha out to stretch their legs and get a hot meal. I'm sure they're sick of compressed ration bars and a cramped cockpit by now.] Max ordered.
Terminus was directly overhead and didn't show any signs of Klem in the immediate vicinity, so they had a few hours to relax in relative safety.
Just before dawn, Nico had the report from her captured civilian.
[Sir, Subject four has been interrogated. She has no memories that are more than three months old. All the surviving subjects honestly seem to believe that they are fully human and that their appearance is normal for humans. They realize that they have chitin armor and thermal vision, but they don't know that's not normal for humans.
They know nothing of technology and call all the technological devices on the planet Ancient Relics. Even though they're mostly still operational, the residents don't use them or understand how to use them.
Examinations suggest an intelligence level of around 50 standard points, on par with a small child.
The analysis of Subject Three determined that they were originally human, and this change is due to a mutagenic virus that was released on the planet roughly four months ago.
More samples will be needed to determine the spread pattern and origin location, but the number of random variances between subjects has determined that it was not near the quarantine zone.]
Chapter 422 422 Self Inflicted
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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[I thought I instructed you to interrogate them if they were sane and capable of reason?] Max asked.
[Subject Three was unreasonable. But the others became much more reasonable after the dissection. Subject One and Two are currently in holding since Subject Four provided all information that we required.]
[Acquire samples from a few more subjects around the planet and determine the origin of the mutation. I want to know if the humans or the Klem made it since your subjects don't know anything.] Max ordered.
[On it, Commander. Now that I know what to look for, I can analyze them with drones from a distance. Dispatching now. Give me one hour to get answers.] Nico responded.
[Everyone, get ready to move out. There is some Klem activity on the scanners, but they either don't know we are here or don't care.
Their behavior in this world is very unusual, and standard procedures aren't going to be helpful in preparing for them.] Max reminded the troops.
The Regiment started packing up and getting ready to move, cleaning up all traces of their presence here, except for the inevitable tire tracks and footprints that they had generated by congregating in one spot for the night.
They were going to have to detour off their direct route today. The valley that they had been following led to the ruins of a Mega City, formerly home to at least ten million humans but currently in a state of total destruction. Given their encounters so far, that meant that the Klem had a full invasion army there but had stopped both their advance and their continued growth for some unknown reason.
That was way more trouble than they wanted to take on, so Max was going to keep a hundred-kilometer distance from it, so he wouldn't attract undue attention. There were a number of smaller, outlying ruins, but if they struck fast and kept moving, it shouldn't be an issue.
Today they weren't moving as fast, more interested in finding signs that might inform them of what happened here than hurrying toward any destination.
The first such sign came an hour into their march when the tail of a ruined airplane was found on the horizon. Not a shuttle, hovercar, military transport, or anything so fancy, it appeared to be an actual propellor-driven aircraft with a wingspan of around sixty meters.
[Scouts, tell me what you can about that location. Do not exit your Mecha. We haven't scanned it for possible pathogens yet.] Max ordered.
A single Corvette Class Mecha headed out for the downed aircraft, locking its handheld rifle behind its back, so it had both hands free to move rubble and explore.
[Sir, it is a bomber. Four-engined, propellor driven. It looks to have been hastily retrofitted with fuel-burning engines, and the cockpit shows signs of advanced avionics having been removed and replaced with analog.
I suspect that the region was hit with an EMP during or just after the invasion, but this plane went down afterward, as the corpses have not been cannibalized by the Klem.
No signs of mutation on the remains of the occupants.] The pilot reported.
[Nico, send a drone for recovery of the remains and begin full bioweapon containment procedures. Once we know when they died, we can start building a timeline. Check for a paper log or diary as well. If they survived an EMP and were still fighting, they should have paperwork in hard copy.] Max ordered.
The Regiment continued along their path, and the signs of a primitive battle against the Klem became more and more frequent. Bodies of soldiers with projectile weapons, domesticated mounts instead of mechanized vehicles, and finally, a fully equipped bunker with its power cut.
Max personally deployed a small camera drone to explore, finding that the door was a magnetic lock, now demagnetized and easily pushed open by the drone. The inside was still fully stocked, with food, water, and beds for twenty people.
It sat in the ruins of what Max assumed was a farmstead by the remains of metallic implements that the Klem hadn't eaten, though all signs of crops or even the farmhouse were long gone.
The beds had been used, though. The drone detected signs of human DNA on the sheets, so someone slept in them, then made the beds. There was no visible damage to the bunker itself, so Max assumed it was possible that the occupants waited until they thought it was safe and then left, never to return.
Of course, they could still be on their way back, but they hadn't detected any signs of living humans on the continent, so they might have also been infected and forgot that they had somewhere to go back to.
[Sir, I have a time-lapse from one of the major cities on another continent that will interest you.] Admiral Drake reported, and Max's Mecha dinged at him to report an incoming data file.
Max opened it and put it on a side screen, so he could keep his eyes open for threats.
At first, everything looked normal, but then Max realized that the residents were all doing random tasks over and over. They only did the things that they remembered how to do, either their job or some random hobby that was stuck in their memory when everything else disappeared.
The part that really showed how wrong the residents of the city were was highlighted about two minutes in when the time-lapse showed people randomly pulling and eating grass or jumping into the river to grab fish, eating them raw while they went about their daily tasks.
[Nico, ask your subject what she had for her last meal, what she does for work, and where she got the clothes she was wearing.] Max ordered.
A new voice came over the speaker, that of a young woman, possibly a teenage girl. [What do you mean? I made steamed vegetables and rice, the same as every other meal. I stay at home taking care of the kids, and the clothes are in the closet.]
The voice switched to Nico's. [You have that for every meal? Do the kids go to school? When did you last change clothes with other ones from the closet?] Nico asked her questions one after another, and Max could hear the Subject stammer, looking for an answer.
[There used to be more dishes, but the spot where they come from is empty now. I don't really know what a school is, but the kids go to a place from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. Then they come back, and I make them a meal.] The Subject reported.
[What did I ask you about yesterday?] Nico asked.
[You asked me things yesterday? No, that can't be right. I wake up, get dressed, see the kids off, then wait for them to come back so I can make them a meal. I have never seen you before.] The Subject responded.
[Thank You.]
There was a pause as Nico presumably left the room before reporting. [Our sensors and the Illithid report that they can only retain new information for a few hours, so if they don't continue a task regularly, they will forget how to do it and act on instinct when faced with new situations. From what I can tell, they live their lives on repeat, doing the exact same thing over and over.]
[Send another drone to the border and see what the response is.] Max ordered.
*Alien visitors, please note that you have entered from an indigenous protection quarantine area. Please exit the continent to orbit with all reasonable haste.*
Chapter 423 423 I Understand Now
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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[That reminds me of the Klem Warriors and the smaller bugs. They do the same things over and over. No matter how often you kill them, they will keep doing what they were directed to, and only the larger ones will adapt or try to force you to stop messing with their system. Like, if you keep burning away Swarm who are trying to gather biomass, they will keep trying to get into their designated area to collect it and won't stop their mission to do anything but defend themselves.] Colonel Klinger pointed out on the Command Channel.
[You think that their minds have become more like the drone class of Klem, completely task-oriented but lacking the individual directions to make the sort of varied decisions that humans are best known for? Like a simple computer program where then NPCs can only react within predictable parameters?] Nico asked, relating the behavior of the infected humans to technological problems that she understood very well.
[Yeah, that sounds about right. They can do what they were doing, and a few other things, and react to your presence, but only in the ways that they already know. They're just lacking the extra bit of creativity and initiative that makes humans human. All of the Klem are like that, except the Behemoths.] Colonel Klinger agreed.
[And the Queens.] Max added, thinking that he had found the root of the issue here. The humans of the planet had been modified to act more like Klem, but they had lost too much of their individuality to continue working together as a society. They lacked the leadership to direct them, and the virus that changed them hadn't created a Leadership Caste as Klem had.
At least, not yet.
Perhaps that was what the Klem horde was waiting for, a Queen to be born so that they would have guidance and contact with the outside world. That simply could not be allowed to happen, though. Max would destroy the planet before he allowed word of this disaster to spread through the Klem territory. If they realized that they could simply convert humans to their cause, they would begin targeting highly populated worlds to convert instead of lightly populated or uninhabited ones to colonize.
Humanity had enough issues right now. They didn't need to add to them.
The question was, what should they do next? Grab a sample to analyze and leave, or should they continue onward on the planet and try to isolate the origin of the problem in case the Klem already knew how to replicate it?
[How are we doing with the samples? Do we have a spread pattern yet?] Max asked an hour later when he finally decided that he couldn't make a proper decision without that last bit of information.
[Initial mapping indicates sixty-four points of upper atmospheric distribution. We have obtained samples from water features and unmutated animal life that should give us a good handle on what the original strain looked like.
It was very much intentional. I have recovered data from the government buildings that indicates that they deployed it as a Klem countermeasure, billed as a vaccine that would camouflage them from the Klem, and prevent the spread of the alien invaders.
There is no indication of what went wrong, but we have the human trials data, and it is nothing like what we see here.
The samples say that it is the same virus, though.] Nico reported.
Again, Max wondered how so many smart people could be so stupid. Of course, viruses mutate to increase their spread and develop unexpected side effects. But that is all in the past now, and this planet is beyond saving.
[Cutters, to our position, we are withdrawing from the planet.] Max ordered, readying the Regiment to leave this Klem-infested rock.
There wasn't much more that they could learn here except for the finer details of the timeline that led to the mistake that doomed their civilization, so it was time for his men to leave.
But not without undergoing exceptionally thorough decontamination. He really did not need his pilots devolving into mindless drones on him.
The Klem began to swarm when the Cutters came into range, instinctively knowing that the presence of human ships on the surface meant biomass for them to consume and encouraged by the Behemoths in the nearby city.
[Defensive positions, this will be a combat extraction. Prepare for the arrival of the first wave of Klem attackers in 90 seconds.] Max ordered his pilots.
Combat extractions were never fun. Too much could go wrong, and it was a risk to the ships, but there weren't many places that they could go on this continent and not attract a large number of Klem when they tried to leave, so now was as good of a time as any.
Each Battalion was clustered into a defensive arc, facing the city where the first wave of attacks would come from, allowing their rear lines to fall into the cargo hold first and then cover the front lines as they collapsed inward and followed them into the Cutters.
It was a well-practiced routine, and they had practiced a dozen variations for different scenarios, so every Pilot was confident that they knew what they were doing, even in the heat of battle. The only issue would be keeping the Klem off of them long enough to actually get in the ship without it being swarmed.
The Cutters came in fast, opening the bay doors before they were even on the ground and welcoming their first occupants before their gravity control systems had even stabilized them on the surface.
The high-speed maneuver had bought them some time, and the closest Shredders were still five hundred meters out, but it would take at least one minute to get an entire Battalion into the ship. The doors were wide, and they could enter from both sides if they wanted, but the space in the bay was tight, so the Mecha that weren't on defense needed to get to their storage racks immediately to make room for the next arrival.
Chapter 424 424 Forget This Place
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Max charged forward to meet the Klem, intending to keep them away from the Cutters as well as he could.
The six Disruptors on Cleansing Light flashed a wave of energy at maximum dispersion, directly vaporizing the closest Shredders, as well as the ground that they were standing on, creating a sloped ditch between the Titan Class Mecha and the approaching aliens.
The tide only hesitated for a second before spreading out, hoping that he couldn't get to them all at once, but Max was already firing again, wiping out the flanks and letting the portion of the assault force that was closest to him advance.
If there wasn't a Behemoth guiding them, that was the best way to trick Shredders into going where you wanted. They could think for themselves a little bit, but when guided toward a threat, they would lock onto it.
They were strangely conniving when they were on defense, though, setting many traps and proving to be uncanny with their ability to pick positions to ambush from. It was a strange adaptation for such a powerful attacker, but given their lack of ranged attacking power, it did make more sense for them to wait for enemies to approach and then ambush them than to launch suicidal runs across the sand toward a Mecha Regiment.
The only reason that they were doing it at all was that the Behemoths had spotted the Cutters and ordered them to find the invaders and eat them.
The Thunder Guns began to rumble as Max demonstrated his plan for the Klem, forcing them toward the Titan Class Mecha and buying their Battalions more time. They weren't directly targeting the Klem with every shot. Instead, one in three went into the sand outside of their flanks, causing them to dodge toward the center, which would create a new gap for the next shell to fall in.
They didn't pack them too tightly, as even the instinct-driven Klem would realize that they were being herded if they did, but it was enough that most of them were focused on Cleansing Light as the primary threat.
It was going amazingly well, and the corpses were turning the sand into ichor-soaked mud until the Behemoths reached a hill in the distance and gained a line of sight to the battle.
That was enough for them to realize what had happened, and the Shredders began to spread out again, leaving only a small group to target Cleansing Light while the others intended to rush past to target the Regiment.
The ranged units weren't in range yet, having a larger distance to cover, but the sensors detected an incoming mass containing thousands of the two-meter-long flying species known as Gargoyles due to their vague resemblance to the carvings that adorned the top of many buildings.
They weren't coming from the main city but an outpost somewhere around forty kilometers away, and it had taken them a little while to get into the air, likely due to confusion about the situation. They wouldn't immediately assume that the planet was being invaded unless they could see and identify the threat, so they hesitated until something had determined that the objects were human vessels.
This planet might be a nightmare to fight on, but it was a treasure trove of battle tactics, so Max was recording all that he could, intending to add it to the simulators as a practice scenario that the Pilots could take on to test their skills and Command decisions.
With a fully inhabited planet like this, every action was interlinked, and a wrong decision could bring hundreds of Klem down on a scouting party before they could even regroup for defense.
[Sir, we are eighty percent loaded.] The pilot of the First Battalion's Cutter reported.
Max's screen showed the last defense was a group of Fast Attack Mecha, which could rejoin their comrades in the air, thanks to the jump packs, which gave them limited flight capabilities, but the Regiments all still had their Super Heavy Mecha on the ground.
Their position was next to the door, so they needed to load last unless they didn't care about delaying the other Mecha, but it was giving the Regiment a rather formidable last stand.
The artillery was throwing up clouds of dust, blown by the wind generated by repeated bombardment and the thermal disturbance of Fusion Flamers, which were finally in range of their targets as the Klem charge reached its last stages.
From underground, a rumbling indicated something was wrong, and the seismic sensors on Cleansing Light indicated that something huge was moving underneath his feet.
Max jumped straight into the air and engaged his thrusters, intending to hover and finish off the center line of Shredders, but a huge mouth followed him up.
The Klem appeared to be an armored worm with thousands of rows of teeth in a mouth as large as its body. The Kepler Empire called them Constructor Worms, which dug the underground complexes where the Klem preferred to lay eggs after the initial assault was successful, and they could devour and pulverize anything from bedrock to a Heavy Mecha with equal efficiency.
The enormous worm followed him fifty meters into the air before crashing to the ground, snapping the opening of its round maw open and closed in frustration at being unable to eat the biggest potential meal in the area.
[Get the Cutters off the ground ASAP. Constructors are never alone, and if they start eating away at your hull, we are going to have much more severe problems than a planet full of mutant Klem.] Max barked, and the Super Heavy Mecha hopped onto the loading ramps at either side of the Cutters, leaving a gap at their back for the last few Fast Attack Mecha to make their retreat as the ships took off.
The extra training and time to practice paid off, and not a single Mecha other than the Fast Attack Crusaders was left on the ground, and they were rapidly leaving as well.
One unfortunate soul was grabbed by the Constructor Worm before Max's Disruptors blasted the behemoth class worm in half, letting the mangled unit climb free.
Its Fusion Flamer was still working, and the pilot was doing their best to deal with the Klem around them, but the jump pack was completely mangled.
Max took Cleansing Light to ground level and grabbed the final straggler, carrying them to a waiting Cutter and preparing to launch an Orbital Bombardment to finish off the remaining forces, as well as the ruined city that they had come from.
[All Units accounted for. Terminus Regiment returning to the mothership.]
Chapter 425 425 Back In Orbit
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The bay doors on the Cutters closed and sealed as Max powered up Terminus to follow them back off the planet, stopping only long enough to eliminate the last few Behemoths, which might stand a chance of damaging their vessels on the way home.
Admiral Drake's voice welcomed him back into orbit as Max updated his notes to encompass the last battle and the strange behaviors they had experienced on the planet.
[Commander, we have a full data set for the general population, including the spread, the markers which identify the lab where it was produced, which is here on this world, as well as some data from the government buildings about the operation to innoculate the population against the so-called Alien Diseases, which they claimed the Klem could spread through humanity.
The general population wouldn't have known what happened and assumed that the vaccine didn't work on their loved ones for some reason until it started to affect everyone, and by then, it was too late to do anything about it or the ones who had created it.
The mutations seem to have been partially intentional, but they evolved in unexpected ways when the virus mutated within hours of the initial distribution.
Miss Tarith has come up with a viral containment plan for you to peruse at your pleasure, and the Illithid Doctor has verified that the viral containment procedures for the Regiment will be sufficient to have eliminated the threat. It seems that after the initial mutation, it began to spread by direct contact and was no longer an airborne pathogen.]
[We will go over the plan as soon as I arrive. Prepare a meeting room and inform all of the Battalion Commanders to meet there in fifteen minutes.] Max replied.
That would be just long enough to land, get a quick shower, and change to meet the Regiment, though it would leave some of the Commanders tight on time after getting their units disembarked.
The Mecha could stay in the Cutters, as they would need to be fully sanitized, along with the bay that they arrived in before they could be repaired and moved to storage, so that wasn't the Pilot's problem today. They only needed to go to the scanning and decontamination room.
The sensors on the Cutters didn't detect any signs of diseases, viruses, or other hostile life forms that might have been picked up on the planet, so it would likely be a short process, but they would be held for a few hours until the more thorough deep tissue scans were completed.
The Commanders could all be quarantined together during their meetings, a standard practice for many Regiments that allowed them to save hours of hassle and get all their paperwork done during the scanning process.
They had all been on the same battlefield, and none of them had left their Mecha during the deployment, so with a quick sanitization of their Mecha, before they exited, there was little chance that any of them were going to be infected anyhow.
With the apartment-level luxury inside the cockpit of the Thunder Pattern Super Heavy Mecha, there weren't a lot of good reasons for the Commanders to disembark during battle unless they were holding negotiations with another human force, something that would likely never happen with the Klem.
"Welcome everyone to today's debriefing and Command Staff decontamination. I have a mission report in front of you. Check it for accuracy, and write your Battalion's version. I know we aren't a military force anymore, but comprehensive records are essential when we need to look back for missing clues during later battles." Max reminded his Officers.
"Some things never end. Paperwork is eternal, but you have a point, Commander. Especially for this mission, where we encountered so many new actions and patterns of Klem, it is imperative that we keep good notes. If we come across them somewhere else in the Galaxy, we will need to know how they got there and as much about them as possible." Colonel Klinger agreed.
[I have the plan to finish the decontamination of the planet ready if you would like to go over it while you enjoy your decontamination.] Nico suggested over the intercom.
"Does it involve Firestorm Bombing or Orbital Strikes?" Max asked.
[That's the best part. I managed to find a way for both of them to work together for an extra fresh, minty clean feeling.]
The Command Staff chuckled at Nico's enthusiastic response before looking over the plan.
She wasn't joking. Her plan was to have the Cutters fly a grid pattern in orbit, carpet bombing the planet with Firestorm Bombs, then combining their firepower with that of Cleansing Light, all on the same spot.
According to the seismic scans, that was a weak spot in the tectonic plates, and the combined Orbital Lance assault should send a ripple through the entire planet's crust that would shatter the continents and turn many of the pieces over, leaving them face down on the molten mantle of the planet.
Combined with the Firestorm, the chances of Microbial life surviving were less than one in a billion, with a chance of the Klem infestation surviving calculated as less than one in a trillion, with a secondary plan to use Chemical weapons to eliminate the last microbial life that might have survived, should any be detected.
"You know, we could have worked out a retroviral concoction that would decontaminate the planet's humans." Max pointed out after reading the pure overkill double Extermination plan for the infested world.
[I already did that. After the virus is eliminated, they no longer stand any chance of contaminating others, but the majority of their Genome is still Klem, and they are essentially brain-dead. Given time, they might recover some brain function, but the instinct-driven portion of their existence is all that is keeping them functioning.
Disabling the Virus makes the Klem portion of their bodies dormant, and it could safely be surgically removed, in most cases, but it leaves them with the brain functions of a newborn.] Nico informed them.
"So, the test subjects are dead?" Colonel DiFranco, of the Fourth Battalion, asked.
[No, just infantile. They are very much breathing.] Nico explained.
"What do we do with that? Do we even have a use for a bunch of comatose Klem Hybrids?" The Colonel asked.
[Of course, we do. I'm not sure what it is, but I am going to put them in cryogenic stasis anyhow. Maybe it will matter later.]
Chapter 426 426 Better To Be Safe
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Max spent a few moments trying to think of ways that they could solve this issue, but in the end, it always came back to destroying the planet.
If the Klem landed here and made contact with their surviving Kin, then it wouldn't matter if the retrovirus worked, the Queens would know what the Humans had done here, and there was a chance that they would do it again.
That was a risk that Max was not willing to take, especially so near the border to one of their important allies.
This side of the Klem Territory was near many small nations that Max didn't care much about, but it was also near the territory that Cygnus was taking over and the innermost boundaries of the Death Wind Territory, where the Mercenary locals had long been allied with the Reavers.
[Prepare to Firestorm Bomb the planet. We will assess the need to continue once the extermination is complete.] Max ordered, bringing a round of rueful sighs to the room.
They had all hoped that someone would be able to come up with a way to save the humans there, but there really didn't seem to be any way. Curing them turned them into infants, and the majority of the population would starve to death in that state, while Klem would likely eat the rest once the aliens realized that they were not part of their species.
Ignoring it was clearly not an option, and simply killing the Klem and leaving would still leave the hapless mutant humans for the rest of the Klem to find.
"Look at it this way. At least it's a humane death. The fires will spread so fast most won't even know that they're coming, and the heat burns away the nerves faster than they can register the pain, so the infected will not have to suffer." Major Miller pointed out.
That brought some relief to the others in the room, and they all got busy writing up their mission reports.
A few hours passed before Max realized that the quarantine buzzer should have gone off already, clearing them to leave or informing them that they had brought a communicable disease aboard and were in for extended isolation and medical treatment.
"Hey Nico, I know you're still listening. What is wrong with our quarantine timer?" Max asked.
The artificial voice of the Illithid advisor answered on her behalf. "That is my doing, Commander. Our studies on psychological stress indicate that it is better for subjects to believe that they finished their work before the timer than to rush to finish it after the timer. Major Miller is just finishing his report now, so I have delayed the timer with the intention of having it ring three minutes after he completed his task.
That is the optimal length of time to achieve the feeling of accomplishment without inducing new stress related to finishing too close to the end of the window."
"So, we have all been sitting here because Major Miller makes excessively detailed reports?" Colonel DiFranco of the Fourth Battalion asked.
"Alternately, it could be that your own report was insufficiently detailed, leading you to complete it far earlier than your counterparts. I can't say for sure unless I actually read the reports in their entirety." The Illithid responded.
Colonel Lucas, the unassuming leader of the Third Battalion, a taller than average Pilot, nearly at the 185cm height limit, with a closely cropped hairstyle that nearly mirrored the one that Max preferred, snorted in amusement.
"You've never even spoken to the Illithid, and he knows all about you. The rest of us are just impressed that you can actually read. We don't expect much of your report."
Colonel Lucci, the lone female on the Command team, if you didn't count Nico, placed her hands on DiFranco's shoulders, holding the larger man in his chair so he couldn't get into a physical altercation with Lucas, but that didn't last long, as he simply stood up and took her with him.
"Did you think you could stop me like that?" The Colonel laughed, shaking her off his back before turning to Lucas, who was openly laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You know, it's said that lower primates are much stronger than humans are at the same size. She never stood a chance."
Even Max had to laugh at that one while the two men engaged in a grappling match, with Colonel Lucas, who was actually the stronger of the pair, pretending to be overwhelmed, and continuing with the jokes.
"You know, the more upset you get, the more fun he's having, right?" Lucci asked when DiFranco backed away from the challenge.
"Just you wait. I still owe you for the cheese tube incident." DiFranco muttered, then moved to the mirror to straighten his uniform.
"Cheese Tube Incident?" Colonel Klinger asked, having missed the story about that one.
"DiFranco put itching powder in Lucas's socks, so Lucas swapped the labels in his replicator and replaced all of the jalapeno cheese tubes in DiFranco's rations with strawberry jam." Colonel Lucci explained, smiling at the memory of the prank.
"And he survived? I know the guys love a little prank now and then, but the cheese is sacred." Max asked as he read the memory of the incident in the minds of both Lucas and DiFranco.
"They might not look like it, but they have been friends since the Academy and fellow Company Commanders for over a decade before they got a Battalion Command commission and a promotion with their transfer here." Colonel Klinger reminded him.
Nico ended the playful mood with a mission update.
[I know you're having fun, but it's time to work again. The Cutters have been loaded and prepared for their mission, and we will need Cleansing Light on standby in case the Firestorm doesn't get all of the Klem that are hiding underground. They have a lot more of their population inside mines and other underground structures than usual this time.]
Chapter 427 427 Cleansing Light
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Max made his way to Cleansing Light, preparing to join in on the attack after the results of the Firestorm Bombing were compiled.
The Cutters had already made their way out of the hangars, the sleek curves of their outer hulls shining like platinum in the faintly blue light of the closest star.
With their organic curves and polished exterior, it was a hard thing to believe that such beautiful vessels were on a mission to destroy an entire planet, but one after another, the five Cutters adjusted their course and began dropping drones into the upper atmosphere, where they hovered in position, waiting for the signal to begin their mission.
In total, two hundred autonomous drones were dropped, each hovering at its preprogrammed location with a Firestorm Bomb attached.
Fewer than twenty would be enough to burn the planet's surface bare, but if all two hundred went off in order, the surface should be turned entirely molten, eliminating the need for the Orbital strike to finish the job.
Destroying the planet's ecosystem was one thing, but if they had to destroy the planet itself, it would upset the balance in this solar system, and that wouldn't go unnoticed for very long, with the Klem controlling every system around them.
[All bombs are in position.] The Cutter Pilots informed him as the five vessels fell into formation around the Titan Class Mecha.
[Initiate.] Max ordered.
A wave of fire lit up the far side of the planet, rushing around the surface in a wave of superheated death as the exquisitely timed explosions pulled the front of the planetary Firestorm onward, creating a ten thousand degree hurricane on a planetary scale, hot enough to melt even diamonds and Tungsten in minutes.
For over an hour, the inferno raged as the atmosphere of the planet was burned away, leaving a barren and uninhabitable ball of molten rock behind.
Max watched in awe as the fires slowly faded, then in horror as a circle of solid rock began to form where the planet's magnetary North Pole was. The thermal sensors showed that it was dropping by hundreds of degrees a minute, solidifying the surface of the planet in a slowly growing ring.
[What the feth is that?] Admiral Drake asked, watching the planet cool at an unnatural rate.
[Sensors detect strong energy under the surface, but it is fading fast. I think that whatever triggered it is burning through their reserves to cool the surface enough to escape.] Nico reported.
That was even worse than their planned worst-case scenario. Nobody had anticipated that something which could survive under the crust of the planet would exist or that it would have the capability to cool the molten ball, which should burn for decades before even the smallest part would become solid again.
[Change of plans. Prepare the formation to attack the center of that cold spot. We must not allow anything to escape the planet's destruction.] Max ordered.
The shift only took a single minute before the five Cutters, and Cleansing Light were back in position again. The targeting systems watched as the surface rapidly dropped in temperature while they readied their Orbital Lances for the attack.
[Synchronize your targeting systems to Cleansing Light. I will target and trigger the attack.] Max ordered, relieving some of the tension in the Pilots' hearts.
Nobody wanted to be the guy whose system lagged and fired a split second late, ruining the combined effect of the six Orbital Lances.
Max didn't wait after the calculations were finished, giving himself no more time for doubts and second thoughts. He triggered the attack, and six mighty beams of energy converged on the solidified portion of the planet.
But it did not vaporize as he had expected. Instead, the glow of an alien shield lit up the center of the strike, and the entire solidified plate was forced down into the mantle of the planet, sending a destructive shockwave through the molten ball.
The first portion to fail was the south pole, with the direct transfer of energy blowing a large portion of the surface out of the planet's gravitational field, followed by rippling backlash which met the shockwave from the strike near the equator, causing the planet to implode and blast outward in a flat wave of material that was quickly cooling as the small globules of liquid rock and metal met the vacuum of space.
It reminded Max of the rings that some worlds collected around them, only this time, there was no planet at the center, only a small glowing object, still emitting faint shield energy.
[To be able to take that sort of a strike, I do not think that is a human or Klem invention. Nico, send a drone to recover that shielded object for us if you can.] Max ordered over a private channel, keeping the main communication lines silent as the Regiment recovered from their shock.
[On it, boss. I will analyze it as soon as I can. Anything that can take the full force of a combined Cleansing has to be a good thing. Assuming we can determine what it is.]
A solitary drone fighter, one of the specialized ones that Nico had created, which was larger than the others, made its way to the object, which appeared to have been serving as the planet's core. The distance distorted Max's sense of size, but as the drone approached, Max realized that it was nearly a thousand kilometers in diameter.
[Oh, it is a good thing. Can I keep it?] Nico asked, moments after the drone had arrived and before she had even relayed basic information about it.
Max's sensors couldn't detect anything about it at all, the shielding was blocking all attempts to scan it, and from this distance, it only appeared to be a smooth metal ball from his optical sensors.
[Don't keep me hanging, what did you find?] Max demanded as Nico's drone circled the object, the erratic flight pattern showing the extent of Nico's curiosity.
[I think it is a Dyson Sphere. It surrounds an energy source, and it absorbs everything that we send to it. That's why we can't scan it. It just absorbs the energy of the scanners.
Chapter 428 428 Dyson
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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[It's great that you know what it is, but what can we even do with it if it absorbs everything that we send its way? We can't move it. We can't really do anything with it.] Max responded.
The sphere was simply too large for them to do anything at all about.
The Illithid advisor was the next to speak. [The trick to a Dyson Sphere like this one, which absorbs energy from both sides, is not in the signal but the lack of it. You need to block ambient energy around it in a pattern to influence it. I can demonstrate if you like. Terminus has the capability.]
[Please do.] Max agreed, and a strange pulse was emitted from Terminus.
It seemed to be similar to a jamming wave, directly countering the energy frequencies in the area, and it continued for a few seconds, oscillating the energy that it let through in a language that Max couldn't understand.
Once it finished, there was a response in the same fashion emitted from the sphere. It only lasted a split second, and then everything went back to normal again, leaving everyone in confusion.
[The sphere says that we are not qualified to wake it from storage mode. I don't know what species made it, but it is quite old, I would say close to a million years now.] The Illithid informed them.
[A million years? That means that it was inserted into the planet for storage and that the planet didn't form around it.] Max pondered out loud.
[That is correct. I am detecting foreign elements in the debris, likely carried here by the sphere when it drilled into the planet to go into stasis.
But, since we can't wake it up, and it still has a program running, there isn't much we can do.] The Illithid sighed.
[Send it a message about current events. Maybe it will leave on its own now that the planet is gone. That would save us from trying to prevent the Klem from messing with it.] Max replied, hopefully.
His message was unnecessary, though, as the gravity around the sphere was increasing, pulling the remains of the planet back together into a cohesive ball. It seemed that the sphere was fond of its camouflage and intended to get it back in whatever condition it could.
That action gave Max an idea of why it was cooling the planet as well. It wanted the planet to be inhabited, and supporting life, to hide from whatever it didn't want to be detected by while it was in storage.
They hadn't known it was there until it took action to defend against their strike, so the trick had worked perfectly, and the sphere was still in the same orbit that it had been, to begin with. Now that the hybrid threat was gone, there wasn't any reason to be concerned about this planet within the Klem borders. It could be taken over by them again or left a barren rock, and wouldn't threaten humanity at all.
They might not be able to influence the sphere now, but in the future, they might find out more and learn the method to wake it from storage, bringing them an energy source that even the Alliance would be envious of.
The Illithid got right to sending the message, continuing for over a minute this time, but there was no response from the Dyson Sphere except a single pulse that the Illithid translated as "Received."
[Are we just leaving it here, Commander?] One of the Cutter pilots asked as Max ordered them to return to their hangars.
"Unless you know a secret way to make an object the size of a planet's core with the energy supply of a small star, come with us," Max replied with a laugh.
The human race had progressed down that technological path before, though nowhere near that far, and the few surviving examples were incredible feats of engineering that had taken dozens of generations to complete. It was too much to hope that they could simply take over this one the moment that they saw it.
[Sir, there are Klem pods incoming. ETA 23 hours.] Admiral Drake reported.
By that time, the planet would have been rebuilt by the sphere, and it had already shown its ability to control the temperature, so the Klem should arrive at a lifeless rock, not the recently colonized planet they were expecting.
[Let's get out of here. We will head toward Death Wind Territory and look for clues there about the recent political developments so that we can plan our next move.] Max decided, getting Terminus ready to embark on another mission.
Max took Cleansing Light back to the secure hanger, where he was sure that nobody could mess with it while he was away, and went to meet with Nico and the Illithid. Between the two of them, they would be able to help him plan the next stage in their efforts to begin unifying humanity.
Death Wind Territory was their target, and the alliance papers were already drawn. They just needed to come up with a plan that would convince the notoriously free-living mercenaries to join the alliance and agree to the terms.
The fact was that nobody really knew enough to be able to generate leverage over them. They had inhabited planets that nobody outside their territory knew much about. Not many knew the living conditions after centuries of embargos, and even fewer knew the threats that they were facing.
So, their first step would be to gather as much information and build as much trust as they could, based on the data that the reavers had collected about Mercenary Groups that they considered trustworthy, and then work to convince them to join in the alliance.
"Just a simple and easy task," as Dave liked to joke about everything Max had struggled with as a kid. The phrase was incredibly annoying, but somehow it always managed to motivate him.
Chapter 429 429 Onward And Outward
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Max sat at his desk, scanning all of the inhabited planets that they would be passing on their way to the outer arms of the Galaxy and then cross-referencing them against the trade relations that each of them shared with the Reavers and with Cygnus, who was going to play a large part in the early stages of their plan to unify humanity.
After all, if they were going to build a species-wide mutual defense and trade agreement, they had to have the military might to back it up.
There would be no central government or anything of the sort. They had learned that lesson from human history. Trying to rule over too much territory only led to resentment and bitter civil wars, as well as an unchecked bureaucracy. Instead, they would have a court on Rae 5, where the ambassadors of the allied nations would gather, and those with grievances could come to request assistance or settle their disputes.
Max suspected that it would eventually turn into its own clique and bureaucracy, filled with massive egos and entitlement, but it was the best idea that they had come up with. Or at least the best one that could get popular support.
The first system that they would petition for support was the Klux Empire. A grandiose name for a three-system nation that was dangerously close to the Klem threat but one that was well known for its open trade policies and lack of instigation of conflicts.
It was an excellent choice of nations to bring in early, and it was along their route, so they wouldn't have to send another Reaver vessel out of their way to negotiate.
Max looked up more about the system and found that it was only an Empire in name only. They had no Emperor for the last few centuries and had formed a collective democracy. It wasn't working out particularly well for them, in Max's opinion, as the open trade policies were matched by nationwide poverty, so even though they could trade for nearly anything, they couldn't afford it.
They could be there in two days, even without using a portal, so Terminus was going there at Warp 5, its current maximum cruising speed.
The leader that they were trying to contact was a man who simply went by Joseph, not using any family name, and he had already sent them coordinates to dock with the large space station near the main planet, according to Admiral Drake.
[Nico, have we prepared enough trade goods to get them on board?] Max asked his second in command, who was in charge of shiny toys aboard Terminus.
[We have one hundred industrial-sized Replicators created, as well as two of the old Kepler design Materials Printers, which Klux doesn't have any of right now. All their building is done traditionally to ensure complete employment of the population.
There is a chance that they won't want them at all, but I have come up with an altered design that better suits their preferences.] Nico replied.
[Better suits their preferences? How so? It's still a materials printer.] Max asked.
[I designed a console that separates every function into different screens so that you can have twenty workers cooperating on the same assembly line. If they make a load of them and fully staff them instead of automating the process, they can waste an immense amount of manpower.] Nico replied with a note of amusement in her synthetic voice.
She was getting better and better at complex emotions with the artificial voice box as she evolved her body. Soon, Max was certain that he wouldn't be able even to pick out the last notes of the artificial speech patterns which she had begun with.
It was a nice change from her teasing everyone with that extra sultry tone that had been in the default settings.
[Every nation has its own priorities. Klux likes to see everyone capable of working having steady employment and equal wages. There's no harm in humoring them.]
Max didn't particularly care what they did with their planets, as long as it didn't violate the basic standards set by the Reavers or cause violence with others. The alliance had agreed not to step into internal strife unless it was funded or instigated by outsiders, so even if their method caused a civil war, it wasn't their problem, assuming it didn't interfere with their alliance obligations.
[Do we have anything else for them?] Max asked, sure if a single trade good would be enough to secure a deal.
[There are agreements to let them purchase new ships and space station technologies. They don't use a Mecha Army and prefer an advanced infantry force with powered armor instead, so I have also included some improved armor designs for them to purchase at a discount after joining the alliance.]
A membership discount? That might actually be the best selling point for a lot of their partners.
[Alright, make sure it is all ready and staged when we get there.] Max ordered and returned to immersing himself in the data about their destination.
Near midnight, Max retired to bed, barely bothering to dry himself after his evening shower before dropping into bed.
He woke up in the morning curled around a soft and cool object that smelled faintly of military-issue shampoo and that unique odor that a mechanics bay always seemed to pick up.
"Good morning Nico. Did you sleep well?" He asked, trying to disentangle himself.
"Shut up and go back to sleep. It's still far too early to be up, and there are no new updates for you to deal with," Nico complained, refusing to open her eyes.
"It's time for my morning workout. Are you getting up, or will you just hang off me all morning?" He joked, moving to a sitting position.
"Have it your way. Come to the test bay after your workout. I have something cool to show you." Nico agreed, climbing out of bed and wandering next door to her own room to shower.
Chapter 430 430 Can't Trade That
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Max trained for an hour, keeping up his physique, even though the gains had seriously slowed down due to a lack of the extreme exertion that was needed to properly test himself at his current level of physical ability.
If Nico said it was cool enough that he had to see it in person, Max would come to check it out as soon as he finished his morning routine. The development team had a lot of new material to work with, and they could have developed almost anything in the last few weeks since meeting the hunters and receiving new technology.
When he reached the development lab, he was met by the sight of Nico happily petting some sort of Mobile Suit, only a little taller than she was. There were a number of other suits in the lab, all in different sizes, and they appeared to be designed to mimic a soldier in Special Forces battle armor.
There were also tables with an assortment of items that Max wasn't able to identify, as well as racks of weapons.
"Why don't we start with the really cool thing first, and then we can work down to the little things? Or do we do that the other way around?" Nico asked while all the lab technicians turned to look at the armor suits hanging on racks.
"Start with the armor, even if it's not the really cool thing. What's so special about a new form of infantry armor?" Max asked.
"This is no ordinary armor. It has been reverse-engineered from the Hunter Suits. It is a biomechanical suit designed to amplify the strength and agility of the wearer. It is a flexible armor and uses the wearer's body as a base structure, but does have a lot of its own structural stability once it is equipped.
Climb inside and see for yourself. They are skin tight, so go ahead and strip down, then pick number seven. It's your size." Nico informed Max with a smirk.
Max stripped to his skivvies and stepped into the suit, which fit like a onesie with a helmet and gloves, with the torso held together by the chest plate that swung across his body and sealed to the back plates.
Putting it on felt like any other Pilot Suit or set of protective armored coveralls, but once he put on the helmet, the suit activated and formed perfectly to his physique, giving him a feeling of weightlessness as it augmented his every movement.
"The materials are incredible. It can triple the user's inputs up to twenty times the human standard. That is how the Hunters control their Mecha, with a suit like this, so that the larger Hunter Suit perfectly mimics their movements. I just integrated the two for a more powerful option on the human scale.
Technicians, please put up the Line Mecha plating, old pattern."
The workers scurried about, prepared for the order, and hung a familiar plate of composite armor on a stand, then rushed back to their waiting positions to watch the show.
"Activate the energy barrier and punch the armor as hard as you can," Nico instructed Max, gesturing to the stand.
The stand was slotted into the floor and wouldn't collapse even if a Crusader Class Mecha accidentally kicked it, so Max didn't hold back at all, testing the speed augmentation to launch himself forward and drive a punch into the armor plating.
The shield over his fist glowed light blue at the impact as if absorbing a projectile shot, and a deep dent formed in the armor plating, leaving it wrinkled and with a clear fist mark in the center.
"That is absolutely ridiculous." Max gasped, looking at the destruction.
"With your strength, you are definitely close to maximum output, which will give your punch an impact force of around eighty thousand newtons, so if you have a handheld weapon, like a claw, equipped, you should be able to punch holes in that armor plate." One of the technicians explained before replacing the plate in case Max wanted to try again.
"I will assume that you made such a weapon?" He asked.
"What are you, silly? Of course, we did." Nico laughed, then threw Max a weapon that mounted to the armor's forearm plating and had three extendable claws.
The lead Technician spoke up as Max equipped the weapon to his armor. "Those claws contain their own energy field, the same as the one on your Mecha's sword, only on a much smaller scale. Our testing shows that it should hold up indefinitely under the force that the suit is capable of exerting, though."
Max hit the button, and a crackling red energy field surrounded the three blades that extended from the weapon. He threw a simple, straight punch at the armor, and the claws sunk in until the energy field on his first stopped them and dented the plate.
With a downward twist, Max wrenched the claws out through the bottom of the plate with a shriek of tortured metal.
"Alright, I admit it. This armor is amazing. We can discuss why you thought we wanted to send infantry into a fistfight with Line Mecha and Klem later. What else do you have to show me today?" Max asked.
"We have an assortment of firearms scaled to the suit, which I would like to mention, uses the biological energy packs, with a maximum operating duration of over a month without recharging. Plasma rifles, Disruptor Rifles, Ion Pistols, claws, a combat knife, and finally, a handheld Gatling Laser." The Technician explained.
The Gatling Laser was a six-barreled man-portable cannon that used a backpack-sized power pack and, according to the attached data slate, could fire over a thousand beams a minute, using the rotation of the "Barrels" and a liquid cooling system to keep the arrays cooled since each projector only had to fire one-sixth of the rounds.
"And the intended mission for this weapon is what?" Max asked.
"Urban pacification and peacekeeping," Nico replied proudly.
Sure. If your urban area was being invaded by Narsians and you didn't have Mecha or tanks.