Chapter 501 501 More Orders
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
The announcement that they were putting new development on hold in order to focus on the order for a custom yacht had exactly the opposite effect that Max had been hoping for. Even more people than usual were crowded around the exit to the Cruise Ship area, looking for permission to head to the development bays to see the work in progress.
If it were like the other projects, that would involve Nico and the Innu debating minutia back and forth for hours on end while they tried to perfect their product, but the Yacht project was not really a new development to them, only a new shape for their existing technology, like a model year update on vehicles.
Because of that, the design work was already done, and there was nothing to watch, but they couldn't very well tell the guests on board that they could do the job in a single day, even with their entire development team on the task.
The biggest concern of having others find out too soon was accusations of slipshod engineering and a potentially dangerous untested product that was slapped together to meet a deadline. It would ruin their reputation, even if it were the way that militaries all over the Galaxy modified new weapons and technologies in the field.
The team had built the basic hull first so that they could add the custom touches after the initial walkthrough, and that turned out to be the right call, as once he understood just how large a human-built Cutter was, the client wanted some of the rooms redesigned and resized for better ergonomics, and flow.
Humans would get a sense of that just through the virtual reality simulation since it was designed for the way their minds worked, but he didn't really get it until he touched everything for the first time.
In the bay, it wasn't a big deal to move the room bulkheads since there was no flooring or anything else installed yet, so they got to the redesign and then worked out a few new color schemes for the crew and guest quarters so that everything could be visually identified.
The crew uniforms would be designed to match both the common areas and their own quarters, but they would clash against the decor of the private bedrooms, highlighting the fact that anyone other than the butler and maids did not belong there.
That structure was part of his culture, which had started from a parasitic fungus that merged with mammals. Everything had to have structure and a specific place, or it bothered them to no end. According to the client, his people were well known as the decorum and ritual experts of the Alliance, as well as talented structural engineers, but lousy architects since their need for structure kept them from truly harnessing creative talents.
Nico thought it was highly amusing that there were precisely nine servants for each noble on board, as well as multiples of three for every duty station, but the client insisted that it simply must be that way, no matter how the humans usually did things.
That meant that what would normally be a vast expanse of cargo or visitor space was instead dedicated to staff quarters at the rear of the ship, but enough room was left for them to load shuttles and other small craft for leisure activities.
The Terminus pattern Shuttles already had a smooth lower hull for easy atmospheric entry, so with a small redesign, which included retractable top plating at the rear of the vessel, they could be repurposed as a leisure watercraft with an open rear sundeck and provisions for towing a variety of water toys.
The shuttle would have to use its gravity control systems to move in the water since thrusters were out of the question, but even fifty knots was way more than most species were willing to endure while dragged behind a boat on skis.
All of the little things that came up after the initial design took them two more days. Days when the rest of the guests who came to supervise the new technology development slowly went crazy about being excluded from the process because it was a private client and not a production design.
Finally, the client and the design team relented and let the others in to see the completed vessel before it began space trials.
"The hull design is based on a classic human vessel, Patent obsolete, slightly modified for aesthetics, so we didn't need to begin structural tests from the beginning. The interior is fully custom, but the Warp Drive and Shielding Technologies are Terminus Trading Company Standard models." Nico introduced them to the ship when the viewing port to the bay opened.
"Behold, the Lord Governor Moop Edition Luxury Yacht, by the Terminus Trading Company. Patents have already been verified, and we are ready to begin the very first power up of the engines."
"What will be the official designation of the vessel once it is launched for public consumption?" One of the engineers asked while admiring the vessel's hull lines.
"It will be sold as the Lord Governor Moop Edition Luxury Yacht by the Terminus Trading Company. No licenses for third-party construction will be considered, but the interior color schemes may be ordered from a preset collection of approved patterns." Nico informed the group.
A few of the others gave him appreciative looks. Getting his name on a new yacht line by a trending designer was an impressive feat, and it would make him somewhat famous among the luxury yacht crowd.
Only so many people could afford a Cutter as a private yacht, but on the scale of the Alliance, that number was over a million. Still exclusive enough to be the envy of the common citizen but common enough to ensure that there would be a few more ships of his design sold.
"Might we all join you for the test? The drive technology is a tested and proven design, as is the basic hull, so it shouldn't be an issue, right?" One of the lawyers in the group asked.
"Unfortunately not. I only brought my nine servants with me for the mission here, so I do not have the appropriate number of staff to properly entertain guests at the moment." The Governor sighed.
"We can provide you with a small crew of Terminus Trading Company employees if you wish to bring a few friends aboard, or we can open a micro portal for you to bring a ship crew from home," Max suggested.
"Oh, that would be lovely. There is nothing quite like having your own people around. I will arrange a crew for the ship, and we can leave this afternoon after lunch." The Lord Governor agreed.
Chapter 502 502 Test Flight
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Four Hundred and fifty staff. That is what he requested from home for the Cutter's service staff alone, plus the sixty that would actually be flying the ship and working in the technical areas.
That was at least triple the flight staff that Terminus used, but the hundreds of people he hired to serve fifty guests seemed more than a little excessive to Max. No task was duplicated. The servers for alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages were even different people, with every guest having their own.
"You know, this is kind of swanky. I feel like a true Princess here with so many staff scurrying about making everything perfect while somehow managing not to be underfoot." Nico whispered to Max as they boarded the yacht, dressed in their very best formal wear that afternoon.
"I think it's because they're all so small and slender. It's like they're barely there at all, though I know that they're everywhere." Max agreed.
The uniforms chosen managed to blend nearly perfectly into the walls, so the servants lining every room basically vanished the moment that they stepped out of the way.
How much training it would take to accomplish that, even if they were using some sort of technology to supplement the effect, was astounding, and Max began to feel that their level of service might be somewhat lacking by intergalactic Nobility standards.
He wouldn't go all out like this, but perhaps a few extra people hired for the VIP clients wouldn't be amiss. Perhaps the Lord Governor could refer some trained staff to him, so he could assign a butler and maid to each VIP room.
The forty-seven chosen guests, plus Nico, Max, and the Lord Governor, all gathered in the front solarium for the pre-launch announcements and the start of the tour by their assigned staff. Max assumed that a route was chosen so that the fifty guests would never cross paths with each other during that process while getting a full impression of the luxury and style of the Lord Governor's personally designed vessel.
"Welcome, everyone. The design team has allowed me the honor of welcoming you all to the first test flight of the Milly Moop, named in honor of my lovely wife, for whom this vessel is a surprise anniversary present.
We will test every system of the ship, including the Replicators and the furniture, so please do feel free to relax and enjoy yourselves while we launch. I am assured that the gravity control systems work well enough that the risk of spilled drinks from rapid maneuvering is minimal."
That made a number of the wealthy guests chuckle. Every ship had a bit of lag when maneuvering, where the gravity controls struggled to keep up with the changes in inertia while the majority of the ship's power was diverted to the Warp Drives, and the delicate dance of keeping one's drink balanced had become part of their muscle memory at this point.
They didn't know it yet, but human vessels were very different in that aspect. While most vessels had a gentle sway to them as they maneuvered, due to the highly efficient drive systems and limited power supply, the humans still used brute force for most things. The power output of the yacht was on par with vessels twice its size in the Alliance, even though it used the most advanced Warp Bubble designs that Terminus had managed to develop, so keeping the gravity functioning flawlessly was child's play to the power system.
As a luxury yacht, much of the outer hull had transparent metallic windows so that the occupants could enjoy the view outside with their own eyes, including the current view as the ship lifted a half meter and was gently escorted out of the construction bay.
Once clear of the Colony Ship, they wove a tight course between a group of asteroids, showing off the precision gravity control of the ship while the guests clutched their drinks and looked fearfully out the windows at the asteroids passing dangerously close by.
"Fear not. The shielding is top-notch, on par with the Military vessels of the human species. A minor asteroid collision at this speed will not damage the vessel at all. It is one of the many luxuries of Owning a Terminus Trading Company Luxury Yacht.
The flight was going flawlessly at first, and Max couldn't sense any issues until he suddenly sensed a flash of malice, followed by a short scream and glass breaking. One of the female guests had tripped another onto a couch, and the shattered glass had split her skin wide open.
A servant was at her side in seconds, using an Alliance medical tool to heal her hand, while a group cleaned up the mess and removed the stained couch that she had landed on. The servants quickly cleaned her dress by waving some sort of tool at it, and Max nodded at Nico to make sure that she was recording all of these tools so that they could modify them with human technology and provide them to the Reavers.
Moments later, a new couch was brought out, and it was as if the incident had never happened. If you ignored the two women in matching dresses having a stare-off in the middle of the room, that is.
"The ship even comes with spare furniture?" Someone among the crowd asked, with an impressed note in his voice.
"On the contrary, the damaged unit was scrapped as material for the Replicator, and a brand new one was created on the spot. The ship's crew has access to replicator plans to replace all furniture, fixtures, and floor coverings present inside the vessel. Even custom monogrammed bedding is available." The Lord Governor declared proudly.
"If you are the sort that prefers the utmost discretion, the evening's bedding may be recycled daily, and a new set created every morning when the staff makes your bed to prevent any unnecessary drama or incidents," Nico informed the gathered guests.
"Is a log of such activities also available?" One woman asked once Nico was finished speaking.
"With the authorization of the ship's administrator, all items recycled and created can be reviewed at any time." Nico agreed.
The woman smirked at her husband, who was doing his best to look innocent, while most of the guests did their best not to laugh at his plight. Destroying the bedding to hide a dalliance from his wife seemed not to be in the man's future, even if he could afford to buy a vessel of his own.
Chapter 503 503 Test Flight Complete
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
"Might there be a smaller version of this design available at a later date? I love the design, but such a large vessel would be unseemly for one in my position. Frugality and appropriate government spending are important to the voters of my planet." A guest asked as the pilot prepared to engage the Warp Drives.
"At some point, we will be creating a smaller pleasure yacht version of this design in the fifty-meter range. Large enough to provide all the basic amenities for a traveling couple or small group." Max agreed since he had already seen the hull designs for a ship that size on the Innu Technician's minds.
It was the size of the vessel that the Tech Nomads traveled in, and while it was extremely expensive when new, it was small enough to become affordable after it had seen heavy use and was retired from general use.
"Oh, that would be lovely. Something reasonable, but with a high standard of luxury, in the billion credit range would be just the sort of thing I would take a long look at." The questioner responded, getting many agreeing nods from the crowd.
Now Max had a size and a price point that the Noble guests were likely to buy, so he could have the Innu start working on it as soon as they finished with this one.
Max would insist that they were kept in-house and exclusive, though. Perhaps only available to guests of the Terminus Trading Company. The yacht market for that size of vessel was especially vicious, from what Max could sense in the guests' thoughts, with each of them trying to find a gimmick and lock their competitors out of the market.
It wasn't a mass production area that he wanted to get involved in, but the Reavers were shipbuilders already, and humanity wasn't going to totally step back from any market, so he could start with exclusive and avoid the worst of the headaches.
Half of the ship didn't even notice when they went to Warp until they looked out the windows and noticed the distortion of the fast-moving ship.
"Oh, that was smooth. Even for a Cutter, that was to die for, and the gravity control is amazing. I haven't had to consciously tip my cup once this trip, even while we were going through the asteroid belt." Lord Governor Moop cheered when he realized that he had missed the event as well.
"I consider that test a success. If we can move to warp ten without anyone noticing that we have started to move, everything is working exactly as intended. You would not believe the harsh nature of warp travel in historic human vessels. The Warp Bubble engaged so unevenly that it was considered common and normal for the inexperienced to vomit or even pass out from the strain on their bodies." Nico laughed.
"Seriously? I had heard stories from the Hunters of species that brute forced their way to faster-than-light travel through various methods, but I had thought they were exaggerated." One of the engineers asked.
"Oh, they likely did not exaggerate at all. Forcing the process is the easiest way if you have an abundance of power available and minimal technology, but it is far from the most efficient or the most tolerable way to do it. This generation of Warp Drives is pure bliss in comparison." Max informed him, backing up Nico's explanation.
"You know, the humans really rather remind me of the Hunters. Both in technology and ideology. It is a shame that they are so focused on their own entertainment, or we could have had a wide variety of the unique ship designs that the Hunters produce distributed throughout the Alliance." Lord Governor Moop lamented.
"They certainly do have their own style. Especially that mothership with the arena for the challenge battles. I have never seen anything like it before." Max told him with a smile.
"Wait, you have seen a challenge? You simply must tell us all about it. Hunter Challenges are usually pay per view, and not every Alliance Member allows extreme sports to be broadcast. People have died in those challenges before, you know." A small, long-eared woman begged, standing barely waist high on Max, who wasn't particularly tall for humans, at under 180cm.
Nico smirked and stopped a server so she could take the entire tray of snacks from him before pulling a few other guests to the nearby couches to listen. The move started a trend, and soon every seat was filled, with more rapidly appearing from other rooms as the servants rushed to anticipate the guests' needs.
"Well, let's see, where do I start this story? Terminus had just finished an engagement with the Klem, a vicious species of insectoid that totally destroys and strips every planet that they land on of its resources and funnels them back to their major colonies when we encountered the Hunters for the first time.
No human had come across them before, as far as we know, as we had only just achieved our first Warp 10 flights, which was their guidepost for technological achievement worthy of interaction."
Most of the guests nodded at this, showing Max it was common knowledge that the Hunters didn't care about low-tech species unless they were especially good to hunt.
"They approached our vessel and issued a formal challenge, requesting our strongest female Mecha Pilot come to their ship to engage in a duel with their team leader, using Mecha of the twenty-meter height class.
Now, the Hunters' females are biologically far superior to the males in the physical combat aspects, while humans are the other way around, but with far less of a bias. Fortunately for us, we had a suitable pilot on board, as well as a unique Mecha known as Shattered Pride."
The whole crowd was engrossed in Max's story as he told how the two sides met, fought the challenge to the draw, and then worked out a cooperative agreement for hunting dangerous species within this galaxy, including a short vacation by the Hunter Group's leadership aboard Terminus, in some of the same rooms that the current crowd was occupying.
The nobles seemed to view the Hunters like Movie idols, which they somewhat were to the Alliance Nobles, who would likely never see them in person unless they held a planet close to the border.
The tale of fighting them to a draw was especially intriguing to them, and Max ended up showing them a few clips of the fight, to their delight, before returning everyone's attention to the test flight.
"One last question. This woman who can fight a Huntress Leader to a standstill, might we have a chance to meet her?" Lord Governor Moop asked with joy in his eyes.
"I would say so. She's sitting right next to you."
Chapter 504 504 Trust The System
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Most of the crowd looked shocked to hear that Nico was a Mecha Pilot, but some of them had done enough research to at least know her basic background, as it was known to the Alliance. They had seen Shattered Pride in combat a number of times since the first guests arrived aboard Terminus, so the Mecha itself was no secret to them, nor was the Pilot. It was just that few had connected the leader of the design team to the pilot of the Super Heavy Mecha with the Demonic visage.
The rest of the test, including dinner and drinks made by the onboard Replicators, went swimmingly, and the fifty Noble Guests returned back to Terminus slightly tipsy and in a great mood.
None of them were in the market for a Cutter Class yacht, but Max had received multiple requests for smaller versions of the ship.
They all retired to their cabins for the evening, and the very next morning, Max started to get departure notices from some of the companies who had come to supervise their production. The design team had proven themselves so capable that the concept of keeping a team on hand was becoming more like sending them on vacation. Few of the companies still viewed the chances that they would be able to block the Terminus Trading Company's development and patents as a realistic option, so only a few who were working on similar modular designs left teams behind to ensure that the humans' development didn't overlap with their unpatented prototypes.
Eight hundred fewer guests made the ship feel a bit empty again, but that didn't last long. As soon as they were gone, more ships started to arrive, drawn in by the promise of product testing streams and the ever-present chance that the humans would end up in a mechanized fistfight with something.
There were a wide variety of species on the ship from all over the Alliance, but there was no denying that the Terminus Trading Company was the Innu's new hottest vacation spot. Half of the ship was full of Innu tourists, and the staff had dedicated multiple meeting rooms for their impromptu technology brainstorming sessions so that they stopped sitting down in circles in the middle of the hallways to discuss ideas inspired by something that they had seen.
Max was spending a quiet morning in his office, catching up on all of the daily updates and requests from the crew, when a message came in from Rae 5 Command, requesting their presence to negotiate a deal with a planet well beyond the extent of what was generally considered human territory.
It was outward of the Klem territories and almost all the way to the Narsian region, but so far out that, like the Death Wind Territory, there weren't many inhabited planets around them.
If some far-flung human colony wanted in on the trade deal, Max didn't see any good reason to refuse them, especially if they were somewhere so dangerous. All danger was an opportunity for weapons dealers, no matter the century.
[Terminus Staff and Guests. Following the acquisition of the current supply of raw materials, we will begin a portal transition to meet with a potential ally of the Company. Please be aware of the impending movement and plan accordingly.]
They gathered a few holds full of raw materials from the asteroids, enough to make a dozen more cutters, fully loaded with Mecha, just in case the locals at the new destination had something interesting to trade and prepared to portal to the designated safe location.
Max watched the monitors as the ship slowly slid through the portal and arrived at the other side, but something was definitely off in this star system. There was an inhabited planet, and the sensors showed that they had billions of residents on a feral world, many times the surface area of Kepler Terminus but with an impressive rotational speed that brought the effective gravity down to roughly double that of the human standard at the equator, but over triple a the rotational poles.
The most notable part was that Max didn't see more than a few fortress cities among the jungles, and only a few outposts among the frigid polar regions, with nothing at all in orbit and no sign of advanced vehicles on the surface.
[Canis Colony, this is Commander Keres of the Terminus Trading Company on behalf of the Reaver Trade Group. Please respond.] Max tried.
[Welcome to Canis, Terminus Trading Company. We have located you. If you have the capability, please send a smaller vessel to the surface for negotiations, as we have no space capable vessels.]
How in the world did they contact the Reavers from halfway across the Galaxy before they rediscovered space flight? Better yet, who gave them the communication codes?
"First Battalion, prepare to descend for negotiations," Max called over the crew area intercoms and then returned to messaging the colony.
[We will send a Cutter, only a few hundred meters in length, to the surface to meet with you. Which Fortress City would you like to hold the meetings at?]
[Central Command is in the plains, at these coordinates. We will signal you with a beacon.] The Colony representative responded.
The beacon turned out to be a Cygnus Expansion Era transponder, over three thousand years old, but somehow still functional or rebuilt using the same frequencies and codes as the original.
Max loaded everyone up, including Shattered Pride, inside the Cutter and then returned to Cleansing Light to fly to the surface himself.
[Canis Colony, one Cutter, and one Titan Class Mecha are incoming in three minutes, please prepare for our arrival.] Max informed them and then ordered the launch, following it down so that he could take his time and get a better reading on this planet to see what it might have to offer.
The answer seemed to be monsters. As tall as a Crusader Class Mecha, with some being significantly larger, and hides as tough as military alloys were everywhere. Even under the polar ice caps, the Mecha detected monsters, including a form of squid over a kilometer long.
He wasn't sure how humans had survived on this planet, but he admired their tenacity already, and he hadn't even met them yet.
Chapter 505 505 Canis, Land Of Monsters
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Max landed Cleansing Light beside the entrance to the fortress city in the plains, which seemed to be the most defensible spot on the planet, due to its exceedingly long sight lines, and waited for the Cutter to arrive.
The atmosphere was dense but breathable, and the temperature was within the tolerances of human comfort at just over thirty degrees celsius. The forces of gravity and centrifugal force working against each other put an odd strain on the body, but nothing that the augmented soldiers from Kepler couldn't deal with.
They had been sent to much less habitable places, though only a Klem world could possibly be considered more hostile than this.
[Commander Keres, welcome. Please bring your Mecha inside along with your entourage and have the Cutter return to orbit. Standing outside the walls attracts unwanted attention that would disrupt our meetings.] The base Commander requested.
Max had to duck to get Cleansing Light in the thirty-meter tall doors, and he could see the awe on the faces of the defenders inside the walls when he stepped through the door.
The rest of the First Battalion followed right behind, and the look of awe turned to one of envy.
The doors were closed behind them, and the shield raised around the city even before the Cutter took to the sky again.
Max opened the cockpit of Cleansing Light and double-checked his kit to be sure that his armor was fully charged and his flat space had all of the rest of his kit inside. He was wearing a more formal suit in the Reaver style. Black Leather Pants, a red silk shirt, and a long black cape with golden embroidery.
He looked at himself in the mirror, then removed his cape and put on a leather vest. Nico's insane fashion sense was rubbing off on him again, wearing a cape to a meeting.
He double-checked that the Disruptor Pistol at his hip was charged and secure in its holster, then hopped onto the winch line and rode down to the ground.
Nico had set up a remote on his watch, tied to his biometrics, so that he could close and lock the mecha from outside, as well as engage its shields to surround himself if he was close enough, so he put the Mecha in standby mode and stepped in front of his Battalion to greet the locals with Nico at his side, her long red dress and leather jacket closely matching his own outfit.
"You checked my cameras, didn't you?" He asked.
"Packed you a cape too. I liked the cape. Very superhero when you descend from the Mecha."
So that was the purpose of the impractical clothing item.
They were greeted by a shirtless man in cargo pants and an incredibly buff woman in short shorts and a tank top with scars and tattoos all over her body, both smiling at the sight of the two Reavers and their outlandish clothing.
"Can you even fight in that?" The big woman asked before she even introduced herself.
"Of course, it's slit right up past the hip, and the coat has pockets for all of my blades and explosives," Nico responded with a smile.
"Hmm, not bad then. It might keep some of the biting bugs off the legs." The woman nodded.
Max looked through the thoughts of the locals for a moment and realized that this was no technological powerhouse. They had laser weapons and some limited but flaky, Plasma weapons, but mostly they hunted and gathered from the land while growing the majority of their essential crops inside the city's hydroponic facilities.
They had actually devolved after landing and had not recovered at all, which didn't match with their ability to message the Reavers.
"My name is Ramba, and I apologize for the unseasonable cold today, but we had thought you would take much longer to arrive and sent the message with Warp 5 Travel in mind. That looks like the Human Flagship Terminus, though. We heard good things about you and how well you fight." The man spoke in a slow, gravelly voice, thanks to damaged vocal cords from a lifetime of smoking and a long scar across his neck.
"Oh, now I get it. The Hunters were here, weren't they?" Nico asked.
"Yes. They were quite impressive, and they told us that there were other humans worthy of talking to. One of their youngsters even decided to stay with us so she could build up her combat skills until her Clan comes to pick her back up again." The woman replied proudly.
That also explained to Max why they sent a huge woman to meet with him. The Hunters valued the best female combatants, so it was only logical that they would instruct the humans they met to do the same.
"I will leave the rest of the Battalion out here if you would like to have a seat somewhere to discuss what you are looking for from this Trade Negotiation," Max suggested.
"We don't ask for much, it would disrupt our way of life if we changed everything to match the other humans, but we heard about your replicators and rifles, and we would like to make a deal to get them.
Think of Canis as a Game Preserve. We strictly limit hunting so that the numbers don't get too low. It keeps our people strong and resilient. The Rill Family is among the strongest on the planet." The woman informed him with great pride.
Max checked her thoughts and found that Rill was the name of her entire family. Not a Family name. They all went by that one single word.
She took off her hat, and Max noticed that she did not have human ears but long wolf ears, and in her excitement, Max noticed a long brown tail, the same color as her hair, behind her back.
Max ran a quick scan using Cleansing Light's sensors and found that it said these were humans, at least mostly. They had adapted their genome a little to better survive this planet, and it led to the expression of canine features.
"I think we can work something out along those lines. We always need a good spot to train Mecha Pilots, and I saw many beasts larger than the Mecha that we brought scattered across the planet." Max told her, beginning the negotiation.
She seemed startled. "You are sure? Even most of the Hunters didn't dare to go after the largest of those beasts."
"Perhaps not the largest, but the ones you think might be on par with our Mecha and our soldiers. Like yourselves, we have been augmented. Not for size, but for strength and durability." Max explained.
"You are strong?" The man asked skeptically.
Max looked around and stepped to one side to pick up a stone bench from the side of the road, offering to hand it to the negotiator.
"The Hunters were right. You are strong. Come with us, and we will eat and drink before we talk business."
Chapter 506 506 Hunting Grounds
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
The two Canis leaders guided Max and Nico to a bright and airy gazebo that was set with a variety of local meats and fruits, looking more eager with each step. Their thoughts said that they had enhanced their sense of smell to help them survive the early days on this planet, and the smell of freshly roasted meat was nearly overpowering to them.
As soon as they sat down, Nico pulled a silver domed covered dish out of her flat space and placed it on the table.
"A token of our appreciation for your hospitality." She told their hosts.
"While it sure is pretty, we aren't really big on shiny trinkets, but we appreciate your gesture." The man informed her politely.
"No, lift the lid. I'm glad you like the container it came in, but the gift is inside." Nico laughed.
The big woman laughed and opened the lid, then her eyes went wide in wonder, and her nose began to twitch.
"Is that?"
"Slow-roasted beef brisket. Created by our replicators, and the highlight of today's crew mess hall lunch menu aboard Terminus." Nico informed them.
Max probed her thoughts and found that Nico made that roughly thirty seconds before they landed after her scans revealed the abundance of meat dishes for sale in the city. Max hadn't thought to take note of that. He had been more interested in the people and their technology than their lunch, despite the fact that they were offering Replicators to every planet they stopped at.
Humans all generally ate the same sort of things, so it was all going to be within the capability of the Replicators, but these people had modified their genome enough that they might not like most of the dishes that were available.
Brisket must be popular here, and their hosts were literally drooling at the sight, wiping it away with the back of a hand before taking out huge knives to carve up the hunk of meat.
"Oh, I hope this tastes as good as it smells. Please, serve yourselves anything that you want to try. I don't know what you will like, but we have a bit of everything that we usually eat here." The man informed them.
He made a happy whimpering noise as he cut into the brisket, and the juices ran out onto the serving tray. He didn't manage to get the first bite, though. As soon as it was cut, his partner stabbed it with her blade and popped the burnt end into her mouth.
"Oh my blade, that is amazing. How do you raise animals so juicy on a spaceship?"
Max chuckled at her evident joy. "That's the trick. We don't. The replicator creates it. You could make it with a bundle of grass or the worst-tasting root vegetables, and it would come out the same. We use fast-growing algae to feed ours aboard Terminus. Even in the leanest of seasons, there is no need for food quality to suffer with the replicators making your meals."
"Seriously?" She asked, stabbing another slice of meat and throwing it in her mouth.
"It's a pretty popular item, and it has convinced a lot of people to join our trade group. Now, I understand that you will need some different terms than most planets that are closer to major trade routes, but I am certain that we can still come to an agreement that benefits both parties." Max agreed.
"We are limited on resources from what I am told about your culture, but the Hunters tell us that we can sell game tags for the beasts of this world at a good price," Rill informed them, puffing her prodigious chest out in pride.
[Those things are as big as my head. What do they feed them on this planet? I bet that Cassanova would love it here if he survived the first night.] Nico thought, turning to look at Max so he would notice that she was intending it for him.
[Worry about that later. Finish the deal before you work on increasing the local population.]
Nico turned her genuine smile, not her negotiation smile, on Rill, and the big woman's tail began to wag. Poker definitely wasn't their strong suit, and possibly not even a game that they remembered at this point.
"We can definitely agree to that. If you can give us a small guarantee that some tags will be available for our testing and hunting use, we can make a formal deal and trade the first round of fees for any tools or weapons that you might want from our inventory." Nico agreed.
"Could you take us into space to see what all you can offer? We operate better when we can see what we are facing. It's part of the animal instinct, you understand." Ramba requested, looking at his partner for confirmation that she would join them on a trip to Terminus.
Nico nodded and gestured toward the table full of food. "Why don't we finish lunch, then we can go to Terminus and work out the details before we return to the surface for a hunt? We have some body armor that I think you would love, especially if you don't hunt using Mecha."
"Armor? Could any armor deflect the claws of a Komaxx?" Rill asked.
"It can stop a shot from a plasma rifle or a hit from an energy blade. What does a Komaxx look like?" Max asked.
"Six meters tall, bipedal, powerful front arms, armored scales, long tail, and a mouth big enough to sit inside while it eats you," Ramba explained.
That sounded rather disturbing, but Max recalled seeing some of them on the scans, he thought. However, there were many species that roughly matched that description, so he might be thinking of the wrong one.
"If there are some nearby, perhaps we could go as a small group and hunt them. We can bring the Mecha if it seems too dangerous to go without them." Max offered.
"They are really tasty. The price won't be one of the cheap tags." Rill countered.
"We will offer you the first Commercial Scale Replicator for a Komaxx hunting tag, and you can personally try out the new armor patterns that we offer. We even have augmentic armor that increases your own strength and speed when you wear it."
"Deal. Let's eat. I want to see that."
Chapter 507 507 Everything Is New
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Max was inclined to be generous with this backwater planet, thanks to not only their great hunting potential but the possibility that they might be able to recruit superhuman soldiers from the world to add muscle to crews who didn't have Kepler-born soldiers on board.
With someone as powerful as Rill or Ramba and an augmentic armor suit, they wouldn't really need a Light Mecha at all.
The meal passed in a hurry, and the Canis leaders assembled an honor guard to follow them to Terminus, made up of similarly large specimens of their species.
If Max hadn't scanned the planet to find out that they came in a wide variety of builds, he would have thought that everyone in this world was built like a walking tank, but realistically, they were just showing off their military muscle.
Nico called the Cutter back to the ground while Max climbed back into Cleansing Light and waited for the door to open.
"Do you think that they could break the city barrier?" Ramba asked one of their companions with great interest while Max listened to their thoughts.
"I don't think that they would have to. The Hunters simply opened a hole in the universe and stepped out to talk to us. Perhaps these humans can do the same thing. We all saw that strange light in the stars before they arrived, and the scholars say it was probably their method of travel."
Max chuckled. The flash of light was most likely the Warp Drives powering down after the load of the portal was disengaged. The energy field that created the portals emitted radiation in the visible light spectrum, while the portal itself was not and was only detectable as an abnormality in space from the other side.
The group followed Nico into the Cutter while she ordered Shattered Pride to tag along like a lost puppy, taking up the rear of the convoy.
Despite seeing Nico exit the Mecha when she arrived, nobody seemed to find it odd that she wasn't in it now, so they probably assumed that there was a second Pilot to the giant robot and that the woman accompanying them wasn't the primary pilot.
Max flew back up and prepared to greet their guests at the First Battalion's hangar bay, causing a media phenomenon all across Canis as the reporters caught sight of the giant robot flying in the sky.
The Canis team wasted no time disembarking from the ship once they were safely docked aboard Terminus, running around like kids in a candy store, examining everything in the bay, including the staff members that were present in non-combat roles.
"Why do some of these men smell stronger than others, even when they're the same size?" One of the women on the team asked Max as soon as she got to him.
"Maybe the amount of time they've been at work today?" Max asked, confused as to what she meant. She was one of the people with no internal monolog. All that was in her thoughts were the words she was speaking.
"No, their physical strength. Muscle density gives off a specific pheromone scent that we can detect. We use it to determine who is a suitable mate. Why do some smell strong, even when they're small." She explained.
"Oh, that's because we are from Kepler. Our region's people have nanotechnology living in their bodies, and it remakes them stronger, faster, and more talented than they were at birth. The greater the compatibility, the stronger you will get.
The women have them too if it is going to trigger your males." Max warned her.
"Probably not. Our women are larger and stronger than yours, except maybe the tiny robot woman, so we shouldn't have to worry about losing our men to them. But some of the men are quite strong here, and we have more women than males." The Canis native explained.
"Why more females? Genetics, or selective breeding?" Max asked.
"Testosterone. Men tend to die early seeking thrills, so we have more adult women." She shrugged.
"Understandable. That has been known to become an issue now and then." Max replied with a chuckle.
"I think your men might be in trouble, though. They're strong but small and cute." The woman informed him, looking over at Colonel Klinger, who had just exited his Mecha and moved to join the Command group.
Her standards for small and cute were a bit off since the man was clearly middle-aged and battle-scarred, but compared to her, he was small. She was nearly 220cm tall.
"I think they can handle themselves. They've been small and strong all their lives. Kepler citizens aren't large by any human standards. Especially the Pilots, who are chosen for their ability to Pilot Mecha, not their brute strength." Max agreed with a shrug.
"What is this armor? Is that the augmentic armor you spoke of?" Rill asked, pointing at one of the infantry soldiers on duty in full armor.
"That's right. If you want to follow me, I have some spare suits in the armory, and you can try one on and see for yourself how much they help."
They would actually have to make some new suits since the representatives were so large, but it only took a few seconds with their new technology to make an armor suit.
They weren't an easy group to herd out of the room and toward the storage bays. Everything was new and interesting to them, so Max let them do as they pleased for a while, getting their answers from the First Battalion until they had the hang of the basics of the technology in use on Terminus.
Even the Tech Adept Harness was popular. Not because they wanted a better way to repair technology but because they wanted to put pincers on every flexible arm so that they could effectively melee the multi-legged species on their planet.
The thought was enough to make Max laugh. Ten arms and two legs, twelve knives in total, and a huge man with no shirt on charging at what looked like a fever dream of a killer spider. Even with the shielding on the Tech Adept Harness, that was still an incredibly bad idea.
Chapter 508 508 Shopping Spree
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Eventually, they did get them to a storage bay so that Nico could begin the demonstrations, including fitting them all with individual suits of augmentic armor, "a small signing incentive," as she put it, and theirs to keep.
Just like Max did when they were first testing it, the Canis team punched an armor plate with the augments off and then again with them enabled.
"Oh, this is good. But can we fix the helmet? It's crushing my ears." Rill complained.
"Sorry, they were made for my style of ears. Hand me the helmets for a second, and I will reconfigure them all."
Nico made a pair of raised ridges on top so that the ears would be mostly flat to the head but not squished by the helmet and relocated the earbuds so that they would still be able to hear properly.
"How is that?"
"Perfect. And I can hear properly too. Are there speakers inside the helmet?" Rill asked.
"Yes, they also have radios built in, so you can communicate with each other over long distances without alerting anything around you. The power packs will last for over a month of continual use before needing to be recharged, but we will make sure that you have chargers if your current power supply isn't compatible.
Over here, we have the Replicators, which made that barbecued brisket that I brought for lunch, and they're easy to use. Just enter the menu option you want and hit start." Nico explained.
"What else would it need to make?" One of the guards asked, confused about the nature of the machine.
"Ribs, fried wings, roasts, pulled pork, baked beans, cake, pie. You know, the essentials."
"Cake? It makes Cake and meat?" The guard asked, with his ears perked straight up and his tail going mad behind him.
Rill looked at him and then at Nico's smirk. "We are terrible at negotiations, aren't we? We can smell and sense lies, so it's not something that we think about much, but the tail is a dead giveaway when we are excited or in trouble."
"That's one of your more endearing traits and why we aren't trying to make things difficult for you. An honest leader is a good thing, and if your tail tells on you every time you try to hide something, that's even better for the people." Max told her.
"Since you don't want to make our life hard, what can you give us for access to our game species?" Rill asked.
"I will offer you one industrial Materials Printer for each major city, plus one Commercial Replicator for each city, plus two personal units for the leadership team to use themselves, plus additional payments for every beast hunted."
The Canis thought about it for a while before they all decided that it was a good enough deal for them.
"There is one more thing. Many Reaver groups might want to hire soldiers from your planet since they are so strong. If you agree to that, we can work out details for Mercenary or Guard work off the planet so that nobody tries to cheat your people in the future."
"Leaving Canis? I suppose a few youngsters might want to, but I am not sure they'll find many takers once we have the brisket maker." Ramba shrugged, looking at the Replicator.
"It makes cake too." One of the guards reminded him.
"It can make basically any sort of food. You still have a Hunter on the planet, right? They are familiar with the technology, and they can show you many things to eat if you forget." Max reminded them.
"Ignore the idiots. They would live off of a good brisket alone if their body didn't need any extra nutrition." Rill told him with a shake of her head.
"What is the purpose of the Materials Printers?" She asked.
"When it is given the basic materials, it can make almost anything that you are familiar with. These are one of the older pattern units, so you need the actual minerals for metallic objects, but for cloth and other organic materials, it can recombine them out of any form of plant life." Max explained.
"Can it make me a new knife? This one has a cracked blade." One of the guards asked.
"Put it on the tray there. It is a scanner to duplicate simple objects without needing to program a new file." Nico explained.
The Materials Printer scanned the blade, and Nico made a few tweaks to remove the crack and the nicks in the blade and then went to the pile of ore to grab a few lumps of metal and a bundle of cloth.
She placed them on the ground in the feed area of the Materials Printer and then selected to make a dozen copies with simple leather sheathes, one for everyone in the entourage.
"Here you go. I don't know how well you usually keep your blades, but this might be the sharpest one you've ever owned." Nico informed him.
The man took his glove off and dragged the blade across the top of his hand, watching the hair fall to the ground.
One of the women picked up a blade and put on a small monocle, looking over the blade with the scanning device before putting it back in its holder.
"Monomolecular edge, with a strengthened molecular bond. That is stronger than anything that exists in nature." She informed the leaders.
"Your technology can do things like that?" Rill asked in surprise, visibly warming up to all the new toys that they were being offered.
"Technically, that device is yours. We have already come to an agreement, even if we didn't put it on paper yet." Nico pointed out.
"I like it. But can it make guns?" The big woman asked.
"Laser rifles, Ion Cannons, Plasma Rifles, a variety of explosives, it all depends on what you can get for raw materials."
"Hmm, we don't mine much, but we do a little bit of it for our weapons. I will have to see what we have available. Can you program something simple?"
Nico pondered for a moment and then grabbed a large piece of wood and placed it on the feed side of the Printer.
"This is a combination unit, lousy for making food, but it can recombine organic matter when needed, like this fully organic polymer Laser Rifle, with Organically grown Crystals."
Nico plugged it into a charging port for a moment and then tapped at her watch, bringing down a targeting dummy from the upper-level storage, delivered by drone.
"Give it a try. It's only charged for a couple of shots so far, but it holds a hundred in total, and you can make it out of any organic matter."
Rill picked up the weapon and aimed at the dummy, blasting it with three quick shots, all to the heart before the weapon was empty again.
"How reliable are they? Are they tough?"
"They're reliable in the short term, not so much in the long term, but they're cheap and easy to make. It is hard to make them fail without breaking them, but in the end, they're just fancy plastic. If anything with claws gets at them, they're done for. But if they do get broken, just put the pieces together as well as you can and add a bit more organic material in the printer to repair them." Nico explained.
"If they're beyond that point, just put the broken bits in the feeder, and you can use them as part of the materials for a new one," Max added.
"I like it. The Perpetual Laser Rifle. Infinitely recyclable." Rill laughed.
The design was also prone to overheating if you went crazy with the shooting, and the organic crystals degraded rapidly with use, but since they could also be conventionally made out of chemically altered plant oils, they were a staple among planetary guards even before the advent of the Replicators and Organic Materials Printers.
Chapter 509 509 Writing And Tracking
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
"We should put all this on paper, so it is official. I am told that the Reavers take paper very seriously." Rill requested once the furor over the new toys had died down a little.
"We take agreements very seriously. The putting it on paper is so that nobody can argue over what the exact agreement was at a later date." Max explained.
Nico took out the data tablet with the standard agreement and began editing it for their current clients. Sending reinforcements was unrealistic, so that part of their obligations was removed and replaced with the portion about allowing Mercenaries who wished to leave the planet to go, along with terms of employment for anyone hired from among the Canis population.
They would have to have their gear maintained to at least the current Reaver standard, be paid a minimum of the average share, and be provided with daily meat and a balanced diet sufficient for heavy exertion. That would likely be enough to keep the locals happy, and it would discourage the lowballers since they always wanted to pay far less than the average share to new hires in their fleet.
The rest of the agreement was pretty standard. They could request shipments and have Reaver Trade Group Members deliver them at a standard distance rate, sell at Reaver rates, and an additional note about the prices for game tags to be sold by the animal at the time of arrival, subject to population management plans and pricing variations. Finally, the notes about the included signing bonus items were added, and it was ready to be signed.
Nico turned it over for their team to read, and they shared it among the group, poring over it with intense concentration and even finding a grammatical error that Nico had made. That was quickly fixed, and the hard copies were made.
They moved to a table, and Max had the staff bring out another brisket, then set it to the side for after the agreement was signed. Ramba didn't miss this maneuver, and Rill smirked at Max.
"I thought you weren't going to make things hard on us? But here you are, placing the food to the side until the deal is done." She joked.
"Brisket is greasy, and paper soaks it right up." Max clarified, putting his signature on the sheet, followed closely by Rill and Ramba, then witnessed by Nico.
"Now that we're finished let's eat." Max agreed, handing the documents to the administration team to copy and electronically file with the Trade Group.
It was relaxing to eat with the Canis nobles. They didn't believe in table manners or cutlery, so there was no pressure to maintain an image, only to get enough food in you before it was all gone.
"I think I have the perfect hunting spot for our first trip together. There is a species of Tree Viper in the jungle whose blood tastes almost like the seasoning that is put on this meat. If we mix it into a sauce, I think we can replicate the taste with regular roast meat." Rill declared, licking the last of the juices from her fingers as the meal finished.
"So, we head to the jungle to hunt snakes? That sounds like a lot of fun. How big of a team should I bring?" Max asked.
"You bring five, and I will bring five. Too many will either scare the game away or bring the big things. Both are bad options because that part of the jungle is too thick for your Mecha or the Hunters Suits." Rill suggested.
"I will put drones in the air in case we get in trouble. Don't worry, Commander. I can ensure relative safety without compromising the hunt." Nico assured Max with a smile.
"Good enough for me. Grab three from the Infantry Special Forces who you think would enjoy the trip." Max ordered her.
Nico's eyes went blank for a second, and she nodded. "They're on their way. Now, what should we bring to hunt the Tree Vipers? Precision rifles and blades? Or are they big enough that we will need Plasma Cannons and demolition charges to bring them down?"
"I like your attitude. The Vipers are only ten meters long, but the Goliaths that also live in the area are on par with a regular Hunter Suit. We only hunt them with our heaviest weapons."
Nico nodded and sent a message to a technician, who came back with five watches in her hand.
"These are not for general distribution yet, but they can be considered a personal gift from me to you. Put them on over your armor and tap them with your forefinger, or tell the armor to open the flat space."
The devices activated, showing a supply of food, water, bioelectric energy packs, a handheld Plasma Cannon, a small selection of explosives, and a spare Laser Rifle in the all-organic pattern.
"That should be enough to get us through a hunt with what we are already carrying," Nico told them.
"Am I getting married?" One of the guards asked dreamily.
"No, that one is mine." Max insisted, making Ramba laugh.
"Gifting expensive weapons is a wedding tradition here to show your sincerity." He explained.
"A friend of ours gifted his bride a Cruiser Class warship as a wedding gift, and she assassinated the last of his enemies for him," Nico informed them with a smile.
"Perhaps the Reavers are not so different after all, even after all this time." The Canis man laughed, getting to his feet.
"So, shall we take that marvelous ship of yours back to the surface?" He asked, looking back toward the bay where they landed.
"No need. There are only ten of us going with no Mecha, so we can take a shuttle. It can land in a much smaller space, and it won't disturb wildlife as much." Max disagreed, pointing in the other direction.
The last three members of their team arrived in full armor, with Ion Rifles slung over their shoulders, so Nico got up and tapped their watches to check their kit and make sure that they had everything needed. She gave Max the thumbs up, and he led the group a few bays down to the nearest available shuttle, the weaponized ones Nico made, suitable for an entourage of twenty in Mobile Suits, which were almost as bulky as the Canis natives.
"Here is our ride for the day. Nico will have a few gun drones in orbit as well, in case we need to be rescued. Just a precaution since we don't want to cause any international issues." Max explained.
"That works for us. Who will fly the tiny ship, though?" Rill asked.
"Usually Nico, but we will have a Technician fly today so that she can focus entirely on the hunt," Max explained, pointing to a happily waving young woman in a flight suit. It was the first time that she had been included in the negotiation team instead of sitting in a dark room in the Drone Team quarters waiting for something to happen, and Max could tell that she was really excited to be here.
Chapter 510 510 Hunting Tree Vipers
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Once they were in the shuttle, the Canis team began to inspect the new additions to the Terminus team. They were all from the infantry but were among the strongest, having all washed out of the piloting program due to either their size or attitude and not their aptitude.
The two men were over two meters tall, while the woman had a criminal record that made Nico's own military history look positively pristine and tempered. She had narrowly escaped a lifetime prison colony sentence because there was no evidence that she was actually the one that used a case of claymores to frag the Inquisitor investigating their team.
So she had been reassigned and ended up with the team from Kepler 142, who were left behind for Terminus to find on that decrepit space station. She was a genius with infiltration and explosives, though, and had earned her spot on the drone team, as well as this hunting trip.
Rill gave the pilot directions to the landing site while Nico equipped her custom armor, complete with integrated Tech Adept Harness. That got the attention of the Canis team, who were intrigued by how she was planning to use six extra arms in any sort of practical way.
"She has a natural affinity for machinery. She can use them all as naturally as her own arms. The normal units have a neural link, but it takes a while to get used to using them smoothly." Max explained as Nico tested the link to her new limbs.
"It's got better gravity control than a standard unit as well, so it is easier for me to chase the Vipers if they retreat up into the trees." Nico smiled.
"I don't know how to say this, but to do what? You're barely bite-sized to a Tree Viper." Ramba asked.
"Kill it, of course. I am capable of using a sword with every one of these limbs, or they can be used to restrain a target while I chop it apart. I brought axes as well." She replied, taking an axe with an energy field protected blade out of her storage.
"You will likely never meet anyone who likes killing things more than Nico. Even the Hunters were impressed by her bloodlust." One of the Special Forces guys laughed.
"We should catch up with them again. They would be great hunting partners. I will contact them and see where they've gotten to once we are finished here." Nico agreed.
"They said that they wanted to see what the Narsians were like in close combat, so they should be somewhere Northeast of our Planet, but how far, I do not know. We lost track of them not long after they departed." Rill replied, then pointed to a spot in front of the shuttle.
"That is our landing zone, that pond. There aren't many clear spots in the jungle. Just watch for hidden creatures in the water. The crocs can grow rather large."
"In that case, I will be going first," Nico announced and directly stepped out of the shuttle's rear door, which had only begun to open when her body disappeared from sight.
"You get used to her. She's like that." Max shrugged as the others stared out the door.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot that you guys don't usually use gravity control, do you? She can fly with that armor on, so she's not going to crash into the ground. She just wanted first dibs on anything that might be in the water." he added.
"I see."
Nico had the remains of one large snake and some sort of turtle on the shore when the shuttle landed only seconds later, discharging the team before returning to high altitude to keep track of them and any threats that they might be facing.
If they needed evacuation, it could drop a line down for everyone to climb up, letting them leave from almost anywhere in the forest in a hurry. Not that the Pilot expected to need to do that. The team she had dropped off looked more than capable of handling anything she could see on sensors, and they had all brought Plasma Cannons.
"That is one of the Tree Vipers we are here looking for. The turtles are vicious but unfortunately inedible." Ramba informed them, looking at the single-blade wound on the Viper, then turning to appraise Nico in a different light.
"It didn't expect that I could fly. I lifted when it struck at me and severed its spine with my axe." Nico explained, shaking the blood off the large-headed weapon in her hand.
"Why an ax instead of a sword?" One of the Canis team asked.
"I wasn't sure how thick the hide was, and the extra force of the ax helps it penetrate bone more smoothly."
The team took a moment to siphon a large amount of Viper blood into what looked like a canteen that had been hidden under their clothing, and Rill signaled for them to move out behind her.
They silently moved into the trees, smirking at the noise that the Terminus team was making before they all gave up on being as quiet as the locals and just did their best not to break branches that would cause extra loud noises.
The only one that was truly silent was Nico, and she wasn't on the ground, preferring to scout from a spot further up the trees, flitting from one to another with an ax in her hand and clinging to the thick branches with the tentacles of her tech adept harness.
"I like that suit. It's almost like she's a baby goliath, but with extra arms. They move the same way through the trees when they are small." Rill whispered.
"And when they are grown?"
"Then they are too large for the branches to support them."
Some of the branches were over a meter across on the enormous trees of this jungle, capable of supporting even a Corvette Class Mecha, so whatever sort of species the Goliath was, it had to be truly massive.