Chapter 521 521 Drone Warfare
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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With the order given, the drone fighters started to swarm up from the surface of the planet and toward the incoming Klem ships, preventing their smaller escort bugs from advancing on the planet while Max hurried to get Cleansing Light into Position.
If he did this right, he could destroy two vessels simultaneously, blasting apart their plasma storage before they could maneuver. The sudden destruction of two ships should be enough to introduce some hesitation and confusion in the Klem interceptors' orders. Increasing the speed that the Drones would be able to kill them and reduce the threat to the planet.
Any one of those Cruisers was as dangerous to the planet as an entire Klem tide, so they all had to be destroyed before they could deploy their deadly cargo, and Max was pretty sure he knew how to prevent that situation.
He simply needed to pose a greater threat than the planet did, and that meant that he had to kill Klem faster than an entire Narsian invasion force had been anticipated to have killed them.
No pressure.
Max dropped Cleansing Light out of warp after a brief burst of faster-than-light travel to catch up to the fleet and came to a stop directly behind the Cruisers, unleashing two split orbital lances at once and destroying the two vessels just as he had hoped.
The Drone Fighters were everywhere among the front ranks of the Klem fleet, crushing the interceptors a dozen times faster than their own vessels were dropping.
It wasn't going to be nearly enough to eliminate all of the Drones unless he brought reinforcements, but that would reveal the position of Terminus and put their guests in danger, which was simply unacceptable.
Max watched as the ships closest to him turned so that their most vulnerable points were hidden from his weapons, but they weren't his targets this time. Instead, Max hit the two cruisers closest to the planet, eliminating a large portion of the interceptors when the larger vessels exploded.
The action seemed to enrage the Klem, and for the first time, Max felt something akin to emotion from the fleet. Every ship turned to face him, ignoring the Drone Fighters, and every interceptor and other Klem outside the main ships began to charge at him.
They fired ranged weapons at him, but only sporadically, trying to keep him in place for the charge. The data from the first battle must have been assimilated already, and they knew that he could deal with the flying spikes, so they were intent on tearing him apart directly.
That worked for Max, as it saved a lot of Drone from destruction, and he could shoot through the intervening chaff when he got a targeting solution on one of the Cruisers again.
Max split off a portion of his attention to ensure things were going well on the planet while he fired dispersed beams at the incoming Klem and dodged the largest attacks, sending Cleansing Light flitting about in space like a deadly firefly.
The Mecha Regiment was well on its way to taking its first positions, and the local human forces were proving to be very competent, and had their own version of Mecha, an ancient one similar in styling to the modern versions the Cygnus Empire used to this day.
That solidified the assertion that they had been part of the Cygnus expansion but left the question of what they were doing on the far side of the Galaxy from where the rest of the fleet ended up. It was intended to expand humanity through the Cygnus region, not populate other sectors of space.
There was something off about the drones, though. They were missing something. They had his targeting data, so they could pick off targets as fast as they could shoot, but their formations were a bit off, and their coordination was lacking.
What they were missing was Nico's trademark viciousness. She wasn't in charge of their deployment this time, and the alternate Drone Commander wasn't as aggressive and didn't have a past lifetime of memories about how to organize an attack.
Max realized that it was just him being spoiled by her strategic talents, but it really would make his life easier if Nico were running the Drones.
He wouldn't countermand their leader's orders, though. They were on mission, and duplicate orders would only cause confusion among the pilots. Sometimes you just had to adapt to the strategies of those around you, and this was one of those times.
So, instead of pulling back and letting aggressive drones charge forward, Max circled and pulled the smaller Klem back into the easy weapons range of the Orbital Fighters. They didn't hesitate when they had the chance, and their firing rate was as good as ever, so Max circled again and brought another group to keep them fed with targets and moving to where he wanted them to be.
The ships were adjusting position and course to get a good shot at Max, and finally, one of them made a miscalculation, turning its back on him when it expected him to feed another group of interceptors to the drones.
Instead, Max raced down the length of its hull and put an Orbital Lance into the main weapons array, destroying another Cruiser and leaving seven in the battle.
They were no longer closing on the planet, focused fully on avoiding his attacks, and Max worked to buy the forces on the ground as much time as he could. All of the reports said that the Narsians were quickly being routed. He only had to hold them off that long, and the Fleet could join him up here and wipe out the Klem, assuming he couldn't do it faster than that.
The Klem ships weren't holding back, though, and they were launching hundreds of additional forces out of their side ports and, notably, one wave of pods toward the planet.
[Drones, don't let any of the pods reach the surface. Try not to disengage with the interceptors, but under no circumstances should those pods get past you.] Max ordered.
[Copy that, Commander.] A cheerful voice that Max identified as one of the Innu responded, and the Drones began to move into a completely different attack formation.
Chapter 522 522 Nico The Hunter
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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While Max was busy in orbit, Nico was busy in the city below, clearing Narsians from the urban area with brutal efficiency.
"You seem to have a personal grudge against these creatures." Huntress Khan, leader of the Hunters here, asked from inside the cockpit of her Suit, Dominus.
"This is the species that managed to mangle my body so badly that I ended up as a Cyborg," Nico replied, blasting apart a high-rise building to let the rubble drop on top of a Narsian patrol.
"You seem to have made out quite well for yourself, even in your biomechanical body." The Huntress pointed out.
"It's the principle of the thing. They had me outnumbered two hundred to one. There was no need to be sore losers and mangle my body like that." Nico complained.
"Most of those ones are still alive." The Huntress pointed out, meaning the ones under the rubble.
"Not for long." Nico laughed, then unslung a weapon from her back and sent a burst of fusion fire into the rubble.
With the loose ends tied up, both Super Heavy Mecha charged forward, using their blades and close-range weapons to decimate the Narsian defenses.
They were only a third of the way across the city, and already the reports said that the garrisons on the far side had begun to deploy in their direction, trying to stop the two rampaging Mecha from taking this strategic point from them.
The Narsians were a prideful culture. Losing an entire city to two Mecha, not even a whole wing, was simply unacceptable, and they were planning to deal with them using pure brute force.
The problem was that the locals had known that there was a danger of attacks, and while they hid in the bunkers under the city, the buildings left empty up above were made of reinforced rockcrete and couldn't be easily shot through or knocked over.
That meant that Nico and Khan could hide between the buildings while they hunted the Narsians, stalking through the city like a pair of reapers, with drones circling overhead, keeping a proper count of the kills in their competition.
The banter between the two might be friendly, but they weren't going easy on each other. Nico casually fired her arm-mounted Disruptors at a patrol that Khan was about to ambush, stealing ten kills at once in response to the Huntress sending out a sound drone to draw away an entire patrol from Nico's route, making her double back and waste valuable time looking for them.
The guests aboard Terminus, who were familiar with the Hunters as a group, but who had rarely seen why they were given that moniker, were in awe of the competition as much as they were the fierce battle in space.
It was a two-person battle to show off their personal skills, and the contestants were incredibly efficient killing machines, especially when they could find a large group of targets for fighting against.
When they had first attacked, the Narsians had made the mistake of thinking that numbers would help, but the flurry of blades as Shattered Pride had charged them with all four arms launching brutal close combat attacks had changed their strategies to try to ambush the two and destroy them before they could find the larger defense posts.
"There it is, the last major Narsian base in the city. Shall we do opposite entry points again, or side by side?" Nico asked as they reached a barrier made of collapsed buildings.
"Side by side. Once we are finished here, there likely won't be enough enemies left for the trailing challenger to catch up again." Khan suggested.
"In that case, there is a saying from my homeland that is appropriate for this moment." Nico laughed.
"Oh, and what might that be?"
"YOUR SKULLS ARE MINE"
Nico used her thrusters to launch over the wall and charge into the camp, with all four blades swinging and every weapon firing at once. She even went as far as stomping on fleeing Narsians to up her kill count a little bit more.
Khan was right beside her, saturating the area in Ion fire as she attacked and sneaked random kills out from under Nico's blades.
When they reached the far side of the camp, nothing but the two Mecha was moving, and the ground was saturated with blood, with chunks of half-disintegrated or burned vehicles scattered all around.
"So, are any of the skulls worth keeping?" Khan asked.
"Probably not. We mangled them pretty badly." Nico shrugged, making the motion with her Mecha as well.
"Well, it's the thought that counts. I have already found a lovely new hammer to add to my collection." The Huntress agreed.
They turned to survey the battlefield, and something caught Nico's eye. A glowing energy halberd that she had kicked and impaled the wielder upon from the haft side.
Not only was it a viable skull, but it was also an excellent weapon as well for fighting outside the Mecha.
She jogged over and carefully used the lower arms of Shattered Pride to remove the body from the spear, leaving the head, and then tossed it into the flat space token that she had mounted to her Mecha's arm.
"I was wrong. There was one good one left."
"I think that they have fled the city. The drone feed isn't picking up any more life signs aboveground." Khan sighed, realizing that their competition was coming to an end.
"Well, I know that we agreed to twenty four hours, but since the city is clear and there is a Klem fleet coming, perhaps we should call it for interference at this point? What do the observers say about our scores?" Nico asked.
"They say that I am up by thirty-two Narsians." Huntress Khan replied proudly.
"Bah, that bus you caught really was the difference, wasn't it? Fine, I will take the zero one and one score for now, but I will even my numbers back up the next time we go hunting." Nico sighed.
"Should I have the Mothership deal with the Klem, or are we letting whatever gets past your Commander land here?" Huntress Khan asked.
"We should likely eliminate them. We wanted to make allies with these locals since they're in a good strategic position between two hostile forces. Not only can it be a defensive base, but it is also a good translation point for arriving hunters to depart from to go explore the region." Nico suggested.
"Agreed. We will let the humans do the politics, and we will eliminate the Klem before we cloak our vessel again."
Chapter 523 523 Nico The Negotiator
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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[Commander, the Hunters have agreed to use their mothership to help you eliminate the Klem while I work on a trade agreement with the local government down here.
We have identified the bunker they are hiding in, and the Narsian threat in the region is entirely under control, with the expectation that they will be forced to retreat from the planet within the next few hours.
Do I have your permission to pursue a standard trade agreement with this planet, including a provision for the Hunters to visit regularly as a staging point for their forays into the Narsian and Klem territories for sport?] Nico asked formally over the Mecha's data link.
[Go ahead, work out the deal that seems to be the best for everyone, and find out if there are other human-held planets in the area. We might be way outside of what is considered human territory, but if there are more isolated settlements out here, we should see if they want to join in the fold.] Max replied.
With his permission secured, Nico proceeded to the bunker, where her data feed showed all of the government messages originating from. They were doing a pretty good job of hiding themselves, and she didn't think that the Narsians had found their lair inside an abandoned mine, but hiding signals from Nico, especially while she was in Shattered Pride with its sensor suite of advanced communication technology was nearly impossible.
[Good morning, residents of whatever you call this planet in the middle of nowhere trapped between the Klem and the Narsians. I am Tarith Rage of the Terminus Trading Company, here on behalf of the Reavers.
The Hunters, also known as the huge aliens with gold masks, told us that you could use some assistance, and I have brought my Mecha Regiment to your aid. We want to work out a trade agreement between our force and your planet if you would be willing, and we have a number of advanced technologies to offer.]
The communications channel that the local government was using went silent for a while before a terse message was sent back.
[How do we know your demonic Mecha isn't an alien assassin? There are no other humans in this region of space. If you were really human, how would you even know where we were?]
Nico sighed and climbed out of her Mecha, moving to stand on a shoulder with her helmet off and stored in her flat space.
[I am outside my Mecha, look at external camera C28, and you can clearly see me. I can clean the dust off it if you prefer.]
The channel went silent again for a while, and then a message was sent back with a different authorization code, relayed from a secondary bunker only a few kilometers away.
[Remain where you are, and we will send an Emissary. Our history books tell stories of the Reavers and their widespread influence among the lawless lands. If you are who you say you are, we will negotiate.]
After ten long minutes of sitting on the Mecha's shoulder, waiting for something to happen, a transport vehicle accompanied by two dozen light Mecha came up out of the mine shaft and surrounded Shattered Pride.
"Ah, welcome, welcome. It is so good of you to speak with us on such short notice. As I'm sure you're aware, the Narsians on the planet have nearly been dealt with. But as you might not know, the Hunters will be departing after that since the only reason they came here at all was to fight the giants. Neither they nor the Reavers intend to stay here long, but we have a rapid transport technology that will allow us to return here regularly with supplies, should you need them." Nico greeted the armored vehicles.
Nothing was broadcast out of the vehicles. They simply sat there for a while, while Nico scanned the interior to make sure they weren't drones.
There was a special forces squad in the armored vehicle, and the Mecha were all piloted, but she didn't see a negotiator at first.
The soldiers rushed from the vehicle and spread out, weapons trained on Nico, and were followed by their leader, who she assumed to be the negotiator sent by the government. While they formed up their ranks, she waited, not saying anything, and gave them the opportunity to make the next move.
"Are the Reavers so confident in themselves that they would send a single Mecha to deal with an unknown government force?" The leader of the soldiers asked.
"A single Super Heavy Mecha, with the weapons capacity to collapse the entire mine shaft that we are standing over and turn the ferrocrete bunker below it to rubble with a single shot." Nico clarified.
"And yet you exited the Mecha."
Nico smiled and shrugged. "That doesn't change its effectiveness. I am the negotiator for the Reavers and Second in Command of the Terminus Trading Company. By protocol, it is my duty to negotiate on our behalf while the Commander is busy dealing with the Klem fleet in the space above the planet."
"If that is the case, please wait while we prepare a meeting spot for today's conversation."
It was only a few more minutes, and they had a large pavilion set up, and a shield raised over the area in case of outside interference or Narsian sneak attacks, so Nico climbed down and set Shattered Pride to implement the automated defense protocols that she had programmed into it.
If she were attacked and actually injured, it would kill everyone. If the shield were breached by force, it would kill all the attackers using the automated movements and combat skills that she had programmed.
If that was too much to ask, she could control it manually from this distance and return in an instant with the gravity control of the Archangel Exoskeleton that she had attached to her Augmentic Armor for today's festivities, replacing the usual Tech Adept Harness, which was sitting on the bed in her Mecha.
Chapter 524 524 Not Sure They Believe
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"Please follow us to the pavilion. Do you have any weapons on your person?" A member of the Special Forces team asked.
"Of course I do. It's built into my armor. I recommend that your negotiator keeps a pistol on themselves as well. It is considered common courtesy among the Reavers to not leave yourself defenseless in case the negotiations are interrupted." Nico explained.
"What a strange tradition. We will inform the negotiator." The mechanical voice responded.
Inside the cloth-covered building, the team took up places behind the negotiator, who had his rifle slung over the back of his chair, and Nico could see he still had a combat knife holstered in the chest carrier on his armor.
She took a comfortable seat across from him and placed a data tablet on the table between them.
"I will assume that since your dialect is still quite close to Human Standard that you can read the language? If not, I can work on a translation for you." Nico greeted him.
"What is this? You have drawn up terms of surrender for us already?" The man asked, seeming startled.
"Why would you surrender? We're on the same team. These are the standard conditions of every planet or planetary cluster wishing to join the Reavers Trade Group. They detail the trade of technology, terms of nonaggression toward other members, and an assistance obligation should a member neighbor be attacked, which might not actually apply to you.
The details are, of course, open to negotiation, and I will have a supply shuttle come with demonstration models of the basic technologies that we are offering all members to increase their quality of life.
Many of your cities took significant damage fighting the Narsians, and this is the perfect opportunity to rebuild in a more efficient way, with more luxuries."
The negotiator picked up the tablet and looked through the terms, then used the data transfer function to send it down to the facility below. He clearly knew nothing about data security, as any trojan or other backdoor virus that Nico had left on the tablet would have infected their facility when he sent the message, but it was possible that he was simply that confident in their security and was testing her to see if they actually tried to hack the bunker.
A shuttle landed outside the shield a few minutes later, and both of them looked out the open flap to verify its identity.
"That's one of mine. It should have the Replicator and a small-scale version of the Materials Printer on board. I will have them open the bay doors. Please send someone to remove the two items from the cargo hold and bring them here. They're perfectly safe, I assure you, and I will be right next to you." Nico informed them.
The negotiator looked tense but nodded, and the items were brought in and placed on the floor to Nico's right.
"Now that the replicator is here, we can start with the Reaver standard greetings. Do you perhaps partake in alcohol, negotiator? Reavers are quite fond of the Rum we make, and the Replicator turns out a very decent facsimile of the home-brewed version."
She couldn't tell through his helmet, but the man seemed to smile as he nodded.
"Indeed we do. Please, do demonstrate this technology that you are so proud of."
"Marvelous. Can someone grab us one of the broken tree branches outside or even a large bundle of grass? The replicator needs biomass to function, of equivalent weight to the item being produced."
A soldier ducked his head out the door and caught a bundle that was tossed to him from a compatriot in one of the Light Mecha. It appeared to be some sort of animal dropping, but it was dried and solid.
"Close enough. Place it beside the replicator, next to the label marked feed." She instructed.
The soldier looked confused but set it down as instructed while Nico stood to tap a set of buttons on the touchscreen.
"There we go, a bottle of Rum, two glasses, and a platter of snacks. That biomass was denser than it looked."
The snacks were a simple thing, cheese, and crackers, as well as a few slices of roast meat.
"I didn't know what you liked, so I bought some of everything."
With her piece said, Nico poured two glasses of Rum, sipped half of hers down, then stacked a bit of cheese on top of a cracker and popped it into her mouth.
"Man, I love this cheese. No matter how many negotiations I go to, the cheese and crackers never get old." She sighed.
The negotiator was visibly sweating when he took his helmet off and placed it on the table, but he drank the Rum, coughed, and went for the cheese and crackers. Nico chuckled at his caution and took a bit of the sliced meat before settling back into her seat.
"Well, does it suit the local taste? Reaver Rum is well known throughout human space as one of the finest of liquors available."
"Certainly finer than the watered down mead that a junior officer like myself can afford." The negotiator agreed.
"If your leadership chooses to purchase a large number of these replicators, there will be no need for that, only for rationing by energy usage, should your power supply prove limited. It all takes the same amount of work to recombine, so the weight and volume is the real difference, not the quality.
If you should so choose, we also have a Terraforming Drone available for purchase that could rebuild entire cities for you in a rapid time span. Do you have Materials Printer technology on this planet already?" Nico asked.
"We do, left over from the Colony ship and basic terraforming devices, though they're no longer capable of fully reworking the environment. Mostly we do our construction traditionally at this point, as the planet is lacking some of the materials needed to repair the Materials Printers that we came with.
"This one can solve that. It has basic recombining technology and a wide variety of designs that are no longer under patent protection, so the parts for your existing printers might be among the plans. Do you have the model numbers and makers?"
The negotiator finished the glass of Rum and wrote a slip of paper with a string of information on it. "That is the part we need and the original manufacturer's code for it."
Nico searched her stored data for it and found the part relatively quickly. She had made one in her room as a child. The technology was extremely rudimentary, barely worthy of being called a materials printer, but it was still in the files that they had transferred to the new device, with the expectation that many of the Mercenary groups might be working with similarly outdated technology.
"I need a large bit of metal. The type doesn't matter too much. At least twenty kilos." Nico informed the door guard, who hurried to comply now that he had seen the replicator in action.
He returned with a lump of iron ore from the entrance of the mine, and Nico fed it to the Materials Printer, along with some scraps of more precious metals from her storage, prepared for demonstration purposes.
"You still need the basic materials for this one, but it can substitute many of them for easier-to-find versions. I only added a bit of copper, tin, and aluminum to the pile for this one. I believe the planet has them all in relative abundance."
She pressed start to begin the process, and seconds later, the replacement part was complete.
"Feel free to send someone to verify its function, but that's the part you specified." She informed the negotiator with her very best smile.
Chapter 525 525 Orders From Below
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"The technology that you have shown us so far is truly impressive, and it would save our people a lot of headaches in the future, especially with the creation of obsolete parts, plus your terms look good, especially the parts about not price gouging due to our remote location, but as I am sure you understand, I must wait for orders to come down from above before I can make any decision." The Negotiator informed Nico as they sat across the table from each other.
"Are your people a democracy? If it's going to take an extended negotiation, I can create lunch for everyone from the Replicator, and we can enjoy ourselves while the rest of the forces clean up the mess on the planet." Nico suggested.
"That sounds much better than going back in the bunker to wait for them to give us the go-ahead to bring you to the elected leaders. I hate to admit it, but even for us government officials, the bunker food is absolutely horrendous." The negotiator sighed.
"Then feel free to pick something. Just have the guards place some sort of plant life next to the feed side and select what you want from the options. I don't know how many of the menu options you will actually know, but there are pictures, so feel free to just pick what you like.
If you're feeling particularly hardcore, there are options for the Kepler standard ration packs available as well."
That made the guards chuckle. The replicator that was being pushed as an alternative to shelf-stable rations could also make shelf-stable rations.
It made sense in a way since the material to feed it wasn't always long-lasting, but the idea of making more ration packs at this point, after being in the bunker since the battles started, seemed like the worst possible outcome.
"Let's try this one. I am almost certain you cannot go wrong with a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup." The guard who brought in the log they were going to use as fuel suggested, tapping at the screen.
"Seriously, with all of the food options of an advanced culture at your fingertips, you choose soup and a sandwich?" The negotiator asked.
"Hey, you can tell a lot about a culture by how well they do the simple things." The guard defended himself.
"Oh, what philosophy book did that come from?"
Nico smirked at the exchange and brought the food to the table so that the next entree could be produced.
"I am about ninety percent sure that he just made that up because he wanted tomato soup. Go ahead and eat. I think the Negotiator is going to be a few minutes with the options. There are hundreds of available menu items."
One after another, the guards in the room made themselves lunch, with the Negotiator checking menu items in between every order until finally, he settled on a shepherd's pie and a pitcher of mango juice.
"I have no idea what a mango is, but it looks like the orange fruits we grow here." He explained as he poured himself a glass.
"While it is roughly the same color, Mangoes and oranges aren't the same fruit. It's sweet and pulpy though, so it should do well enough for your purposes." Nico explained.
After the first sip, his eyes opened in surprise, and he poured more glasses for the others.
"You have to try this strange juice. I've never tasted anything like it, but I think it would go particularly well with our local spiced stew."
The guards gave the juice a taste, looking impressed, so Nico got up and tapped in an order for mutton curry and brought the dish out to the table.
"Try this spiced stew. I think you might like it. Even if you don't, you can tell the others that you got to try delicacies from the other side of the Galaxy." she suggested.
"Oh, this is good. The Planetary Governor is going to be so mad when he finds out that we got to enjoy a banquet while we waited for them to make a decision."
Two hours later, the response finally came up from the bunker where the senior government officials were hiding. They agreed in principle to the trade agreement but had a number of conditions that they wanted to be fulfilled.
A few of them were no big deal, only a small number of Materials Printers to help rebuild their industry and some materials that Terminus could produce with their more advanced technology, but the last one was simply outlandish.
"They want fifty thousand human females to help diversify the planet's genetic base? I can offer you fifty thousand embryos with different genetics." Nico suggested. That could easily be done with their replicators if you just ignored the moral implications of genetically engineering humans.
The message was sent below, and a few minutes later, a modified response was sent back up. They were willing to accept males as well, as long as at least half were females between fifteen and twenty years old.
"I am starting to suspect that they do not understand the nature of the Reavers. We don't deal in human trafficking, and we don't deal with slavers." Nico told the Negotiator with a frown.
He took a device from his pocket and turned it on, then whispered to her. "Let me talk to them. I'm not sure what this is all about. There are millions of family lines on the planet. We aren't short of genetic diversity."
He turned the device off again and put it back in his pocket, then sent a string of messages back and forth with his commanders.
Finally, he handed Nico a tablet with a new set of terms on it.
[The Planetary Governor's Office demands the immediate surrender of the Terminus Trading Company and the provision of all available reconstruction materials along with the rightfully due tribute of harem candidates earmarked for the Cabinet Members.]
The Negotiator sighed and shook his head at the idiocy of the message, even as the communicators on all of the guards beeped, and they raised their guns toward Nico while the sound of footsteps sounded outside as the Mecha attempted to seize Shattered Pride.
Nico looked at the Negotiator with pity. "I will give you one last warning. I really wouldn't do that if I were you. Making enemies of everyone you meet is a particularly bad idea, especially after they agreed to save your planet free of charge."
"I don't have the authority to countermand their orders. I am sorry."
Chapter 526 526 What A Mess
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Both Max and the Hunter mothership received an update from Nico at the same time, detailing the way that the negotiations had broken down and the demand of the planetary governor and his cabinet.
They had already dealt with the Klem fleet, leaving none of them alive to return and give the insects an updated set of battle data for dealing with the Mecha armies, so they couldn't just let the Klem deal with the issue, and the Narsians were in full retreat, fleeing the planet as fast as they had arrived.
[Nico, I don't think we made contact with the Planetary Governor. That was obviously an imposter. Why don't you deal with them and see if you can find the completely reasonable real Governor?] Max ordered.
"That's a strange way to say that you want her to kill everyone." Huntress Khan told Max over a video link.
"If I don't directly tell her to kill the planetary leadership, it would be a tragic accident if he turned out to be the real one. Certainly, the Alliance can't get upset at us for the casualties incurred during a battle against hostile aliens. Besides, she had probably already killed them all for insulting her and scratching her Mecha before she even contacted us." Max replied.
"I see. You and your little friend have a lot in common. You just view her first resort as your last resort. Is that what the humans mean by a Partner should bring balance to your relationship?" The Huntress asked.
"Probably not, but I suppose in a way it is, though."
The Huntress laughed and called all her troops up to the ship. If the locals weren't willing to make a proper deal, they could only be two things. Enemies or Prey. Until that was decided, they wouldn't get any more help from the Hunters.
Back down on the surface, Nico was cleaning blood off of her hand with the tablecloth in the pavilion while looking down at the negotiator cowering in the corner.
"Now, where were we? Ah yes. I have determined that the signal you were receiving wasn't coming from the real Planetary Governor.
All five of our Cutters were sent to the location of their safety bunker and have confirmed that there is currently nothing but a pool of molten rock at that location. They must have suffered a tragic accident in the later stages of the battle.
Now, might you be able to tell me if there might be a backup chain of command here on the planet? Or should we come back later after things have settled down a little bit and see if the real leader is more reasonable?"
"What exactly are you? That's not human." The man stammered, looking around at the bits of mangled limbs and pools of gore spread around the area.
"I thought you already knew I was a Cyborg? I have a human brain in here, but the body is entirely cybernetic. Don't you have that technology as well? I am sure I saw cybernetics on some of the soldiers' bodies." She asked.
He nodded slowly, gathered himself together, and got to his feet.
"Will I be executed as well?"
"I don't see any reason for that. The others didn't need to die either. They just needed to be smarter. The automated system only targeted those who were actively hostile, so if they had simply chosen not to fire on Shattered Pride or me, they would have been ignored."
Nico herself hadn't fired a single shot. Once the battle began, the automated scripts she had programmed into her Mecha had activated and killed everyone except the Negotiator, who had wisely hidden under the table.
"Seriously? Was that an automated response? Never mind, I will try to contact someone, anyone, and make sense of what is going on. The Planetary Governor has always been drunk with power but demanding a harem as part of negotiations doesn't seem like him."
Try as he might, the Negotiator couldn't raise anyone in the upper levels of Command, so he tried the ones in the bunker below him.
Protocols were followed, the deaths of the senior officials were verified, and a final decision was made about the chain of command.
"The most senior person on the planet who can be verified to be alive is Lady De Leon. She is in the bunker below us right now, and I have requested her presence here for the negotiations."
Lady De Leon turned out to be a young woman in an army Corporal's uniform with a radio operator's badge on her arm.
"Lead Negotiator Ponce, how might I help you?" She asked from the elevator to the bunker, unwilling to step out into the body-littered field.
"Lady De Leon, we have confirmed the deaths of all of your uncles, cousins, and brothers, as well as your older Sister, during the battle. You are the senior member of the Planetary Governor's family currently alive. What are your orders?" He asked.
Nico began chucking bodies out the back side of the pavilion and then turned on the Materials Printer and Replicator, creating a new table, a rug to cover the floor, and a feast to cover the replacement for the tablecloth she had cleaned the splattered blood from the guards off herself with.
"Lady Governor, please come with me and out of this mess. I can brief you on what the Reavers' Trade Group can currently offer your planet, and you can deal with the planetary politics part either with our help or on your own later." Nico informed her.
The radio operator was too shocked to say no, and let Nico lead her to the table and push her down into a seat beside the Negotiator.
"Now, let me start this again. I am Tarith Rage of the Terminus Trading Company, representing the Reavers and the Trade Group they are forming. These are the standard terms of the membership we are willing to offer your planet. This time I will be extra clear: We do not traffic in humans, nor do we condone slavery in any form."
The girl gave her a shy smile and looked over the trade terms.
"Could we perhaps ask for some additional terms? After the battle, we will need help rebuilding, as well as some additional security forces, until such time as a new, loyal Planetary Force can be established. The armies are loyal to the Governor's family, but it has been a Patrilineal Succession for our entire history, and I am not currently married."
"I suppose that is possible. Who would be the ranking male officer on the planet right now? If they are on your side, it should help you establish your right to Govern."
Lady De Leon looked over at Negotiator Ponce with a flush to her cheeks, and Nico smiled inwardly. What an excellent development.
Chapter 527 527 New Order, Better Than The Old Order
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"Him, really? Well, that's marvelous. I think you can make an excellent team, assuming you can get your forces back under control and keep order.
We have some construction technology, but most of your capital city survived the battle. I broke a few city blocks worth of it, but most of it is still there, and the bunkers weren't damaged during the fighting." Nico announced, looking between the two locals.
"Are you telling us to get married and take over the planet?" The Negotiator asked.
"As I said, we don't deal in human trafficking, but if she doesn't object, it will make good political sense for the two most powerful survivors of the battle to take over as a beacon of hope for the people.
You can work a deal with us for Materials Printers and Replicators and rebuild your cities in exchange for whatever your local specialty is. It doesn't matter what the product your world is famous for happens to be. There is almost always a market for it somewhere."
"Um, quilts. Our local culture in the Captial is best known for its decorative blankets and the intricate stitched artwork on them." The young Lady informed her, showing a series of pictures from her phone screen.
"Not bad at all. Everyone needs a good blanket. Now, we can work on the details, and I will make sure that you get the payment in advance so that you can help rebuild the cities that the Narsians destroyed.
But first, I recommend that you issue a press release, letting everyone know that you are alive and in charge, as well as making plans to get everything back to better than normal.
I have a lot of experience with changes in planetary governance, and stability is key. Be bold and confident, tell them how it is going to be, and they will follow just to keep their lives from totally spiraling out of control.
Trust Me. It will be fine." Nico declared.
A quick announcement was prepared, declaring that the Planetary Governor's immediate family had suffered a tragic accident during the battle and that the former Governor's Niece would be taking over his position with the aid and assistance of her new Fiance, the Capital City's Mayor.
That bit shocked Nico, she thought he was just a middle manager, but it seemed that he simply lacked a direct line to the nepotism train that had actually been running the planet behind the scenes.
Being mayor of the Capital meant that he should know, or at least know about, everyone who mattered, and every common person in the region would know him, a huge advantage when moving up in the world of politics.
In orbit, Max and the Huntress watched the announcement come out, as well as the drone feeds from the meetings, which had been excluded from the video that was sent back to Terminus in the name of political secrets.
"Well, that isn't what I expected her to come up with. I thought for sure that this deal had fallen through." Huntress Khan sighed. It was the first planet full of Mecha on which they would have had full permission to hunt if there were no deal.
"There is still time for the deal to fall through again, but I must say that five synchronous Orbital Strikes sent a rather poignant message to the former Governor and his cronies," Max replied.
"If any of them were still alive to learn the lesson, that is. From what my sensors indicated, their entire government command structure was in that bunker, and all that was left in the secondary bunker where the meeting was being held were a bunch of military communications officers to release propaganda during the battle to keep morale up and pass vital messages."
Max looked over the data again. Huntress Khan had a point. The Mayor really was the highest-ranked politician alive because every other Mayor and every political position above him had been in one bunker. A bunker that Nico had hit with five successive Orbital Lances, just to be sure that nothing survived.
"Well, now that the fighting is done, what should we do? I don't really feel like going down to join the negotiations, so why don't we return to Terminus for a few drinks and a round in the Virtual Reality simulators?" Max suggested.
"That's a fine idea. I am sure your guests won't mind a few Hunters on board as long as my girls don't drink too much. Lead the way, Commander Keres."
On the surface, Nico intercepted the communication between the two Command Mecha and frowned at her communicator. They were leaving her here on the surface to deal with politics while they went home to play video games and drink.
Even when she managed to finally find some action, she still got the short end of the stick.
Nico ordered the Cargo shuttle to wait here for her since its hold was just barely big enough to fit Shattered Pride inside when it was time to leave and then settled in to wait for the Military leaders to show up for the change of leadership meeting and official briefing on the new trade agreement that they had entered into.
None of them would know that the previous Governor had nearly gotten the planet annihilated for sport, but just to be sure it didn't leak out, Negotiator Ponce decided to make it clear to Nico before anyone else was here to listen in on them.
"If anyone asks, the Narsians bombed the bunker that the leadership was in, and this is the first round of trade talks. I will make sure that nobody challenges the new Governess, so please tell your Mecha not to kill everyone if things get heated for a few minutes.
They should eventually listen to me since I do outrank all of them, both as a politician and as a Military Officer, but they might be a bit resistant if they have thoughts of seizing power for themselves."
Chapter 528 528 Gaining Approval
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"You have a point, Mayor. Or is it Negotiator? Maybe I should call you Governor Elect instead? What is your highest official position?" Nico asked.
"Negotiator on behalf of the Governor's Office is my highest position and one of the highest on the planet before the invasion. I was in charge of getting all the Mayors and regional leaders on board with the plans that the Planetary Governor's Office made since the lower-ranked members didn't have clearance to even know who the members of the Cabinet were." Ponce explained.
"Interesting. I won't interfere so that nobody thinks that there is an Alien army forcing you to do their bidding or take over the planet. In fact, I will bring out a drone so I can record the footage of the meeting in case you need to broadcast it. But first, we need to make a proper impression." Nico agreed.
She ordered the printer in Shattered Pride to make a tiara of gold and precious gems, along with a fur-trimmed cloak to go over the Governess's military outfit and had a Camera Drone bring the lot of it over, struggling with the weight and its own tiny size.
The small camera drone from Shattered Pride was a disc barely larger than her palm, which flew straight to the Governess, who recovered the items that had been draped over the top of it before the Drone moved to hover above and behind Nico's head so that she would be at the bottom of the feed the entire time and not out of view.
The fewer questions that could be asked about the situation, the better, and Nico began her performance as soon as the drone was in place and the very regal-looking outfit was on the Governess.
"As I was saying, these foods and beverages are all made by the Replicators that Terminus Trading Company is offering you at a discount as new members of the trade group, so please, do enjoy," Nico announced, looking up at the camera above her head.
"Of course. It would be my pleasure." The Negotiator chuckled, plating up a lunch for the second time in an hour and placing it in front of the new Governess before picking another set for himself.
She looked at the food selections dubiously, so Nico explained. "At the top is a shepherd's pie serving, next to a portion of Spiced Mutton Stew, a vegetable medley, and a buttermilk biscuit. On the side are a bowl of Tomato Cream soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, a favorite of the members of the Terminus Trading Company.
The beverages are Reaver Rum, which I will warn you is a rather potent alcohol, and Mango juice, which your Fiance, the Lead Negotiator, has chosen himself for you to enjoy."
The new Governess fell quickly into the role, having been raised in an environment of complete noble decorum before taking an internship as a Communications officer so that her senior family members didn't have to speak to a commoner every time they contacted the outside world.
She ate politely and quietly while Nico picked out a selection of desserts and placed them on the table, choosing some for herself and then looking out the flaps of the pavilion.
"That should be your guards escorting the other guests in. Should I ask them to wait until you are finished, Governess?" Nico asked.
"No, it wouldn't do to keep them waiting in this situation. Guards, please allow the guests to enter." She replied, sitting primly with her hands folded in her lap while a half dozen military officers entered the room and began to look around in confusion.
There was obviously a very bloody battle outside, but the pavilion wasn't damaged, and the floor was covered in a pristine rug of extreme quality and a design that they had never seen before. On top of that, they had received a briefing on what the Trading Company was offering, so they were curious about the devices sitting along one wall and the array of food on the table.
"If we may, I will make another table for our guests, and we can begin the meeting." The Negotiator asked the young Governess, who nodded politely and gestured for a guard to move to the Materials Printer.
The man looked shocked when a Table and bench seats suddenly appeared, not realizing that the printer was actually using the bodies stacked on the other side of the tent wall as materials, but he set it up right away and had the guests take a seat facing the Governess.
Nico nodded to the Replicator, and the guard stood by to collect a platter of snacks and drinks as they came out of the machine, impressing all the new guests with the technology and making for a great video feed for the population of the planet.
Fine food and beverages appearing out of nowhere at the touch of a button were always impressive the first time you saw the process.
"First, I will ask the obvious question. As the highest-ranked living member of the Planetary Governor's lineage and the bride of the Head Negotiator, who is also the Capital City's Mayor, do any of you have an objection to me taking over as Governess?" Lady De Leon asked politely as the officers stared at the food displayed in front of them.
"Are there really no older men left alive? How did that happen?" One of the soldiers asked.
"The Narsians located and bombed the Royal Command Bunker, unfortunately eliminating all of the direct descendants of the line. There are still some children left, who were hidden with their nannies in the city, but they are much further down the succession than Lady De Leon." The Negotiator informed them.
"Well, it was no real secret that she fancied you, so I have no objections to the Marriage, but do you have any direct link to the Governor's family, Negotiator Ponce?" Another officer asked.
"Only very distantly. Nine generations ago, my mother's side came from the youngest sister of the Elected Governor at that time." Negotiator Ponce replied.
"Well, at least you're still part of the lineage, so we don't have to amend any laws to allow the wedding since it would make you Governor Consort." The officer agreed.
This was sounding a lot like a King and Queen sort of thing more than a Governorship, but it wouldn't be the first planet they had encountered where the "Elected" leader must be chosen from a single family by the family members themselves. All she had to do now was wait and watch.
Chapter 529 529 One Little Match
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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While Nico was busy playing politician with Lady De Leon and the government bureaucrats on the planet's surface, Max had a better plan to spend his day.
"Huntress Khan, I believe you recall the Canis locals? A number of them who were more interested in technology chose to come aboard Terminus for an extended period of time as technical employees. I thought that since we have some downtime while the issues are sorted out, we could spend some time in the combat simulators.
I have a lovely setup with the Klem as adversaries. We can face them on foot and invite some combat-loving friends to join us." Max suggested.
"Now that's the right way to spend a day off. I will gather some of my people who need the practice, and we can see how good these simulators of yours are. I have heard that the Human technology is somewhat different than that of the Alliance."
Max led the way to the virtual reality rooms and sent a message to the Canis to meet them there if they wanted to run a simulation with the leader of the Hunters and some of her friends.
There were only ten of them on the ship, so even if they all showed up, there wouldn't be too many for a standard patrol unless the Huntress brought a lot of people with her.
The simulation was optimized for twenty-five infantry with all of Terminus' new goodies, including augmentic armor, so the Hunters should enjoy the experience, even if it wasn't actual combat.
Huntress Khan showed up with five of her people, and six of the Canis came while the others excused themselves to continue an experiment they were doing with the Innu, who were getting bored in idle mode since Nico was on the surface and not aboard the ship to rubber stamp all their ideas.
"Huntress, it's an honor to meet you. My Aunt Rill spoke very highly of you." A Canis boy named Toby greeted the Hunters as he led the group into the room.
"Oh, you must be the one she said was more like the Innu, obsessed with new technology. It will be a pleasure to see how the Canis do when they're not full-time fighters." Huntress Khan replied with a polite smile.
That was more polite than Max had expected, so he didn't say anything about her abrupt nature and decided to simply introduce the scenario instead of going through any formalities.
"This one is a simple introduction since not all of you are familiar with Terminus Trading Company's Infantry Technology. The pod will adjust your virtual avatar to the readings it takes of your actual body, so your physical skills should be very close to accurate inside the simulation.
The goal of the mission is to survive for two hours under the Klem army's assault. Points are awarded for every kill, and points are deducted for every ally's death, triple if they were in your line of sight when they took the fatal hit.
There is no map to learn, the Klem will come to us, and we can hold the position where we start, or we can pick a spot we think might be more advantageous. As our guest, Huntress Khan will get the lead in this mission.
If everyone understands the basics, we can enter."
The Hunters smiled and jogged over to the pods, awkwardly climbing into the few oversized units that were available for larger species. The process was much like getting into a personal transport with a low roof. Not hard, but it took a bit of practice to do smoothly.
The scenario booted up, and the Hunters found themselves in the middle of an infantry camp, clad in Augmentic Armor made by the humans instead of their own version.
The first thing they did was test the assistance they got from the suits and come to the conclusion that the humans were still a few technology generations behind anything that could be called comparable to what they used.
It was good enough for them to fight in, though, and they were looking forward to seeing how this very realistic game worked.
The Canis took a little longer to adjust since they had never fought the Klem or used any of the infantry gear before. They had to test everything before the Klem arrived, short of wasting ammunition firing at nothing.
They figured it all out quickly enough since the targeting display was intended to be intuitive, and the Ion Rifles were similar to weapons they had used before.
"Incoming at fifteen hundred meters from the south." Huntress Khan declared, pointing to the spot she detected the threat.
"Canis, take a knee for more stable firing positions. Hunters switch to heavy weapons, while Commander Max can join me at the front to prevent the Klem from breaching our lines." Khan decided.
Normally nobody fought the Klem hand to hand, you just shot them all down as fast as they appeared, but that wasn't the Hunters style, and Khan would be expecting them to make it to the lines eventually.
The scenario was also meant for twice as many soldiers as they had brought, so it was going to be a tough fight from the start, no matter how they deployed.
The first wave was entirely Klem warriors with no ranged weapons. Mostly it was a targeting test, requiring you to be efficient with your shots, so you didn't burn too much ammunition or let them get too close with missed shots.
"Let them approach to a distance of five hundred meters before opening fire. The lethality of these weapons reaches its peak at three hundred meters, and I expect them all to be dead before two hundred meters from our position." Khan ordered.
She had high expectations for her troops, as there were a lot of Klem coming, but Max shouldered his Ion Rifle and waited for them to approach while he shared his targeting data with the rest of the team.
Chapter 530 530 Pew Pew
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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When the Klem reached the designated mark, the air began to sizzle with energy weapon fire. The rest of the Hunters had taken out their Plasma Cannons and were targeting the tightest packed groups while Max and Khan shot down the closest targets, and the Canis hit everything they could.
There were so many targets in this wave that they could hardly miss, but with Max's targeting solutions, they were also mostly hitting vital spots and dropping Klem warriors with most of their shots.
"Is this data part of your Armor?" Khan asked as she fired away at a Warrior who had almost made it to the two-hundred-meter mark.
"The basic targeting reticule is part of the armor. The additional hitboxes are a result of my own AI-enhanced Functions. You can turn off the data in your helmet if it is distracting." Max replied.
"No, they're rather helpful. We have a similar function in our armor, and I had not expected to see such advanced warfare technology among the humans." Khan explained.
"I am glad you approve. I can extend it to our entire Regiment and incorporate data from all our drones and satellites to get the additional targeting solutions when I am in battle, so it saves a lot of lives for us." Max laughed as he failed to notice she had changed targets, and they both blasted the same target.
None of the Klem made it to the mark that Huntress Khan had set, which seemed to improve her already good mood, and even the men on the Canis team were no longer getting dubious looks from the other hunters.
"North Side and East. Split teams, three Canis, three hunters per side. I will take East. Max can take North. Same firing assignments."
This wave had a few Shredders among the Warriors and a hidden group of Klem Drones, who were low enough to the ground that they were almost at the defenders position when they first came into sight.
"Watch for the little ones. They don't look like much, but those mandibles are deadly." Max warned the others and then kicked one who had gotten all the way to their position up into the air so he could shoot it more easily.
The Canis stopped shooting into the distance and focused on the closest threats, not able to focus them down quite as quickly now that they had to fight on two fronts at the same time. That was why having more bodies made life easier. A dozen simply didn't cover enough ground.
They managed to get through the wave without injuries, and only sporadic fire into the distance to clean up the stragglers was necessary as they regrouped.
"What happens if we drag out the fight?" Khan asked.
"The deaths of the Klem don't change the timing of the subsequent waves, but they can change the course of the other waves. The scenario has them moving past our camp, so they will naturally come into range."
The Huntress thought about that for a moment and then pointed to a spot on their west.
"I suggest we move there. It has good firing lines, but more importantly, the cliffs will make it hard for the Klem to approach us from all sides once they realize there is a dangerous opponent here."
The whole team began to move, picking a new spot next to a coulee, where the river had dug a sharp cliff on three sides as it wandered through the area. Now, only the north would have an easy time getting to them, while east and west would be naturally diverted to the north side unless they wanted to charge up the hill for some unknown reason.
It was one of the better defensive points in the area. Max knew it was, as he had reprogrammed all the maps himself so that Nico and the others could have at least a few surprises when they played.
Letting them get too comfortable with the terrain would make them complacent during actual battles, so he had set the maps to randomize and had introduced some automatically created terrain sets so that there were genuinely new features every so often, even in a familiar scenario.
They settled into position just before the next group of Klem detected them and diverted toward their new position, circling from the East to the North to come at them without having to cross the river valley, as Khan had intended.
"More coming from the south." One of the Hunters announced, sending a Plasma bolt that way to indicate the location.
They would have to come up the hill, but there were at least five larger Klem in that group, and one of them had a ranged weapon adaptation. It was firing spikes at the hill with lousy accuracy but in high enough quantities that everyone had to duck out of the direct line of fire or risk being hit.
"Now, this is more like it. Join me in the South while everyone else takes the rest." Khan told Max with a smile.
"Got it."
Max switched to the Plasma Cannon to deal with the larger Klem and the weight of numbers, prioritizing maximum kills while leaving the scattered remnants to approach them as they pleased.
Using that method, Max and Khan manage to kill all of the large Klem and thin out the Warriors to a trickle, where they would only rarely have to fight more than one or two at a time near the ridgeline.
Max knew that the Huntress was eager to get into close combat and test herself against the Klem without her Hunter Suit, so Max kept up with the group clearance instead of focusing on the closest targets.
When the first of the Warriors began to climb the ridge, Max could sense the change in Khan's thoughts, getting excited before she charged down the hill at it, chopping the spike-limbed insect that was only a bit larger than she was, standing just over three meters tall, apart in seconds and turning her blades on the next one in line.
Max sighed and followed her down the hill, using a kick to split a Klem Warrior's chest apart as he caught its upper limbs in his hands before he threw it away and finished it off with a pistol shot.
"I am impressed. You're not bad." Khan laughed, all thoughts of tactics forgotten until the Klem were cleared from the immediate area.
That was basically how their entire two-hour mission went. The group on the hill desperately fought to keep the Klem from overrunning them, while Max and Khan fought in the river, only retreating between groups so that they could see and target the Klem from maximum range.
A grand time was had by all, and they didn't lose a single soldier, despite only having half the usual numbers. The reduced numbers also increased their individual kill counts, shooting them all up the ranking board on the wall of the arcade and drawing the attention of the other soldiers and tourists training or playing there.
"Well, now that we have worked up an appetite, how about we try out one of the many restaurants available in the common areas?" Max suggested.
"MEAT." Both the Canis and the Hunters suggested at the same time.
"Well, that's easy. Follow me, and I will find you some of the finest offerings aboard the ship."