Chapter 531 531 Rural Members
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[Commander, the negotiations are finished, and we have a new member for the Trade Group. They will need a fair bit of technology since they've been isolated so long that they don't even know what a Materials Printer is anymore, but I think we can work it out well enough.
They create the most incredible handmade household goods here, and I believe that the patterns and unique local composition will be a big hit among the nobility in the Trade Group's member systems.
I will send out a message with full details in the next few minutes if we can stick around until the first orders are placed, so we can judge the market sentiment and see just how much capital the locals have to work with.
The deal promised them ten factories, each worth of Materials Printers and Industrial Scale Replicators, so they could at least rebuild their capital city to the highest modern living standards after the battle.]
[So, they're planning to do the Capital first and encourage the rest of the planet to upgrade through envy? Not a bad plan. How much trouble did you run into with the local nobility?] Max asked.
[Not much. After the tragic accident at the Governor's family bunker, we found that the next in line was a very polite and reasonable young lady with the full support of the other Nobles, as well as the Mayor of the Captial, who she will soon be marrying.]
That was enough information for Max, so he dropped the subject and decided to move on to more important matters.
[Are there any reports of remaining Narsians on the planet? The Hunters have all withdrawn, but we still have the full Regiment on the surface. If things are stable there, we can return to Terminus.]
[There have been some sporadic battles still, but they seem to be under control without our assistance. I would say that it is safe for the Regiment to return to orbit, as long as we remain here a little longer to make sure the Narsians are really gone and fulfill the first orders.] Nico agreed.
Max enjoyed his dinner with the Hunters and the Canis technicians, who were just as bad at hiding their emotions as their seniors, a trait that greatly endeared them to the Hunters. They were big fans of taking what you want, so a species that immediately gave away their desires was a positive thing in their opinions.
[In that case, send the signal. All units are to return to Terminus when their current mission is complete. Don't leave the locals hanging, but there is no need to do their work for them if they can safely handle it.]
Max waited while Nico sent out the message for the Cutters to go pick up their passengers, as well as the product listings on the Reaver trading sites, so the locals could try to sell their goods on the open market.
Their current client base was huge and in desperate need of luxuries in many regions, so it wouldn't take long before someone would be messaging him for a portal opening. With Terminus on site, they could be absolutely sure that the destination was secure, and Terminus opened portals for the first round of traders without charging any fees or asking any favors for it.
Unlike the Rae 5 Moon Base, which charged a small sum to recoup the power station creation as well as worker wages for every ship that passed through the portals they opened.
It was a practice they had adopted from the Alliance, charging Portal fees by distance and size. It made sure that when the base was running at an average capacity, they were at least covering the wages for the workers as well as anticipated repair costs.
But they were a trade group, so they didn't mark the price up like the Alliance did in order to make specific destinations more exclusive.
As usual, his prediction didn't need long to come true. The first requests for a portal to pick up a shipload of orders came early the next morning while the last of the Cutters were still returning to the ship.
This portal would have to be kept open for a while since the destination was so far away from the core of their customer base, but Terminus was in no hurry to go anywhere.
Nico was still on the planet, finishing up the formalities and helping organize the cleanup of the damage to the Capital City, much of which was caused by her and Hunter Khan anyhow.
It gave them a perfect excuse to rebuild factories and some government buildings that were formerly exclusive high-rise condos for individual Governing Family Members.
The elitism seemed to Max to have gotten out of hand at some point, and half of the buildings in the Captial only housed a handful of people when they could have held an entire medium-sized business or thousands of comfortable apartments.
The new buildings would have the Replicator Technology, as well as the self-cleaning systems and a few other small luxuries that Kepler and most modern nations took for granted. They were all produced by the Materials Printers default programming as essentials, but to the local population, it was a huge improvement.
The level of exclusivity might not go down by much, but they would at least have a higher population, making the Capital feel more lively, as well as increasing the demand for nightlife and other businesses to start business again.
Max was about to open the first portal when Nico sent him an architectural diagram with a rather unique label at the top.
[Maison Commandant Keres] was a two hundred-story condo building, full of three hundred square meter ultra-luxury suites, with every amenity known to the humans of this region, and as of that moment, it was already eighty percent sold out with only the foundations built by the First Battalion and their Cutter.
It was futuristic and very artful, with plant life and water features all through the building, but also a built-in Shield Generator so that the residents could rest assured that they were living within the single safest location on the planet.
Max chuckled a bit when he saw the Shield Generators since they were only two layers of the shielding used by the Crusader Class Mecha and would only take a handful of direct Plasma Cannon hits, but that was a lot more than most civilian buildings would endure and very effective against little things like riots and other civil unrest.
[You really like putting our names on things, don't you?] Max asked.
[It was this or the firstborn boy of the Governor's family. But I can't guarantee that they won't do that anyhow.]
Chapter 532 532 Expansion Plans
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Max forwarded all of the essential data that they had collected during their journey back to Rae 5 command as well and got an interesting reply from the Reavers.
There were a lot of displaced people in the Galaxy and even more who were living in overpopulated conditions on planets that had just joined the Trade Group.
Terminus had encountered dozens of star systems that were already habitable, extremely rural, and uninhabited. If they could confirm that at least one of those was unclaimed and suitable, the Reavers could begin building cities on the planets and charge relocation fees to send tens of millions of refugees there to start a new life.
It was a substantial monetary opportunity, but it was also a chance to spread humans to this side of the Galaxy in much larger numbers than they currently claimed over the next few decades.
[You know that those planets were abandoned for a reason, right? Most of them have been stripped bare, and the ones that weren't stripped have a wide variety of plant and animal life already on them, not exactly prime locations for settlers to show up unless they're like the Canis or the Hunters who enjoy a good fight against aliens.] Max reminded Mary Tarith.
[But we can fix that. Bring over a few asteroids and set up a Terraforming Array. It will be a great advertisement for the new technology you are trying to sell to the Alliance. I know it's been a solid seller already, and some fights are brewing over the rights and design, but a public demonstration on a planetary scale would draw in even more customers.]
[Fine, you have a point. I will start with one of the planets that has been completely stripped of resources, and we will do a full archaeological survey as we go in case there are alien relics or leftover signs of the former occupants.
We don't yet know what species first inhabited these worlds, so we could find almost anything, from a new alien species with lost technologies to a mined out former Narsian world.
It is somewhat likely that they stripped at least a few worlds dry in their early days of advanced technology denial, so these might have been their worlds. We don't have enough data on what they were capable of when they arrived in this system to tell for sure.]
[That's just an additional selling point. Rae 5 has reliable access to the Alliance's data network now. The latency is horrendous, even with a micro portal open to a designated data access point for distant nations, but we get streams of the public data now, and your exploits are just as popular with the Reavers as they are with the Innu.] Mary Tarith informed him.
Great, he was a reality TV star even back among his own people now.
[I will pick out an appropriate system and begin the work of staging asteroids and other needed materials to begin the refurbishment and the construction of the Terraforming Array. Since these planets are already habitable or close to it, the process shouldn't take long. We will need to bring back some minerals and make a few atmospheric adjustments.] Max relented before accepting Huntress Khan into his office for a meeting.
[Sorry to cut you short, but I will get back when the plan is ready. The Portals will be open for another week or more as we get the merchants in and out with their goods.] Max informed the elected leader of the Reavers in the Rae 5 system.
"An important friend?" Huntress Khan asked as she sat across from him with a bottle of Rum and a data tablet.
"Nico's mother, who is also the leader of the homeworld that our Trade Group has claimed." Max agreed.
Khan smiled. "I bet she's an amazing woman. She must be to have a daughter like that. Tell me, is she as prideful and intimidating as her daughter?"
The question made Max shake his head with a rueful grin. "Intimidating, yes, but in a different way. I don't think that Mary Tarith would be called prideful, though. She's a very low-key sort of person and rarely makes an issue about her skills. Perhaps it is her age getting to her, but she doesn't like to show off the way Nico does, and she isn't one for direct combat."
"So she is more like one of the Hunters' men. Small and resourceful, with a tendency to prefer diplomacy and politics over combat." Khan asked.
"Yes, but she is also the motherly type. I'm not sure if that translates to Hunter culture. She likes to take care of the young, see them grow, and make sure they have what they need." Max explained.
"Interesting. One day I will take the time to learn more about how human families work. Hunters prefer to start them once they are older and less capable of combat, so the concept of motherly is one that we understand. It might be different for us since our Mothers are also Hunters, but the idea is the same. She raises the younglings along with a group of her peers and ensures that they have all the knowledge they need to grow up strong and deadly."
"The human saying is strong and healthy, but you have met the oldest daughter of the Tarith Family, and there is no denying that she is also deadly."
Khan poured them both a drink and turned on a holographic projection from the table that she had placed on the table.
"These are the planets we have identified as having nearby Klem or Narsian populations, and the ones in orange are populations we have identified as likely to be a good hunt. It is best that you stay away from those if you don't want to join in on the battles.
These ones I marked in green just now are the ones that can sustain life, and the brighter they are, the better the candidate for settlement.
I heard the end of your conversation as I approached the door. It isn't soundproofed well enough to keep out a Hunter's hearing. I recommend that you pick this one.
The atmosphere is a mess. Our data shows that they likely killed themselves off in a cloud of toxic gas that spread all over the planet. But the mineral resources are plentiful, the waters have purified themselves over the centuries, and some plant life has returned, with no animal life at all, not even insects, as well as no harmful bacteria.
If you set up a basic array of your Terraforming Drones, you could have the planet ready in only a few months, and you wouldn't have to disturb the ruins."
Chapter 533 533 Ruins You Say?
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"Ruins? Do you have any data on them?" Max asked.
"We didn't bother to analyze them, but our sensors detected that they were not natural formations. Going by the level of destruction, it was either deliberate or in excess of ten thousand years ago. It could be either, and some of the ruins might even be salvageable as local attractions.
We don't spend all our time hunting. Maybe ninety percent of it, but a nice relaxing stay on a relic world while we plan our next mission is always welcome." Khan suggested.
"The Reavers want to move some of the refugees who are looking for a long-term home outside of the usual nations into a freshly settled planet. If there are relic ruins here, there is no reason that we can't encourage them to set them up as a tourist attraction and build some sort of infrastructure nearby."
"So, they want to add another wave of colonization to the records, with no alien species exterminated in the process. It's an ambitious goal to have a Reaver Expansion, but I approve. Perhaps your people can bring a bit of proper civilization to this Galaxy and not that stuffy self-righteousness that the Alliance preaches." Khan agreed.
"Are the Hunters and the Alliance actually on bad terms?" Max asked, sensing the animosity in her thoughts.
"Not at all. Our alliance is the strongest it has ever been. It's just that many Hunters, myself included, are easily annoyed by hypocrisy. They tell us, "Interplanetary battles are wrong, and the Alliance forbids them," and then call our hunts barbaric.
But how did they become the only sentient species in their Galaxies before the Alliance was founded? By eliminating any other intelligent species that they found. Even the peace-loving Shin developed potent toxins as a form of chemical warfare that is lethal to the native species of their Galaxy.
You might be surprised to know that you aren't the first species to develop entire fleets of Drone Fighters. If you look through the Innu history books, they sent fully autonomous compliance fleets around their galaxy to prepare it for themselves to colonize roughly three hundred thousand years ago."
Max smiled at Khan's rant, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"It's a bit of a sore point, but if you look at it another way, even if you followed your Bride to be into every battle she wished to fight, they would still make Humans members eventually. They don't care how the fighting stops, only that it does. Give it a century after humans are the last ones left and unite as one, and they can likely get a full membership if you don't want to do as we did and continue your traditional ways."
"And here I thought they had claimed some moral high ground, but what they're really after are stability and good optics, isn't it?"
Khan nodded. "It has to look good on camera. They are coming up on the Epoch anniversary of the founding of the Alliance, one million standard years since the first species banded together to try to calm the intergalactic fighting before it destroyed everything.
This Galaxy is relatively isolated and underdeveloped, but on the far side of the Alliance, there are a number of species that are looking for entry, and having them think that nothing has really changed in a million years would not bode well for the chance to bring them into the Alliance and their trade agreements.
I am quite certain you understand that sort of politics since it is exactly what you are doing but on a Galactic scale."
"See, we're not that different after all. Every species wants to make a deal." Max chuckled.
"Except the Abyssals. If your long-range scans happen to detect a life form the size of an L-class planet, your best call is to pretend that region of space doesn't even exist. Don't come within a Galaxy of them, and they aren't too temperamental." Khan added.
As the banter faded, the two of them returned to analyzing both the data that the Hunters had collected and the data that Terminus and her fleet had collected on their way past.
The planet she had suggested was a masterpiece, other than the toxins in the air, though the other planets in the system were in the worst shape of anything he had seen from the scans. Totally stripped bare, with even the majority of their atmosphere taken away, they had lost so much mass that their orbits had begun to destabilize.
They would have to fix that if they wanted to colonize the main planet so that the collapse of the solar system didn't throw it into chaos whenever that happened, but all of those problems could be solved with the terraforming technology that they had.
"You know, we could do this much more easily if you could spare us the pattern for a simple cloaking technology," Max suggested.
"That would definitely break our agreement with the Alliance. Instead, we will wait for your technician team to reverse engineer something out of the data that they have already gathered." Khan refused his request in the most polite way possible.
"Well, it was worth a shot. Knowing them, they won't take long to create one that doesn't match anything in the records once they see the need for it. Would you like to accompany us to this Shrine World in the making?" Max asked.
"I think we will. If we are there, we can make requests for facilities, and we can watch you make your Terraforming Array."
Max saw in her thoughts that the Hunters were planning to do the same thing that Terminus did, find a technology and alter it enough that they could make it on their own without having to pay royalties.
"You know, I have the authority to license you a full array if you want to have one for your fleet. I have checked carefully, and there is no rule against discounts, so we can let you build your own from our pattern without violating Alliance laws now that it is properly patented and available for retail purchase." He informed her in response to her thoughts.
"I forget that you are like the Illithid. Sneaking around in the brain to find out what someone really wants. It's an unfair advantage in negotiations, but I bet it's an even larger one in the bedroom." She laughed, making a swinging hip gesture to emphasize her point.
"I will decline to answer that. But she already told you, didn't she?"
Max didn't even have to wait for the amused smirk on Huntress Khan's face to know that Nico had given up all the juicy details during their rampage in the Captial.
Chapter 534 534 New Project
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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The first of the Reavers arrived over the next two days to collect the locally made housewares and quilts while bringing many of the things which the locals had requested.
The Capital city was well on its way to being reconstructed already by the end of the third day, though they were still clearing rubble and corpses from the streets. Most of the multi-million-person population had survived the battle, thanks to the intervention of Khan, Nico, and the First Battalion, so the sense of grief was muted, with most of the residents having only lost property and distant family members in other locations, not close friends, or their entire life's work.
It was the best spot on the planet for the traders to arrive, making a note of the fact that the planet currently lacked shuttles in sufficient numbers to collect their orders.
They did have some, though they were clearly ancient and placed in a museum in vacuum-preserved storage.
For the moment, they didn't intend to order any. Fulfilling the planet's basic needs came first, but it was definitely high up their wishlist.
Handmade goods proved to be quite popular among the wealthier members of society. With the advent of Replicators and advanced materials printers, even the most exclusive of mass-produced items weren't all that hard to obtain.
But genuine hand-crafted items, with their unique flaws and unique character, were proving to be much more of a status symbol, and being able to tell guests that the blanket which was chosen for their room, or the end table in the hall, had come from the far side of the Galaxy, beyond any other known human settlement, was a very unique talking point.
Ordering items made with the Materials Printers was much cheaper than buying the machines themselves, thanks to the retail markup that made getting them as part of a trade deal so attractive, so the ships were coming with all sorts of machinery, tractors, tools, and such to help with the rebuilding effort until the factories could come back online.
The Narsian invasion hadn't destroyed everything. That wasn't how they usually operated. They just wanted the native inhabitants gone so they could take over the planet using what existing infrastructure they could.
So, Max got to play host to the Hunters while Nico was on the planet helping with the reconstruction of the Capital City and changing over all of the old security measures and passcodes to the new Governor.
Many items, including bank vaults and personal servers, were biometric encrypted and only accessible by the current position holder or their heir, all of whom were now gone, so there was a lot of work to do at the Governing Family's estates around the planet.
Nico seemed to be enjoying herself, though and was treating the whole thing like one big treasure hunt with the chance of finding hiding Narsians she could kill.
[Do you think you look better in a heroic pose with a sword or in a commanding pose with one foot up on a rock?] Nico asked out of the blue.
[What are you even talking about?] Max replied, not stopping his scan of the incoming vessels to make sure that they were all the right ones and nobody had taken the wrong portal out of Rae 5.
There had been reports already of multiple portals in the Moon Base region, causing some less-than-diligent pilots to end up in the wrong star system.
[The heroic pose with a sword at the feet is classic for a statue, but if it's a painting, then in front of Cleansing Light with a foot up on a rock looking all philosophical is a better choice. Why are you asking?] he replied.
[They want to put a statue of you in the park to commemorate this occasion.]
That was about what he had expected when she sent the message, but it was a bit surprising that they weren't making a statue of her and Khan, who had actually rescued the Capital.
Perhaps the damage they had done was more extensive than he had been led to believe, and the locals would rather recall that they had been saved from a Klem fleet than be reminded that a pair of Giant Robots had trashed the Capital during a kill spree competition.
[Just let them do what they think is best. It's their planet, after all, and we will only be occasional visitors if we return to bring them supplies.] he replied, letting Nico take care of the details for him.
The efficiency of the locals in rebuilding their world was incredible, and they were putting the goods to work as soon as they arrived off the ships, making a passable form of recovery where they had partial power and proper food and water distribution within a week of hostilities ending. Quite a few warzones could learn from them, so Max put it in the system logs and forwarded it to Rae 5, along with all the other data he had been collecting.
If one day, the Reavers were helping rebuild a planet's infrastructure, as they had done many times in the past, that information could save them a lot of time and money without requiring a lot of specialized equipment, which so many planets relied upon after declaring most manual labor obsolete.
[All Ships have unloaded and returned to Rae 5, Commander. No current orders are pending, and the next delivery is scheduled for one month from now, with a portal to be opened by Rae 5 moon base.] The Communications officer on duty informed Max the evening after the statue of him had been commissioned.
[Nico, our work here is done. What is left down on the surface?]
[Not much, just saying goodbye and getting everyone back up to the ship. They've got everything squared away here, and they have the ten factories with the new Materials Printers working full speed to make the raw materials for their exports.
Unless the Narsians or the Klem return, they should be fine, and they are working on reducing their signal transmission, as well as an emitter that should alter the appearance of the planet to Narsian scans, making the planet look uninhabitable.
None of us know if it works on the Klem, but they had one in the past here and had no invasions, so they think that getting a new one up and operational might convince them not to come back again.]
Max made and transmitted even more notes of the new information, so nobody would be surprised if the signals from the planet said it was barren before he responded. [We will be waiting for you then. Huntress Khan says that the world she wants us to terraform has ruins from an unknown civilization on it. Unknown age, fully dilapidated condition. She thinks they might be a good tourist destination.]
[Also, I really do need to apologize for making you take all these notes. This paperwork is torture.]
When she got the last message, Nico laughed and turned to the new Planetary Governor and her husband-to-be.
"I'm afraid we can't stay long enough for the wedding. The half year of the royal pre-wedding protocol is too much for our schedule, but if we finish the work we have scheduled, I will try to get Terminus back here for the ceremony. At the very least, I will inform the other Reavers, so they can put it on the schedule and try to make your monthly deliveries with time to be here for the ceremony, so you will at least have some representation from your allies present to remind the people that they are no longer alone in the Galaxy."
"Thank you, Miss Tarith. The day that you and your people arrived here will be remembered for all time." The Governor replied, taking Nico's hand into her own for a heartfelt handshake.
Chapter 535 535 Alarms Suck
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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Once the last of the Terminus Mecha Battalions were back aboard the ship, they set course for their next target.
The Hunters had already cloaked their ship and were intending to meet them there since their mothership was significantly faster than Terminus, even when not using portals to skip large distances.
Max could have done that, but the trip would only be a few days, and they could use it to collect data on the stars that were within sensor range of the ship as they passed, checking for additional threats and signs of possible habitation.
They had done that once as they passed by the first time, but now they had more data on how the locals had hidden, so they had a better idea of what signs to look for that would indicate that there was life from the same expansion wave surviving in the region.
"It's late. Time to go to bed." Nico informed him just as the data screens throughout the ship signaled the graveyard shift to come on duty.
It was good to have her back on the ship. Nico wasn't shifting her outer temperature to the cool metallic version to sleep anymore, but the warm and soft version was much more pleasant to spend the nights with.
So pleasant, in fact, that Max actually missed the first messages of the morning, deep in slumber.
"Alright, time to get up and get fed before people start missing you." She informed him before planting a kiss on his cheek.
"That doesn't encourage me to think of activities outside the bedroom." Max reminded her.
"Well, that's boring. Why only think of doing them in the bedroom? But seriously, it's time to get out of bed and start answering those messages already. Your watch is driving me nuts with everyone looking for updates, and I'm not sure you'd remember to turn the notifications back on if I silenced them."
Man nodded and picked up Nico to head to the shower. "You're likely right, but it sure would be relaxing not to have that thing telling me to get back to work every five minutes."
"Also, haven't you gotten lighter again? I swear Cyborgs are supposed to be much heavier than standard humans, but I am quite sure that you're actually lighter than I am."
Nico smirked and held out an arm to admire it.
"I will have you know that I have lightened this body as much as possible with the combination of human and Hunter technology without compromising structural integrity.
I am just as sturdy as the day I was remade, but now I am back to the average weight for a civilian male, without all the muscle mass that the soldiers are packing. I did get a few ideas from your usage of [Optimize] last night since it affects my whole body, not just the relevant bits. I believe that I can increase my strength and durability a bit more without adding any new materials or mass."
"Well then, it worked out amazingly for both of us." Max chuckled.
A fully modified and Optimized Nico was a scary thought, both in and out of combat, but it was good to see that she had accepted her biomechanical existence so fully. That might be partly due to the fact that she was capable of so closely emulating a human now, but she took great pride in making sure that everyone knew that she was a modified Cybernetic organism of her own design.
Even on the live streams that the Innu Technicians did, it came up quite regularly. Mostly when Nico did something superhuman and reminded viewers that her appearance and stats didn't match, but sometimes she would reference the modifications she made to herself as part of a proposal for a new product.
The streams were going amazingly well. Not just because of the sales volumes that their newest products like the Terraforming Array were doing, but the Tech Nomads working aboard Terminus had become something of a Cult Icon among the Innu for their plethora of slightly outdated but nearly free-to-use schematics, as well as their entertaining presentation methods.
The thought that you could put an augmentic suit on a frail and dainty Innu researcher and have her tear apart a civilian hover transport with her bare hands shocked many of their viewers, but the mannequin with "Cheating Ex Lover" written on it sitting in the back seat really sold the utility of such a development outside of combat, which the Innu extremely rarely engaged in.
That particular video had gone viral, getting over a hundred billion views, and it didn't even go into the details of the suit's technology. It was only a product demonstration for the new cloth sheathing on the gloves to prove that jagged metal shards wouldn't damage them.
Millions of comments and an intense gender war in the comments section later, the Terminus Tech Nomads were a household name among the regular viewers of Tech Streams.
"My work is all administration today, and I should be done in a few hours. What are you lot up to in the development labs?" Max asked after their second shower of the morning, the first one having been rendered ineffective by the innovative drying method employed afterward.
"We are working with the Canis volunteers today to adapt sensor suites for species with particularly sensitive hearing and sense of smell.
The Canis senses are dozens of times more sensitive than a standard human, so they can pick out much smaller signals without assistance, which means that we don't need to put all that work into augmenting their helmets. We only need to clarify the input with a small augmentation to allow them to pick out patterns and identify specific scents with ease.
If this pattern works correctly, the Canis should be able to tell what route a patrolling soldier took that day by the scents that had gathered on their clothes. It would be devastating as an infiltration technology, and we could further boost the sensor data later to adapt it for human and other species' usages.
It's not on the publicly listed patents anywhere that we could find in the Alliance, though they likely have something like it off the books, so we won't be broadcasting that one as part of our stream, only the trials that we are doing later in the afternoon to try to rig up a rudimentary vehicle cloaking device."
Max smiled at their proactive nature. That was exactly the project that he was going to request that they start working on.
Chapter 536 536 Breakfast With The Little Sisters
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"In that case, I will join you for the tests today. I would like to see how the attempt to cloak an object the way the Hunters do is going." Max informed her.
"Perfect, I will bring snacks. We likely won't have much success today, but the feedback from the commenters on the streams is mostly from other Innu Tech Nerds, so it can be very useful to the process, and one of the Technicians monitors it in real-time and provides feedback so that we can try out interesting ideas while we are still streaming." Nico explained.
That sounded a lot like enlisting a small army of amateurs to attempt to make new military technology, but Cloaking didn't seem to be a new or exclusive feature to the Hunters, so the amateurs might actually have valuable insights on how the process might be accomplished without breaking any Alliance Patents.
The rigid structure, the generational patents, and the strict prohibition on interplanetary combat were a strange combination, but they made the Alliance the powerhouse it was, so who was Max to argue with a system that worked?
Even their trade group prohibited aggressive actions between planets, so the peaceful front might well be nothing more than a front that the Alliance put on, at least among many of the members, but the patent thing was strange.
Corporations didn't rule them, and the governing body was made up of interspecies panels, but somehow the notion that corporate IP needed to be protected for centuries still managed to embed itself into their rules.
"How about we hit up Dave's place for breakfast? I haven't seen him in a while, and I'm sure he's secretly worried about you after the battle, even though he knows you returned safely." Nico suggested.
"I messaged him last night, but you are right. Messages are easy to hide injuries behind. I will message him now to let him know we're coming."
Molly had a duster in her hands, double-checking the work of the automatic cleaning function when they arrived for breakfast while Dave was teaching Sasha and Sandy, Max's twin younger sisters, an early morning science lesson.
"If we get the first lesson in before we eat, then we have one less thing to learn during the day. They're both mentally developing quite quickly, faster than the low System Compatibility assessment that they were given suggested, so I don't want them to have to wait for the regular primary school schedule." Dave explained.
"Let me know if you need any teaching materials or assistance. I am sure we have more than a few qualified teachers aboard who would love to help."
Dave laughed at Max's offer. "Oh, I'm sure we do, and I have been quite careful to keep the girls away from bad influences, but the boys are a going concern. They're obsessed with physical training after passing by the gym while the Special Forces unit was there working out. They don't even care about school or Mecha, just training like the infantry."
That was a bit concerning, but here aboard Terminus, being infantry wasn't so much of a death sentence as a general-purpose position, with the members being more likely to be drafted as extra drone pilots than actually sent planetside.
That was how most Reaver ships operated since they trained everyone to at least fight in case of a large battle or an attempt to board their ship.
Terminus was too new still for training youngsters to be an ongoing concern. These were the only kids aboard the ship who were old enough for it to matter to them.
"So, what's for breakfast?" Dave asked as Molly finished her rapid check for any signs of dust, as if it might actually bother their guests.
"Today was scheduled to be new foods day." She reminded him.
"Oh, you'll like this one, Max. Remember how we used to pick random stuff from the convenience store to see how it tasted? It's the same thing, but with breakfast recipes from the replicator. Some of them have been added by, and for alien species, so you never know what you'll get when you pick a random entry from the breakfast category." Dave explained.
"Alright, let's do this. You ready, everyone?" Max asked the little ones.
"As long as it doesn't spit out the fried Durian again." Sasha agreed.
Molly hit the randomize button, and seven portions of breakfast appeared, four being downsized for the kids.
"Eggs Benedict? I think we can work with that." Dave nodded happily as the food appeared.
"Crocolisk flank bacon with egg benedict, to be precise. Added just two days ago by a member of the crew." Molly confirmed.
That had to be done by one of the teams who went to the surface with them on Canis for the hunt or one of the Canis workers. They were the only ones who could have had a reference sample with them to teach the replicators to make Crocolisk.
The kids were looking at it rather dubiously, but Max was excited to try it again but mixed with traditional breakfast.
"This is the same creature we hunted on Canis, and it is really good. A local specialty, in fact. The special forces who went on the hunt with us really loved it." Nico informed the kids.
That was enough to get the boys eating. They would try anything that their new heroes liked. The older pair held out for a few seconds until they saw everyone else eating before they tried it themselves.
"So what are you two studying to be? There are a lot of options here aboard the ship, so you can be nearly anything." Max asked his sisters.
"We want to work in environmental design for the cruise ship. The virtual reality rooms are really cool, and they can make anything that is programmed into them, and there are people who design specific places, like picnic spots and walking trails, and spots to watch the stars." Sandy informed him in a really excited voice.
"That there are. Not everyone wants to come up with their own spot, so making new great spots to stop is a very valuable job."
The girls nodded happily as they ate, getting deep into detail about the places they wanted to make, as well as the things that they were learning about the basic function of the Virtual Reality systems. Dave was preparing them for any related job as well as he could for their age, so he was teaching them all the extra science lessons they would need to work on the projectors in case they wanted to repair them and not just program them.
Max was sure that was stressful for the old soldier, since he didn't actually know anything about the topic before he had to start teaching it, but he had decades of experience on his side to help him keep ahead of his young charges.
"I think it's a great ambition. The technicians keep all the attractions running and make all the cool things we have aboard the ship. Plus, everyone loves a great entertainer, and the holograms are a big attraction among the guests. Have you seen the Idol shows that they do on the fifth floor in the afternoons?" Nico asked, setting off another excited tirade by the girls while the rest of the room rolled their eyes.
The Idols were most popular with female guests in their teenage years, as well as a small group of middle-aged men, not exactly the demographic for anyone in the room except the older twins.
"Perhaps you can convince one of these two to take you when you're done with your daily work? But we need to get to the lab and begin the day's tests. It was a pleasure seeing you again." Max excused himself, leaving Dave and Molly to deal with the fallout of the star-struck tirade Nico had initiated with her question.
Chapter 537 537 Best Sisters
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
"Why don't you stay and help these fine young ladies with their science work? It's been a while since you got to really hang out, and Miss Molly can take the boys to go work out with the soldiers?" Dave suggested as they were finishing breakfast.
"We don't need you right away, so you can have lunch with them as well, maybe even bring them to the lab afterward to see how scientists do things in real life," Nico added.
"That sounds amazing. How about it, ladies? Would you like to spend the day with me while you learn?"
Both girls looked overjoyed for the opportunity as they high-fived each other, then shared an excited look.
"Yes, please. Can we call over some friends to study as well? Some girls on the Cruise Ship side are our age."
"I don't see why not. If they don't mind studying while on vacation, that is." Max reluctantly agreed.
"Oh, no need to worry about that. They're Innu. I've never met an Innu that doesn't love science class." Sandy informed him with a smile.
She had a point, and Max knew what she meant. Not many guests brought their children, especially young ones, so the two tiny figures rocketing through the gravity slides had been easy thoughts for Max to pick out after they had arrived.
He mentally searched the ship for the pair and found them at one of the water park cafés, preparing for a busy day of their mother's mandatory lessons.
That was even better. They were already going to be in an informal class, so he wouldn't be interrupting their vacation. Just their mothers carefully created learning plans.
He sent a message to their parents right away, via the barista at the coffee shop where they were sitting, requesting that the two girls join him and his sisters for a morning science lesson.
[They have agreed, with the stipulation that it must be a serious lesson and not an excuse to fool around with their friends.] The barista informed him after a few seconds' pause.
The children's thoughts told Max that their mother had them studying an introduction to electrical engineering today. A tall order for most grade school children, but kids with higher system compatibility mentally developed much faster than most humans, and the Innu's innate talent for technology gave them a great advantage in learning applied science.
[Tell them that we will be studying the fundamentals of building holographic projections.] Max replied and began to plan out his day.
The first stop would actually be the medical bay since the girls' development made him believe that his dear mother had bribed the delivering doctor to F Rank the twins without a test.
With a recorded report of zero talent, they would only have one mandatory government follow-up at six years old when they entered grade school, and the girls hadn't been that old when they left Kepler Terminus.
"First stop, the clinic. The Regiment's doctor is going to run a quick aptitude scan so that I can make a real custom lesson plan for you and make sure you won't have any problems being in the lab with lots of machinery around." He informed his sisters, who would have willingly agreed to almost anything up to and including eating brussels sprouts for dinner if it meant a whole morning with their friends learning science with Max.
The regimental doctor had a very useful set of System Functions for this purpose. First, he could identify the functionality of other systems, which would tell him a lot about internal injuries without any tools, and a secondary function would allow him to instruct another person's system to begin healing at a higher rate as long as he focused on them.
But most importantly for today, when he focused on them, he could tell what level of system compatibility a subject had. It was a common function developed by doctors who were always working with Kepler patients, but also in high demand for government workers doing assessments and for security officers whose job was detecting infiltration attempts.
"Hey, Doc. Can you do a quick compatibility assessment on my sisters and then make sure light bursts and strobes won't trigger them? I want to begin teaching them about holographic projectors." Max asked.
The doctor seemed a bit surprised, but Max's request would only take a few seconds, so he went to fetch a vision tester from the cabinet. The first round of scans was quick and easy, and brought up a wealth of data on the Doctor's tablet that he began to scroll through to verify it against the records he already had for them.
[I'm not sure this should be spoken out loud. Did you already know that they're only half-human?] The doctor asked Max, tapping his temple to alert the Commander of his intent.
[What do you mean half-human? Were there any other options on Kepler Terminus at the time?] Max replied.
[I think they've been Gene Spliced with a Siren. You know, those singing harpies with winged arms, known for beauty and their voices? They're not native to Kepler Terminus, but the black market designer babies often get a bit of their genome to make them beautiful.]
[And these two had half their genome replaced? Will there be side effects?] Max asked.
[Nothing major. As identical twins, they've developed the same Innate Talent, Enhanced Charisma, so others will instinctively like them, and they've got a low Beta Ranked compatibility. They're still your sisters, though. The scan says you are biologically related.]
[Thanks Doc]
That was a lot to take in. The fact that they had been genetically altered was not surprising, knowing his mother wanted pageant queens as daughters, but the fact they were related to Max was a shock. His genetics didn't fully match his mother's. They had been altered during his reincarnation to more closely resemble his past life.
He didn't know if there was a chance for that to have lingering effects on her body, but knowing that these were biologically his half-sisters due to genetic engineering, added a depth to the brotherly connection that Max hadn't really felt before.
Sure, he recognized them as family, but he despised his parents, so keeping their other children around was more of an obligation and a kindness to Dave, who had always wanted a family, than a sign of a particularly close family bond.
But now he knew that they really were related to him, the real him from his past life, with intelligence and potential, which would activate a strong system when they came of age. It made him feel less alone in the world and gave him the motivation to ensure that they learned everything they could before age twelve, so the system would know what way to guide them.
Chapter 538 538 Edumucatified
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
"Everything checks out, Commander. They're ready for your day's lesson." The doctor said out loud for the others' benefit.
"Thanks, Doc. I've got a big day planned for them, and I know they're going to love today's lesson."
With their business done, the doctor waved them out of his office to deal with an injured soldier who had just arrived with a long gash down his arm.
"Spanner broke while trying to free up some damaged piping. Doc will have me right as rain in no time." The big man informed the concerned-looking little girls with a smile.
Max could tell from his thoughts that he neglected to mention that he had fallen off the Mecha he was repairing at the time when it happened, possibly to hide the fact he wasn't wearing a fall arrest harness or a gravity device like regulations required.
He was in front of the Commander, after all, and being written up could have him scrubbing toilets for a month until he learned to appreciate the difference between on the floor and up in the air.
Max decided to let it slide this time. The repair bay lead technician would deal with the issue on his own, so Max just led the twins out toward the cruise ship zone to meet with their classmates for the day.
The Innu parents had joined their two girls, who both appeared to be under five years old, in the Waterpark, and they had set out four headsets on a table in preparation for the class.
"I hope you don't mind. We took the liberty of putting information on holograms into the auto-learning device in advance." The father of the Innu girls informed Max while the girls rushed to greet their friends.
"I should check it first. Since humans aren't alliance members yet, we're not supposed to teach anything beyond the species' known capabilities, even if we have access to it." Max sighed.
"Just pop the headset on for a few seconds. The first lesson is an introduction that is suitable for their age. We can instinctively communicate with technology, but without the knowledge to comprehend what we're seeing, understanding how anything works is just a guessing game.
Too much at once would overwhelm them, but there are so many new things here that we have started to teach them a number of things in advance while we are on vacation. So far, that has meant morning classes every day." The Innu man explained.
"If you don't mind, I'm sure the girls would love to learn together. Terminus has many sorts on board but very few children yet, and no properly trained teachers except Miss Molly." Max explained.
"I think that would be a great idea. They haven't complained once today since they learned that they would be working together." The mother of the Innu agreed, pointing to where the girls were already guessing what today's lesson might entail.
Max held the learning device to his face and selected [Learn All] with an estimated time notification from his system of thirty seconds.
What he got was much more than a primer on holograms. The device gave him a full university-level education in the field of electronic engineering over the course of a minute before happily announcing that course one of Virtual Reality Technician Training was complete.
"You were planning to have the kids learn all that today?" Max asked when the process was over.
"Oh heavens no. Just the first lesson. It takes about an hour for them to assimilate that much knowledge, and then you can begin your lecture." The father explained.
The first course was only one of fifty that he had gone through in thirty seconds. The time difference must be due to the system and his functions, Max decided, since the Innu certainly weren't dimwitted.
"Do you have more lessons with you? The knowledge all seems perfectly acceptable, but I personally have enjoyed a rather focused education, as my career path was set from birth as a warrior." Max asked quietly.
"We would be delighted to share. The course programs we have downloaded are only to that level, the basic school courses that all Innu must learn, but if you think you can assimilate them from the device, we will gladly loan one to you."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Then Max turned his thoughts to someone who probably already knew how great this device was.
[Nico, did you know about the Innu learning devices?]
[Amazing, aren't they? But don't overdo it, or you'll get the worst headaches. We've got some here we used for training the recruits.]
[And you neglected to mention this why?]
[You're psychic. I just assumed you already knew.] Max could hear the unconcerned shrug in her mental communication.
[I see. We will discuss this later.]
He would have to find out how the others did with the device, but there really was no reason to have a ship full of primary school dropouts when they could give the soldiers a full education.
"Alright, ladies. Sit down for a moment and assimilate the first lesson from the device. Once that is done, we will begin with the fun stuff." Max instructed the four girls.
The difference was almost certainly due to the system. His sisters were too young to have it active, and like the Innu girls, it took them roughly an hour to finish assimilating the first of fifty lessons.
They all looked overwhelmed and disoriented after the session as well, and one of the Innu girls was rubbing her temples, warding off the incoming headache.
"I hope the lesson is good because that learning method is no fun. I feel like I've been trapped in a classroom for months, but I can tell we didn't move." Sasha informed him with a grimace.
"Oh, it is worth it. Follow me to the immersion suite, and I will begin today's lesson on building realistic simulations using the layering method."
Even the parents looked excited at that. They had all of the required knowledge, but they had gone into the business side of their families' operations, so they hadn't personally had much experience with the practical side of actually using the skills they had learned so many years ago in school.
As an added benefit, human technology wasn't needlessly complex, encrypted, or vaguely programmed to deter inquisitive Innu. It was like a public playground to the adults of their species.
Chapter 539 539 Building A Feeling
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
Once inside the meeting room that could be completely converted into a solid holographic projection, Max created four desks and a pair of small couches.
"Welcome to my first actual attempt at teaching a class. Forgive me if I'm not good at it, but I can assure you that I am quite good at building realistic simulations. Now, which of you can tell me what the first element that needs to be determined is?" Max asked the kids.
"Would it be the type of planet that your simulation is set upon?" One of the Innu girls asked.
"Not bad. That is right. Start with the sky and bare ground. Today, we will make something spooky but beautiful, so what do you think we should make the world like?"
Sandy's hand shot in the air. "The scariest movies are always the most realistic ones. Alien horror movies are only a little scary, but ones set in your own home are the scariest."
"Alright, then, we will start with a basic M Class planet, blue skies, soft black dirt, and lots of water.
But that's not enough. You need to create some terrain in your vicinity. It can be auto-created randomly, but today we will do it manually. A romantic mountainside dinner sounds fun, so first up, we are going to need to create a mountain.
Build it out of stone that fits your setting and then scatter dirt over it, so it doesn't stand out unless it is supposed to be incongruous with your setting. Now, we have our basic setting.
The easiest way to build a scenario is ground up, so next comes the ground cover, with shrubs, some grasses, and a nice river, coming from an artisan spring on the mountainside."
While the description sounded random, it was actually the scene from near the Innu family's vacation cabin in the mountains, perfect for helping to immerse the adults into the scenario.
The scene was already beautiful, with the low grass and shrubs and the sunlight glistening off the water, but it was still far too barren for anything but a basic combat simulation.
"We want spooky and beautiful, so we need the beautiful. Let's add some opal stones and gems into the river as well as the mountain face. There, see how it makes the surface seem to shimmer. Those little details will matter a lot later, so don't forget why we added them.
Next, I think we need some trees. Sasha and Sandy, have you ever been to the forest?" Max asked.
"Nope, but we've been in lots of woodland simulations, so we know what they look like."
"How about everyone else? Do you think this would be better with some native Innu trees?"
"You can do that?" One of the mothers asked.
"Of course. We have Innu working on the ship. They have programmed a huge variety of familiar plant and animal life to the database." Technically Nico stole the data from their ship and added most of it herself, but that wasn't the point.
Max added the Pool Trees, as the Innu knew them, whose five-meter-long leaves curved upward to trap rainwater in them, creating small pools that the Innu kids loved to play in.
They stood hundreds of meters tall, so he could create a fairly dense canopy, reducing the direct sunlight that they were standing under and adding a feeling of being at one with nature.
"Beautiful." Sasha sighed, smiling at the trees.
"They are pool trees, so we need an extra step. Who knows what is next?"
"WATER!" Both Innu girls cheered at once.
They were an aquatic species, and being on dry ground when everything in this scenario should be soaked with water felt a bit wrong.
Max set the scenario to shield their work area and then made it rain for a few minutes, filling the leaves and turning the pathways on the ground into slow-moving streams.
"But a forest doesn't only have one sort of tree, so we will add a few more to make the area feel natural. Smaller trees have grown in the clear areas by the pathways where the canopy overhead isn't as dense. Then we will upgrade the pathway itself so that it is made of natural stone, the same as the mountain that the path leads to."
"It's incredible. If I didn't know better, I would think you had been to our homeworld yourself." One of the Mothers sighed before getting up out of her chair to go touch and smell the trees.
"That's another point. Don't forget the scent. It is programmed into the default data for the elements, but if you modify them or want a specific ambiance, you need to make the scent of the area match what the user will expect it to be.
Now, we have the basic scenario down. This is all the major plant life that would naturally occur in this area. But we are far from done. Next, you need to add details. Add moss to the trees and rocks, but only on one side, to give the users a sense of direction since the moss likes the sunny side of the trees. Add some small flowering plants, vines, and other natural elements, and you have the forest complete.
But it still feels empty, doesn't it?" Max asked.
All of the kids looked around, trying to understand what he meant, while the parents nodded.
"It's too silent. Not in an ominous way, but it's like we are standing in a picture." Sasha finally decided.
"Exactly. We need to add weather and the small creatures that give the forest a feeling of life.
A light breeze will make the leaves flutter and bring the scents of fresh water and wet trees to the users, making the forest feel like time is moving. Now add some insects and small birds. Not the biting or hostile sorts, since this isn't that sort of scenario, and place them further away from the pathway.
That will have them out of sight, but you will catch hints of their movement, and the birds may fly overhead with their randomized flight paths and simulated daily patterns.
That's much more realistic.
Now we have beautiful and realistic down. Who knows how we can make this spooky without making it too dark to see?"
That brought excited looks to everyone's faces, but they were clearly waiting for him to explain it to them instead of making their own guesses out loud.
Max compiled the ideas they were thinking of and added a few more elements just for the ambiance.
Chapter 540 540 Walk In The Woods
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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"First, we add some larger creatures moving in the distance. The random cracking of branches and noises will help. Then we move the light to sunset, where everyone can see, but not as clearly. See how much difference it makes when your mind needs more time to process. Now, we add some random temperature variations to the atmosphere. First, near the water, it should be cooler, but we will also add a few spots of cool breeze along the pathways."
There was a splash as one of the birds landed in a pool tree leaf, followed by a small growl as the tree's resident protested the intrusion, and all of the kids were startled, looking around to try to place the noise.
Max smiled, added a moon to the sky, then dimmed the light a little more to find the balance between comfortable sight and slight uncertainty.
"I think that alone should be enough for the introduction. How about it? Does it look beautiful and feel a bit spooky, but not horror movie spooky?" Max asked.
"It's perfect. Remember the first time we went to the mountain shrine, and I spent the whole walk clinging to your arm?" One of the mothers asked her husband, who smirked at the memory of how that outing ended.
"How about we walk and see how the effects work while we experience them for ourselves? After that, the girls will make their own scenario to test their knowledge of the most basic principles using premade elements."
Everyone eagerly got up to follow him through the woods, while Max decided to remain silent and let them take in the experience.
What none of the others knew was that Max had added a Winged Wolf, the flying guard dog from Comor. The one he had programmed was the excessively friendly failed candidate that they had played fetch with, and it was programmed not to attack, but in the dark of the forest, the sound of huge wings and its mournful howl as it couldn't find anyone to play with had all of the others freaked out.
"What is that? It sounds massive. Is that a dog? I heard about them in human movies. But they never made a noise like that." One of the Innu girls whispered as the sound of flapping wings and breaking branches were joined by a few upset birds whose leaf pools had been accidentally emptied by the three-meter tall winged wolf, who was too heavy for the smaller leaves where the birds were relaxing.
It faded into the distance as they hiked up the hills, and the group began to relax. Finally, they made it to the picnic site, overlooking the glimmering lake Max had customized earlier to shimmer in the sun but now lit up red and gold by the twilight.
"Well, how was it? Did I explain the method well enough?" Max asked.
"Can we replace the classroom at the start with a small cabin and save this scenario? It is incredible, and I would like to actually have a picnic here at some point." One of the fathers asked.
"Not a problem. All done. I added a standard single-bedroom cottage with a king bed and a wood-burning fireplace. Since it's a romantic outing, the users might enjoy a little comfort and privacy." Max agreed.
The Innu man smirked at him while the other one winked at his wife, who gave a long-suffering sigh.
"Well, ladies, should we start fresh? Perhaps we could pick a random setting for you four to work together to build?" Max suggested.
While Max saved and cleared the setting for the girls to get started on the practical part of their day's science lesson, Nico and the technicians were busy in the lab, getting through the initial tests of the new augmentic helmets for the Canis and other sensitive species.
"I have optimized the shape for maximum sensory acuity," Nico explained as she handed the test helmet to their volunteers.
"Isn't that a bit much, though? I get that the face mask and armor are the same as all the other units, but with the tail sheath and the upright ears on the helmet, I feel a bit like I'm standing here naked." The Canis girl complained, stroking the soft fabric ears on the helmet that allowed her own ears to shape the sensor array for directionality in a way that Nico hadn't managed to emulate smoothly with their ears pinned to their head.
"But it looks like a patrol uniform, with cargo pants and hard torso armor. It's not that different from what the warriors of your world were wearing. Should we make one in the Special Forces pattern, with the additional upper body armor and modular storage systems?" Nico asked.
Given their size, the whole armor suit had been custom-made for the Canis volunteers, and Nico had made them more naturally shaped, like the Hunters Suits, instead of the combat uniform look of the human version since Canis warriors usually fought nearly naked in short shorts.
"I hate to be the one to break this to you, but not all of us have the self-confidence of you or Rill. I prefer loose long sleeves to booty shorts and crop tops." The volunteer muttered.
"Problem solved, just put them on over your armor," Nico announced, throwing the girl an oversized uniform shirt and pants.
"Oh, we should modify the face as well. A wolf muzzle would give more room for sensors." One of the Innu technicians suggested before running and hiding under the glare of the Canis team.
"Got it. No wolf face helmets." She squeaked from her hiding spot behind the test bench.
"Even if this cloth is really hard to cut, wouldn't a blunt impact cause a fair bit of damage still? Not just to my ears, but to the skull underneath." One of the testers asked.
"Yes, it's a drawback of the design. We could add a hard rear shell that would still allow your ears to move or a full hard shell that should only limit your ears' range of motion to about half normal." Nico agreed.
"Alright, we will make a full set, including the top armor for the tails, since everyone refused the suggestion to expand the leg armor to tuck them inside." One of the Technicians announced, starting the printing process to make all necessary modifications.
The Canis didn't know it yet, but the Innu had determined that they were going to make them absolutely adorable, in a demihuman super soldier way, by the time Max arrived. They had analyzed his past behavior, and if it was both stylish and functional, he was at least 35 percent more likely to not argue with some of their more questionable design choices.