Chapter 581 581 Reunited With Tennant
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The door to the room Max was waiting in swung open on its own at the behest of General Tennant, and the guards signalled for him to enter the courtroom.
"Commander Keres Max, the challenge to your position has failed, and we have found no evidence of incompetence or malicious acts toward your crew, so your trial is cancelled. Court is now dismissed." The General announced, then stood to pull Nico into a hug.
"How is it that you haven't gotten any larger since the last time I saw you? I know your mother is small, but your father isn't that tiny." He laughed as he picked the petite cyborg up in his arms.
"That's not true. I grew a whole five centimetres when they did the conversion. It's a bit of a long story, but they thought a partial conversion would be sufficient until they got started, so they ended up doing the job as a full custom build instead of using a premade generic body, and this is the minimum size for a Mecha Pilot that is programmed into the Cybernetic Facility." Nico explained.
"That makes sense. Your personal System Functions must be intact then? You don't feel like any cyborg I've ever met. A little more, and you'll look and feel fully human again."
"I could have lightened my body a little more, but it would sacrifice combat ability. This was the lightest that I could get with optimization and alloys, plus a touch of biomechanical engineering obtained from our Hunter allies. Overall, I'm in a pretty good spot as far as developments go, and I've gained a lot of functions that I don't think any other human cyborg has."
The General placed her back on the ground and reached out to clasp hands with Max, then pulled him into a hug as well before backing away and laughing.
"You, on the other hand, have grown into a fine specimen of adulthood. Congratulations on all the promotions you've had while I was away. Commander of a Reaver Company, Lord of a Colony Ship, and Pilot of a Titan Class Mecha is quite the resume, and you're still so young."
"You should stay a while and take a tour of the Cruise Ship that we built in the bow of Terminus. It's an incredible place and is currently full of Alliance guests who wanted to see the new Terraforming Device that our development staff has produced. The planet below us is nearly half reformed, so if your derelict old Transport ship can wait a few weeks, you can watch the remainder of the process." Max suggested.
"We're not going anywhere. You will get the notification in a while, but Abraham Kepler was deemed to be non-repairable after the battle of Cormack, and I flew it alone back to Rae 5. The only people aboard it now are Reaver colonists and scientists, preparing to make planetfall once you deem the planet ready for full-time habitation."
Max frowned as he read the General's thoughts of how he came to be engaged in such an intense battle while he was supposed to be on the run, keeping the traitorous elements within the old Kepler Empire from declaring him a war criminal.
Eventually, he got to the relevant moment and found that the battle of Cormack was one where the lone God Class Mecha that Kepler possessed had shown up to destroy an invading fleet. Abraham Kepler had moved to intervene, keeping them from getting a shot in on the Mecha before its weapons were in range. Still, the ship was basically destroyed, and her crew was left stranded on the planet until another transport could be sent to recover them.
The ship was left floating in space, with an official status of disabled and all hands lost, but the General was still aboard after he had sent everyone else to the surface, and he got the warp drives running well enough to make a roundabout route through the emptiness between systems, avoiding detection until he could meet up with the Reavers.
He already knew most of the current events when he arrived. The ship's communications systems were functional, so he declared himself a Reaver Captain and member of the Trade Group, formerly a Kepler General, and started recruiting for his ship.
General Tennant smiled at Max as his expression changed, and Nico began to laugh.
"It's really quite fun to watch him dive down into someone's memories. The facial expressions are the best. He doesn't do it often, though, since it's more work than just listening to current thoughts, and the memories need to be in your recent memories. I'm not sure how it works, but I've found the loopholes to keep some secrets from him."
"Well, it's certainly easier than fully explaining everything that has happened since we parted ways. Where might we get a drink? I think we still have a lot to talk about." General Tennant suggested.
"Come with us. We will set you up in a suite next to a hot tub and a bar. I don't think any military ship can compare to the level of luxury we take for granted here. Did Abraham Kepler get retrofitted with a Replicator, at least?" Nico asked.
"One for the mess hall. I didn't have much to pay with, so I traded the spare parts that were left aboard for the Replicator and the equipment to get the settlers into their new homes. I was an old man when we met, and retiring as Governor of a new tourist planet on the far side of the Galaxy doesn't sound bad."
The Valkia looked over at that, surprised by his words.
"You are the one that the Reavers have suggested to maintain the planet for guests?"
"That I am. I might not look it, but I have an extensive education in management and spent over a century as a planetary Governor, defending a portion of the outer borders that didn't see too much action." He replied.
"Well, that is startling. Your visage suggested that you were a career soldier. I would have never thought you were a High Noble of your species." The Valkia said, by way of apology.
"Appearances can be deceiving, and many of our Planetary Leaders are lifelong soldiers, thanks to the violent history of our Galaxy. Especially the ones closest to the human borders, where there are hostile alien species nearby.
Learning to get along and not incite international incidents is a skill that the Council determined was essential to the task at hand. It's probably the only reason that my battered old ship was given such a great opportunity."
Chapter 582 582 Plans For The Planet
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All of the officers and envoys made their way to one of the more elegant lounges on the seventh floor, suitable for nobles and other dignitaries who wanted a calm and businesslike atmosphere to their day.
There weren't many guests there right now, only a few Valkia parents sipping drinks and talking about the Alliance stock markets while their kids played on the lower levels, so there was no need for the group to worry about crowding anyone out with their arrival. Many species were status conscious like that and would silently make space for those with superior stations, even without a request.
It was one of the things that the hospitality staff was working on, and he had introduced in-room views of the occupancy of various lounges so that those who were of a similar mindset could go when they wouldn't feel that they were in the way and get full enjoyment of the ship's facilities.
The parents were more than a little shocked to see all the dignitaries come into the lounge at the same time. Usually, a group that esteemed would request a private room somewhere, but Max knew that most of them found it to be overly stuffy and isolating. They didn't get a lot of chances to interact with the common people as it was, and eating in a private room only eliminated one more chance for them to see how people were really doing.
It was a problem that nearly every species seemed to suffer from. The leadership became the elites, which became unspoken aristocrats. They isolated themselves from the world within their peer group, passing down laws for everyone else that they had no intention of following.
The Alliance was as guilty of it as the humans, but they seemed to be working on it, or at least the ones that they had sent to Terminus were working on it, and everyone happily greeted the waitress when she came to take the drink orders.
Max ordered himself a pint of mead, a change from the hard liquor so that he could drink casually over dinner, and a brilliant idea hit him. In-room experiences. Unlike so many other vessels, they weren't cramped for space, so even the cheapest of rooms had a fair bit of space available. They could send down a table and chairs that matched the dining experience of the establishment that the guest wanted to visit and add a hologram to simulate it in their room.
The ultimate in-room service.
He made a note of it in case his brilliant idea was lost later in a fog of rich foods and liquor and joined the group in ordering dinner.
"It's a bit different than the old cafeteria menu, isn't it, General?" He laughed as Tennant set the menu down on the table.
"You know, there is no need to call me General anymore. We're both Commanders now, and technically you outrank me, as you command three eight active vessels." The older man pointed out.
"It's a bit of a tradition here. Half of the former officers still use their old ranks. Admiral Drake is still the Admiral, though he serves as the ship's navigator now. Even the Battalion Commanders are mostly still called Colonel." Max explained.
"Well, that's one way to sort out who is who. Most Companies use job positions or equivalent badges to show who is in charge." Tennant agreed.
"We do the same. Valkia dye certain feathers to show their rank and workplace position. The more of the feather that is dyed, the higher their rank." The Valkia envoy explained, pointing to the single blue feather near the end of his wing.
Most of the humans had thought it was either a personal choice, or a naturally occurring thing since Valkia feathers were rarely in only one colour, but in reality, that shade of blue was used for all government workers' uniforms within the Alliance, from toll booth workers to police, and even the suits of the paperwork clerks usually picked the same government blue.
It wasn't really a regulation, just a tradition since only the police and some other law enforcement types actually used blue uniforms. Everyone else had just chosen them on their own. Even garbage collectors usually picked blue coveralls with neon green safety vests.
That thought was rather amusing to Max since it was the standard safety vest colour across hundreds of human worlds and implied that most Alliance species had similar visual processing capabilities to humanity, making it suitable for general use.
The smell of steaks and lobsters brought Max back to the present and out of the minds of his table mates as a half dozen servers brought platters of food to their table, and General Tennant sighed in happiness.
"Now, this is how life should be. We're still a bit short on biomass aboard Abraham Kepler, so we've been conserving with repacked rations, but one day soon, we will be able to plug in any meal that we want and eat like kings." He informed the table with a smile.
"The food replicator is possibly the most important turning point in most societies. It is the point where the have and have not groups begin to disappear since food creation uses energy by volume, not scarcity. How they handle the transition is the most telling indication of where the society is heading." The Giant agreed, cutting into what looked like an entire ham.
"We can help build your first city as well. The terraforming device can be used for disaster remediation, so it has preprogrammed cityscapes. I have planned to add a very unique one of my own design to the planet, so if you don't object, that will be the first colony in this world. I believe that the naming rights to the planet lie with you, though." Nico informed the General.
"Planets have a proper designation as well as a local name. The local name is set by the first colonists to settle there." Max explained to the envoys.
"Oh, now that is a high honour. I like the way you think. Hunters get to name the planet if they are the first to make a worthy kill on it. I think it's nearly the same concept." The Hunter Envoy agreed.
"Well then, we have much to drink to. Waitress, could you bring us another bottle of Reaver Rum?"
Chapter 583 583 More Power
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The message that roused Max from his hungover stupor the next morning was completely predictable. The Alliance delegation and the Dryads had decided to stay to observe their terraforming efforts. At the same time, the announcement came in that the blue-skinned species would be ready for a Portal back to their home planet in an hour if Max were willing to oblige with their power supply.
The fact that so many species had focused on efficiency above all else and were incapable of opening a portal with their trade and diplomatic ships, relying instead on the space stations in their home systems, was a bit ridiculous to Max.
It was a matter that had bothered him for a while, and he was determined to get to the bottom of the matter today. He couldn't take it, not knowing why they didn't simply increase the power output of their ships enough to take care of all the tasks that might be required for their duties.
So, he sought out the Giant and Valkia envoys, who were the most likely to have answers for him.
They were sitting around a desert-themed bar, basking under the UV lamps in the heat and enjoying breakfast much more slowly than usual as they recovered from the night's festivities.
"Good morning, envoys. I hope you are enjoying the amenities. We do have a trained physician on board should you require some medicines to recover." He greeted them.
"Hangovers are proof that you truly lived." The Giant chuckled, sipping a Mojito while he waited for another plate of food to be delivered.
"You look like you have a question, Commander." The Valkia stated as Max settled down into the seat across from them.
"I do. It has to do with the difference between the human and Alliance warp drive technologies. They are quite similar, both using Dilithium and other similar Crystals in a matrix to create the warp field. But where humans have no issues generating enough power to open portals, it is standard practice for the Alliance ships to need a station to open a Portal.
I know that you have the precision that it's not a matter of arrival clearances, and I can't seem to understand why you don't increase the output of your vessels. Even if it's a reserve capacity, there is bound to be a case that it would be an improvement."
The Giant snorted. "Did you ask the Innu first?"
Max nodded. "They said that they were too broke, and their thoughts went on a tangent about repair techniques and warp theory. I couldn't make sense of it, so I decided to come to you instead."
Now the Giant was actually laughing. "I can see how trying to deal with Innu as a mind reader would be a nightmare. To summarize, do you know how the crystals are formed and prepared for use?"
Max nodded, and the Giant continued.
"When they are replicated, there is no way to set the matrix in the crystals. It needs to be done afterward with specialized nanotechnology. The technician needs to tune it to the ship and then fine-tune it to the warp bubble patterns and frequencies. It is a very delicate procedure, and putting strain on the system causes microfractures.
So, the maximum safe output of the system is limited. We could greatly increase the size of the matrix, but that makes it even harder to create and tune and increases the rate at which it degrades and needs to be overhauled.
Ships with Terminus's output using Alliance warp drive technology have an overhaul schedule of a single decade. It's a massive inconvenience, and the skills to perfectly tune a warp drive are in high demand, so the downtime can be considerable.
I have investigated the human warp drives and have a question for you. How do you get around the problem of microfracture events pushing the drive out of tune?" The big man answered.
"We actually built a Materials Printer into the Warp Drive to repair the microfractures. Then, a technician with a repair-related System Function aligns the matrix through the repaired section. They have only had to do it once so far, but it worked flawlessly and took under a minute." Max explained.
"So, you are saying that there are humans who can just FIX damaged warp arrays in a minute without tools or specialized tuning bays?" The Valkia asked in shock.
"Well, you need a screwdriver to get the cover off unless you're wearing a Tech Adept Harness or you're a Cyborg, but yeah, that's the basis of it.
The drive doesn't put off any radiation that is harmful to humans when it is powered down, so we can open it up and have the tech put a hand on it to align the repaired sections. Certain humans, like myself or Nico, with more versatile system functions, can actually do it from outside the enclosure by sending the nanobots into our surroundings."
"That is one hundred percent cheating, by the way." The Innu Envoy stated, walking up behind them.
"I talked to the Tech Nomads, and they said the same thing. When they break the warp drive prototypes during testing, they have a human reset them to default values and start over again."
That made Max chuckle. No wonder they loved Nico right away. The Warp Drive improvements were among their first projects here aboard Terminus, and he hadn't realized that they couldn't do them with such efficiency without Nico around. Their thoughts were too full of ideas for him to isolate such a small detail.
"You mentioned humans like yourself and your second in command. Should I understand it as there being more humans with such capabilities?" The Innu Envoy asked.
"Of course. Repair-related functions are fairly common among the descendants of Kepler and the Reavers. Most won't be at anything near our level, but being able to align a warp matrix is common enough that I haven't heard of any severe shortages of technicians either for the factories or aboard our ships." Max replied.
The envoys shared an overjoyed look and spoke as a group.
"I don't suppose that it is possible to hire these Clan bonded humans, is it?"
Chapter 584 584 Warp Technicians
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Max decided to fix a few misunderstandings this morning since they were already being open to questions.
"Our people aren't Clan bonded. They are very loyal employees. Nothing is forcing them to stay with their Company other than the fact that it is where their family is, and we are usually quite fond of our families." Max informed the envoys, then amended his statement.
"With the exception of term contracts for youths that have been put through advanced training. The Company pays the cost of their education, and they work for a set time, usually five years, to pay them back with their newfound skills."
"Innu do the same thing. It is a good way to recruit young geniuses from less affluent families and send them to the finest educational facilities." The envoy agreed.
"Exactly the same concept. I am glad that we have that in common. It would be a rather large culture clash if our species had conflicting ideas on the appropriate use of advanced education."
The Valkia gave him an eager look and then took out a data tablet from a pouch between his wings.
"How often are such recruiting events held? I think we would like to have a suitably skilled human among our ship's crew. If they can overhaul the warp drive on our runabout, it would save us weeks waiting on repairs when we get home."
"You can place a job offer anytime, and then it will be up to the qualified workers to contact you with their intent to apply for employment. But if you need a drive repaired, we can do that for you as a service. Repairing vessels that come for vacations is sometimes necessary, so we do have technicians on our staff that aren't dedicated to the ship itself and are available to do repairs on other vessels today." Max offered.
"Really? That would be wonderful. We are getting close to full overhaul now, and if we could extend it by a few years, it would look really good on our performance logs." The Valkia told him with a wink.
"How about I make up a work order, and I will send a crew over right away? It usually only takes a few hours a drive to do the repairs, so they could do your main drives as well as your runabout if you need. I have reviewed our agreement, and that should be allowed under the new terms of our arrangement." Max suggested.
"Excellent. Yes, we will take you up on that. Just let us know what it costs, and we will arrange payment."
Max shook his head. "Think of it as a gift. It will be the first time our crews are working on your particular setup since it's so different from the luxury yacht drives that we usually encounter, so it wouldn't be right to charge you while they are learning the intricacies of your design. I can assure you that their System can fully analyze your Matrix and restore it to its original configuration though."
"I feel like we are being scammed, but I can't detect any hint of a lie in your words. Humans really are a curious species." The Valkia responded with a curious look at Max.
[Nico, I found you a new toy. The Envoys ship needs repair and refresh on all their warp drives. Assemble a team and take them over to bring the Alliance vessel back to peak performance.]
The pure joy at getting the chance to lay her hands on an Alliance Envoy vessel was almost enough to drown out all the other minds around her in Max's senses. Still, she started assembling her team immediately, including two of the Tech Nomads and three other human technicians with similar repair skill sets.
It was a golden opportunity for them to gain new knowledge on a high-warp vessel of the sort that they couldn't yet make themselves.
"You've definitely been had. But I think that we will get our full overhaul. I have been using my implanted data link to chat with some of the Tech Nomads stationed here aboard Terminus. They informed me that Lead Researcher Nico Tarith, also known as Tarith Rage, has assembled a team to head over to our vessel to begin the work, and they are requesting clearance to send the shuttle already." The Innu envoy laughed.
"They are using the repair job to study our ship design, aren't they? Is this the secret to human innovation? Just find new things and blend them with existing knowledge until you find a workable version that isn't patented?" The Giant asked.
"It is the second most popular version, behind creating an entirely new idea. Blended technologies never seem to work as well or have the same advancement potential as an entirely new design.
Now that the deal is signed, we could purchase a vessel with a similar rate of speed and reverse engineer it, but this is more cost-effective for both of us. When was the last time one of your counterparts got a whole Warp Drive overhaul for free?" Max asked.
"Humans are dangerous in more ways than combat, it seems. I must say, your straightforward mannerisms and adeptness with half-truths had me underestimating the wiliness of your species." The Valkia replied with an impressed feeling in their thoughts.
"It is considered horribly rude to outright lie to someone. So Reavers have practiced telling people only the parts of the truth that they want to highlight. I think it is a common skill for businesspeople among many species. Some of the ones we have seen from the Alliance had the same quality, though not all had the same aversion to outright falsehoods." Max agreed.
"That's how business goes. Humans also have a great deal of pride, which can lead to making statements that you shouldn't. The ingrained bias of many Alliance members against non-members is also an issue. I hate to say it, but most of the Alliance views any species that isn't a member as some sort of primitive species, regardless of the reason for their status.
It has been an ongoing issue for many millennia, and I'm not even certain that it can be reversed at this point." The Giant told him, clearly annoyed by the state of things. His thoughts said that it made his job much more difficult, which was the primary reason he wished to change the status quo.
Max understood that feeling. Wanting to change things that annoyed him occupied most of his free time and the majority of Nico's work life.
Chapter 585 585 Repair Job
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Nico and her team of technicians took off the moment that they were given clearance to take a shuttle to the Envoy's ship to do the work on the Warp Drives.
They would be starting with the runabouts and the other smaller vessels which used the same sort of drives so that they could prove their competence and the reliability of the human method of repairing the crystals and tuning the system before they ever laid a hand on the main ship's systems, but that was no deterrent to them.
In fact, Nico might have lost a bit of respect for the Alliance's intelligence if they had let some random technician dive straight into the most sensitive system on their ship, the one that could guarantee their return home and the life support systems of their vessel.
The shuttle landed in a cargo bay at the rear of the spherical ship, modelled after the world ships that the Alliance had sent to this Galaxy in the past, but much smaller, being only a little larger than Terminus in diameter.
All of the humans present were already using their system functions to scan the vessel, gaining new insights into manufacturing and engineering principles for such a unique vessel while they walked from the guest hangar to the docking bay for the runabout used or planetary landings.
To say the runabout was high mileage was extremely generous to this ship's current state. It had suffered a power malfunction during a planetary landing, and the outer hull had taken the full brunt of the thermal and gravitational forces of an entry from orbit.
It was designed to handle it, but not without damage, as the outer surfaces were designed to be ablative in the case of shield failures.
"Would you like us to fully overhaul the ship? We have a very nice modified outer hull design that won't take damage from planetary landings. Unfortunately, it will take significantly longer to cool down than the current outer plating of the runabout." Nico asked the team which was escorting them into the bay.
"It would be great to see her back in her prime, but the leadership hasn't cleared that change, and they haven't allocated resources to refresh the plating that is on the vessel due to the state of the warp drive. I believe that the humans call this state [Mothballed], or placed out of active service." The Giant explained.
"Oh, that makes sense. I had been under the assumption that you were still using this one and did not have a replacement on board with the same capabilities." Nico responded politely.
"We don't have a replacement on board, but we are not currently using it either. That has somewhat limited our capabilities, but we have both larger and smaller vessels on board for secondary duties, and they have been enough to serve the purposes of the damaged runabout while we waited for the overhaul interval. I'm sure you understand it is more cost-effective to do them all at once than to take multiple downtimes."
"Of course, downtime costs everyone on the ship, and this is a rather large ship, even compared to the Colony Ship that we call home." Nico agreed while she brought out her scanners to see what she could do about the engines.
The rest of the team checked the entire hull for hidden damages that might lead to failures or additional issues if the drive was returned online. They didn't find anything of note, the damage was all cosmetic, but they did gather a lot of information about the disc-shaped design that they would have to input into their simulators later to see how it interacted with warp fields and why it was chosen as an optimal design for planetary landings.
"Alright, it looks like the engines won't be too large of an issue to bring back online. I will remove the crystals, replicate a replacement and tune them to the ship in the same pattern as the originals. I can custom-tune them if you like, but I am not sure what your official policy is on outside modifications." Nico informed the staff members who had gathered around to see the humans in action.
"You can really do it right here? Without taking it away or any special repair bays?" The Giant who led their escort asked.
"I can even use your onboard replicators if you prefer. It will just take a little more time to tune them because we have specialized ours for creating new drive crystals for the ships we have custom-made for private customers."
"Then we will let you get to work. Forgive us if we supervise everything. It is a standard security policy for outside contractors, even ones from the Alliance since this ship is currently carrying Envoys. The risk of a politically motivated attack is never zero." The escort reminded them.
That might be the most intelligent thing she had heard anyone say today. A lot of the Alliance members seemed to have their heads in the sand and be oblivious to obvious issues, but the security guard was well aware that all was not sunshine and rainbows in the universe.
"Alright, team, let's get those crystals out and get them repaired. Make sure you don't miss any fragments. My scans say that the crystals have completely shattered in there, and any remnants left in the housing could cause a chain failure later." Nico instructed her team, who all activated the additional arms of the Tech Adept Harnesses.
It was a bit of a flex on the Alliance technicians, who didn't have anything quite as cool for their toolboxes, which were mostly simple chests with drawers and gravity plating to maneuver them where they were needed for the job.
Sometimes it was the little things that brought the most joy, though.
The crystals of the runabout were indeed fragmented and looked more like someone had set off a grenade inside the containment housing than a standard overload event. There were even fragments embedded in the walls that had to be pulled out before they could continue.
"Change of plans, pull the entire containment housing. We will have to replace the security panelling since fragments are embedded in the walls, and they need to be precision machined for proper field generation. Make sure you lay everything out in the standard pattern. I don't want any overlap or walking over each other when it comes time to put this thing back together." Nico ordered the technicians, and the relatively long process of fully tearing down the chamber began.
Chapter 586 586 Timely Breakthrough
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While the bay was being torn down, everyone aboard Terminus was in full work mode, including the design team members that hadn't been chosen for the repair mission.
Other than herself, Nico had deliberately not chosen anyone who was a lead member on an active project so that the rest of their work could proceed on schedule, including their usual live stream, which was set to show the interior upgrades to the Tech Nomads yacht today.
They had spent all this time working on the perfect new interior layout and fully gutting the hull to prepare for the overhaul, and today was the day it was set to start coming back together.
The plans for their ship had taken dozens of unexpected turns since they first arrived with the hopes of earning enough money to make it somewhat liveable again with a reliable warp drive. Now, they could use ship resources to turn it into anything they wanted and take the cost of the materials they used out of the revenues from the live streams they did in the process.
They had even found what they hoped would be a working version of the new cloaking device currently in the patent registration process under Terminus Trading Company's name. It wasn't perfect or quite up to military grade as Max had asked them for. Still, this edition had the core functionality that they were basing the rest of their designs off of. Registering the patent now would prohibit any copycats from cutting ahead of them with a derivative.
The fact that they hadn't made it public yet should help since there weren't really any other Alliance scientists in the Galaxy other than the ship's guests, but you could never be too careful when it came to the development of security features.
The cloaking device patents were marked as not for public viewing, which cost extra but was standard for things which might have military implications. It would alert the Alliance army when the patent was registered, but conveniently, there was a whole ship full of Alliance Envoys right here who could be sent over to see what they were doing and register any complaints that they might have about the design's similarities to other hidden patents.
Not that they would likely do that, as it meant showing the Innu and the Humans aboard Terminus the actual design schematics for their military cloaking devices to determine the patent violation. However, there was still a chance that they might get lucky.
The live stream started, and the virtual simulation of the new interior was displayed to their millions of viewers, starting a running commentary on their personal tastes as they related to how each of the Tech Nomads had designed their new room.
That quickly turned to questions about why they were renovating a relic instead of building a whole new ship, as the viewers knew that Terminus was capable of. The first few yachts they had put out had already been spotted at multiple social events and had become something like high fashion for the true elites, the most exclusive luxury yacht brand in the Alliance.
They had a good point, and the Tech Nomads had been overlooking the possibility in the excitement of getting their old home renovated. If they made themselves a whole new custom ship, they could raffle off the renovated one once they were finished.
Fans of the Tech Nomad feeds would buy nearly anything relating to them, so raffling off their old ship would be an easy win for the group. Trying to avoid the sketchy sorts of bidders who would want questionable modifications or personal garments left behind could be a bit more difficult though.
The hazards of becoming famous.
They were just about to finalize the design and have the modified Terraforming Array in the bay build their new interior when an interesting bit of data came through from the repair team working on the runabout. While inspecting the hull for damage, they inadvertently found the missing aspect of the cloaking device that was preventing their new design from being fully effective.
The field modulation interacted with certain alloys used in human ships and Mecha, which was the cause of the limited effectiveness they had managed so far. According to Nico's system analysis, it could be overcome, but it would require a rather extensive testing round to find the right way to make the changes and hide the objects from optical scans.
That was incredible news, and it would keep them busy for weeks, or even months, so everyone exited the vessel, then they set the camera drones to hover in the set safe spots and began the work. The faster they could get through their live stream, the faster they could return to the work they wanted to do.
[Raffle? A raffle is a great idea. How about we start by having them vote for items to be added to the rooms?] The lead team member for the ship overhaul recommended to the others.
[I will start.] She added, then turned to the cameras.
"In honour of a new development that we have made here aboard Terminus, on a project we are working on in secret until it is complete enough to show to the public, we will be adding one item to each room of the ship, as voted by you.
Recommendations start now, until the end of the live stream, and you will have until the day after tomorrow to vote on the leading suggestions." She announced to the viewers and watched as the comments section went insane.
That was her favourite part about having so many active viewers, as opposed to their small following before coming to Terminus. Everyone was so lively, and they had some great ideas.
Most of the suggestions were from viewers wishing to have something they liked added to their favourite Nomad's room, but some were great ideas as well.
Of course, not all of the ideas were great. Individual Replicators at every seat of the table would be a logistical and power supply nightmare, and the existing replicator was built overhead. It could put the dishes directly on the table already.
The single best idea of the day came from a Myceloid student in the Capital Academy. An unlikely fan of an Innu Tech Stream, but her suggestion that the upper lounge deck be modified to include a human-style DJ booth gathered millions of votes in the first few minutes.
Chapter 587 587 Impatience
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[Hey Nico, how's it going over there?] Max asked later that evening when he noticed the shuttle hadn't yet returned to Terminus.
[All is well. We are waiting on approval from the Alliance Government for some essential work that needs to be done, but all of the basic tasks are already completed, and the Crystal Matrix in all their warp drives has been refreshed.]
Max could sense the excitement in her text commentary, so he assumed she had learned what she had gone there for while they did the repairs and left her to her work.
What he didn't realize is just how much she had learned from her in-depth analysis of the Alliance vessels while they prepared them for a Warp Drive overhaul. The initial discovery that certain alloys appeared to interfere with the functionality of the Cloaking Device was only the beginning. They also found data on the resonance of Warp Fields that could be used with specific hull shapes to exponentially reduce the energy needed to stabilize them at higher values.
pàпdá-ňᴏνêι.сóМ It wasn't just a matter of finding a design that worked and scaling it to your purpose. The effect was also sensitive to total mass and specific warp factors.
If her estimation was right, very fast vessels like the warp 40 plus government vessel that had scrubbed itself from their logs could not actually maintain any value up to warp 40. Instead, they could go from roughly warp one through ten or fifteen and then one very specific speed far beyond that, where their hull resonance matched the activation of the warp field.
It was an absolutely fascinating discovery, though not one that they would be making practical use of any time in the near future. There simply wasn't a need for it since the Reavers were focusing on equipping all of the Company Flagships with Portal Devices if they were large enough vessels to make it feasible.
For old designs, that meant mostly the Colony Ships and Destroyers. For the new Cruisers, with the most recent technology, it wasn't an issue for them to sustain a portal within this Galaxy to move themselves through or a smaller one to move shuttles to nearby Alliance depots.
The word spread quickly about the trade deal, and some of the Companies were already looking to buy specific items from the Alliance warehouses. Mostly items for terrestrial use on their home planets, things like advanced farm equipment and weather control drones that weren't in the human repertoire of cool toys.
It simply wasn't possible for humans to make a replica of every device that the Alliance had to make their lives easier in such a short time. Now that they had the access, Max suspected that the will to do so would be considerably dampened.
Why would they dedicate years of research to develop a knockoff of something they could simply buy elsewhere for a reasonable cost?
The great limiting factor at this point was the lack of Alliance Credits that the majority of the Companies were suffering from.
That was where Nico and the Tech Nomads came in.
They had amassed an enormous amount of wealth already and had spent next to nothing, so they had expanded their loan program for Colonists to include the Reaver Companies. They could convert material goods in this Galaxy to Alliance Credits for a flat lending fee.
The Reavers already had a solid buy-and-sell marketplace, so getting rid of the goods without ever having to see them wasn't an issue. Their trade AI simply found a buyer for the goods and took the Reaver Credits in exchange.
It kept the flow of goods moving through Reaver trade routes and brought new technology to far-flung and technologically limited worlds as the Reavers traded their old-generation devices for new purchases.
It all seemed very altruistic, bringing up the quality of life for more primitive planets within the Trade Group. Still, with their lending plan taking a tidy twenty percent off the top, it was quickly turning Terminus Trading Company into one of the largest banks the species had ever known.
The economy of scale, as Max's grade school economics teacher, would have called it. There were many million times more Alliance members to buy things from and sell things to than there were humans, so the goods they sold made such immense amounts of money compared to what the humans needed that they simply couldn't run out with their current business model.
Max was even considering importing a number of Alliance luxuries to give to General Tennant to help him get the planet up and running the moment that they landed with the Colonists.
They were bringing over asteroids to stock the world up with everything that it could need, and Terminus would send down state-of-the-art everything for the first city on the planet, but a few cool toys from back home would make the Alliance guests feel more at home and less awkward during their stays on what was intended to be a world for historical research and preservation.
When Nico finally did return with her team, they weren't alone. They had no fewer than four technicians from the Alliance vessel with them come to talk shop with the crew aboard Terminus until their Envoys were ready to depart.
"Revolutionary Thought" is how they described the human method of repairing damaged warp crystals. It was a technique that they hadn't mastered and weren't even sure they had the technology aboard their ship to attempt, but the small team had refurbished the Crystal Matrix chambers on every single one of their Warp Drives in a single day and brought them all back to within factory tolerances for tuning.
They shouldn't have worried about time to study with the human technicians, though. The envoys clearly had no intentions of leaving in a hurry, and only a select few knew that the newest patents filed by the Terminus Trading Company were going to keep the Envoys and their legal team around for more than a few days.
Chapter 588 588 Making Friends
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
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The technicians from the Envoy's ship were having a grand time on their first visit to Terminus. Such a good time, in fact, that they were still in the research and development lab, admiring all of the things that Nico and her team had been working on when the Envoys called them in the morning to give a detailed update on the status of the warp drives.
To say that the Envoys were a bit surprised to see that the message connected directly with the internal communication servers of Terminus and not back to their own ship was an understatement. They had expected the work would take a week or more, so the technicians should be busy at work, not hanging out on an alien cruise ship.
[I can confirm, Envoy. All ship systems check out. The repairs have passed the internal scans, system diagnostics, and internal tuning checks. All that is left is to power it up and take a test flight at various warp speeds to confirm the computer's analysis.] The technician confirmed when the Innu Envoy checked in with them.
[Where are you now? I will come to your room and check the data myself.] The envoy responded and got back a few moments of silence before the Technicians had anything to say.
[We are in a secure area of Terminus, but we can get an escort to you, and I will show you the data in person.] The Technician offered.
[Why are you in an area that I cannot access?] The Innu questioned, eager to know what they had been up to.
[You see, we got to talking shop, and one thing led to another, so most of the night shift is here in the research labs with the Human design team and some of the Tech Nomads, going over the latest revision to their augmentic environmental suits.
These things are brilliant. They're more intuitive than a drone or augmentic arm and fully environment stable for outside work. You should have seen the ones that they made for the Canis crewmen, who have large pointed ears atop their heads. The helmets are so cute.]
[Find a way to get me access. I must see what you are talking about. I have seen humans in all sorts of clothing around the ship, but never an augmentic armour.] The envoy demanded, jealous at being out of the loop about a cool new technology.
The response was exactly what everyone had been expecting. They had already informed an escort team to be on standby to bring the envoy to the labs when they asked, so the Alliance Technicians responded immediately.
[They have a team on the way to your position now. It's a bit of a walk, but they might have a cart for you. You will get a laugh out of those too. They're so basic. I mean, they don't even have an onboard computer, just a bio-battery and a motor with manual controls. It's insane.]
Max was listening in on the two as they conversed and laughed a bit at the description of their repurposed golf carts. They were simple but easily rechargeable and rarely had a service failure. Plus, they were so light now that they had switched to the biomatter energy storage units that most of the crew could lift an end to put them on stands should they get a flat tire or suffer a breakdown.
Even then, most of the failures were likely to be an electrical connection since there were only a few moving parts, and almost everyone aboard had learned enough in their basic training to be able to diagnose that, at least. The technicians still did weekly service on them, though, checking everything and adding a bit of grease to the wheel bearings if necessary.
Terminus was a big ship, so some of the more popular routes saw a lot of kilometres put on the carts since the crew used them as public transit.
pàпdá-ňᴏνêι.сóМ The cart in question arrived at the Envoy's location only a few minutes later with two uniformed Terminus guards on board as his escort.
It was one of the six-passenger models, with three rows of seating, suitable for the Envoy to bring both of his own guards along on the journey through the ship.
"I do hope you can forgive us for keeping so much of the ship off limits, but in a way, Terminus is still a military ship, and letting anyone who isn't a staff member into areas where live weapons are present would constitute a severe security breach." The guard informed the Innu envoy before holding out a hand to assist her into the cart.
Her two large male security officers loaded themselves into the back seat, marvelling that they could fit. Most vehicles were designed for a certain standard, and the majority of the crew aboard Terminus were not large men.
"The carts were originally designed for a sporting event, so stability and extra space to carry equipment was a major consideration. The hallways of Terminus were made for much larger bodies as well, so keeping the wide and stable form of the carts made sense, and it doesn't interfere with two-way traffic." The driver explained as he made the slow drive back to the entrance of the secure areas of the ship.
"And after all this time, you never thought they might need an upgrade? Not even an autopilot or an efficiency tracker to ensure that the crew wasn't misusing them?" The envoy asked.
"The entire fleet of carts is such a minor power draw that it hasn't been a consideration. They're not high-speed vehicles, so they don't need high-output motors, and many of them have been converted to flat decks with scissor lifts to deliver parts and hold items while Technicians work.
Being on a solid surface is vastly preferable to hovering with gravity control, at least to most of the technicians it is, so they like them for all sorts of maintenance issues."
They passed one such modified cart on their way to the development bay, with six technicians sitting on the deck, letting their legs hang off the sides, making the Envoy's eye twitch with the need to reprimand them for violating safety procedures. Dangling feet near wheels was definitely a violation.
"Are they not concerned about injury?" The Innu asked as the cart full of technicians passed.
"Honestly? Most of them can run faster than the cart is moving. It just saves them the energy of making their way to the next task. They can likely catch up and hop back on even if they fall." The driver replied with a shrug.
That was a revelation to the Envoy. He had forgotten that these humans' abilities did not necessarily match their appearance, even if they weren't cyborgs.
Chapter 589 589 Even Armor Is Fashion
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The cart carrying the Envoy and her entourage pulled up in front of the research labs, where they were met by ten armoured guards, all in the newest models of the Augmentic Armor.
"Oh, this is wonderful. They even brought the new models out on display for us. Look at that. I think it's modelled on the biomechanical armours of the Hunters, isn't it? Yes, and that is Flat Space technology as well. How incredible, both have been fully adapted by humans, using completely different technology, but the same basic idea as the original." She declared, hopping off the cart to inspect the armour.
"Envoy, that isn't a fashion display. Those are the guards on duty to ensure that nobody attempts to break into the research labs." The driver of the cart explained, making her bodyguards chuckle.
"Oh, that one is on me. I thought they sent someone out to meet us." She replied, but the driver could tell she was clearly pouting at being interrupted.
"You can keep inspecting them if you like, but they are a generation older than what is being worked on in the lab, and I am quite sure that you will be even more intrigued by the newest developments." The guard standing at the keypad for the door offered.
"See, now even the guards are going to be mistaken as flirting with the Envoys." The driver whispered to the bodyguards as the Envoy took out a pair of diagnostic tools to begin inspecting the soldiers on duty.
"I think it's a culture clash. What you see as common courtesy, the Innu see as the equivalent of a fancy date. I am afraid to see what happens if one of your people actually does start flirting with an Innu." The bodyguard agreed.
"It could be entertaining, and I think the kids would be cute, but would they have the tentacles, or would they have human hair?" The driver asked.
"I am not certain that genetics works like that. The possibility of a species being able to interbreed and produce viable offspring with species from another galaxy is infinitely low, even if they look very similar." The guard corrected him.
"That's a shame. A lot of fine human fantasy literature involves romantic relations with alien species, and it is a bit of a disappointment to find out that they're not at all realistic."
Both of the Guards, as well as the Envoy, gave him a strange look at those words.
"Is it common for Humans to be interested in other species that way?" The Envoy asked.
"Not even cyborgs are safe from the amorous intentions of Humans. Don't ask me why. It's just how humans work, and there is no particular basis for which species we will find attractive until we actually meet them." The driver agreed.
The Innu seemed confounded by this thought, completely unable to fathom the concept.
"Talk to the Tech Nomads. They can explain it. I heard that they thought some of our soldiers would be hot if they just had tentacles." The guard suggested.
"Humans are a strange lot. No wonder everyone finds you so interesting. But I should get inside and go see what they are up to before they finish and leave me standing out here."
The envoy made her way inside and nearly forgot about the strange conversation that they were having outside when she saw the newest developments for the Augmentic Armor.
The Innu head tentacles were not just ornamental. They were also sensory organs used to help with balance, as well as the direction of their ability to interface with electronics. So, with that in mind, Nico and the design team made an upgraded version for spacewalks and exterior ship repairs that allowed them to move freely while being safely encased in both atmosphere and temperature-controlled surroundings.
When it was disengaged, it looked like a bag with a mask, but as the technician in front of her put the device on, it pulled in and moulded around her tentacles, allowing them free individual movement with an easy-to-wear design that didn't need to be manually slid over every tentacle, or so large as to be unwieldy in order to give them room to move.
In fact, it looked a lot like their natural features but in a plain gray, the same as all the other cloth bits on the augmentic armour.
"In case you were wondering, that is also an augmentic mesh. With the helmet on, she should be able to lift up to ten kilograms with each tentacle. We are about to test that now." Nico greeted the Envoy, who was staring around the room in awe.
"Might I inquire as to how tentacle strength augmentation even became a priority for your design team?" The envoy asked politely.
"Oh, that is actually very simple and obvious. We were doing some testing in enhanced gravity to determine the limits of the suits and noticed that we were completely incapable of effectively maneuvering our tentacles. So, we got to work on designing a helmet specifically for Innu, which should allow us to work in up to twenty times standard gravity without losing any of the precision of our technology interface abilities.
Well, in theory, anyhow. There have been a few setbacks in the development of the form-fitting device, and it has a habit of bundling nearby tentacles into one sleeve."
"That is an incredible design. The forcefield that most technicians use tends to cause agoraphobia in many Innu since there is nothing solid around their heads, and they are in space. I think that this unit, which doesn't rely on a constant power supply to remain intact, would be very well received among a segment of the population." The Envoy agreed.
"Plus, we can put cute masks on the helmet. Look at this one. It's a cartoon cat from a human children's show." The Tech Nomad cheered, showing off the oversized cat-faced helmet with tentacles in addition to cat ears.
"Now, that was worth the effort of coming all the way down here, but I suspect that none of the things that you have shown me so far are the important parts of your current research." The laughed.
"Well, I wouldn't say they're unimportant. But no, they're not our main projects. Prepare to be amazed at the newest and greatest Terminus Trading Company invention. The investigation shuttle Beta design three point five."
Chapter 590 590 That's Concerning
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"The what now?" The envoy asked.
"We managed to perfect a basic cloaking device, using all human technology, and we fit it onto a new class of shuttle. You should see this thing. It's so human it's ridiculous." The Tech Nomads informed her.
"I understand all those words, and I'm still afraid to find out what they mean in this particular context." The envoy sighed, looking around the room to find the shuttle.
"It's in the next bay. This one doesn't have an exterior door for security reasons. Follow us, and we will have lead researcher Nico get it ready for you.
It's so cool that even you Alliance Government sorts might want one." The technician giggled.
They walked into the next bay and found a large, teardrop-shaped shuttle floating in the middle of the room, suspended by a gravity field while Nico put the finishing touches on it.
"You are just in time, Envoy. Meet our newest experimental shuttle. Well, we haven't actually named it yet, and beta prototype three point five doesn't have a great ring to it, but we will come up with a name for this series of shuttles soon enough.
Please, step inside, and you can see the wonder of our newest personnel transport." Nico informed her.
There was no obvious way to get into the thirty-meter-long teardrop, but when Nico waved her hand, the exterior reshaped itself and a long, narrow ramp extended for them to enter.
"Is that a polymorphic shell?" The Envoy asked, marvelling at how the ship reshaped itself to allow them to enter.
"Very good. Yes, it is. We thought that this might be the most unique way to optimize hull shape for various warp field frequencies and speeds, as well as eliminate the interference from our more traditional hulls with our limited stealth technology.
We haven't run a live test on it yet, but in the simulator, it is the single most capable vessel in the human fleet to this point." Nico explained, then led the envoy to a luxurious leather recliner, one of a dozen lined up near the wide end of the ship, with the rear seemingly reserved for cargo space.
"Where did you even mount the Warp Drive? The interior seems to be the same size as the exterior, and the rear is much narrower than what would be necessary to fit any sort of warp nacelle." The Envoy asked.
"The nacelles are built into the hull and disguised so that they can't be easily targeted. But the drive is under your feet right now. We rearranged it into a low-profile design so that we could maximize interior volume. We can rearrange the vessel into an oval or a disc as well, but according to our data, the water drop shape should be most efficient for both stealth and high warp factor travel, so that is how it is configured by default."
"How far is it from complete?" The envoy asked hopefully.
"We can test everything today, but we won't know the answer to how far it is from production until we get the results."
Both bodyguards gave the Envoy a dubious look, knowing full well how excited she got about new technologies, especially things like this which would shake up the order of things within the Alliance.
Humans had no sense of exclusivity, as far as she could tell. They just sold their stuff to anybody that they got along with as soon as it got one generation behind what their own forces were using. It was a growing nightmare for the Alliance government, as it violated the unspoken agreements about what was and was not to be made available to civilians.
That was the next task she had been allotted, along with the legal team starting their investigation into various human technologies, to make sure they weren't violating any of the hidden patents.
The hope was that their designs were completely unique so that the Alliance wouldn't have to show the secret designs to the Reavers to prove that there was a violation, but headquarters had never been here to meet the humans, see what they could do, or understand just how insane their development methods were.
"Should we take a flight? I can power us up now, and we have enough suits to ensure everyone is safe in the event of a breach in the morphable hull. Even you two, big guys. We have suits sized for our Hunter and Canis guests as well as Giants, so there is no problem getting you two into an augmentic armour." Nico suggested.
"I wouldn't say no to personally testing out that new helmet. It looks incredible. The envoy agreed without hesitation while her bodyguards sighed and prepared to go on an experimental space flight.
That was definitely not on their precleared safety protocol lists, but the envoy had the final say in all matters of interspecies negotiations and investigations, so if she wanted to research the ship firsthand, they didn't have the authority to override her.
Plus, they were a little intrigued by what that strange-shaped vessel could do.
"If you just step into this tube here, we will get you properly measured for a custom-fit suit, and then we can be on our way." The technicians informed their guests, leading them to the containment tubes for the Materials Printers.
"If you want the best fit, you will need to wear form-fitting outfits or strip to your undergarments. The tubes are opaque. If you wish to change, nobody can see inside." She reminded them once all three were in place.
"If we are going to do this, we might as well do this right. Give me a few minutes to get ready." The envoy decided, then began changing her clothes in preparation for the armour fitting.
The bodyguards were more reluctant, but they could always put their storage devices and body armour on over the suit since they were designed with enough adjustability to fit almost anyone. A small perk of state-of-the-art Alliance clothing.
Gravity control lifted them all off the ground once they indicated that they were ready and fitted them with an augmentic suit in the navy blue and gold of an Alliance Envoy, complete with some added bling that they hadn't expected, in the form of engraved nameplates, and decorated hard armour that wasn't part of the standard models that the technicians were wearing.
"It's the Officers Edition. I thought you might appreciate it. The smartwatch has a flat space storage, so you can put your own clothing in there for the trip.
Take all the time you need to get used to the human version of a heads-up display. You're Innu, so you can control it with your mind, or if you prefer, you can use voice controls or even activate the three-dimensional menu in your helmet that you can interact with using your hands.
I will warn you, though, the last option makes you look like a drunken weirdo since nobody else can see the menus that you are interacting with."
The three guests took a few minutes to get everything just the way they wanted, including the helmet adjustment, which took a few tries to get just right. As the technician had warned them, it liked to try to bundle nearby tentacles together, and that just felt weird. But once they had learned the trick of how to hold their head and spread them apart, it became much easier to get the helmet perfectly fitted.
"Alright, we are ready to fly. Let's see what this teardrop shuttle can do."