Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

By the time everyone was done playing around at the Arcade, Max was confident that all of his units knew what they needed to do, and most of the Pilots had already reported to their new units.

Technically they had until morning to report, and then there would be a four-hour refresher course for any Pilots who hadn't checked out on the Simulators in the last week. That was a very small segment, as most of them had been working to keep up their skills on the simulators and in the Gym, but there were bound to be a few who had been slacking.

Once that was done, there would still be ten hours until their drop, as they were waiting to arrive with the dawn over their target cities for the first attacks.

To the Mecha, the time of day made very little difference, but to the Klem, it did. Hitting them at either sunrise or sunset was best because there was a small overlap between their nocturnal and diurnal schedules, where you could attack all of them at once and not have to go hunting for the sleeping spots of one or the other.

They liked to sleep in tunnels, so digging them out was a pain and often left you vulnerable to surprise attacks from below when you passed over one. The fewer Klem that were in them when you attacked, the better since they wouldn't retreat from battle just because their shift was over.

"We should call it a day early. I have a sneaking suspicion that something insane is going to happen tomorrow once the humans begin their operation." The Innu Envoy suggested.

"Are you one of the Illithid now? Do you know something that we don't?" The Giant joked.

"Far from it. But after looking over the data, I think that there is a chance that this entire incident was bait to either get them here or get us to reveal our newest generation of military gear. The ship has been analyzing data all day, including the drop patterns on various planets, and it looks like they didn't spread naturally even after the first infestation. The angles don't work out."

"So you think someone might attack us? Really? That would be amazing. I've looked up the rules on self-defence, and they're very kind." Nico announced as she appeared behind Max.

She was wearing coveralls from the Research and Development department, so that was most likely where she was during the game, but she was alone now, with no sign of the Huntress.

"They strictly prohibit pilfering damaged vessels in an inhabited area. They would become the property of the Government once disabled, as evidence of a crime." The Giant reminded her.

"But how else would I get a chance to test my new torpedoes on a state-of-the-art ship outside of a simulation? The Universe isn't exactly filled with ships begging to take an Antimatter Torpedo to the Warp Nacelle." She countered.

"So that's the goal. You want to gather data on the capabilities of our defensive systems without starting an international incident." The Giant realized, just a bit too late.

"I think this might actually become an unprecedented situation. I've been looking through the records for a while now, and I don't recall the Alliance Government ever going beyond the terms of their treaties to defend a non-member from attack by outside forces before." The Valkia laughed.

"There was that thing with the slimes. The Government sent an entire protection fleet before a deal was signed because the Orruka Alliance had a fetish for slime girls, and half the population had been kidnapped." The Innu reminded him.

"Don't remind me of that. My ancestor was there, and we've still got a slime maid at home. Who knew that they were generationally loyal?" The Valkia Envoy sighed.

Max could sense that Nico was intrigued by the possibilities. They had met a living metal being once before, and it seemed that it wasn't the same species of gelatinous beings that they were talking about now. That meant that there was data on morphable forms that she hadn't collected, which could possibly be used either for her outer shell or the morphable hull shape of her new generation of stealth ships.

They had started out as an experiment in variable velocity warp travel, but it turned out that they were incredible for infiltration since the morphable hull shape made them nearly impossible to identify.

From further out, they could also pose as other designs of vessels and slip through preliminary screening while posing as a standard pleasure yacht. It was a work in progress, but they had been having great luck advancing the technology so far.

"Where will you be during this mission, Commander?" The Valkia Envoy asked.

"In my office, unfortunately. There is a lot of data to compile on the routes that the pods might have taken and other planets that might be under threat in the near future, so I will supervise from orbit unless the surface fleet needs assistance." Max replied.

"Unfortunate, but understandable." The Envoy agreed, but his thoughts told a different story.

[Incoming communications indicate that there is a mole either among our crew or yours. Unauthorized transmissions on a secure frequency were detected. For the time being, misdirection on the nature of our future intentions is best.

From what the Intelligence Service has learned, they don't know that we suspect that the Klem infestation can be traced, though they clearly know that we believe it isn't natural. If you can come up with some reason to get away from the ship and go hunting for clues without an Alliance Escort, it would be for the best.]

Max resisted the urge to facepalm. With all of that advanced technology, they still couldn't stop a message from getting out to unknown recipients on the first day after they arrived.

He probably shouldn't have been surprised, but he would have to get Nico working on a solution for him so that they could hunt for traces of the Klem infestation's origin without attracting too much attention.