Novel Full 551 551 Making Progress
As soon as they returned to the ship, Nico got started on building the Terraforming Array, and Max sent a message back to Rae 5 as well as the Alliance ship location logs, confirming that they would be at the same location for multiple days unless something unexpected happened.
That let their portals open with just a safety check and not a full confirmation from the Admiral of their location, saving everyone some time and headache when guests wanted to come to the ship.
The upcoming Terraforming had been mentioned on their live stream, so it was no shock that a large number of visitors wanted to join them, but Max got a surprise message from Uncle Lu back at the Rae 5 Moon Base.
He had the first two Cruisers for their fleet ready and retrofit to the most modern of Reaver standards, though they were still much slower than what a custom-made vessel would be capable of.
They were the Cruisers confiscated from the Holy Light Nation and were themed as immense Gothic Cathedrals in space. At just over a kilometer long, they were dwarfed by the might of Terminus. Still, they were thoroughbred warships, each being loaded with an entire Heavy Mecha Battalion and two Interceptor Class Gunships roughly half the size of the Cutters aboard Terminus.
They weren’t suitable for Mecha transport, but instead were loaded with heavy weapons for space battles and were capable of launching an Orbital Lance level strike on a planetary target.
[I took the liberty of recruiting and training a crew for you, all you need to do is pick a Commander to transfer over, and they are good to go.
Uncle Lu]
The sight of the two ships falling into formation with Terminus greatly amused the Hunters, and Max’s second reading of the message from Uncle Lu was interrupted by a message from Huntress Khan.
[I never pictured you as one who put so much weight on matters of religion, but I must say, Cathedral-themed Cruisers are a nice touch. Very well suited to the Reaver sense of Bling.]
He didn’t even have to talk to her in person to know she was laughing at him, but the ships really were glorious looking with the tinted window art, which was actually made out of a meter thick layer of translucent metal armor, and the front ram which was made to resemble two hands holding an open book.
[They are trophies captured from a particularly annoying enemy, but they do have a rather flashy sense of style that I think will help nations we negotiate with to understand the true tackiness that we are capable of when we put our minds to it.] He responded.
[The military equipment is top of the line, despite the questionable aesthetics. We scanned them when they arrived, and the Mecha are the same as yours, but the weapons are even better than your Cutters are equipped with.
The Warp drive system is a madman’s delusion, though. To think that someone actually tried to double-layer the field so that an ornamental hull wasn’t torn to shreds by a Warp 8 Maximum speed.]
Max laughed out loud at that. Uncle Lu might be a madman, but he was a very smart madman.
[I have it on good authority that it actually works and has been tested. If you like the idea, I don’t think we have filed the paperwork for the Alliance Patents yet, so you can sneak in a free license to try it for yourself.] He suggested.
[No need. We already know the technique. It does work, but the power draw is insane. I think only human ships have the sort of drive that could actually sustain that level of output. Nobody else in the known Universe goes that overboard with power capacity.
They did a decent job of optimizing this one, though. I can see that they are working with the data you generated on alternate Warp Field designs.]
[The Gunships are a modern design, at least. Well, modern by human standards. The additional firepower should make our little fleet safe enough that the Alliance Elites shouldn’t get their panties in a bunch about sending their kids here to be properly educated.] Max agreed.
[If you’re still looking for teachers, how about you hire one of our recent graduates? She has a passion for Xenozoology, and I can’t see your academy not offering the course, given your mission.] Huntress Khan offered.
A Huntress teaching students about the study and categorization of new alien species? No way would Max pass up that opportunity. The look on the students faces would be worth any amount of headache from parents about the background of their teachers.
[I will inform the Headmistress that the position has been spoken for.]
Max forwarded the last portion of their conversation to Medusa, who was busy refurbishing the interior of her chosen portion of the ship. The look of shock and disbelief on her face when she sent him a video chat link to confirm that she wasn’t being pranked was incredible.
Max had never seen Innu’s hair tentacles stand up straight like that before.
“I am almost finished here. This wonderful machine you sent me is clearly made for a much larger area, but it fits through the hallways, so I have been able to create my vision in a single walk-through. I will send out the recruitment advertisements for teachers this afternoon and the student recruitment messages tomorrow once we have a few confirmed applications that we can put on the brochure.
If possible, we should get some human teachers as well. We can upgrade their knowledge before the semester starts if necessary. The youngsters love exotic experiences, and none of them have ever met a human before, so it would help.” She suggested.
Max contacted Mary Tarith while he had Medusa still in a video chat and relayed the message.
“Well, that’s better than nothing, and humans are well-known for their athletic abilities. Not many species we’ve met, other than the Hunters, can actually outdo us when we’re enhanced by the System.” Max told the headmistress with a shrug.
“No, that is perfect. Nobody knows better how to perfectly tone a body than a career soldier. She is right, that is what humans are currently best at, and it will do our students a lot of good to learn from them.”
“I will send her the confirmation and look forward to your updates on the hiring process. The Academy looks wonderful, from what I can see.” Max replied, ending the conversation and letting her get back to finishing the reception and common areas on the main floor.