The Cutter headed out to the safe portal point and transferred directly to the Anomaly, where the guard teams were expecting them, and eager to see the results of the latest round of weapons testing.
Every species in the region had been hard at work trying to come up with something that would work against the Great Enemy, though many of them were still struggling with the fact that the decades of war against the Arisen were simply a measure to toughen them up in preparation for the battle against the real enemy of the Mortal Species.
From what Max could tell, the Arisen didn't have many friends, and the Darklings only had a few more than that, thanks to their penchant for stealing species wholesale.
Max knew there was a reason for that, but that wouldn't do much to assure the other species in the area that they weren't next on the list to be abducted and disappeared by the mysterious ships of the Darklings, or the Collectors, as they called themselves these days.
"Welcome back to the region, Commanders. If you don't mind, we would like to send a team to join you." The Koleska Command channel informed him as Max passed through the anomaly.
"Yes, of course. We will wait here for you, as we already have a number of dignitaries from the species nearest to us on board, as well as more of the human leadership that wished to come for the test firing." Max agreed.
That changed their minds about who they were going to send. Initially, it was just a few researchers and Commander Yuri, who had good relations with the humans. But now they were going to send a Planetary Governor and the Defence Minister, who bemoaned his luck at having been selected again when it could have been the foreign affairs minister, if they weren't on the far side of the Empire.
This short period without attacks was almost like a vacation for the Defence Minister, and the summons hadn't made it clear to him that this was just a party and a viewing of the test firing of the weapon, not a big formal meeting.
But he still got ready right on time, and was in the shuttle with the others when they left the station to meet up with Max's Cutter.
Commander Yuri was the first one out, smiling at the familiar surroundings and walking over to greet Max and Nico.
"It is good to be back again. I hope that you have been well."
Max shook his hand and smiled. "Indeed. Make yourself at home, this isn't a formal meeting, just a viewing party while the scientists test fire the experimental weapon."
They both did their best not to laugh at the Minister's relieved sigh or the panicked looks on the researchers' faces.
"Should we have gone to the other ship?" One of them asked.
"No, that ship is android piloted for safety reasons. The other scientists are in the other research bay if you want to hang out with them instead of the Commanders and Governors." Max replied.
"Yes, that would be more proper. Thank you for the warm welcome, Commander."
The Koleska researchers vanished into the back bay, and Max chuckled as they met the Innu, who were overjoyed to have a new species to talk to, as well as Ranarth, who was thoroughly enjoying the conversation with the fully caffeinated scientists.
The two new additions were the topic of much discussion among the Reaver Commanders, who hadn't seen the Koleska before, and they were quickly surrounded with conversation partners and pulled into the thick of the action, while Max checked to see where Nico had gone.
Now that all the guests were here and greeted, she was with the scientists, preparing the Android ship for the main event. They would hold off an hour while everything got in position in an uninhabited star system, and their replicated armour targets were placed in space.
That would give everyone a chance to drink, and all the curious bystanders a chance to discretely get themselves in place for the viewing. They would stay well out of range, but close enough to record it with their own sensors in an attempt to replicate the technology for their own species' benefit.
Max found the pumpkin pie squares and snagged one before sending an android butler back into the cargo bay with a whole tray of tiramisu. The Innu could never get enough of it, and this was a party, so there really wasn't a reason to ration the caffeine if they didn't have to work in the morning.
One of the other Commanders, a Reaver in his early thirties named Gen, made his way over to Max with a conspiratorial smile.
"So, since we're here to watch a weapons demonstration, but your Terminus Trading Company is best known for their Mecha designs, does that mean that there will be a new generation of Mecha on the market once you develop your new round of personal Mecha?
It's been quite the topic among the more militant Commanders how you always turn your designs over to Uncle Lu when you've got a new one, but that means we're always a generation behind, doesn't it?" He asked.
"Not at all. The ones we use are more of an experimental prototype, constantly evolving and getting modified between every battle. That sort of thing isn't suitable for a mass market machine. But once we get the bugs worked out, we turn them over to Uncle Lu, who has his team polish the designs and tweak them for what everyone else needs before they ship them out." Max replied, diverting the attempt to get hints about the next generation.
"Do you have a whole new generation waiting for us, then?" Gen asked.
"Not quite. We have been fighting mostly in space, so we've only updated the Super Heavy and Titan Class units, and those have both gone out to a select group already. The only units we have that are nonstandard at this point are our personal Command Mecha, and those are just tweaked versions of the ones that were sent out for the battles here." Max explained.
By tweaked he meant almost completely redesigned, but they still looked similar, so nobody would know by looking at them.
Gen sighed. "The battles are getting larger and larger. I miss the days of a small territory rebellion to suppress and other simple things that a proper mercenary Company was suited for. Now we're mostly couriers."
"It can't really be helped. We all get caught up in the flow. Did you know that I wanted to just be a Crusader Class Pilot when things went insane? I only ended up Commander as a joke because nobody else wanted the job when we first left the Kepler Military."
Gen burst into laughter. "Bloody right. Nobody wants the responsibility, they just want the money and the easy life."
"And then we ended up being excellent at Mecha and Warp Drive designing, and that started everything going out of control to the point that at this point half the known universe thinks I'm the representative of humanity." Max agreed.
"Well, who else would want the job? Maybe Mary, but she's got her hands full just dealing with us Reavers."
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