"Max, we will need a lot of the Learning Machine headsets. I think we have come to an agreement to equip the final year of students at the nearby military academy with them to prepare them for war. Three exams, over the last week of their training, with the modified program set to high difficulty to best simulate the real situation in the region." Nico informed him as her conversation with the Education Minister came to an end.
"And when is that?" Max asked.
"We graduate one class a month to keep up with demand." The Minister replied with a defeated tone to his voice.
"Well, with luck, you will be able to reduce that in the near future. Rookies always take the worst casualties in any battle, and the extra training will help with that." Nico assured him with a smile.
Not only did she get to distribute the new program she made, but she also got to crank up the difficulty with official permission. She really was on a roll here, just one good day after another.
"That shouldn't be a problem. We can make them quickly and in bulk. I will ask for some raw materials for our Replicator, though, as it is a lot to go through when we only packed for two Mecha's worth of needs." Max agreed.
"Marvellous. We will get you anything you need, and the students can take the first exams in the morning. It will be glorious. They will learn the finest of techniques to fight the Arisen, and the Anomaly will remain safe from both sides.
No offence, but the Koleska people really do not want an angry human army coming through from behind while we are fighting the Arisen."
Max laughed out loud at that. The man had a point, a human army at their back, on the warpath because they viewed the residents of this side as a threat that would utterly annihilate the Koleska settlements in the region. They might have fought the Arisen for a few decades, but they couldn't even fathom the sort of wrath that an angry human nation could bring down on them.
It was better that they never had to learn. Seeing angry humans en masse would set a dangerous precedent for the somewhat Na?ve species, and they might get it into their heads that humans were the species to emulate.
That didn't even end well for the humans when they emulated more militant societies, so the chances that it would be a good ending for the Koleska were somewhere between slim and none.
"It's better that your people never have to see mine on the warpath. Humans are known to go to great extremes when we believe that we are threatened, so our leaders are sending the very best that they can to help on this side of the Anomaly and assure the populace that there is no existential threat here.
Now that your soldiers will have the benefit of the training programs that we have developed and the latest technologies to learn at an accelerated rate, I think that our partnership will open the eyes of many other species in this region. It is not impossible to defeat the Arisen Army. We just haven't found a way to track them when they retreat yet." Max informed the nearby Koleska Ministers and officers.
Any response that they might have come up with was halted when a Koleska woman in elegant red robes, a level of clothing and decoration that Max had not seen before among the locals, entered the room.
"Please welcome Sector Governess Millicamp to the station." One of the butlers announced, and polite clapping spread through the room, though the Koleska didn't use their hands but instead created a similar noise by rapidly flapping the overlapping chitin plates on their necks.
"Thank you all for the warm welcome and all of your hard work to protect the civilian population of the sector.
I would also like to thank the Reaver Trade Group from the other side of the Anomaly for sending such talented soldiers to our aid. Your contributions have been noticed and appreciated during your time here." The Governess greeted them.
Another round of polite applause followed her words, as well as some well wishes for Max and Nico. It all seemed very mundane and political on the surface, but Max could tell that there was a lot of respect in their thoughts, as well as a level of envy for the human Mecha, to which they attributed most of the pair's success to.
That was only natural, as they didn't understand the concept of the System or that the pair were technologically advanced superhumans optimized for war. It wasn't really something that you could explain to an alien species, especially not in the Koleska language, which didn't even have a word for nanotechnology.
It wasn't something that they had ever developed, so the best that Max could do was to approximate it based on similar words, but he wasn't sure that the concept would truly make sense to them even if he tried to explain it.
"Tonight, we celebrate the liberation of the fifth world of this star system from the Arisen, a first for the Koleska people during this conflict. While the planet's infrastructure is being rebuilt, the population has been moved to a safe place for mental health assessment, and the level of survival has been deemed above the top one percent of expected outcomes.
For that reason, everyone who has been invited here tonight has been nominated for an official commendation, and there are likely to be multiple promotions coming to those assembled here. Now, I am told that the first course is ready, so please take your seats for the evening meal."
The gossip ended immediately, and everyone took their seats, with the Education Minister and Commander Yuri joining Max and Nico at their table, a deliberate attempt to get them together, should they not have found time before the meal for a conversation.
Max smirked at Nico when the first course was brought out, and it was a single large piece of cake. The Koleska had no convention about what foods went in which order. They arranged them strictly by the chef's vision for the flavour profile of the meal. You also didn't order individual dishes here, you ordered a meal, and they brought it out in the chef's determined order.
But cake as an appetizer was a very good way to start any meal, even if Max was a bit unsure what it would taste like, as he didn't recognize a lot of the names of the ingredients.
"Alright, let's see what the chef's vision tonight is like." Nico quietly commended the choice while the two Koleska took in the aroma.
The ingredients were apparently a form of mental stimulant to them and caused their brains to produce endorphins and create instant happiness, even just by the scent. It might be a good thing that humans hadn't come across too many such foods, or they would never get anyone in fighting shape.
The cake was finished in silence, followed by a course of less sweet fruits and fruit-marinated bird meat, then a course of roasted vegetables and finally a form of herbal tea with biscuits.
"Please pass on my congratulations to the chef. That was lovely, But I suspect that we should begin to talk business before it is too late to get things organized for the students and troops who need the learning devices delivered to finish their training." Max sighed as the meal came to a close.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦