One Cruiser full of Super Heavy Mecha arrived to take over the duties of guarding the Anomaly, and one Cutter in the new pattern that Absolution used for all her Mecha Battalions arrived with Nico's design team full of Innu. All that was left of their defensive duty was a welcoming party hosted by the Koleska to greet the hundred new Pilots.
They were all supposed to be up to the Phalanx Class standard for Piloting, which meant they were all Kepler descendants, which was sure to annoy the Cygnus Destroyers, but the ship they were on was Cygnus built and staffed. That should be enough to mollify them.
Everyone arriving, even the Innu, had taken the time to fully familiarize themselves with the Koleska language program that Nico and Max had compiled to prevent early misunderstandings between the groups as they transitioned to a full force on defence, and the Pilots were always up for a party, as well as the chance to meet a new species.
In the traditional Koleska way, they had scheduled the party for ten hours after the ship arrived, just enough time to sleep and get ready for the event. The Koleska rarely planned these things for multiple days in the future. They just made an outline of the event and then scheduled it for half a day after whatever event they thought would trigger it.
That was fine by the Pilots. After reading their minds, many of them were pulled from active military service to the special training program, and they hadn't done anything but fight and train for most of a year.
Partying with a bunch of aliens, even if they weren't the sort of aliens that you could take back to your room for a little fun, was better than more training.
As the Commanders who were handing over the position to the new arrivals, it was up to Max and Nico to put on the formal front and play the part of somewhat serious military officers, giving a good impression of the Terminus Trading Company.
As such, they both went for military uniform coats for the first time in ages, but the fancy dress uniforms, which were more like the Kepler version of a business suit, paired with bright red shirts and pistols on their waists, secured by black silk scarves worn as a belt.
It was a common take on formality used by the Reavers and had been in prominent view at the wedding of General Yaakov.
"Alright, Sergeant. You have the night off, so go have fun with your friends, and we will be back by the morning." Max instructed Sergeant Khalil as the time for the party drew near.
"Much appreciated, Commander. Formal events with a bunch of Colonels and Generals, plus foreign dignitaries, isn't really my thing." Khalil laughed, but he was already on his way to the bay door, intending to get out before Max could change his mind about giving him a day off and not a huge homework assignment based on the last round of VR testing.
Max was sure that the man had the wrong impression of him. It was Nico who gave out all of the excessively large homework assignments. Max only gave out the same tactical report assignment every mission because he knew that Nico would assign everything else.
Once the Sergeant was gone, Max and Nico headed to the shuttle and made their way to the Station to greet the new troops and explain in person to Commander Yuri what was going on.
He had been kept up to date on the arrival of the additional forces and that Max and Nico would be remaining in the system for some time as they worked on new technologies, but he hadn't been told much more than that.
The Cruiser and the Shuttle were docked on opposite sides of the Station, so the first person that Max saw when the airlock doors opened was Commander Yuri, along with a small honour guard, come to welcome them to the Station for what might be the last time, and thank them for the help.
The Pilots among the Koleska were understandably sad that the humans had been blocked from intervening in the past few weeks' battles, but they understood to some degree, and it was better to have these small skirmishes than to have the Arisen show up here in full force to exterminate the planet even with the Humans assistance.
"I hope that all has been well with you since we last met." Commander Yuri greeted them at the door.
"It has. How have things been down on the surface? You should have the first fresh batch of Pilots from the new Academies by now, right?" Max replied.
"We have. They were first deployed in the last battle, and it was incredible. They fought as well as the more experienced soldiers from the last batch who had used the learning machines. This new training regimen that you came up with for them has changed everything for our combat groups.
They are being deployed all over the Empire, and they're beginning to give skills training to the others around them. They're so far ahead of the Pilots trained using the old method that they fight like the old veterans, with the lowest casualty rates and best coordination." Yuri agreed.
"How about the overhaul to society, on the assumption that the better you fight back, the more likely the Arisen Army is going to be to leave you alone?" Nico asked.
"It was only moderately successful. They have instituted military-level skills training for the police forces and are sending them upgraded equipment, and they have provided all of the farmers with heavy weapons on the orders of the agriculture minister.
We will have to see what happens during the next invasion of a planet, but the general sentiment is that the armed farmers are going to make a big difference since they're all over the planet and can slow the Arisen advance until reinforcements arrive."
That was a bit optimistic, but it was better than nothing.
"It's good to hear that they followed the most optimistic of projections. I hope that they never have to find out how well it works." Max replied, and the Commander gave them a slight bow before leading them to the event room where the party would be held.
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