Nico didn't end up needing the whole hour to search for the leader of the attack. Only a half hour later, she sent Max an image of a destroyed hiding spot, with the blast door ripped from the hinges and signs of a fierce struggle.
[There is more data in here as well, and some new devices that I haven't identified. Uncle Lu will be very pleased with our gift.] She informed Max as she finished up her search.
[Good work. Get it through the Anomaly and then return back here once it is sent through a Portal. I don't want anyone coming looking for it.]
Nico moved out as soon as she had her orders, and the Destroyer was gone from the sector before anyone could ask what was going on. She was back within minutes, and Max could sense her joy, so the transfer must have gone well.
[I got approval from the Cygnus Commander on the other side to swap out the Line Mecha for our new ones in the name of testing. They will send the old models back to the ships on the other side of the Portal and call it a net gain for their firepower.] She explained as soon as she was back to Light of Truth.
"That's excellent news. Now, we just need to make a lot of units." Max replied once she was out of her Mecha and could reply directly.
"That's true. We will adjust anything that needs it, and then we can turn over two thousand units to the Destroyers and call them space battle ready until we create the next upgrade for zero gravity combat.
They already came with modified Fast Attack pattern Crusaders, so they're pretty good there, but I think that we should make some Command Variant Line Mecha to replace their Corvette Class units, or there will be a gap in the lines." Nico explained.
"That's true. It would take too long to alter the chassis, though. Why don't we just alter the weapons and tweak the armour?" Max suggested.
The researchers rushed over at the talk of new designs, and they already had plans drawn up from previous proposals for the Line Mecha, which were rejected by Nico.
"If it just needs to look a bit more regal so that the others can tell that it's a squad leader, we can do that with my design." One of the Innu suggested while attempting to remove the helmet of her augmentic armour. It formed wonderfully to her tentacles, but when it came time to take the helmet off, the Innu were always excited about something, and their tentacles wouldn't stay straight, so they could remove the sleeves smoothly.
"That's so old-fashioned, though. Why not this? It makes it look like the Super Villains from Supernova Zero. You can't get much cooler than that." One of the other researchers suggested, referencing an Innu kids cartoon with robotic villains.
"We can't make our team look like the bad guys. The bad guys always lose." The first researcher countered, and Max decided to intervene before it turned into a full-blown argument.
"Everyone present your armour designs to Lead Researcher Nico in one hour, and she will pick her favourite to be the Command Mecha for the new units," Max ordered.
They hurried off to their respective desks and got to refine their designs in the time allotted to them, a quality that Max greatly admired about the Innu. Once they were focused on their work, he had never seen them slacking.
Perhaps because he mostly gave them work that they were obsessed with. But still, it was an admirable personality quality.
Max sat down and played cards with Nico while they waited. Blackjack, because it didn't matter if he could read her mind, as the cards were visible, to begin with.
"Time's up. Show me what you've got." Nico called when her alarm went off, sending the Innu into a last-second flurry of work before they brought their data tablets over to project their designs on the tabletop 3D hologram projector.
"First up, I have for you the Elegance of Leadership design." The researcher who insisted that the design must be regal informed them as she brought up her design.
It was very traditional in the design of ancient Valkia Royal armour, integrating the wings into the design of the Mecha with a small adjustment of the Mass Drivers to move them inboard so the wings could be changed to a more feathered and vertical design.
"Not bad. Your design lives up to its name. Next up, bring up your design and minimize the previous one. We will bring them all back up at once when we're finished." Max instructed.
One after another, they brought up their designs, some just a small armour modification to make it easy to identify the leaders, while others were a whole rework of the outer armour plating and some minor design points.
Once they were presented, Nico brought them all up again, not in order of presentation, but by similarity to each other and the standard design. The closest was on the left, while the most eccentric was on Max's right.
"Now, there are some advantages to making minimal changes to the Command units. It helps keep the enemy from immediately targeting them, makes parts replacement easier in the field and avoids storage conflicts.
However, there are benefits to a more noticeable commander as well. They will draw fire from enemy units, reducing casualties in their own team, while the most capable Pilots are the only ones being fired at. A fancy design leading the squad also inspires confidence and pride among the soldiers, which leads to greater combat effectiveness, much like sending a Super Heavy or Titan Class Mecha to the battle would.
So, as you can see, the choice isn't quite as simple as it might seem since we need to balance the requirements of the individual users.
So, with that in mind, I have chosen design six. It's distinctive enough to inspire the troops and be spotted by the enemy but close enough to standard parameters to fit the regular storage and repair racks without any issues.
We will give it a slightly upgraded armament so that it lives up to its role, and then we will send the Destroyers one hundred of these along with the nine hundred base models for one thousand Line Mecha in total." Nico announced, earning the winning designer a round of applause.
"One last question. We're not really going to forgive the Galen fleet for that attack, are we? Even the Giants are stomping mad about it." The winning researcher asked.
"Of course not. I tagged their ship with a virus like the Arisen used. Once they have it repaired enough to start sending messages again, we will quickly learn the location of every remaining Galen ship in the sector." Nico answered with a smile.
That was the Lead Researcher that the Innu had all grown to know and love. Creative, practical and above all, ruthless. They hoped that they weren't attacked again, but if they were, the chances that it would be a surprise attack were very low.
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