The final modifications and production only took an hour, and then the last round of product testing took place, both in VR and with the units in the bay, to make sure that they were working as intended.
Both units were equipped with advanced replicators, as nobody expected there to be edible food anywhere that they were going, much less spare parts to make repairs, and a logistics department with a full maintenance bay would have to wait until later.
Once they had helped the Hunters stabilize the world that they were fighting on, Max would consider setting up a longer-term base, but time was of the essence today, and they needed to get through the other Anomaly before things got out of hand and a hostile alien species found out where they lived.
"It all looks good. How big of a force will you be taking with you? If it's a lot, we should likely start rebuilding the defence force right away." The Main Research Team's logistics manager suggested.
Nico shook her head. "We will make a whole new team, using the data and knowledge that the defence force has compiled. That way, you won't end up short on androids, and we won't need to retrain androids who have been working aboard a ship all their lives.
The fresh batch will also give a wealth of new data for the Android team to work with when they're doing software upgrades. That will make everyone's lives easier."
The Innu frowned, then shrugged off her concerns about the idea of using zero-experience androids as the defenders of the Company's Commanders. If Lead Researcher Nico said it was alright, then it would be fine.
None of the Innu fully understood how the AI that was the System had adapted over the centuries to alter human physiology, much less what Nico had done to her own body, so the best that they could do was to just wait and see how things turned out and then adjust the next batch to suit the mission.
Max gave the logistics officer a pat on the shoulder to reassure her. "We will be taking five hundred units with us, all in the same new pattern. It's the best that we have for the mission, and my System Function can link all of the unit's sensors and allow them to use my advanced targeting.
The increase in their accuracy and target acquisition speed when they're near me will be far beyond anything that could be gained through simple training, so the advantage of an experienced android force will be small.
Also, we expect heavy casualties among the Androids, which is part of why every unit has been equipped with a Replicator. They can work together to rebuild lost members of the unit, which will reset them to baseline, but will keep our numbers up.
That will give us a variety of experience levels by the time the planet is stabilized and enough data to know for sure if the Androids are the right choice to fight this Myceloid Menace.
Who would have thought we would meet an aggressive fungus species? For something that evolved from parasitic plant life, outright hostility is a rather unique evolutionary path."
The Innu nodded, and Nico set about having the Terraforming Array in the lab start to mass produce their five hundred units of Androids inside Line Mecha.
It might not look as impressive as a whole Heavy Mecha Regiment marching into battle, but every measurement that they took said this was the right choice for now.
Plus, with Portals, it would only take them a few minutes to get their Super Heavy Mecha back. They might have to crawl through the anomaly, but they should be able to find a way to get to the battlefield in an emergency.
The androids followed Nico's orders and loaded themselves in the Cutter as soon as they were finished, locking their Mecha to the storage racks in the spare Mecha bay in preparation for departure.
[Huntress Khan, we will be on our way with five hundred custom-made Android Mecha within the hour. We will have to park our Cutter on the planet on our side of the Anomaly since it's not large enough to send the ship through, but we will be there soon.] Max informed their ally.
There was a short pause before she replied. [Good to hear from you. These things are like weeds. The tide never ends. I've killed tens of thousands of them, and the numbers don't seem to be slowing.
I admit it was a lot of fun at first, but we are limited in our numbers, and there is barely time to sleep.]
Coming from the normally battle-happy Huntress, that made the situation on the other side sound very dire. If the Huntress and her allies within the species couldn't keep up with reinforcements, they must have taken heavy casualties.
"See you all soon. I will send updates as we go." Nico informed the Researchers as she instructed her and Max's Mecha to walk themselves into the bay with the Androids.
"Understood, Lead Researcher. We will see you soon." The Innu replied in unison while Uncle Lu gave her a friendly hug and then shook Max's hand.
"Come back safely. Even if it turns into a big mess, it's more important that you two stay alive." He reminded them.
"No worries, Uncle Lu. This problem is an honour obligation to help our friends, not directly a human issue. The other Anomaly ends in Alliance space after all." Max chuckled as he walked away.
Uncle Lu laughed as Nico skipped along behind him, whistling a happy tune in preparation to go into battle. It was a small bit of normalcy and reassurance for those left behind that the Commanders weren't nearly as concerned as they were. Not enough to let them stop worrying, but enough to keep them from panicking or chasing after them.
The cutter moved out into open space and opened a portal to Nyx, a small planet in a more populated area of the Alliance that had now been mostly depopulated before being refilled with military forces that would defend the region if they were invaded.
The entire planet had been fortified, carved with trenches, and then surrounded by armed satellites. It was the world's most secure prison for one small Anomaly.
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