When the guns fell silent, there were no signs of scourge energy signatures left on the planet at all. All of the Mecha had slowly been brought back online, though the Light Mecha were operating on backup power packs since they couldn't be rebooted in the field without a technician. The pulse that had disabled everything seemed to have caused them some actual damage beyond overloaded circuits.
The Super Heavy Mecha of the First Battalion would need some repairs as well, as the Crystal Matrix Power Plants that they had been retrofit with, based on the ship's engines aboard Terminus, had been blanked, and new crystals would be needed to get them back online.
The lockers did give a good idea of what upgrades would be needed to repel future attempts by the Scourge to deploy similar weapons though, and it was so ridiculously simple that Max was surprised that they hadn't done it by accident.
Unlike every other part of the Mecha which had been carefully examined for durability, longevity, and the ability to remain unaffected by energy surges, the simple tin lockers and cabinets had just been reshaped to fit the cockpit.
They only held clothing and miscellaneous items, they weren't of any real significance themselves. But because of that, the energy attack designed to pass by their shielding had simply bounced off the lockers, as if they were a faraday cage.
If Max had been paying more attention, he would have noticed that they were distinctly hot to the touch from the energy exposure, but they held up intact without any issues. If he had been turned a little further to the left, they might have actually absorbed and reflected enough of the energy attack that the Power Plant could have stayed online.
But the attack had been completely unexpected. The Scourge had never before used a self-sacrificing attack, and if they had more infantry on the ground in their area, with projectile weapons, the casualties among the Scourge Sentinels would have been immediately catastrophic.
Even a single machine gun nest would have torn apart hundreds of inactive sentinels in the first few seconds before they started coming back online, and in fact, they had, over where the Reavers and Pirates were defending their positions.
[All Units report. Did we take any casualties?] Max asked while he searched through the data stream for reports of units lost.
[First Battalion lost four Mecha, all repairable. No Pilots lost.] Major Miller reported.
[No losses among the orbital fleet.] The other Commanders reported.
That battle really couldn't have gone any better. Now it was just a matter of dealing with the Pirates.
The visitors from the Illithid Empire held a very dim view of pirates, though they understood the concept somewhat differently than humans did.
They abhorred lies and dishonesty, and the word Pirate translated into their language as a combination of Thief and Corrupt Businessman. Both were at the very bottom of their society, and they were keenly interested in what the humans would do to such reprehensible members of society.
The Innu understood the concept of Piracy as well but related it more to software piracy, and it took them a while to understand that they were taking solid goods, and not making unauthorized copies of data.
Once they understood that part, it all fell into place for them, as they had experienced such things before, with up-and-coming species that would attempt to pilfer technology at any cost in order to advance themselves.
The Technicians from Terminus who had been aboard the Cutters which were in orbit were already working to get the Reaver vessel back online, using their Materials Printers to replace damaged circuits, and mobile power packs to bring emergency power back online so that the rest of the systems could reboot.
That part was of more interest to the Innu than anything else that had happened today, and Nico ended up hacking into the helmet cameras and sensor feeds from the Tech Adept Harnesses, which the Innu found to be the greatest Technological Marvel in human possession, according to the Students.
They had made multiple requests for Nico to sell them some, as their evolution path had led straight to manipulating technology, and bypassed using technology to enhance themselves. They didn't see the appeal of Cyborg Conversions, since it damaged the body, but a Tech Adept Harness simply strapped on and added functions that they could use for multiple work-related projects at the same time, thanks to their multi-track minds.
When the Reaver ship came back online and the Pirates started bringing them crates and crates of supplies, the passengers aboard the ship were intrigued, unsure of what to make of the spectacle.
[This is the standard penalty for Piracy among the Reavers. They will be looted dry, all items of value that they had will be forfeited as a financial penalty for piracy, and they will be left with their ship somewhere habitable, which in this case will be on the planet's surface since the ship itself is not currently habitable.
With a lot of work, they should be able to get it up and running again, and they will be able to contact any allies that they have once the Reavers are gone.] Nico explained to the ship as the work was ongoing.
"That is surprisingly humane, given your species' reputation." The Innu High Chancellor told Nico, who gave him an evil smile in return.
"It's not as kind as you might think. They are in for a very hard future, and not everyone will be as kind as the Reavers. You see, if they have made enemies of another group, and those people arrive before their allies, they could well lose the ship, and possibly their freedom, depending on if they are wanted for any other crimes.
Even if they are found by their allies, they no longer have their equipment, and they have taken losses of personnel in the battle, so they will be in heavy debt to whoever agrees to resupply them." Nico explained.
"Humans really do have strange rules. Before they reached enlightenment, we used to simply call the Valkia after disabling such vessels. Their sense of righteousness would determine the outcome for those deemed undesirable for society." The High Chancellor informed her.
Knowing that the Valkia killed everything in their galaxy that wasn't themselves, that wasn't exactly a humane answer to the problem, but Nico was pretty sure it was enough of a deterrent that no Pirate in their right mind would attack the Innu.
[Repairs and Transfer work complete. We are returning to Terminus now, if you would like to end the broadcast.] Max ordered Nico so that there wouldn't be any stray cameras still looking at the planet if the Reavers decided that they needed a little vengeance on top of the price already paid. It was the least that he could do in the circumstances since they weren't sticking around to help the Reaver ship rebuild their damaged systems.
They had gotten them repaired enough to fly, and he had agreed to let them follow through the portal so that they could come back to Rae 5 where their main staff was, but Max wasn't going to spare any extra parts on this rescue mission that he didn't have to.
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