The crew got settled in for the next few days, and the Reavers were forced to be content with viewing the ship's exterior. Terminus had been moved to her custom-designed bay in the lower levels, and establishing order within the ship was well underway.
They were still severely understaffed, but a World Ship wasn't intended to be filled to the brim the moment that it was built. As the name suggested, it was intended to be a travelling world, and the population would grow into it and then stabilize.
For now, that meant that there was a lot of empty space within the ship, frequented only by the automated cleaning drones and an occasional sweep to make sure that the sensors weren't missing anything.
Once the crew knew what they were doing, Absolution would embark on her first proper mission. The Terminus Trading Company had been chosen to cleanse the Klem from the edges of the Trade Group's territory.
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With a hundred Battalions of Mecha on board, and the most advanced technology available to humans, there was no Reaver Company better suited to the task, and Max was looking at the proof right now.
[Commander Keres Max, at the request of the Reaver Council, the Terminus Trading Company has been requested for the cleansing of the following planets. . .]
What followed was a list of unpopulated planets, along with directions that they should be taken intact without using extermination-level orbital attacks and destroying their habitable atmosphere. That ruled out most methods of cleansing a planet that was already in the process of being consumed by the Klem, so it made sense that he had been chosen, but it didn't make the fight any less annoying.
The smaller vessels of the fleet had already broken off to take on trade missions, but Max hadn't planned to send them for this work anyhow. The Mecha Pilots of Absolution were all androids, so even if the fight was particularly brutal, it didn't really matter. There would be no loss of life.
Nobody among the Reaver fleet had seen Absolution move under her own power yet, so Max plotted a course to the first target, a three-day trip at Warp 5, and ordered the bridge to set the ship in motion.
"Sheit, feth, sheit. Guys, we're moving NOW." The bridge officer on duty began to shout when the message came through, and Max could sense both the momentary chaos on the bridge, as well as the amusement of Admiral Penner.
She was sitting in her office, right next to the bridge, with her monitor set to watch the crew from various angles so that she could learn what they were like when she wasn't there to intimidate them.
The Bridge Officer got everything in order in under ten seconds and set the announcement that the ship would be going to warp in three minutes after it had moved clear of the gravity wells of the nearby vessels and planet.
In theory, they could just directly accelerate, but it was considered rude and often created navigational issues and a gravitational backlash on nearby objects, so they would move out far enough that they didn't affect anyone with their actions.
Absolution smoothly maneuvered through the crowded shipping lanes and out of the way before activating its Warp field and accelerating so smoothly that not even Max's well-attuned senses noticed that they were moving.
Perhaps it was the size of the vessel, perhaps it was the upgrades that had been made for this generation of vessels, but he could get used to that. Max thought back on the very first time that he had gone to Warp aboard Abraham Kepler and shook his head. If that was the standard that other species were judging humanity by, it was no wonder that they were deemed far too primitive to be included in intergalactic trade.
With three days to prepare, Max went to the Mecha Training simulators to catch up on his practice routines. There were a surprising number of staff members already there when he arrived, despite the fact that none of them were currently assigned to Mecha duties.
"What's this? A bit of sport or training to get certified on a new Mecha?" Max asked the young woman standing next to one of the pods, which was occupied by an equally young man, though Max suspected that they were no younger than he was. They just looked at it due to the influence of the System on his development.
"The virtual reality simulations here are far more advanced than anything that we have seen before, so we wanted to learn a bit more. We both checked out on the Line Mecha at our previous posting, but from what I can tell, Absolution doesn't even have any of them on board." She explained.
"That is not true. There are none in the civilian areas, but there are a large number of the new Samurai pattern Line Mecha in the defence force fleet." Max explained.
"I didn't see any recruitment for the defence fleet. I don't suppose that they're shorthanded, are they?" She asked hopefully.
"At the moment, the entire defence fleet is made up of Android Pilots. The only humans involved are the Drone Pilots. Once the androids are fully battle-tested, I will make a decision on whether their performance requires us to introduce more humans back into the battlefield.
I suspect that a Commander on the ground would likely be best for them, but again, that will be decided later. When we designed Absolution, the goal was to eliminate as many possible casualties during an attack as possible."
The youngster nodded but looked a bit sad. "It's just not the same without real Mecha Pilots. They're the heroes of the ship, you know. It's not the same to have Androids do the job, even if it saves lives."
Max thought about that for a while, then sighed. "You're right. I will see what the roster looks like, and start testing out wing leaders, to see how they interact with the androids. One human for every ten Mecha could still be a lot of casualties, but it would put a face to every single wing of Mecha, and that would solve the issue of morale."
"You're a unique one, aren't you? Not many Commanders would take someone like me seriously. I'm just an entry-level technician, ranked one on the benefits scale, as low as they come in the Terminus Trading Company." The woman joked.
"Broke never did equal stupid. Trust me, I know. Everyone starts at the bottom and works their way up. It's the only way that works. Some folk just move up faster than others. I think everyone knows Nico by now, but you might not know that she went from leaving the Academy as a Pilot to becoming a Mecha Designer to lead researcher and Second in Command of the Company in under two years." Max told her with a wink.
"Don't compare me to her. She's not human. I mean, she's literally not anymore, but also metaphorically. Her mind is totally different than anyone else I have met. We've even got similar Innate Talents, I can debug any software that I come into contact with using my Innate Talent, but the way that she abuses loopholes in her limitations is way beyond anyone I've ever met.
Beta Rank Utility Functions compared to Alpha Ranked utility Functions aren't usually that different. How hers isn't ranked S, I will never know." The tech complained.
"The issue is with Nico, not the Function. I know exactly what you mean. We both started out Alpha Ranked, and her Function just seemed broken compared to mine. If she was still in her own body, who knows what sort of insanity she would be up to by now." Max laughed.
"Oh, I heard about that. It was the talk of the Kepler Empire a while back after that gaming tournament. It feels like just yesterday I was watching the match online, and now I'm standing here with you, in my new uniform, working on an actual World Ship. It's just surreal."
Max gave her a pat on the shoulder and looked toward the other pods.
"You're doing a fine job. I've got to get some training in, but I will work on your suggestion to work some living pilots into the mix for the crew to look up to. I know we've got a bunch of them on the ship. I just don't know how many we can spare since we were so picky with the hiring."
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