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Max checked Nico’s thoughts and realized that she had hacked the man’s wrist device the moment that he landed, giving her access to his personal files and travel history. Secure documentation wouldn’t be stored there, but knowing which planets he had been on recently was enough for her to get an edge on the General who thought that he was the only one in the know.

General Yaakov looked a bit lost at this point, as he didn’t know how Nico knew anything about General Ming, but he was hiding it well.

“I heard that your Terminus Trading Company might be looking to expand their alliances in the future. Perhaps we could make time to discuss it in greater depth if we should meet again.” General Yaakov added, not being specific about who he was addressing the comment toward.

“Alliances are the lifeblood of any Company. I am sure that we will meet again at some point.” Max agreed politely, while the conversation around them turned to battlefield stories, with only the two leaders engaged with the Generals.

The food was brought to the table by the Logistics staff, who were trying very hard to hide their amusement at their top officers putting on an act like they didn’t know each other while sitting across the table from each other.

It was a level of political nonsense that was rare for them to see since they wouldn’t normally be allowed into such a meeting. Only the fact that it was a Mercenary Troupe made the meeting informal enough to allow those unranked soldiers inside the tent where a sound barrier had been set up.

“We do hope that our performance was up to your standards. The Terminus Trading Company doesn’t have the largest history, so a few positive words about our reliability would go a long way, should the topic come up in the future.” Max told General Ming, who nodded in agreement.

“It would be hard to argue that your performance and capability were anything but stellar. I am sure that even Imperial Command would be impressed with the Combat abilities of your unit.” He agreed, making General Yaakov look a bit pale.

He still thought that the other General didn’t actually know that they were an Experimental Regiment and that he only recognized a few of them from somewhere and filled the rest with conjecture. Yaakov had done his very best to keep it all under wraps the entire battle, so this friendly banter about secrets best kept was getting to him.

“I hear that General Yaakov has a very lovely granddaughter who is coming of age soon. Perhaps we should apply for a pass to enter Kepler’s space and attend her Debutante ball. Commander Keres here is a bona fide noble himself, and I’m sure his charm is more than any genteel young lady could resist.” Nico teased their Regimental Commander.

“Perhaps it might be possible. Alliances between Noble Houses are always a welcome addition to the Yaakov family.” He replied, not willing to let his subordinate taunt him like that.

Though, once he thought it over, it wasn’t a bad match. Max was a war hero, with a promising future, and his Granddaughter had a D Minus system compatibility, so despite her beauty, she wasn’t a prime target for a High Noble Marriage, where most of the elder generation believed, rightly, that strong System Compatibility was the future of their Clans.

“Miss Rage here has a particular fondness for helping me look for the perfect match.” Max agreed, making the Officers around them burst into laughter.

They had heard the stories before they were deployed to the planet. Colonel Max’s Technician was rumored to have tried to set him up on three different planets so far, despite never leaving his side.

The dinner finished more quickly than most would have preferred, as the staff had gone all out with the meal, and it was time to sign the final documents and start sending everyone on their way.

“If the Terminus Trading Company has no objections, I do have some additional business with them, and would like to stay behind a few days.” General Yaakov announced just before everyone was ready to leave.

General Ming smiled, realizing that this was General Tennant’s way of delaying Abraham Kepler’s departure until after the other ships had left the system so that the forces left on the planet wouldn’t attract attention.

Max nodded in agreement and lit one of the fine Cigars that General Ming had brought. They weren’t tobacco, but some local plant from wherever they were produced. It had a pleasant herbal smoke, with none of the harshness that Max had feared. He had been around Cigarette smoke all his life, but he had never actually seen much less smoked a cigar.

“That is acceptable. Let’s get the rest underway and we can talk business once the Sector Defense forces are safely on their way home. I hear that there are some problems in Paradise lately.” Max said suggestively, hinting at the rumors of rebel nobles that had spread well beyond the borders, thanks to their attempt to draw Cygnus into their war.

The other Commanders returned to their units and began leading them to their landers, packing up the last of the campsite that they had set up. The tent came down, and the tables were cleared, with the leftover food quickly claimed by the Logistics forces, and the Mecha were lined up in preparation for securement in their Landers.

In well-regulated lines, the Mecha, then the infantry entered the Landers leaving only the Test Unit and General Yaakov out in the open. In a well-practiced maneuver, the Landers lifted off, one every ten seconds, and screamed back toward the ships in orbit.

“Well, it looks like we pulled it off, even if we couldn’t fool the Inquisitor,” Max told General Yakkov happily once the last Lander had left the ground.

“You don’t think he knows everything, do you? Even if he does, an Inquisitor should be completely trustworthy. At least they should be now.” The last sentence was added in a low whisper, and Max saw a memory of an Imperial Command order to relieve a number of possibly compromised Inquisitors of their duties about a year ago.

“As you likely recall, my Innate Talent is mind reading. He not only knows that we are a Kepler Military force, he even knows all our real names and backgrounds. What he didn’t know is where the Mecha came from. He did know who called for the reinforcements though, and it seems that particular someone had an unfortunate accident while passing by a malfunctioning airlock. Tragic really.” Max replied.

General Yaakov nodded solemnly, for he was the one who had spaced that particular traitor. “Yes, a true tragedy for such a promising young soldier who chose the wrong path in life.”

“So, are we waiting here for the Research Team to finish up the data analysis, or are we leaving as soon as the others are out of sensor range?” Nico asked, getting right to business.

“We will wait here for another forty-eight hours then depart. In keeping with your cover, you will construct a hidden Mercenary base underground. There is no need to leave anything behind, just make it look like you abandoned the plans to build a base after you were interrupted by a Kepler patrol.

That should be sufficient for anyone who might come looking, and Central Command will leave a data probe on this planet’s moon to record every ship that visits the system in the near future.”

It was a solid plan, and the moon’s rotation around its axis was in sync with its rotation around the planet, so the same side always faced the planet, making observation easy.

“Come join us for drinks General. You got stuck aboard the ship all this time and missed out on the fun. I am certain that a little camaraderie among the troops would do morale a world of good.” Nico suggested, but General Yaakov waved her off.

“I don’t drink while deployed. I am certain that you understand.” He excused himself politely.

Max did his best to hide his smirk. The General was beginning to lighten up, but the long ingrained Noble snobbishness ran deep through his veins, drinking and carousing with the commoners was too far for his sensibilities.

As they discussed the various issues that the unit had run into over the course of the deployment Max did notice that he didn’t hesitate to talk directly to everyone who addressed him though, and that was a start.

All of their reports on issues and possible improvements would be compiled by the Research Teams, but the general consensus was that a few more weapon options for the standard Crusaders would be nice, as well as a Fusion Flamer type weapon for the Corvette Class Mecha, who could infiltrate smaller areas and move with more stealth than their Crusader Class counterparts.

How exactly that would be accomplished was another question. The fusion flamers used an incredible amount of power. More than the Corvettes could sustain.

The next day passed in relative peace, with every pilot and technician writing their mission reports, or discussing the mission with their teams while they waited for the all-clear so they could begin building the fake underground base, and then return to Abraham Kepler.