With the deals for improved shielding worked out with all the fleets that thought they might want it for their largest vessels, all of the Reavers returned to their ships to get ready for the work ahead of them.
Once everyone had left Terminus, Max and the other senior Command staff met to determine where they would be headed, and to learn the last bit of information that Inquisitor General Ming had kept hidden from their Reaver allies.
That was the most important part to Max since it had brought an entire Rebel fleet down on their heads.
“I suppose that there is no need to sugarcoat things now. The accusations of War Crimes are related to the agricultural world KSF129.” General Ming paused there, and Max had to think back for a moment to recall what incident that was. There had been so many lousy deployments in a row that it was hard to guess.
KSF129 was the world that had taken an orbital bombardment from the Rebels in an attempt to remove the Super Heavy Mecha from the cities and then got near mythical rainfall afterward, flooding everything and drowning out half the cities that the Rebels were trying to take, along with most of their Mecha forces.
“What are they even mad about there? I wasn’t there, but I don’t recall news of anything out of the ordinary happening in that sector, other than a few Rebellion battles.” Colonel Klinger asked.
“The Rebels orbital bombarded the planet, vaporized half of the oceans, and then it rained so hard that we had to move the Line Mecha to the very top of the city to keep them from getting submerged. Even the Crusaders were getting washed away if they tried to move in the wrong areas.” Max explained the situation as he understood it.
“My unit was in the mountains for that. It came down so hard that it washed Crusaders over the cliffs. I lost half my unit to a natural disaster, with no place to go, in cliffs too steep for a Mecha to climb without specialized rigging.” General Yaakov added.
“I was there as well. To execute the Planet’s Noble Bureaucracy.” General Ming sighed.
“So what you’re saying is that we have absolutely no idea what part of our Command structure they are accusing of war crimes since it could be any of you if they pretend that they weren’t the ones that flooded the planet?” Colonel Klinger asked.
“More or less. General Tennant was there, and in his Mecha at the time, serving on the Central Command Council, so they might be after every unit that was under him since we know that they have been hunting for him. The question is what led them to Terminus?” General Yaakov asked.
“That part we do know. The border patrol noted The Dutchman as being docked on Terminus. One of the bureaucrats traced Abraham Kepler to The Dutchman, and a suspicious stopover and they just started making assumptions.
The fact that we started shooting when they started making accusations only proved them right in their minds about whoever they actually wanted to find being aboard the ship.” Inquisitor Ming informed them.
“Alright, so they’re on to us, sort of, in some way. That’s nothing new and exciting. But they’re on the ropes at the moment, so it shouldn’t be a big issue to go help rescue a planet or two. There will be both Reavers and Kepler Loyalists nearby, and it’s not like we can’t defend ourselves. We haven’t gotten to shoot any traitors in months if you don’t count shooting their ships in space.” Max pointed out.
“Oh, I see why my little girl likes you. Very shoot first, then shoot them some more so they don’t lie when you ask questions.” Mary Tarith told Max, giving him a thumbs-up gesture.
That actually described Nico entirely too well.
“You and me, we need to have a long talk about your parenting methods. I didn’t notice it over the holidays, but Nico grew up to have a rather unique personality.” Max informed the Tarith Family Matriarch.
“No need to tell me that, I’m the one that raised her. Did you know that at three years old she nearly managed to kill a burglar? Peace was never an option for that girl, but we civilized her as much as we could.” Mary Tarith laughed, while the other officers looked at her in horror.
“Please tell me that’s a joke.” General Yaakov asked Mary.
“I wish it was. He came in her bedroom window, and she stabbed him with the broken glass when he picked her up.
Max remembered that memory, but he had thought it was a giant of a man, from her past life, since the scene was so dark. He didn’t realize that he only looked huge because she was extra tiny at the time.
“On second thought, she’s actually getting better, now that she’s a soldier. But I will still need to see the baby pictures.” Max told Mary with a wink.
“Oh, we have them. In hard copy, because she likes to mess with my digital photo folders. But where are we taking this alien relic? I’m assuming somewhere fairly close since it’s so slow.”
“We have confirmed a call from Kitimat 3. They are going to be facing a Klem tide, and they are currently in the midst of a battle against Rebel forces. Loyalist Mecha are on the ground and request assistance with the deflection of the Klem tide.” Admiral Drake informed them, bringing it up on the three-dimensional map.
Kitimat 3 was a farming planet, with a very low population, but intense crop production. One of many in the sector that kept the more densely populated planets eating well. How the rebels managed to turn the planet was a mystery, but Max suspected that most of the farmers didn’t know anything about it until the Fleet showed up in orbit.
“Alright, we can do this. The more we can deflect from orbit the better because there is a lot of biomass on that planet for the Klem to feed on. Everyone inform your units and we set out in fifteen minutes.” General Yaakov agreed, ending the meeting.