Chapter 44: The Station

When the Abraham Kepler transitioned back to maneuvering velocities with the same stomach turning lurch that marked the transition to light speed, every Cadet rushed to a view screen to see the first new star system that they'd be visiting.

Kepler 142 Station was an enormous military hub, built nearly a millenia ago as an orbital defense station by the planet's inhabitants. Once, it was said to shine in the night sky like a third moon, but now, with all the black hulled military ships docked and generations of continual repairs, most of the shine was lost.

Still, the sheer size of the station was incredible to Max, and he scrolled through his smart watch to bring up the specs. Over a million inhabitants, advanced Mecha and munitions processing facilities, asteroid processing bays, every imaginable type of retail shop.

For a kid from the slums, this place was heaven. In fact, he had never in his life had the chance to visit such a variety of stores. The best they had at home were the goodwill shop or the black market, and even then the selection was limited.

[All Cadets, meet at Training Room 3C for Mission Briefing and Clearance Passes.]

That's not too far from the repair bays, and it's the training area that the majority of the Special Forces Cadets have been using since they got on board the Abraham Kepler. Max jogs to the large open area, meeting most of the other Cadets along the way, and finds that General Tennant, as well as Colonel Marino are waiting there for them, along with a stout and hairy Colonel that reminds Max of Cadet Russo. By his uniform, he's Colonel Romano of the 42nd armored. The Cadets who have been fine tuning their Line Mecha and Corvette Class mecha skills all recognize him, so he must be their assigned instructor, like Colonel Marino does for the Crusader Class Cadets.

"Welcome Cadets, I know you're all eager to get off the ship and onto the station, so we will keep this short. Your Passes have been uploaded to your wrist devices along with a map of the station. Your Academy Credits will also be converted into proper Kepler Credits once the Pass arrives. You have 12 hours to explore the station before resupply is finished. Anyone not back on board at that time will be written up. Anyone who misses departure entirely will be charged with desertion.

Once we are fully stocked and back under way, you will be fully commissioned and briefed on the next mission. Now go, enjoy your day off and meet back here by 0300 ship time." General Tennant instructs.

For some Cadets this is great news, a little spending cash and a trip to explore a massive space station. For others, they'd spent almost everything the academy gave them, so at best they'll be able to get a lunch that isn't on the ship menu. Even the prospect of Commission isn't quite as exciting for some, who were on the cusp of Corvette Class qualification, they'll be starting out as Line Mecha operators, in a standard Mecha wing, a few years earlier than planned, but not as Special Forces trainees.

There's not much they can do about it now though, so they're all determined to make the best of their day off before beginning whatever unit drills they will face to integrate them with their new compatriots.

Max wonders what sort of deployment he will be given. Four Crusaders is an odd number for a wing, and sending four rookies together is highly unlikely to happen. More likely they will all be broken up to go with other Mecha wings and bolster their numbers.

That makes him wonder how often he will see any of these people again after the mission. If they're all assigned to the 42nd Armored, it's great, they'll be seeing each other for many years.

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But that doesn't often happen in Kepler, Crusader Class Pilots that are freshly assigned get moved around between units that have taken heavy casualties, and the 42nd is near full strength.

"Let's go. There's a place you really need to see." Nico whispers to Max once they're all dismissed, pulling him towards the airlock.

The place he simply must see turns out to be a cafe of some sort. Nico walks up to the counter and talks in a low voice to the clerk, who comes out a few minutes later with two fancy coffee based drinks that smell faintly of caramel, as well as two slices of pie. He winks at Nico and then returns to his counter, taking more orders while his coworker runs them out to the tables.

"I really had to see a coffee shop? I'll admit, the coffee and food are amazing, but how did that make the top of the list?" Max asks, as he finishes his snack.

Nico subtly drops an item in his hand and points at her head, indicating that Max should read her thoughts. The thing that's on her mind now is that she found a fellow hacker while exploring the bases computer systems, and they had a hookup for a gray market local specialty.

What she found is a biotech drug that enhances the nanomachines that make up the system, making them more effective. It's not approved for use, since the locals don't want the military knowing about their advantages, but with the name Tarith, she managed to convince the hacker to get her two doses, one for each of them.

Max is pretty skeptical about putting unknown gray market drugs into his body, but this planet is apparently just as well known for their pilots as Kepler Terminus, where he was born in this life and where the System originated.

That's got to count for something, if they've been enhancing their kids for better performance. Nico took hers with the last sip of her coffee, and as Max is watching her thoughts, all memory of the drug disappears behind a firewall that he recognizes as the system.

Max decides to hold off for a moment, to make sure she's alright, but Nico has already moved on to talking about the next stops they should make on the station. Best to hold off for now, he decides, and make sure nobody is messing with her body or anything before they leave.

[System Notice: Non Integrated Nanotechnology Found. Assimilate Now?]

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