Altering the size of the weapon was no easy feat, but after many days of hard work, they did manage to get it down to a size that was suitable for use as a handheld weapon by Titan Class Mecha, or a replacement for the Thunder Guns.
Due to power constraints, it would have to be one large barrel over the shoulder, or handheld with a hardwired power source, but it was functional according to the VR testing program.
The miniaturized version was mounted atop the hull of a Cutter Class ship for the moment, until they could modify the power source of a Titan Class Mecha to burst output the energy that the weapon needed, or to have the room for the capacitors to charge it. Until then, slapping the experimental device in a large box atop a Cutter was a much simpler option.
The ship in question was Drone Piloted, and they were almost ready to head out for the testing.
They would be moving to Koleska space for the test, as they needed to know what it would do in the unstable space there, not here where the other layers were dead and lifeless, with no energy in them at all.
How that had happened was a question that they were putting off investigating. There were far too many other issues to be dealt with for a philosophical debate about the variations in layered space.
A large contingent from the Reaver Commanders was expected here in a few hours, first for a meeting on the preparations for the eventual return of the Great Enemy and what they could do as a group to make sure that they weren't the target of them, and then to watch the testing of the new weapon.
Nearly every species was doing the same. Even the Alliance Government had commissioned a series of weapons and warship upgrades, a buildup in anticipation of 'outside threats' as they put it.
In reality, the loss of so many of the Valkia volunteers, though not catastrophic by human standards, had shaken them to their core. After the appearance of the Anomaly, and the strange disappearance of the enemy forces, they were terrified that they were actually on their way to the Alliance.
Some of them even blamed the humans for being too deadly and attracting enemies to their portion of the universe, but that was a bit silly. The human fleet was a negligible part of the whole reaction force, and when the Great Enemy had suddenly disappeared, there were over a hundred different planets with intervention fleets in their system, with only two of them being humans.
The only representatives that they had sent to this event were the Envoys from Absolution, which seemed to be the permanently assigned representatives to the human species. Max had expected that they would have been switched every half a year, but there was no sign of that, and they were getting quite comfortable in their homes aboard Absolution, not packing in preparation for a change of duty station.
"Should we go all formal dinner, or is Reaver Casual fine?" Nico called to him from the shower as Max searched the minds of everyone who was arriving at the station to see what the general sentiment towards their weapons developments and the threat of Energy Beings coming looking for them was.
"I think Reaver Formal for the day. We're meeting with a lot of other Company Commanders, so they'll want to impress everyone. Coming in underdressed would make us look arrogant as the hosts." Max replied.
"Got it. I will pick you out something nice." Nico called back, and Max sensed her starting to plan the outfits for them both, despite the fact he was already dressed.
He thought about reminding her that it wasn't necessary, but his outfit was part of her decision on what she was going to wear, so without seeing him, she couldn't decide what she wanted to look like for the day. Clashing outfits simply wouldn't do in her mind, so he just let Nico pick out a whole new outfit.
"Alright, I've got something. Come here and change so that we can go to the meeting." Nico laughed as she completed her choice.
Max smiled as he saw what she had picked for him, a simple black pinstriped suit with a vest but no jacket, and an olive green tie that matched her dress, topped with a replica of their black Cadet berets.
Max changed into it and rolled the sleeves up to his elbow, then added the polished black leather belt with the pistol holster, which held a Laser Pistol designed to look like a classic military issue auto pistol.
Nico's dress reached her calves, and was worn with crossed bandoliers that carried blades on the front and a pistol at the small of her back, as Reavers never attended a formal event unarmed. The shiny black leather matched well with Max's belt, and gave the otherwise formal long sleeved gown a more military feel.
"There we go. Let's go see the others, maybe we can set a new trend." She laughed as she admired her handiwork.
"Or they'll think that we're both a bit strange. But we're likely not going to be the most outlandishly dressed ones there. I know that the other Commanders take a lot of joy in trying to outdo each other with flashy or unique outfits." Max laughed.
"Exactly, it's tradition. We're the best of the best, so we have to set the trend that others will follow, otherwise how will anyone know what is outlandish?"
Max took her arm and led her up to their personal Cutter, where the meetings and party would be held, while the test vehicle would be manned by androids, just in case something went wrong. That had been a unanimous decision on the part of the researchers so that there were no lives at risk with the first firing of an overwhelmingly powerful experimental weapon.
