Max led Nico through the buffet line, grabbing himself dinner while Nico chatted happily with the soldiers around her. Everyone had a bit to say, a welcome home sort of greeting after she was away so long.
The fact that she still looked a lot like herself was a relief to the unit. Getting used to the generic faces of a full conversion always took time. There were only three designs for the standard body full conversion cyborgs, and they were all androgynous. It was an open secret that the faces creeped most of the population out, being close enough to almost pass as human but clearly not.
The warm welcome was also setting Nico's mind at ease. Alone in combat, she felt too much like an outsider, with her memories of a past life driving her in a direction that wasn't quite compatible with Kepler's military doctrine. But here in the bunker, she felt more at home, like part of the unit again.
Well, she felt at home except for the fact that she didn't have a weapon. Her sidearm and combat knife were both lost in the jungle, and she hadn't had a chance to replace them yet. All of the infantry carried a knife with them at all times, since they were useful for so many things, including opening ration packs that never tore open along the line as the directions insisted they should.
If you cut the top open just right, you could use the resealable bag for many other purposes. Holding valuables, spare drinks, and snacks, the possibilities were nearly endless but relied on the perfect opening that didn't damage the seal.
Once they were seated the wave of well-wishers dispersed, heading to their own meal while the two Command officers sat and talked about all the things that they had missed while separated.
"You said you got a System Function called [Drone Commander] right? Could you use that to scout potential artillery locations for General Mons? From what I've heard he has amazing multiple targeting skills, even better than mine, but he lacks the ability to target things his sensors can't pick up. Out of his line of sight, in stealth, and so on. If you could send out a couple of drones to look for high priority targets, his Ion Bombard Array could eliminate them in seconds once they were in the open, or inside an unarmored building." Max suggested, winking at Nico, who felt the sudden urge to tease her Commander and best friend.
"There's an all-female Penal Colony regiment on the other side of town. I could scout out some beauties on the way. You know, just in case." Nico joked, recalling how flustered Max got with the debutantes during the unit recruitment.
"Those ones might be safer than the last batch of convicts that we got, but the unit would get jealous if I kept them all for myself. We have a few stealth camera drones in storage for the infantry scouts, how good is your range on that skill?" Max deflected the teasing to focus on work.
"From here, I could hit about five hundred kilometers with the help of my Mecha. It's all based on communications range though, so in a better environment, I could hack the satellites to send drones globally. At least in theory." Nico explained.
That would make for a very valuable addition when the unit was on the move and an added convenience for recording the training between members of the unit. Drones got a much better angle on units attempting to hide than troops watching at ground level did.
"I'll have someone send them to you in a bit." Max decided, then flicked Nico's hand away from his fries.
"And why are you stealing my food when you don't need to eat?"
Nico shrugged and grinned at him. "They're really good. I still have taste buds, even if I can't digest them. I could always just lick them and put them back?"
An involuntary shudder ran up Max's spine at that idea. But then again, Cyborgs don't have saliva or mouth germs do they? No, it's still a disgusting thought.
"Fine, just don't eat them all." Max couldn't help but smile. He hadn't realized how tense he was until he finally got a chance to sit down and relax.
She might technically be his subordinate, but it was like he had known Nico his whole life. His first memories were hers, they did all their training together, got into trouble together, and went to battle together. Nico was an inseparable part of him, and Max now realized there was an empty void in him when she wasn't around.
The question was how to stop her from doing suicidal things like taking Rear Guard alone again.
For a while, they caught up on the adventures of the unit, and Max told her all about the students of the local Academy and their struggles. His training regimen made good sense to her, given the limited time that they were able to actually practice, and Nico could sense his unease at their fate.
Because of that, she ended up having the drones sent over right away. Once they were powered on and hovering, she sent them to the door and waited for the next opening to have them fly out into the city.
"Don't worry too much about the academy Cadets. They're hard workers and smarter than most officers would give them credit for. I'm sure they're doing a pretty good job of hiding themselves in a secure position." Nico assured Max as she watched the two streams from the drones in the back of her mind.
"Oh, not even a minute out and I found something good." Nico cheered, stealing another fry.
"I don't suppose you have a way to show me do you?" Max asked, wondering what he was missing.
A video stream notification appeared on his wrist device and Max pulled up the hologram, only to find four soldiers involved in a rather interesting form of sensual acrobatics in the rafters of a mostly destroyed building.
"For feth's sake Nico. Leave the poor horn dogs alone. How are the Cadets doing?" Max laughed, drawing the attention of all the soldiers nearby to the projection from his wrist device.
"No, wait, send the camera back. I still haven't worked out the mechanics of that position." Captain Catan joked as the drone flew away, headed for the spot where the Academy Cadets should be.
Even flying through the streets and dodging buildings, the drones were incredibly nimble, and it only took a few minutes until they were in the right area. Nico sent one drone up into the clouds where it wouldn't be noticed and then moved the other into the building where the academy cadets were stationed.
It was a former shopping mall, and still in reasonably good shape, despite some battle damage to the outside. The cadets' Line Mecha were set up in prone positions on the roof, almost two kilometers back of the front lines, assigned to make sure nothing slipped through and made it back to threaten the reserves. It was a much better assignment than Max had thought they would get, but not without hazards.
Even through the drone feed, Max could see fresh battle damage on some of the units, so they hadn't had it too easy, but they were at least still alive.
"One second, I found a thing and I want to check it out," Nico muttered and the drone flew away.
Moments later it was focused on a team of Narsians setting up a battery of Mortar tubes. They were most likely going to target the front line and then retreat before the artillery could come raining down on them.
"Firing orders have been sent," Nico whispered and three seconds later the scene in the drone view turned into a ball of fire.
"That's better. You keep scouting around the front lines, and the unit can scout the industrial area around us. After seeing the Narsians just come out of nowhere with artillery, the camp is going to need more scouts than they have assigned." Max congratulated Nico on her good work.
Even with scouts out though, this was the closest thing he had felt to relaxed since they landed on the planet. Once he could inform the other units of the danger, they would also send more men to scout, and hopefully, the whole quadrant would come under surveillance by the end of the day.
