While Nico returned to the experimentation bay to keep working on more food products from the Replicator system to inflict on unsuspecting crew members, Max waited for the excitement to die down so that he could start arranging duty assignments with the Battalion Commanders.
There was some reorganization to be done, first and foremost, he would need to assign a new leader for the First Company now that the was moving to Regimental Command. The obvious choice was Major Miller, his adjutant, who already handled almost all of the Regiment's logistics and other business.
Then he would need to pick his Executive Officer, again an easy choice, since Nico was the one who kept him informed as often as the official chain of command did. But most importantly, they needed a new Mecha.
He had no intentions of giving up Enduring Rage without having a replacement ready, so the First Battalion would need a new Command Mecha or it was going to be shorthanded.
They had the technology, and they could make another, but Max suspected that Uncle Lu might be able to talk him into trying something entirely new again. The old man was persuasive like that, and Max didn't want to build another Super Heavy Mecha, at a huge resource cost, and then end up making a new experimental unit with the Mecha-obsessed scientist anyhow.
That left all his important decisions made, and now he only needed to catch up on all the paperwork and Command Level details that the General had prepared for him before he finished his last shift.
That also meant that he would need to have a private briefing with Inquisitor General Ming, since most of what the Inquisitor had to say couldn't be put down in writing, for security reasons.
The Inquisitor was with the General at the moment though, and both were drinking happily, so no confidential meetings were going to happen today, and none tomorrow or the day after either.
With three days to catch up on the paperwork, Max was certain that he could get everything in order without any issues, even if his mind kept wandering to what a Steak Dinner made of recombined biomass would taste like.
The machine completely changed both the molecular and even atomic structure, but the crew had found that the most energy-efficient thing to feed it was a fast-growing algae since the base structures and elements were so close already to things that humans would be eating.
The slimy green plant was grown in the hydroponics bays of the ship, and if they didn't start actually using the Replicators on a regular basis, they were going to have so much of the stuff that they would never get the algae all cleaned up, it would just become a self-perpetuating loop of organic life feeding off itself and taking over a hydroponic bay.
Max spent three hours checking over Command information before he got bored and went to check on Nico and the Replicators, finding all of his young family members outside, waiting expectantly for something to happen.
"Dave, Ladies, what's up today? It looks like a special event." Max greeted them.
"The pretty robot lady is making ice cream, and we get to be the very first to try it." One of the twin girls informed Max happily.
Nico gave Max an innocent smile, and he saw that she had already taste tested and used her cyborg body to verify the safety of the Ice Cream sundaes that the team had programmed into the system, so the kids weren't experimental testers.
Knowing this bunch, nothing was impossible. Especially when it came to the Replicator.
They were also working on altering the base design to make an improved Materials Printer based on that technology, but that was a good bit further off since they didn't have the expertise to fully redesign such a complex machine on their own, even with their System Functions helping them along.
"Alright, everyone line up, Ladies first. We have Ice Cream Sundaes in three varieties. Chocolate, Caramel, and Mixed Berries. Which would you like?" Nico called out.
"Chocolate." The two little girls screamed in unison, and Max could see the Technicians cover their ears to stop the shrill scream from deafening their enhanced hearing.
It was cold, creamy, and definitely topped with chocolate sauce, everything that Max could have asked for in a dessert, and according to the data tablet that was sitting off to the side, creating it took very little energy, less than making an equivalent amount of hot food.
That was a nice little bonus for them, especially once they had taught this machine enough recipes that it could be viable to activate all through the ship.
Once that day came, Terminus might well be the best-supplied Reaver vessel in the entire quadrant of the Galaxy. The abundance of strange technology did make Max wonder if somewhere else in the Galaxy there was a more advanced version in use by the descendants of whoever arrived on this ship.
"What's the big plan for the new menus? They look a bit fancy, but not enough that it seems like you're going for the luxury passenger market." Max asked the lead Technician in charge of the project.
"Those are the meals for the General's wedding. We found out in advance from Gwen Tarith, and we've been working on it ever since because there are no steaks anywhere in this star system as far as we know. There are still plenty of chickens and frozen chickens, but we couldn't find any of the breeds of herd animals that Madam Tarith was hoping to have for her wedding options.
They're quite common on Kepler Terminus, but none of the Reaver ships have any in stock. Not even us, since the last planet we stocked on, didn't have any, and the Tarith Family had more important things to bring with them than cases of beef.
That was incredibly thoughtful of them and would make for an incredible wedding gift.
"Does she know yet? I wouldn't want you to have to argue with the caterers." Max asked.
"We sent her a message already and forwarded it to the Caterers so that they could pick up the meals here. It's going to clean out a good portion of our Algae stock though. We're expecting dinner for at least ten thousand once the Regiment, the Tarith Family, and the Reavers who want to come to the wedding are factored in." The technician laughed.
Good, they had entirely too much algae on this ship.
