It only took the Koleska one week to roll out the new weapons combination to select units all along the front lines. The combat effectiveness of the upgraded units saw an immediate thirty percent upgrade in their kill counts and a resultant drop in the casualty rate, as the reduced number of Arisen fighters were unable to overwhelm their units as easily, and far fewer of them were making it to close combat where they had the greatest advantage over the Koleska fighters.

The bureaucrats who had approved the change were all over the local news, congratulating themselves on their insight and foresight, as well as claiming personal responsibility for all of the lives saved in the recent battles.

It was a bit laughable since their recommendations had led to the limited rollout instead of a force-wide switch in weaponry for the battles, but this was their moment of glory to push for a promotion at work, and neither Max nor Nico was willing to get more involved in the lives of politicians.

They were polishing the armour on their Mecha and doing the daily check for damage and system glitches when they finally got a message from the Station Dispatch, but not for combat.

[You have been formally invited to attend the graduation ceremony for this month's class of soldiers. Commander Yuri informed us that you would appreciate the chance to see the first students of your learning machines graduate from school.] The message informed them.

They weren't wrong. It would be good both for them and for the students who saw them in attendance if they were at the ceremony. Max knew that their combats had been regular viewing for the students during the last few weeks, and for the ones who had been using their learning devices, it was a sign of hope that they, too, could stand out from the crowd and crush the enemy regardless of numbers.

The Koleska didn't actually have a Mecha, which was capable of what Shining Darkness, or even Shattered Pride, could do, but that didn't matter in the minds of the na?ve young students. They were just determined that they would live and become heroes using their more advanced knowledge and years of simulated experience.

The ceremony was held at the station, where the new graduates would be assigned to units and would receive their first real-world War Machine. Unlike the training in Kepler, the Koleska training was entirely virtual even before the learning machines. They never touched a Mecha until they went into combat, never trained their muscles to react to the stimulus, or got used to the feeling and smell of a real cockpit.

The ones in virtual reality were always clean and in perfect repair. That wasn't the case in combat, and the subtle differences could throw new pilots off balance. It wasn't something that Max could convince them to change, but at least in the learning machine, the Mecha would become realistically grimy and damaged as the missions went on. historical

Max and Nico got dressed in their Reaver best and headed for the assignment grounds where the assembly for the graduating class would be. They were joined by a lot of other Pilots, off to wish the new recruits the very best and give them some encouragement from their peers.

The newest of them had only seen a few combats in the month since they graduated from the academy themselves, so they really were peers, unlike the Kepler system, which only graduated once a year.

A full year in combat was worth a lifetime of training. They would never truly be peers until the newbies reached their first year, at which point they would all be considered the veterans to the new graduates.

There was less of a distinction this way and a smoother progression through the ranks for those who could shine.

The Koleska had saved them spots up front, as befitted their ranks, and once everyone was seated, a mournful sounding horn echoed through the room, and the students began to march in. They looked so proper, with their freshly issued uniform still showing creases from the vacuum packaging and the shiny helmets, with no stickers, writing or damage tucked under their arms.

Although they were different species, and the piloting suits were only vaguely familiar looking, it was still a nostalgic moment for Max, reminding him of every influx of new troops he had ever seen.

"Welcome everyone to the graduation of our first hybrid trained class of Pilots. As you may already know, these students have been trained both by our best holographic instructors, as well as human-created learning machines.

We have high hopes for their skills, and these students have scored exceptionally well on every aptitude test that we have put them through, far beyond the classes before them, and are already showing a level of combat awareness that surpasses expectations.

Now, we will introduce the students to their War Machines by numerical order." Commander Yuri announced.

It was by the number of the unit that they were taking over, starting at 001, which went to the top student in the class, and then the rest were assigned to the students by the wing that they had been deemed most compatible with.

It was very Koleska, everything was merit-based, and every time a unit ending in number one was called out, there was extra applause for the wing leaders.

There was one wing left to announce when the alarm sounded, alerting them of an incoming threat.

[Attention all Pilots. An Arisen attack force has been detected thirty minutes out. Please prepare for combat. The first launch is in twenty minutes.]

That was strange. They never got that much warning of an attack. The Arisen would appear within the star system that they were attacking, and nobody could predict when they were coming. Max wondered if it was a drill for the new pilots, but it seemed to be real, and everyone was preparing for combat, even Commander Yuri, who would know if there was a drill going on.

"Let's get to the Mecha. Something strange is going on if the Arisen is appearing so far out." Max whispered to Nico.

The Mecha had better sensors than anything else except Santa Maria, and they would know soon enough what was going on.