"But how did you know to call her Nico?" Major Miller asked before holding up a hand to forestall the answer.

"Sorry, I forgot that you can read minds, so nicknames and code names mean nothing to the Illithid."

"Are we in agreement then?" Max asked.

"I don't see any problems with the plan. Even a standard lawn or a city park could feed a large portion of a neighborhood if everything can be made edible. That would make things much easier for the planetary administration and turn naturally grown food into a boutique specialty. That's good for farmers who are growing for more than bulk production.

The addition of new design Materials Printers to small nations will be a huge change. Most of them don't have the technology at all yet, and they are still building conventionally. The limited recombining abilities of the new printer will revolutionize construction for them and allow the construction of ambitious new designs by their local architects.

I think it will work, at least to some degree. There are bound to be holdouts, at least for the first few decades, until we can prove that we have the right plan and that it's working. Then the civilians will vote with their feet. Those who can leave for greener pastures on other planets, the ones that are allied to the Reavers, will leave the reluctant nations, and the pressure should force them to accept or become virtual pariahs." Colonel Klinger agreed.

Max looked to the Illithid, but all he sensed was agreement, and a sense of appreciation for the devious nature of humans, who would shame and leverage their own people into doing what was in their own best interest.

"Excellent. I had expected a bit more resistance to such an ambitious plan, but this makes things easy. Nico, please get in touch with the Reavers, and make sure they know what we have planned. I have messaged the basics to your mother already, but she hasn't responded yet. I suspect that she's too busy with all of the big-picture negotiations to deal with me right now." Max explained.

"She only messages back when she wants to complain. That's just how she is. If you haven't heard from her yet, she thinks the idea is worth considering. I will make sure that it is all organized, though, and that every Reaver Company is being given access to the appropriate plans so that they all have the Replicators and new design Materials Printers." Nico replied with a smirk.

"Where did we get the new materials printers from anyhow? I saw them going up in the repair bays after the last battle, and they're pretty cool, but I've never seen them before." Colonel Lucas of the Third Battalion asked.

"I wasn't planning to say anything until they left, but we might have reverse-engineered them from the technology aboard the Innu vessels that are docked here aboard Terminus.

I am not sure how the Illithid or even the Alliance as a whole feels about that, so I was keeping it quiet." Nico told the thickly bearded pilot.

"You managed to reverse engineer technology, just by looking at it, without disassembling it, and managed to make a working but lesser version using a basis of your own technology? That is simply incredible. I don't even think it violates the Alliance copyright laws since your thoughts say your design is significantly different from the original.

Innovation is encouraged by the Alliance, and I am sure they would be impressed by your resourcefulness in using as much as you could to advance your own species without asking for handouts from other species to move humanity forward." The Illithid replied after a moment's reference with its compatriots.

"In that case, I will keep using as much as I can to send my results to our greatest scientists. Some of the things that they come up with are truly unexpected, and they are already allied with the Reavers." Nico told him with a smile.

[All of the words are true, but I get an ominous feeling from them. How unusual.] The Illithid told Max through mental communication.

[Yes, that is a defining trait of interacting with her. There is something subtly off about her logic, and it is hard to pinpoint what it is until she does something completely outrageous.] Max agreed.

"Now, to the essentials of the plan. How is the modification of the Portal Projector coming along?" Max asked.

"We have the projector on Terminus modified to create a portal large enough for itself to fit through, thanks to the elongated and rounded shape. If you want to use it to approach the suspicious planet, I can say that the technology is ready, but a secondary stop in between so that the Klem don't trace it back, assuming that they even have the capability, would be a good idea." Nico replied.

Colonel Klinger was the next to speak up. "The whole message seems suspicious to me. Since when does Klem leave an entire planet surrounded and unmolested? They have never shown such patience. They use planets near their borders as bait, not ones within it."

Max nodded. "That is a very valid point. You think the planet might be under Klem's occupation and is only generating fake signals from the remaining human infrastructure?"

The other Battalion Commanders all took a moment to think about that while Nico brought up an expansion report detailing the pattern that the Klem had spread by to get to their current borders.

"Stop there. Back up one standard monthly unit. That swarm is not traveling by predicted gravitational adjustments. The Illithid are very good at that sort of math, and that pod swarm didn't originate where the calculation says it did." The Illithid interrupted.

Nico rewound the report, and the advisor added three edits to the projected route of the pods, one of which should have intersected the location of the planet that they were headed to.

"Interesting. The timeline matches, so either it was deflected and passed on very near to its original route, or it landed and was replaced. It is a standard occurrence on planets where the pods aren't bringing invasion but much-needed resources.

I can't see a scenario where humans would be in a position to trade raw materials with Klem, though, so I do suspect that something about that planet is off if the calculations are correct." Nico muttered as she adjusted the projections for the new math.

"Could they be hybridizing? They have done it in the past with other species that they found useful. Perhaps the Klem have found a use for something about the humans and are using that planet as a test site for a new hybrid organism that has a capability that they lacked?" Colonel Lucci suggested.

"What would they even be missing, though?" Major Miller asked.

Nico flipped him off, then wiggled her fingers at him. "Prehensile hands. None of the Klem variants have thumbs or similar opposable digits, so they find it nearly impossible to use humanoid technology. It is one of the greatest advantages we have while fighting them, as all of our most deadly devices are completely useless to them, deliberately designed to need human hands to operate, which they lack.

I have seen them try with tentacles, but the results have been incredibly poor, as their eye-tentacle coordination didn't evolve for the task. So, it is a possibility that they are creating something new and cool out of the formerly human residents of the planet."

Max sighed. "Nico, please do not call new Superhuman killing machines a cool development."