Max shook his head in disbelief at the message he had received, requesting clearance to take the Innu Envoy out on a test flight in their newest stealth shuttle.

The patents hadn't been finalized for that one yet, so they were supposed to be keeping it under wraps and out of the notice of potential corporate spies. Not that the envoy was a suspect, but not everyone on the Alliance ship would be as trustworthy.

Max spent a second focusing on their thoughts to see what they were up to and found them already inside the shuttle and ready to depart, so he gave the clearance along with a reminder that they needed to come to his office for a long talk about project security once they returned.

As soon as he gave them all clear to depart, Nico sent him the patent paperwork, verified and authorized by the envoy herself, using her authority as a government official.

There was also a note that the current stealth technology didn't appear to violate any hidden patents but that the legal teams were going to be closely examining it now that the human version's patent was approved.

Max determined that they were going to have to find something to stab soon. Nico was clearly getting bored and looking for entertainment. And a bored Nico was a headache no man could truly handle.

"I suggest you all let me do the talking when we get back. We've got clearance, but the Commander is not happy with us for showing off the new technology early." Nico reminded the crew before maneuvering to the barrier at the bay door and gliding out with minimal power output.

The hangar was on the far side of Terminus from the Alliance vessel, so she brought up the cloaking field right away and tried to sneak out of the system without being noticed.

They would have to check sensor logs when they returned to see if it was a failure or if it worked, but the field was active, and the engine's power output was a fraction of what a standard shuttle emitted.

"Tell me, what made you want to put all of this technology into such a small vessel? Is it for the evacuation of dignitaries?" The envoy asked while Nico prepared to activate the warp drive.

"Mostly, it was efficient prototype sizing. This is the minimum viable size for the design, according to our calculations. If it didn't work as intended, we wouldn't have wasted as many resources as if we had built the initial prototype at cutter or Cruiser size.

We can always upscale if there is enough demand for this niche design. So far, it has performed flawlessly for us, and our transit speed power consumption is less than five percent of that of the previous generation of shuttles in use aboard Terminus.

If we're all ready, I will engage the warp drive, and we can begin the data collection."

Those were the magical words, and every Innu was immediately in research mode.

The hull of the ship gave off a musical humming as the warp drive came to life, and the Innu all cheered.

The envoy filled Nico in on the reason for their merriment while the others celebrated. " It's a good sign. If the ship is perfectly in tune with the drive, it will sing to you. The Fae ships sing the most beautiful songs, but their bodies are very sensitive, and they can't handle the energy fluctuations of any other species' ships. They don't even use warp drives on their own vessels for safety reasons.

Maybe humans will be the first to make one that they can actually travel on without using portals to go everywhere."

"That is a stable warp fifteen. We are officially aboard the fastest human vessel in existence." The lead technician informed them while Nico tweaked the warp field to change the song it played.

"Energy consumption is down another four percent. We are at eighty percent of Alliance standards. Drive output holding steady at thirty percent of total capacity."

The three guests stared at the technicians in shock. Twenty percent more efficient than standard was a huge benefit, but warp fifteen at thirty percent output was pure overkill on the engineering front.

Only a human would integrate a shuttle with a warp drive so far beyond requirements, and the envoy was rather curious as to what they planned to use the extra capacity for.

Her curious look was enough to tell everyone what was on her mind, even if you ignored the way that she bounced on the balls of her feet when she was excited, so Nico chose to elaborate before the Envoy got herself too worked up.

"We use shuttles for almost everything that doesn't need a Mecha. The excess warp capacity can be used to move asteroids, maneuver disabled vessels, or even form a defensive shield. When they link shields, human shuttles make a very durable barricade."

That made sense, but the envoy was well aware of the species' violent tendencies.

"And what level of offensive capacity does it have? I know there is a weapon mounted somewhere in this ship."

Nico activated the disruptor so that the Innu could examine its design. It was a simple setup, a single adjustable beam with half the output of an orbital lance.

"Why don't we find something to test this on? We're currently travelling through the Klem expansion zone. There should be a stream of pods around here somewhere." A technician suggested.

"Excellent idea. We can test the ship systems and keep planets in the region safe at the same time." Nico agreed.

"I've found one. Headed for an uninhabited planet with no life signs. Even if it landed, this wave would be wasted. They will never miss it."

Nico altered course to make a strafing run past the pods, with the disruptor set to maximum dispersion. It should eliminate the whole wave at once unless some of the larger pods survived the first attack.

Nico turned to the envoy with a smile. "Don't worry. They're a non-sentient invasive pest species that kill entire planets after they land on them. Keeping their numbers under control is a public service in this galaxy.

Once we clean them up, we will investigate their target and see what might have drawn them there, unless it was a random attack based only on the presence of a planet in the habitable zone around that star."