The young man had exited his simulation while they were talking, and he stepped out of the pod to speak his piece.

"If you're willing to take younger sorts, I think you will find quite a few. The refugees from the war included a lot of Academy Students and instructors, and they all wanted a sense of stability, so there were a lot of qualified Pilots among those who came along on the spousal allowance.

They're not working right now. Even I'm out of work right now since we have only been here a week, and the first round of staff isn't even used to their jobs yet. I came as her husband, but I'm qualified on the Line Mecha.

If you take her advice and add wing leaders who are human, I would be willing to sign up right away, even if I have to start on the Line Mecha since there isn't an instructor here to check me out on a higher class of Mecha." The young man offered.

"Have you ever been in a Corvette Class Mecha?" Max asked.

"Other than the simulation just now? Never." He sighed.

"Then get back in, and I will show you the ropes. I was going to practice my piloting skills anyhow, and I can do that in a Corvette Class simulator to start with. You will find that it isn't easy to keep up with me since I'm capped out on strength and nearly there on dexterity and agility as well." Max laughed.

"Is that even possible? No wonder you got the first Titan Class Mecha the Reavers produced." The girl asked in awe.

"It's possible but not easy. Care to join us? I will set you up to run the Corvette Class gauntlet test and activate the personal assistant subroutine to help you get used to the controls.

I will apologize in advance if it swears at you, it was made to keep Pilots who were already qualified up to standards in a Special Forces Battalion, not to train rookies, so it's a bit demanding."

That was an understatement, and it was also based on Nico, so trying to show it up simply wasn't going to happen, but it would be a good learning experience for them if it didn't make them cry and give up after only a few runs.

"If we do well enough, will you upgrade our credentials? I know it's a lot to ask as a plus one of a new employee, but you are the only one on the ship who can sign off on an upgrade, other than Nico or the Admiral, and neither of them is a pilot, are they?" He asked.

"Don't let Nico hear you suggest that she doesn't Pilot. She is a monster at the controls, the finest close combat specialist in the Empire, and she pilots Shattered Pride, a fully custom Phalanx Class Super Heavy Mecha. The Admiral is not a Pilot, though. She was an infantry Commissar before I made her the Admiral." Max explained.

"That says a lot about Admiral Penner's personality. But I should likely apologize for underestimating your second in command. We all know her as the mad scientist in the lab, but I forgot that there was more to her background than developing new tech with the Innu." The technician replied.

"Enough chit-chat. Get in the simulators, and let's see what you can do." Max ordered.

Max hopped into the simulator and booted up the Corvette Class Mecha that he would have the other two use for this exercise, then moved them all to the familiar training course that he had qualified on back at the Academy.

"I hope you don't have any traumatic memories of this place. It is the one that I qualified on the Corvette Class Mecha back during my Academy days. I will run the course once to show you the pattern and make it easier for you. Watch what I do, and then repeat it." Max instructed them while they lined up the unfamiliar Mecha at the entrance to their respective courses.

"Sir, might I ask, how long did it take you to qualify after you first started training on the Corvette Class units?" The technician asked.

"I made the standard on my first day at the sticks. I don't expect that of others, though. Not everyone has the particular advantages that I do."

For the sake of their dignity, both potential Pilots simply nodded and accepted his words. If they didn't think about the fact that the Commander could step into a Corvette Class unit and pass the standard with it on his first day, despite still being a student, they wouldn't have to face the gaping chasm in talent between him and themselves.

Max started the timer and stepped into the course, deftly weaving left to avoid the first shots, and destroying the attack drone before moving to the next point of cover, weaving right and staggering a half step to dodge two more shots by throwing off the drones' calculations.

Every shot hit and destroyed the drones while the students watched, and Max walked out to the end of the course in under two minutes.

"Did you watch to see the position of all the drones? They don't change. They are the same for every qualification. You just need to avoid getting shot to ribbons and kill them all, or at least most of them, and you can pass the course with relative ease.

The most important parts of Corvette Class qualifications are to avoid being hit. Now, get out there and show me what you've got."

He had been wrong. The Corvette Class Mecha wasn't capable of moving fast enough for him to actually work out the rust on his skills. He would have to change Mecha later to really give himself a proper assessment, but watching the rookies get annihilated on the test course was far too entertaining for him to stop watching so soon.

"No, you have to avoid getting shot. If they're on your right, don't move right to engage them. For one, you don't have a melee weapon. For two, you are just putting yourself in the line of fire. If you can't get a weapon on the target right away, move behind cover and regroup. There is plenty of time on the clock, but you can't take back a hit to the sensors." Max chastised them as they tried and failed to get past the fourth drone without taking a shot when it popped out of cover on their right flank.

"Yes, Commander. I think I have it this time." The young man replied, then restarted his test so he could try to get past the troublesome drone successfully.

This time he managed to dodge the shot and get into cover, but he was slow to get back out and shoot, so it moved away along its preset route before he could shoot it. He would have to chase it if he wanted to kill it, and he wasn't moving fast enough for that, so he would have to take the miss and move forward.

"Keep practicing. You're getting there, and in a few weeks, I think you could do very well in the Corvette Class Mecha. I will be sure to include your name when the job offers for wing leaders go out." Max encouraged them, then left the simulation for one where he could use a much faster simulated Mecha and really work on his piloting skills without the limitations of a realistic unit.