Max was on his way to the Mountain range when an emergency call from Absolution came across his intercom.

[Commander, we have a Klem fleet, actual Klem ships incoming. Numbers appear to be equivalent to ten standard pod waves, and sizes cannot be determined, but their trajectory changed without outside gravitational interference.] Admiral Penner reported.

That fell under the category of very not good, but it wasn't something that Absolution couldn't deal with on its own. For the first fight, it was likely better than he was in orbit, though. For one, he was the only one available who had orbital combat experience, and for two, they would need his targeting data to properly deal with a fast-moving group of Klem pods or vessels.

[Scramble the reserves which aren't scheduled for a drop to the surface to positions between Absolution and the fleet. Then request that the Alliance vessels move clear of the battle for their own safety, and I will join you in orbit.]

That should pretty much do it, Max thought. But better safe than sorry.

[If you have any spare drones, send them out as well.]

The arrival of a fleet of Klem that shouldn't be seen outside their core worlds was a pretty solid sign that something very strange was going on in this star system, and Max could only hope that there was some sort of sign as to what it was.

If they were just trying to bait the humans in, it was no big deal. But if the Klem had found something that was precious enough to send that sort of reinforcement to the region, then they could be in real trouble when it was revealed.

Max tapped at the troop deployments on his screen and sent the message that he would be diverted and not taking care of the mountain region, then updated his estimates on the enemies that were likely to be in the area for the unit that did take it on.

That was enough to clear up pressing matters on the surface, as two units near the mountain range had just finished clearing their zones and rerouted to take care of it as a priority.

He activated the thrusters on Cleansing Light and was almost into orbit when he received a priority message from Nico.

[Don't forget there are only one hundred rounds in your new gun.]

With over a dozen Mecha Regiments in space around the ship, there should be roughly sixty Super Heavy Mecha, all equipped with Antimatter Charges for their Thunder Guns. They weren't as heavy as the rounds for his weapon, but with their firing rate and explosive radius, there shouldn't be any issues.

Max joined the defensive line, and Admiral Penner made an announcement that actually managed to startle him.

[Giving them the warning now.]

Absolution fired a single Antimatter Torpedo at the incoming Klem fleet, letting it detonate a hundred thousand Kilometres in front of them. If they weren't set on hostilities, that should be enough warning to chase them away from the region. Even the most zealous of sentient species would avoid an explosion of that magnitude, but the Klem only responded with bursts of spikes fired at the defenders.

They were approaching at roughly five percent of the speed of light, relative to Absolution, so those spikes were going to do some serious damage to anything that they hit. Even the shields of the World Ship would have to work to deal with the storm of chitin that was coming for them.

The Klem fleet's aim was quite impressive as well. It might appear to be somewhat random and scattered, but Max could see that the majority was coming for the ships in the system, with the rest headed for the Mecha and their locations should they activate standard evasion patterns at any of the ten standard timing points.

The Klem had definitely learned from the Mecha fleets in that regard. It wasn't the first time, either. Even their three-tiered attacking strategy was suspected of mimicking the Line, Corvette and Crusader Class Mecha deployments that the humans used, as they were the most effective enemy that the species had faced.

If they were here to test a new advancement that they thought would work against the humans, it was best to start with old and predictable strategies. They would reveal new reactions to the old techniques if they had them, and it would tell Max a lot about their capabilities.

[Super Heavy Units, fire a barrage with your Ion Bombard Arrays, standard direct fire pattern.] Max ordered while providing them with the necessary targeting data.

A normal Klem wave would simply get hit by the barrage, which was why Max had chosen it as the test, but this fleet immediately began to spread out, and Max saw energy signatures emitted from the larger objects that looked a lot like a gravity beam.

[Absolution, did you get a recording of that? I think they have found a way to adjust the trajectory of their pods with some sort of gravity manipulation.] Max asked the Admiral.

[We are calculating the details now, but it does appear that way. The pattern looks familiar as well. Ah, there it is. That Gravity beam isn't a new Klem technology, it is a Tapani Gravity Beam, and I am picking up the unique signature of the emissions array. I suspect that one of those objects is actually an infested ship that they have commandeered.] She replied.

There were a lot of human technologies that the Klem couldn't use well, including Mecha, but there was a significant overlap between the smartest Klem and the dumbest humans, so many simple-to-operate computer systems could be accessed by their smarter members.

Max hadn't seen proof that they could actually read before, but if they could aim the beam to grab all the pods that were accompanying them, it was pretty good proof that they could. Hopefully, it wasn't enough to get the Alliance to decide they were a sentient species in need of protection.

They probably hadn't noticed the fact that there was a captured human ship encased in one of those shells, but the Hunters would have. It was an ideal hunting ground for them, easy to navigate, in a standardized pattern, but full of enemies.

It was best to destroy it before they thought of that as well.