Before first light the following day, the Lander had arrived to take Max’s unit back to Abraham Kepler, and their designated berths there. The other units in their warehouse had arrived somewhat later and would be leaving later, so it was a quick and teasing goodbye, as the Special Tactics Unit wished the Mecha and techs that remained behind the best of luck with the cleanup.

They were all too excited to speak much on the flight up to the ship, but when they were landed in the hangar and ready to disembark for examination, Nico’s smile kept getting more and more genuine.

“Excited to be home and off the battlefield?” Max asked her quietly.

“Yes, but that’s not the best part. I’m totally going to fail the scan.” Nico chuckled.

Of course, she would, she left as a fully organic human and returned as a full conversion cyborg. The ship’s data logs were going to freak out and trigger the infiltration protocols. It happened a lot to Pilots who had undergone emergency battlefield augmentation and occasionally to those who had undergone a System upgrade that changed their body by a significant amount during the mission.

Max had forgotten because their previous missions didn’t have any such fancy medical technology with them, and nobody had undergone one of the rare system upgrades that would trigger the scanners.

“Stalwart Special Tactics Unit, Fall In,” Max yelled, getting his unit into formation within seconds.

The staff of the Abraham Kepler looked impressed at their discipline, but all eyes in the unit were on Nico, who had taken her place as Executive Officer at the front of the formation. That meant that she would be the first one scanned, and everyone would get to watch the show.

Max decided to prolong the process just a little, and took his place at the lead, stepping between the man with the scanner and Nico, so he could be processed first. Generally, as the Unit Commander, he didn’t need to undergo the screening with the unit, he could do it later at the medical bay, but a little suspense would make it all the more entertaining, and assure the tech that their device was not in fact malfunctioning.

The wand beeped happily and the tech saluted Max. “All clear, sir. You are in perfect health, no diseases or harmful microbes detected.”

“Thank you, Corporal.” Max smiled, stepping aside to watch the man scan Nico.

The first part of the scan was across the head to check for altered brain chemistry which would indicate brainwashing, drug impairment, or one of the mind-altering life forms that some other nations used.

The man waved the wand and nothing happened. A full conversion cyborg’s brain is in an armored capsule in its torso, not its head. After only a few incidents with snipers, the designs for full conversions were changed centuries ago.

“Thinking is overrated. Why not try the rest of the scan?” Nico asked the momentarily confused tech.

“Yes, of course, Major.” He answered, then paused and waved the wand in front of her chest.

The happy beep was back and the man sighed in relief.

“I should have guessed right away.” He muttered, and then the happy beep became an angry beeping, indicating that the person he scanned did not match the data on file for that registration number.

An entire platoon of Ship’s security immediately rushed over, guns drawn and aimed at Nico, who was doing her best not to laugh in the very serious situation.

“Ma’am we will have to ask you to come with us. Do you have any weapons, drugs, or body armor on your person?”

“No, Lieutenant, I am clear,” Nico answered and the tech brought out his metal detector, which predictably went insane the moment he turned it on.

“Dammit, sorry guys, she’s an unregistered Cyborg.” The tech said sheepishly, while the entire Special Tactics unit had restrained tears in their eyes.

It was like watching a bad comedy skit. They fell for every single mistake they could have made. But having gotten so used to things going right, the security force was still following the procedures manual and was patting her down to check for weapons and armor.

Cyborgs often had hidden storage areas for weapons, so patting them down was useless, and they were armor, they didn’t need to wear any additional armor unless they were blending in with a unit, or were only partial conversions.

“We will have to escort this person away, for the ship’s security protocols. Please continue your scans.” The Lieutenant informed the tech with a sigh. He could clearly see he was being laughed at, since the entire unit already knew that she was going to fail the scan, they just didn’t bother to inform the ship.

“Alright, the show is over. Everyone behave for the tech and let’s get this done with.” Max called, silencing his troops in an instant.

Four more of the infantry failed for infectious disease scans, which meant that everyone was off to the decontamination unit for a shower. They were given an antibiotic pill that would take care of all possible internal ailments, as well as a sanitizing shower, and then everyone was released to pick up their uniforms from the cleaning machines.

The rest of their gear would also have to be sanitized before it could be returned, but that was an expected part of every return, so nothing that could be damaged by the process was left in their bags.

The moment Max entered his bunk to change into something more casual, a notification beeped on his wrist device, informing him that his official status had been changed from actively deployed to in transit for vacation, with a date of return exactly three months away.

He now officially had nothing to do but relax. At the moment, he wasn’t even officially responsible for the oversight of his unit anymore, since they too were off duty, though they would all still face reprimand if someone misbehaved while aboard the ship.

It was two more hours before Nico returned, and Max noticed that she now had hair on her previously shiny head.

“Leveraged the medical department or bought it from the stores in exchange for credits?” Max asked, checking out her new style, which was much longer than her old pixie cut, but just as jet black.

“A gift from General Tennant. They had it waiting for me when I came into the med bay for my examinations and registration.” Nico explained, running her fingers through the long locks of silky hair. It was a strange experience for her, she had always kept her hair short and neatly trimmed, but the General’s instructions said to leave this hair at its current length as long as possible, and that it might be necessary for her upcoming duties.

His message didn’t explain what they would be doing after vacation, but it must involve some level of human interaction, which meant she likely also wouldn’t be allowed to kill anyone, no matter how much they deserved it.

A shame really. The battlefield made things so much easier.

Max had no idea what was going through Nico’s mind, he was simply shocked at her appearance. The mighty Tarith Nico actually looked girly. Even with his brain’s increase in processing speed, Max was having a hard time accepting the change in her appearance. She was actually cute, and that’s not a word he previously associated with her.