“I can get on that right away. They are excellent Mecha Battalion Commanders, so it would be an insult to those who aren’t involved in the mutiny to be reassigned right out of the Company. Others would view that sort of thing as insular like we didn’t welcome anyone but our own people. So, I think that a side shuffle if we can’t promote them would be a good call.” Nico suggested.

“What did you have in mind?” Max asked.

“Move them from Battalion Commanders to a War Strategy council. It’s technically a promotion, and raising their wages wouldn’t be an issue. Plus, they would make good advisors when their entire duty is war strategy. There is no room on the battlefield for politics, and any such ideas they have would go against the interests of the others and get them called out immediately.

You would gain a number of very talented advisors. They would gain a promotion that moves them out of battle and conveniently out of command of the Mecha, where any suspect loyalties could become a real issue.

I think that it’s a win-win sort of proposition, and we already know that we have qualified replacements who are loyal to their units aboard the Cruisers.

If you would like, I can draft up some nice promotion letters, as well as the transfer paperwork right now.” Nico offered.

“Do it, but don’t announce it publicly until after the trial is finished. Do let the two ship Commanders know, though.” Max agreed.

[Sir, I know this might not be the time, but we have a message from your Uncle Lu. He has a parcel ready for delivery and says it will be shipping barebones in seven days.] Admiral Drake informed Max with a text message.

Just what he needed. Even more ships while he was working on solving a mutiny issue aboard one of the two that he had already received.

[Alright, tell him that we will be ready to receive them and that we will need to hold a hiring fair once they are ready.] Max agreed, then sighed and rested his head in his hands.

“Oh, can I invite some friends? I mean, now that the agreement with the Alliance is done, there is no good reason not to have Innu Technicians aboard your ships, and I know a bunch of other Tech Nomad groups who would gladly sign the same deal that we did, working and earning royalties to revamp their ships.

Working with humans is fun. You let us go with anything, and I’m sure they could make an improvement or two to your ships while they are at it.” One of the Technicians suggested.

“She has a point. Innu Technicians are the golden standard for a competent crew. You could prohibit them from broadcasting aboard the ship, though, if you are worried about them giving away secrets or accidentally revealing the location of a combat vessel. They would forward their research to the mothership and receive their credit after it was verified and put up for sale.” The Illithid suggested.

“Klinger, DiFranco, what do you think of the concept of multi-species crews? The current Battalion Commanders are next in line for ship command, so depending on the number of vessels, you two are likely to be organizing a crew of your own under our banner in only a few days.” Max asked.

“I want Dryads. I stopped to have a coffee under the World Tree today and met the one that we have aboard as an ambassador, and he is great. Like the Shin in the love of plants, but more mellow and open-minded. I think they would make great botanists, and the self-sustaining plant life aboard the ships needs a supervisor.” Klinger recommended.

His mind said that the Dryad had an incredible intoxicant herb with them that wore off after half an hour and had no lingering effects like the cotton mouth or that intoxicant hangover which humans so often suffered from. He was assured it was non-addictive and would pair well with Reaver Rum.

“I see what you’re going for. As long as your crew keeps to the regulations on when they can get high, I don’t see an issue with hiring Dryads. Since I am not hearing any objections to the Innu, I will assume that there are none?” Max asked.

“They’re great, as long as you don’t put them on the early morning shift. That is way too much energy to be dealing with at four in the morning.” DiFranco agreed, making the technician giggle.

“The whole species is like that, full output all the time. You get used to us.” She laughed.

“Anyone else that we should really look to actively recruit?”

The officers in the room thought for a moment, then Nico loaded a new data set onto the table’s holographic projector.

“According to this data, we should have Innu and at least four female Valkia, one Giant and a plant-type species aboard every ship. I compiled the list from Alliance Envoy ship staffing and the flirtation data compiled by our crew’s interactions aboard the Cruise Ship.” She explained, bringing up the graphs to prove her point.

“What does the flirtation data have to do with anything?” The Technician asked, being less concerned about such matters than her innovations.

“It helps with morale in the long term. Who knows where romance might bloom? This data says that we have a representative bias toward the number of men who prefer strong, taller women. Perhaps a few Hunters or Canis would also go well in the crews if any are available.” Nico told the Innu girl with a wink.

“Oh, well yeah. I never thought of that. I mean, yeah.”

Max laughed at the flustered technician as she realized what Nico was going for with the crew construction.

“Will the new Captains be bringing their old units with them?” Klinger asked.

“Nope. Terminus will appoint a new Battalion Leader from among your Company Commanders, with consideration for your recommendations, and a replacement for the new Leader’s Company will be chosen by them. The additional ships will get all new crew, but after this, it should be the end of our fleet expansion for a while. We only have six possible ships to reclaim that we haven’t sold off, so four more positions are open.” Nico clarified.

Max looked at the stack of trial evidence in front of him and then back around the room. “Do we have any more evidence to vet before we begin the trial?”

Everyone shook their heads. It was all there, everything that they could get before the conspirators had time to destroy the rest.

“Alright, assemble everyone accused in the courtroom. Let’s get this started.”