A week passed by in a flash. Aside from the usual exercises and tests, Maximiler's remaining time remained uneventful. It was because of this that Maximiler had requested for some books to entertain himself with. At first, it started with a relatively basic book that contained some information about the colony planet he was currently on. The book was quite bland, but it helped a great deal in helping him understand more about the world. It went-
-Planet Montreya, a small colony planet that was located at the very outskirts of USC occupied territory. The planet consisted of 61% land and 39% water. It had an abundance of commonly found minerals which served as a stable source of income.
-Of the 61% available land, 31% of it was claimed and occupied by the Federal Republic of Montreya, the major leading power that existed on the small planet. 17% of the remaining land was claimed by the second most influential power of the planet, the Nendi Research Institute. The remaining 13% was split up by some lesser powers which were mostly some mining companies that existed as offshoots of galactic mining corporations.
-The colony planet of Montreya had two moons, both of which served as a source of a mildly valuable exotic called Rilon. Rilon was an incredibly hardy material that was vital to both starship and mech construction, although the amounts used in the construction of mechs was extremely minute. While the fact that Rilon could be mined from both moons orbiting Montreya sounded nice and all, one had to keep in mind that the amount of Rilon available was limited and wouldn't last forever.
-Also, because of the planet's location to the outer area of USC territory, it was prone to invasions by hostile species of aliens. Already, the military force of the planet had repelled two waves of Mantis aggressors this year.
"These books are very detailed and quite helpful." Maximiler couldn't help but comment once while reading.
"Hnng..." Jacob nodded and hummed absent-mindedly while clipping his nails. The guard could hardly be called a guard when he didn't do anything to protect Maximiler. Not that there was anything to even protect him from.
Maximiler just stared at the distracted guard for a few moments before snorting and returning his gaze to his book. He had finally managed to convince Doctor Freya to allow Jacob help him in decorating his stateroom. The once bland metallic walls were now slightly decorated. Small plastic pots that contained plants were tucked into the corners of the room and he finally had a proper bed, instead of the metallic bed that had a thin strip of foam covering it.
The duo spent some more time in silence before being roused from their quiet and peaceful moment by the sound of alarms screeching through the underground halls.
[Attention all combat personnel! Please proceed to the mech hangars and armories. A swarm of Mantis Fighters have been detected in the outskirts of the Zone! Non-combat personnel, please calmly evacuate to the underground bunkers! I repeat...]
Along with the flashing red lights and the screeching alarms, an announcement was passed through the speakers that were all over the base.
Jacob jumped up from his seat, his hand already on his weapon. He shot Maximiler a look before heading out of the room. Maximiler followed closely. He had just been reading on the Mantis attacks that were launched at the planet in the past year, only for one to happen right then.
The pair jogged down the slightly busy hallway. Infantry troops were herding non-combat personnel towards the underground bunker. Although they were already located in the underground complex of the Research Facility, the underground bunker was located one more level below the lowest floor of the facility. Jacob tried to convince Maximiler to head to the bunker like the rest, but Maximiler remained firm in his decision to head above-ground. Jacob hesitantly agreed to his demand.
By the time they got to the ground floor of the facility, there was already a mass mobilization of combat assets. Massive cargo haulers and combat carriers containing mechs lifted off and ascended into orbit to deploy the war machines before returning to the surface to pick up more mechs.
Surface-to-orbit weapons warmed up and remained on stand-by to protect the planet just in case of the possibility of Mantis breaching the defense formation in space.
"Jacob! Max!" Doctor Freya came running towards them. She bent over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath when she stopped before them.
"Aunt Freya?" Jacob was confused while Maximiler quirked his brow at her odd behavior. He hair was ruffled and her cheeks were flushed red from exertion.
Doctor Freya ignored Jacob completely and turned to Maximiler. "I just got wind of news from the higher-ups. Maximiler, you're getting deployed in high orbit!"
"What?" Both Jacob and Maximiler were shocked by the news.
"You heard me. Now, come!" She turned around and stomped away. The two men just shared an awkward glance with each other before trailing after her.