***2 Days after the Xiao Lu feast of stomach destruction.***

It's been an odd 2 days to say the least. Xiao lu's dinner had been great, properly seasoned, large portions... really quite large portions. With enough left over for everyone and their guests to take back to their personal rooms for breakfast and lunch the next day. Never underestimate the Thunder-cockerel. During classes the next day they were informed that everyone would be going to the nearest hanger after a day off. It was fairly out of nowhere and left the chefs a bit excited. Were they landing somewhere? Is it going to be a long lesson on the different ships onboard? Maybe they were going to get an air-space show thingy? It was anyone's guess until they showed up... it was definitely beyond expectation. Humans we put into groups of 125 for a total of 8 groups, 1 for each of the colossal hangers. It was an Engineers or Mechanics wet dream. Smaller or Featherweight class ships were closer to the entrance with the sizes and classes going up to Carrier class all the way in the back, each of them approximately the size of a god-damned W*l M*rt supercenter. The ships themselves magnetically locked onto platforms that cycled into the walls and shifted like supersized revolving elevators.

Finlay: "You know... sometimes I forget just how big this fucking ship is."

Hada: "Yeah... uh... you know for military purposes all these ships are.... very different."

Berthold: "I swear that one's just a lamp... there's no way something fits in there."

True enough, there was nothing uniform about these ships, different colors, shapes and what looked to be forms of propulsion. From the short glances of what he could see in the cockpits... very different controls.

Pfonti Woman: "Excuse me? Excuse... me..."

A green-scaled alien of Medusa-like description tried their best to grab everyone's attention but she was being drowned out by the mummers of the curious humans. Most of them staying a respectful distance from the ships and craning their necks... a few brave engineers were stepping closer and if she didn't stop she'd be dealing with a stampede. She lifted her tail high a slapped it onto the floor of the ship a loud meaty THWACK! followed immediately by a hiss of pain.

Pfonti: "*Hssssh!* owowowowow... mother DANCING, that stings." Hugging her precious tail close, trying to alleviate the pain, oblivious to the 125 humans either staring at her or looking straight at the ground... due to fear of turning to stone. Once the throbbing waves of pain subsided she saw that most eyes were on her. "uhhhhh-hem. Hello I'm Intermediate Pilot Nyeith, I'll be assisting you all today... is...is the floor thing normal or did I miss something?" Joining some of the humans at looking at the floor, before someone explained a tid-bit of the Human mythos with her appearance.

Nyeith: "Ohhhhhh, okay okay, I get it. Everyone! don't worry, I can't turn you into stone. I mean... I do have paralytic venom but that's purely for self-defense and hunting. Now then, many of you are probably wondering why you've come to the dry-dock... You'll all be provided with Union Owned vehicles, some ground units and some air transport. Should you participate in events using these vehicles the Union will take a percentage of your earnings. As much as we love meeting new cultures... it's expensive, so having as many avenues of income possible is beneficial to the entirety of the Union." Her face darkened, as well as her tone. "You'll also be expected to operate these machines in combat scenarios should the worst come to happen. Having said you aren't expected to die for anyone else so should you see it in your own best interest to flee in that combat scenario, you're welcome to."

She was met with stunned faces. Some tinged with fear most were... excitement?

Human 37: "WE'RE GETTIN' FOCKIN SHIPS LADS!" Followed by many more pumped up voices and cheers.

Nyeith... wasn't expecting such a joyous response... She had only been to one Pilot introduction before, her own peoples two [Standard Earth] years prior and it was much more grim in tone.

Nyeith: "Oooookay. So. Ahem. Once We get your ship situation... situated. You'll be expected to join a Carrier Class Crew if you're vehicle is of a smaller class. So we'll be going up in Class starting at Featherweight or Scout class ships. Usually very fast and maneuverable, but with low Combat power and defense. I'll begin Listing off names based on User Holo, previous combat scores and estimated behavior patterns given by Holos. Be assured, no personal or invasive information has been shared."

"Colomba Mlynárik, Tjaard Sneijer, Edgar De Groot, Trishna Norman, Finlay Roberts, Issac Achilles..."

Finlay stood with his fellow Scout class junior pilots and stood in the empty zone where his ship would be built. Unlike Kinhaxxi Auto, he didn't get to actively design this... Spec was apparently conversing with the Core A.I. and they would Print it together... so he was stuck there... looking like an Idiot. Looking back at his friends... everyone decided to stick around and see just what kind of ship Finlay would get. But they were told what class vehicles they would be, so for now everyone just watched the process.

It didn't take as long as Finlay would have thought, but then again he was getting the smallest size ship. But damn is it pretty. A deep shiny Emerald green and Black with some kind of yellow Neon, it certainly stayed within theme for him so far, the shape was... a little odd. It almost looked like a Broadhead arrow, according to Berthold at least but a little rounder and Finlay couldn't even see the cockpit. Over all this thing was tiny, it could fit in a garage with maybe enough space left inside for a motorcycle.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Nyeith: "Go on and have a seat, it's not everyday you get a personal Scout."

Finlay: "Sure... the second I see the fuckin seat. " Climbing on top of the ship he did see a rounded oval outcropping like in most most jets, but no handholds or-

Spec: "Just touch it, I want to see it too!"

Finlay: "Alright, Alright Geez... impatient little shit..." Placing hand on the Oval Out cropping caused it to slide away and reveal the cockpit. hopping inside and relaxing into the seat. "...I'm not touching a single thing... mind starting us up?"

Spec: "MY PLEASURE!" *The Holo dived into the console and lit up the cockpit, the sudden flash blinding Finlay as the cockpit sealed and the ship began to hover off the platform. still in place but the engine is on.*

Finlay: "My eyes! Is that going to be an every time thing?!" wiping the blindness away to look at the controls. "...Woah."

From just a quick glace he could see, 3 foot pedals, 2 control sticks and enough buttons for at least 3 of them to be self destruct. "... Half of these have to be a fucking joke."

Spec: "It's just a Manual start up redundancy should I unfortunately be out of commission, you can ignore most of them... don't touch the big red ones under the glass."

Finlay: "Again... I'm not touching shit, until I know what all of these do."

Spec: "Right now we're in a low altitude hover mode. Core has saw fit to give us precisely one gun."

Finlay: "Fuckin... what? a 1911?"

Spec: "I negotiated for a larger weapon in exchange for the multitude of small arms that come standard... A Condensed Plasma acceleration cannon."

Finlay: "..."

Spec: "Big fuckin laser gun."

Finlay: "Nnnnnnice~" Watching as the Screens in the dome of the cockpit finally started showing a live feed of his surroundings, reticles highlighting Friendlies.... AKA everyone currently staring at him. While he couldn't see it from his perspective, Said BFLG was currently warming up for a pre-check, dropping out from the bottom of his ship, Some of the more techy or gun knowledgeable of the group immediately dived out of the way and only stood back up as the weapon rose back up into the main body of the ship.

Spec: "Now I know you like your vehicles to change shape to display the current mode of the ship, so..."

Finlay: "You fucking didn't!" *Watching as the supposed wings detached from the front of the main hull and shifted position, moving until they were at the back of the Scout-class, turning into additional directional thrusters.* "... Is there a megaphone or something?"

Spec: "5th green button on the left."

Finlay Pressed and held it down as he cleared his throat. "...Hey Hada.... How about that rematch race?" Smirking as the small non-binary individual gave him a middle finger.

Once the ship was powered down and parked he went with the usual suspects to watch their ships get revealed. Xiao was up next with a sunset orange Light fighter jet, he had a much wider array for weapons and even room for a few passengers. The main body just about the Size of a bus ... it looked like someone enlarged and gave a Fighter jet the Ferrari treatment.

Hada of course got the short straw with a Semi-ground unit... it didn't stop Finlay from secretly burning with jealously as the nearly 2 story mech flexed it's fingers. Of course they get a god damn gundam... White paint with purple lights showing between the joints... no stealth, all attack. handguns popped out of the mech's thighs and a Blade about as long as the Mech's fore-arm slid out of if the wrist.

Finlay: "fuck me, that's so cool." *Watching as the edges of the blade glowed with the same iridescent purple from the joints of the mech.* "Ohhhhhh I want that, I want that so bad."

Katherine was set with some kind of mobile base. Meant to assist with ground unit transport from Orbit. In very rough terms, it resembled a wingless Dragonfly, with large claws going down it's body and tail, large enough to get a good grip on enough on most vehicles. While it may not have much in the way of offence, it looked tanky enough to shrug off a couple RPG's and brush the ash off. Unlike the very stylish and emphasized Coloration so far it was a Militant camo. Very fitting for the ex-soldier and she seemed happy with it.

Lastly Berthold, He had been selected for Carrier class, and that meant the team could stay a team for a good while longer at the least. It was... something alright. For some reason a bunch of guys started singing some operatic theme. Large enough to house a good crew of 10-12 pilots with storage for 2 Mech class fighters, 6 Scouts or 2 Fighter class ships, and 2 Transport class. Counting the original team they had room for 9 active pilots and 1-3 Non-combatant crew at the least. It was definitely Familiar, like something from-

Hada: "Is that from... H*lo?"

Berthold: "I mean... It's one of my favorite franchises so... the outward appearance? Definitely, but not as big as it should be."

Finlay: "What ever you say, Master *Chef*."

Yuri: "I can only do so much! Even this is pushing my ability... I'll have to put in a request for an assistant Holo to maintain non-essential systems and I'll do the heavy lifting. Be grateful that I managed to convince CORE to get it this close."

Berthold:" I didn't mean anything by it my big floofy boy~ don't be mad with papa, Ja?" *Showering the disgruntled Samoyed Holo with an uncharacteristic amount of pets and pats.*

Katherine: "Well... that's new."

Nyeith: "Excuse me, Everyone? One more thing and then you're all free for the next cycle. There are rules of course. Don't commit crimes such as Piracy while piloting of course, or a warrant can and Will be put out for you. Bounties can be taken but that detracts from the planned path of the I.U. so be sure to at least have a backlog of your projects before doing as such. Any questions?"

Human 48: "Just where did you get the resources to make all of these?"

Nyeith: "You'd have to go to the fabrication department for more precise answers, but we did alot of asteroid mining while in your solar system. There was just... so much to use. With permission of course."

Hada: "Are you free after this?"

Nyeith was a little taken aback at the oddball question, and very confused when she answered yes and was suddenly being guided by the hand by Hada.

Hada: "Cool. You're coming with us."

Katherine: "Us?

Hada: "Fuck yeah, Us. We just got a bunch of cool new shit, time to celebrate! I'll send everyone the details in an hour."