Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

The past few ideas looked especially boring after seeing Max's plan, and they were only briefly discussed before being relegated to the six out of ten pile of boring.

The Hunters all agreed that they were ideas worth keeping, but none of them really inspired the group of leaders.

That left Max, Nico and Khan in the lead, though most of the room didn't know it. Pretty much everyone knew Nico was one of the three because they all knew her personality pretty well, but Max and Khan had both submitted solid ideas that didn't immediately give them away.

"I still think that blending in with the locals for an infiltration strategy deserved more consideration." One of the Hunters complained before being shouted down by her peers.

"How are we supposed to infiltrate them, you idiot? They can literally see us standing here. Did you think they would forget we existed after all those battles just because we changed outfits?"

The chastisement continued for a few minutes until the Huntress relented, and then everyone settled in to discuss the top ideas.

"First, how do we pick a leader if we're going to consolidate all these camps in one way or another? We can't run that many different locations by committee."

Nico raised her hand. "I vote we chose leadership by the power-to-weight ratio."

The whole room shook with laughter and the pounding of hands upon tables as the leaders solidified the sheer audacity of her suggestion.

Compared to the Huntresses, who dwarfed even Max, she was completely tiny.

"Unfair competition." One of the Hunters finally laughed.

Dozens of hands raised to second that motion, and Nico's proposal to have the most power-dense Warrior lead was shot down.

"Fine, be like that. How about this, we compare merits for the most resounding tactical victory to see who should be in charge of group tactics for a region and individual combat achievements to see which of us and our subordinates should become Champions to stay in the villages?" Nico suggested instead.

That one required much more discussion. Though they were all accomplished fighters, many of them had never taken jobs that would require amazing feats of tactical skill to achieve. They preferred trading or hunting, with regular chances to test their individual combat skills over desperate fights and tactical deployments.

"If we're agreeing on a plan now, what do we need more tacticians for? Just let the best fighters lead the same as always." One of the Huntresses complained.

A few eyebrows went up, and Max could sense a deep disdain for the woman whom the others considered a nearly barbaric meathead. She was a great fighter, but everyone knew that it was actually her second in command who ran the ship because fighting was all that she was actually good at.

The rest of the room somewhat tactfully chose to ignore her outburst, and Max could tell that she was raging mad that nobody took her seriously even though she was one of the most decorated duelists in the entire species.

He made a mental note to choose her first as a Champion when the time came. Being first was an honour, and he didn't think that too many of the others would argue that she didn't deserve it.

"We have the records of battle honours here. Going by notable strategic wins, it looks like the Humans, Huntress Khan, Huntress Lilith, and Huntress Clarissa are the top five." One of the older Huntresses declared.

The data was sent around the room for everyone to review and for them to decide if they liked the way that the tactical scores had been weighted.

The decision was a fairly easy one, and there were no arguments, though a lot of the Huntresses spent a while looking over the battle records from the Koleska front.

None of them had seen the species in person before, but the way that they had adapted to the Humans' combat styles and the Learning Machines that they had brought from the Alliance suggested that the species was one that the Hunters might get along with in the future.

They might not have anything that the Hunters needed, but once the crisis had passed, they should know of some good hunting planets for them to visit, and that was as good of a reason as any for an alliance.

"Have we all seen what we needed to see about the latest adventures of the Terminus Trading Company's Commanders? The footage will be available for you to view at your leisure, and there is more available directly from them that was not submitted to the Alliance's database." Khan asked.

The Huntresses grumbled about having to work instead of watching a good fight, but that didn't last long.

The oldest woman in the room took to her feet to make the official announcement. "With no objections, Huntresses Khan, Lilith and Clarissa, as well as Commanders Nico and Max, are nominated to the strategy committee.

Now, we will choose the Champions to send to the villages. Who deserves the honour of the first nomination?"

Max got to his feet. "I nominate Huntress Darla as the First Champion."

Khan stood up beside him. "I second the nomination. How does the room vote?"

The woman who had suggested that they pick leaders entirely by duelling skill looked shocked that Max knew her name. She had been informed before the meeting started that he had nearly the same skill as an Illithid and could read the minds of everyone around him, but she had forgotten nearly as soon as she had sat down.

There was some muttering as the Huntresses discussed the nomination, then one after another, they stood in agreement until it was unanimous, and everyone in the room was on their feet.

"Very good then. Let us move on to the rest of the top five." The oldest Huntress announced with pride for the sensibility of her compatriots.

Max knew that this was nearly unheard of in a meeting between Hunter Clans. Two uncontested votes in a row wasn't a thing that happened when that many prideful egos got together in one spot.