The Hunters carefully extracted the two Mecha from their death embrace, removing the blades from the armor and shifting them to anti-gravity platforms, where they were taken back to their respective hangars, Huntress Khan's to their repair bay, and Nico's back to the Cutter.

"The first thing I must ask is if all humans are like you. Are they great warriors? We haven't seen much sign of advanced technology among them, and we were losing hope before you came to see us aboard that repurposed Colony Ship." Huntress Khan asked.

"Most are not as skilled as I am, and as you saw, their technology is lower. Our Mecha is a unique design created by this generation, so they haven't been spread to other groups yet, not even the ones we are allied with." Nico responded.

"Interesting. So most groups of the species are incapable of Warp 10 and cannot build a weapon that can give us a decent duel?

That is a conundrum. By our laws, you might be the only group of humans we would consider Sentient beings and not a game species. But if the rest are close to your standards, then it would be a significant moral issue back home, as the current sentiment says that we should no longer hunt planets with sentient creatures for entertainment." Huntress Khan informed her.

"Most of the larger groups in this region have at least one or two Mecha that could outperform the ones we used today on the battlefield, but they don't often engage in duels, so the designs are made for long-range engagements between a mixture of military assets," Nico explained.

Huntress Khan looked horrified at that news. "You involve the weak and those incapable of piloting a Hunting Suit in your battles? Even the battles against each other?"

Nico just shrugged, unsure what the best way to explain it was.

"In some battles, we involve everyone who is not a child or invalid. Human battles can be quite brutal, and though the larger Mechanized forces prefer to face each other, it isn't uncommon for there to be collateral damage among the lighter units or the infantry."

The Huntress just shook her head. "And here, the Alliance calls us savages for hunting the Game Species just because some of them can talk."

Nico patted the much larger woman on the shoulder in consolation. "In all honesty, they only even spoke to us because we reached Warp 10 with a Cutter, and even then, we are still under observation, and our entire Galaxy is listed as a restricted area while they try to determine how to classify us. We have some Innu and Illithid guests aboard the ship for a vacation, though, and we are hoping they will put in a good word for us that will at least convince the Alliance to consider limited trade agreements."

"Those are good choices. The Innu know much about technology, and we have learned a lot from our interactions with them. The Illithid is just one huge creepy hive mind, though, and they don't even have Hunters Suits. They just dominate the minds of their enemies. I will get you a detection token that indicates when they are trying to influence the minds of those around them. It is the only way that they can be trusted."

Nico smiled in gratitude. "That could be incredibly useful. We have nanotechnology that usually warns us about attacks on the body and mind, but you can never be too cautious."

"Yes, our sensors detected that, but we couldn't determine the purpose of them, despite the fact almost all of your humans aboard are hosts. So they are a medical tool?" Huntress Khan asked.

"Far more than that. The artificial intelligence is coded to our genetics so that we can pass them to our children, and nanotechnology slowly rebuilds our bodies far beyond the human baseline so that we are individually more effective warriors.

Huntress Khan burst into laughter at that news and gave Nico a big hug, startling her with the unexpected affection.

"Our species was once a quadrupedal reptile species, which developed great intelligence due to an accident with an alien ship crashing into our planet. The first technology that we developed was genetic engineering to improve ourselves and eliminate our vulnerabilities.

We made ourselves warm-blooded, faster, and stronger, with better eyesight in new spectrums of light and heat, then finally, we made ourselves bipedal for optimum mobility when raiding other species for new technology.

Hearing you talk about your people is like hearing about our own children but left to work everything out without guidance. You're all just doing the best you can and then adopting things that worked better than the thing your parents tried."

Nico sighed. "I'm not sure if that is a compliment or an insult, but I will take it as a compliment since, according to your computer system, I really am a child in comparison."

Huntress Khan stepped back, confused. "What do you mean? I am among the youngest of our champions, at only six hundred standard cycles, by the Alliance Calendar."

"And I am less than twenty, by Alliance reckoning. Humans grow to maturity much faster than Hunters do." Nico replied.

Her words were only making the Huntress happier for some reason.

"Baby Hunters. A whole ship full of primordial Hunter infants." She whispered.

"Would you like to come aboard and meet the crew? I am sure that they will want to hold some sort of meeting about an agreement not to hunt planets full of humans for sport." Nico suggested.

"Can we at least hunt SOME of them? The ones that are on the wrong path? Or the ones without the developmental nanotechnology?"

This was not going to be an easy meeting.

"We have a system known as Mercenaries, where outside forces can be hired to join a battle on behalf of one side or another. Would that be compatible with your ethics?" Nico asked.

"Possibly, in very limited circumstances. We would never allow Hunters to be hired by a Game Species though, and I am not convinced that most humans aren't game." Huntress Khan replied carefully.

"Then, if you would like to assemble a team, we can have the ones who enjoy such details work out an agreement about what is game, what is not, and the formalities for joining a Hunt if you find something exciting to fight," Nico replied.

"Excellent plan. We can leave it to the men and have a drink. Tell me, do humans know about alcohol?"