There really wasn't much that they could do about a species that might or might not even exist anymore, so the crew of Terminus and the Hunters settled into Terraform and explore the planet, both virtually with drones and by sending down actual teams to explore places that looked interesting enough to save from alteration.

They would still purify them of the lingering toxins and perhaps reintroduce some minerals that had been extracted, but they would do their best to preserve the natural beauty of the place.

That brought Max to his first point of concern. Nico had designed a wonderful city for a hundred million people to be built floating above the surface. Only, she hadn't really designed it. Max recognized it as a spot she had taken over in her past life.

That was a bit concerning, as no matter how beautiful the spot was, he knew what she did there, and the thought of her backsliding into past life behaviors was a constant concern when she brought up memories and designs like this.

Not that there was anything openly sinister about this city. It was absolutely stunning, and everyone who saw it loved it. Even the Shin adored the architecture, and they were hard to impress with anything that didn't contain fresh soil.

They would, unfortunately, be one of the last species that were allowed onto the surface of the planet, as their roots were extremely sensitive to toxins. This planet was so heavily poisoned with industrial waste and poisonous chemicals that even bringing them to the city once it was completed would require an extra level of sanitation of the shuttles at first.

They were well aware of their limitations, though, and were in no hurry to head somewhere toxic, no matter how pretty it was.

For the next two weeks, that was how they passed their days, cleansing and terraforming the planet interspersed with small teams of specialists sent to the surface to explore the ruins.

The live streams of those explorations were a huge hit with the guests. This was a species that not even they knew, so they got to discover everything in real time and speculate on the nature of the species.

They had a general guess about their shape, given the size and construction of the ruins. Still, the statue they had found of the mysterious vessel or mecha from the Hunters' legends remained strictly confidential, so there was no way for the guests to know that they were most likely bipedal since the statue had been extremely slender and long-limbed, with a larger torso, like an arachnid, but with only six limbs and standing upright like a humanoid.

[Commander, we have an incoming shuttle. One of our own, hailing for the Academy using the Headmistress' family code. I believe these are the elite teachers that the Professor managed to poach from other institutions, and the rest of the recruited staff should be here soon after them.] A communications officer informed Max as he relaxed in his seat and watched the exploration streams.

[Just in time. I thought they weren't going to get here in time to get set up before the first round of parents arrived to tour the Academy grounds. Guide them to the designated bay for Academy vessels, and I will meet them there.]

Max sent the news to Headmistress Medusa, who agreed to meet him at the bay so that the new staff could meet both of their bosses the moment that they arrived, instead of having staff members meet and greet them, as would normally be done for new teachers.

The shuttle was a Terminus vessel. The occupants seemed quite at ease inside, relaxing on the couches and chatting about what they might find inside a brand-new academy designed by the infamous Medusa Medellin.

Her name was synonymous with perfection in their social circle, and the fact that she had told off very respected educators in the past for failing to meet her exacting standards was no secret. It also made them both eager and nervous to be working under her.

The fact that any academy she designed and ran would be elite was a given, especially with their presence, the teachers believed, as they had earned their credentials with decades of impeccable results, but her reputation for perfection was still a double-edged blade that could bite them if they made a misstep.

"What are you thinking about?" The woman in question asked as Max listened to the teachers' thoughts while the shuttle prepared to land.

"I'm listening to the teachers' thoughts. They're concerned that your perfectionism might become difficult to work with, as you are the headmistress, but they are excited to be here and see what you have designed. It seems your skills are held in higher regard than your personality." Max replied.

"I am honestly not as bad as I'm made out to be. The incident was blown all out of proportion because nobody could believe that someone stood up to such a wealthy man." She shrugged.

The whole incident seemed like a minor thing to Max, who had seen how his own Commanders dressed down misbehaving soldiers, but that didn't mean that it wasn't a big deal in an elite academic circle.

The teachers filed out in an orderly single file line, based on their years of experience, and lined up to meet the new Headmistress with polite smiles on their faces. Well, on the faces of the species that had them. Their botany specialist was a Shin, and the Harpia didn't have a face that was capable of showing emotions, being mostly beak, but their body language was very expressive.

There were a few other species that Max didn't recognize right away, but a notable lack of the smaller species, which were more susceptible to injury by air pressure and energy flow changes. It was possible that Terminus still wasn't up to the standard that they considered safe but more likely, they simply viewed the risk of coming under attack as high enough to make this job offer a suicide mission for them.

"Welcome to Terminus, everyone. I am Commander Keres of the Terminus Trading Company, and this is Headmistress Medusa Medellin, your direct superior at the Academy. Thank you all for considering our job offer, and we look forward to having you all here at what we intend to make the most prestigious Academy in a hundred standard units." Max greeted them, causing a round of laughter among the formerly nervous teachers.

The Galaxy they were in was well beyond the frontier of the Alliance. There were only a few hundred prestigious Academies within a hundred standard units of here. In their minds, defeating those backwater upstarts with no particular pedigree was not even an issue.

Medusa took over at that point. "Soon, the rest of the staff will be coming to join your departments, and I will be expecting you to bring them all up to the sort of standard an elite academy requires. They are the finest we could find from around the Alliance, as well as some humans and a Hunter, so you should only need to form them into a proper team before the parents arrive to tour the grounds before enrolling the first class.

If you will follow me, I will return the Commander to his duties, and we can get started on exploring the grounds. Welcome to Reaver Academy."