Chapter 40 A message home.

When they were in the FTL everyone let out a sigh of relief.

-Status rapport.

Tommy said returning to normal.

-We received no damage and the shields only dropped 9% but most of that was caused by the debris we have passed through.

Paul reported.

-Can we identify the ships we just faced?

-I'm working on it,but it'll take some time to identify them all.

Anne said from her station while still analyzing the data.

-Simon, how are we on ammunition?

-We are well into the green, we just launched 0.7% of our missiles, 1.5% of our torpedoes,5% of our mines and fired 0.5% of our point defense kinetic rounds. 

Garry is working on replenishing the stock.

Tommy and everybody else for that matter were speechless.

They just destroyed a fleet of over 20 ships and used around 1% of their ordinance to accomplish that.

-Don't be so shocked we caught them with their shields down and before they could even react we already opened fire.

Simon said after he saw everyone's shocked faces.

-Stand down from battle stations,good work everyone now get some rest.

Tommy said to the intercom,when he found his voice back and remembered that he didn't order to stand down.

-Jakob,did we enter FTL at the right vector?

-Yes there was no problem, we are on course.

Answered the navigator.

-That's good, now let's just hope that we can reach Coalition space without having any more battles or we will have a problem with our materials supplies.

Tommy said.

-You worry too much,we already predicted that situation and we prepared some coordinates at which we should be able to gather some materials.

Jacob said with a smile.

-That's one problem solved.

Tommy had to admit that he was overthinking.

-I have the battle rapport if you want to hear it.

Anne butted in the conversations.

-I don't know yet which family ships they were but we destroyed: 2 frigates, 5 corvettes, and all 9 of the patrol ships.

Another destroyer,3 frigates and a corvette were heavily damaged and dead in space.

She finished her rapport.

-I would really want to see the expression on the nobles faces when they hear that we just turned another 30 of their ships to scrap.

Simon was really happy to get some payback.

-I can already see them hollering when they see the bill for the ships they just lost.

Everyone laughed at that.

They were safe as long as they were in FTL but they couldn't stay there forever.

They were able to get some rest before they all went back to the bridge around 20 hours later when they were nearing their first cool down point.

In theory they could stay in FTL for over 30 hours but it was decided to stay two thirds of that time for safety reasons.

In case they were attacked they could just jump away but if they wanted to go for the whole thirty hours they would have to wait for the cooldown to be completed which meant that they would have to fight.

They exited the FTL on the border of a star system.

-Report.

Tommy demanded.

-We are right where we are supposed to be,The Arcturus system.

Said Jakob

-No habitable planets in this system and no ships or any sort of technology on the sensors.

Reported Anne.

-There is no communication of any kind.

David shook his head.

-Engines and FTLD's are optimal,beginning the cool down procedure.

Paul said.

They didn't need to raise shields or powerup weapons and the pilots also had nothing to do for now.

They had to stay in this place for two hours to cool down the FTLD's and then they would be on their way again.

-In our next cooldown destination we should find an automatic meganet transmitter so we should download updated maps and maybe some news reports.

Jakob informed them ahead of time.

-Good thinking,we may find some helpful information that way.

Tommy agreed.

-Won't that leave a trail they could follow?

Simon asked.

-Doubtful but if you want I can plant a virus that will clean up any traces of our connection.

Anne said, waving a data disc in her hand.

-Then that's the plan.

Tommy approved.

-We can also allow the crew to send private messages to their family and friends.

David proposed.

-We can do it but they have to be careful not to disclose where we are going or it could spell disaster.

Anne said.

-Then let's inform them about it.

Tommy used the ship's intercom to inform the rest of the crew about a possibility of sending a message .He also cautioned them not to reveal anything about their destination or about the ship.

-Most of the crew was happy that they could at least tell their loved ones that they were alive and safe.

When they reached the next cooldown spot they made their way to connect with the transmitter.

The place was in the middle of nowhere so it suited their plans perfectly.

It took them four hours to complete the download and send the messages.

When all of that was done Anne uploaded the virus to cover their tracks.

After accomplishing their goals they disappear into the FTL.

On their way Jakob and Monic updated the star maps and started to look for potential problems on their route.

The rest of the crew was reading through all the news reports dating back 3 months to find any potentially helpful information and to catch up on the latest news.

The messages and the news worked as a great morale boost for the crew.