When the fleet arrived in the Themeris system they were greeted by silence.
No patrol ships,No sensor net, literally nothing.
The last of the three stations was powered up but there was no one inside.
Tommy led two teams inside and found the station abandoned and it looked like everyone left in a hurry.
When they made sure that it's safe ,He called over some more of his crew to take control of the station and within a few hours three of the most damaged ships were inside the dock.
It would take them days to do repairs but now they had the materials to do it.
Garry's team went to work and started dismantling the shuttle that was in dock 1.
Anne once again took control of the station.
It turned out that the red section was in a much better condition than the blue section so they didn't have to repair any facilities, it was just a matter of powering them up.
There was also a stockpile of materials left behind so they started the repairs immediately.
The station didn't have any defenses so Tommy asked Jess to upload the same schematics to the repair drones as she had done in the blue section and she was just too happy to comply.
With the added workforce of mercenaries and functional facilities the shuttle was gone within two days and then they brought a destroyer to replace it.
Everyone worked in shifts to speed up the process.
The ships outside also collected materials thanks to the salvage drones and within five days they were fully stocked.
The repairs took two weeks and within the first week the station had its defenses back online.
Tommy also found out that his sister state was promising.
-Her blood is fully restored and her marrow is regenerating slowly,her brain damage was also not too severe and thanks to the tank is now fully healed.
Alice informed him.
-So what are her chances of waking up?
He asked.
-Technically she can wake up at any moment,also there should be no problem with her memory as that part of the brain wasn't damaged at all.
Jenny said.
She and Alice became friends in an instant thanks to their mutual love for medicine.
-That's great, I was worried about that.
Tommy said with great relief.
-You can stop worrying and leave her to us,you just make sure that this ship stays in one piece.
Jenny said.
After the repairs were completed and all ships were fully loaded with ordinance and materials it was time to move on but before they left they used the ships tractor beams to put the biggest ships they could find into all of the docks to make sure that there was a supply of materials ready if they ever needed them.
Tommy and the engineers from his ship and from the fleet assembled some drones to dismantle the ships after they were gone.
Soon they moved out in the direction of coalition space as the empire was most likely done for.
They used the same route that the exiles used before to avoid the enemy forces.
They made a stop at the communications relay that Tommy's crew used the last time.
The information they got was disturbing.
It Turned out that the bugs sent some of their forces to all of the neighboring territories in order to prevent any help being sent into the empire.
The empire itself was burning and its forces were being annihilated left and right.
Some of the larger fleets with smart commanders managed to inflict some damage on the enemy but they paid a high price for it.
Other forces simply retreated when engaged with a superior force but it was always at a cost of losing some ships.
In other words the empire was falling and no one could help even if they wanted to.
THe noble families did all they could to stop the invasion but they were fighting a losing battle and their forces had suffered major losses.
-Well I didn't expect that the empire would be in such dangerous straits so fast.
Daniel said when they were having a meeting onboard the Black dragon.
-With that new wormhole technology it's not surprising .
You can't even hold the line when the bugs can simply bypass it and attack you from behind.
Tommy said
-Also,you were right, no matter how powerful the fleet is, we would get destroyed if we stayed and fought them.
We need to find a way to kill them before they can send an entire armada through that wormhole of theirs.
Daniel said with resignation in his voice.
Everyone was working on that problem but so far there was no way to do it.
-I also got my personnel working on that so let's give them some time.
The next moment they were informed of an incoming message for Tommy from his ship.
After he read the message he smiled slightly.
-Talk of the devil, my team found a way to attack them while the wormhole is still unstable.
-How?
Daniel was in shock that they had a solution this fast.
-Lets ask them.
Tommy opened a channel to his ship.
-Anne, what's the plan on attacking the enemy through an unstable wormhole?
Anne was on the bridge and she had the con.
-Jess has figured out a way with the help from Paul Simon and David.
She reported.
-Call them to the bridge. I need to know the details.
A few minutes later all four of them were standing on the bridge.
-So Jess, what's the idea you have regarding the wormhole?
-You see Tommy the wormhole can go both ways but when it's unstable it will fry anything electronic and cause the explosives to go off but what if we fired our MAC's into it using full kinetic rounds?
There would be no electronics to fry ore explosives to go off just a piece of metal going very fast.
And the velocity that the slug enters the wormhole is the same when it exits so it would be deadly if it hit something. Unfortunately we won't be able to tell if it hit or not.
Jess explained their idea.
-Thank you Jess, this is something to try when we encounter another wormhole.
Keep working on that.
-No problem ,also I already got Garry to make this kind of ammunition for the future.
She smiled, happy when her idea was approved.
-Who was this girl?
Daniel asked when the connection ended.
-She is my designer,the ship,weapons,most of my special ammo,the armor,she designed it all.
And I might have turned her into a monster giving her the opportunity to design whatever she wants and testing it.
So far all of her designs got approved and are very useful.
Given enough time she could turn the fleet into a terrifying war machine.
Tommy explained.
-Then why didn't you turn her designs over to the empire? They would stand more of a chance then.
-Because whoever has that technology will get very powerful and the empire has no time to produce it all, not to mention i don't want the bugs to have it,and they would have it by now.
You saw the reports,first targets were military bases and the next were research and production centers.
However your fleet is already getting some of it.
Earth dragon and Boom dragon wanted the schematics for our mines since they are more effective than the standard ones.
They contacted me and I sent them to Jess as it was her design.
They reached an agreement and now they have the same mines I do.
Tommy smiled at his boss' shocked expression.
Daniel was truly speechless this time,those two always liked to play with explosives and now they got their hands on the most deadly mines he ever saw.
Now they wont shut up until he lets them use the new toys.