The ladies didn't oppose connecting the station with the shipyard when Andrew discussed that option with them.
Aelita and Nairin got to work as soon as everyone agreed and redesigned the station once more, to make it easier to integrate it with the shipyard.
While they were busy with that, Vulcan proved how useful he could be, by finding a lot of smaller and bigger issues in the territory and suggesting the solutions to them.
The most pressing matter was the fuel as it would be needed for the fleet, which was expanding and to keep up with the shipyard's demand.
-Why didn't you simply activate the shipyard's fuel collection array?
Vulcan asked surprised, after he saw how much they struggled to get the fuel.
-Wait, this place can collect fuel?
Andrew asked surprised.
No one ever found anything about it.
-Yes, this shipyard is built to be self-sufficient, so it naturally can collect its own fuel.
What's more, it is only one part of the whole set of installations, each designed to operate individually but our true power can only be unleashed once we are all connected.
The AI explained.
-This is the first time I've heard of this.
Andrew admitted, surprising the AI.
-Wait a moment.
Vulcan said and went silent for a moment.
-Boss, the description and the manual you got are incomplete.
To be exact, around 60% of it is missing.
Vulcan started calling Andrew a boss when he heard some of the fleet captains call him that.
-Can you send me the whole thing then?
The human asked.
-I can't, it has been classified and placed in a restricted file.
All I can tell you is that the information will be released to you after certain requirements are met, as to what they are, I can't say, my access to these files is heavily restricted.
Vulcan explained, his voice filled with surprise like he didn't expect any of that.
-Since there is no way to access them for now, let's focus on the more pressing matters.
Can you activate the fuel collection array?
-Yes, I have access to it.
-Then do it.
-Done, the array will start collecting fuel shortly.
-Great, this should help us a lot.
Andrew sighed in relief as the fuel was one of his biggest concerns.
With that done, they switched to other things, Vulcan had discovered and which could be upgraded.
The first of these was the comms relay.
The shipyard could produce more of them and the AI suggested, placing at least one in each system with the station in it.
This would increase their sensor range and also would prevent them from losing communication with the other stations if their relay was damaged or destroyed.
Another thing that could increase their fuel reserves was to build more collectors and place them in the empty systems, that way they could get more fuel.
Andrew remembered that Lanarine suggested something like that earlier, but he forgot to implement it, so now he did it immediately.
Another matter was the system's defenses.
Vulcan showed Andrew some defensive satellites and even turrets, they could place on some asteroids throughout the system.
These were just a few examples of the improvements, implemented not only in the main system of the territory but in all systems under their control, especially the one with the wormhole, since it had the highest possibility of being attacked.
For the next week, the territory was bustling with activity and the fleet was constantly on the move, transporting the satellites, relays, Helium 3 collectors, or turret parts, to all the systems, turning them all into fortresses.
The fleet also increased in size adding 20 corvettes, 15 frigates, 5 heavy frigates, and another destroyer.
They were all standard ships since designing a new ship took a lot of time, especially if it was going to be superior to the current ones.
Thankfully there were a lot of people who wanted to become captains and they all learned as much as they could since they knew that it would only be a matter of time before they got their ships.
Arien suggested using the gunships as training vessels before anyone got a warship to command.
-They need some experience before they get a corvette or a frigate to command, and with all the transport flights we are doing it should give them a taste of the life on board a ship.
She explained when they discussed the issue.
Andrew agreed to this idea.
He also didn't want to give the command of a warship to a bunch of inexperienced beings, who only had some simulator training.
This also stopped him from retiring the gunships, which he wanted to do mainly because their usefulness in battle was fast approaching the point of being too insignificant to risk the lives of the people by sending them into combat.
With all that the territory was much better prepared to face the invasion forces, than ever before, and Runir even suggested taking down some of the stranded forces from the first wave or even some weaker fleets, holding systems nearby.
-If we take them out now, we won't have to worry about them later.
She argued her case when she first proposed this plan.
-We can take out these four fleets, with minimal losses, or even without losses, if everything goes as planned.
She said and highlighted the four small fleets stranded in this universe and now occupying the empty systems of no real value to anyone.
-Most of their ships are damaged, and I bet they are running low on supplies at this point.
She continued.
-What are our predicted losses, in the worst-case scenario?
Andrew asked.
He didn't want to lose people over this.
-In the worst-case scenario, I'm predicting medium damage to two or three frigates and corvettes.
But that's only if they call for help and the other fleets answer, in any other case, the simulations show at most some minor damage to a corvette or two.
She stated, showing him the results of simulations she ran.
Runir was spending a lot of time in the command simulator, honing her skills as the fleet commander and running scenarios designed to take out the invasion forces close to the territory with as few losses as possible.
Unfortunately, to avoid losses altogether, they would need a fleet at least five times stronger than what they currently had, to overwhelm the enemy completely.
In the end, there were still over two thousand enemy ships in their sensor range, after it was expanded.
Some groups had barely half a dozen ships while others counted thirty or more, with the most powerful fleet counting over eighty ships.
-Let's try with the weakest group, for now, and we will see how it goes.
Andrew finally agreed.
The plan looked solid and the simulations confirmed that it was doable without incurring significant losses.
What's more, Runir was right about diminishing the enemy's presence in the area and Andrew also preferred to get rid of them as soon as possible.
The weakest fleet that was targeted, had only eleven ships, two of which were cargo ships, while the rest were frigates and corvettes.
With Andrew's permission, the fleet commander took 5 heavy frigates, 7 frigates, and 10 corvettes, with her and jumped away.
The battle was short and almost entirely one-sided.
Runir, took the enemy by surprise, jumping in and immediately opening fire on the enemy ships before they even knew what was going on.
The invasion fleet got hit so fast and hard that only one frigate managed to raise its shields and return fire, but it was useless in the face of an overwhelming force led by a destroyer.
After a short battle only the two cargo ships and one Corvette were more or less in one piece, the rest of the fleet was in pieces.
-Andrew we took them out without any losses on our side, do you want the ships that are left, or should we blow them up?
Runir contacted Andrew not sure if he wanted the ships.
-Are there any survivors on board?
-Sensors show some signs of life on board the cargo ships, the corvette is dead, but if you want to take it, I suggest sending droids to do a sweep just in case.
-Alright, I'll send tugs and some gunships with droids for the ships.
-I'll wait for their arrival, what about the rest of the targets?
The fleet commander asked.
-You can attack the next target, we will proceed with this on a case-to-case basis.
Andrew said, seeing that there was no problem so far, but he decided to remain cautious about the whole thing and Arien's destroyer along with a strike group were standing by just in case Runir ran into trouble and needed reinforcements.
At the moment, the other fleets in the area didn't seem to notice that one of them got taken out, or if they did, then they didn't care.
Using that to their advantage Andrew decided to take out as many enemies as possible.