It took Andrew and the battle droids a little over twelve hours to clear out the enemies that got on board the shipyard.
Most of the ships that bright the borders were destroyed or damaged in the process, but a few did survive and were now being swept by Binon and droids to make sure none of them suddenly explode.
At the same time, some engineering droids were also going through the boarding craft, trying to determine how they managed to sneak up to the station without being detected.
-Status?
Andrew asked, with a tired voice, the moment he entered the command center.
-All of the portals in our territory, except the one in this system, have been closed.
The stations reported no significant damage; at most, they lost a few satellites and fighters.
The fleet is intact but low on ammunition and is in the process of being resupplied as we speak.
Iliana's state is stable, but it will take a few days before she is healed.
Other than her, we didn't suffer any casualties.
Aelita reported everything without going into too much detail, while Andrew got a bottle of pills and took two of them.
Soon, he felt his exhaustion disappearing.
The pills were stimulants, Iliana designed for everyone, to keep them going for a prolonged period of time.
However, they weren't perfect, and once their effectiveness wore out, they would all need at least two days of rest to get back to normal, and they could not be taken more than once before taking a break.
-How are our defenses holding up?
Andrew asked, his voice returning to normal.
-I don't see a way for them to break through the debris field we now have in front of the portal, and even if they managed to do so, our defenses and fleet would tear them apart.
Runir answered through the comms as her fleet was replenishing ammunition.
-What about the borders? Did you manage to capture any of them alive?
She asked.
-Yes, I have around two dozen prisoners, but they are all unconscious, and it will be a while before any of them can talk.
-Seriously?
I thought that there were at least a few hundred of them that managed to get on board the shipyard.
The fleet commander said in surprise.
-Yeah, there were, but considering that I activated the Terminator protocol, combined with the fact that these guys didn't surrender at all, we might be lucky to have captured even this many.
Andrew replied.
-Whatever the case, let me know if you find out anything from them.
-I will.
Andrew promised.
-Vulcan, do we know how they managed to approach the station without being detected?
-I'm working on it.
The preliminary analysis indicates that these ships are capable of phasing in and out of this dimension to hide themselves, but I need more time to be sure.
Came an answer from the AI.
Then, Binon reported in.
-I haven't found any explosives on board any of the ships I checked so far.
It seems that they were certain this would work, and they would take over the station, so they didn't take any measures to prevent the ships from being captured.
She said.
-This is a bit strange, there is never certainty in a battle, no matter how well prepared you are, and considering that they most likely attacked many other universes till now, they should have known that.
Andrew said, a bit absent-mindedly.
No matter how he looked at it, something was not adding up.
-Perhaps, they used this tactic so successfully so many times that they deemed it impossible to fail.
Lanarine chimed in, offering her thoughts.
-There is a chance that this is the case, but even so, there is always a small chance of failure, and you don't simply present your enemy with technology way ahead of their own if you lose.
The human said, still in deep thought.
Then an idea popped into his head.
-Binon, how many crew members were on board these ships?
He asked, clearly worried.
-There were none; the ships were empty when I entered them.
I figured that the crews joined the assault.
The explosives expert said, not understanding what he was thinking about.
-Leave that ship immediately, and evacuate everyone from these ships immediately, and put on your helmet.
Andrew shouted, fear present in his voice.
Hearing this, Binon didn't argue and immediately ran for it, leaving all her tools behind.
She knew that if he said to leave, then it was better to leave immediately, and the tone of his voice made her run as fast as she could.
-Vulcan, as soon as everyone is back, I want you to seal all access to the breaches.
Andrew said, watching on the internal sensors as all his people and droids evacuated, hoping he warned them in time.
Less than five minutes later, everyone was back on the station, and all access to the breaches was sealed off.
-Why did you order everyone to evacuate?
Binon asked a few minutes later as she entered the command center.
But before Andrew could even answer, all the enemy ships disconnected from the shipyard and phased out, disappearing from the sensors.
Except for three ships that were damaged during the combat and were unable to leave or phase out.
Seeing this, Binon paled.
-If you didn't call us back, we would still be there.
She said, finally understanding what was going on.
-And we would have a lot of holes through which we would be losing a lot of atmosphere now.
Vulcan added.
-Begin repairs as soon as possible.
Andrew ordered, relieved that he managed to avoid the worst-case scenario.
-How did you know?
Binon asked as soon as she remembered how to speak.
-I didn't, but there were too many things that didn't add up, and when you told me there were no explosives and no crews on board, I thought about what I would have done in such a case and this was the only thing I could thik of that had any sense at all.
Andrew said, much calmer than just a few minutes ago.
-Then explain it, because I still dont understand how you figured this out.
Tarina said, shaking her head.
-Think about it, they sent a boarding party capable of taking this installation over, but they had no idea if that would succeed, and they didn't place any self-destruct devices on board their ships in case their people failed.
Additionally, there were no crews on board, which meant that the ships were programmed or remotely controlled, turning them into an ideal trap, since it's a normal thing to investigate the ships that are left after a failed assault.
The diplomat's eyes went wide in surprise once she realized that it was all true.
-You mean that they wanted to take some of our people?
She asked.
-Yes, that way they would gain not only information about our territory and everything around it, but also hostages, they could use to negotiate with us or threaten us with their lives.
Andrew nodded.
-Now that you mentioned it.
This was really a perfect trap; no one could resist the temptation of gaining more advanced technology if they managed to defend themselves against their boarding parties.
Binon said, voicing the thoughts of all of them.
-If it were perfect, you would be in a lot of trouble right now.
Nairin grinned.
-Instead, they are about to be in a lot of trouble.
The explosive expert grinned back.
-What do you mean?
Aelita asked.
-I'm usually carrying a lot of explosives in my backpack and a subspace tracker like we all do.
Binon said, not losing her grin.
-What of it?
The Cherin asked, still not understanding what her sister was getting at.
-Let's just say that the discovery of Binon's equipment she left on that ship will be an explosive surprise for the enemy.
Andrew smiled.
Right on cue, a signal from Binon's tracker reappeared as the ships returned through the portal.
-Vulcan, please send a signal on this frequency through the portal.
The explosives expert said, before inputting the frequency into Sarill's console.
-Signal sent.
The AI said.
A moment later, the tracker signal disappeared, and not long after, the portal started to flicker and deform itself.
-What's going on?
Andrew asked, seeing this.
-My best guess is that the ship exploded on the other side of the portal, and its remains hit the jump-gate, damaging it.
Vulcan answered.
-The energy readings from the portal have become unstable.
Aelita said a moment later.
-Runir, move the fleet away from the portal, now.
Andrew ordered immediately.
-Way ahead of you.
Mind telling me what's going on, though?
The fleet commander asked as the fleet went full burn away from the unstable portal, leaving only defense satellites still firing on the incoming ships.
-To be honest, we have no clue, but the best guess is that this portal might disappear soon, and we have no idea if it won't explode while doing so.
Andrew explained.
-There is an energy spike coming from the portal.
Aelita said right as the portal enlarged itself to three times its previous diameter, before shrinking down and disappearing completely like it was never there, taking a significant portion of the debris field with it.