After leaving the two of them, Andrew went straight to the command center.
-Vulcan, are the preparations complete?
He asked as he walked.
- Yes, the preparations are complete, we can begin as soon as you order it.
The AI replied.
While Runir was annihilating the invasion forces, and Tarina was dealing with the diplomatic issues.
Andrew, Nairin, and Aelita were busy with something else.
-Send the first five in.
Andrew said as he approached the command center.
He entered just in time to see the first five probes entering the wormhole.
-Are you sure that this will work?
Aelita asked.
-I don't know, but at the very least we will get some information about the other side.
The human replied.
-Aren't you worried that they will send their fleet through the wormhole?
Sarill asked.
-It would be a good thing if they did, that way we could weaken them considerably, with little to no losses on our side.
He replied.
During the last week, Rodil's system became a fortress, that would be a challenge to get through even if the enemy had cruisers.
Over a thousand fighters, eight hundred satellites, over five hundred ships, a dozen defensive substations, and Rodill's station, made the whole system a death trap, and Binon was, even working on creating space mines, to make it even deadlier.
The icing on the cake was that almost all of the defenses were placed behind the wormhole exit, meaning that anyone coming through, would have their back exposed to the defender's fire.
-Besides, as far as we know the only way for such a massive fleet to appear, is for someone to use a jump gate, and invite beings from another universe.
-That's exactly what happened, or at least it's our best theory so far.
Lan chimed in, not understanding what he was aiming at.
-Yes, but to do something like this, would mean permanently tying oneself to the force that you invited in.
In other words, anyone who did that would be quickly reduced to being a pawn, without any real benefit.
So who in their right mind would do something like that, without being cornered by enemies?
Andrew explained his doubts.
-I think the better question is who would send such a massive fleet, to a new universe right before the second wave of invasion?
This almost certainly, will piss off most of the star nations participating in the invasion.
Not to mention that as large as the force is, there is no way they could take over the whole galaxy with only sixty thousand ships.
Aelita shared her view.
-You are right, this doesn't make any sense.
No matter how you look a it, this whole thing brings much more trouble, than it's worth.
Andrew agreed.
-Unless, their goal is not the territory, but resources.
Jalina joined the conversation.
-We always assumed, that they wanted the territory, but what if they wanted the resources, instead?
She asked.
-Come in, chase away or destroy the neighboring factions, and then plunder to your heart's content.
Andrew, said, thinking aloud.
-Exactly.
As long as they leave before the second wave, who will even know that they were there, other than us and we can be sure that no one will ask us about it.
Jalina finished.
-Damn, this makes a lot of sense.
Lanarine said after thinking for a moment.
-If this is the case, then it's a brilliant plan.
We have no clue when the second wave will hit, but they have to know, and with this plan, they would be able to clear an area of resources, leaving only scraps for the other fleets to fight over, without anyone realizing, what they had done.
Moreover, forcing everyone out or destroying them, prevents the merchants from visiting, meaning that there is truly no one who can stop them or spread the news.
-We will have our answer soon.
Andrew said, as the probes, exited the wormhole.
A moment later, they got the data and to their surprise, there was not one enemy ship in the system.
What's more, there was nothing there, no wreckage no debris, nothing, the system was as clean as if there was never a battle there.
-Send a relay.
Andrew ordered and a relay that was waiting on standby entered to wormhole a moment later.
-I think Jalina was right, they came for the resources.
Lan said when she saw the data from the probes.
-There is not even a trace of our station, they cleared everything up.
She added, looking at the system that was literally wiped clean.
A few minutes later the relay entered into the system and began scanning.
The waiting was as usual the worst part, but thanks to some upgrades, they didn't need to wait a full day for the results.
An hour later they were able to see everything within a hundred light-years, and what they saw, confirmed everything Jalina had said.
The enemy forces were busy stripping every bit of resources they could get.
Within their range, the sensors caught over twenty thousand ships, of which fifteen thousand were massive cargo vessels, striping asteroids, and abandoned stations in every system that had anything worth taking.
-They are moving like a wave, taking everything as they move.
Jalins commented.
-Yes, and I don't think they will stop any time soon.
Andrew said, looking at the Sol system, which the enemy hadn't reached yet, but they were only about fifty light years out and would reach it sooner or later.
As the relay scan progressed, more of the enemy's presence was revealed.
Patrol fleets were flying here and there, but the bulk of the enemy armada was stationed in the territory from which they came from, guarding the jump gate, which was their only escape route.
-At this rate, there will be nothing of worth in that sector of space.
Lanarine said while running some calculations.
-If nothing changes, they will reach your home system within a month.
She added after a moment.
-I think they will reach it faster.
Andrew said as more cargo ships started appearing on the display.
-These bastards are efficient, I'll give them that.
Aelita admitted while watching as the enemy cargo fleet entered a system and its asteroid field started shrinking.
-How are they doing that?
Jalina asked, as she watched the asteroids that would take even their substation a few hours to process, simply vanish.
-I have no clue, what they are doing should be impossible.
Aelita said while shaking her head.
-It's not, they are simply much more advanced than us.
Andrew said suddenly, displaying the tech tree.
-They are using matter compression technology.
He said, highlighting the research that was placed on the fifth-tier list.
-With this, they can move entire asteroid belts within days.
Everyone read through the description and immediately understood what was going on as this technology compressed anything to one percent of its original size, while also reducing its weight, making it easier to transport and then it also could decompress it once it arrived at its destination.
-I guess their universe is lacking resources by now, so they are using a loophole in the rules to plunder every bit they can, from every new universe, without risking their fleet during the invasion.
Lanarine said as soon as she finished reading the data.
-The worst part is, that we can't do a damn thing to stop them.
Andrew sighed.
He felt powerless, as no matter how he approached it, there was no way for them to stop the enemy from striping the whole sector of resources.
Even if he sent his entire fleet, he would at most delay them for a bit, but the cost of such a delay would most likely be the destruction of his forces, which was unacceptable.
However, allowing the enemy to strip all the resources was just as bad since it would make taking over that sector extremely difficult in the future.