After receiving the coordinated not only for his fleet's entry into the system but also the best ambush positions that would help them take down the destroyer.
Andrew mobilized his fleet.
Every warship under his command was prepared called upon, leaving the gunships and the fighters to protect his territory.
Considering that there was no enemy fleet targeting his stations at the moment, they were deemed sufficient, especially with all the firepower each station possessed.
Runir took command of the fleet and jumped out as soon as everyone was ready.
Andrew's fleet arrived in the AI system exactly where they were supposed to and started taking positions they were assigned.
Not that she had a lot of time to prepare or review the coordinates, but as far as the fleet commander could tell this were the optimal ambush positions, which not only allowed them to target the destroyer, but also the rest of the invading fleet if it was necessary.
-Andrew we are in position, how long till the enemy arrives?
She contacted the main station.
-They should arrive within an hour and as of now they don't seem to know about the ambush, but be careful.
He replied.
-Do we have any additional information about our target?
She asked hoping to get some info about the destroyer's shields or weapons.
-Sorry we have nothing.
Andrew said apologetically.
-Do your best to disable it, destroy it if that's what it takes to stop it.
The rest of the fleet will be taken care of by the AI.
Ha said, not caring to much about the destroyer, since he didn't have an AI to replace it's current one at the moment.
-I'll do what I can.
Runir answered.
She was a bit relived that she had permission to destroy the ship if need be as she was not sure if they could simply disable it.
The next hour went by faster than anyone would wish for and the enemy fleet jumped in already in an assault formation, going straight for the station and ignoring the ships, it went by.
The heavy frigates were at the front followed by frigates and the destroyer, with corvettes, closing the formation and guarding the rear.
This time however the ships didn't start loosing power or went atmosphere.
Instead they went full speed ahead for the station.
The surprising thing was that the invading fleet held its fire, even though they had it in their sights and they were way past their optimal firing range.
At their current distance it would be a miracle if they missed, however they never fired.
Runir deduced immediately that they wanted to take over the station itself and secure the whole system along with all the ships in it.
The moment the enemy fleet went past most of her fleet, she ordered everyone to power up their ships and fire at will.
The result was devastating for the enemy as suddenly 17 warships came back to life and opened fire on the destroyer.
The combined firepower of Andrew's fleet took down the destroyer's shields in one salvo and the second one slammed straight into the ship damaging it severely.
Before the enemy fleet knew what was going on, their flag ship was taken down.
Unfortunately one of the rail gun rounds damaged the vessels reactor and it went critical obliterating the ship, and damaging several corvettes in the process.
Not long later the enemy ships targeted the fleet, but they never got the chance to fire.
The AI took control of their systems and locked their weapons, before it wanted the atmosphere and cut off the power.
In less than half an hour the enemy fleet was done for.
This was the biggest victory of Andrew's forces yet, but no one cheered as now was the real moment of truth.
If the AI betrayed them, they would have to resort to Andrew's plan and take it out as soon as possible.
However the AI stayed true to its word.
It sent a message to Runir.
"The battle is over and you did what you promised to do.
Per our agreement, all the ships in this fleet belong to you now.
To compensate for the destruction of the destroyer class vessel, these two heavy frigates also belong to you from now on.
Please take the ships and leave."
The message ended with the coordinates of two additional heavy frigates, belonging to one of the previous fleets, that were taken down in this system.
-I'm sending the boarding parties immediately.
Runir replied, and within ten minutes the boarding parties were dispatched to all the ships and started taking them over.
In about two hours after the battle all the ships were taken over and preparing to jump back to their territory.
Considering that they didn't sustain any damage and got a lot of ships in return the whole mission was a great success.
However the feeling of being a prey in the predator's den didn't leave the crews until they jumped out.
Fortunately all the damaged corvettes could still make the jump and immediately upon arrival the new ships were sent to the shipyard.
The undamaged ships were back out after three hours, when their operating systems were swapped and their data bases downloaded.
The damaged ships would need some repairs, but since the damage was light, it would not take more than a day to repair them.
All in all this battle spoils made Andrew's fleet more powerful than ever before, with 11 heavy frigates, 14 frigate and 17 corvette class ships, along with the single drone control corvette and more than 80 pirate ships turned into gunships.
Some of the ships were still in need of repairs but all together it was a force to be reckoned with.
However the new ships also brought new problems since they used helium 3 as fuel, which Andrew didn't have much, so for now the ships had to rely on their own supplies.
-Andrew, I think I know the approximate time of the second wave arrival.
Theresa said, entering the command center with Jalina.
The human woman could walk now, since she had more than enough time to rest and do some physical therapy in the fitness module.
She also wanted to be useful so he delegated her to help Jalina with the resources.
-Oh, and where did you find this information?
He asked, surprised.
The arrival time of the second wave was a very important matter, not only to them but to everyone.
-We were looking over the data from the captured ships and their supply situation.
Jalina said.
-It turns out that every ship we captured has enough resources to last for a month at most.
-Meaning that the second wave should arrive within that time, or they were expecting to plunder the resources from this universe.
Andrew finished for her.
-I don't think they would take such big chance with the resources.
Theresa said.
-So relying on this information and accounting for a week's worth of supplies as a reserve, we deduced that the second wave should arrive in about three weeks.
She finished with a proud smile.
From the moment she left the tank she wanted to do something meaningful to help and show that she was serious about her fleet's loyalty to the territory.
-Thank you both, this is an extremely important piece of information.
Andrew said, after he thought about what they said for a while.
He was hoping to gain some intel from the captured ships, but this was even better.
-Compile a report about your findings as soon as possible and we will send it to every system master in range.
There was no way for them to repel the invasion alone, but if the others used the information wisely and prepared as much a they could, there was a chance for them to defend this sector if nothing else.
The most fortunate event for them was that the invading fleets were still dispersing and even fighting between themselves on occasion, diminishing their combat potential even further.
However there were still over a thousand fleets in the sensor range and Andrew had no good idea about taking them down.
The same could be said about every other system master as they simply lacked the power to take on such a massive force.
The two ladies got to work, while Andrew once started to once again look over the sensor data hoping to find anything that would allow him to weaken the enemy further.
-Andrew, I found another small fleet that we can try and attack.
Runir contacted him, while he was busy with looking for exactly such an opportunity.
-Send me the data.
He said, hoping that this was a chance to strike another blow at the invading fleets.
However the moment he saw the data, he immediately felt that something was amiss.
The small fleet consisted of 4 corvettes and two frigates, but there was no cargo ship accompanying them and they were just sitting in an unclaimed system, without moving.
-Don't attack them for now, there is something wrong with this situation.
He said to the fleet commander.
Not that he didn't see a great opportunity to gain a few more ships for his fleet, but it was to perfect of an opportunity.
Following his hunch he went through the sensor logs, to determine whether this small fleet was a part of a bigger unit or something else entirely.
It didn't take him long to discover that this unit was a part of a bigger fleet that was left behind in this system for some reason, while the main unit moved on.
However observing the logs from the last few days, he discovered that the main unit always stayed within a fifty light-years range of the small unit.
-Runir, don't engage this fleet, it's a trap.
He finally said, after looking at the data for a few minutes.
-If it's a trap, then someone else is about to fall into it.
She said, sending him the data about Adurian fleet which just left its system in the direction of the system she planed to attack.
Andrew was tempted to contact the Adurians and warn them about the danger, but decided against it in the end.
-Prepare the fleet for battle.
He said, after thinking about the whole thing for a moment.
-You just told me not to engage them.
Runir said surprised at the change of orders.
Andrew quickly explained his idea to her, surprising her even more.
-This can work, but it's also quite risky.
She commented when he finished speaking.
-I know.
Andrew admitted.
-But if we do this right, we can eliminate one of the biggest fleets within our sensor range and with any luck, we can also get some ships from this.
-But if we mess this up, we can lose almost half of our fleet.
She argued.
-That's a possibility, but we can't win this invasion while avoiding risks and if we don't get rid of most of the fleets before the second wave arrives, then we are done for.