For the next few months, while the Precursor ship was being reverse engineered, the defenses within the system were greatly improved. On the Moon orbiting Gamma-01, a large part of the surface was turned into massive cannons that can target ships within the same system.
It was a difficult process to try and implement with weapons because of how complex the process was but the giant cannons now called Goliath cannons would utilize wormhole travel on a small scale to strike enemy ships almost instantly.
The weapon couldn't penetrate through shields since they needed direct kinetic force to disable the shield generator first, but the potential of the weapon was still immense and could be applied to the rest of the Ascendency fleet.
The Goliath cannons would utilize a Slipspace Aperture Generator Located near the firing chamber, creating a controlled slipspace portal, bending spacetime to deliver projectiles over solar system-scale distances. Combined with an integrated AI managed system using real-time data, slipspace physics calculations, and predictive algorithms to lock onto targets with 100% accuracy.
Using the Slipspace Aperture Alignment system, a slipspace portal is generated, acting as a "wormhole barrel" for the weapon to fire its projectile towards its intended target.
This entire system basically created a new targeting system called Slipspace targeting, allowing the cannon to "skip" intervening space, reducing the time between firing and impact. Out of all the things he created, this was probably the most innovative weapon that he has created thus far.
10 of these Goliath cannons were constructed on the moon, with another 5 under construction. The Precursors had not attempted another attack against Axel, however the Kynthari have tried 2 more times to try and attack the system. The first time, they were destroyed by the Defensive stations placed around the system costing them more than 30 ships.
The second time, the Goliath cannons were up and operational and were tested against the Kynthari forces. To say the Kynthari fleet was outmatched, was an understatement, the Goliath cannons had managed to kill a single one of their battleships, in two hits.
The aftermath of the attack served as a deterrence to any further Kynthari attack. The wreckage of their fleet was scavenged allowing Axel to gather a lot of information on the Kynthari government and what was going on around the galaxy.
The Kynthari are ruled by an authoritarian type of government where a single ruler is in charge of the entire species. The government has a very xenophobic outlook on other species making it very likely that they will attack alien ships even if they have never seen them before.
With the analysis of the Kynthari wreckage, Axel now had a wider understanding of the Kynthari species. They were primitive in some aspects yet advanced in others, an odd mix for a species so deeply entrenched in their hostility.
As the data was constantly being analyzed by Omni and other specialists, Axel was standing in front of the ongoing construction of the Wormhole project. The project revolves around using the data recovered from when they were sucked through the wormhole to try and create an artificial wormhole back to their home galaxy.
The project was still estimated at 5-7 years, but everybody was very enthusiastic despite how long they would have to be here. Most of it was due to their recent victory over alien forces and due to the fact that they have a rough estimate of how long they would be here. Before they didn't have a timeframe for when they would get home which made them feel as though they would be stranded indefinitely.
Now with a defined timeline, even though it was long, morale was still high.
The Wormhole Project was not without its complications, though. While the theoretical framework from the initial wormhole event provided the cornerstone for their research, replicating such an anomaly posed complexities beyond anything the most advanced AI or scientists had ever tackled.
The energy requirements alone were astronomical.
Meanwhile, the reverse-engineering of the Precursor vessel yielded breakthroughs in material science. The ship's hull, composed of an unknown alloy codenamed "Nullium", proved to be virtually indestructible under conventional stress tests. Axel theorized that it could be used to create a new class of battleships that had a powerful shield and also strong armor to protect the ship once the shields failed.
It would take time to synthesize and replicate, but its use in future warships would give Ascendency ships an advantage when fighting against Precursor ships.
———
—Hidden Precursor Homeworld—
The Hidden Precursor homeworld of Eidolon, was a technological marvel of engineering and architecture, a planet-sized labyrinth of spires, interconnected megastructures, and colossal orbital rings. The surface was an intricate patchwork of networks, bridges linking cityscapes over massive oceans.
Above the planet, large fleets of Precursor ships remained stationary, their vast sizes putting many species navies to shame.
Deep within the heart of Eidolon, the Council of Directive Minds convened. These were the most advanced AI constructs ever created by the Precursors, each embodying millions of years of knowledge and computational ability. Encased in towering crystalline cores, they communicated through bursts of quantum light, a language incomprehensible to organic beings.
"The anomaly persists," one Directive Mind stated, its light flaring briefly as it spoke. "The entity referred to as 'Axel' demonstrates an evolving pattern far beyond projection parameters. His constructs encroach further upon galactic equilibrium."
"Agreed," responded another, its core oscillating with faint indigo pulses. "His improvisation during conflict coupled with his species' adaptive engineering defies established models for non-Precursor civilizations."
"Containment protocols must be accelerated," a third Directive Mind interjected, "The resources he has reallocated to this temporary galaxy represent a destabilizing factor. His wormhole project, though primitive compared to our own technologies, shows alarming progress." Now that they knew where he was at, they had methods to monitor his activities.
There was a pause, the quantum light dimming as the Directive Minds processed trillions of calculations in mere seconds. Finally, one of the elder Directive Minds spoke.
"To neutralize Axel without provoking escalation demands precision," it declared. "His intellect is an anomaly unto itself, an outlier even amongst the vast multitudes we have observed. Direct confrontation risks catastrophic consequences for our operations in this region of spacetime. Instead... we must introduce chaos to his empire."
"We seed dissent within his ranks," the core explained. "His empire thrives on unity and purpose, its strength comes not from numbers alone, but the faith and loyalty imbued in every cog of his Ascendency machine. Introduce doubt. Introduce division. And then then Chaos will start."
"Such methods might work," muttered another Mind. "If we plant start planting agents into the Ascendency's government, then we can try and manipulate chaos to start happening from within the Ascendency."
There was a collective agreement from all Minds as they shifted from targeting Axel to targeting the Ascendency itself.