While the humans learned how to captain a space warship as most of them never even considered that they would become captains.
Path was entirely focused on rebuilding the ships,he even included the kinetic weapons and altered the designs to incorporate them.
Simon and a small squad of officers were still searching for more research data and equipment on the planet.s surface.
They didn't have to learn how to be a captain because they already knew that as most of his squad was just waiting for the ships to become available on earth.
They were all wearing the new armor and weapons prepared for them by Ptah which among other upgrades allowed them to interface with an A.I for tactical support.
Simon took Athena with him and the rest took some of the new A.I's to let them gain some experience.
Their target for this excursion was a defensive satellite factory that was located on the planet instead of space which was strange as it would be able to switch out any damaged or replace any destroyed satellite if it was placed in orbit.
Simon hoped to download some better designs from this place as so far the technology that the Turian confederation developed was way ahead of humanity's best designs and research.
The team went inside the factory through a large hole in its wall that was a result of a fighter falling on the facility.
The inside was a total mess but they had the plans for this building so it took them only a few minutes to locate the command room and the computer core.
The powering up was way faster thanks to some new equipment Ptah made for them,like the smaller but way more powerful power sources that they carried in the back pack.
They accessed the database and found exactly what they were looking for.
The whole mission was over within an hour of landing.
Before they went back into space Jeff proposed a side mission as they were only a short flight away from another research center.
-Admiral if we could get the data from there then we might be able to finish the research on earth and if it works then we would have a limitless energy source.
Jeff tried to convince Simon of the benefits of his proposed mission.
He wanted to go there earlier to get the data but there was always something to do and the soldiers were busy with the other missions.
Jeff found the research center by accident while looking at the long list of such facilities and discovered that they were working on harnessing the Zero Point Energy.
-Since we have the time and the data is so valuable then I don't see why not.
Simon answered.
-You heard the man, let's get ourselves a new energy source.
The Admiral said to the rest of his team.
Everyone agreed to this with enthusiasm as they did not go on away missions often because of their status as higher ranking officers and now that they got the chance they wanted to make a full use of it.
All of them had a secondary target in mind; it just so happened that Jeff was the first one to speak up.
-Athena ,download the plans for the research center that we will be visiting.
Simon said to the A.I.
-Already done and also I have already downloaded the plans for all the other targets that everyone has marked.
She said with a happy tone.
Athena was happy because she could spend more time with Simon and she also discovered that she liked this kind of mission.
Simon looked through the list of targets and he was shocked as the list had over fifty locations marked as a potential technology and information treasure trove.
The flight to their next objective took them only fifteen minutes.
They entered the research complex and had to split into four teams of three as there were four buildings to search through.
They could have just gone to the main building and the computer core but where was the fun in that.
The primary mission was complete so now they could have some fun while exploring the laboratories.
Simon's team went into one of the buildings and it was some kind of testing facility.
Everyone plugged their armors into the computer terminals that they had just powered up as the A.I were much better than them at finding and downloading the data that they wanted.
Not to mention that they could hack almost any security measures that were placed millennia ago.
-This place was the testing facility that was tasked with development of Zero point Modules.
Something like a battery that used a zero point energy by harnessing it from an artificially created pocket of subspace-time inside that device in the middle of the room.
Athena said.
-Why did they want to have a battery when they were working on the generator?
Simon asked.
-That's because if they tried to extract the Zero point energy from our own universe then that process would create some exotic particles that defy all known laws of physics and are very dangerous to everything they come in contact with.
This device however stores its own small dimension that was artificially created and therefore is way safer to use but this one here is just a prototype.
The A.I answered.
-Then how much energy can this device provide?
He asked while looking at the small orb that was placed on some kind of pedestal.
-According to the last logs.
This thing could power the Abydos for over a thousand years while using its maximum output.
If the Confederacy had more time to finish this research and implement it into their society and fleet than theft would not have suffered the fate that they did.
Athena answered his question.
-Then we need to get as much data and equipment from this lab as we can.
Jeff was right, if we could finish the research that was conducted here then we would really get limitless energy and what's more we would be able to power our ships without any need for fuel.
Simon said,his eyes shining at the thought.
At first he built the ship to escape from the junk planet but he soon found out that flying around in a spaceship of his own and discovering new things was more addictive than cocaine.
So he was constantly looking for more upgrades to his ship.
And right now he was looking at the best upgrade he could have ever found.
He was brought back to reality by the voice of one of his officers calling for help .
-We are under attack by some sort of defense drones,please send back up to the main building,we are pinned down in the main command center…
The message then repeated itself and there were sounds of weapons fire in the background.
-Everyone to the main building on the double.
Simon sent the order through the radio.
-Ground forces deploy our location ASAP,we have a team under fire and need support and a secured extraction route.
He sent the message to the Thanatos.
The soldiers didn't take long and were ready to deploy in less than five minutes from the moment that they got the orders.