Simon and his team meet with the others enroute and proceed to the main building while bearing on guard so that they don't come under attack or even worse fall into a trap.
The moment they entered the building the sound of gunfight got louder and it was obvious that there was one hell of a shootout going on.
When they reached the corridor that led to the command center they spotted the first drone but before it could even react, an arrow pierced it and it fell to the ground.
Simon as always brought his bow with him and the new bow he got from Ptah was a marvel of engineering as it didn't require a lot of strength to pull it but it delivered a punch much more powerful than a bullet.
Additionally his arrows worked similar to a taser so anything they touched was shocked immediately.
Two more drones fell prey to the arrows before they managed to get close to the command center door.
The room was besieged by at least two dozen drones who were firing their energy weapons at the door and the walls while being fired at by the humans.
Simon quickly devised a plan and they formed two lines.
The front line was kneeling and the second line was standing to maximize the effect and fire power.
It was a basic infantry formation from history but in this corridor there was nothing to hide behind and it was useful to maximize the firepower of the team.
-Open fire.
Simon ordered and all of them started shooting at the same time,decimating the drones that went down after a hit or two from the human weapons.
In response the drones turned to face the new enemy and fired into the two line formation.
Lucky for the Terrans,they had shields in their armor that were handy now as the drones had great accuracy with their fire.
The whole thing lasted less than two minutes and the last drone was taken out.
However there was a sound of more enemies on their way,fortunately the soldiers that Simon called in also arrived and took defensive positions.
The team that was attacked first had two injured but nobody died and even the injuries were just some burns from the energy weapons that penetrated the shields and armor.
It turned out that they wanted to enter one of the laboratories under the building but were intercepted by the drones and attacked.
They tried to escape but their shields were drained and they had to hide so they decided to hold up in a command center as it had only two doors so it was easy to defend.
-I need two squads to go with me and find a source of the drones,we need to neutralize them and also see what they are defending.
Whatever it is,it's either important or dangerous,most likely both so get ready for anything and set the armor to full isolation mode.
Simon said to the soldiers once they made quick work of the drone reinforcements.
The wounded were sent to the regeneration tanks with a shuttle while the rest of the team, now strengthened by the addition of the soldiers, went underground to find the source of the drones and also to take a look at the laboratory that was so protected.
They moved slowly and methodically,clearing corridor after corridor and room after room.
If they found themselves in trouble they could always retreat to the rest of the soldiers that prepared a defensive position and an evacuation route if it was needed.
They had to fight with the drones a few more times but now that they knew what they were up against,they took them down easily.
If it was a single drone then Simon took it out with his bow and if it was a group then they were shredded by a hail of bullets and energy beams.
Half an hour later they found the source of the drones which turned out to be a fabricator with a room full of materials.
It was taken off line without destroying it as the design was way more advanced than what the Humans used so it was decided that they would take it with them when they returned for study purposes.
The next stop was the laboratory that started this whole mess.
-Athena can you hack the door?
Simon asked.
-Already on it but it will take a moment.
She answered.
-Take as much time as you need.
Simon said with a smile.
He looked around and the soldiers were in a good mood since they finally had something to shoot at in a real situation and not on a shooting range.
About ten minutes later the door finally clicked and opened revealing a room that was at least five times larger than any laboratory they found thus far.
Simon went to the nearest console and plugged in to it to let Athena search through the data.
-What is this place?
He asked her after she started to go through the data.
-This is an A.I research center,the research conducted here had a goal of downloading the A.I into organic bodies.
They wanted to create super soldiers using A.I's,cloning and cybernetics.
Basically they would have an infinite army of loyal and extremely formidable warriors capable of performing any task disregarding their own safety,if this research was ever completed.
Suddenly a fragment of the floor opened and ten tanks emerged each one containing a body of a different species.
-Are these the bodies they wanted to use?
Simon asked.
-Yes,they were genetically engineered and altered with cybernetics to make them faster,stronger,more agile,and their brains were altered to store an A.I consciousness.
Unfortunately they are a failed product as the A.I's that were downloaded into them couldn't move the bodies and quickly deteriorated.
I see a note from the lead scientist stating that they were to be disposed of,the date is the same day as the attack on this world so they didn't have the time to carry out the disposal order.
Athena said, trying to hide her happiness.
She found out what the flaw of this experiment was and she intended to correct it and use this research for her own goals.
-Download the data and put them back into storage as I have no clue what to do with them. They are a failed experiment but the bodies are enhanced so it's better to leave them alone for the time being.
Simon said after some thought.
He intended to inform the council of this and let them decide what to do about it.
Simon didn't know that Athena had already downloaded the research as she intended to make good use of it once they return to the Terran space and she gets in contact with her home world.
The soldiers scanned the whole laboratory and some scientists asked them to bring some of the equipment back with them which Simon rejected after he confirmed that they had the blueprints for this stuff.
With the additional personnel they finished searching the facilities,then they split up and went to the other places that were listed as potential places of interest.
Fortunately they didn't have any more surprises waiting for them in the other locations.