As time went by more and more ships got repaired,at this moment they had three cruisers and eleven destroyers that were ready and their new captains were flying around the system gaining experience.
Some of them even asked for permission to jump into the nearby systems and scout if there is something there.
Simon refused a couple of times especially in the beginning when they had only one cruiser and three destroyers.
-Why not just let them go?
Athena asked one time after he refused again.
-Because the best defense we have right now is secrecy.
We don't know for sure that there are no enemies in the neighboring systems and if one of our ships jumped in then they might wonder where it came from?
Simon explained his reluctance to send ships out of the system.
His own ship was still undergoing repairs as the damage was far more serious than they first thought and the Thanatos was now being dismantled for materials.
For now he had no ship and it would take at least a month before all the damage was repaired.
-Then why don't you send a few drones to scout the area?
She suggested.
He forgot about the drones they were designing on earth.
The council wanted to scout more areas and faster than the scout ships could.
Answers to that problem came in the form of a drone with an FTL drive and subspace communication among other things.
That would allow them to pilot the ship from earth and reduce the mortality rate which was getting higher and higher especially among the scouting crews.
-That's actually a good idea.
He said,looking at her avatar wide eyed.
This would have great benefits for them as they could scout the path in the direction of earth and their surrounding systems without worrying about being found out,especially if they used their older technology.
Ptah explained that in this corner of the galaxy almost no one used helium 3 as a fuel anymore since it was not as efficient as the vacuum energy and to gather it you had to find a system.
The vacuum energy could be harvested from everywhere in space and there was an infinite fuel supply for it.
-Ptah.
Simon said into the thin air.
A moment later the avatar materialized right next to Athena.
-How may I help you?
The A.I asked.
It had a problem at the beginning because it always asked how may I serve you?
But he slowly figured out that he was not a slave or a servant anymore and adapted to the new situation he found himself in.
-How long would you need to build some probes?
Simon asked.
-That depends on the design and how much materials they would require.
Ptah answered.
-Athena shows him the plans.
She did as instructed and a moment later Ptah had everything he needed to assess the time needed for this task.
-This kind of drone can be built in about an hour,how many do you want to be built and do you want to update them to the technology standard of the Confederacy?
-No we would like them to be just as designed,the idea is to look weak and outdated so as to not provoke anyone to respond.
As for the quantity,I think that around a dozen should be enough.
Simon answered the A,I's questions.
-Then I will get to it and inform you when the task is completed.
Ptah said and disappeared.
The next day Simon was notified that the drones were ready for deployment.
-The drones had to be slightly modified to have access to the relays left by the confederacy and the pilots' consoles are also ready to use.
Ptah reported.
-Great job,with this we can scout in the direction of earth and also find out what is going on in our neighboring systems.
Simon said.
The probes were launched the same day and their first targets were the closest systems.
It took some time for them to arrive at their destinations as the pilots were unfamiliar with the system but they all made it and soon they could observe what was going on in their neighborhood.
The systems were empty if you didn't count some wreckage that was present in all the systems that had habitable planets.
Some of the ships were just damaged and the others were totally destroyed.
They also found out that unfortunately one of the shipyards that Ptah informed them about was totally destroyed and a small drone that detached from the probe confirmed that the computer core was shredded which meant that they couldn't even salvage the A.I.
They spent a day in each system,looking for any signs of life or something that was worth going out there to bring it back with them.
Unfortunately they had no luck.
They found many more ships that were salvageable but they didn't even consider going there to collect them as they had more than enough ships to salvage in this system alone.
In fact they would have to send The Abydos back here with more crews to salvage all of the ships that floated in this system and even more if they wanted to get the ships from the other systems.
-You know that this is illegal under the council law,right?
Theresa asked Simon when they were discussing the future salvage operations in this region of space.
-I know but it is also our best bet to create a fleet that would guarantee our safety and was capable of challenging the Federation.
Even the ships that we will bring with us won't stand a chance against a fleet on tens of thousands of ships.
Simon nodded while answering her question.
He knew that the thousands of ships were resting places of many soldiers and sailors but he was sure that they wouldn't mind too much,considering that their ships were being repaired and would be used once again to protect the last surviving species of the confederacy.
-This is all we can do right now to ensure our survival,and if you think that this is wrong then you are not the only one.
But what other choice do we have right now?
Simon asked.
-Considering that the alliance alone has tens of thousands of ships and the federation has even more, there is no other choice for us.
Also just in case we do lose i plan to ask the council to send one of the Ark's here to try and rebuild.
Theresa said,admitting that they had to take every advantage that they came across.
The idea of sending an Ark ship here wasn't a bad one considering that they were as far away from earth as was possible in this galaxy.
They continued to scout outwards with the main focus on their planned route to earth but for the next three days they found nothing but remains of ships and space stations that were destroyed millennia ago.
The planets they scanned also showed no sign of life.
In other words they were alone in this part of the galaxy and Simon planned to talk with the council about establishing a permanent outpost or even a colony there as an insurance that the Human race would be able to survive even if the Sol system was destroyed.
If he really had to then he would do it himself and he was sure that he would find many people that would want to join him in this endeavor.
For now however he had to focus on getting the fleet ready and returning to earth.