The preparations went as scheduled even with the additions that were made to the ships.
Humans wanted the vessels to be equipped with more turret weapons to make them more versatile in combat.
Ptah analyzed their ideas and approved,making changes to the designs as well as the targeting systems.
The scouting missions also went well and soon they were sure that there was no inhabited planet in a two thousand light year radius,which made the location an ideal fall back point in case that there was some emergency.
Simon also released the A.I from their contracts to the Council and instead signed new ones that made him the highest authority.
They didn't know what they would find in Terran space when they returned.
It might be that humanity was defeated or switched sides while they were away.
The most likely scenario was that everything was in order, especially with the human space navy being one of the strongest in their region of space.
-We don't know what we will return to but there is no need to take risks.
If it's all as it should be then you can complain that I'm a worry wart but until then it's better to be prepared.
Simon said when Athena complained about the contracts.
He had a good reason to be worried especially with the Alliance breathing down humanity's neck when they left and the federation being behind this all, not to mention the power behind the Federation.
Before they knew it the three months had passed and the fleet was ready.
The new Thanatos was an awe inspiring sight.
Ten kilometer long behemoth was just bristling with weapons,from steam to stern it was a ship that promised a brutal end to whoever was stupid enough to cross it.
Arthena was also over the moon with her new computer core that was hundreds times more powerful than the old one and all the holo-emitters that were installed literally everywhere on the ship allowing her to appear in her avatar form whenever she wanted.
The rest of the fleet was also ready, a hundred and twenty cruisers,twenty battleships and a hundred and sixty destroyers were repaired and good as new.
The energy readings of this fleet were off the charts and their weapons were the best that they managed to find blueprints for.
This fleet was now enough to take out the Terran council fleet with ease.
The additional bonus was the creation of combat droids that Simon suggested.
They were copies from a movie that he once saw and he had to admit that when he saw the prototype they were intimidating.
Each one was two meters tall,had humanoid shape and had enough firepower to pose a challenge even to the special forces teams that were renowned for their combat prowess.
Two laser cannons mounted on its hands were already quite fearsome but Simon went further and added a grenade launcher and a missile launcher on the shoulders.
This was a combat system that was designed specifically for A.I In case that the ship was boarded.
The system allowed the A.I to discard damaged droids to transfer to another and continue the fight.
Each ship was carrying a complement of fifty droids that were ready for duty at all time and another twenty drones that were designed to repair the damaged battle droids.
Additionally this allowed The A.I to help with the damage control without risking death or injuries to the crew.
Additionally to the three hundred ships and one shipyard,there were another thirty six ships stored inside the Abydos.
Six battleships and thirty cruisers all ready to sortie if the need arises to defend the shipyard.
Simon looked at his fleet from the bridge of the Thanatos and the sight was magnificent.
He had enough firepower to destroy the alliance if he so desired but he hoped that they would back down once they saw what his fleet is capable of now.
The admiral chose to pilot the Thanatos alone with Athena and five other A.I's.
-Admiral to the fleet,confirm your ready status and once we are ready to go I will initiate a countdown for the jump.
He said to the other ships through the comms.
The ships started to confirm their readiness and within five minutes Athena confirmed that all of the ships were ready and standing by for orders.
-Start the countdown Athena,T minus one minute.
Simon said while powering up the FTL drive.
The countdown went by fast .
3
2
1
Jump.
On this signal the whole fleet jumped almost at once,leaving the system in silence once again.
But it wouldn't be silent for much longer as the last descendants of its rightful owners would return to reclaim it soon.
The fleet was on its way to Terran space and Simon had another discussion with the other captains about a topic that started to irritate him lately.
-No we cannot just jump to Sol or we will be fired upon before we can open a channel to the council.
He said once again trying to explain that flashy entrances of the space fleets worked only in movies.
Unfortunately for him,some of the newly promoted captains were convinced that this would look cool.
-But Admiral we have the IFF code.
One of the younger captains protested.
-That doesn't matter, we are flying in different ships then the previous Thanatos and you all know the situation that the council was in when we left.
Finally this is a direct order.
We will jump into a system that has one of our relays and contact the council from there so we can explain the situation before we go to Sol.
Simon said with a bit of anger in his voice.
That managed to convince everyone that the admiral wasn't going to change his mind and ended the discussion.
Simon was lenient with his subordinates most of the time but crossing him was a bad idea especially when he was already famous for his punishments.
The journey back was going smoothly and before they knew it they were already in their own sector of space.
Simon and his fleet didn't let the opportunity to get some target practice slip by when they stumbled upon a pirate fleet chasing the merchant convoy.
The pirates tried to run when they saw Thanatos charging in their direction while powering up its weapons and they practically pissed themselves when the rest of the fleet arrived and now they had over three hundred ships racing towards them and all of them were armed to the teeth.
Needless to say that not a single pirate ship escaped as their shields popped from a single hit that proceeded to annihilate the ship without even slowing down.
After they took care of the pirates they jumped back into FTL seeing that the merchants were safe and sound.