Tibrana looked at Andrew, her gaze full of hatred, while he just smiled, satisfied with putting this arrogant girl in her place.
-Did you hear my previous order?
He asked, wanting to test if she would be able to defy the chip's control.
-Yes, Master.
She said, but the word master was a bit delayed.
Andrew was sure that she was doing her best to avoid addressing him as master, but unlike Lanarine, who never received an order to call him that, Tabrina did, and the chip would ensure that she complied with his instructions.
-Then sit back down and be quiet.
-Yes, Master.
The girl said and did as she was told.
-Don't you think that it's a bit too much?
Iliana asked, pitying the girl.
-No, this should put her in her place.
He answered the anger from a moment ago, nowhere to be seen.
-But you never used this on any of us, so why her?
The doctor asked, curious about the reason behind it.
-I actually used it on Lan before, as for the rest of you, none of you disrespected me or made me angry before, so I had no reason to increase your control level.
He explained.
-But I even beat you up and you still didn't treat me like her.
Ilia said, wondering what was the difference.
-You did, but back then you were fighting for your freedom, so I can't blame you for it, she, on the other hand, was simply arrogant, rude, and generally pissed me off.
Ilia nodded and changed the topic.
A few minutes later Andrew took Tibrana to her beginning module.
Store your things and assemble your bed, you can rest here until I call for you.
He said handing her the comms bracelet.
-Yes, Master.
The girl answered and got to work.
With this matter solved, Andrew finally could go and vent his anger on a punching bag.
A few hours later everyone was looking at the first drone fighter that was just coming out of the production module.
It looked nothing like the ones they captured and was definitely of human design.
However, right now it was empty and needed to be transported to the hangar by drones to be armed and fueled.
A standard fighter drone was equipped with 1 40 mm cannon and it could take up to 400 rounds of ammunition, but Andrew changed a few things, thanks to the design module.
He limited the ammunition to 300 rounds but added pylons under its wings, allowing it to carry missiles or bombs, depending on which role the fighter needed to fulfill.
At the same time, he designed unguided rockets and bombs.
These simple munitions would detonate on impact and lacked any guiding system, which made them impervious to any kind of jamming and the only way to avoid them was to either shoot them down or evade them.
Both of these would be hard to do when facing ten squadrons of fighters equipped with them and additional fire from the station itself.
-Do you really need all that firepower?
Tanera asked as she was witnessing the production of the first drone fighter along with most of the people on the station.
-It is necessary, a fighter on a fighter the cannons are more than enough, but if there is a bigger ship, they will need the extra punch to take it out.
Andrew explained, watching as the first fighter disappeared inside hangar number 5.
Inside there were already droids waiting to take care of it.
The first type of droid that was built was the hangar maintenance droid, which Andrew wanted to have at least 20 in each hangar.
For now, however, there were 10 of them in hangar 5, as the rest were in the process of being produced.
Once the hangar crews were full, the next in line was the ship repair droids.
These would be used to repair all the ships that could be repaired while using the more damaged ones as a source of parts.
That was the best that they could do for now as they still couldn't produce ship parts, other than the ones for the fighters.
-I never thought about the possibility of using a drone fighter in any other role than defense or possibly scouting.
The Elf admitted.
-Well, Humanity used fighters in multiple roles for decades.
I'm also not being too original with this as most fighters on Earth used much more powerful and sophisticated missiles and bombs, but I have no idea how to make them or if they would even work in space.
The ones, I designed are simple and should be effective, but to be sure, we will need to arm this fighter and do some tests.
-If you want you can test them now, Lan has already found a good target.
Aelita chimed in.
-Then let's do it, we just need to wait for the droids to prepare everything.
Andrew said and the whole group went to the combat control center to observe the test.
Droids finished their work in around 10 minutes and the drone was fully loaded, bearing 2 250 kg bombs and 4 unguided missiles under its wings, and its cannon magazine was full.
The only thing it lacked was a full power charge, but the battery at 30% was more than enough for this test.
Lanarine, sent the data about the asteroid that they were about to use as a practice target and the test has begun.
The fighter launched and went straight for the target, presenting its speed and agility as it waved between the asteroids on its way without getting so much as a scratch despite some of the passages being really narrow.
The target was at a distance of around 600,000 kilometers, from the station but the drone reached it in just a few minutes and began its attack run as soon as it was in range.
The first weapon being used was the cannon, and the rounds hit the target spot on, sending debris in every direction as the high explosive and armor-piercing rounds slammed into a 5-kilometer long and 3.2-kilometer wide asteroid.
-This is going to do a lot of damage to anyone it hits.
Andrew commented as the drone passed the asteroid and was gaining distance to prepare another attack run.
All the ladies just nodded, not diverting their eyes from the drone fighter which was now going for another run at the asteroid.
-Let's see if the missiles work.
Aelita said and Andrew agreed to switch the drone weapons to missiles.
As he did it, the new targeting system kicked in and the drone adjusted its position to use its new weapon.
As it neared the asteroid it fired two missiles at a range of 300 kilometers, before banking off to avoid potential debris from the impact.
This time the result was mixed as one missile missed the target but the other one hit, leaving a nice crater at the impact site.
-Let's go again, but this time let's fire at 250 kilometers range.
Andrew said while changing the attack parameters.
This time both rockets scored a direct hit and they struck only 25 meters from each other which was a great result.
-Now let's see if our bombs are working.
The human said excitedly and once again switched the weapons.
The drone responded by accelerating at the target and releasing both bombs at a distance of 50 kilometers from the target.
It took a moment for the munitions to hit, but once they did, the devastation was enormous.
Both bombs left gaping craters on the surface of the asteroid.
-I'd call the first test a success, do you want to rearm and go for the second test?
Aelita asked once the fighter was on its way back to the hangar.
-Yes, prepare everything and, let's see what these weapons can do against shields.
Andrew said, excited at the thought, and more than happy that the weapons he designed worked as intended.
Two hours later the targets comprising two hydrogen generators with strapped tier 1 and tier 2 shields to them were prepared and placed around 2500 kilometers from the station.
At the same time, the fighter was rearmed and fully charged.
-Begin testing.
Andrew said.
The fighter was now equipped with 8 missiles, to test their effect on the shields.
The first target was the generator with tier 1 shields protecting it and the effect was devastating.
All it took was three missiles to take the shields down, one more, and the target would be destroyed.
-Great work and the effect is way better than I expected.
Andrew commented, while all the ladies were in utter disbelief at the power of these weapons.
-You said that these are weak compared to what your military was using.
Runir said, not believing the effectiveness of these weapons.
-They are, these are simple unguided explosive missiles.
His words made the girl shudder in fear.
She was in the academy for long enough to know that their Federation's missiles were much bigger and more advanced, but they would need at least half a dozen hits to take down a tier 1 shield.
That was also the main reason why they were seldom used and delegated to defensive roles.
However, this human, who isn't even a weapons designer, managed to build something at least twice as powerful and still called it weak.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what humanity's more powerful missiles looked like.
While they talked, the drone attacked the second target and with four hits, (one missile missed the target) managed to bring the shield down to half strength before it returned to the hangar for resupply.
-Aelita what is the status of target 1?
Andrew asked.
-Its shields are recharging and will be up to full strength in about 5 minutes, the second target will recharge in about 30 seconds.
The Cheroni said, looking over her console.
-Nairin, how long till the fighter is rearmed with bombs?
Andrew asked the student who was monitoring the fighter's status.
-It will be ready in about 2 minutes.
The girl answered nervously.
It was not that she was afraid of Andrew, but it was her first time doing something this important, and even having the responsibility of monitoring the craft during the test was making her nervous.
-Calm down a bit, if you are this nervous during the test, then how are you going to handle a real battle?
Andrew said with a smile.
-I'll try.
She said taking a deep breath to calm herself.
A few minutes later, they witnessed another spectacle of destruction as the bombs slammed into the shields this time and the effects were even better than missiles.
One bomb was all it took to destroy the tier 1 shield while the tier 2 shield managed to withstand the three remaining bombs, but it would only take one strafing run from the fighter to completely take it down and damage or destroy the modules.
-I'd call that a success.
Andrew said with satisfaction.
-The weapons work, but remember that these were only single shield generators, and if there are more of them, it'll take much more ordnance to punch through it.
Aelita reminded him.
-True, but imagine fifty of these fighters dropping their payloads on the enemy ships, if it won't take them out, it'll at least considerably weaken their shields and divert their fire from the station.
Andrew responded.
The scene of just one fighter dropping bombs and launching missiles was terrifying enough, fifty of them would be a nightmare to anyone trying to attack the station.