The moment both ships docked, Andrew ordered everyone to go through the decontamination in one of the modules.
Then he ordered both ships to be decontaminated, just in case they brought something back that they shouldn't have.
While that was happening, the data from the gunship was downloaded.
The moment they all received a clean bill of health from Iliana, Andrew went to the command center to see what exactly they found, and what destroyed six of his battle droids in a metter of seconds.
This was the question on everybody's minds, as something this formidable could be a threat to them, and if that was the case, they needed to know what they were up against.
The video taken by the gunship showed exactly what had happened in the airlock of the alien ship.
However what they all saw, was hard to beklive.
The moment the first 4 droids exited the ship, an armored humanoid being showed up and in a matter of seconds, turned five of the remaining droids into scrap while sending the last one flying with a kick that dented its torso.
It was not that the droids stayed in place waiting to be destroyed; they opened fire the moment the alien showed up, and they did hit the enemy, but whatever it was, it had a personal shield, which absorbed the incoming projectiles, rendering the droid's main weapons useless.
Then it got into the male range and started tearing the mechanical soldiers apart with some kind of blade.
As far as Andrew saw, two droids tried to attack their assailant, but their attacks were dodged immediately, and they never got the chance to attack again as the next moment they were destroyed.
The whole skirmish lasted not more than ten seconds, and it was an undisputed victory of the mysterious armored being.
However, what happened next was even more surprising.
Who or what ever the enemy was, it looked at the retreating teams and the 4 remaining droids like it was considering whether to give chase or not.
In the end, it grabbed two of the destroyed battle droids and disappeared back inside the vessel.
Not long after, they jumped back to the station, so there was nothing more to see.
-Lan, are the scout drones still in that area?
Andrew asked when the video ended.
-Yes, They are stationed there to have an eye on the ship. why?
-I need you to display their footage, after we left that area.
He said, not exactly knowing what he was searching for.
Lanarine displayed the drone's footage after the two ships left.
For a few minutes, there was nothing to see, however, the mysterious being showed up again about ten minutes after the ships left to drag another two battle droids away.
The same situation repeated itself another ten minutes later, and this time, the armored individual left the ship to get the droid it kicked out of the airlock.
-Why would it take the droids?
Aelita asked, not understanding its motives for doing so.
-Maybe it needs parts or something.
Arien suggested.
-Power.
Andrew whispered.
-What?
Aelita asked, not hearing him clearly.
-It took the droids to get their power cells.
He repeated louder.
-Display the fight again.
The moment he saw the whole thing again, he finally realized that the mysterious being targeted every other part of the droids but avoided damaging their power cells, even though it was the easiest way to take a battle droid down.
-How far away from the ship is the drone recharging station?
Andrew asked suddenly.
-It's about 50 kilometers away from the asteroid.
Lan said, after looking at the sensor display.
-Order the drones to move it further away, at least a thousand kilometers, and if this thing tries to reach it, I want it deactivated immediately.
He ordered.
-What are you worried about?
Arien asked, not understanding why he ordered the drone recharging station further away.
-This thing's objective for attacking was to get power, so I'm trying to stop it from aquaiering even more of it.
He answered.
-Six half-depleted cells are hardly enough to power up a ship this big.
Aelita said.
-I agree, but what if it got its hands on the recharging station and connected it to the ship?
Andrew asked, and then she understood.
The recharging station itself was also not enough to power the ship, but if it got connected to some kind of capacitor or a power cell, it could slowly recharge it, giving the ship enough energy to power it back up.
What's more, the scout drones' recharging stations were all solar powered, so they would not run out of fuel, making them an ideal energy source to power this ship back up given enough time.
-Why do you think that it will try for the recharging station?
Lanarine asked while commanding the drones to move the power source to a position 1200 kilometers away from the ship.
-Because it's what I would have done in this situation.
He answered.
To confirm his words, they saw the being exiting the ship again, carrying a tool or a weapon that looked similar to a rocket launcher, and fired it in the direction of the recharging station.
-Move the station to the left.
Andrew ordered immediately as the incoming projectile was nearing it at an incredible speed.
If they didn't move the station, there would be no way for it to dodge the missile or whatever this shing was.
But the additional distance gave them just barely enough time to avoid being hit.
A moment after the projectile missed the recharging station, it returned to the being which launched it, confirming that this thing was some sort of towing device.
The armored being grabbed the projectile, which landed at its feet and returned to the ship.
-I think we just dodged a bullet, literally and figuratively.
Andrew said, releasing the breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
-Reposition the drones as well.
I don't think this thing will target them, but I dont want to take any chances.
Additionally, mark this place on the system map as a no-flight zone with a perimeter of a thousand kilometers in every direction, and inform everyone that under no circumstances are the to get anywhere near that place.
Lan and Sirill got to work immediately.
After seeing what just happened, they also didn't want that thing to leave the asteroid, and sure as hell, they never wanted that thing to power up that ship.
-Why, don't we just blast that thing from a ship and be done with it?
Nairin, who had been quiet till now, asked.
-Because we have no idea if it's hostile to us or just trying its best to survive and simply decided to attack the droids for their power cells.
Andrew answered.
-It looks hostile enough to me.
The girl said.
-If it had attacked us inside the ship, I doubt any of us would have gotten out alive, but it didn't.
Also, it could have chased us down when we were retreating to the ship but decided not to do so.
Which is fortunate because I doubt I would have lasted more than a minute against it.
Andrew explained his reasoning.
-It didn't attack us directly so for now, we will leave it be.
Without any more power, it's not going anywhere, and we have other things to worry about at the moment.
Andrew ended the discussion.
Everyone agreed to this as they really had more to worry about than some alien in a derelict ship without any power.
The Invasion was due to begin in a bit over a week, and they had to prepare for it as best as they could.
Not that they could do more at the moment as they were waiting for the shipyard to be built.
However, with the new station for Theresa's people being completed ahead of schedule. Andrew decided to use some component manufacturing modules to increase their storage capabilities.
The idea was to create as many modules as possible since they would need them soon enough.
The shipyard, as small as it would be, required a lot of power and resources to make ships, and it would be working around the clock as soon as it was online.
Additionally, the jump gate also required a lot of power to be activated, so it would be a great idea to have some prepared beforehand.
Not that they lacked in hydrogen for the generators, as all the stations had always topped off storage modules, and they were producing more water from ice than they could possibly use.
However it never hurt anyone to have additional surplus on hand if it was needed.