While Runir was going around taking down the four fleets, Andrew got word that they were finally ready to send a drone through the wormhole to see where it led to and who, if anyone was on the other side.
Andrew gave the go-ahead immediately.
He wanted to know if the wormhole was a potential escape route if they ever needed it or if it was a gate at which he would have to hold the enemy at all costs.
The scout drone went through immediately, but it took around 5 minutes for it to arrive on the other side.
-Boss, you need to see this.
These were the first words Rodill said when he saw what was on the other side.
Andrew took a look at the data and video sent from the drone and gasped.
The wormhole led to a system which was littered with shipwrecks.
-What the hell happened there?
Andrew asked, seeing the carnage.
All the ships had battle damage on their hulls and there were hundreds of them.
Additionally, they didn't seem to belong to one or two factions, but rather to at least a dozen if not even more.
-Boss, would it be possible to send one of the tugs through the wormhole to get one of these ships back?
Drevon asked once the shock wore off.
-There should not be a problem with that, but let's gather as much data as we can for now.
I don't want to send it if there are enemies around.
-Andrew, we might get a better idea about where the wormhole exit is located if we send a relay through the wormhole and scan the area.
Lanarine suggested.
-We can do that when we send a tug for one of the ships.
Andrew agreed.
-It looks like this is a highly contested area so I suggest retrieving one of the ships as soon as possible to acquire more data before anyone discovers the drone.
Vulcan chimed in, after analyzing the data sent so far.
-Send the tug.
Andrew gave the order.
Fortunately, there already was a tug in Rodill's system, so they didn't need to send one from the shipyard.
As soon as it arrived, the tug placed a relay on one of the wrecks, to make it harder to find, which was Aelita's idea, then it tractored a nearby frigate and started towing it back through the wormhole.
As soon as it was back the frigate was boarded by battle droids, to sweep it in case there was someone still on board and to retrieve its logs.
-Boss, would it be alright to get a few more ships from the other side?
The captain of the tug ship asked.
-Do you have a reason for wanting to bring more of them here?
Andrew got curious.
-I was thinking about getting some of them that are not too damaged and trying to repair them to add to the fleet, additionally, we would also get more data from their logs.
The captain explained.
-Boss, it's not a bad idea, and with the number of ships in the system, I doubt anyone will notice if a few disappear.
Rodill joined in.
-We can try, but first, relocate a dozen satellites to the other side to cover you and guard the wormhole.
Also at the slightest sign of trouble, get back immediately.
I'll also send additional tugs to help you with that.
-Got it, boss.
The captain said.
He was happy that his idea was accepted and even more so that Andrew cared about his safety.
The tug immediately took two satellites in tow and moved them through the wormhole.
Setting up the full dozen took almost three hours at which time two additional tugs joined him.
One of them helped with the satellites while the other one took another frigate to bring it back.
The three tug captains got a free hand in choosing which ships to bring back and they searched for the ones with the least amount of damage.
Each ship they brought back was then swept by battle droids before it was sent to the shipyard for repairs.
The strange thing was that there were no bodies on board any of the ships.
They did find some personal items belonging to the crews but not one body.
-This is more than strange, Runir said, when she learned about it.
She was now done with the invasion fleets she targeted, unfortunately, other than the first fleet, she was unable to get more ships as the other three either fought to the end or scuttled their ships before she could capture them.
-It shows that someone was there to remove the bodies, and we need to be extra careful since they might come back.
Nairrin said.
She was also unsettled about the lack of bodies in any of the ships, as was everyone else.
By that time the tugs managed to return with almost a dozen ships, and they wanted to go get more, but Andrew stopped them.
-You guys need to get some rest, and we need to wait for the sensor data about the vicinity of the system before we proceed any further.
He said.
The captains were a bit grumpy about their orders since everything was going smoothly for now, but they knew better than to go against the boss's word.
Not to mention that everyone knew Andrew was always trying to minimize the risks for his people as much as possible.
Taking this into consideration they took a break while discussing which ships they would bring back next.
At the same time, the data from the ship's logs was retrieved and analyzed, however, they were all empty.
-Boss, someone deleted the logs data after the ships were disabled, I can try to recover some of it, but there is not much chance of success.
Vulcan said after analyzing the logs.
-This whole thing is getting weirder and weirder.
Andrew murmured.
-Maybe we should bring back a bow section of one of the ships that was blown apart, i doubt that anyone would go through the trouble of deleting data from such a wreck.
Aelita suggested.
-It's worth a try, but we will wait for the sensor data first.
Andrew decided.
-Why wait?
We managed to get eight ships from there without a problem so far.
Runir asked.
-Let's just say I have a bad feeling about it, and it's quite possible that we were lucky so far, but I dont want to rely on luck to much.
Andrew said, remembering an old saying that Lady Luck was a fickle mistress.
This was enough to convince everyone to wait as Andrew's feelings were usually right when it came to danger, which was already proven more than once.
As usual, the waiting was the worst part, but thankfully it was only a few hours before they got the full sensor data from the relay on the other side of the wormhole.
During the wait, everyone took turns to rest, the last thing they needed was to be tired and make a mistake because of that.
Of course, Andrew and Aelita didn't miss the chance to have a fun time in bed while they were at it.
Twelve hours later they finally could take a look at the sensor data, which made everyone speechless.
To say that they were lucky until now was a colossal understatement.
The data also explained the presence of all the shipwrecks and why they looked like they belonged to different factions.
The answer was, that they did belong to different factions as the system was the equivalent of no man's land, between at least a dozen factions and all of them seemed to want to take control of it.
Andrew immediately ordered additional defenses for Rodill's system and he also ordered additional satellites to be placed on the other side.
The three tugs also got permission to get more ships from the other side, but they were forbidden to go any further than a light hour from the wormhole and they were ordered to return at the slightest hint of trouble.
However, the biggest surprise came when Vulcan analyzed the star patterns on the other side and informed them about his discoveries.
It turned out that the system on the other side of the wormhole was in another galaxy and now they even knew which galaxy it was, since Vulcan managed to find a match for the star patterns on the other side.