A panel lit up in my vision. The nanotech in the walls had enough material stored to do minor repairs to the major systems without needing to be connected to the main system so there was no worry that I would run out of material for this repair. Grabbing the tools that formed, I went to grinding the warped metal flat enough to allow the bonding agent to seal properly after I weld the patch in place.

  The first panel fell out of the shoot as the ship lurched. Grabbing a tool meant to hold the piece in place, I positioned it on the patch and lifted. The fucker was heavy. I mean, I knew it would be but damn.

  Carrying it to the wall, I grunted as I lifted it into place. My AI activated the tool. Dozens of thin string like things shot out and grabbed onto sections of the wall, holding the panel in place. Quickly, I welded the piece in place. Gabbing the next patch and repeating the process until the hole was sufficiently covered.

  A new map popped up in my mind’s eye. Directing me to another area of the ship. As I picked up my stuff and ran down the halls, I asked my AI, “What is status of the ship? How bad is the rest of the fleet? And who the fuck are we fighting?”

  “The Kinsley has sustained heavy damage to every section. All frigates have been destroyed. The destroyers Burkley and Volkov are severely damaged. Destroyers Manchester and Louis are without power. All other destroyers are destroyed. Ninety percent of the fleet’s fighters are destroyed, lost, or otherwise out of action.”

  I reached my next repair and found that I was not the only one there. The three of us were being directed to repair a power transfer station. Looking at the damage inside, I knew it was not going to be easy. It was like something had set off a small grenade and then let high voltage continuously throw lightning through everything else.

  “Power is off,” called one of the other two guys. He charged in and started to spray a nano foam. Both of us quickly joined him. As soon as everything was coated, we stepped back. Nothing happened.

  “AI unable to activate nano foam.” Came the ships AI through the comms channel. All three of us cursed as we reentered the room. Without the foam melting the components and damage, we would have to strip it out ourselves. Not only was that slower, but we could easily miss some damage and leave a weak point in the repaired system.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  As we yanked out components, cut wires and ground conduits out, I asked my AI another question. “Is the enemy the same that attacked us during the fight on the planet?”

  “Unlikely. Ships do not match those that attacked at the time. Tactics are also completely different and indicative of another race.”

  “Any information on them?” I asked, not expecting any true answer. My AI started to say something only to cut off and stutter. Glitching again like my other one had on the planet.

  A popup blocked my vision as I was trying to cut a single conduit, causing me to nick the conduit next to it. Cursing, I mentally slid the window to the side and cut both conduits away. Quickly installing a new set of conduits in their place. My section lit up as my repairs finished.

  The sections next to mine lit up within seconds of my finishing. Both the other guys took off running for their next assignment. My AI didn’t give me one. Instead, the window from other flashed. Grabbing my attention.

  ‘Information requested: species and fleet identification and information. Is this correct? Yes. No.’ Why the AI was glitching, I had no clue. It should have just asked me this directly and not via an odd text box. I would have to mention this later. Given that deleting and reinstalling the AI didn’t solve the issue, maybe it was my actual hardware causing it.

  “Yes.” I said.

  The window disappeared and another took its place.

  The information floored me. Not only was it absurd but it seemed to be updating in real time. The number of drone ships was falling by the hundreds and thousands every second. While that may sound amazing, it was nothing when you realized just how many there were.