The GPF's were shocked when none of the ships and installations in the system went down.
They had used similar tactics in the past, and it always worked.
A moment later, they were horrified when the imperial fleet blasted all of their shuttles into bits, before they made it even halfway to the station.
All their boarding parties were lost with no survivors.
The worst came when they powered up their ships once again.
The lock on alarms started going off, as every ship in their fleet was already targeted.
-I would not try to power up your weapons or shields if you wish to live.
Andrew said, with a calm and cold voice, when they answered his hail.
-My boarding parties are on their way; it depends on you if you will survive or die once they arrive.
I trust that you will choose wisely.
The emperor said before disconnecting.
Once the droids arrived, every ship surrendered, not wishing to die.
The crews could fight the droids, but they were certain that if they did, their whole ship would be destroyed, so what was the point?
-So, Aelita, is it still a waste of time and resources?
Andrew asked with a smug grin on his face.
-Alright, you were right, but you don't need to rub it in.
The cherin answered with a sigh.
A few months earlier, when Andrew told her to make the whole station EMP resistant.
She argued with him about wasting her time and resources on a pointless project, since no one was using EMP, because of the enormous power requirements.
They quarreled about it for a while, and with no end in sight, Andrew simply ordered the engineering drones and droids to do it, and now it paid off.
-Vulcan, what would happen if we didn't install EMP shielding on everything?
Nairin asked, curious about the result.
-The station would lose power, as would the fleet, rendering us defenseless.
The AI answered.
Just then, Tanera's bracelet pinged, signaling incoming communications.
-Cousin, our ship lost all power just now, along with all the droids.
What's going on?
The older of her two male cousins asked.
-The station was hit by an EMP.
The merchant said, with no further explanation.
-Then what are we supposed to do now?
Her cousin asked, understanding that their ship was more or less fried.
She turned to Andrew, who simply nodded.
-Your ship will be repaired here, and don't worry, you won't need to pay for the repairs.
She said with a slight smile.
-I'll be there shortly.
She finally said and ended the call.
-Thank you.
She turned to Andrew and bowed her head slightly.
-Well, it's not their fault that a bunch of idiots attacked us with an EMP.
Andrew smiled.
-Vulcan, how long will it take to repair their ship?
-If you wish to repair it in its current configuration, then approximately a week.
However, if you wish to build them a new vessel, then it would be ready within 36 hours.
-You heard him, go ask your cousins if they want to try and repair this ship, or do they want a new one.
Andrew grinned at the shocked expression on the merchant's face.
The repairs she understood as it was necessary either way, but the proposition to give her cousin a brand new ship was something else entirely.
Not to mention that the merchant ship was equipped with more advanced technology than Andrew now possessed, and it would require them to reverse engineer this tech to rebuild the ship.
-Don't worry, I won't let your cousin suffer a loss.
Andrew said, like he was reading her mind.
He was aware of the technological difference, even though the ship was one of the older models available in the Moon Elf Empire.
-So, how do you intend to compensate her?
Tanera asked.
-By building her a bigger ship.
-Whatever the case, I need to go talk this through with them first.
The merchant said before she left.
Soon after Tanera left the battle droids reported securing the enemy vessels and crews.
Andrew ordered Captain Grine to be transported to the station, while the rest of the GPF's crews were to be placed in two hangars under guard, and their ships would be taken over by droid crews.
-Well, Captain, that was a good plan, but it failed. Now I want to know who sent you here?
Andrew asked once the officer was delivered into the conference room.
-I was sent here by the Galactic Peacekeeping Force command after we received multiple accusations from different parties, all concerning you and the crimes you committed.
The alien responded without any delay.
-Who accused me of these so-called crimes?
The human asked, curious who was so bored to think about such a crazy idea.
-There are multiple entities, some private, some from the various governments.
The captain said.
-Could you be a bit more specific?
Aelita chimed in as she wanted to know who it was that accused her man of abducting and holding her against her will.
Lanarine nodded.
She was present for the same reason Aelita was.
-The Dranix Republic, the Cherix Council, the Five races Federation…
Grine named one entity after the other, but even though Andrew knew some of them, there were about twenty of them that he had never even heard about.
Which Andrew shared with the captain as soon as he was finished listing everyone who accused him.
-I can't say for certain if the accusations are real or not, but that's not my job; I'm tasked with bringing the criminals before the court, it's the judges' work to determine if you are guilty or innocent.
The Captain answered.
-I don't know how this works for your organization, but in my home world, you could not prosecute someone if you had no jurisdiction over them, and my empire is certainly outside of your jurisdiction.
Additionally, if the Charix and the Dranix want to get my ladies, then tell them to come here themselves and try to get them the right way if they dare.
Furthermore, if you ever come back here and try to attack my forces again, I won't spare you like I did now.
Andrew said coldly.
-You really wish to become an enemy of the Galactic Peacekeeping Force?
The captain asked in shock at the threat.
-If you stay away, we won't have a problem, but the next time your forces attack my Empire, I'll send them back in pieces.
Now, get out of here before I change my mind.
Andrew explained leaving no room for discussion.
The captain was escorted back to his people, and soon they were sent back to their ships and allowed to leave under the guard of over 500 ships of the imperial navy.
What Grine didn't know was that his ships were scanned from top to bottom, and their databases were hacked and copied.
That way, Andrew not only got the schematics of the EMP generator that they wanted to use against him, but also the drives they used to get into his main system within seconds.
In addition to that, there was also data on any species and territory the GPF visited or were in contact with.