After the second privateer attack, Elara's fleet base—the massive space assembly plant hidden within the asteroid belt—entered a brief period of calm. She used this time to further strengthen the base. The residential areas were lit with warm, steady lights, and the mechanical arms of the engineering repair dock worked tirelessly day and night to repair damaged ships. The destroyer production line, cruiser production line, and carrier aircraft production line operated at full capacity, steadily increasing the numbers of AC721 Carrier Destroyers and Conelight-class missile cruisers. FG3000 Multirole Frigates and stingray-class drones guarded the perimeter of the base. Resource reserves continued to grow, but Elara knew that for the Nova Alliance to truly rise, the current scale was far from sufficient.
Thus, she devoted significant effort to developing a new generation of engineering ships—the X10 Engineering Ship. Larger than the X8, the X10 was equipped with an upgraded drone mining system capable of simultaneously extracting metals, crystals, and deuterium. Its storage capacity was doubled, and its protective systems were enhanced to handle the more complex environment of the asteroid belt. The combined production lines worked around the clock, and finally, at the dawn of a new stellar day, the first batch of X10 Engineering Ships emerged from the space assembly plant's docks, their engines blazing brightly as they slowly ventured into the depths of the asteroid belt.
Elara stood in the command center, gazing at the holographic projection of the X10 Engineering Ships. They weaved between giant asteroids, their drones spreading out like swarms of bees. Mining arms cut through metal veins, extracted crystal nodules, and even harvested precious deuterium from meteorite fissures. The resource counter climbed at an astonishing rate, and the base's storage compartments were soon filled with various materials. A faint smile curved Elara's lips as she calculated her next move—these resources would be used to build a stronger fleet, and perhaps even a new Lagrange Gate.
However, on the third day of the mining operation, an unexpected incident occurred. On the holographic projection, one of the X10 Engineering Ships suddenly turned red, followed by anomalies appearing in the others. Alarms blared sharply across the bridge, and Kiera urgently reported: "Captain, the X10 Engineering Ships' power systems have malfunctioned! Power output is dropping, and the drone mining systems have shut down!"
Elara frowned deeply and quickly accessed the data. The holographic display showed that the energy core of the X10 had overloaded, likely due to the high load of processing multiple resources simultaneously, causing the cooling system to fail. In a measured tone, she asked, "How extensive is the impact?"
"Currently, all five X10s are affected," Kiera responded. "If unresolved, the mining operation will halt, and the ships may sustain damage."
Elara stood up and walked to the command platform, rapidly analyzing the situation in her mind. This was the X10's first field application, and it was clear that the design of the energy system had underestimated the burden of multi-resource extraction. She turned to the technical officer: "Can the cooling module of the energy core be repaired?"
"It can, but it will take time," the technical officer replied. "We need to pull the ships back to the base to inspect the cooling pipelines."
"Too much time," Elara shook her head. "The privateers could return at any moment—we can't afford to halt the mining operation." She stared at the holographic projection, then a flash of inspiration struck her. "Kiera, dispatch an AC721 Carrier Destroyer with stingray drones to support the X10s."
"Captain, what's your plan?" Kiera asked, puzzled.
"We'll use the cooling systems of the stingray drones to temporarily stabilize the X10s' energy cores," Elara explained. "Their condensers are small but can dissipate heat quickly, buying us time to find a permanent solution."
The orders were swiftly issued. An AC721 Carrier Destroyer departed from the space assembly plant, carrying several stingray drones toward the asteroid belt. The stingray drones nimbly approached the X10 Engineering Ships, attaching themselves to the exterior of the energy compartments and activating their condenser units. A faint stream of white vapor released from the drones, and the temperature of the X10s' energy cores slowly dropped, gradually restoring power output. On the holographic projection, the red alerts turned yellow, and the drone mining systems restarted.
"It worked!" Kiera exclaimed in relief. "But this is only a temporary fix—the cores are still overheating."
Elara nodded and turned to the technical officer: "Analyze the X10s' energy data immediately and identify the cause of the overload. I want a permanent solution."
The technical team sprang into action, and hours later, they reached a conclusion: the cooling pipelines of the X10 were too compact to handle the high energy consumption of multi-resource mining. Elara made a decisive call: "Retrofit the design at the engineering repair dock—add cooling modules and expand the pipeline capacity. All X10s are to return to the base for upgrades."
Over the next two days, the space assembly plant buzzed with activity. The X10 Engineering Ships returned one by one, and the mechanical arms of the engineering repair dock disassembled the energy compartments, installing new cooling modules. Elara personally supervised every step to ensure the upgrades were flawless. When the first upgraded X10 re-entered the asteroid belt, the holographic projection showed the energy systems operating stably, with mining efficiency even slightly improved.
"The issue is resolved, Captain," Kiera sighed in relief. "Resource extraction can fully resume."
Elara leaned back in her command chair, fatigue mingling with a sense of satisfaction. She gazed at the holographic projection as metal, crystal, and deuterium reserves began climbing rapidly once again. The successful upgrade of the X10 Engineering Ships not only resolved the crisis but also doubled the base's resource production capacity. She knew this was just a small step in their journey. With these resources, the Nova Alliance could build a stronger fleet and even challenge broader star systems.
"Resume mining," she commanded firmly. "Patrol frigates, increase vigilance. Production lines, accelerate operations. Our future has only just begun."
The lights of the space assembly plant flickered as the X10 Engineering Ships bustled through the asteroid belt. FG3000 frigates and AC721 destroyers patrolled the surroundings, while stingray drones hovered like ghosts, guarding the base. Elara gazed into the starry expanse, her heart ablaze with boundless determination. Cygnus 0476 was only the starting point; she would lead the Nova Alliance to carve out their legendary chapter in the stars.