When the robot returned with the sample, it placed it in the lab for analysis. Max requested an analysis of its composition. After a few minutes, the data was ready.
A cell with a very different structure, highly resistant to vacuum radiation.
As Max was analyzing the cells, the ship began emitting a red light.
Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert!
Loss of signal with home planet, alert! Alert. Loss of signal with home planet, alert! Alert!.
Max rushed to the control panel, saw that all connections to the home planet were cut off, and was terrified; this possibility hadn't crossed his mind.
No matter what he tried, he couldn't find anything. He attempted to connect to the other stations but received no response; he didn't know what to do. There was a station at the edge of the solar system for using hyperspace.
He pulled up images of the location and saw the station broken, as if there had been an explosion inside it. Without the station, he couldn't return to the planet.
Max calculated that, with this ship traveling at maximum speed, it would take 100 years to return—if the ship could withstand the journey without stopping.
He had no options left but to hide and live in this system for now.
Max felt empty, alone.
Sitting in his chair with an empty mind, not knowing what to do, he remained in that state for hours.
He stood up; he couldn't stay like that. He decided to go to the station in person to see if anything useful was left and to get a closer look at what had happened.
Max gave the order for the ship to take off, and it began to climb.
The ship rose into the air, passing through the clouds and into the atmosphere, until it left the planet.
Max accelerated like a flash through space, and a distortion began to form around the ship due to the use of the miniature sun.
Max waited. After more than an hour had passed, he arrived at the location. And he saw the station.
It looked as if it had been destroyed from the inside; the outer layers were in better condition.
He used the ship to scan the area to see if he could find anything.
After circling the site, there was nothing to recover—not a single piece of data or storage device.
Max wondered if it had been a self-destruct; that would explain the lack of materials and data at the site.
If it had been an attack, my ship would have at least captured an image or found a mark on the station's surface.
With all the stations destroyed, the home planet wanted us to stay hidden for the moment and must have left the solar system itself.
With no response from the planet, it means the message could be traced.
The planet has certain rules for encountering anything beyond what it can defend.
The self-destruction of the stations prevents the location of explorers and colonies from being detected.
But in this situation, we're on our own.
Max sent the ship back to the Iron Planet.
While en route, he began working on a camouflage system.
Upon arrival, the ship passed through the atmosphere and landed on solid ground. When the snow stopped, Max added a light refraction system to make the ship invisible, causing the light to bend around it.
Max decided to prepare for what's to come; he'll start building weapons.
Arm the entire planet first; create a fortress here.
There aren't any weapon designs saved in the database, but I can make a laser weapon.
Since Max has an engine powered by a sun, he could use it to power the laser weapons, but he couldn't use the ship.
If he were to build another one on his own, it would take too long.
Max thought it over and called in the robots to build the battery storage facility where he would store energy for the weapons.
Each weapon is about 50 meters long.
These are 50-meter-tall monolithic towers with reinforced bases and movable domes at the top for 360-degree targeting.
The muzzle features giant crystal lenses (such as sapphire or diamond) to focus continuous beams of light.
The structure is covered with ceramic armor plates and cooling fins to dissipate extreme heat.
Sensor and radar systems are mounted on the sides for automatic target tracking.
When fired, they ionize the air, forming blinding columns of light that instantly connect the surface to space.
Max sent the design to the construction team; each unit would take five days to build. Since the system was complex, he would have to finish some parts himself.
After finalizing the commands, Max went to undergo his next body modification.