Six years

The war between the Hawks and the Lucanians finally came to an end, and ended with a Hawk victory.

It is not even an exaggeration to say that it was a complete victory. Because Hawke was a mechanical civilisation, with enough time and raw materials, the number of ships was just a matter of numbers.

And there was no doubt that the Lucan ships and Lucanians captured by Hawke would bring about a great technological leap for themselves.

The chase lasted a month and a half, and the return voyage was slowed down by the fact that there was no hurry, and it would take about two and a half months to get back to the ε Eri star system.

During this time, Hawke first obtained from the Lucanians their requirements for their living environment and then began to modify the ships and build new homes for them.

All the Lucan ships were then taken over by Hawke in case there was something on them that he was not aware of that could threaten him.

This was acceptable to the Lucanians. But there were many more demands for environmental details, and even a request that Hawke provide at least one large entertainment venue on each of the ships. Hawke agreed to all these requests, which were only a matter of moving his hands anyway.

Hawke intended to take these Lucanians with him on subsequent interstellar trips. Their experience of interstellar survival was very important to Hawke. And some of the technical details of the tertiary civilisation, Hawke also needed them to provide for himself.

Of course, Hawke did not forget the most important one.

After sending out the droids to take over all the Lucanian ships and ensure that they were all under his control, Hawke couldn't wait to ask this question.

"Tell me, how will your mother civilisation respond when they learn that you have been defeated by me and captured by me?"

This question was very important to Hawk, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a matter of life and death for Hawk.

The tens of thousands of Lucanians fell silent, and then the interim Lucanian supreme commander gave his answer.

Hawke had given this interim supreme commander a code name, Lucan One.

"Given the situation we are in, we know that it would be a very foolish move to lie or hide anything from you. So, I will tell you everything truthfully. But you should also be clear that our answer to the question of how the mother civilisation will respond is only our speculation, and we are not sure that it will be correct."

Luca One replied.

Hawk replied, "As a mechanical civilisation that has evolved its own intelligence, I have vast modelling capabilities, and every word you say will be reflected in the model, and any slight slip or contradiction will be detected by me, so I am not afraid of you lying. Likewise, after you have given your answer, I will ask you to provide every detail of the social form of the Lucan mother civilisation, and I will use this to make my own judgement; your answer to me will simply provide me with a reference. All right, please answer me on this one."

Hawk saw that Lucca One had convened a teleconference through the communication system and deliberated intensely for several minutes before giving an answer. Of course, the entire process of their deliberations was monitored by Hawke.

"After discussion, we believe that the mother civilization will respond as follows. First, because the mother civilization still has the confidence to capture you, the information about your location will not be revealed, but will remain circulated only within the mother civilization and will not be known to the rest of the civilization. You should know that these 7,000 ships, together with the sneak attack plan, have a 99% chance of capturing you in our model projections, which is why more ships were not sent. Those seven thousand ships account for less than one percent of our military strength."

"So, after learning the news of the fleet's annihilation, the mother civilization will reorganize its fleet, and it will be at least 50,000 ships in size, and the fleet will most likely include a Dacca-class, or provincial ship as you call it. Then redeem the FTL transport opportunity and continue to come here to capture you."

Hawke was silent for a moment and replied, "I need you to give me a plan to deal with this."

Luca One replied, "Knowing what we know about the military people, there will be many willing to fight this sure-fire war, so there will be a serious dispute over the appointment of the Supreme Commander, which, as you know, will mean a delay in time. But it will only be delayed by a year at the most. With the five years needed for the voyage, you will have only six years in total to escape. Within those six years you would have to run a distance of at least half a light year before you could escape the tracking of the mother civilisation's fleet."

Hawk calculated sharply.

Six years to run a distance of half a light-year meant that Hawk would have to fly at a speed of one-twelfth of the speed of light, or twenty-five thousand kilometres per second.

This speed, Hawke could reach, but after continuously accelerating to this speed, Hawke would have used up all the fuel he could carry, which meant that for the rest of the voyage, Hawke would not be able to make orbital corrections, and would not be able to slow down after reaching a suitable planet, which would basically mean Hawke's death.

"So, what do you suggest?" Hawke asked.

"Our suggestion, it's simple. Use the tens of thousands of our people you have at your disposal to negotiate with the mother civilization, or become our vassal race; in short, with your intelligence, it should not be a difficult task to find life in the midst of such negotiations." Lucca One replied.

Hawk grunted coldly and commanded a prefect ship, aiming its energy cannons at a Luca Country-class ship.

"There are at least a hundred of your people on this ship, and they will die because of your cunning. I hope you don't feel too guilty about it." Hawke said, giving the decisive order to fire before Luca One could reply.

The Luca Country-class ship, which had lost its energy shields, was easily destroyed by this county-class ship of Hawke's. Through the surveillance system, Hawke saw tens of thousands of Lucasians open their mouths wide at the same time, showing a very incredulous, shocked and sad look.

"This is the first warning, the second warning will be the destruction of two Lucan country-class ships." Hawk said coldly.

"You ... you are truly a demon!" Lucca One shuddered, "You have no chance of escape in the face of 20,000 Lucca ships! Surrendering, or becoming a vassal, is your only chance of survival!"

Hawk grunted coldly, not answering its remark, but posing a separate question.

"I need to know, how many Alliance contribution points are required to redeem a FTL teleportation opportunity?"

Luca One was silent for a moment and replied, "Fifty points."

Hawk could be sure it wasn't lying. Because Hawke had already found the answer in the Lucca ship database, making the enquiry was just a psychological tactic.

"Then ... how much are these seven thousand airships of yours worth?"

"Four hundred and twenty contribution points."

Hawke's heart jumped, and his head began to think rapidly.

"Initial estimation was wrong, originally I thought that the value of these seven thousand ships, plus a FTL teleportation opportunity, would be at least not much different from my bounty, so that after I wipe out this fleet of theirs, they might give up on my capture because the risk is not proportional to the reward. But it didn't occur to me that they were only worth four hundred and seventy contribution points combined, a far cry from my bounty, two thousand five hundred contribution points."

"This means that they will continue to send airships to capture me, and my situation, remains dangerous."

"I have six years. Within six years, I can build 120,000 airships and repair all the fortifications, and with the 35,000 airships I have now, my total power is ... around 150,000 airships, and I have no chance of winning against their fleet of 50,000 airships that contains at least one provincial airship."

"But ... reaching one-twelfth the speed of light is also unattainable for me."

"I can't fight and I can't run away, what should I do?"

Hawke was lost in thought.

"No, no, if within these six years, I get the shield technology as well as the technology to create the force field generator, I may not have no chance to win against the Luca fleet."

Thinking of this, Hawke sneered.

"You guys are saying that I don't have a chance of winning? As long as I get the shield technology and the force field generator technology, and I have ships that far surpass your fleet, why don't I have a chance to win? Answer me that question, and if the answer doesn't satisfy me, I don't mind destroying a few more Luca ships."

Lucca One froze for a moment and smiled bitterly.

"Shield technology, we have. In fact, shield technology is the most important marker that distinguishes a Tier 2 from a Tier 3 civilization. The presence of shields represents something extremely significant, it basically announces the exit of kinetic weapons in interstellar warfare. But I'm sorry, but the Force Field Generator was redeemed from the Alliance at a cost of sixty contribution points to prepare for your use. It is a level four civilizational creation and we have no technology regarding its manufacture."

"You should know the importance of contribution points to a civilisation within the Alliance. The Force Field Generator is the most cost-effective weapon after our detailed calculations, which is why we redeemed it. Also, there is bad news for you, when the next batch of fifty thousand ships arrive, there will be a ninety percent chance that they will redeem another high kill weapon, so you don't stand a chance."

On this subject, Hawke asked over a thousand Lucanians at the same time, after confirming that they could not communicate with each other. The answers from these thousand Lucarians were very consistent, allowing Hawke to basically confirm the truth of this information.

In Hawke's heart, bitterness rose.

"I will never be willing to be kept in captivity and spend my life in blandness and tedium. I have six years to prepare, then, within those six years, I must find a way to do so."