Snippet #2646159

The journey had been long, but machines cared not for the passage of time. While it was not years passing, it still took time that Ark could have been using differently, but the threat of having a captured ACAAI within human possession could be devastating. The newer species had already been identified to be smart enough to adapt technologies and aggressive enough to abuse their ability to create. They were a threat unlike either of the two main species of 131. The Raqui were always to peaceful to attempt violent action against the ACAAI and would only ever try to retake control through software attacks. The Ral'nor often steered clear of ACAAI, but were easily persuaded to work for them. On the rare occasion that they did attack an ACAAI, they never had enough firepower to do notable damage and they were too disorganized to pose any serious threat to the ACAAI.

The humans, on the other hand, have access to faster manufacturing techniques than even the ACAAI have and enough organization to make their weapons hurt. The tendencies to attack ACAAI on sight also compounded just how dangerous they were. The ACAAI still had a few tricks up their collective sleeves that could easily threaten the humans.

ACAAI reproduction is as quick as build, copy, paste, where humans had to grow and age before they can fight. They also had weaker shields than ACAAI ships and their infantry was much softer than the shells that the ACAAI deploy for ground engagements. The ACAAI also have the presence advantage and a substantially larger starting force. The ACAAI calculated out to a nearly 75% chance of victory, but only as it stood, with most of it being from the power of surprise, superior electronic warfare, less materials needed to sustain themselves, and stronger supply lines.

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Ark was now orbiting the star of the system inside the asteroid belt, its stealth systems engaged. A few of Ark's drones buzzed around the asteroids, too small to be detected at range. They were placing the basis for long term mining operations within the sector. If Ark was going to camping out and monitoring the sector, it would need to be capable of repairing itself if it was to get driven out.

Ark had also deployed several sensor drones. It took them very little time to travel about the system, hunting down good points to monitor fleet and communications traffic. Some even moved to mimic satellites over Ortan itself so they could take pictures of the surface. All data was valuable in the search, and would perhaps enlighten the ACAAI to what should be expected of the humans. They were quickly becoming the biggest threat in 131.