I think this means we need to build a drone repair shop or something, also it looks like we'll need to build a new Drone Hub soon.
Yes, I second building the repair shop
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We should also send a developer to the mining site with an armed escort to build another fence and
some turrets.
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Section: Developer Diorama
We have six developer drones. Two should start work on a Droid Refit & Repair Shop, so that we can fix up that Security drone. Hopefully we can also use it to add additional armour plates over those weak points. If we ever get into a real fight, I doubt we'd need actual combat drones, but at the same time I don't want to lose drones to mass volley fire giving a high chance of hitting critical components.
The second pair should build the Colonist Receiver Pad, and then start building comm arrays around the inside edge of the base. This should be modelled after the array in the Receiver Pad and should hopefully give the Bio Module all the triangulation and Positioning data it needs to accurately and safely land.
The final two should build a pair of Drone Hubs.
Section: Security
Once the damaged security drone has been taken to the Repair Shop, two of the security drones should escort the Miner back to the refinery, then one will stay there as a temperament guard and the other will escort the Miner. The two working security drones back at base should patrol the perimeter.
Section: Intelligence
The aerial drone should keep following the natives back south, whilst the other should do a recon mission around the vicinity of that other tribe we gave the bugged jewellery to. If it spots any other groups moving around, it should see if it can tail them home, we might be able to find other tribes that way and start building up a map of native settlements. Worth sticking some more aerial scouts on this once we have them.
Finally, the three ground scouts are tasked with doing sweeping patrols beyond our sensor net, just to increase our awareness of what's going on.
Section: Colonist Prep
All three medical drones are to prepare the required medications for the colonists. Lets bring that week long time-frame down some. This does stop us from cataloguing wildlife, but we've probably got as many as we can with our current drones. Modifying an Aerial Drone to aid in live capture, be it by dropping nets or shooting tranq rounds at things, should help up catalogue the more skittish/dangerous flora.
Finally, we should prepare a set of briefing packets based on what we know of the natives and the wildlife to issue to the colonists once they arrive.
Speaking of, once the Receiver Pad, the comm arrays and the medications are prepared, we should greenlight the first wave of colonists.
Section: Misc
Once the Comm Arrays are set up, we should see if that helps us land the Bio Module within the fence. We've got a 2km landing zone after all, and most of it should be viable to land on. The homeworld can drop tungsten telephone poles from orbit with meter accuracy, so we should be able to land this thing with kilometer accuracy.
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Foundation Stage; Days 12-14With the southern threat temporarily dealt with, production is shifted to focus on the final preparations for the arrival of the colonists. Firstly the Developer drones having completed the perimeter fence now split up to further expand the colony, two drones get to work on two new Drone Hubs whilst two more drones get to work on a Refit Shop. Standard protocol calls for the refit shop to be built only after the arrival of the colonists but Standard Protocol flew out the window some time ago on this world, the end result looks from the outside like a large garage, but inside is filled with mechanical arms, small 3D printers and a myriad of tools for the maintenance and modification of Drones.
Far-Tread Robotics designed the drones for the Astral Genesis program to be highly modular, and indeed altering the base designs of the drones is not a particularly difficult task, it will however come with a cost in minerals and there are limits to what can be done especially without colonist approval, the most notable limitation being the San Jose Accords on Armed Robots which does limit somewhat the weapon capabilities of your Drones (some nonsense about preventing a machine uprising). With Colonist approval it would be possible to supersede these limitations but whether or not they will agree is another matter entirely, at the moment your Security Drones are about as armed as they can be while following the limitations of SJAAR.
The first task of the Refit shop is to fix the damaged drone, it is dragged to the shop and quickly cycled through, fortunately the damage was fairly minimal and by that night the Security drone is equipped with a new leg joint and at an acceptable level of combat efficiency. Adding more armour to the drones is however a bit tricky, the weak point that was hit was a joint and adding armour to that part isn't possible without severely limiting the mobility of the drone, thicker armour plates everywhere else is possible as well but that doesn't actually protect the weak points. The shot that took down the drone was a
very lucky shot so perhaps it is okay to leave the Drones as they are for now.
Once the repairs are complete two of the Other Security drones are dispatched northwards on the next convoy to the mining site, yet again they are tailed by natives but this time the natives take action. As the convoy continues on its well worn trail the lead Security Drone observes some of the natives coming too close to the convoy and moves to intercept, however as it makes its way towards them it becomes apparent that the native had been busy last night, as the ground beneath it falls away and the drone plummets straight into a pit trap, one which unfortunately much like the last one, is lined with tar, trapping it inside.
However as some of the natives make their way forwards (there appear to be more of them than usual this time as well), they are halted by the others who start making what you by now recognize as somewhat alarmed gestures at the second Security Drone, which strides forwards to assist the first, it would appear that the doubling of the security around the convoy this time threw the natives plans for a loop. At this point the convoy halts as the second Security Drone works to free its trapped comrade, the process is simplified somewhat when the drones simply light the tar on fire, the drones themselves being extremely heat resistant, but escaping the hole still takes the better part of four hours as Security Drones aren't the most dexterous of machines. After this incident the natives mostly disperse and the convoy makers its way to the refinery without further incident, though some natives continue to track the convoy for the rest of its trip.
As a stroke of luck it appears that the Natives from the northern grasslands do not make any moves on the Refinery, and the only watching eyes come from the desert natives who followed the convoy, a single Security drone is left at the Refinery to watch over it while the other continues its work guarding the convoy. There is a slight bump in production for that day due to the delay caused by the trap but after that it appears the natives return to simply watching the convoy for the next two days.
The incident with the convoy also appears to keep the natives away form the colony as the patrolling Scout Drones along with the perimeter sensors detect no breaches and observe no native groups approaching the colony, and those fauna which do approach are seen of by the Perimeter Fence, for now it seems the perimeter is finally secure.
Longer range observations from the Aerial drones meanwhile begin to paint a slightly grander picture of this desert. The Aerial scout tracking the Saakin finds that the group (and your gifts) are now located at an oasis in the desert around which natives appear to have made some kind of Bazaar, this appears to be a trading outpost, with the Saakin bringing mostly hides and meats with them, but they also appear to have come to sell your gifts. Your craftsmanship appears to be impressive to these natives, as does the Far-Tread Robotics logo inscribed onto them, and after about two days where a great many well decorated natives approach them, your Gifts are traded to a group of natives adorned in clothing similar to what you know the city dweller wear. For now these city natives are still at the Bazaar, and it is unknown how long they will stay.
The Southern Aerial Drone meanwhile follows the armed intruders all the way back to the city. Being airborne it is able to continue to observe the natives as they enter the city, and the natives appear to go straight to one of the largest structures in the city, a temple or administrative centre most likely. It loses track of them after this, only occasionally spotting them over the next few days as they walk though the city, for now they are still in the city. However it is during these observations that it makes a very startling discovery, the natives you have been observing for most of your stay here are not the only sapient's on this planet! During its flights it spots several bulky quadrupedal creatures lumbering throughout the city, they are very squat compared to the other natives and have no arms but two long prehensile tails that rise over their backs almost like scorpion tails, except these ones end in three fingered appendages which they use to grab objects.
The other scout had seen these creatures for some time but had assumed they where beasts of burden, however the Aerial Drone observes them interacting in ways that clearly display a level of sapience, they trade, they converse, some of them even seem to order some of the city natives around! These other creatures are very rare in this city and spend most of their time near the water, some of them even entering the river for a swim at some points which the city natives have never been observed doing. They also seem to adron themselves in a different style of decorations, with long flowing robes over their backs that hang down and scrape along the ground and usually having several rings around their tails. For now observations indicate that they are not found in this specific area very much and are quite possibly amphibious, nor do they seem to be a ruling class, but they are Sapient.
Meanwhile the final two Developer Drones get to work on the final and most important step of the Foundation Stage, the Orbital Receiver Pad, this is a fairly large project as it contains not just a simple cleared space for landing. The end result is to be a large crater like space lined with multiple layers of metals and soil to take the impact without damaging the colonist pod and ringed with five specialized antenna to guide the pod in for landing. With two drones on the task it would take about five days to complete but as the other drones arrive to assist the work is completed just before sunrise on the third day. By day 15 the Receiver pad is complete, and the drones start to work on a series of other antennae to guide the Biopod when it arrives.
The Medical Drones are all gathered together to make the medications necessary for the colonists once they arrive, environmental suits will also be recommended for a while but those can be dropped with the colonists. This work is completed quickly with all three Medical Drones working on it, and with the farms now up and running, and a series of videos made by you yourself to inform the colonist of everything you have encountered so far, all the steps required for the colonists are at last complete, all that remains is the finishing of the comm's array, which should be done by tonight, and the colonist can be brought to the planet
The preparations are nearly complete and soon the colonists will be brought down, Foundation Stage is nearly over. It is time to decide priorities for what kind of colonist will be requested form the Mothership. The first wave will have 100 colonists among whom the three colony Directors are included. Director of Development (colony planning and construction, as well as exploration), Director of Population (population management and ensuring the people have what they need) and Director of Security (self explanatory). These three directors and you Augustus, are to jointly command the colony for the upcoming Colony Stage until a civilian government can be created. There are 1000 colonists total on the Mothership of maximum ethnic diversity to ensure a wide genetic sample. The colonists themselves are all fairly independently minded people used to roughing it, but they do have specific skill sets to be requested according to the priorities set by you. These range from researchers to farmers, construction workers, explorers and security personnel.
Command Post (Secure)
Perimeter Sensors (Active)
Basic Habitation Compound (Secure)
-Slightly Furnished
-Attached Auto-Turrets (Active)
Drone Hub (4) (Secure)
Basic Farms (Secure) (Active)
Basic Perimeter Fence (Secure)
Drone Refit Shop (Secure)
Orbital Receiver Pad (Secure)
Communication Array (Incomplete)
Refinery (Active)
Personel;
-2 Mining Drones
-2 Security Drones
Network Usage 21/31
5 Units of Security Drones (Active)
-1 Drone Damaged
3 Units of Scout Drones (Active)
6 Units of Developer Drones (Active)
2 Units of Miner Drones (Active)
2 Units of Aerial Drones (Active)
3 units of Medical Drones (Active)
Oh my god your southern scout kept rolling too low to pick up on the other Sapient species, god that was frustrating, but you know now.
I'll explain more about the Directors and what they do when that update comes up but for now I think I'll just say that there are going to be soem people whose priorities you will have to listen to. I should also point out that from this point on, barring a few exceptions where important events are happening (like the first update with the arrival of the colonists) updates will cover more time during the Colony Stage.
And as a final point if you guys would like to name and describe the Directors you can, if you don't I'll just make something up but if you want a hand in who they are just describe their age, appearance, names and a brief summary of their personalities, these Directors are going to be a bit important from now on.