HOLI to HOLLY[Efficacy: 3]
Working with HOLLY is a very different experience to working with HOLI. On the good side, you actually get the impression that HOLLY is doing real work in the background- whereas HOLI more bumbled about when prodded. Where HOLI was informal and somewhat out of touch, HOLLY is razor focused and requires that all standards be adhered to. This is something of an issue for off-duty Gaian personnel, whose regard for protocol standards is roughly on par with a Gaian engineer's regard for safety standards.
Aside from a few quirks, like refusing to answer to anything other than 'Captain Short', and periodically sending emails to the ship's commander about suspected human infiltrators, HOLLY is a definite step towards an effective VI. She's also a definite buzzkill, and 'effective' is a very relative term. Her abilities to assist the leading of a fleet are nearly as negligible as HOLI's, but she does provide a distinct bonus to drone fighters.
HOLI-COM is now HOLLY-COM. HOLLY-COM provides 5 more command points, and provides a skill bonus to drone fighters within the fleet.
Bumble Drones[Efficacy: 5]
Bumble drones are, in essence, black and yellow combat engineers. Granted, while there are actual engineers assigned to the Bumble drones in order to add a human element and to control their work, testing has shown that all incidents where Bumble drones pick up droids and make them kiss is in fact operator 'error', and not a programming glitch.
Bumble drones are not nearly as flight capable as their space-borne brothers. Despite their wings, their lack of aerodynamic profile forces them to instead make use of quick hops of chemical thrusters in ground effect, buzzing forward by spurts and bounds instead of flying freely. This does not, however, greatly impede their abilities. Enhancement of the legs allows them to stride quickly in their work area, and their internal fuel cell reserves are sufficient for prolonged work before they have to buzz their way back to a cradle to get refueled and recharged. The toolset originally designed to scavenge and repair naval vessels serves well on the ground, allowing them to work easily with bulk material to either break through obstruction or to create simple structures quickly. Like the original, the bumble lacks the precision for detailed (re)construction, but is more than sufficient to create a reinforced bivouac.
While it can be used for scouting and light combat, its highly visible (and audible) profile and engineering toolset work strongly against it. A bumble might be big, and able to dissect a tank given enough time, but she's generally vulnerable to offensive countermeasures. In a dire emergency, a bumble drone can be rigged to detonate as a suicide bomb- but this is a terribly inefficient use of its abilities.
Despite its many capabilities, bovine stress testing has shown that the Bumble Drone is
NOT suitable for veterinary work.
Bumble Drones: 50T 75O 150M 125E 0S | A pod of modified Honey Drones, refitted to act as part of a combat engineering group. Capable of limited burst flight to navigate, Bumbles are noisy, not terribly well equipped to fight, but extremely good at both simple construction and re/disassembly. Capable of limited scouting, but not effective against an enemy force due to being conspicuously large, brightly colored, and loud.
Design Phase of Year 0 |
All contest entries are due, in the core thread, at the end of this year. See the OP of this thread for details."Death Ray" LPBA has auto-completedBore Shield has auto-completedResourcesDice: 10
T: 14340 + 2500
O: 44350 + 7500
M: 44350 + 7500
E: 29800 + 5000
S: 2785 + 500
BOSS-E: 21/22 [3] | 150 Transplutonics + 120 Synthetic | Rushed 0 Times | 150 Transplutonics + 120 Synthetic Invested
Gravity Drive: 17/18 [2] | 155 Transplutonics + 225 Metal + 35 Synthetic | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
"Foray" Class Escort Frigate: 6/9 [2] | 50O + 175M + 175E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Mk Ib Parasite Drone "Hornet": 9/13 [3] | 35O + 150M + 150E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Expedition-Class Battlestar Cuiser: 18/21 [4] | 50T + 100O + 300M + 100E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Bioplastic Armor: 2/8 [1] | 150O + 150E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Honey Drone: 6/8 [3] | 10T + 35O + 120M + 120E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
BoreNav: 2/12 [2] | 100T + 50M + 100E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
HOLI-COM: 2/10 [2] | 50O + 85M + 60E + 5S | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Gaian Technology List