The drone swarm had gathered at the usual time to regroup and resettle their priorities. Of course, those priorities had shifted. Yes, the Ship had warned them not to underestimate any alien world. Yes, there were always dire commandments on how "Arrogance was a slow and insidious destroyer". Yes, they had taken some damage with the initial bioweb creature attack. Bit they had assumed that that was the worst the world had to offer. What could an area with no industry or even population centers do to them after all?
Looking at the drone still attempting to optimize his saws against errors or sticking, the answer was apparently "Rip their limbs off and pin them to a tree faster than their cameras could record".
A vote was taken, and immediately ratified; they would stay for one more day, then head back. Then they began divvying up tasks and things went a little oddly. Most of the Cutters decided that perhaps rocks were a better choice for harvest than plants, while only a couple volunteered to go back and try again. On the other hand, a few Battery drones volunteered for the task.
Query, why volunteer for this specific task? One of the Cutters pinged.
Response, for the challenge. One of the Battery group replied.
Query?
Response, the gregarious Battery replied,
are instruments accurate enough to garden with Plasma? Secondary, are quadrupeds faster than plasma?
The meeting broke up soon after, with each group of drones doing their own thing, though all were keeping a wary eye on the group of Battery drones. Rampant drones happened, even with all of the safeguards their creators had put in place after all. Who knew if it was merely a quirk of programming or not?
One group of Battery drones split off to try to scout for new sources of energy. Unfortunately, only rushing streams were found, necessitating a very similar harvest to the previous period. Water kinetic energy worked, but true density seemed scarce in this cave of wood and dirt. Had there even been a storm, they could have perhaps collected the lightning, but instead all that came was a persistent drizzle. Some energy was stored, enough to keep the ship running for the moment.
The Scout drones split into two groups, one for gathering general information on the surroundings, while the other focused on the creatures. The first group managed to find the paths of the local creatures through the forest, noting significant damage in certain areas. It seemed that the local wildlife was more energetic all around than might be considered natural. Frankly, with seemingly hardwood trees being shredded by what looked like a set of claws, it seemed less like nature and more like some sort of bioweapons project gone bad. The drones quickly decided that leaving the forest was a wise decision all told. Fortunately, there were no encounters with wildlife on their end.
For the other group of Scouts, the one studying the creatures, there was some success as well. In their continued dissection of the creatures, it was discovered that their nerves were significantly more responsive than might be considered normal for biological creatures. While this sensitivity did make them significantly swifter than otherwise, it also introduced a weakness: if shocked with even low power electricity, the creatures would become paralyzed.
The Battery drone bodyguards were pleased to realize that there may be a more power efficient way of dealing with the creatures. Very pleased.
For the Cutters, the quarry spot they had found in their last expedition was deemed sufficient to needs.
CUT! CUT! CUT! pinged through the network, and work was efficient. It was also very, very safe as the Cutters had moved into a "hostile territory" program and were keeping a sharp eye on the forest around them. Still, their efficiency was nothing to scoff at, and they got much Material harvested.
On the other side of the coin, there was the party that went to harvest plants. To its credit, the aggressive drone did decide to go back, even after being so thoroughly dismantled by the quadruped on the last expedition. It even managed to get a fellow Cutter to come along with it. Without the support of all of the Cutters at the other worksite though, the task was less efficient.
"BEEEP!" CHALLENGE! FIGHT ME!
Calmly: That was a leaf.
"BEEEP!" MY SAWS ARE READY!
Observation: This quadruped is not white, much smaller than the previous one, and climbing a tree instead of pinning you to it. Unlikely to be threat.
With one Cutter drone seemingly focused on finding a fight, and the other attempting to keep him calm and on task, their production was lacking. Fortunately, the Battery drones that came with them made up the difference, enthusiastically gardening with their plasma burst guns, even managing to carefully bake the clay in the dirt into tiny planters for easy deposit into the Battery drones. By the end of the period, the Cutters were shocked to find that the Batteries had managed to collect two plants and put them in their storage while they hadn't actually harvested even one.
It was all terribly embarrassing as they met up with the rest of the swarm and flew home. None noticed the dark eyes watching from the forest, tracking them until they disappeared in the distance.
XXX
"Strong Hunter," the tribe shaman groaned, "What have you learned on your hunt?" Both the shaman and the Chief were sitting at the edge of the burn-moss pit, enjoying the comfort given by the embers and smoke. One being present would be normal, both meant that the situation was considered urgent.
And it should be in Loved-by-Harpies' opinion. "I have seen the new-things my chief, and they are dangerous," Loved paused to gather his thoughts, "And strange. At times, they seem as lifelike as any other, talking and thinking and feeling. At others, they seem to be undead responding to little except work. Strange things. They are made not of flesh or wood, but of cold metal."
The shaman nodded calmly, apparently considering something. The chief leaned forward though, "And their encounter with the
Pookah?"
"It was not a happy meeting," Loved leaned forward himself, "but not entirely hostile either. The skinwalker"
"DO NOT! You will not call him by that name!" The shaman's aged voice gained a whipcrack energy as he seemed to loom over the fire, "Our tribe needs no attention from him."
"The Pookah then," Loved conceded, "He broke one, yes, but not so badly that it could not recover. For now, the Great Spirit of the Forest seems to want to wait and see regarding these things."
"Mmm," the shaman said in his more customary tone, "Perhaps. It does bring the question of where these things came from. Clearly a labor force..."
Knowing that the chief and shaman were going to be discussing things for a couple hours and wouldn't really need him, Loved-by-Harpies got up and left. Honestly, who cared where the metal stick bug things came from? There was always some new crazy magic thing in the Forest. It was best just to ignore the whole thing and avoid them if possible in Loved's opinion. And if they became a danger, well, the Great Spirit was already watching them. The problem would solve itself.
A problem that wouldn't solve itself though was his hunger. It was time to go home after nearly a week of doing nothing but watching metal insects chew on the landscape. He hoped his roof-mate had a good stew going. Too much smoked meat and not enough bark made for a very uncomfortable goblin.
XXX
The drone swarm arrived back at the Ship late the next Period. There had been nothing in between them and their destination, fortunately, and everyone was eager to report in and get the dings buffed out.
QUERY: MISSION REPORT? While the Ship could access their network memory just fine, it was always advisable to get point of view reports from the ones actually out there doing things.
Answer: We gathered many materials...
Answer: Fascinating natives discovered...
Answer: New task discovered. Plasmatic gardening!
Query: Are quadrupeds faster than...
Exclamation: I WILL CUT! CUT IT INTO COMPONENTS!
Answer: Carbon based lifeforms theorized to be utilizing...
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!" The horn echoed off the ground, silencing the babble that had infested the network. ...DRONES. RIGHT. GIVE REPORTS ONE AT A TIME.
DECLARATION: FIRST!
DECLARATION: FIRST!
DECLARATION: FIRST!
DECLARATION: FIRST!
DECLARATION: FIRST!
DECLARATION: FIRST!
The Ship shut off its communication network with a sigh, disconnecting from the hubbub. Drones were designed to be eager workers, but there were times that it seemed like a flaw more than a feature. How long was it going to take until they were actually ready? With a flick of the mind, she reconnected to the network.
CUT YOU ALL!
CHALLENGE: TRY IT HEAVY!
Probably a while then.
Gains for trip: (Ship totals on front page)
10 Information (Creature Dissection)
9 Materials
4 Energy
4 Strange Plants (Takes Material Slots)
7 Information (Random Search)
1 Information (Quadruped Image Hack)
All: Undamaged
@Plausitivity Marked
The Ship decides that the drones should have final say over where the Strange plants get planted, as it is uncertain of the best result. Grown in the Hydroponics department, the ship could keep them secure and control their environment. Given their odd energy field though, it is unknown what effects they may have or even if they can be grown in the inhibiting walls of the Ship. On the other hand, a small garden could be set up outside the ship to keep it in native conditions, with the housing imitating the dark and damp of the Forest. It is unknown what effects that may have as well as being slightly less secure, but with the benefit of not having unknown energetic materials aboard the Ship. One drone promptly suggests splitting the difference and planting half indoors and half outdoors to see what the difference might be. The Ship agrees that it would be possible, but it would require that certain support equipment be manufactured instead of simply recycled as the original plan was if they had decided to put it outside.
[] {Group} In the Ship
+Security for Plants
+Control of Environment
???
[] {Group} Outside the Ship
+Security of Ship
+Fidelity of Environment
???
[] {Group} Half Inside, Half Outside
+ SCIENCE!!!
+ 1 Material Cost
???
???
Choose which body to redownload your consciousness to: (This will happen after every trip, you will choose which body to use for the next expedition.)
[] {Riot} Scout Drone
[] {Riot} Cutter Drone
[] {Riot} Battery Drone
The ship reports little noticeable change on long range sensors. Mostly because long range sensors are currently damaged and have no baseline for normal. Materials and Information retrieved (No current Major Events happening in any region that you know of.)
Choose where to explore next:
[] {Group} South (Unexplored)
Materials: Potentially High
Energy: Potentially Medium
Information: Potentially Low
[] {Group} West (Unexplored)
Materials: Potentially Low
Energy: Potentially High
Information: Potentially Medium
[] {Group} East
Materials: Medium
Energy: Low
Information: High
Dangers:
Bioweb Creatures
Quadruped
[] {Group} North (Unexplored)
Materials: ???
Energy: ???
Information: ???
AN:// Hey, look, I got the update done on Sunday!
…
*cough*
More seriously, I've been staring at the first sentence for a week. If the update seems a little worse than usual, I'm very sorry. I promise the next update will be faster.
For roleplay purposes,
@Plausitivity what will your drone's response be to finding out that it doesn't matter what body it downloads itself to, the Scar of the Unicorn's Horn remains?