Fabricated Hazards (factorio fanfic)

[stads]

Do you know where you got that from? Even just the fanfic or post you read it in would be helpful just to see how someone else did it, the wiki had like no info

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neh just something that is stuck in my head not sure witch story it came from
the idea was that with update's the gods get to experience the events that shape there child living through them
some gods as soma have other goals but thats tied to there divinity

 

[Darth Bayes]

Well, some excerpts from the light novel (complete with dubious translations by the publisher)

Spoiler: Light Novel, Volume 1

There is also a thing called "excelia." Simply put, excelia is experience.
Of course, it isn't something that can be seen or used by "children" in any
way. But it tells what path an individual has walked up to that point. Gods can
read a person's history in excelia. They will know if by some miracle you slew a
monster, for example. Excelia also fuels a person's growth through a blessing.
Everything you have accomplished, both the quality and amount, shows up
in excelia.
The gods can see what you have done, your life story. Kind of like a big sign
that says, "Has completed such difficult feats as: slaying a monster, etc." Seems
like something the ancients would do, if you ask me.
Gods update the hieroglyphs on their Familia's members' backs to matchthat person's excelia. To put it another way: level up!
Gods and goddesses use this power to make their "children" stronger.

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t was unnecessary to follow them with her eyes. All she had to do was find
the excelia within him and draw it out to change his status. As long as she could
locate his excelia, one inner shirt wasn't going to get in the way.

Click to shrink...

The excelia system is pretty simple. A person gains experience when they
use a basic skill. For example, to gain Defense, I would have to actually get hit
by a monster in battle. But all I do is run and dodge, so my Defense almost never goes up

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Even the slightest thing could change them and spread quickly.
It wasn't desire or culture that defined the people of Gekai. Change did.
I hate this! He changed because of her, and it isn't fair! I won't accept it!
She held her head between her hands, scratching back and forth.
Damn it!
...
Realis Phrase
Rapid Growth

Continued desire results in continued growth
Stronger desire results in stronger growth

It was she who had found promising excelia and written that skill into him
with her own hands. She regretted it more than anything.

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Bell now had several black markings on his back. Hestia rubbed them with
her hands.
It was like the first page of an ancient classic written in hieroglyphs.
This book was called a "status."
So, let's see what roads you have traveled…
Excelia… It showed everything a person had done and became a status. In
other words, it was the history of a person who'd received a god's blessing. The
god judged everything seen or done by their entire family and wrote that onto
their back.
Hestia was now in charge of continuing to write Bell's story.

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So, "They will know if by some miracle you slew a monster, for example" implies that at least major achievements performed pre-falna are clearly apparent to the god. On the other hand, it seems like a lot of context--such as why or even that Bell was trying extra-hard specifically after meeting Ainz--isn't immediately apparent, and perhaps what skill dredged, clustered excellia will form is not fully predictable.
In addition, it seems like daily pursuits--e.g. taking a lot of blows--are also apparent as general tendencies in the excellia. I think everyone starts at zero stats, so that kind of common experience is probably only usable for making skills? I recall something about "high-quality" excellia probably also being required for levelups (and maybe skills?), but I'm not willing to find and search through all the volumes to tell whether it was fanon. I suspect not?

 

[snow eternal]

Well, some excerpts from the light novel (complete with dubious translations by the publisher)

So, "They will know if by some miracle you slew a monster, for example" implies that at least major achievements performed pre-falna are clearly apparent to the god. On the other hand, it seems like a lot of context--such as why or even that Bell was trying extra-hard specifically after meeting Ainz--isn't immediately apparent, and perhaps what skill dredged, clustered excellia will form is not fully predictable.
In addition, it seems like daily pursuits--e.g. taking a lot of blows--are also apparent as general tendencies in the excellia. I think everyone starts at zero stats, so that kind of common experience is probably only usable for making skills? I recall something about "high-quality" excellia probably also being required for levelups (and maybe skills?), but I'm not willing to find and search through all the volumes to tell whether it was fanon. I suspect not?

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That's wonderful, thanks. Probably going to have hestia suffer a faint impression of what the engineer went through, this also implies it includes his family's history which might even give her faint impressions of the minds even of that wouldn't give him skills.

 

[Orion Scimatarii]

...He's going to start at Level 2 isn't he?

 

[ScarletFlames]

...He's going to start at Level 2 isn't he?

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Funny thought, but no. Falna starts at level 0 across the board, it's just that his base is so freaking high that if he levels up he'll be able to challange people 1 level above him as an equal if they're well matched..

But how can someone be well matched against lasers, turrets and innumerable drones with elexplosives, guns and even more lasers? Yeah, he's probably able to chip damage enemies 2 levels above him. A maxed level 1 giving a good fight to a level 3, now THAT'S a sight!


Remember that the falna is multiplicative force enhancer, not additive.

 

[snow eternal]

it's just that his base is so freaking high that if he levels up he'll be able to challange people 1 level above him as an equal if they're well matched..

A maxed level 1 giving a good fight to a level 3, now THAT'S a sight!

Click to shrink...

He could do that once maybe a few more times if the next level 3 is stupid, but the amount of ammunition and drones a level 3 would take or destroy would severely deplete his stock, especially once people are expecting it.

He'd be better of throwing a few dozen cheap drones as a distraction before running unless he needed them dead.

And if anyone says "just nuke them" he's either underground or in a city, and unless it's one of those bigger caverns? That'll either focus the blast enough to be deadly or damaging to him, or it'd level a medium portion of the city.

I'm just gonna head cannon and say that level 5s can survive a nuke if they are dedicated fighters and level fours with defense skills can do the same

 

[ScarletFlames]

He could do that once maybe a few more times if the next level 3 is stupid, but the amount of ammunition and drones a level 3 would take or destroy would severely deplete his stock, especially once people are expecting it.

He'd be better of throwing a few dozen cheap drones as a distraction before running unless he needed them dead.

And if anyone says "just nuke them" he's either underground or in a city, and unless it's one of those bigger caverns? That'll either focus the blast enough to be deadly or damaging to him, or it'd level a medium portion of the city.

I'm just gonna head cannon and say that level 5s can survive a nuke if they are dedicated fighters and level fours with defense skills can do the same

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I thought it was obvious the drones are for distractions and breaking enemy charge/stance/poise. Level 2's can probably survive a grenade point blank, but they'll still be flung around because their weight is the same.

His physical body and integrated enhancements on the other hand.. those will probably benefit from the falna and grow with him in power. If you don't want him to get overpowered too quickly, have his suit enhancements be a developmental ability, that way he could also swap the loadout for different situations and still benefit from the upgraded performance.

Innate skill: Child of Nauvis
Increases rate of excellia collection the more attention received from gods.

Developmental Ability: Transhuman
Built in upgrades benefit from Falna stat growth

Developmental Ability: Self Enhancement
Equipment built and used by #@$!% benefit from Falna stat growth

Can be either or, I just wrote as an example, or at least as inspiration.

 

[snow eternal]

While drones make up the bulk of the factories military forces they are not the nearly the most dangerous forces its armies can field, that honor lies with the larger units the factory produces, the vehicles.

Used in nearly every aspect of the factory the various vehicles fulfill numerous roles, from eliminating hostiles to establishing new factories in hostile environments.

each and every vehicle is a threat that should not be taken lightly.

Car - the car is a fairly basic unit that is rarely fielded, possessing only light weaponry and armor with no shielding, often used when a large amount of personal transportation needs to be built rapidly and cheaply. Not in constant production.

Armor - light

Shielding - N/A

Weaponry - 2 vehicle mounted heavy machine guns

Threat level - low

Modified car - this is less a specific class and more an exception to the above threat level, some cars fielded by the factory have been modified to feature enhanced weaponry, armor, and speed. They are often used when rapid transportation is needed and air travel is infeasible.

Armor - moderate

Shielding - varies average mark 2

Weaponry - varies average addition of drone support and discharge defense

Threat level - moderate, the difficulty is not destroying the car, it is catching the car as it runs away.

Tank - the baseline tank much like the car is not fielded in the average deployment, while the standard tank is still produced they are often not fielded without extensive modifications. An unmodified tank while a lesser threat than a variant is still a potent force multiplier for any engagement they partake in. elimination should be a priority for the relative ease to destroy it.

Armor - moderate
Shielding - N/A

Weaponry - flamethrower, machine guns, 70 mm cannon

Threat level - moderate, priority elimination

Shield tank - this tank model is the single most prevalent tank fielded by the factory, you will rarely see a battle without one of these tanks on the field. Possessing sturdy shielding, potent weaponry, and durable armor these tanks are capable of both holding a line and breaching an enemies line. Capable of dealing with both swarms of weaker enemies and strong individuals there is no battle where this tank is helpless.

These tanks often serve the role as guards of more delicate tank variants as well as serving as front liners for any combat mission, this 10 meter beast of armor and weaponry is more than capable of fulfilling its role.

Armor - heavy

Shielding - mark 2

Weaponry (standard) - laser casters, discharge defense, missile pods, dual flamethrowers, 4 heavy machine guns, 2 100mm cannons

Weaponry (non standard) - rail gun, radiation beam, acid throwers, 1 200mm canon

Threat level - high, concentrate fire until shields drop then destroy before it can retreat and recover

Scout tank - lighter armed and armored tank variant possessing an equally powerful engine, with its drastically reduced weight this vehicle is capable of performing rapid maneuvering to reach advantageous positions, this model of tank is also often sent to perform recon and long distance patrols.

If you spot one of these alone there are almost certainly more nearby, and a factory force is likely inbound. While this tank does not possess the fire power or durability of its shield tank brother it possesses a shocking speed, attacking forces will often find their flanks or rears assaulted by a detachment of scout tanks, these tanks also prefer high speed hit and run tactics.


Armor - medium/heavy

Shielding - mark 2

Weaponry - 1 flamethrower, laser casters, 1 50mm cannon, 2 heavy machine guns, discharge defense.

Threat level - high, use fortifications and traps to corner or trap these tanks before destruction

Drone tank - this tank model carries the bulk of any factory forces drones, along with the equipment and tools to maintain, supply and repair them, possible containing hundreds of drones this tank is a priority elimination, it is capable of powering and repairing a force of 100 drones for over 24 hours of constant and intense combat, they also often field repair drones to maintain other tanks.

They are the largest and most heavily shielded and armored of the standard factory tank designs. Their heavy weight makes them slow and cumbersome.


Armor - heavy

Shield - mark 2

Weaponry - 2 light machine guns

Threat level - high, priority elimination, heavy and long range ordnance should target these wherever applicable.

Command tank - chances are if you have fought in a battle against the factory you have at least heard a command tank, they are by far the largest and most heavily armed of the factory's forces, serving as both mobile bunkers and bunker busters. Nothing short of super heavy ordiancy and weaponry is a threat to these behemoths.

These tanks serve virtually every role within the army, save advanced scouting, they possess artillery, anti air, drone support, repair facilities, manufacturing capability, anti personnel, anti armored, missile bays, and anti bunker ordnance.

If one of these vehicles takes to the field the factory is either confident you cannot kill it or they have another, neither option is a good one for you.

That said these command tanks are the single most important vehicles the factory fields, and while that means that they are heavily defending by both other forces and their own shields and weaponry if you actually manage to destroy the command tanks controlling a force the rest of the army will severely drop in coordination, if not individual deadliness.

Armor - super heavy

Shields - mark 3

Weaponry - there is no constant loadout for a command tank, but you can expect them to have at least one of every known weapon variant and several unknown. It should be noted that they possess numerous tactical nuclear missiles and that they are powered by a reactor that they will not hesitate to detonate.

Threat level - deadly, engage at distance with artillery and long range bombardment, expect counter fire.

Train - trains while not in an active combat role are still a key part of the factories operations, because for all its weapons and armies the factory remains at its core a factory. Every single factory in factory controlled territory is linked up to a massive interconnected web of trail lines, through which the resources of the factory are spread.

Sabotage of both trains and train lines is a task that should be taken with great care as forces of drones constantly patrol the tracks and through unknown means any damaged rails are immediately detected. Expect rapid retaliation.

Armor - moderate/heavy

Weaponry - often N/A but they have been seen pulling artillery

Shields - N/A

Threat level - low

Assault planes - not often seen unless the enemy forces are using air forces of their own these aircraft specialize in hunting down flying foes, possessing high speeds and impressive maneuverability and often supported by flocks of interceptor drones.

Armor - medium

Shields - mark 1

Weaponry - laser casters, heavy machine guns, missile pods, drone bays

Threat level - high, use anti air or enough missile to overwhelm point defense

Cargo helicopter - used to supply distant or unconnected outposts this vehicle is heavily armored and has a large cargo capacity, they have been seen to fly extreme distances without refueling.

Armor - heavy

Shields - N/A

Weaponry - N/A

Threat - minimal

Bomber - a heavily armored bomber, often fielded to soften targets before a ground force assault. They can carry a wide range of payloads ranging from napalm to nuclear bombs. With moderate weaponry and heavy shields they are difficult to knock from the sky and with their repair drones any hit that does not ground or destroy them will not stop them.

If engaging with aircraft watch out for the swarms of interceptor drones bomber wings field.

Armor - heavy

Shields - mark 2

Weaponry - 4 heavy machine guns, missile pods, laser casters, drone bays

Threat level - high, heavy anti air fire or fighter wings should be deployed to down them before they drop their payload.

Spidertron - highly advanced and rare units, these nimble machines are often seen performing solo missions far from factory lines, capable of scaling nearly any terrain and possessing extensive and advanced weaponry these units are not a force to be reckoned with.

Heavily shielded and armored these units use their potent weaponry to decimate any force they encounter before they can be destroyed and with the swarms of drones they can deploy they never fight alone.

They are capable of both building and maintaining an outpost single handedly and if left alone for any significant length of time they will begin producing more drones, tanks and spidertrons, if a lone spidertron is spotted elimination is a high priority.

While one may thing to target a spidertrons legs they are significantly less important than the main chassis, even with half of its legs removed or restrained a spidertron will still be capable of locomotion, and any of a spidertrons legs can pierce tank armor, making them a potent close quarters weapon.

Armor - heavy

Shields - mark 2

Weaponry - drone bays, missile pods, laser casters, discharge defense, legs, occasionally armed with nuclear ordnance.

Threat level - high, target the main body with coordinated fire

AN -

no you are not allowed to ask whos POV this is.

there are probably errors in this, like what weapons are used, if you notice anything like that please do tell me, this will be my quick reference for all my vehicles like the drone page is.

let me know if you guys actually like things like this, and leave reviews.

 

[Vista]

I really enjoyed this Apocrypha

 

[MaddestBob]

Wait, command tanks have mk 3 shields but spidertrons don't?

 

[stads]

nice little bit of lore of the units used by the factory

 

[Just Some Guy]

Just asking how long would it take to research and build a self-sustaining space station with food, water, oxygen, etc...

Cause if the MC manages to do that he can leave the planet and just build up infrastructure in space or something and the bugs can't get to space.

edit: now that I think about it how Effective will it be if the MC makes Kinetic Kill Vehicles and wipe out entire nests cause I'm pretty sure they can't defend against something that moves that fast?

 

[snow eternal]

Wait, command tanks have mk 3 shields but spidertrons don't?

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yep, mainly due to the cost and power requirements, though mainly the latter, a spidertron only has one reactor while a command tank has multiple large ones.

Just asking how long would it take to research and build a self-sustaining space station with food, water, oxygen, etc...

Cause if the MC manages to do that he can leave the planet and just build up infrastructure in space or something and the bugs can't get to space.

edit: now that I think about it how Effective will it be if the MC makes Kinetic Kill Vehicles and wipe out entire nests cause I'm pretty sure they can't defend against something that moves that fast?

Click to shrink...

he already has the tech, he just doesn't have the designs or resources (without taking resources from other projects), I have also answered why the engineer doesn't just run to space in the BRAND NEW SIDESTORY TAB (not available in stores near you( also not actually side stories))

bugs can't get to space? who told you that? have you ever seen a bug try to get to space? I think not!

what the bugs can and cannot adapt to can also be found in the side story tab but basically they can and will adapt to anything that does not wipe them out in a few days.

 

[morkail]

Huh who is he fighting that writes intelligence reports on his forces, they sound human at least. Did he get in to a war with a nation on remnant?

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[snow eternal]

Log #56

My research into my own nature and the factories components in general has been forced to the back burner, so less has come of that since my last log than I'd like. But I did still learn a bit, different materials take different energy amounts to soften, and a little more research proved the same was true with shield generators if inverted, a gel like substance is extraordinarily easy to soften while taking a prohibitive energy cost to harden, or at least prohibitive to compared to any solid material.

This led me to discovering something else, mark 1 shield generators can't harden a liquid, but mark 2 can, much like assemblers. If the trend continues a mark 3 shield generator could theoretically harden the air around it, at a prohibitive cost, but the ability to turn air into a solid wall whenever you need to? That could change the course of a battle… I think I'm not actually a tactician, that's what the minds are for.

So if what I'm seeing isn't just a coincidence the shield gens and projectors are both doing similar if opposite things, what this exactly means for my project of making a mark 4 assembler is to be determined but maybe finding a way to combine the things will be my next step, harden part of something while softening the rest will probably have uses.

Now onto the reason I haven't been doing much with my research, Bulwark and Balistraia both sent me a proposal. A broad change in tactics, or at least the tactics for defending the bases. Right now each base is essentially an independent bastion connected via rail or drone, this means that while the routes between the outposts are patrolled they are not actually under our full control. Occasionally a bug attack will cut off a rail line or a large group of bugs will make it so drones can't reliably sneak past.

Right now Balistraria will send her army to rout out the bugs, either destroying the hives attacking the rail lines or driving off the bug hordes, this is apparently not an optimal strategy now that we are getting more production capability.

The second issue with the whole independent bastion thing is that all the bases are independent and surrounded, each outpost needs to have enough turrets, walls, and drones to defend itself. And against larger attacks this is often not enough, the amount of resources sent to defend a small oil well is significantly less than needed to defend it against anything but the lightest of attacks, and while I don't consider those to be true "outposts" considering their small size and the easy of replacement the burden of actually defending all of it is taxing both in a logistic and processing way.

We have 56 "true outposts" now, things that both gather and process resources with more than one layer of walls, a few dozen "gathering posts" smaller resource patches not really worth heavy investment, and around a or so hundred kilometers of rails, though that's counting multilane rails as more than one rail.

I don't actually have the drone forces to successfully patrol all the territory around them, never mind the fact that tanks or at least higher tier drones are actually needed if the patrols are to serve as anything but an early warning system. The combat minds have decided that the task of managing defending a few hundred square kilometers from bug attacks in the most efficient way possible while also stuck with insufficient forces to actually patrol or hold the territory was un ideal, so the proposal they have me looking over.

It essential a great wall, or more great heavily patrolled border lined with defensive outposts every kilometer or so, there's more to it than that, like how they want to have their own tunnel systems to attack and retreat from along the border, or the massive operation we will need to actually clear out the inside of our border once its finished, but in simple terms defending one great section of land from one direction is easier than defending a bunch of smaller areas from all sides. Or so I have been told.

Log #57

I gave my approval for the plan, sure such a large assault risks aggravating more of the bug hives but as more time passes more hives seem to attack anyway so this is just speeding it up on our terms. The first phase of the plan is to scout out the ideal spots for our defensive outposts, rather than putting outposts in spots with higher resources than average. We are instead going to put these ones in defensive positions, so they won't be producing much surplus.

Honestly it's a toss up if I'll be gaining more resources than I'm putting into these outposts, but that's not the goal of these anyway so the minds and I agree it's worth the cost. But make no mistake, this is going to be the single largest thing we have built yet. At least if you consider hundreds of separate outposts in a rough formation a single structure, which I do.

Balistraria is the mind nominally in charge of scouting and forward operations, so she has been the one sending out flights of planes and small groups of spidertrons to find where the ideal spots for each outpost are, and we won't begin actual construction till the whole place is surveyed.

I have begun work on a new tank variant, one specialized in underground warfare. It's only in the theoretical stage but if it works as planned it should use the assemblers projectors to soften the ground in front of it while also using its shield generators to keep the soil around it hard, though I don't think the hardened dirt thing will be viable, actually getting a shield generator to harden material it isn't inside or connected to is both inefficient and unreliable.

Also beginning construction on a second command tank, along with a second army to go with it. Actually having the forces to clear the border is kinda important for this whole idea.

The second layer has finished all but the detail or more complex bits we had planned, so the airforce actually has some production behind it now and losing a plane isn't nearly as problematic as before, so I have begun designing a command plane, which is basically the flying version of the command tank, though when exactly I'll need that is a decent question having a giant flying fort can't really be a bad idea.

I did manage a little more work on the assemblers, mainly figuring out which materials are easiest or hardest to soften, which will probably be important for actually building the things, if I'm planning on making a higher powered assemblers I need to make sure they don't just melt the whole machine when they use that higher power.

I'm also beginning to wonder if I could get the assemblers to trigger chemical reactions to change an objects material composition rather than moving the atoms themselves, and a higher tier projector can't just be making a material softer, that's not enough to magically make a material better once the fields effect fades, I mean I already knew that they moved the atoms into a more stable position but how are they doing it?

Mystery after mystery here, and if I'm getting into this sort of stuff I should really figure out how the decoders work, and the liquids they seemingly disitigrate.

Log #58

The design for my new tank is finished, honestly it's just a hodge podge of random bits of machinery from the factory, and interesting info, the mining drills use the projectors too! Or at least the electric ones do, that's why they can just be left on their own so much. And how they can dig so much out. Or at least I think that's why.

I know this because I just used a bunch of the mining rigs designs on the tanks drill, which should allow the thing to make tunnels, not very wide mind you as the stone and dirt still has to go somewhere but it will compact the stone enough that smaller drones should be able to use the tunnels, even if larger drones and the digging tanks themselves can't. Maybe future designs will allow for better tunnels but right now I don't really need them, even just the ability to send smaller drones as reinforcements was an unexpected thing.

Balistraias scouting mission hasn't done anything but identify more resource nodes that I could take, which considering how thin I'm already spread, those discoveries are just something ill be able to take advantage of later.

I did decide to see just how much stuff I could fit within myself, but that kinda petered out after the third train load, I was starting to get headaches and chills so while no hard limit was found a soft limit was, which once again brings up the question of why I don't weigh multiple tons I don't actually have the tech or scanners to figure this out.

I managed to get the assembler projectors working at the same efficiency for less power though, it does make the actual assemblers more expensive, so that's more progress on the mark 4. Also did research into what exact chemical reactions I'd need to induce to change the states of metals but that didn't actually lead me anywhere considering I am not a chemist, I just kinda poured the magic liquids on some iron and copper to see what would happen. The result changed based on which liquid though.

Red didn't seem to do anything at all, green just carved random lines into the thing where it flowed, but pouring more didn't add more lines, gray just caused the metals to bubble and hiss, which implies its acidic, the blue didn't seem to do anything just like the red, though closer examination showed a thin film over the metal, finding out if the film does anything is gonna be a later thing, purple carved geometric shapes into the metals, and not just along them like the blue, but through so when hit the brick fell apart into shapes, and yellow didn't do anything, same as red.

What does any of that mean? Great question! Moving on.

Bulwark hasn't been idle while Balistraia was scouting either, not that the mind is ever actually idle, what with the constant attacks, simulated training, and redesigning defenses, but the mind did take an additional task on. Designing the purely defense focused bases, while before the mind has had free range on the walls and a little power inside the walls, mainly to make traps and hazards for intruders, these bases are entirely their purview rather than something they are just advising on, so you know defense in depth.

The mind has also been making stand alone sentry tower designs, things that don't need any connection to the greater factory to run, basically just tall towers with solar power, limited drones for basic repair, and any guns that don't need heavy ammunition, these things are going to be placed along the border to hold territory, or at least stall or shot at bugs as they run past. Without resupply these things could fight for a few years, but that's only without damage, as it is with routine combat I expect these things to last weeks at most, so making them easy to build and cheap is a must.

Honestly they are probably going to serve more as watchtowers than anything else.

Log #59

I think my success with the assemblers gave me too much confidence, also the decoders can detonate if disassembled while they are running, and with all the fluids inside one… well that was the lowest my shield has ever gotten in this new armor, and it took the bots awhile to pry me from the ceiling. I have also been forbidden from trying that again, apparently the detonation messed with a bunch of scanners and more sensitive pieces of equipment, even though I did the experiment in a sealed bunker.

Don't get me wrong here though, I didn't start with disassembling a running decoder, I started with a brand new one, it's just that I have literally no idea of where anything goes, it's just a mess of piping and tubes with a few odd contraptions inside, half the pipes aren't even connected to anything! It's just chaos.
I thought if I could watch what it was doing I would get a better Idea, but none of the sensors could see into the things while they were running so I decided to cut one open, which led to the boom.

I mean that isn't all the decoders have, there are the computer bits, but those just have software that runs basic if realistic simulations, and that I can at least understand being useful for research and tech development, but once again when the things running the simulations are also nonsensical, not as in random chaos though, more tangential related stuff, like if I tell it to make a hotter napalm it'll request the liquids and then start glowing and show images of various fires burning, and at one point a volcano, which isn't actually fire, just really hot rocks.

I would understand if it was just different types of napalm or something but I really dont get how a wood fire equates to napalm, or how it knows what a volcano is for that matter.

So yeah taking a break from that for a bit, Balistraia has made a decent amount of progress scouting though, even if she has been provoking more hives through the mere act of existing near them, I have also built a few new outposts entirely dedicated to building the defensive wall, or at least they will be, right now they are just making more outposts to build the wall.

This kind of exponential expansion is hard on the minds, and me honestly. But besides headaches and horrible sleep, along with increased power consumption by all the minds, there have been very few side effects.

I think rapid expansion is hard on me, or at least unceasing rapid expansion, I'll probably be getting a brain scan to ensure nothing is getting broken though. It seems like the smart thing to do.

The first few prototype tunnel tanks, diggers? A name can be decided on later, anyways I finished the first few of the prototypes and sent them around the main base, the water did pose some problems while the tanks were near the surface but nothing seemed to actually flow through the stone and dirt to get the tanks, which eliminates some of my fear of this worlds ground water, though I do not want to know what lives in this worlds natural cave systems.

The tanks were slow, which was to be expected considering how much material they have to move, along with the fact they have comparatively little power to movement then all the other tanks, what with the assemblers positively devouring it all, honestly the projectors take significantly more power than the shield units, it's almost like they weren't designed for this, who would have thought.

But the things do work, which is all I need from a prototype, I can add weapons later, along with a few better power systems.

Bulwark has built a few of their towers around the main base for stress testing, there are three of them and each is a different variant or design, we are going to see how long they last before either breaking or being destroyed. There is currently a debate going on about whether it'll be the bugs or the fish who do it, considering the towers are on land I'm betting it's gonna be the fish.

Those things are evil, actually that's wrong. Evil implies they care about something, I refuse to believe that.

Log #60

One of the towers got struck by lightning, this didn't break the thing but it did remind me that while the fish and bugs are bad the planet itself is also a contenedor for "most dangerous thing" what with the flooding and storms.

In accordance I have changed my vote to Nauvis itself, as at this point I fully expect an earthquake to hit even though I'm 90 percent sure this planet lacks active plate tectonics, and that if it had them the fact there are no mountains or trenches near me impies I'm not on a fault line, probably I'm not a geologist.

I mucked about with more of the liquid, just pouring it on various metals, the result was largely the same even with noble metals that should have been resistant to it, which raises the question of how the pipes are moving the stuff but it's probably just exposure to air, or factory shenanigans. Actually the liquids themselves are shenanigans so any answer I find qualifies for the latter anyway.

I was thinking about why expanding was just now starting to affect me, considering I have expanded more at once than just building 2 factories. I have 2 separate theories for this, either my mind is getting itself ready for the exponential expansion and is stressing itself to accommodate it, or I hit a total cap rather than a rate of expansion one.

The first one is okay, not really a problem as long as it doesn't kill me, annoying sure but livable, the latter? If that's true I'm probably dead. Maybe I can figure a workaround like just making larger factories rather than more, or offloading some of the strain by finally doing brain augmentations, but neither are certain considering I have no idea how any of this works.

The brain scan is currently being processed, and it'll probably finish in a few hours so for now I can only theorize.

The attacks on Balistraias scouting forces have been necessitating sending her more reinforcements, which along with the new build projects and the increasing bug assaults… I'll probably need to start on the third floor. If that doesn't detonate my brain or something equally stupid.

I further improved power efficiency on the tunnel tanks by reducing the projectors power, they already have the equipment to dig through stone so making it softer just makes them move quicker and quieter, so reducing it means the prototypes can dig longer and move slightly quicker, gonna need to figure out how you arm something to fight underground though.

AN-

next chapter for the mainline is gonna be an interlude from the minds perspective, as once again the engineer will both understand things and focus on relatively irrelevant things. and he hasn't been paying as much attention to the larger factory as he usually does. he's an unreliable narrator

I got the broad strokes of the mainline story sorted till it crosses over, so that's done there.

sorry if I spammed anyone with the sidestory thing, its just I was getting a fair few repeat questions, which I don't really mind, but I figured some people might like the option to read through the previous answers.

reviews are appreciated!

 

[stads]

fun seeing the mc trying to understand the science explosions are a good thing in science you learn what not to do

 

[Vianca]

You know, that turn air hard, can you do that with water as well?
Same with making it soft, will it turn water into a gas or not?

Walling off a piece of land, why am I thinking Game Of Thrones, here?
Suggest looking a bit more into that liquid that breaks down stuff into small triangle or what ever, can you use this with digging?
Might speed up things.
On that, could you use this for resource transport as well?

As for arming your diggers, think torpedo's and if constructed right, you might even use them underwater as well.
Look up a fusiontorch & a fusion reactor, could they be combined?
Because if so, then you have power & propulsion.

Mmm, gaint flying command plane?
Something along these two lines, perhaps?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7KgjObskvM&t=645s


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MBSrqypm2M

 

[Mr. Cloak]

More! This is fascinating, and I want to see how Danmachi fits into this.

 

[snow eternal]

More! This is fascinating, and I want to see how Danmachi fits into this.

Click to shrink...

Did you check the apocrypha tab? All the crossovers should be there

 

[Mr. Cloak]

Did you check the apocrypha tab? All the crossovers should be there

Click to shrink...

Just did, read and liked all of it!
Still hope it continues!

 

[WarGamesHyp]

I wonder how underwhelmed the Engineer would be if he crossed over to canon Factorio. Or at least to a Factorio world without this stories "infinitely escalating bugs" mod, where bug evolution plateaus far below the higher tier weapons tech. Would seem like a walk in the park if the Engineer can modify his tech while the bugs only get bigger and spawn faster.

Also don't know if the op has heard of the game 'Deep Rock Galactic' but one cameo crossover I've seen before is the sub surface of the Factorio world being like Hoxxes IV or the DRG's game world. Just tunnels filled with minerals to mine and infinite swarms of bugs. Though in that Starsector multicross fanfic it was the reverse, he opened a tunnel on Hoxxes and the bugs colonized the surface with Factorio-like Hives as a cameo.

 

[snow eternal]

Labyrinthine was the closest thing to annoyed an intelligence without a hormonal system could get, it was not because of the maker, nor was it the fault of the other minds, even if bulwark thought they deserved some of the blame. No it was because Labyrinthine built things to last.

If labyrinthine had stuck a stick in the ground that same stick would still be there in one hundred years if the mind had anything to say about it, and every building and facility the mind produced, designed and installed has estimated lifetimes in the decades. So when Labyrinthine built an outpost and then watched that same outpost get torn down? Labyrinthine got annoyed.

There wasn't really anything the mind could do about that though. The mind was already building 3 more replacement outposts, each mining more stone to build more walls. The outposts were bare bones and unadorned, Labyrinthine had learned that any artwork not in a central outpost would be destroyed, and most of the new outposts lacked all but the most basic machinery, only producing the bare minimum of what more outposts would need.

Now Labyrinthine knew the other minds were trying their hardest to prevent any outposts from being lost, Bulwark especially. But they had all acknowledged it was a futile effort once the bug threat had first started taking outposts, Balistraria could only have her army in a few locations, and Bulwark couldn't defend against an endless horde without any losses, at least not forever.

So Labyrinthine was forced to make buildings it knew full well would fall within a year, and while it did make each outpost harder to take than the last, harder to take was not impossible to take.

The mind did get some joy from the production lines it was running though, producing a grenade that exploded with 3 percent more force with a new recipe then getting to watch that same grenade detonate a bug trying to climb one of its walls? That was a true joy.

Changing the production methods to implement new chemicals or methodologies was one of Labyrinthines more important tasks. Taking information from the decoders to implement a new explosive mix that allows shells to be propelled with 10 percent more force did more for the overall factory than building a single barebones outpost, At least now it did. Not 2 months ago any outpost they built would add a much needed influx of metals and production capacity, now though they just added another layer of defense for the main base.

Currently the mind was building 5 new outposts from scratch, 2 of which were being assaulted while under construction, while also organizing combat repair on various breached wall or broken defenses for 5 different fronts bulwark was fighting on, and that was active combat, not even mentioning the dozens of various after battle repairs all the machines and defense needed.

Currently there were 348 different instances of "Labyrinthine" and 347 were coordinating the various construction and repair jobs throughout the factory, and each and every one of those instances were working against a clock that steadily counted towards the point of no return, the point when repair costs began to overwhelm production capacity.

The minds were young not stupid, they knew the fight to keep the factory was a tenuous one at best, the maker thought they only had months left at most, and while the minds knew better they still knew their position was far worse than the bugs, Labyrinthine as the construction mind knew this in its own way. While it needed to mine and process metal to make more combat units the bugs just needed space and time, if Balistraria destroyed a bug nest a new one would grow at no noticeable cost to the rest of the hive, but if a bug horde destroyed an outpost building drone, resources that could have been put towards the war effort would be wasted building a new one.

The bugs did not need industry, while the factory was made from industry.

----------------------------​

Labyrinthine #1 or Labyrinthine core is the base all other Labyrinthines are copied from, compiling and growing from the experience copies bring with them when they are reabsorbed into the base. If any instance of Labyrinthine could be defined as the true labyrinthine then Labyrinthine #1 would be the only possible candidate. With the total sum of all of Labyrinthine thoughts, experience, and processes this mind was a pinnacle of everything it stood for.

And this mind was currently watching the maker detonate another testing chamber with his experiment.

All the minds had decided that their core minds would spend their time both monitoring and growing from all their interactions while also watching the maker, so that any new iteration of the minds, which all iterations of the minds only had a day before they were added back to the main mind, would have up to date knowledge of the maker and his condition, as well as all the knowledge they would need to carry out their tasks.

Labyrinthine #1 had enough processing power to focus on more than just watching the maker though, in fact the first iteration has more processing power than any 10 of the other iterations, and so it was saddled with numerous tasks its centralized knowledge and ability were essential for, like discussion with the other minds and reporting it's various projects and responsibilities. The mind was constant in a debate with all the other minds over the best course of action on anything that could fall under all their banners, which was most everything given the interconnected structure of the factory, and while individual iterations did work with other minds iterations, like Bailistraias repair drones being managed by an iteration of Labyrinthine the broader strategy was decided by the #1 minds.

--------------------------​

One of the current debates, there were many concurrent debates but this was the central one, was over the maker's worsening health. He was seemingly experiencing blackouts and night terrors for no reason his suits sensors could determine. Honestly it was less a debate and more a fact compiling session. Determining what the causes were before trying to find a solution.

The minds knew fairly little about the maker, even if they probably knew more about him than he knew about himself, so whether the problems were caused VIA an inbuilt limit with expansion or a feature installed to discourage the maker from tampering with the machinery he builds. As a sort of inbuilt feature to prevent them from innovating. The true cause couldn't be narrowed down without further information

Considering that the majority of the information the minds had on the maker came from the slagged remains of a ship that was less a functional machine than a hunk of metal… the information they had to go on was fairly limited.

So far the minds had noted that the blackouts occurred more frequently when the maker was using his powers to see throughout the factory, specifically during larger scale attacks. The maker wouldn't fall unconscious, he would just enter a trance while continuing his work, ignoring all outside stimulus that didn't immediately prevent him from continuing. If an attack occurred while he was awake he would begin experiencing night terrors while trying to sleep walk towards the attacked area, necessitating locking the doors to prevent escape.

This is not to say all of the maker's problems occurred while during an attack, anytime construction on a new outpost begins the maker would begin complaining of headaches and a painful pressure. And considering new outposts were constructed every day the pain was nearly everpresent.

None of this was actually stopping the maker from his work though, which meant that while it concerned the minds the maker was seemingly considering it a secondary problem to be dealt with later, not exactly an attitude the minds could agree with, so they had unanimously decided to have the maker either willingly get a brain scan, or to take him to the medbay while he slept.

Thankfully it did not come to any blatant insubordination, with the maker agreeing to get a medical scan in a few days, which would hopefully clear up some of the confusion about the issues.

In the meantime the minds just had to grow the factory and hold the line.

AN -

this is honestly more of a introduction for the next few chapters, all of which will be from the minds perspectives, one for each I'm thinking.

what's going on with the engineer? who knows!

engineer in a fantasy setting preparing to fight an army *installs nuclear landmines

engineer - "I am fortifying this position" - builds hundreds of robots to build his defenses

Labyrinthine - "I am fortifying this position" - *builds massive walls that can take nukes without a scratch

Bulwark - "I am fortifying this position" - *covers everything they can see in turrets, and some places they can't

Balistraria - "you don't need to fortify if all your enemies are dead" *standing in a nuked out wasteland

Byzantine - "why fight if you can scheme" if your a tech society they will just conquer you economically, if your not they will do it the old fashioned way.

yeah these next interlude will probably be shorter but that should also mean they come out quicker, though I am going to try and write fight scenes so that'll be fun! you'll finally get to see what the frontline is like now that the bugs have started winning the occasional battle! do write in fun bug evolution types like bugs that combine into mecha bug or something, cause it is getting absurd out there.

 

[Mime]

How about bugs that time travel, like in the game Achron. Have it so the bugs can time travel back to up to the moment that they were spawned. Until eventually a new kind of hive is made that acts as a beacon, or fixed point in time for any of them spawned in the future can go back to.

 

[snow eternal]

How about bugs that time travel, like in the game Achron. Have it so the bugs can time travel back to up to the moment that they were spawned. Until eventually a new kind of hive is made that acts as a beacon, or fixed point in time for any of them spawned in the future can go back to.

Click to shrink...

Probably just precognitive bugs, or bugs that come back to life once or twice rather than getting into time travel and divergent timelines

 

[globalwarmth]

Bugs must have a bottleneck somewhere.
Probably in energy or some essential element.

I doubt the surface vegetation is enough to fuel the kind of stuff they are pulling for a protracted campaign.

Or if they are indeed that bullshit they should look into copying some of that biotech. Start armor plating with recycled chitin and carbon fiber and fueling the reactors with whatever the bug are eating