The descent procedure goes like this:
Each module seals itself off from the other. Corridors and power lines cut themselves off. Then, at the Kapitan's order, microexplosives buried in the asteroid-sheath explode. Dandelion Ark 0Z, in fifteen pieces, falls down into the gravity well. The atmosphere burns up around the falling modules, ablating the ice and rock surrounding each descent module. The g-forces are excessive. The Kapitan sees black spots in its vision, and has a vague, terrifying notion that its bones are loose and would shake themselves out of the Kapitan's flesh. A nonaugment would be safely ensconced in a fluid-filled descent pack that would make the process painless. But, the Kapitan remembers from the manual etched in its psyche, bile and foam falling in reverse up its throat, Replicants were built to tolerate higher g-forces. So no heavy descent pods. Just a tooled down flight suit and a restraint seat.
Air friction turned the rock and ice shield into vapour. On the ground looking up there was a cloud in a bright blue sky, visible for miles around.
The dandelions landed in the middle of an unseasonable rain. Strange flowers poke out of the sand and were crushed by tons and tons of alien iron.
"This is your Kapitan speaking," the Kapitan says after it picks its way out of the restraint seat, coughing a little. Somewhere a chemical analyzer has taken in a bit of the planet's air. "Descent procedures have been completed. It is 0900 Sirocco time. Atmosphere is breathable, high nitrogen and low oxygen. Let's all meet outside."
The thousand met in the shadow of the factory module, its towering bulk serving as a windbreak. Wind carries dust and sand for kilometers around, a soft, choking particle haze. It looks like golden mist. The Replicants, under the sun for the first time, sat on the mat of desert flowers and grasses and watched the sand flow across the horizons.
We have the time, the Kapitan thought. We can wait.
The sun was hot and high in the sky when someone said, "it's too hot. I'm going inside." So they did, and everyone followed. They sat where they could. On the ground. On pallets. Leaning against walls and unpacked machine lathes.
They were all looking at the Kapitan, who felt a little nervous. "So," it says.
"So," everyone else repeated. A chuckle ran through the crowd.
"We have landed at Megiddo," the Kapitan decides on a summary. "How's everyone's history memsofts? Do you remember central Asia? I've decided to land us in a region like it. We won't lack for power generation and there are two existing policies that run trade caravans through this region.
"It's so fucking hot, though. It was thirty degrees out there, minimum. Kapitan, next time land us somewhere cooler."
"Yeah, and you stuck out there for what, half an hour? Looking at sand," the Kapitan retorts. "Anyway, to business. We have an agenda to make…"
They argued through the day. Immediately they agreed to go and attach all the modules and buildings to each other again, so they wouldn't need to go out in the heat. A party of fifty, wrapped in But after that, things became more contentious. The sun dipped past the eastern mountains when they concluded. Some went to bed, but others walked back out into the sands to watch the sunset.
Select Two Options
[]- Sensor Construction:
Radars will detect any bogeys that might trespass.
"If you want peace, prepare for war. That's what the Americans say. We might not be able to fab AA missiles right now, but the mark two eyeball won't stand up to a high speed fighter crossing the upper atmosphere at supersonic speeds. We've all seen the explosions. I don't want to join them."
"And what would knowing they're there help?"
"See, that's what you don't get. They don't know we're defenseless. I've got military softs. You can scare of the initial sorties if you know they're there. This goes double in this situation- pirates are notoriously casualty adverse. If we can look hard enough, we can deter attackers."
Scale: Small
Costs: Manpower 1, Power 1, Metallics 1
Time: Immediate
[]- Make Contact:
Pulse a high power radio signal over the sands.
"We know there's traffic crossing this region. Some of it has to be friendly. Since there's been a nuclear exchange, we can assume that the local entities here will have degraded their physical base. The 0Z is a library of data and procedures. We don't need to build up everything by ourselves. An exchange, or better yet, integration with a friendly existing entity will speed things up."
"We'll reveal ourselves for everyone to see. Hey look, free labour, come and get it. Pirates, cartels, Americans, what have you. We can't render aid to the Polar Provisional Government in any official capacity."
"I don't care. Besides, you have no proof that it's a PPG descendant we're near. JCEP also sent missions here, remember?"
Scale: Small
Costs: Manpower 1, Power 1
Time: Immediate
[]- Power Generation:
Begin construction of a solar power plant.
"Let's get this out of the way. Easiest thing to do. We don't have lithium, but we can build stores for the molten salt or whatever easily enough. There's a bunch of good designs that can output a few gigawatts immediately. We need that power for our aircon, to recharge our machines…"
"We don't know what we need that power for yet. It's better to hold off on it. It'll be done in weeks, so we can put it off until we know what we need to do."
"That's exactly why I want to construct it now. It will be done in weeks, while we go search for other things to do, to mine, to build."
Scale: Medium
Costs: 0Z Factory (Industrial 1, Manpower 1, Academics 2), Metallics 2, Chemical 1
Benefit: A Facility with 0 Requirements and +2 Power.
Time: 2 Turns
[]- Geological Prospecting:
Send out teams to identify ore veins.
"This is one of the things we lack. Metal, metal, metal. I want to find ore loads as soon as possible, so that we can begin fabbing the things we need. Missiles, new shelters, we need material and we need it as soon as possible."
"We have tons of regolith around us, even though they're melted. Anyway, getting a proper foundry up and running is going to take a lot of time, time which can be spent on other, more important things. If we really need metals, we can trade."
"With who? The mysterious pirates?"
Commit: Explorationary Platoon (Purpose: Recon(+++), Skirmishing(+), Sabotage(++))
Enhance:
[]- Prospecting (+): Costs Academic 4, Power 1. Increases chance of finding a viable load.
Time: 1-3 Turns
[]- Hydroponics Construction:
Construct wells digging deep into the water table.
"A man can live three weeks without food and three days without water. We can live five weeks without food and ten days without water. That's cutting it close. We have seed stock, water filters and scubber microorgs. Let's set up this stuff immediately, grow and eat some real food and not protein and vitamin blocks from however many light years away."
"What, you don't like compacted rations and reclaimed wastewater? Projected rations will last us up to a year. We can deal."
"For you, maybe. But we have this giant stretch of land to ourselves. It'd be an insult not to relax bit."
Scale: Small
Costs: Manpower 1, Power 1, Chemicals 1
Time: Immediate
