"Gloss, I am telling you, we need those extra inventory slots, it's almost 500 total with all the mods, and we can unlock them in the playthrough as we go." Caldesan said.
"Doesn't it feel like a bit much though?" Glossarai asked skeptically.
"Dude, "Just Fly" is a bit much if I am being honest. I mean we can go insane speeds with that and cross the map in seconds. But you are worried about fewer trips to the Item Hub?" Caldesan said in his standard sarcastic fashion.
"Okay, okay, okay. Let's keep the 500 extra inventory slots, upgraded hypertube boosters, the decorations, the furniture, the extra logistics, the farming mods, and the cool lights one." Glossarai said.
"Exosuit, More Hand Slots, Zip Strips, the Daisy Chain mod, and obviously the Smart Foundations mod....that thing is just too op.....aaaand a couple more ." Caldesan said.
"Smart Foundations, that's the mod that lets you make a whole platform at once, right?"
"Hah! Not just that, it lets select the length, height, and width of platforms and walls, and walkways, and even machines. So you can just drop a line of 10 daisy chain Constructors and hook them all up and start producing! OR, as long as you have the materials, make a floor or wall or as large as you can afford with the materials in your inventory, it saves a LOT of time." Caldesan said with a look into the distance with ideas of a mega factory
"Alright, and the Daisy chain is the power thing?"
"Yeah, instead of plugging all of the Constructors into power pylons, we can just connect them to the next one in the chain and they join the network, making it easy to run cables straight from there. Trust me, we will do that one, the Node placement, the spy satellite, the minimap, and a few other ones....." Caldesan said ominously.
"Dude, those are pretty cheaty." Glossarai said.
"What ones, I don't know what you are talking about."
"You know what I am talking about."
"Okay seriously though, I just want to be able to have a beautiful base so we can drop a few "pure nodes" here and there, and everything will be just fine." Caldesan shot back. (Pure Nodes are the highest grade of any given resource)
Glossarai Sighed heavily into the microphone.
"Come on, we won't use the op ones unless it's necessary, plus we can use the food, furniture, and decoration mods to make actual living accommodations so we can do a little bit of RP just like in Minecraft. I am starting it, are you ready?" Caldesan said with finality.
"OK, let's do this." Glossarai said with his game face on.
The screen fades into what looks to be the interior small pod, with the blackness of space out of a small vertically rectangular window. A screen in the pod drops down showing the basic requirements to play the game, and the 3 things required for engineers to complete, in the form of a silly animated video. As Pioneers, they are to harvest resources, build infrastructure, and explore and analyze anomalies from the planet's surface for further study.
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"...Warning, Planetfall Imminent, please remain seated during full procedure." A female automated voice said.
"Atmospheric entry in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Planetfall procedure initialized." The same voice said.
"Here we go!." Caldesan said to Glossarai, as the window of the pod began to show a blui-sh hued light from below as it began to rumble.
"Wait, what area did you pick?"
"Hahahaha" Caldesan laughed as he watched the strap on his Ficsit building tool, which was on the wall by the door, raise into the air during freefall.
Flames surrounded the pod as it the sounds and vibrations grew in intensity with the atmospheric entry. The Flames dispersed after passing through the clouds revealing the Rocky Desert, the beautiful Azure Blue palm trees, and a rocky landscape with spines of rock protruding from the ground, high into the sky, there were clear blue streams of water flowing, and dirt and sand everywhere else.
They hit the dirt as the pods powered down. "Planetfall complete." The screen raised to unblock the door, and the rollercoaster-style over-the-top shoulder harness lifted. "Please insure the integrity of your Multipurpose Exploration Suit is at 100%."
My character reached up to the dual door levers and began to pull them down. The door opened, and there was a hissing followed by a whoosh of air as the pod opened, and the door lifted upwards on hinges.
A THX-style movie theater sound blasted in from all directions as the pioneer's first unfiltered view of the Rocky Desert in all its glory came into view under the hatch. My character grabbed the building tool and inspected it.
"Remember, efficiency first. Godspeed."
"Haha, this intro never gets old, I get the chills every time!" Caldesan said.
"Yup, they did a good job with it, also my first time starting in the Rocky Desert," Glossarai said.
"Yeah, I just love those Blue Palms, they are amazing, I got the decorations mod, so we can place some of them for biomass. I couldn't pass that up." Caldesan replied.
"Alright, let's start with the basics and get harvesting," Glossarai said, the smile evident in his tone.
Caldesan chuckled while looking at Glossarai instead of starting to work, Glossarai looked back after hearing the laugh, "What?"
"Hehe, your character is a chick, dude," Caldesan said.
"So is your's dude...plus I usually play girl characters anyways, like Fem-Shepard and even in MMOs." Glossarai replied.
"Oh, well, I guess it's just standard then...ahem...Alrighty well, let's do this!" Caldesan replied slowly at first.
And thus began the first 500 hours of their playthrough.
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500 in-game hours later...
On another planet called Agua, in the Elven City of Diyaene, Council Chamber, during the Summit of the many races of Agua.
Concerning the recent Devil Invasion.
High Elven Lord Jaenen Karhaleon, ruler of the Elven Council of Diyaene, addressed the many races of Agua, "My fellow Aguans, I know we have had a great victory, but the damage to our infrastructure is catastrophic, the infiltration from the Devils was successful in more ways than I care to acknowledge, but if we do not address our basic ones, we will run out of supplies momentarily.
"Almost all of the farming land on our continent was based in the Fields of Amouldenire. They currently are scorched lands, and as many of our races are not able to consume meat, we find ourselves in a dangerous situation. Almost all of the freshwater is supplied by the Great Lake of Fronnitar, but the springs have been corrupted.
"Thousands of our people are left as refugees scattering to other cities. At this point, the desert to the west seems more habitable than what's left after the fall of Atlantor. It was the city that brought us all together, and....well we all know it's gone now. I guess my point is that we are in trouble, we need water, we need food, we need infrastructure. And all we have left is cities bursting to capacity, armies camped outside hoping to go home soon, we need to find a solution or many, and fast." Lord Jaenen finished with a sad tone.
"But wwwwhaat arrrreee we tooo doOOoooo?" The Representative of the Beastmen colonies, a Cat Demi-human replied, in a familiar accent to those who have taken part in the Elder Scrolls Series. "Ourrrrr people have already hunted many species to nearrrr extinction, and nowwww the rivers and grrreat lake bounties arrre noo morreee, what caan we do?"
"I concur with D'zargen, the Beastman Ambassador, he brings up a great point, the Waters and water-dwelling species are going to be ruined for generations unless we find a cure for the springs, magical or otherwize. It is halfway through the summer and most mountain run-off has already been tainted." King Desmian Chandlar, of the human Empire of Tevate said.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Sir, what about the....thing.." A small voice of a servant behind the Human King Desmian Chandlar said.
"What thing..ohh. That thing....hmmmmm." The KIng contemplated.
"King Desssmian? Something you wish to tell us that may be of help?" Sentachor Elnor Metahfi, the Naga Ambassador said from behind his podium.
The chamber was silent as the human King seemed to contemplate something.
"Well...this would be something ridiculous, I am not sure it would even work, and we don't know what it means, but it would be such a long shot. I don't think it would work." King Desmian replied while deep in thought.
"We should entertain any options just as Lord Jaenen Karhaleon has spoken, it should be." The Shaman of the Giant Honey Badger nation said, in a surprisingly calm and smooth voice. Not to be confused with beastmen, the Giant Honey Badger Society is made up of Giant Honey Badgers that can range from the size of a dog to an elephant based on age, power, and magical ability. The Shaman stood at about the size of a horse but looked exactly like a honey badger. Warning: Do Not Call them beastmen.
Lord Jaenen nodded and looked curiously at the Human King.
The King raised his head and said, "We have a Goddess of Agriculture and Infrastructure. We thought that she was an inactive Goddess, as many are, however one of her temple's priestesses found....some artifact bearing a resemblance to her name. It is said that when the artifact is activated, and I quote, "Those of dirt will fall from the sky and Infrastructure will be made from them, food will blossom from bubbles, and water shall be made again."
"It is a silly thing that has been in our history, but it seems that many of our people have turned to the Gods of late, and the Priestesses of FicSitine in particular. The Goddess of Infrastructure is one whose kindness is loved by many. So I do apologize if that seems out of the ordinary. But there have been rumors of the salvation of infrastructure, an odd sentiment to be sure." King Desmian continued.
"That sounds like exactly what we need."
"Yeah, I think we should go with that option."
"Weee agrrrrreeeeee, the Goddess FicSitine shall be who we put our faith in."
"I also shall spread the word of FicSitine, let us all go with the great King Desmian to his Temple of FicSitine immediately!" Lord Jaenen said dramatically, while slightly smiling at the ridiculousness of this situation.
King Desmian had a blank face of shock. "What...Are you serious? You just agreed to it like that? There is no way it's going to solve all of our problems..." His words fell on deaf ears as the other delegates seemed very excited.
"Am I missing something here??" The baffled King stared awestruck at the other leaders and as they got ready to leave for the human city they all walked by the King to the portal hub with smiles.
"Come Now Dzarjen, I have full faith in the Deity, you know all it takes is a little faith sometimes, I am sure that is what got us through that war, the Human God of War of course." Lord Jaenen spoke happily to the Beastman Ambassador, of course, he was referring to the final blow to the General of the Invading Devil Army, who was brought down finally with a blast from the sky, cast from the Priests Of War, from the Human Temple of War under the God Aresade. So popular opinion of Human Deities has increased greatly.
"I myselllfff have been praying to the Human God of War as well, that was a fantastic spell that no one person could have cast without the direct aid of their own," Dzarjen replied casually.
"Oh my word, they believe it." the King whispered to his aide after the group walked by.
"I have faith as well my King! FicSitine won't let us down!!!" King Desmian shook his head at his aide wondering why everyone was so sure of this.
"....alright... let's go I guess." The King Followed the rest of the delegates.
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The Temple of FicSitine, In the Square of Divines, Human City of Teran-Suore
After the group of Ambassadors and Leaders stepped into the temple with the odd orange and light blue writing on the front, they were greeted by a High Priestess of FicSitine.
"Greetings Leaders, Ambassadors, and My King Desmian, Welcome to the Temple of Infrastructure, have you come for the artifact?" High priestess Alana asked with a knowing smile.
With a raised skeptical eyebrow the King sighed before nodding slowly. "Of course, she knows." The King thought.
With a winning smile on her face Alana replies, "Wonderful, we must go to the desert in the west."
"What?!?!!" looks of confusion were exchanged around the group of people. The western desert was a barren wasteland that had a few saltwater lakes that would get so salty that sand would sit on it if it was fine enough.
"That is where the artifact is, and the only place to activate it." Alana said with a smile, "There is a temple there, so we can just teleport through the magic of my Goddess." She walked back behind the main altar in the small temple and pulled aside a tapestry revealing doors, "Come this way please." She said with the same knowing smile.
The doors revealed a large oval about 6ft tall and a couple of feet wide.
"This is our device." Alana walked up and muttered some other words and the portal opened she immediately stepped through without saying anything.
"Uhm, well, I guess let's follow." King Desmian said to the gasping group of leaders.
On the other side of the portal, they found themselves in a similar room with a similar device that also floated off the ground.
After the entire group made it through the High Priestess nodded and walked out of the building through a side door. Following her outside led to the bright rays of the sun on the edge of what seemed to be a very large and relatively flat sandy desert to the west. To the south was the largest uncorrupted lake in the free kingdoms. To the east were more grasslands for many miles, while to the north would eventually break into large mountains.
"The artifact is just over here," Alana said while walking around the side of the building towards the desert. When the group emerged from the building there was a 50ft tall statue of a person in weird armor with a solid faceplate, that was without a doubt female in nature, all of her skin was covered and it looked like she had a handle of a weird shaped sword in her right hand, made entirely of silver. It was standing proud with a glowing...rectangle in front of it. Walking up to the base of the statue the priestess read the screen.
"The Plaque reads, "Press the button, and FICSIT will send Pioneers to explore! They will drop from the Sky, people of Earth, and Efficient Infrastructure will be their goal, with food and water they will bring you hope."
King Desmian looked around at the serious contemplative faces of his fellow representatives of the other races of Agua, "This is crazy religious babble, will this work?" The King asked Alana.
With another one of her knowing smiles, she replied, "I have faith that it will." And she pressed the red button.
The statue lit up as if it was glowing, and the screen said, "Summoning Pioneers!"
"15 minutes until Pioneers' arrival, 100 m to the west of the statue."
The screen then changed and began counting down 14:59, 14:58, 14:57...
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"Aaaannnnnd DONE!!!" Glossarai said ecstatically.
'Clap Clap', Caldesan activated the emote and said "Nice work Gloss!!!! I think that's game, I don't know what else we would need to do, until the next update at least." Caldesan said.
"Haha, I mean we have everything unlocked and automated, and we also have all the alternate recipes, all the power shards we need, and inhalers, nuclear and poison gas filters, and more, like it's a lot. But we can always find more to build." Glossarai said
"True, let's go back to the HUB and see if we can find anything interesting," Caldesan replied, even after making all the huge rooms with furniture and more he always love brainstorming in the HUB.
"Hey what is that?" Glossarai said while looking at the research screen.
"It's blinking?" Caldesan replied.
"Yeah, does it normally do that?"
"Nope," Caldesan answered.
They walked up to the screen together, and read it.
Congratulations, you have pioneered this world! FICSIT would like to offer you a chance to explore another world, please make sure to fill in your inventories, and get all of your useful items before accepting. You have 10 minutes and counting to accept.
A countdown timer appeared on their HUDs. 9:59, 9:58, 9:57...
"Oh my god, what horrible mod did you add to the game Cald?" Glossarai asked accusingly.
"What....I, dude I didn't add anything, the mod list is the same since the start of the playthrough, minus updates, I didn't add anything I swear...."
"Okay let's go get everything we need to start a new base in our inventories, but I have a feeling we should bring more than we need of things like medical inhalers, and Power Shards," Glossarai said, in his serious voice, it was obvious that he was ready for this regardless.
"We have over 500 slots in our extra-dimensional storage so grab a bit of everything, and at least a few stacks of the hard-to-get stuff, also extra metal plates, cables all that stuff. You know what to do....oh also computers and heavy modular frames and a few stacks of beacons too!"
"I know Gloss, I get it!!!" We were running around the item hub while sweating in our computer chairs. " I don't know how much longer I can stay on tonight anyways, I have to work, so once we start this event, I have to go to sleep," Caldesan said.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah we just need to finish this event intro probably, let's go!" Glossarai said with his excited voice trembling.
We sprinted back to the HUB it was at this point I realized that where the workbench normally is there was a set of doors and they slid open to reveal two seats like the one in the drop pod but in the cargo area of the Rocket Ship.
"Uh look at this, Gloss!"
"Yeah, I see, uhhh, do we get in before or after we hit the button?"
3:38, 3:37, 3:36....
"Uhh, we have like three minutes, so let's both get in first," Caldesan said.
They got into the ship with full inventories, ammo, explosives, building mats, and more. Pressing the "E-key" on the Chairs they sat down in the ship which had two seats facing the rest of the HUB. As soon as they sat down the doors closed...
"Well, I think this was right...haha This is a crazy mod addon or something, I wonder if this is just a new play-through... They must have changed it, if it is, I'm going to bed." Caldesan said while saving the game.
"There I saved it, just in case."
Glossarai nodded, then looked down between them, where another red button that somehow still had the Santa sleigh on it from the Christmas event. "Oh look," he said before smashing the button with the F key.
In the real world, Caldesan looked at the time, it was indeed getting late, but they finished the playthrough to their expectations earlier than they had expected. As the rocket lifted off from the HUB, he looked around the compartment and chuckled.
"Well, GG, Gloss, that was a fun playthrough either way," Caldesan said.
"Haha yeah it was, I still have some ideas I wanted to try though...." Glossarai said, as his always-working brain continued diligently.
As we entered orbit the same female voice of ADA that greeted us, once again spoke, "Congratulations Pioneers, it is time for another journey, your mission is the same, efficiency first. Prepare for wormhole introduction in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Wormhole introduction engaged."
"Uhhh, wtf does that mean?" Caldesan said.
"I have no clue!" Glossarai replied.
Then their vision went black. No, not the screen, both of the real people playing Satisfactory got pulled into their screens. Their vision cleared and they found themselves looking through the glass surface of a helmet at the inside of a drop pod. The other thing was that they could feel themselves in the pod, a very terrifying thing indeed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"GLOSS GLOSS GLOSS WAAAAHHHHHHHH" The pioneers did the reasonable thing and screamed.