Engineer’s Log Day 109

Alright, so I know that I talk the talk but don’t actually walk the walk like 80% of the time in these recordings but this time I might actually be a bonafide genius. I realized that I don’t actually need my systems to properly interact with the xythan’s. I just need to set up a cluster of sensors to figure out the whens and wheres of their launchers and have mine fire in a volley after theirs. This method is technically a little bit more inefficient since we won’t be able to saturate any landing craft’s point defenses as hard as we could if our machines were talking but I don’t exactly have a proper set of Xythan Coding for Dummies sitting around.

The main issue I actually see with my plan is convincing the xythans to actually let me install said sensors. I hardly imagine they are just going to be cool with me running around to each of their launchers and hooking up my many machines of mystery doing who knows what. Won’t hurt to ask but I don’t have particularly high expectations in that department.

Code nonsense aside, progress on the launchers has been proceeding quite well and while we are still in the early days, I might be able to expand the defense array even further! The more shit we can throw at our pirate friends the better. To compound on that progress, the HARP is nearing completion. Soon I shall be the sole owner of a mighty fighty punchy crunchy robot and shall be able to start hauling things out.

Engineer’s Log Day 111

Good news and bad news today. Sarlunt had given me the go ahead on my idea provided I showed his engineering boys the plan. As a result, I spent the better part of yesterday tossing a basic model together with them and testing it. Those guys were actually pretty cool if a bit skeptical of me at first. They opened up after I started bribing them with food though. The best part was when they nearly put a hole in the roof of their lab while we were testing on one of the nearby hills. Truly engineers to their bones.

Moving on to the bad news though, I need to be monitored while installing said sensors. A few reports have been going around about a potential second predator lurking. It doesn’t seem like a maneater but Sarlunt figures it’s better safe than sorry. This may not sound like a problem but rest assured it is. My escort is one of Darana’s friends and if the grin she had after hearing about that is anything to go by, I’m in trouble. Luckily, it’ll just be for the further out stuff so when I shift gears and start setting up launchers closer to the base, I’ll be working on my own again. For now I’m just gonna pretend that all hunky dory though and work on finishing up these sensor arrays. It's gonna be a problem, it’ll be a problem for tomorrow me.

Engineer’s Log Day 112.1

Past me is a bitch for letting all xythan’s past the wall. I should have fought harder for my freedom because at exactly 5:47 AM, 3rd Fang Glysia cheerfully scaled my walls and entered the barracks waking me up. She then proceeded to hurry me through my wake up routine and try and assist me with getting my stuff together. I use the word assist here loosely as I didn’t have my translator on me at the time and as a result her attempts to help veered more towards detrimental more often than not. After 20 or so minutes of scrambling to find my translator, getting dressed, and eating, the two of us emerged into the early morning air to get started on our work.

I haven’t felt this hassled since Command found out I was responsible for those definitely funny photoshops . I can appreciate wanting to start early but please, let an engineer get his sleep!

Engineer’s Log Day 112.2

When I used cheerful as a descriptor for Glysia earlier, I was being angry about waking up early but the longer I’m spending with her, the more I feel it fits her. She almost has golden retriever energy.

For example, even considering the fact that xythans sort of have a hopping lope for their walk, Glysia’s almost reached kangaroo status and has been bouncing all around while I set up the launching sensors. I did figure out why Darana was grinning so much earlier but Glysia has a fun little quirk where she really likes to talk. Personally, I think all of this is a psyops to a certain introverted engineer more sociable

Ha! Can you imagine that?

All things considered though, I don’t mind it at all. It's nice to have someone to listen to as it makes my work go that much faster and she seemed to enjoy my stories also. Man, does she talk a lot though. Like much more than Darana and Bayfur ever have.

Hmmm…

I wonder if Glysia isn’t just a chatterbox or if it's more the case that Darana is a bit more of an introvert. Do introvertedness and extrovertedness even apply to xythans? Questions for later.

During the involuntary exposition dump, I did learn a few interesting things. First, the xythans will be holding one of their family festivals pretty soon. From how she described it, it sounds like the most extra farmers market you’ve ever heard of in all the best ways. Each family brings a set of crafts or foods that they have made through the year which they then trade or share with the other families. That continues for a while and culminates in a big ol bonfire star watching party in the evening. It sounds pretty family focused and while I’d willing to share some of my food with everyone, I’ll probably skip on properly attending. I think I’d kinda just be an outsider at best and harsh the vibe at worst. Glysia thinks it’d probably be ok to attend alone but I’ve never been that big a fan of events like these to begin with so kinda eeeeh.

The second bit of info I was able to glean was that apparently the xythan society is a lot more matriarchal than the notes on them had initially indicated. Apparently, the illustrious Colony Commander himself is something of a slight oddity for how fast he rose to his current rank. Sarlunt has apparently seen a lot more combat than most other folks and made it out with nary a scratch. Allegedly, they had tried to promote him further but he declined and came out to oversee a colony. I wish I had asked if she knew why he had declined because I can smell a story there.

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The last tidbit I received that was most unwelcome was that Glysia was apparently the one who tagged and bagged me during the raid on my base. On its own, this bit of information wouldn’t be that bad. However, she went into great detail about how great it was to be the one who managed to take the base and how she was glad she had taken part in the raid given how simple it had ended up being. Apparently, there was a lot of respect to be earned for the simple act of hitting me with an automatic taser gun. Not for figuring out how to get past my defenses or fighting me in “honorable” hand to hand combat but for specifically blasting me. Frankly, I’m starting to think xythans have to be deriving pleasure from my displeasure.

Engineer’s Log Day 114.2

Been a boring last few days but I have been able to get all of these sensors online which is actually a yee haw moment. The fact that I’m going to have to make additional rounds to add more sensors as my allies set up more launchers makes me want to brain myself but aside from that I’ve made really good progress. All my tech has been tested for the launchers and I finally have the coding ground work finished which means I get to jump into the assembly stage of things now! I’m thinking I’ll start with the nearest launcher and then work my way outwards so that in the absolute worst case scenario, I’ll have set up more launchers than not.

Engineer’s Log Day Day 117

The HARP is finished. Woe be upon my enemies!

MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Engineer’s Log Day 118.1

In a surprising twist of fate, I’m not actually having any problems with the HARP. The basic testing today had everything sitting pretty and I passed each smoothly. The real testing will be the cross country hike but like this is really good.

Engineer’s Log Day Day 118.2

Alright so now I’m currently in the HARP suit lugging around what essentially amounts to an oversized wheelbarrow with all my stuff in it. Why a wheelbarrow? A wheelbarrow because it took me about 5 minutes to make and it's good enough for now. I also decided to paint it red because as we all know, big things should be colored red. Thinking about it, this is probably this world’s biggest wheelbarrow. Wait, I’m the only human here. Which means not only am I the Supreme Human Diplomat and Supreme Missile Commander, I am also the statistically best human in all points of contest. Let's go!

Getting the wagon loaded up wasn’t nearly so hard as I thought it would be despite all the big parts. Turns out that when you have the files, you can just make some form fitting padding real fast and easy. From there, it’s a simple matter of carefully putting it in with the HARP and badda bing badda boom you got yourself some easy transportation... of the big parts anyways. Concerning the smaller bits, I’ve got about a billion screws and anchors that I’m going to have to link up properly. I put a label on each and then tossed it into my big box of pieces.

I don’t think the wheelbarrow method will work when I have to tackle the farther sites but for now, it’ll do.

Engineer’s Log Day 119.2

Walking back now and I feel I actually made some pretty good progress. I finished about half of the assembly job on the launcher, covered it, and hopped back into the suit. Decided to check my messages on the way back like a responsible driver and had apparently received some 28 urgent messages. Initially, this didn’t really phase my scam hardened exterior but then it hit me that I’m a few lightyears to the nearest scammer and that means all of those are probably important.

So apparently, they never actually clued in on the fact that I was building the HARP. It wasn’t assembled at all when I got jumped and Darana never went into that particular garage to check what I was doing. I also kinda sorta maybe kinda forgot to inform them I was building it. I mean it's not like it's small right? I figured they’d seen it! The first notice they received was apparently “the human ate Uncle Henry” from Bayfur and then things blew up from there.

Engineer’s Log Day 120

Build one mech for fun and suddenly you’re “causing a diplomatic incident” and “need more supervision”. Diplomatic protection my ass. I just wanna build cool things and not do diplomatic things. Besides, I'm mostly safe… ish.

Ahem.

This morning, I got a bit chewed out and by a bit chewed out I mean that Sarlunt yelled at me properly for 15 minutes straight. I kinda tuned most of it out but was still able to get the general gist of it. What I did was irresponsible blah blah blah… If I die major interspecies incident blah blah blah… something about my ancestors blah blah blah… should have reported the HARP. End result is I’m required to bring Darana or Glysia out with me now.

Now you might be saying, “But wait Henry, you’ve already done something similar, why is this so much worse?” Well it’s a pain because now I need to figure out how to transport her because the HARP is designed to take only one person and moves quite fast compared to on foot. When I asked if we could take some of their shuttles I got a dead eye stare and was told they were being used elsewhere... Cheapskates.

I can use the parts wagon to transport Darana tomorrow but whenever I need to bring parts out that isn’t going to work so well. Theoretically, I could bolt a chair onto the HARP’s frame but if I ever slip, anyone in a chair is liable to be crushed. I’ll need to give this some thought

Engineer’s Log Day 121.1

Since yesterday, I’ve brainstormed a few good and bad ideas. Initially, I wanted to make one of those hamster ball scooter things. The ones with gyrostuffs that keeps the rider inside upright because those things look absolutely sick. Stick some rubber pokey things on the outside and you got yourself an all terrain vehicle. Darana shot the idea down when I brought up the slight risk of getting spun but like it shouldn’t be that bad provided I just add an emergency stop button. Honestly, even if I don’t make one for her I’m totally making me one of those when I have extra time.

The idea she liked the most was interestingly enough a revision of the chair design. The main issue with the chair idea I discussed yesterday is that the rider would be unprotected in the event the HARP fell over. The hastily sketched up revision is more akin to a backpack with larger boxed off frame. Add a roll cage with a little AC in there and suddenly you’re traveling in style. I might have to add some counter balances to the front so it doesn’t throw the balance of the HARP off too much but that should be pretty easy..

Engineer’s Log Day 121.2

I have made the executive decision to add a secret snack compartment for me and a second chair so Darana can bring Bayfur if she wants. This thing is getting turned into a mom van and I’m kinda here for it.