Pharaoh Base has transformed from a military installation into a network of outposts scattered across the desert. In many areas, huge machines are digging quarries, and droids of various types are distributing ore from the extracted material, placing them in different piles, which are then raked up by combat vehicles that now carry out the task of transporting them.
Combat vehicles that were previously involved in combat operations against insectoids are now busy transporting piles of stones and raw ore to facilities where droids work along with soldiers removed from their main positions. The only things not involved are shuttles, drones and overly-needed equipment.
Processing resources is a difficult process; first of all, ore is smelted in smelters, then heat treated and made into blanks for their further production process. The base also operates replicators, which were supposed to eliminate the process of ore mining for the construction of critical facilities, but the available energy reserves are barely enough for food needs, not to mention using them to create all the necessary parts. It is precisely for this purpose that the Pharaoh base operates using a more outdated and classic production method, without significantly expending its limited energy reserves.
By order of the general, projects have been launched for the construction of energy facilities, where various methods will generate electricity for replicators, equipment and other equipment necessary for the functioning of the Pharaoh base. Fortunately, during the evacuation of the 127th Army RAFOM from the cruiser Zeus, equipment for planetary and asteroid mining, as well as smelting and production modules using the classical production method, were captured.
Despite the available means, everything came down to energy, which was barely enough to maintain the operation of equipment, droids and replicators. Within a month, it was possible to organize some mining of minerals that were discovered by scanning the earth rocks under the surface of the planet; all that remained was to extract them. But there were not enough workers for this process, and therefore almost the entire personnel of the 127th Army had to be involved in the activity.
There were no more than ten thousand soldiers left at the combat posts at observation points around the Pharaoh base, in addition to them there should have been another one and a half thousand elite fighters who had flown off with the general a little earlier to save the Boris Kipito detachment. At this time, in parallel with this, a scientific center was working, headed by the former Captain of “Zeus”, Arman Homeric, who is now studying the bodies of xorxes and the planet itself. The research center also contained data for the production of the necessary components and parts for the new ship that would one day bring all people home.
Many fighters already understood that their lives would now change forever, that they would stay here for a long time and in order to return home they needed to devote all of themselves to work, all their strength to complete such a difficult task. However, having with you only the equipment that was able to be evacuated from the ship, as well as a good hundred thousand souls, it will not be easy to complete the task within the minimally optimistic period, which for many was ten years. Many understood this very well and were already beginning to become despondent and say goodbye to their loved ones, whom they would never see again.
Colonel Yuna Sherwood, head of the 127th Army's Information and Logistics Division RAFOM, took on the responsibility of managing such complex projects, gathering the best minds from the Zeus crew and the 127th Army to assign them to key positions and begin working on large-scale base construction. Pharaoh and later the ship of Exodus.
On a huge desert stretching like infinity, hundreds of huge shuttles stood in an even formation, located from each other, between which were located modules and ground equipment, among which tens of thousands of people and droids worked. This was the Pharaoh base, which was nothing more than a field with temporary man-made objects.
In the center of this entire aerospace park are the first base buildings, a scientific facility, smelting shops, residential modules, garages and other buildings. One section of this entire area was flat and cleared; in that place it was planned in the future to build a parade ground for a spaceport from which the first rockets with payload would take off and where the long-awaited ship would be assembled from them in orbit. Next to this huge empty field there is a command post, to which Yuna Sherwood was returning from another meeting with her subordinates.
She entered her modestly furnished office, which had no windows inside, only the glow of screens on her desk and piles of wires scattered on the floor. Having given further management responsibilities to her deputy, the girl, letting her hair down, sits down on a chair, starting to click on the touch keyboard with light touches and then gets in touch with General Zeonid.
"Colonel Sherwood on the line."
"General Kudrinash is in touch."
Both greeted each other while looking at the screens. Zeonid saw a dark room and the illuminated, tired face of the girl, but which was still just as stern and confident. Opposite her, Yuna saw a stone room lit by candles or torches, and judging by her posture, she could determine that the general was in a sitting position and was clearly not alone.
"Do you have news for me?"
The general asked the girl, and she hastened to nod and began her story.
“Yes, sir. The general plan for our further actions has already been drawn up, but some issues have arisen that require your personal decision. I received information from you this morning and I must admit that I am a little surprised at what you and the junior lieutenant managed to find there.”
Zeonid nodded several times, also not hiding his surprise at what he saw in that native settlement.
“Yes, that’s for sure. Our negotiations are bearing first fruits. We are trying not to come into conflict with these natives. They must understand that our resources are limited and we can do little to help them. A few more flights and the fuel reserves on the shuttles may not be enough for our return to Pharaoh."
"One of the questions is about politics."
Yuna said leaning forward and, slightly adjusting herself in her chair, continued.”
Our scanners have detected mineral deposits and the droids have already begun mining them. But the spectrograph's preliminary assessment suggests that denser, richer ore deposits lie deeper beneath thicker, stronger rock layers. To mine them, it is necessary to use asteroid laser drills, but they will require significant energy reserves when used, and those ores that are located closer to the surface mostly contain Aluminum, Tungsten, Iron and Gold, and we will have the most of the latter, almost in a tenfold surplus . At the moment, we critically need Nickel and Titanium, as well as radioactive isotopes.
The general frowned.
"You said this question was about politics."
“I’m getting closer to this, sir. So, since we managed to establish contact with the local civilization, we could melt down the mined gold and exchange it for Nickel they may have. Surely we can buy it back, since it is difficult to process with classical blacksmiths means, the natives do not need this resource, but we do."
“Are you proposing to start trading ores with them?”
Yuna nodded.
"That's right, sir. I think contact with a primitive civilization will be very useful to us, and will also save significant resources that we would need to mine deeper rocks of minerals, whose composition is yet to be determined."
"I'll think about it."
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Zeonid thought.
“I think we will somehow be able to organize the supply of gold ore in exchange for Nickel and Titanium. By the way, why Nickel? What is it for?”
“Since we have a primary need to provide energy for our technical needs, we need to produce a number of semiconductors for energy equipment such as solar panels, wind generators and possibly future fusion plants. We could also use xorxes biomass to generate energy, and also use them to produce fuel for our equipment , including oxidizers for the rocket boosters of our shuttles. We can say that this resource will be the most necessary at first, but until more serious ones begin. production cycles of our work."
"Now I understand."
The general nodded.
"I will try to organize trade between our... sides."
"Fine."
Yuna answered briefly and then moved on to the next question.
“Another topic concerns the production of a jump engine. Antimatter is vital for its operation, and in a very huge volume. Having gone through all the options, we realized that we will not be able to create a new jump engine even in a hundred years, since there is time for construction at least for one collider will be significant and very expensive, and it will also be necessary to select a quiet area where extremely low tectonic activity will be observed."
"What are you getting at?"
"What I'm getting at, sir, is that we won't have a jump drive and we'll probably have to worry about building a generation ship."
Zeonid sighed displeasedly upon hearing these words. Now he realized that his adventure to destroy the swarm queen with the help of a jump engine backfired and now Zeonid will pay severely for it. It is unlikely that anyone would like the idea that you are tens, hundreds of light years from home and will never return back. Only your descendants will be able to do this, having lived for decades inside a ship flying through extremely aggressive and dangerous interstellar space.
"Shit."
Zeonid swore.
“Without a jump drive, a flight to the nearest Republic star will take a whole decade or more. And this is not to mention the fact that people will not be able to spend so much time in interstellar space without more serious protection from cosmic radiation. Even advanced electromagnetic protection in the form of artificial particle fields will not help protect against the entire spectrum of radiation."
"That's right sir, so I want to hear your opinion on this."
Zeonid thought for a moment, shook his head from time to time, squinted his eyes, but in the end he resignedly agreed.
"Okay. We'll build a generation ship, but if at some point we find out that we can build a jump drive, then we should take advantage of it."
"Speaking of possibilities, how about finding Panthor technology on the planet?"
"No."
Zeonid immediately shook his head.
“This is impossible. Even if we can somehow find their ship somewhere, we will not be able to understand the operation of their interdimensional engine, it will certainly require the energy of an entire Barnard. We will not waste time on this. This, not to mention that even the simplest Panthorian technologies will be difficult to learn."
"Okay. I understand you."
Yuna nodded, continuing to ask questions.
"Speaking of a generation ship, how about we reorganize Pharaoh Base into a full-fledged Republic colony?"
Zeonid’s eyes widened at such a question, but did not shy away from answering.
“This will not be an easy task. The first step will be to disband the 127th Army and build a colonial political system. Part of the army will have to be retained as a garrison and special forces. And also... and we will also have to build schools, kindergartens, medical institutions, civil infrastructure, supermarkets and... and this... would be undesirable if we want to fly away from here."
“You are right, sir, but the work of returning home requires not only our forces and resources, but also competent organizational management. The fighters are already unhappy with the fact that they are carrying out tasks of transporting goods and searching for mining sites, instead of their main tasks. Disbandment The army will make most of them civilians and allow them to effectively carry out the required work; if possible, we could even use the labor of the natives if they are trained in the necessary skills and so on."
It was hard to disagree with this, but doubt still flashed in Zeonid’s eyes. Who knows for sure, but General Kudrinash was not going to meet his death on this planet. Seeing these doubts on Zeonid's face, Yuna pressed slightly.
“We all understand our current situation, but turning the Pharaoh base into a permanent colony in the near future will make our work much more convenient, simpler and most importantly more effective. Moreover, I can even predict that after the reorganization not everyone will want to return home, but in the time spent many can have a couple and even children. Eusberia can become a real home for many if we really stay here for a long time."
“Of course, I understand all this, but personally I don’t want the dissolution of the 127th Army to instill in our people the idea that we are here not just for a long time, but maybe even forever. We all have relatives on Earth, the Moon, Mars, on other planets of the Republic, who are probably worried about us and probably think that we have disappeared somewhere in subspace. Morally, I cannot make such a decision at the moment.”
“Sir, do not consider it disrespectful, according to the charter I will be entitled to this and therefore I insist on accepting this proposal. We previously discussed this issue with the control center, everyone was unanimous FOR the reorganization of the Pharaoh base into a colony of the Federative Human Republic of Earth. Perhaps in the future this will add legitimacy to us, the right to control this planet."
The general, in his old age, bit his lip and yet, after thinking about this question many times, he finally agreed.
"If you think about it like that, it will help us in the long run. So, does that mean I have to run for president?"
“I have to correct you, sir. A colony is usually run by a governor, not a president.”
"Well, we've settled that issue. Is there anything else?"
Yuna nodded.
“Yes, sir. Having studied the preliminary information about the kingdom of Lakuus, we cannot help but note the existence on this planet of the so-called anomalous energy, which the inhabitants of this planet can use for their own purposes. From the information received, it can be assumed that this energy or perhaps the ability can be related to Far'fel."
"Red Angels."
The general guessed, immediately understanding what he was talking about.
“As far as I know, the red angels are the only creatures in the galaxy capable of controlling multiple types of energy with the power of their thoughts. Studying their technologies is impossible for the rest of the civilizations of the galaxy, just like they cannot study the technologies of other civilizations. We are too different to be able to conveniently contact each other, not to mention sharing technology."
"I daresay that the Far'felian may also be trapped on this planet and have somehow made their ability to manipulate energy widespread."
“That is, they shared their technologies with those with whom they could not do it before?”
“This is just a theory, sir. These iron life forms live in extremely exotic conditions, their home planet is heated to five thousand degrees Kelvin, and among other creatures they can only exist in special heat-insulating spacesuits. Of course, they can do without them, but then With their heat they emit, they kill all living creatures at a distance of up to a kilometer from themselves."
The general’s gaze from the words he heard smacked of boredom and Yuna realized that she needed to get closer to the point.
“I think that they may be on this planet and most likely, of their own free will, share their abilities to control various types of energy.”
“That is, to allow other living beings to control various types of energy of their own free will? Let’s say you’re right, but then the question arises: why do they need this?”
“So this is just a theory, because we don’t know the exact answer, sir. Although I can assume that they are doing this in order to help other beings survive on this planet, and also take advantage of their power and get out of this planet. If this If confirmed, we may be able to gain an advantage that will help us speed up the construction of the generation ship. We may even be able to somehow obtain antimatter and recreate the jump drive. Based on this data, I can assume that not only people are trapped on this planet. but also representatives of other alien species who flew here from all corners of the galaxy. The anomaly that throws ships out of subspace into this planetary system is most likely vast and can reach a diameter of at least one light year."
"If there are other alien species trapped here, why have they degenerated?"
“I cannot know the answer to this question, sir. Only an assumption that this may be the work of those “Gods”, that is, energy beings who use life on the planet as their own entertainment, and therefore keep the level of development of civilization at an insufficient level so as not to feel threatened by them. Perhaps before the appearance of the Pantorians, the level of development could have been at the level of an early space civilization, but now this planet is extremely behind."
"This theory is too crazy."
Zeonid shook his head.
"I don't want to bother myself with this crap right now."
"Understood, sir."
Yuna answered indifferently, secretly slightly glad that she had solved the most pressing problems for today.
“For now, we will stick to the plan. When we receive more information, we will discuss our actions again. Even if we find out that not only people are locked on this planet, it is unlikely that we will be able to get everyone out of here. Previously, I did not find any here ancient legends about coming from the sky or something like that. They think that they were created by the Gods or something like that, a classical primitive civilization, nothing more. So far it seems to me that we are the only ones who consider ourselves guests here. other planets."
“I understand, sir. In that case, there are still a few less important questions that require your answer.”
The general nodded and continued to discuss with Yuna the affairs of the 127th Army, and now the Earth Protectorate of the planet Eusberia.