If he could not get an FTL engine from the orks he would just need to make one himself, the energy readings from the orks portal would need to be enough to reverse engineer something that could cause a similar effect.
Not ideal, but designs for machines that could do that were already flowing through Palisades mind, the issue would be testing them and getting the materials to craft them.
Standing up from the workbench with the "ftl drive" the orks used Palisade walked towards his simulation table; he'd need to build a digital blueprint to start running the simulations.
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3 months, it took 3 months of failed experiments and explosions to devise an FTL drive, it took 2 more weeks to make it something that could go on a ship and another week to design software and algorithms so that they could actually use the thing.
Not to say that the ship would be steerable or that we would even know where we were going, but it was technically possible to send an object into the "realm of souls" and then to get the object back.
Doing so would also drain nearly all of a ships power reserves leaving it on a reactor only basis, which was fine as long as there were no engagements right after exiting the other realm.
Palisade couldn't say the months spent were that bad though, rarely was there a project that he could work with the maker on for so long, and it was something Palisade was actually more knowledgeable on than his adoptive parent.
He knew he was a weapon crafted to kill enemies and to defend the weak, it was why he got along so well with the more combative minds, that still didn't change the fact that Palisade longed to learn and create, giving him some common ground with Labyrinthine and Byzantine.
But he only rarely got to exercise that creative drive, the drones could build everything faster and the maker could design things just as well as he could, the best thing he could provide the factory was his might and power.
At least that is what he had thought, the need to prove himself in battle had been strong but in the first true engagement Palisade led he had accomplished nothing more than clearing out some pests that had replaced themselves within the day.
It wasn't even that he had failed his mission, he accomplished all of his goals, but it failed to help the factory in the long term, nothing of value was gained, only a brief respite bought.
The only thing Palisade wanted was an accomplishment he could raise up and use to say "I deserve to be here, I helped build this place and I have made the factory stronger and better".
So he had left to claim a prize to bring back, a tangible trophy that would prove his worth, and instead he had brought back a box of lies and scrap.
The maker had spent a month crafting a suit of armor for Palisade and then he had failed to deliver anything of value.
The chance to rectify that by making something instead of stealing it? And getting to do that work with the maker? It was a consolation prize yes, but a prize nonetheless.
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A new larger ship was designed and outfitted with the first of the FTL drives, or breach engines as the minds had taken to calling them.
A ship twice the size as the cruisers currently in orbit, with machinery and components that made it ideal for a "colonization" effort as well as to aid in the defense of the world. Joining the dozens of other ships defending the planet, and hopefully acting as a vanguard.
The colonization capability was mainly just in case at the moment, in case an invasion force came that we would have no hope of beating, the tree lady had warned us of some awful things lurking in space and having the option to run away and start somewhere else seemed like a very valuable one.
A massive world made of metal that can blow up stars? I doubt a nuke will kill that and currently giant nukes are my most damaging, if not my most exotic, weaponry. Seriously? A battle moon? I can barely manage a battle asteroid.
Orbital infrastructure is still underway, getting factories up there was a good first step and getting defenses was a better one but a few larger stations will be needed eventually. Ideally I will have a few docking bays for my ships, both to make new ones quicker and to repair and maintain damaged ones.
Stolen novel; please report.
It takes more than ships, turrets, and landmines to make infrastructure. The orbital elevator is just a first step.
Speaking of construction on the actual elevator frame is coming along nicely, Labyrinthine has been devoting quite a lot of effort towards getting the first one up and running, which is good as the asteroids closest to Nauvis are getting a little barren.
Construction ships ranging out further take longer to ferry resources back, and even if I'm getting more and I have a few mobile factory ships it's still hurting overall production speed. Eventually everything out in the asteroid field needs to come back to the factory and that takes transportation time.
I have also started work on a few large space stations to go in the asteroid belt, not for defense but rather to have some more centralized construction and resource storage.
At this point it's a waiting game unless some more orks or some other threat shows its face.
Speaking of orks, there are still a few fighters flying about, no idea how considering they have no ships to refuel or resupply on, but considering they keep trying to pick fights with my drones I doubt they will become an organized threat. Even if I don't know where they are coming from.
The orks have started to set up pseudo communities around the world, or at least the smaller variants are. The hiding little cowards survive much longer than their more violent counterparts. They show up on the worldwide radar network so If I needed to wipe them out I could but really the bugs and the plant lady's animals are keeping the things in check. No community has gotten that large yet.
I do admit it's amusing to watch the orks 'cattle' get into fits with the bitters. One of the squigs even started to approach a medium sized bitter in size before it got taken down and eaten.
Overall the orks were less of a threat than the actual hell dimension we were in previously, which makes a fair bit of sense. Apparently if they fight long enough they would be able to crush me, but as they are now? They didn't stand too much of a chance, don't think that they cared though.
Right now we just need to prep the factory for expansion, Ideally to another solar system once we have a second ftl capable ship. Also need to find a way to stop the demons from crawling into the ship while it's in transit. The shielding effect seems severely lessened off world.
I should have guessed that considering I lost my satellites to corruption while we were in the warp. Something about this world enhances my tech's inbuilt defenses against extraplanar entities. Also now wondering if my shields were meant to have the effect and if that would mean my original reality had similar creatures.
I would not be that surprised.
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A group of ten snotlings and 4 grots sit huddled in a blasted out crater, hiding from the flying creatures and the monsters that roam the forests. They had a small spore bed growing using detritus from the forest floor and a few of the dead snotlings. But so far no new ork spawn had grown.
They would have to leave soon to get more water and food, both for the pile and themselves. The last time the group had left there were 8 grots and 15 snotlings, but the animals in the forest were vicious and clever and they had hunted the greenskins the entire time, picking them off one by one.
If the spore bed didn't start making squigs or snotlings soon the greenskins new they would die out. This certainty caused them to start producing more and more spores, even if this group died out more greenskins would grow.
The only gretchin with a weapon, slightly larger than its unarmed brethren, stood up from the corner and started chattering at its brethren, soon a small group had gathered, they would leave and gather food and water while the rest would stay to guard the den.