Milk Run

Journal Entry 811;
recording entity - Seargent Frit Fatham

Date: 021412

As a maintence engineer in DEEME, I'm given special priveledges.
For one, I have my own quarters on Dry Station... the only one in fact.  All other personnel live aboard their own particular vessels.

It's good to wake up to a view.  Looks like SVG Excavator is back from the outer sectors.

The shipyard at Dry Station has been occupied building a new design of frigate... a support vessel with a new experimental jump drive that should really speed up my job, among others... and ultimately allow Dry Empire to expand into more sectors by drastically reducing travel costs and times.

I have a call out to one of the mining posts today - apparently it was damaged recently by a rogue roid impacting it.  Pirate troubles are few and far between these last few months, but that hasn't reduced my own workload, it seems.  As more things are built, more things get damaged and need maintenance.  It's only a matter of time until I'm running a crew.

 

One of the very best perks of my position is my private run-about... an Ajax Keelboat affectionately named "Green Meanie".

 She has tan synthetic leather seats. Yeah baby.

As I pull away from Dry Station I always inspect my own quarters. The last thing I want is for some structural stress crack to open up the structure like a grenade and blow me out into space while I sleep.  It's right next to Green Meanie's dock, so it's just instinct really, to check it out on the way in and out.

Not much for privacy, but I wouldn't trade my creature comforts for curtains if they were solid threns.

The airlock accesses a small external passageway to the library.  There's an internal door too, but it's permanently sealed until the library is pressurised... no immediately plans for that, but apparently Chairman Broez intends to at some point, or there's little reason to include an internal door between pressurised and vaccuum-filled sections of Dry Station...  Either that or there's a little red button in his quarters that allows him to open that hatchway if ever he decides my services are no longer required... heh.  Good thing I'm good at what I do, I guess.

The WDU's always get a little cranky when I pass through the shipyard area... but I've got to inspect for maintenance issues now, don't I?  Nothing to do with getting a sticky beak at the progress of the ship being built, of course.

Dry Station has grown so much since I was hired by Chairman Broez...

I lay in a course for Sarafrey Mining Outpost, and increase the tint on my LCD visors, putting Green Meanie into overdrive as she heads almost directly at the sun.

I pass through the outer asteroid belt, which is studded with 6-point turret emplacements... they always get a bit twitchy if you hang around too long, so a quick inspection is enough for me in this unshielded boat without disarm codes at the ready...

Several hours later I reach Sarafrey and approach the dock... hailing the station's operator to inform them I've arrived to carry out the inspection and repairs.

Already I can see some of the damage to the infrastructure... shouldn't be hard to fix in zero gravity with the aide of the station's WDU... just some simple combinating and welding... no big deal.

One of the lateral I-Beams got hit pretty badly it seems.  Again a reasonably easy fix, if time consuming.

The main habitation facility appears to be structurally intact.

Airlock systems functioning fine.

Internals are fully pressurised, and the station operator reports no issues.  I have to check it all out thoroughly for myself though, while I'm here.  The operator is a twitchy fellow that prefers to just let me go about my duty, staying in his quarters till I'm done.  Pretty typical for operators of stations like this - they live out here alone for so long that interacting with people tends to make them uncomfortable.

External airlock to the drone facility was a little glitchy, but turns out it was just a small wiring issue - fixed it as I inspected it.

The drone control facility was grubby and scattered with trash, but otherwise functional.  Not my job to recommend different life-style choices, although the conditions would certainly go down in my report...

Structurally the habitation facility appeared in pretty good nick.  I've seen far worse.  Micro-asteroids cause the most damage usually... smashing into the most unexpected places and leaving tiny holes no bigger than a pin-prick that leak fluids, atmosphere, sever wires, and sometimes ignite combustables.  Cheaper to risk the entire facility and crew than to install shields, apparently.

The cargo bay had a light out, but the doors functioned well. Cargo pods were scattered hap-hazardly and again there was clutter everywhere.  I carried out the necessary repairs over the next two days, prefering to live in my suit and Green Meanie than to interact too much with the station operator. Stam, his name was. He seemed to prefer it that way too.

Repairs were completed without incident, and it was good to return home.  I'll spend the next day filling out paperwork.

Glad I've got my quarters and don't live out there like those mining outpost operators...

Ajax Keelboat is downloadable (available in white and green) and available for public use for free.  Simply put the file into your "blueprints" folder (eg: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\StarMade\StarMade\blueprints) and you will have access to this station in-game under "Catalog" menu.

Sarafrey Station - Mining Outpost

Journal Entry 702;
recording entity - Corporal Stam Harvey

Date: 021312

I don't see much out this way.  Its not a job for someone that likes new things... or people... or eating stuff that resembles food... or running water... or any comforts of modern society at all really...

Ol Yella keeps me company during the work shift. We grind rocks together with the tunes hammering to drown out the monotonous sprinkling noise of dust and gravel raining onto the thin hull.

The station's AI who I refer to as Kibbles is one of those induced personality types, always trying to breach the human-AI relationship issues... some left over gimmick from the era of long-term space habitation for individuals causing mental issues... back before they engineered folks to be able to handle this kind of work.  Kibbles is cute, we get along.  But damn if only it would leave me the hell alone when I was trying to watch a flick... wow. Some programmer's sense of humor I guess.

 I like living out here alone, even though there's room for three.

 It's quiet.  It's home.

So imagine my surprise when Kibbles notified me we were being hailed by one SVG Excavator.  In her usual "personality-driven" way... thinks it's funny...

SVG Excavator was piloted by a Private Jon Marksberg, asking for sanctuary for repairs.  Some bit-ma-bob blew up in the engines and she needed to dock somewhere for repairs.  Great, it's been about four and a half years since I spoke to someone face to face... makes me nervous but it's in my contract to assist passing vessels so I ordered Kibbles to enable the docking protocols and the rest was without my supervision.

The cargo hangar of the habitation module had the parts SVG Excavator needed to complete repairs, according to Kibbles.  I'd have to dig them out of the back, but Marksberg could help me move the cargo pods, so it wasn't going to be as much effort as it looked at first.

SVG Excavator docked and Marksberg spent an interesting couple of days at Sarafrey.  My agrophobia was quickly overcome - Marksberg was quite sociable and pleasant and seemed to understand the mentality that I'd developed being out here alone for so long, and didn't judge me for it.

He showed me wonderful things... not least of which was his amazing salvage ship Excavator.  What a beast... put Ol Yella to shame that's for sure.  Dry Empire was adding a new ship to its already formidable fleet - he even showed me a picture he had of it in halfway through construction... a large support vessel of some sort that was said to be capable of reaching stations and systems throughout the empire using a new form of drive that allowed it to warp to locations, saving many hours of flight time.

When Marksberg finally had to leave I had mixed feelings... it was great to get my space back but it was also a shame to see him go, along with the flood of new information, ideas, and news that he had brought with him.  We agreed that I should buy myself a runabout and travel to Dry Station some day...

Yeah... some day...

Sarafrey Station mining outpost 001a is downloadable and available for public use for free.  Simply put the file into your "blueprints" folder (eg: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\StarMade\StarMade\blueprints) and you will have access to this station in-game under "Catalog" menu.

Ship Catalog

Dry Station's library AI notified me of a new addition to the databanks - a ship catalog.

This catalog is a growing database of the vessels that I have encountered so far in Dry Empire, both those I'd built as well as those owned by other astronauts and empires... It excludes Isanth pirate vessels, as the Trading Guild already has an expansive library detailing these vessels.

This databank can be accessed at any time through the Library link on the right hand side of your HUD (titled "The Library")... along with a history of my broadcasts, and a host of other useful information.

The AI also now offers me an option to search through the Library and my various posts, giving me quick access to anything I want to know more about.

Tags can also be used to display transmissions only relating to that particular tag, gathering all useful information together with one quick click.

Currently it also has entries on the various Asteroids I've encountered, along with a growing list of Minerals and Resources.

Work Drone Utility

FRG Thor had taken me a very long time to build, as every digital matter signature needed to be combinated manually, every hull rivet driven in by hand, every weld put down by me meter by meter, and every computer wired and programmed between coffee breaks... It was very slow going as a one-man job... even with the wonders of modern technology at my disposal.

It was time for help.

I created a new work drone that could assist me in collecting materials from the digital matter signature storage facility, and combinate them into the correct format as determined by plans and blueprints, altered in real time as required.  The drone could be operated manually, remotely, or be fully automated while I stirred extra cream into the next coffee.

The base unit is a robotic simple AI with 4 cameras, flashing danger lights, work lights, and 3 attachment points.

The basic initial setup for the WDU includes a power-generation device, fusion welder, small fusion reactor, and a portable digital matter combinator and storage device.

With no defensive or offensive abilities, the WDU is created entirely to assist with building and maintaining infrastructure.

The Work Drone Utility was born, and I immediately set it about creating another 5 just like it.

I watched with delight as the first generated the second, then they both generated another, and so on... geometrically getting faster and faster with the building until finally the last Work Drone Utility took around a quarter of the time that the first one had built the second.  It was poetry in motion.

The rapid consumption of Threns and Mattise in the build forced me to locate my first Tekt and Jisper asteroids.

It left me free to mine or dream up new concepts for the growth of my budding empire while my automated work force went about carrying out my instructions.

The first task I gave my new work force (apart from creating itself) was to create a rack and reload system on the Dry Station infrastructure that would both serve as storage for the units when they were not being operated as well as a place where they could obtain instructions and digital matter signatures for their projects while in operation.

The WDU rack fits 6 units, with the option to easily expand to cope with many others in the future.

Digital Matter Signatures and instructions are transmitted into the docked WDUs via a new cable link

The Work Drone Utility (WDU) has greatly improved my build speeds, and the work sites are always clearly visible even from a long distance due to the collection of flashing orange danger lights the WDUs emit.

WDU is downloadable and available for public use for free.  Simply unzip the folder into your "blueprints" folder (eg: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\StarMade\StarMade\blueprints) and you will have access to this machine in-game under "Catalog" menu.

R&D Deck

Research and Development is something I enjoy.  It is also something that is critical for keeping ahead of the game and ensuring that your enemy does not overtake and destroy you.

For now I seemed to be surviving in my tiny patch of space despite having attacked several pirate strongholds.

Some of the data files I had obtained from destroyed ships and stations indicated several types of technologies that I had not yet figured out how to use (or even build) and some of the treasures looted from the same ships and stations contained devices that I did not understand.

R&D therefore became a priority for me.

To research new items I would need a sandbox to experiment with.  I resolved to build a small, well-lit deck above my factory complex where it would be shielded by Dry Station's shields, be wired directly into the power grid, and have easy access to my digital signature storage facility and factory.

The structure for the base of the R&D Deck perches on top the existing facilities.

Once the basic structure was in place, the deck was put down along with two elevated wing platforms designed for master control systems and experiment observation.

Lighting was providing by some very powerful halogen post lamps attached to the rim of the deck.

Deck is lit from below and above, giving good all round illumination of future experiments.

The operational deck measures 15x25 meters, with an additional 1m rim... plenty of space for basic experiments.

Once the R&D Deck was operational, I began immediately by experimenting with logic circuits (basic triggers and switches and timers to begin with), along with... explosives!  Oh yes.  I love R&D.

Logic circuits can be anything from simple ticking signals through to entire actual CPU's.

Logic was complicated and would require a great deal of research, trial and error.
After successfully developing a simple ticking circuit, I moved on to the explosive warhead trials.

I determined to measure the exact effectiveness of warhead explosions, by seeing how much range and damage was produced by exploding various payloads on a measured rod constructed of basic hull material.

Explosive Warheads obtained from pirate loot was one of my more entertaining experiments.

A tiny charge of 2 warheads had a blast radius of 7 meters, with enough force to obliterate hull in that radius.

A larger charge of 27 warheads (13.5 times the cost)...

..increases blast radius by 1 meter (and damage done in that radius by a noticeable amount).

My experiments confirmed what I had suspected for a long time - that many smaller warheads were more effective than one large single detonation.  I determined to use this information to my advantage - I would produce a vessel that could deliver many small ballistic missiles at a target.  This would also have the advantage of providing the missiles safety in numbers, so that even if a few incoming missiles were swatted, much of the payload would make it to the target to deal damage.

Samsonite Mk I Cruise Missile

I incorporated this new technology into my already well understood science of propulsion mechanics and automated ship control systems to develop the Samsonite Mk I Cruise Missile.  With a payload of 2tonne warhead and rapid ignition ion propulsion, the missile was capable of reaching a target at the range of rapid acceleration and sustained maximum speed for up to 8km... a longer range than it's target-acquisition sensors.

The Samsonite was an interesting creation, but one which would require a proper launching mechanism which could be fitted to the station or to vessels.

Another design that could utilise this technology without a launching mechanism would be mines.  I could mine my local space and defend against would be attackers in that way.

To build and deploy mines in that kind of quantity would require vast amounts of resources and build time.  I would need help.

Deep Space Scanner

Having stumbled on a couple of pirate bases and hundreds of raider vessels while flying various ships, it became obvious that the surrounding space was filled to the gills with bad guys.

While I was apparently able to dispatch these guys with relative ease now using FRG Thor and even CRV Alannis, they still caused me headaches in SVG Excavator and SVG Speeder (although I almost never took her out any more, as she was now obsolete).

In addition, I knew that somewhere out there was a force of ships large enough to blockade the Trading Guild, which were far larger and stronger than my own empire.  Therefore the raider force must be pretty significant.

So it became desirable to locate and map other bases, and either avoid them, negotiate with them, or wipe them out... which I was becoming quite good at, it seemed.

I made plans to build a large deep space scanner.

Scanner scaffolding braces the structure while it is being built.

The scanner would be able to scan 4 sectors in all directions for enemy vessel activity, and scan the entire star system for bases and derelict space craft.  The Trading Guild advised that their own bases employed a cloaking system that bypassed the Geiger signature detected by the scanner, so their own structures would remain invisible to me.

The underside of the docked structure requires its own power and data feed to the station's core.

An independently docked structure, the scanner extends far above the station.

The scanner is docked to the station as an independent structure... effectively it's a vessel.  The station's own Geiger resonance needs to be isolated for the scanner to work, so attaching it directly causes the scanner to fail, requiring that it is its own structure.

Having it separate like this also will allow it to be undocked and moved as Dry Station expands and grows over time with new additional structure.

The scanner towers above the rest of the station, giving great penetration into deep space.

Once the device was fully operational, I engaged it and performed it's first scan of the system (hit P in game to see system/galactic map).

To my great surprise other bases began popping up on the monitors throughout the system... it seems I was surrounded by structures not my own...

My local sector had only my own Dry Station, the local Trading Guild shop and my own vessels in it.

My local star was smothered in other structures... enemy or derelict was unknown at this time.

My star is one of very many in the local area.

After some few hours of scanning telemetry, the device's systems were able to plot every star and wormhole in the entire galaxy... I was an insignificant speck in a sea of stars.

It was time to scout and map every one of those structures in my local space, to identify if they were enemy, friendly, or derelict.

Docks and cargo siphons

During the final stages of building FRG Thor, one of the key things I found was that having ships drifing nearby Dry Station was awkward and somewhat cluttered.  Additionally it was both slow and inconvenient to do several astronaut trips between a newly returned vessel and the station's Factory, using my own personal data banks as a shuttle to carry digital mass signatures to my facility.

So I drafted plans to build a dock at Dry Station and fit it with a system that would automatically siphon digital signatures from a drop box next to the docked vessel, so that I wouldn't have to travel any distance and therefore save me a bunch of time.

Dry Station with her initial compliment of docking arms fitted.

The docking arms were a continuation of Dry Station's simple and inexpensive alloy mesh structure acting as a support for the mammoth cables required to transmit digital matter signals.  e=mc2, which meant that even small amounts of matter converted into monstrous amounts of energy.  All that energy required very heavy duty cabling to avoid being burnt out during transmission and storage.

At the end of each docking arm I've fitted a drop box connected to the central factory matter signature storage facility.

The docking arms were capped with a labelled drop box into which I could drop all matter signatures without having to travel the distance from the docked vessel to the factory myself.  From the drop box the signatures are siphoned down the heavy duty cabling to a central storage box, which in turn feeds all matter signatures into the sorting box.  The sorting box (which has until now been my overall drop-box) then distributes matter signatures into various sorted boxes to make finding and accessing them much easier.

Thor requires the biggest docking arm to date due to her size.

Different coloured cabling leads to different docking arms.

Red is SVG Speeder's docking arm cable.
Yellow is SVG Excavator's docking arm cable.
White is CRV Alannis's docking arm cable.
Orange is the recently added docking arm cable for FRG Thor.

Black cable is for a recently wired in scanner complex.

The central siphon box is connected directly to the power grid to cope with the humongous quantity of energy required.  Matter signatures can be drained from all siphon boxes simultaneously and then fed at a steady pace into the factory's sorting box.

The entire set up allows me to disembark a newly docked vessel, and drop all matter signatures into the siphon box immediately adjacent to the docked ship.  From there Dry Station will automatically draw it into the matter signature facility and sort it into it's necessary home.  Whenever a new matter signature is encounted that does not have a home yet, it remains idle in the sorting box, and this acts as a prompt for me to either re-configure an existing storage box to receive it, or create a new storage box for that catagory of matter signatures.

The entire set up makes life much easier for me, and ensures that the factory always has a precise location to draw any particular type of matter signature from.