NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38
The Outpost Quest complete, I was 1000 CPoints richer.
A hexagonal coin also appeared. It seemed to be made out up a pearlescent alloy of some kind. I decided to hold off on using it. Making Buildings appear is one thing, making random people pop into existence is quite another.
I spent the next day placing Photon Cannon in the hills all around the plant. I tried to place them in such a way that they wouldn't be visible from a distance outside the circle of mounds and outcroppings, while still being able to cover the inner section of land.
Sure, they could be seen from the air but by the time an AV saw them the Cannon would have them locked. I made a little Pylon field behind the plant to support the frankly ridiculous amount of cannons I placed in the area.
I also had to program each one to not target the Aldecaldos. I could have just made it a blanket command but it would link back to the Valley and I still wanted a fall back point just for me.
Four more Robotics Facilities queued up for more unit output. I had a Sentry cooking in the first one already.
Then I built up every structure I could. The Cybernetic Core and Robotics Bay went up quick, but the Stargate and the Fleet Beacon would take a long time to complete. The shadow of the Stargate was enormous. However, as I understood it, once the Stargate is complete it will warp into orbit. So not a long term problem.
The Probes weren't allowed to build another Nexus I found out. Nor were they allowed to warp in Gateways or Templar buildings for some reason. So this would have to do.
The Supron was sent back to base to pick up a bunch of golden Wisps, and some more Probes. I was going to set up more trees, and a secondary lumber camp here. There was a lot more room than the Valley, and I wanted a new forest to populate with critters.
The Probes were needed for more resourcing. Chuck had already found a coal deposit and Barry found some ore veins in the hills. How any of these were here and not already exploited, I had no clue, but I also wasn't going to turn them down either.
While I was frantically trying to get everything setup, the nomads were arranging their new camp site. Much as it was before they circled up, putting together the eating and food prep areas in just a hour.
They were already back to their normal routines before I had placed the sixth Cannon in the Hills.
With one exception. They all ended up spending at least a little while playing in or around the ponds. That was a luxury they were rarely afforded.
A brief but emphatic explanation that they shouldn't drink from the Wells themselves, only from the streams. So no accidents had occurred, yet.
Even Lynx's sour ass was cheerful at the sight of so much clean water.
He and I had been avoiding each other, and while I was sure he was jealous, he didn't do any of the petty bullshit I would have expected. Maybe, he knew something I didn't?
If nothing else, this earned me a place amongst the families. They would now fight to the death for this place and what it would mean for their future. Not that they would need to if I had my way.
I'd make this into a safe harbor in this shitty land. All peaceful folk would be welcome. Forget the bullshit of the city, come rest under the trees. $99 for a liter of water, nah here have a drink of the best water you've ever tasted for free.
Shit, that would backfire wouldn't it. Too many people would flood this place. Sigh. Alright it had to stay secret for now.
By midday the first purple grasses had sprouted and were spreading rapidly. I had to stop and assure them that the grasses were safe to be around. They were indeed part of the plan.
We all had a laugh after they calmed down.
Some of the Aldecaldos had searched through the Plant looking for good salvage, but most of the machines were too large to use as they were. They'd have to be broken down.
Scuff and Fix went ham scanning everything inside. They really liked the "primitive tech". Maybe it was somewhat like archeologists looking at our ancient hominid offshoots.
Their personalities were still expanding but always seemed to contain a childlike wonder with the world. I wished I could say the same.
Meadran had sent back another 6 Probes and enough golden Wisp to merge into 4 trees with a few left over to bond with them. there was also a couple more silver Wisps to build out paths and ward stones.
Merging the golden Wisp two to each Well had been another small event.
Many of the Nomads hadn't ever seen a proper tree, just the sickly things growing out in the wastes. They said there were still places with trees and forests and jungles even places with animals, but they were tightly controlled as extremely valuable resources.
Old school farming does exist in places as well, but the rich monopolized their products.
Here make do with these bugs or at best have some vat meat. It's "totally not human cloned" we swear. What a wonderous time to be alive.
If it wasn't for some truly huge algae farms out in the oceans, no one would still have enough oxygen to live properly.
Sigh, and they sent me to "fix" it.
So much work to get done. And I was sure the Corpo bastards were going to try to snatch it all up as soon as they found out about it.
I shaped a Growth spell on the Trees, helping them get a little closer to the sky.
One step at a time.