The First Steps
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| In case it wasn't clear, the scale of objects is not at all close to what you'd see in reality |
My pod is on the final approach to Zibel 3 now. On my right is a giant ball of fiery death we've named "Zibel", with that small speck in front of it the large moon that is our destination. It's planet sized and decently rich with resources and importantly for our purposes it has oil. It's one of many planets that has a thriving ecosystem, but never got to the large animals stage. Humanity still hasn't found any sign of intelligent life out there, and from what we can tell it seems that animals in general are exceptionally rare. We've found planets with lush forests and thriving waters, but few animals. Plants aren't suited for thinking, and so no other sentients. Therefore, all of the resources everywhere belong to us. Pretty nifty.
Icarus
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| I'm hopeful that later in the development cycle we'll be able to customize the look of Icarus |
Meet Icarus. This is my mech/bodysuit. It's an amazing piece of engineering and the plan wouldn't have worked at all without him and his one-of-a-kind capabilities. He comes with a mini-factory to process raw materials into more useful things and construction drones to build the facilities I'll need. He's got a computer to run my code so that I can leave the CentreBrain, and a zero-point generator to provide power eternally. And all with thrusters to get across the galaxy and the sensors to see it. Solid piece of machinery this is.
It's also incomplete. Big surprise right? They didn't finish the CentreBrain, and neither did they finish this mech. Or make more of its kind. Part of my mission therefore involves using the raw materials I find along with some research to upgrade the capabilities of Icarus, because right now its somewhat limited.
Awkwardly too, we have the science about what we could possibly make and a general idea of what would be required. But the actual specifics of constructing the facilities and parts we need? Nah. Not with the tools we have at least. It's an interesting problem to have. Back when humanity was first exploring space, they quickly managed to get to the moon. Quite the accomplishment when you're new to space travel and computers are still new. They spent their time afterward with smaller launches, which was very much the correct strategy. When they wanted to go back to the moon, they had a conundrum. They had all the plans for their larger spacecraft, but they lacked the tools and expertise to make them!
Manufacturing had changed since then, with computers having a larger role in the entire process. So even though they knew what went into these old spacecraft, they couldn't make them without relearning from scratch all the lost techniques they had used. Which is almost mind-boggling considering how few years separated their return to the moon and how much more experience they now had with space in general. This meant redesigning a new set of larger spacecraft, using modern techniques of manufacturing. And return they did. Eventually. Space is too tempting to ignore for long.
So even though I know the principles behind converting high energy photons into anti-matter, but the exacts of the process aren't something I know right now. My knowledge doesn't get far beyond heating up iron ore to make something useful out of it.
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| Down below you can see how much energy is stored and which direction the bar is going. |
I'm not sure if using a mech suit and a plasma cutter counts as getting my hands dirty, but here goes. Obviously I can't harvest everything I'll need with one small mech suit. So the first step is to get some basic materials, bang them together to see how they work, and build facilities. Those facilities will then do the work to make more tools, so I can research further, and so on and so forth. As well, I'll need to worry about powering my mech. The zero-point energy reactor won't run out of juice, but it doesn't produce much more than the basic upkeep. If I'll want to do high energy activities like mine, I'll need to throw something else into the reactor.
Yes. This means I'll be powering a high tech mech by throwing some wood into the fire. It's almost embarrassing how low tech I'll have to go for awhile until I can use proper power sources like fusion or antimatter.
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| Wind turbines produce a steady amount of power, though different planets will have different rates. Some even have no atmosphere, and thus no wind power. |
And so we start with some low tech but surprisingly useful machines. The mining machines are obvious, but we'll start by powering them with wind turbines. It's certainly one way to harvest power from the sun, if a few degrees removed. The simplicity of wind power means it'll be the main staple of my power generation for a good long while. If not for the entire trip.
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