Mission Log Part 2

MISSION YEAR 2152


The Third base expedition found a Unity pod with useable supplies.  The rated value of the supplies under our current economic system is 200 energy credits.  Oh goody!

Our son Prokhor has completed the secondary level of education. Also he now normally uses Pro as the short form of his given name.

Hey, it works.


MISSION YEAR 2153


A sea swarm delivered two mindworm swarms directly to Primary Base.  The security teams under George Strong stopped them.  George led the fight himself armed with a flamethrower.  We need to work out a better operational plan for stopping direct attacks on the home bases.

The hydrofoil also encountered a sea swarm.  In the unprotected transporter configuration they had to retreat to survive.


MISSION YEAR 2155


Our son Pro, has decided to pursue a military career.  This is over the objections of his mother.  He has enlisted in the Exploration and Defense Corps, has started out in a base security unit, and he is training to operate a scout rover.

Our daughter Alice has started university with the intent of obtaining doctorates in history and psychology.


MISSION YEAR 2156


Our long range scanners have picked up signals from a human group, possibly a rover team, fighting a mindworm swarm to the north of the area we have explored and settled.


MISSION YEAR 2159


A mindworm swarm was driven off from Third Base.

The transport foil is conducting exploration operations in the ocean south of Primary Base.


MISSION YEAR 2162


The transport foil was attacked by a sea swarms.  They barely survived.  They have been recalled to Primary Base for refit.


MISSION YEAR 2164


Fourth Base was attacked by two land swarms.  The boffins have begun to design personal and vehicle armor based on synthetic metal.  We also need a theory on better weapons than standard firearms.


MISSION YEAR 2165


Have detected communication signals from another fight between humans and mindworms.  Who are they?

Third base built a colony pod.  This will be our second colony on the other side of the channel.


MISSION YEAR 2169


We have broken the previous convention by naming our 6th base after Sir Isaac Newton.  And the fabrication works at Third Base is working on the prototype for infantry armor based on synthetic metal.  Yes, I know it sounds silly, but we are doing it for real.  I’m concerned about our yet uncontacted neighbors on the continent and I want to be ready.  And if thing suddenly go bad we’ll still need better weapons.


MISSION YEAR 2170


What the Hell?  We just had a drone riot at Primary Base.  We basically ended up sweet talking and bribing the lot of them to behave themselves.  As soon as the current unannounced secret project is finished I’m sending the lot of them off in a colony pod to fend for themselves.  Let them learn through direct experience how hard it is to run a functional society.

As to why I didn’t publically announce the secret project?  It’s a secret project, silly.


MISSION YEAR 2171


A scout rover team has just rounded the north end of the channel.  No sign of any other humans. 

I’m keeping the transport foil at Primary base until the new colony pod with the former drone rioters is ready to go out.

Good riddance.

And the synthetic metal armor prototype is complete.


MISSION YEAR 2172

The security team with the new synthetic metal armor just easily wiped out a mindworm swarm.  Good job!


MISSION YEAR 2176


We have completed The Merchant Exchange project at Primary Base.  This will radically increase energy production at this base.  We’re now on to building the colony pod for those damned drones!

We completely lost a rover team to a mindworm swarm.  Another rover team found a series automated farms set up from a Unity pod.  This usually doesn’t happen unless someone activates the pods manually.  The rover team then encountered another mindworm swarm.


MISSION YEAR 2177


Our 7th base is named Seventh Base.


MISSION YEAR 2178

The 8th base is named Science Library.

A mindworm swarm near Third Base delayed the departure of a colony pod and the escorting security team.

The mindworms are becoming very annoying.


MISSION YEAR 2180


The colony pod with the former drone rioters have departed from Primary Base on the transport foil.  Oh goody!

We have also started work on building a Research Hospital facility at this base.


MISSION YEAR 2182


Another (EXPLETIVE) drone riot at Primary Base!  What can be done about this?


MISSION YEAR 2184

We lost a terraformer to mindworms. 

Our boffins have developed a laser weapon replacement for Mother Deuce.  (I had to explain the reference.)  A rover mounted laser weapon.  We are now using a terraformer to clear a xenofungus zone before developing it.  Our remaining scout rover team in the northern exploration zone has found another area of farms built by an automated Unity pod.  And of course more mindworms.


MISSION YEAR 2185


Drone riot at Fourth Base.  And another rover unit was wiped out by mindworm swarms there as well.

Where and who are the neighbors?

Upgraded the security unit there with synthmetal armor.  Also accelerated work on the rover unit under construction there.  It will have the new laser weapons system mounted on it.

We also accelerated work on a secret project at Second Base.
We have a new base on the west side.  We’re naming it Ayn Rand Collage after Ayn Rand.


MISSION YEAR 2186


We finished the Human Genome Project at Second Base.  It appears to have a positive effect of the general population of our nation.  They’re now  building a colony pod, too many drones there.  We tested the new laser armed rover on a swarm of mindworms near Newton Observatory.  It worked.  We are now upgrading our remaining rover units to carry this weapon.


MISSION YEAR 2189


Sent out the colony pod from Second Base with the drones.  The base is now building a new facility called the recreation Commons.  This may have a positive effect on the drone problem.


MISSION YEAR 2190


There’s been another super-massive mindworm attack at Newton Observatory.  The primary security team is gone.  It’s like the “GAME OVER MAN” scene from the flat movie Aliens.  (Of course I had to explain that reference as well.)


MISSION YEAR 2191


Newton Observatory was successfully reinforced and more mindworm swarms destroyed.

Finished the Virtual World project.  It also appears to have a positive effect of our drone problem.  They are definitely calming down.

The colony pod from Primary Base with the drones has made landfall and a new base was set up.  They’re calling it South Park.

Gosh, what a surprise.


MISSION YEAR 2192

Where the (EXPLETIVE) are the mindworm swarms that are attacking Newton Observatory coming from?  These swarms are the largest ones we have seen yet.  The base is receiving more reinforcements.


MISSION YEAR 2194


The transport foil was swept away by a tidal wave as it approached a Unity pod beacon.  The pod seems to have disappeared.

The signals section has found clear indications that someone has set up a base at the north end of the channel.  I have ordered a rover team to make contact with our neighbors.


MISSION YEAR 2195


The other human base at the top of the channel appears to have gone off the air.  The rover team continues to move forward to investigate.  The transport foil was hit by another tidal wave.  They’re going to Seventh Base for repairs.


MISSION YEAR 2196 


The rover team almost made it to the location of the other human base when they were hit by a mindworm swarm.  They survived.


MISSION YEAR 2197


The rover scout team finally reached the site of the other human base at the top of the channel.  They were clearly hit by mindworms and there were no survivors of the attack.  From the examination of the ruins and data we the team could recover we have determined that the base was called Parade Ground and it was built people who called themselves The Spartans.  The leader of this group is Corazon Santiago, the former security chief aboard the Unity.

My lack of God!  If the brain-dead bitch had properly done her job Captain Garland would not have been murdered and we would have been in better shape to deal the problems we were facing at the time. We clearly wouldn’t have been in the particular mess we were in!

Instead of doing her job and making a reasonable effort to identify and arrest the murderer of the captain she instead would go off about her ideal for a society.  She was always yammering about the right to keep and bear arms without any attempt to actually understanding why that right is necessary in a rational human society.  (I will admit that I was angry at her and I also had to explain that there those who -- like Yang -- sought to establish “alternatives” to a free society.)

Given our -- excuse me -- my previous experience with dealing with “Colonel” Santiago I’m not thrilled at the prospect of contact with her and her followers.

The boffins here said that they can design armor based on the newly developed plasma steel technology.  In light of the recent discoveries I see no rational alternative but to do so.

We also built a new base north of Fourth Base.  We named it Academy Base.


MISSION YEAR 2198

The boffins have designed an improved weapon they call a particle impactor.  It’s clearly an improvement over the basic laser.  It should help if we actually get into a fight with Santiago and her followers.



MISSION YEAR 2199


In addition to mounting the particle impactor on our rovers the boffins are now building a rover with plasma steel armor.  Meanwhile our rover team in the north is following the river channels in search of the others.  No contact yet.


MISSION YEAR 2201


One hundred standard years we have survived on this planet.  We are firmly established and have made clear progress.  Barring any major disaster our survival, and of Humanity, is assured.


MISSION YEAR 2203


We found another alien artifact and we also founded a new base, Goddard Center.


MISSION YEAR 2204


The transport foil survived an attack by a sea swarm.  We are now  making synthetic fossil fuels and related chemicals.  As a result our boffins have also designed a missile launcher weapon system for our rovers. 


MISSION YEAR 2205


There were more mindworm swarms at Fifth Base, the new impact rover killed them.  The rover team in the north have found a site with automated construction of solar panels. 

The signals section believes that another base has been set up on the site of Parade Ground.  A rover team will check it out but I don’t expect actual sanity from the lot.


MISSION YEAR 2206


Damn it!  We just lost an impact rover team to a mindworm swarm.


MISSION YEAR  2207


Alien artifact brought into Rand.


MISSION YEAR 2208


Second Base has completed a sea former.  This system will allow us to build kelp farms for food, tidal harnesses to generate energy and mineral extraction platforms on the continental shelves.  It gives more options for survival and prosperity.


MISSION LOG PART 3